pwc-archive/papers-with-abstracts huggingface dataset:
Applying Feature Underspecified Lexicon Phonological Features in Multilingual Text-to-Speech
Authors: Cong Zhang, Huinan Zeng, Huang Liu, Jiewen Zheng
Date: 2022-04-14 00:00:00
Tasks: Language Acquisition, text-to-speech, Text to Speech

This study investigates whether the phonological features derived from the Featurally Underspecified Lexicon model can be applied in text-to-speech systems to generate native and non-native speech in English and Mandarin. We present a mapping of ARPABET/pinyin to SAMPA/SAMPA-SC and then to phonological features. This mapping was tested for whether it could lead to the successful generation of native, non-native, and code-switched speech in the two languages. We ran two experiments, one with a small dataset and one with a larger dataset. The results supported that phonological features could be used as a feasible input system for languages in or not in the train data, although further investigation is needed to improve model performance. The results lend support to FUL by presenting successfully synthesised output, and by having the output carrying a source-language accent when synthesising a language not in the training data. The TTS process stimulated human second language acquisition process and thus also confirm FUL's ability to account for acquisition.
Initialisation and Grammar Design in Grammar-Guided Evolutionary Computation
Authors: Grant Dick, Peter A. Whigham
Date: 2022-04-15 00:00:00

Grammars provide a convenient and powerful mechanism to define the space of possible solutions for a range of problems. However, when used in grammatical evolution (GE), great care must be taken in the design of a grammar to ensure that the polymorphic nature of the genotype-to-phenotype mapping does not impede search. Additionally, recent work has highlighted the importance of the initialisation method on GE's performance. While recent work has shed light on the matters of initialisation and grammar design with respect to GE, their impact on other methods, such as random search and context-free grammar genetic programming (CFG-GP), is largely unknown. This paper examines GE, random search and CFG-GP under a range of benchmark problems using several different initialisation routines and grammar designs. The results suggest that CFG-GP is less sensitive to initialisation and grammar design than both GE and random search: we also demonstrate that observed cases of poor performance by CFG-GP are managed through simple adjustment of tuning parameters. We conclude that CFG-GP is a strong base from which to conduct grammar-guided evolutionary search, and that future work should focus on understanding the parameter space of CFG-GP for better application.
An Introductory Review of Spiking Neural Network and Artificial Neural Network: From Biological Intelligence to Artificial Intelligence
Authors: Shengjie Zheng, Lang Qian, Pingsheng Li, Chenggang He, Xiaoqin Qin, Xiaojian Li
Date: 2022-04-09 00:00:00

Recently, stemming from the rapid development of artificial intelligence, which has gained expansive success in pattern recognition, robotics, and bioinformatics, neuroscience is also gaining tremendous progress. A kind of spiking neural network with biological interpretability is gradually receiving wide attention, and this kind of neural network is also regarded as one of the directions toward general artificial intelligence. This review introduces the following sections, the biological background of spiking neurons and the theoretical basis, different neuronal models, the connectivity of neural circuits, the mainstream neural network learning mechanisms and network architectures, etc. This review hopes to attract different researchers and advance the development of brain-inspired intelligence and artificial intelligence.
Cross-Frequency Coupling Increases Memory Capacity in Oscillatory Neural Networks
Authors: Connor Bybee, Alexander Belsten, Friedrich T. Sommer
Date: 2022-04-05 00:00:00
Tasks: Functional Connectivity, Hippocampus, Retrieval

An open problem in neuroscience is to explain the functional role of oscillations in neural networks, contributing, for example, to perception, attention, and memory. Cross-frequency coupling (CFC) is associated with information integration across populations of neurons. Impaired CFC is linked to neurological disease. It is unclear what role CFC has in information processing and brain functional connectivity. We construct a model of CFC which predicts a computational role for observed $\theta - \gamma$ oscillatory circuits in the hippocampus and cortex. Our model predicts that the complex dynamics in recurrent and feedforward networks of coupled oscillators performs robust information storage and pattern retrieval. Based on phasor associative memories (PAM), we present a novel oscillator neural network (ONN) model that includes subharmonic injection locking (SHIL) and which reproduces experimental observations of CFC. We show that the presence of CFC increases the memory capacity of a population of neurons connected by plastic synapses. CFC enables error-free pattern retrieval whereas pattern retrieval fails without CFC. In addition, the trade-offs between sparse connectivity, capacity, and information per connection are identified. The associative memory is based on a complex-valued neural network, or phasor neural network (PNN). We show that for values of $Q$ which are the same as the ratio of $\gamma$ to $\theta$ oscillations observed in the hippocampus and the cortex, the associative memory achieves greater capacity and information storage than previous models. The novel contributions of this work are providing a computational framework based on oscillator dynamics which predicts the functional role of neural oscillations and connecting concepts in neural network theory and dynamical system theory.
Cryogenic Neuromorphic Hardware
Authors: Md Mazharul Islam, Shamiul Alam, Md Shafayat Hossain, Kaushik Roy, Ahmedullah Aziz
Date: 2022-03-25 00:00:00

The revolution in artificial intelligence (AI) brings up an enormous storage and data processing requirement. Large power consumption and hardware overhead have become the main challenges for building next-generation AI hardware. To mitigate this, Neuromorphic computing has drawn immense attention due to its excellent capability for data processing with very low power consumption. While relentless research has been underway for years to minimize the power consumption in neuromorphic hardware, we are still a long way off from reaching the energy efficiency of the human brain. Furthermore, design complexity and process variation hinder the large-scale implementation of current neuromorphic platforms. Recently, the concept of implementing neuromorphic computing systems in cryogenic temperature has garnered intense interest thanks to their excellent speed and power metric. Several cryogenic devices can be engineered to work as neuromorphic primitives with ultra-low demand for power. Here we comprehensively review the cryogenic neuromorphic hardware. We classify the existing cryogenic neuromorphic hardware into several hierarchical categories and sketch a comparative analysis based on key performance metrics. Our analysis concisely describes the operation of the associated circuit topology and outlines the advantages and challenges encountered by the state-of-the-art technology platforms. Finally, we provide insights to circumvent these challenges for the future progression of research.
Distributed Reconstruction of Noisy Pooled Data
Authors: Max Hahn-Klimroth, Dominik Kaaser
Date: 2022-04-14 00:00:00

In the pooled data problem we are given a set of $n$ agents, each of which holds a hidden state bit, either $0$ or $1$. A querying procedure returns for a query set the sum of the states of the queried agents. The goal is to reconstruct the states using as few queries as possible. In this paper we consider two noise models for the pooled data problem. In the noisy channel model, the result for each agent flips with a certain probability. In the noisy query model, each query result is subject to random Gaussian noise. Our results are twofold. First, we present and analyze for both error models a simple and efficient distributed algorithm that reconstructs the initial states in a greedy fashion. Our novel analysis pins down the range of error probabilities and distributions for which our algorithm reconstructs the exact initial states with high probability. Secondly, we present simulation results of our algorithm and compare its performance with approximate message passing (AMP) algorithms that are conjectured to be optimal in a number of related problems.
On Variants of Root Normalised Order-aware Divergence and a Divergence based on Kendall's Tau
Authors: Tetsuya Sakai
Date: 2022-04-15 00:00:00

This paper reports on a follow-up study of the work reported in Sakai, which explored suitable evaluation measures for ordinal quantification tasks. More specifically, the present study defines and evaluates, in addition to the quantification measures considered earlier, a few variants of an ordinal quantification measure called Root Normalised Order-aware Divergence (RNOD), as well as a measure which we call Divergence based on Kendall's $\tau$ (DNKT). The RNOD variants represent alternative design choices based on the idea of Sakai's Distance-Weighted sum of squares (DW), while DNKT is designed to ensure that the system's estimated distribution over classes is faithful to the target priorities over classes. As this Priority Preserving Property (PPP) of DNKT may be useful in some applications, we also consider combining some of the existing quantification measures with DNKT. Our experiments with eight ordinal quantification data sets suggest that the variants of RNOD do not offer any benefit over the original RNOD at least in terms of system ranking consistency, i.e., robustness of the system ranking to the choice of test data. Of all ordinal quantification measures considered in this study (including Normalised Match Distance, a.k.a. Earth Mover's Distance), RNOD is the most robust measure overall. Hence the design choice of RNOD is a good one from this viewpoint. Also, DNKT is the worst performer in terms of system ranking consistency. Hence, if DNKT seems appropriate for a task, sample size design should take its statistical instability into account.
Interacting with Non-Cooperative User: A New Paradigm for Proactive Dialogue Policy
Authors: Wenqiang Lei, Yao Zhang, Feifan Song, Hongru Liang, Jiaxin Mao, Jiancheng Lv, Zhenglu Yang, Tat-Seng Chua
Date: 2022-04-07 00:00:00

Proactive dialogue system is able to lead the conversation to a goal topic and has advantaged potential in bargain, persuasion and negotiation. Current corpus-based learning manner limits its practical application in real-world scenarios. To this end, we contribute to advance the study of the proactive dialogue policy to a more natural and challenging setting, i.e., interacting dynamically with users. Further, we call attention to the non-cooperative user behavior -- the user talks about off-path topics when he/she is not satisfied with the previous topics introduced by the agent. We argue that the targets of reaching the goal topic quickly and maintaining a high user satisfaction are not always converge, because the topics close to the goal and the topics user preferred may not be the same. Towards this issue, we propose a new solution named I-Pro that can learn Proactive policy in the Interactive setting. Specifically, we learn the trade-off via a learned goal weight, which consists of four factors (dialogue turn, goal completion difficulty, user satisfaction estimation, and cooperative degree). The experimental results demonstrate I-Pro significantly outperforms baselines in terms of effectiveness and interpretability.
How Different are Pre-trained Transformers for Text Ranking?
Authors: David Rau, Jaap Kamps
Date: 2022-04-05 00:00:00
Tasks: Passage Retrieval, Retrieval

In recent years, large pre-trained transformers have led to substantial gains in performance over traditional retrieval models and feedback approaches. However, these results are primarily based on the MS Marco/TREC Deep Learning Track setup, with its very particular setup, and our understanding of why and how these models work better is fragmented at best. We analyze effective BERT-based cross-encoders versus traditional BM25 ranking for the passage retrieval task where the largest gains have been observed, and investigate two main questions. On the one hand, what is similar? To what extent does the neural ranker already encompass the capacity of traditional rankers? Is the gain in performance due to a better ranking of the same documents (prioritizing precision)? On the other hand, what is different? Can it retrieve effectively documents missed by traditional systems (prioritizing recall)? We discover substantial differences in the notion of relevance identifying strengths and weaknesses of BERT that may inspire research for future improvement. Our results contribute to our understanding of (black-box) neural rankers relative to (well-understood) traditional rankers, help understand the particular experimental setting of MS-Marco-based test collections.
Architecture and Operation Adaptive Network for Online Recommendations
Authors: Lang Lang, Zhenlong Zhu, Xuanye Liu, Jianxin Zhao, Jixing Xu, Minghui Shan
Date: 2021-08-14 00:00:00
Proceeding: KDD 2021 8

Learning feature interactions is crucial for model performance in online recommendations. Extensive studies are devoted to designing effective structures for learning interactive information in an explicit way and tangible progress has been made. However, the core interaction calculations of these models are artificially specified, such as inner product, outer product and self-attention, which results in high dependence on domain knowledge. Hence model effect is bounded by both restriction of human experience and the finiteness of candidate operations. In this paper, we propose a generalized interaction paradigm to lift the limitation, where operations adopted by existing models can be regarded as its special form. Based on this paradigm, we design a novel model to adaptively explore and optimize the operation itself according to data, named generalized interaction network(GIN). We proved that GIN is a generalized form of a wide range of state-of-the-art models, which means GIN can automatically search for the best operation among these models as well as a broader underlying architecture space. Finally, an architecture adaptation method is introduced to further boost the performance of GIN by discriminating important interactions. Thereby, architecture and operation adaptive network(AOANet) is presented. Experiment results on two large scale datasets show the superiority of our model. AOANet has been deployed to industrial production. In a 7-day A/B test, the click-through rate increased by 10.94%, which represents considerable business benefits.
Signal Reception With Generic Three-State Receptors in Synaptic MC
Authors: Sebastian Lotter, Michael T. Barros, Robert Schober, Maximilian Schäfer
Date: 2022-04-14 00:00:00

Synaptic communication is studied by communication engineers for two main reasons. One is to enable novel neuroengineering applications that require interfacing with neurons. The other reason is to draw inspiration for the design of synthetic molecular communication systems. Both of these goals require understanding of how the chemical synaptic signal is sensed and transduced at the synaptic receiver (Rx). While signal reception in synaptic molecular communication (SMC) depends heavily on the kinetics of the receptors employed by the synaptic Rxs, existing channel models for SMC either oversimplify the receptor kinetics or employ complex, high-dimensional kinetic schemes limited to specific types of receptors. Both approaches do not facilitate a comparative analysis of different types of natural synapses. In this paper, we propose a novel deterministic channel model for SMC which employs a generic three-state receptor model that captures the characteristics of the most important receptor types in SMC. The model is based on a transfer function expansion of Fick's diffusion equation and accounts for release, diffusion, and degradation of neurotransmitters as well as their reversible binding to finitely many generic postsynaptic receptors. The proposed SMC model is the first that allows studying the impact of the characteristic dynamics of the main postsynaptic receptor types on synaptic signal transmission. Numerical results indicate that the proposed model indeed exhibits a wide range of biologically plausible dynamics when specialized to specific natural receptor types.
Decoding Neural Correlation of Language-Specific Imagined Speech using EEG Signals
Authors: Keon-Woo Lee, Dae-Hyeok Lee, Sung-Jin Kim, Seong-Whan Lee
Date: 2022-04-15 00:00:00
Tasks: Brain Computer Interface, EEG, Electroencephalogram (EEG)

Speech impairments due to cerebral lesions and degenerative disorders can be devastating. For humans with severe speech deficits, imagined speech in the brain-computer interface has been a promising hope for reconstructing the neural signals of speech production. However, studies in the EEG-based imagined speech domain still have some limitations due to high variability in spatial and temporal information and low signal-to-noise ratio. In this paper, we investigated the neural signals for two groups of native speakers with two tasks with different languages, English and Chinese. Our assumption was that English, a non-tonal and phonogram-based language, would have spectral differences in neural computation compared to Chinese, a tonal and ideogram-based language. The results showed the significant difference in the relative power spectral density between English and Chinese in specific frequency band groups. Also, the spatial evaluation of Chinese native speakers in the theta band was distinctive during the imagination task. Hence, this paper would suggest the key spectral and spatial information of word imagination with specialized language while decoding the neural signals of speech.
The Rise of Intelligent Reflecting Surfaces in Integrated Sensing and Communications Paradigms
Authors: Ahmet M. Elbir, Kumar Vijay Mishra, M. R. Bhavani Shankar, Symeon Chatzinotas
Date: 2022-04-14 00:00:00
Tasks: ISAC, parameter estimation

The intelligent reflecting surface (IRS) alters the behavior of wireless media and, consequently, has potential to improve the performance and reliability of wireless systems such as communications and radar remote sensing. Recently, integrated sensing and communications (ISAC) has been widely studied as a means to efficiently utilize spectrum and thereby save cost and power. This article investigates the role of IRS in the future ISAC paradigms. While there is a rich heritage of recent research into IRS-assisted communications, the IRS-assisted radars and ISAC remain relatively unexamined. We discuss the putative advantages of IRS deployment, such as coverage extension, interference suppression, and enhanced parameter estimation, for both communications and radar. We introduce possible IRS-assisted ISAC scenarios with common and dedicated surfaces. The article provides an overview of related signal processing techniques and the design challenges, such as wireless channel acquisition, waveform design, and security.
Model-Based Deep Learning of Joint Probabilistic and Geometric Shaping for Optical Communication
Authors: Vladislav Neskorniuk, Andrea Carnio, Domenico Marsella, Sergei K. Turitsyn, Jaroslaw E. Prilepsky, Vahid Aref
Date: 2022-04-05 00:00:00
Tasks: Deep Learning

Autoencoder-based deep learning is applied to jointly optimize geometric and probabilistic constellation shaping for optical coherent communication. The optimized constellation shaping outperforms the 256 QAM Maxwell-Boltzmann probabilistic distribution with extra 0.05 bits/4D-symbol mutual information for 64 GBd transmission over 170 km SMF link.
Uncertainty Principles for the Short-time Free Metaplectic Transform
Authors: M. Younus Bhat, Aamir H. Dar
Date: 2022-03-24 00:00:00

The free metaplectic transformation (FMT) has gained much popularity in recent times because of its various application in signal processing, paraxial optical systems, digital algorithms, optical encryption and so on. However, the FMT is inadequate for localized analysis of non-transient signals, as such, it is imperative to introduce a unique localized transform coined as the short time free metaplectic transform (STFMT). In this paper, we investigate the STFMT. Firstly, we propose the definition of the STFMT, and provide the time frequency analysis of the proposed transform in the FMT domain. Secondly, we investigate the basic properties of the proposed transform including the reconstruction formula, Moyals formula. The emergence of the STFMT definition and its properties broadens the development of time-frequency representation of higher-dimensional signals theory to a certain extent. Finally, we extend some different uncertainty principles (UP) from quantum mechanics including Liebs, Pitts UP, Heisenbergs uncertainty principle, Hausdorff-Young, Hardys UP, Beurlings UP, Logarithmic UP, and Nazarovs UP which have already been well studied in the FMT domain
Wi-Fi and Bluetooth Contact Tracing Without User Intervention
Authors: Brosnan Yuen, Yifeng Bie, Duncan Cairns, Geoffrey Harper, Jason Xu, Charles Chang, Xiaodai Dong, Tao Lu
Date: 2022-03-31 00:00:00
Tasks: Privacy Preserving

Previous contact tracing systems required the users to perform many manual actions, such as installing smartphone applications, joining wireless networks, or carrying custom user devices. This increases the barrier to entry and lowers the user adoption rate. As a result, the contact tracing effectiveness is reduced. Unlike the systems above, we propose a new privacy preserving Wi-Fi and Bluetooth (BLE) contact tracing system that does not require smartphone applications, joining wireless networks, or custom user devices. Our specially built routers seamlessly track smartphones, laptops, smartwatches, BLE headphones, and tablets without any user action, but do not trace user identity. Mapping between devices and users is only carried out for confirmed cases and suspected contacts. Moreover, we can track the absolute positions of user devices within 1.0 m due to using bidirectional long short-term memory neural networks that are trained with data pre-collected by an autonomous robot. This allows public health authorities to track indirect droplet and surface transmissions that other contact tracing systems often overlook.