pwc-archive/papers-with-abstracts huggingface dataset:
Bayesian Perceptron: Towards fully Bayesian Neural Networks
Authors: Marco F. Huber
Date: 2020-09-03 00:00:00
Tasks: Bayesian Inference

Artificial neural networks (NNs) have become the de facto standard in machine learning. They allow learning highly nonlinear transformations in a plethora of applications. However, NNs usually only provide point estimates without systematically quantifying corresponding uncertainties. In this paper a novel approach towards fully Bayesian NNs is proposed, where training and predictions of a perceptron are performed within the Bayesian inference framework in closed-form. The weights and the predictions of the perceptron are considered Gaussian random variables. Analytical expressions for predicting the perceptron's output and for learning the weights are provided for commonly used activation functions like sigmoid or ReLU. This approach requires no computationally expensive gradient calculations and further allows sequential learning.
MIPGAN -- Generating Strong and High Quality Morphing Attacks Using Identity Prior Driven GAN
Authors: Haoyu Zhang, Sushma Venkatesh, Raghavendra Ramachandra, Kiran Raja, Naser Damer, Christoph Busch
Date: 2020-09-03 00:00:00
Tasks: Face Generation, Face Recognition, Generative Adversarial Network, MORPH

Face morphing attacks target to circumvent Face Recognition Systems (FRS) by employing face images derived from multiple data subjects (e.g., accomplices and malicious actors). Morphed images can be verified against contributing data subjects with a reasonable success rate, given they have a high degree of facial resemblance. The success of morphing attacks is directly dependent on the quality of the generated morph images. We present a new approach for generating strong attacks extending our earlier framework for generating face morphs. We present a new approach using an Identity Prior Driven Generative Adversarial Network, which we refer to as MIPGAN (Morphing through Identity Prior driven GAN). The proposed MIPGAN is derived from the StyleGAN with a newly formulated loss function exploiting perceptual quality and identity factor to generate a high quality morphed facial image with minimal artefacts and with high resolution. We demonstrate the proposed approach's applicability to generate strong morphing attacks by evaluating its vulnerability against both commercial and deep learning based Face Recognition System (FRS) and demonstrate the success rate of attacks. Extensive experiments are carried out to assess the FRS's vulnerability against the proposed morphed face generation technique on three types of data such as digital images, re-digitized (printed and scanned) images, and compressed images after re-digitization from newly generated MIPGAN Face Morph Dataset. The obtained results demonstrate that the proposed approach of morph generation poses a high threat to FRS.
Survival Estimation for Missing not at Random Censoring Indicators based on Copula Models
Authors: Mikael Escobar-Bach, Olivier Goudet
Date: 2020-09-03 00:00:00

In the presence of right-censored data with covariates, the conditional Kaplan-Meier estimator (also known as the Beran estimator) consistently estimates the conditional survival function of the random follow-up for the event of interest. However, a necessary condition is the unambiguous knowledge of whether each individual is censored or not, which may be incomplete in practice. We therefore propose a study of the Beran estimator when the censoring indicators are generic random variables and discuss necessary conditions for the efficiency of the Beran estimator. From this, we provide a new estimator for the conditional survival function with missing not at random (MNAR) censoring indicators based on a conditional copula model for the missingness mechanism. In addition to the theoretical results, we illustrate how the estimators work for small samples through a simulation study and show their practical applicability by analyzing synthetic and real data.
Grounded Language Learning Fast and Slow
Authors: Felix Hill, Olivier Tieleman, Tamara von Glehn, Nathaniel Wong, Hamza Merzic, Stephen Clark
Date: 2020-09-03 00:00:00
Proceeding: ICLR 2021 1
Tasks: Grounded language learning, Meta-Learning, One-Shot Learning

Recent work has shown that large text-based neural language models, trained with conventional supervised learning objectives, acquire a surprising propensity for few- and one-shot learning. Here, we show that an embodied agent situated in a simulated 3D world, and endowed with a novel dual-coding external memory, can exhibit similar one-shot word learning when trained with conventional reinforcement learning algorithms. After a single introduction to a novel object via continuous visual perception and a language prompt ("This is a dax"), the agent can re-identify the object and manipulate it as instructed ("Put the dax on the bed"). In doing so, it seamlessly integrates short-term, within-episode knowledge of the appropriate referent for the word "dax" with long-term lexical and motor knowledge acquired across episodes (i.e. "bed" and "putting"). We find that, under certain training conditions and with a particular memory writing mechanism, the agent's one-shot word-object binding generalizes to novel exemplars within the same ShapeNet category, and is effective in settings with unfamiliar numbers of objects. We further show how dual-coding memory can be exploited as a signal for intrinsic motivation, stimulating the agent to seek names for objects that may be useful for later executing instructions. Together, the results demonstrate that deep neural networks can exploit meta-learning, episodic memory and an explicitly multi-modal environment to account for 'fast-mapping', a fundamental pillar of human cognitive development and a potentially transformative capacity for agents that interact with human users.
Multi-Loss Weighting with Coefficient of Variations
Authors: Rick Groenendijk, Sezer Karaoglu, Theo Gevers, Thomas Mensink
Date: 2020-09-03 00:00:00
Tasks: Depth Estimation, Monocular Depth Estimation, Multi-Task Learning, Semantic Segmentation

Many interesting tasks in machine learning and computer vision are learned by optimising an objective function defined as a weighted linear combination of multiple losses. The final performance is sensitive to choosing the correct (relative) weights for these losses. Finding a good set of weights is often done by adopting them into the set of hyper-parameters, which are set using an extensive grid search. This is computationally expensive. In this paper, we propose a weighting scheme based on the coefficient of variations and set the weights based on properties observed while training the model. The proposed method incorporates a measure of uncertainty to balance the losses, and as a result the loss weights evolve during training without requiring another (learning based) optimisation. In contrast to many loss weighting methods in literature, we focus on single-task multi-loss problems, such as monocular depth estimation and semantic segmentation, and show that multi-task approaches for loss weighting do not work on those single-tasks. The validity of the approach is shown empirically for depth estimation and semantic segmentation on multiple datasets.
Exploring Artist Gender Bias in Music Recommendation
Authors: Dougal Shakespeare, Lorenzo Porcaro, Emilia Gómez, Carlos Castillo
Date: 2020-09-03 00:00:00
Tasks: Collaborative Filtering, Music Recommendation, Recommendation Systems

Music Recommender Systems (mRS) are designed to give personalised and meaningful recommendations of items (i.e. songs, playlists or artists) to a user base, thereby reflecting and further complementing individual users' specific music preferences. Whilst accuracy metrics have been widely applied to evaluate recommendations in mRS literature, evaluating a user's item utility from other impact-oriented perspectives, including their potential for discrimination, is still a novel evaluation practice in the music domain. In this work, we center our attention on a specific phenomenon for which we want to estimate if mRS may exacerbate its impact: gender bias. Our work presents an exploratory study, analyzing the extent to which commonly deployed state of the art Collaborative Filtering(CF) algorithms may act to further increase or decrease artist gender bias. To assess group biases introduced by CF, we deploy a recently proposed metric of bias disparity on two listening event datasets: the LFM-1b dataset, and the earlier constructed Celma's dataset. Our work traces the causes of disparity to variations in input gender distributions and user-item preferences, highlighting the effect such configurations can have on user's gender bias after recommendation generation.
The ADAPT Enhanced Dependency Parser at the IWPT 2020 Shared Task
Authors: James Barry, Joachim Wagner, Jennifer Foster
Date: 2020-09-03 00:00:00
Proceeding: WS 2020 7

We describe the ADAPT system for the 2020 IWPT Shared Task on parsing enhanced Universal Dependencies in 17 languages. We implement a pipeline approach using UDPipe and UDPipe-future to provide initial levels of annotation. The enhanced dependency graph is either produced by a graph-based semantic dependency parser or is built from the basic tree using a small set of heuristics. Our results show that, for the majority of languages, a semantic dependency parser can be successfully applied to the task of parsing enhanced dependencies. Unfortunately, we did not ensure a connected graph as part of our pipeline approach and our competition submission relied on a last-minute fix to pass the validation script which harmed our official evaluation scores significantly. Our submission ranked eighth in the official evaluation with a macro-averaged coarse ELAS F1 of 67.23 and a treebank average of 67.49. We later implemented our own graph-connecting fix which resulted in a score of 79.53 (language average) or 79.76 (treebank average), which would have placed fourth in the competition evaluation.
Simulation of an Elevator Group Control Using Generative Adversarial Networks and Related AI Tools
Authors: Tom Peetz, Sebastian Vogt, Martin Zaefferer, Thomas Bartz-Beielstein
Date: 2020-09-03 00:00:00
Tasks: Image Generation

Testing new, innovative technologies is a crucial task for safety and acceptance. But how can new systems be tested if no historical real-world data exist? Simulation provides an answer to this important question. Classical simulation tools such as event-based simulation are well accepted. But most of these established simulation models require the specification of many parameters. Furthermore, simulation runs, e.g., CFD simulations, are very time consuming. Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) are powerful tools for generating new data for a variety of tasks. Currently, their most frequent application domain is image generation. This article investigates the applicability of GANs for imitating simulations. We are comparing the simulation output of a technical system with the output of a GAN. To exemplify this approach, a well-known multi-car elevator system simulator was chosen. Our study demonstrates the feasibility of this approach. It also discusses pitfalls and technical problems that occurred during the implementation. Although we were able to show that in principle, GANs can be used as substitutes for expensive simulation runs, we also show that they cannot be used "out of the box". Fine tuning is needed. We present a proof-of-concept, which can serve as a starting point for further research.
CAGNN: Cluster-Aware Graph Neural Networks for Unsupervised Graph Representation Learning
Authors: Yanqiao Zhu, Yichen Xu, Feng Yu, Shu Wu, Liang Wang
Date: 2020-09-03 00:00:00
Tasks: Clustering, Graph Neural Network, Graph Representation Learning, Node Clustering, Representation Learning

Unsupervised graph representation learning aims to learn low-dimensional node embeddings without supervision while preserving graph topological structures and node attributive features. Previous graph neural networks (GNN) require a large number of labeled nodes, which may not be accessible in real-world graph data. In this paper, we present a novel cluster-aware graph neural network (CAGNN) model for unsupervised graph representation learning using self-supervised techniques. In CAGNN, we perform clustering on the node embeddings and update the model parameters by predicting the cluster assignments. Moreover, we observe that graphs often contain inter-class edges, which mislead the GNN model to aggregate noisy information from neighborhood nodes. We further refine the graph topology by strengthening intra-class edges and reducing node connections between different classes based on cluster labels, which better preserves cluster structures in the embedding space. We conduct comprehensive experiments on two benchmark tasks using real-world datasets. The results demonstrate the superior performance of the proposed model over existing baseline methods. Notably, our model gains over 7% improvements in terms of accuracy on node clustering over state-of-the-arts.
Multidisciplinary Design Optimization of Reusable Launch Vehicles for Different Propellants and Objectives
Authors: Kai Dresia, Simon Jentzsch, Günther Waxenegger-Wilfing, Robson Hahn, Jan Deeken, Michael Oschwald, Fabio Mota
Date: 2020-09-03 00:00:00

Identifying the optimal design of a new launch vehicle is most important since design decisions made in the early development phase limit the vehicles' later performance and determines the associated costs. Reusing the first stage via retro-propulsive landing increases the complexity even more. Therefore, we develop an optimization framework for partially reusable launch vehicles, which enables multidisciplinary design studies. The framework contains suitable mass estimates of all essential subsystems and a routine to calculate the needed propellant for the ascent and landing maneuvers. For design optimization, the framework can be coupled with a genetic algorithm. The overall goal is to reveal the implications of different propellant combinations and objective functions on the launcher's optimal design for various mission scenarios. The results show that the optimization objective influences the most suitable propellant choice and the overall launcher design, concerning staging, weight, size, and rocket engine parameters. In terms of gross lift-off weight, liquid hydrogen seems to be favorable. When optimizing for a minimum structural mass or an expandable structural mass, hydrocarbon-based solutions show better results. Finally, launch vehicles using a hydrocarbon fuel in the first stage and liquid hydrogen in the upper stage are an appealing alternative, combining both fuels' benefits.
Deep Learning Based Antenna Selection for Channel Extrapolation in FDD Massive MIMO
Authors: Yindi Yang, Shun Zhang, Feifei Gao, Chao Xu, Jianpeng Ma, Octavia A. Dobre
Date: 2020-09-03 00:00:00

In massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems, the large number of antennas would bring a great challenge for the acquisition of the accurate channel state information, especially in the frequency division duplex mode. To overcome the bottleneck of the limited number of radio links in hybrid beamforming, we utilize the neural networks (NNs) to capture the inherent connection between the uplink and downlink channel data sets and extrapolate the downlink channels from a subset of the uplink channel state information. We study the antenna subset selection problem in order to achieve the best channel extrapolation and decrease the data size of NNs. The probabilistic sampling theory is utilized to approximate the discrete antenna selection as a continuous and differentiable function, which makes the back propagation of the deep learning feasible. Then, we design the proper off-line training strategy to optimize both the antenna selection pattern and the extrapolation NNs. Finally, numerical results are presented to verify the effectiveness of our proposed massive MIMO channel extrapolation algorithm.
Modification method for single-stage object detectors that allows to exploit the temporal behaviour of a scene to improve detection accuracy
Authors: Menua Gevorgyan
Date: 2020-09-03 00:00:00
Tasks: object-detection, Object Detection

A simple modification method for single-stage generic object detection neural networks, such as YOLO and SSD, is proposed, which allows for improving the detection accuracy on video data by exploiting the temporal behavior of the scene in the detection pipeline. It is shown that, using this method, the detection accuracy of the base network can be considerably improved, especially for occluded and hidden objects. It is shown that a modified network is more prone to detect hidden objects with more confidence than an unmodified one. A weakly supervised training method is proposed, which allows for training a modified network without requiring any additional annotated data.
Few-shot Object Detection with Feature Attention Highlight Module in Remote Sensing Images
Authors: Zixuan Xiao, Ping Zhong, Yuan Quan, Xuping Yin, Wei Xue
Date: 2020-09-03 00:00:00
Tasks: Few-Shot Object Detection, Object, object-detection, Object Detection

In recent years, there are many applications of object detection in remote sensing field, which demands a great number of labeled data. However, in many cases, data is extremely rare. In this paper, we proposed a few-shot object detector which is designed for detecting novel objects based on only a few examples. Through fully leveraging labeled base classes, our model that is composed of a feature-extractor, a feature attention highlight module as well as a two-stage detection backend can quickly adapt to novel classes. The pre-trained feature extractor whose parameters are shared produces general features. While the feature attention highlight module is designed to be light-weighted and simple in order to fit the few-shot cases. Although it is simple, the information provided by it in a serial way is helpful to make the general features to be specific for few-shot objects. Then the object-specific features are delivered to the two-stage detection backend for the detection results. The experiments demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method for few-shot cases.
Deep Learning Optimized Sparse Antenna Activation for Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface Assisted Communication
Authors: Shunbo Zhang, Shun Zhang, Feifei Gao, Jianpeng Ma, Octavia A. Dobre
Date: 2020-09-03 00:00:00

To capture the communications gain of the massive radiating elements with low power cost, the conventional reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) usually works in passive mode. However, due to the cascaded channel structure and the lack of signal processing ability, it is difficult for RIS to obtain the individual channel state information and optimize the beamforming vector. In this paper, we add signal processing units for a few antennas at RIS to partially acquire the channels. To solve the crucial active antenna selection problem, we construct an active antenna selection network that utilizes the probabilistic sampling theory to select the optimal locations of these active antennas. With this active antenna selection network, we further design two deep learning (DL) based schemes, i.e., the channel extrapolation scheme and the beam searching scheme, to enable the RIS communication system. The former utilizes the selection network and a convolutional neural network to extrapolate the full channels from the partial channels received by the active RIS antennas, while the latter adopts a fully-connected neural network to achieve the direct mapping between the partial channels and the optimal beamforming vector with maximal transmission rate. Simulation results are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the designed DL-based schemes.
Derived metrics for the game of Go -- intrinsic network strength assessment and cheat-detection
Authors: Attila Egri-Nagy, Antti Törmänen
Date: 2020-09-03 00:00:00
Tasks: Game of Go

The widespread availability of superhuman AI engines is changing how we play the ancient game of Go. The open-source software packages developed after the AlphaGo series shifted focus from producing strong playing entities to providing tools for analyzing games. Here we describe two ways of how the innovations of the second generation engines (e.g.~score estimates, variable komi) can be used for defining new metrics that help deepen our understanding of the game. First, we study how much information the search component contributes in addition to the raw neural network policy output. This gives an intrinsic strength measurement for the neural network. Second, we define the effect of a move by the difference in score estimates. This gives a fine-grained, move-by-move performance evaluation of a player. We use this in combating the new challenge of detecting online cheating.
Heightmap Reconstruction of Macula on Color Fundus Images Using Conditional Generative Adversarial Networks
Authors: Peyman Tahghighi, Reza A. Zoroofi, Sare Safi, Alireza Ramezani
Date: 2020-09-03 00:00:00
Tasks: 3D Reconstruction, Medical Diagnosis, SSIM, Translation

For screening, 3D shape of the eye retina often provides structural information and can assist ophthalmologists to diagnose diseases. However, fundus images which are one the most common screening modalities for retina diagnosis lack this information due to their 2D nature. Hence, in this work, we try to infer about this 3D information or more specifically its heights. Recent approaches have used shading information for reconstructing the heights but their output is not accurate since the utilized information is not sufficient. Additionally, other methods were dependent on the availability of more than one image of the eye which is not available in practice. In this paper, motivated by the success of Conditional Generative Adversarial Networks(cGANs) and deeply supervised networks, we propose a novel architecture for the generator which enhances the details in a sequence of steps. Comparisons on our dataset illustrate that the proposed method outperforms all of the state-of-the-art methods in image translation and medical image translation on this particular task. Additionally, clinical studies also indicate that the proposed method can provide additional information for ophthalmologists for diagnosis.
SCG-Net: Self-Constructing Graph Neural Networks for Semantic Segmentation
Authors: Qinghui Liu, Michael Kampffmeyer, Robert Jenssen, Arnt-Børre Salberg
Date: 2020-09-03 00:00:00
Tasks: Graph Reconstruction, Open-Ended Question Answering, Segmentation, Semantic Segmentation

Capturing global contextual representations by exploiting long-range pixel-pixel dependencies has shown to improve semantic segmentation performance. However, how to do this efficiently is an open question as current approaches of utilising attention schemes or very deep models to increase the models field of view, result in complex models with large memory consumption. Inspired by recent work on graph neural networks, we propose the Self-Constructing Graph (SCG) module that learns a long-range dependency graph directly from the image and uses it to propagate contextual information efficiently to improve semantic segmentation. The module is optimised via a novel adaptive diagonal enhancement method and a variational lower bound that consists of a customized graph reconstruction term and a Kullback-Leibler divergence regularization term. When incorporated into a neural network (SCG-Net), semantic segmentation is performed in an end-to-end manner and competitive performance (mean F1-scores of 92.0% and 89.8% respectively) on the publicly available ISPRS Potsdam and Vaihingen datasets is achieved, with much fewer parameters, and at a lower computational cost compared to related pure convolutional neural network (CNN) based models.