nils-herrmann/clean_scirepeval huggingface dataset:
Quasar X-ray and UV flux, baryon acoustic oscillation, and Hubble parameter measurement constraints on cosmological model parameters

We use the 2015 Risaliti and Lusso compilation of 808 X-ray and UV flux measurements of quasars (QSOs) in the redshift range 0.061 ≤ z ≤ 6.28, alone and in conjunction with baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) and Hubble parameter [H(z)] measurements, to constrain cosmological parameters in six cosmological models. The QSO data constraints are significantly weaker than, but consistent with, those from the H(z) + BAO data. A joint analysis of the QSO + H(z) + BAO data is consistent with the current standard model, spatially flat Λ cold dark matter, but mildly favours closed spatial hypersurfaces and dynamical dark energy.
Brain2Char: a deep architecture for decoding text from brain recordings

Decoding language representations directly from the brain can enable new brain–computer interfaces (BCIs) for high bandwidth human–human and human–machine communication. Clinically, such technologies can restore communication in people with neurological conditions affecting their ability to speak.  In this study, we propose a novel deep network architecture Brain2Char, for directly decoding text (specifically character sequences) from direct brain recordings (called electrocorticography, ECoG). Brain2Char framework combines state-of-the-art deep learning modules—3D Inception layers for multiband spatiotemporal feature extraction from neural data and bidirectional recurrent layers, dilated convolution layers followed by language model weighted beam search to decode character sequences, and optimizing a connectionist temporal classification loss. Additionally, given the highly non-linear transformations that underlie the conversion of cortical function to character sequences, we perform regularizations on the network’s latent representations motivated by insights into cortical encoding of speech production and artifactual aspects specific to ECoG data acquisition. To do this, we impose auxiliary losses on latent representations for articulatory movements, speech acoustics and session specific non-linearities.  In three (out of four) participants reported here, Brain2Char achieves 10.6%, 8.5%, and 7.0% word error rates respectively on vocabulary sizes ranging from 1200 to 1900 words.  These results establish a new end-to-end approach on decoding text from brain signals and demonstrate the potential of Brain2Char as a high-performance communication BCI.
Impact of Social Influence on Adoption Behavior: An Online Controlled Experimental Evaluation

It is widely believed that the adoption behavior of a decision-maker in a social network is related to the number of signals it receives from its peers in the social network. It is unclear if these same principles hold when the “pattern” by which they receive these signals vary and when potential decisions have different utilities. To investigate that, we manipulate social signal exposure in an online controlled experiment with human participants. Specifically, we change the number of signals and the pattern through which participants receive them over time. We analyze its effect through a controlled game where each participant makes a decision to select one option when presented with six choices with differing utilities, with one choice having the most utility. We avoided network effects by holding the neighborhood network of the users constant. Over multiple rounds of the game, we observe the following: (1) even in the presence of monetary risks and previously acquired knowledge of the six choices, decision-makers tend to deviate from the obvious optimal decision when their peers make similar choices, (2) when the quantity of social signals vary over time, the probability that a participant selects the decision similar to the one reflected by the social signals and therefore being responsive to social influence does not necessarily correlate proportionally to the absolute quantity of signals and (3) an early subjugation to higher quantity of peer social signals turned out to be a more effective strategy of social influence when aggregated over the rounds.
An analytical perturbative solution to the Merton–Garman model using symmetries

In this paper, we introduce an analytical perturbative solution to the Merton Garman model. It is obtained by doing perturbation theory around the exact analytical solution of a model which possesses a two-dimensional Galilean symmetry. We compare our perturbative solution of the Merton Garman model to Monte Carlo simulations and find that our solutions performs surprisingly well for a wide range of parameters. We also show how to use symmetries to build option pricing models. Our results demonstrate that the concept of symmetry is important in mathematical finance.
Mining Insights from Weakly-Structured Event Data

This thesis focuses on process mining on event data where such a normative specification is absent and, as a result, the event data is less structured. The thesis puts special emphasis on one application domain that fits this description: the analysis of smart home data where sequences of daily activities are recorded. In this thesis we propose a set of techniques to analyze such data, which can be grouped into two categories of techniques. The first category of methods focuses on preprocessing event logs in order to enable process discovery techniques to extract insights into unstructured event data. In this category we have developed the following techniques: - An unsupervised approach to refine event labels based on the time at which the event took place, allowing for example to distinguish recorded eating events into breakfast, lunch, and dinner. - An approach to detect and filter from event logs so-called chaotic activities, which are activities that cause process discovery methods to overgeneralize. - A supervised approach to abstract low-level events into more high-level events, where we show that there exist situations where process discovery approaches overgeneralize on the low-level event data but are able to find precise models on the high-level event data. The second category focuses on mining local process models, i.e., collections of process model patterns that each describe some frequent pattern, in contrast to the single global process model that is obtained with existing process discovery techniques. Several techniques are introduced in the area of local process model mining, including a basic method, fast but approximate heuristic methods, and constraint-based techniques.
Adversarial Robustness of Similarity-Based Link Prediction

Link prediction is one of the fundamental problems in social network analysis. A common set of techniques for link prediction rely on similarity metrics which use the topology of the observed subnetwork to quantify the likelihood of unobserved links. Recently, similarity metrics for link prediction have been shown to be vulnerable to attacks whereby observations about the network are adversarially modified to hide target links. We propose a novel approach for increasing robustness of similarity-based link prediction by endowing the analyst with a restricted set of reliable queries which accurately measure the existence of queried links. The analyst aims to robustly predict a collection of possible links by optimally allocating the reliable queries. We formalize the analyst's problem as a Bayesian Stackelberg game in which they first choose the reliable queries, followed by an adversary who deletes a subset of links among the remaining (unreliable) queries by the analyst. The analyst in our model is uncertain about the particular target link the adversary attempts to hide, whereas the adversary has full information about the analyst and the network. Focusing on similarity metrics using only local information, we show that the problem is NP-Hard for both players, and devise two principled and efficient approaches for solving it approximately. Extensive experiments with real and synthetic networks demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach.
Discriminative Topic Modeling with Logistic LDA

Despite many years of research into latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA), applying LDA to collections of non-categorical items is still challenging for practitioners. Yet many problems with much richer data share a similar structure and could benefit from the vast literature on LDA. We propose logistic LDA, a novel discriminative variant of latent Dirichlet allocation which is easy to apply to arbitrary inputs. In particular, our model can easily be applied to groups of images, arbitrary text embeddings, or integrate deep neural networks. Although it is a discriminative model, we show that logistic LDA can learn from unlabeled data in an unsupervised manner by exploiting the group structure present in the data. In contrast to other recent topic models designed to handle arbitrary inputs, our model does not sacrifice the interpretability and principled motivation of LDA.
Small-worldness favours network inference

A main goal in the analysis of a complex system is to infer its underlying network structure from time-series observations of its behaviour. The inference process is often done by using bi-variate similarity measures, such as the cross-correlation (CC), however, the main factors favouring or hindering its success are still puzzling. Here, we use synthetic neuron models in order to reveal the main topological properties that frustrate or facilitate inferring the underlying network from CC measurements. Specifically, we use pulse-coupled Izhikevich neurons connected as in the Caenorhabditis elegans neural networks as well as in networks with similar randomness and small-worldness. We analyse the effectiveness and robustness of the inference process under different observations and collective dynamics, contrasting the results obtained from using membrane potentials and inter-spike interval time-series. We find that overall, small-worldness favours network inference and degree heterogeneity hinders it. In particular, success rates in C. elegans networks -- that combine small-world properties with degree heterogeneity -- are closer to success rates in Erdos-Renyi network models rather than those in Watts-Strogatz network models. These results are relevant to understand better the relationship between topological properties and function in different neural networks.
LCA: Loss Change Allocation for Neural Network Training

Neural networks enjoy widespread use, but many aspects of their training, representation, and operation are poorly understood. In particular, our view into the training process is limited, with a single scalar loss being the most common viewport into this high-dimensional, dynamic process. We propose a new window into training called Loss Change Allocation (LCA), in which credit for changes to the network loss is conservatively partitioned to the parameters. This measurement is accomplished by decomposing the components of an approximate path integral along the training trajectory using a Runge-Kutta integrator. This rich view shows which parameters are responsible for decreasing or increasing the loss during training, or which parameters "help" or "hurt" the network's learning, respectively. LCA may be summed over training iterations and/or over neurons, channels, or layers for increasingly coarse views. This new measurement device produces several insights into training. (1) We find that barely over 50% of parameters help during any given iteration. (2) Some entire layers hurt overall, moving on average against the training gradient, a phenomenon we hypothesize may be due to phase lag in an oscillatory training process. (3) Finally, increments in learning proceed in a synchronized manner across layers, often peaking on identical iterations.
Using causal networks to represent the targets of resource coordination

The resources framework emphasizes the potential productivity of student intuitions for constructing a canonical understanding of physics. It models learning as the progressive coordination and refinement of these resources. Yet, there is a lack of theoretical clarity about how resources should be coordinated and refined to align with canonical physics. We present causal network diagrams as a tool for representing the targets of research coordination. As an example, we compare student reasoning about projectile motion to the causal network describing that motion. We argue that the causal networks make manifest and explicit two types of resource coordination required to achieve a correct physical understanding: (i) integrating additional causal influences and mediators and (ii) using qualitative logic to draw valid inferences.
A new approach for uncovering student resources with multiple-choice questions

The traditional approach to studying student understanding presents a question and uses the student answers to make inferences about their knowledge. However, this method does not capture the range of possible alternative ideas available to students. We use a new approach, asking students to generate a plausible explanation for every choice of a multiple-choice question, to capture a range of explanations that students can generate in answering physics questions. Asking 16 students to provide explanations in this way revealed alternative possibilities for student thinking that would not have been captured if they only provided one solution. The findings show two ways these alternatives can be productive for learning physics: (i) even students who ultimately chose the wrong answer could often generate the correct explanation and (ii) many incorrect explanations contained elements of correct physical reasoning. We discuss the instructional implications of this multiple-choice questioning approach and of student alternative ideas.
Freeze-in production of dark matter prior to early matter domination

Freeze-out or freeze-in during a period of early matter domination can yield the correct dark matter abundance for $\langle \sigma_{\rm ann} v \rangle_{\rm f} < 3 \times 10^{-26}$ cm$^3$ s$^{-1}$. However, in a generic non-standard thermal history, such a period is typically preceded by other phases. Here, we study nonthermal production of dark matter in a simple post-inflationary history where a radiation-dominated phase after reheating is followed by an epoch of early matter domination. Focusing on the freeze-in regime, we show that dark matter production prior to early matter domination can dominate the relic abundance in large parts of the parameter space, including weak scale dark matter masses, and the allowed regions are highly dependent on the entire post-inflationary history. Moreover, for a very broad range of $\langle \sigma_{\rm ann} v \rangle_{\rm f}$ spanning over several decades, dark matter particles can start in chemical equilibrium early on and decouple during early matter domination, thereby rendering the relic abundance essentially independent of $\langle \sigma_{\rm ann} v \rangle_{\rm f}$. We briefly discuss connections to different observables as a possible means to test the elusive freeze-in scenario in this case.
Interpretable Word Embeddings via Informative Priors

Word embeddings have demonstrated strong performance on NLP tasks. However, lack of interpretability and the unsupervised nature of word embeddings have limited their use within computational social science and digital humanities. We propose the use of informative priors to create interpretable and domain-informed dimensions for probabilistic word embeddings. Experimental results show that sensible priors can capture latent semantic concepts better than or on-par with the current state of the art, while retaining the simplicity and generalizability of using priors.
Prospect Theory Based Crowdsourcing for Classification in the Presence of Spammers

We consider the $M$-ary classification problem via crowdsourcing, where crowd workers respond to simple binary questions and the answers are aggregated via decision fusion. The workers have a reject option to skip answering a question when they do not have the expertise, or when the confidence of answering that question correctly is low. We further consider that there are spammers in the crowd who respond to the questions with random guesses. Under the payment mechanism that encourages the reject option, we study the behavior of honest workers and spammers, whose objectives are to maximize their monetary rewards. To accurately characterize human behavioral aspects, we employ prospect theory to model the rationality of the crowd workers, whose perception of costs and probabilities are distorted based on some value and weight functions, respectively. Moreover, we estimate the number of spammers and employ a weighted majority voting decision rule, where we assign an optimal weight for every worker to maximize the system performance. The probability of correct classification and asymptotic system performance are derived. We also provide simulation results to demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach.
How much research shared on Facebook happens outside of public pages and groups? A comparison of public and private online activity around PLOS ONE papers

Despite its undisputed position as the biggest social media platform, Facebook has never entered the main stage of altmetrics research. In this study, we argue that the lack of attention by altmetrics researchers is due, in part, to the challenges in collecting Facebook data regarding activity that takes place outside of public pages and groups. We present a new method of collecting aggregate counts of shares, reactions, and comments across the platform—including users’ personal timelines—and use it to gather data for all articles published between 2015 to 2017 in the journal PLOS ONE. We compare the gathered data with altmetrics collected and aggregated by Altmetric. The results show that 58.7% of papers shared on Facebook happen outside of public spaces and that, when collecting all shares, the volume of activity approximates patterns of engagement previously only observed for Twitter. Both results suggest that the role and impact of Facebook as a medium for science and scholarly communication has been underestimated. Furthermore, they emphasize the importance of openness and transparency around the collection and aggregation of altmetrics.
Trans-Neptunian Objects Found in the First Four Years of the Dark Energy Survey

We present a catalog of 316 trans-Neptunian bodies (TNOs) detected from the first four seasons (“Y4” data) of the Dark Energy Survey (DES). The survey covers a contiguous 5000 deg2 of the southern sky in the grizY optical/NIR filter set, with a typical TNO in this part of the sky being targeted by 25–30 Y4 exposures. This paper focuses on the methods used to detect these objects from the ≈60,000 Y4 exposures, a process made challenging by the absence of the few-hour repeat observations employed by TNO-optimized surveys. Newly developed techniques include: transient/moving object detection by comparison of single-epoch catalogs to catalogs of “stacked” images; quantified astrometric error from atmospheric turbulence; new software for detecting TNO linkages in a temporally sparse transient catalog, and for estimating the rate of spurious linkages; use of faint stars to determine the detection efficiency versus magnitude in all exposures. Final validation of the reality of linked orbits uses a new “sub-threshold confirmation” test, wherein we demand the object be detectable in a stack of the exposures in which the orbit indicates an object should be present, but was not individually detected. This catalog contains all validated TNOs which were detected on ≥6 unique nights in the Y4 data, and is complete to r ≲ 23.3 mag with virtually no dependence on orbital properties for bound TNOs at distance 30 au < d < 2500 au. The catalog includes 245 discoveries by DES, 139 not previously published. The final DES TNO catalog is expected to yield >0.3 mag more depth, and arcs of >4 yr for nearly all detections.
Target Language-Aware Constrained Inference for Cross-lingual Dependency Parsing

Prior work on cross-lingual dependency parsing often focuses on capturing the commonalities between source and target languages and overlook the potential to leverage the linguistic properties of the target languages to facilitate the transfer. In this paper, we show that weak supervisions of linguistic knowledge for the target languages can improve a cross-lingual graph-based dependency parser substantially. Specifically, we explore several types of corpus linguistic statistics and compile them into corpus-statistics constraints to facilitate the inference procedure. We propose new algorithms that adapt two techniques, Lagrangian relaxation and posterior regularization, to conduct inference with corpus-statistics constraints. Experiments show that the Lagrangian relaxation and posterior regularization techniques improve the performances on 15 and 17 out of 19 target languages, respectively. The improvements are especially large for the target languages that have different word order features from the source language.
Minimizing the Societal Cost of Credit Card Fraud with Limited and Imbalanced Data

Machine learning has automated much of financial fraud detection, notifying firms of, or even blocking, questionable transactions instantly. However, data imbalance starves traditionally trained models of the content necessary to detect fraud. This study examines three separate factors of credit card fraud detection via machine learning. First, it assesses the potential for different sampling methods, undersampling and Synthetic Minority Oversampling Technique (SMOTE), to improve algorithm performance in data-starved environments. Additionally, five industry-practical machine learning algorithms are evaluated on total fraud cost savings in addition to traditional statistical metrics. Finally, an ensemble of individual models is trained with a genetic algorithm to attempt to generate higher cost efficiency than its components. Monte Carlo performance distributions discerned random undersampling outperformed SMOTE in lowering fraud costs, and that an ensemble was unable to outperform its individual parts. Most notably,the F-1 Score, a traditional metric often used to measure performance with imbalanced data, was uncorrelated with derived cost efficiency. Assuming a realistic cost structure can be derived, cost-based metrics provide an essential supplement to objective statistical evaluation.
Achieving Verified Robustness to Symbol Substitutions via Interval Bound Propagation

Neural networks are part of many contemporary NLP systems, yet their empirical successes come at the price of vulnerability to adversarial attacks. Previous work has used adversarial training and data augmentation to partially mitigate such brittleness, but these are unlikely to find worst-case adversaries due to the complexity of the search space arising from discrete text perturbations. In this work, we approach the problem from the opposite direction: to formally verify a system’s robustness against a predefined class of adversarial attacks. We study text classification under synonym replacements or character flip perturbations. We propose modeling these input perturbations as a simplex and then using Interval Bound Propagation – a formal model verification method. We modify the conventional log-likelihood training objective to train models that can be efficiently verified, which would otherwise come with exponential search complexity. The resulting models show only little difference in terms of nominal accuracy, but have much improved verified accuracy under perturbations and come with an efficiently computable formal guarantee on worst case adversaries.