pwc-archive/papers-with-abstracts huggingface dataset:
An Empirical Study on Feature Discretization
Authors: Qiang Liu, Zhaocheng Liu, Haoli Zhang
Date: 2020-04-27 00:00:00

When dealing with continuous numeric features, we usually adopt feature discretization. In this work, to find the best way to conduct feature discretization, we present some theoretical analysis, in which we focus on analyzing correctness and robustness of feature discretization. Then, we propose a novel discretization method called Local Linear Encoding (LLE). Experiments on two numeric datasets show that, LLE can outperform conventional discretization method with much fewer model parameters.
Deploying Image Deblurring across Mobile Devices: A Perspective of Quality and Latency
Authors: Cheng-Ming Chiang, Yu Tseng, Yu-Syuan Xu, Hsien-Kai Kuo, Yi-Min Tsai, Guan-Yu Chen, Koan-Sin Tan, Wei-Ting Wang, Yu-Chieh Lin, Shou-Yao Roy Tseng, Wei-Shiang Lin, Chia-Lin Yu, BY Shen, Kloze Kao, Chia-Ming Cheng, Hung-Jen Chen
Date: 2020-04-27 00:00:00
Tasks: Deblurring, Image Deblurring, Image Enhancement, Super-Resolution

Recently, image enhancement and restoration have become important applications on mobile devices, such as super-resolution and image deblurring. However, most state-of-the-art networks present extremely high computational complexity. This makes them difficult to be deployed on mobile devices with acceptable latency. Moreover, when deploying to different mobile devices, there is a large latency variation due to the difference and limitation of deep learning accelerators on mobile devices. In this paper, we conduct a search of portable network architectures for better quality-latency trade-off across mobile devices. We further present the effectiveness of widely used network optimizations for image deblurring task. This paper provides comprehensive experiments and comparisons to uncover the in-depth analysis for both latency and image quality. Through all the above works, we demonstrate the successful deployment of image deblurring application on mobile devices with the acceleration of deep learning accelerators. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first paper that addresses all the deployment issues of image deblurring task across mobile devices. This paper provides practical deployment-guidelines, and is adopted by the championship-winning team in NTIRE 2020 Image Deblurring Challenge on Smartphone Track.
Robust Screening of COVID-19 from Chest X-ray via Discriminative Cost-Sensitive Learning
Authors: Tianyang Li, Zhongyi Han, Benzheng Wei, Yuanjie Zheng, Yanfei Hong, Jinyu Cong
Date: 2020-04-27 00:00:00

This paper addresses the new problem of automated screening of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) based on chest X-rays, which is urgently demanded toward fast stopping the pandemic. However, robust and accurate screening of COVID-19 from chest X-rays is still a globally recognized challenge because of two bottlenecks: 1) imaging features of COVID-19 share some similarities with other pneumonia on chest X-rays, and 2) the misdiagnosis rate of COVID-19 is very high, and the misdiagnosis cost is expensive. While a few pioneering works have made much progress, they underestimate both crucial bottlenecks. In this paper, we report our solution, discriminative cost-sensitive learning (DCSL), which should be the choice if the clinical needs the assisted screening of COVID-19 from chest X-rays. DCSL combines both advantages from fine-grained classification and cost-sensitive learning. Firstly, DCSL develops a conditional center loss that learns deep discriminative representation. Secondly, DCSL establishes score-level cost-sensitive learning that can adaptively enlarge the cost of misclassifying COVID-19 examples into other classes. DCSL is so flexible that it can apply in any deep neural network. We collected a large-scale multi-class dataset comprised of 2,239 chest X-ray examples: 239 examples from confirmed COVID-19 cases, 1,000 examples with confirmed bacterial or viral pneumonia cases, and 1,000 examples of healthy people. Extensive experiments on the three-class classification show that our algorithm remarkably outperforms state-of-the-art algorithms. It achieves an accuracy of 97.01%, a precision of 97%, a sensitivity of 97.09%, and an F1-score of 96.98%. These results endow our algorithm as an efficient tool for the fast large-scale screening of COVID-19.
VTGNet: A Vision-based Trajectory Generation Network for Autonomous Vehicles in Urban Environments
Authors: Peide Cai, Yuxiang Sun, Hengli Wang, Ming Liu
Date: 2020-04-27 00:00:00
Tasks: Autonomous Driving, Autonomous Vehicles, Collision Avoidance, Imitation Learning, Scene Understanding

Traditional methods for autonomous driving are implemented with many building blocks from perception, planning and control, making them difficult to generalize to varied scenarios due to complex assumptions and interdependencies. Recently, the end-to-end driving method has emerged, which performs well and generalizes to new environments by directly learning from export-provided data. However, many existing methods on this topic neglect to check the confidence of the driving actions and the ability to recover from driving mistakes. In this paper, we develop an uncertainty-aware end-to-end trajectory generation method based on imitation learning. It can extract spatiotemporal features from the front-view camera images for scene understanding, and then generate collision-free trajectories several seconds into the future. The experimental results suggest that under various weather and lighting conditions, our network can reliably generate trajectories in different urban environments, such as turning at intersections and slowing down for collision avoidance. Furthermore, closed-loop driving tests suggest that the proposed method achieves better cross-scene/platform driving results than the state-of-the-art (SOTA) end-to-end control method, where our model can recover from off-center and off-orientation errors and capture 80% of dangerous cases with high uncertainty estimations.
Efficient Quantile Tracking Using an Oracle
Authors: Hugo L. Hammer, Anis Yazidi, Michael A. Riegler, Håvard Rue
Date: 2020-04-27 00:00:00

For incremental quantile estimators the step size and possibly other tuning parameters must be carefully set. However, little attention has been given on how to set these values in an online manner. In this article we suggest two novel procedures that address this issue. The core part of the procedures is to estimate the current tracking mean squared error (MSE). The MSE is decomposed in tracking variance and bias and novel and efficient procedures to estimate these quantities are presented. It is shown that estimation bias can be tracked by associating it with the portion of observations below the quantile estimates. The first procedure runs an ensemble of $L$ quantile estimators for wide range of values of the tuning parameters and typically around $L = 100$. In each iteration an oracle selects the best estimate by the guidance of the estimated MSEs. The second method only runs an ensemble of $L = 3$ estimators and thus the values of the tuning parameters need from time to time to be adjusted for the running estimators. The procedures have a low memory foot print of $8L$ and a computational complexity of $8L$ per iteration. The experiments show that the procedures are highly efficient and track quantiles with an error close to the theoretical optimum. The Oracle approach performs best, but comes with higher computational cost. The procedures were further applied to a massive real-life data stream of tweets and proofed real world applicability of them.
A Batch Normalized Inference Network Keeps the KL Vanishing Away
Authors: Qile Zhu, Jianlin Su, Wei Bi, Xiaojiang Liu, Xiyao Ma, Xiaolin Li, Dapeng Wu
Date: 2020-04-27 00:00:00
Proceeding: ACL 2020 6
Tasks: Dialogue Generation, Language Modeling, Language Modelling, text-classification, Text Classification, Variational Inference

Variational Autoencoder (VAE) is widely used as a generative model to approximate a model's posterior on latent variables by combining the amortized variational inference and deep neural networks. However, when paired with strong autoregressive decoders, VAE often converges to a degenerated local optimum known as "posterior collapse". Previous approaches consider the Kullback Leibler divergence (KL) individual for each datapoint. We propose to let the KL follow a distribution across the whole dataset, and analyze that it is sufficient to prevent posterior collapse by keeping the expectation of the KL's distribution positive. Then we propose Batch Normalized-VAE (BN-VAE), a simple but effective approach to set a lower bound of the expectation by regularizing the distribution of the approximate posterior's parameters. Without introducing any new model component or modifying the objective, our approach can avoid the posterior collapse effectively and efficiently. We further show that the proposed BN-VAE can be extended to conditional VAE (CVAE). Empirically, our approach surpasses strong autoregressive baselines on language modeling, text classification and dialogue generation, and rivals more complex approaches while keeping almost the same training time as VAE.
Adaptive model selection in photonic reservoir computing by reinforcement learning
Authors: Kazutaka Kanno, Makoto Naruse, Atsushi Uchida
Date: 2020-04-27 00:00:00
Tasks: Load Forecasting, Model Selection, reinforcement-learning, Reinforcement Learning, Reinforcement Learning (RL), Time Series, Time Series Analysis, Time Series Prediction

Photonic reservoir computing is an emergent technology toward beyond-Neumann computing. Although photonic reservoir computing provides superior performance in environments whose characteristics are coincident with the training datasets for the reservoir, the performance is significantly degraded if these characteristics deviate from the original knowledge used in the training phase. Here, we propose a scheme of adaptive model selection in photonic reservoir computing using reinforcement learning. In this scheme, a temporal waveform is generated by different dynamic source models that change over time. The system autonomously identifies the best source model for the task of time series prediction using photonic reservoir computing and reinforcement learning. We prepare two types of output weights for the source models, and the system adaptively selected the correct model using reinforcement learning, where the prediction errors are associated with rewards. We succeed in adaptive model selection when the source signal is temporally mixed, having originally been generated by two different dynamic system models, as well as when the signal is a mixture from the same model but with different parameter values. This study paves the way for autonomous behavior in photonic artificial intelligence and could lead to new applications in load forecasting and multi-objective control, where frequent environment changes are expected.
Single- and Multi-Objective Evolutionary Algorithms for the Knapsack Problem with Dynamically Changing Constraints
Authors: Vahid Roostapour, Aneta Neumann, Frank Neumann
Date: 2020-04-27 00:00:00
Tasks: Diversity, Evolutionary Algorithms

Evolutionary algorithms are bio-inspired algorithms that can easily adapt to changing environments. Recent results in the area of runtime analysis have pointed out that algorithms such as the (1+1)~EA and Global SEMO can efficiently reoptimize linear functions under a dynamic uniform constraint. Motivated by this study, we investigate single- and multi-objective baseline evolutionary algorithms for the classical knapsack problem where the capacity of the knapsack varies over time. We establish different benchmark scenarios where the capacity changes every $\tau$ iterations according to a uniform or normal distribution. Our experimental investigations analyze the behavior of our algorithms in terms of the magnitude of changes determined by parameters of the chosen distribution, the frequency determined by $\tau$, and the class of knapsack instance under consideration. Our results show that the multi-objective approaches using a population that caters for dynamic changes have a clear advantage on many benchmarks scenarios when the frequency of changes is not too high. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the diversity mechanisms used in popular evolutionary multi-objective algorithms such as NSGA-II and SPEA2 do not necessarily result in better performance and even lead to inferior results compared to our simple multi-objective approaches.
Exploiting Defenses against GAN-Based Feature Inference Attacks in Federated Learning
Authors: Xinjian Luo, Xianglong Zhang
Date: 2020-04-27 00:00:00
Tasks: BIG-bench Machine Learning, Federated Learning, General Classification, Generative Adversarial Network, Inference Attack

Federated learning (FL) is a decentralized model training framework that aims to merge isolated data islands while maintaining data privacy. However, recent studies have revealed that Generative Adversarial Network (GAN) based attacks can be employed in FL to learn the distribution of private datasets and reconstruct recognizable images. In this paper, we exploit defenses against GAN-based attacks in FL and propose a framework, Anti-GAN, to prevent attackers from learning the real distribution of the victim's data. The core idea of Anti-GAN is to manipulate the visual features of private training images to make them indistinguishable to human eyes even restored by attackers. Specifically, Anti-GAN projects the private dataset onto a GAN's generator and combines the generated fake images with the actual images to create the training dataset, which is then used for federated model training. The experimental results demonstrate that Anti-GAN is effective in preventing attackers from learning the distribution of private images while causing minimal harm to the accuracy of the federated model.
The Ingredients of Real-World Robotic Reinforcement Learning
Authors: Henry Zhu, Justin Yu, Abhishek Gupta, Dhruv Shah, Kristian Hartikainen, Avi Singh, Vikash Kumar, Sergey Levine
Date: 2020-04-27 00:00:00
Tasks: reinforcement-learning, Reinforcement Learning, Reinforcement Learning (RL)

The success of reinforcement learning for real world robotics has been, in many cases limited to instrumented laboratory scenarios, often requiring arduous human effort and oversight to enable continuous learning. In this work, we discuss the elements that are needed for a robotic learning system that can continually and autonomously improve with data collected in the real world. We propose a particular instantiation of such a system, using dexterous manipulation as our case study. Subsequently, we investigate a number of challenges that come up when learning without instrumentation. In such settings, learning must be feasible without manually designed resets, using only on-board perception, and without hand-engineered reward functions. We propose simple and scalable solutions to these challenges, and then demonstrate the efficacy of our proposed system on a set of dexterous robotic manipulation tasks, providing an in-depth analysis of the challenges associated with this learning paradigm. We demonstrate that our complete system can learn without any human intervention, acquiring a variety of vision-based skills with a real-world three-fingered hand. Results and videos can be found at https://sites.google.com/view/realworld-rl/
Automatic Textual Evidence Mining in COVID-19 Literature
Authors: Xuan Wang, Weili Liu, Aabhas Chauhan, Yingjun Guan, Jiawei Han
Date: 2020-04-27 00:00:00
Tasks: named-entity-recognition, Named Entity Recognition, Named Entity Recognition (NER), Open Information Extraction, Retrieval

We created this EVIDENCEMINER system for automatic textual evidence mining in COVID-19 literature. EVIDENCEMINER is a web-based system that lets users query a natural language statement and automatically retrieves textual evidence from a background corpora for life sciences. It is constructed in a completely automated way without any human effort for training data annotation. EVIDENCEMINER is supported by novel data-driven methods for distantly supervised named entity recognition and open information extraction. The named entities and meta-patterns are pre-computed and indexed offline to support fast online evidence retrieval. The annotation results are also highlighted in the original document for better visualization. EVIDENCEMINER also includes analytic functionalities such as the most frequent entity and relation summarization.
Forecasting in Non-stationary Environments with Fuzzy Time Series
Authors: Petrônio Cândido de Lima e Silva, Carlos Alberto Severiano Junior, Marcos Antonio Alves, Rodrigo Silva, Miri Weiss Cohen, Frederico Gadelha Guimarães
Date: 2020-04-27 00:00:00
Tasks: Time Series, Time Series Analysis

In this paper we introduce a Non-Stationary Fuzzy Time Series (NSFTS) method with time varying parameters adapted from the distribution of the data. In this approach, we employ Non-Stationary Fuzzy Sets, in which perturbation functions are used to adapt the membership function parameters in the knowledge base in response to statistical changes in the time series. The proposed method is capable of dynamically adapting its fuzzy sets to reflect the changes in the stochastic process based on the residual errors, without the need to retraining the model. This method can handle non-stationary and heteroskedastic data as well as scenarios with concept-drift. The proposed approach allows the model to be trained only once and remain useful long after while keeping reasonable accuracy. The flexibility of the method by means of computational experiments was tested with eight synthetic non-stationary time series data with several kinds of concept drifts, four real market indices (Dow Jones, NASDAQ, SP500 and TAIEX), three real FOREX pairs (EUR-USD, EUR-GBP, GBP-USD), and two real cryptocoins exchange rates (Bitcoin-USD and Ethereum-USD). As competitor models the Time Variant fuzzy time series and the Incremental Ensemble were used, these are two of the major approaches for handling non-stationary data sets. Non-parametric tests are employed to check the significance of the results. The proposed method shows resilience to concept drift, by adapting parameters of the model, while preserving the symbolic structure of the knowledge base.
Dynamic Predictions of Postoperative Complications from Explainable, Uncertainty-Aware, and Multi-Task Deep Neural Networks
Authors: Benjamin Shickel, Tyler J. Loftus, Matthew Ruppert, Gilbert R. Upchurch, Tezcan Ozrazgat-Baslanti, Parisa Rashidi, Azra Bihorac
Date: 2020-04-27 00:00:00
Tasks: Decision Making, Deep Learning, Multi-Task Learning, Prognosis, Time Series, Time Series Analysis

Accurate prediction of postoperative complications can inform shared decisions regarding prognosis, preoperative risk-reduction, and postoperative resource use. We hypothesized that multi-task deep learning models would outperform random forest models in predicting postoperative complications, and that integrating high-resolution intraoperative physiological time series would result in more granular and personalized health representations that would improve prognostication compared to preoperative predictions. In a longitudinal cohort study of 56,242 patients undergoing 67,481 inpatient surgical procedures at a university medical center, we compared deep learning models with random forests for predicting nine common postoperative complications using preoperative, intraoperative, and perioperative patient data. Our study indicated several significant results across experimental settings that suggest the utility of deep learning for capturing more precise representations of patient health for augmented surgical decision support. Multi-task learning improved efficiency by reducing computational resources without compromising predictive performance. Integrated gradients interpretability mechanisms identified potentially modifiable risk factors for each complication. Monte Carlo dropout methods provided a quantitative measure of prediction uncertainty that has the potential to enhance clinical trust. Multi-task learning, interpretability mechanisms, and uncertainty metrics demonstrated potential to facilitate effective clinical implementation.
Data-Driven Construction of Data Center Graph of Things for Anomaly Detection
Authors: Hao Zhang, Zhan Li, Zhixing Ren
Date: 2020-04-27 00:00:00
Tasks: Anomaly Detection, Graph Neural Network, Time Series, Time Series Analysis

Data center (DC) contains both IT devices and facility equipment, and the operation of a DC requires a high-quality monitoring (anomaly detection) system. There are lots of sensors in computer rooms for the DC monitoring system, and they are inherently related. This work proposes a data-driven pipeline (ts2graph) to build a DC graph of things (sensor graph) from the time series measurements of sensors. The sensor graph is an undirected weighted property graph, where sensors are the nodes, sensor features are the node properties, and sensor connections are the edges. The sensor node property is defined by features that characterize the sensor events (behaviors), instead of the original time series. The sensor connection (edge weight) is defined by the probability of concurrent events between two sensors. A graph of things prototype is constructed from the sensor time series of a real data center, and it successfully reveals meaningful relationships between the sensors. To demonstrate the use of the DC sensor graph for anomaly detection, we compare the performance of graph neural network (GNN) and existing standard methods on synthetic anomaly data. GNN outperforms existing algorithms by a factor of 2 to 3 (in terms of precision and F1 score), because it takes into account the topology relationship between DC sensors. We expect that the DC sensor graph can serve as the infrastructure for the DC monitoring system since it represents the sensor relationships.
Interpretation of Deep Temporal Representations by Selective Visualization of Internally Activated Nodes
Authors: Sohee Cho, Ginkyeng Lee, Wonjoon Chang, Jaesik Choi
Date: 2020-04-27 00:00:00
Tasks: Clustering, General Classification

Recently deep neural networks demonstrate competitive performances in classification and regression tasks for many temporal or sequential data. However, it is still hard to understand the classification mechanisms of temporal deep neural networks. In this paper, we propose two new frameworks to visualize temporal representations learned from deep neural networks. Given input data and output, our algorithm interprets the decision of temporal neural network by extracting highly activated periods and visualizes a sub-sequence of input data which contributes to activate the units. Furthermore, we characterize such sub-sequences with clustering and calculate the uncertainty of the suggested type and actual data. We also suggest Layer-wise Relevance from the output of a unit, not from the final output, with backward Monte-Carlo dropout to show the relevance scores of each input point to activate units with providing a visual representation of the uncertainty about this impact.