pwc-archive/papers-with-abstracts huggingface dataset:
Securing the Skies: An IRS-Assisted AoI-Aware Secure Multi-UAV System with Efficient Task Offloading
Authors: Poorvi Joshi, Alakesh Kalita, Mohan Gurusamy
Date: 2024-04-06 00:00:00
Tasks: Deep Reinforcement Learning, Management

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are integral in various sectors like agriculture, surveillance, and logistics, driven by advancements in 5G. However, existing research lacks a comprehensive approach addressing both data freshness and security concerns. In this paper, we address the intricate challenges of data freshness, and security, especially in the context of eavesdropping and jamming in modern UAV networks. Our framework incorporates exponential AoI metrics and emphasizes secrecy rate to tackle eavesdropping and jamming threats. We introduce a transformer-enhanced Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL) approach to optimize task offloading processes. Comparative analysis with existing algorithms showcases the superiority of our scheme, indicating its promising advancements in UAV network management.
Predictive Modeling for Breast Cancer Classification in the Context of Bangladeshi Patients: A Supervised Machine Learning Approach with Explainable AI
Authors: Taminul Islam, Md. Alif Sheakh, Mst. Sazia Tahosin, Most. Hasna Hena, Shopnil Akash, Yousef A. Bin Jardan, Gezahign Fentahun Wondmie, Hiba-Allah Nafidi, Mohammed Bourhia
Date: 2024-04-06 00:00:00
Tasks: Cancer Classification

Breast cancer has rapidly increased in prevalence in recent years, making it one of the leading causes of mortality worldwide. Among all cancers, it is by far the most common. Diagnosing this illness manually requires significant time and expertise. Since detecting breast cancer is a time-consuming process, preventing its further spread can be aided by creating machine-based forecasts. Machine learning and Explainable AI are crucial in classification as they not only provide accurate predictions but also offer insights into how the model arrives at its decisions, aiding in the understanding and trustworthiness of the classification results. In this study, we evaluate and compare the classification accuracy, precision, recall, and F-1 scores of five different machine learning methods using a primary dataset (500 patients from Dhaka Medical College Hospital). Five different supervised machine learning techniques, including decision tree, random forest, logistic regression, naive bayes, and XGBoost, have been used to achieve optimal results on our dataset. Additionally, this study applied SHAP analysis to the XGBoost model to interpret the model's predictions and understand the impact of each feature on the model's output. We compared the accuracy with which several algorithms classified the data, as well as contrasted with other literature in this field. After final evaluation, this study found that XGBoost achieved the best model accuracy, which is 97%.
Compositional Conservatism: A Transductive Approach in Offline Reinforcement Learning
Authors: Yeda Song, Dongwook Lee, Gunhee Kim
Date: 2024-04-06 00:00:00
Tasks: D4RL, Offline RL, reinforcement-learning, Reinforcement Learning, Reinforcement Learning (RL)

Offline reinforcement learning (RL) is a compelling framework for learning optimal policies from past experiences without additional interaction with the environment. Nevertheless, offline RL inevitably faces the problem of distributional shifts, where the states and actions encountered during policy execution may not be in the training dataset distribution. A common solution involves incorporating conservatism into the policy or the value function to safeguard against uncertainties and unknowns. In this work, we focus on achieving the same objectives of conservatism but from a different perspective. We propose COmpositional COnservatism with Anchor-seeking (COCOA) for offline RL, an approach that pursues conservatism in a compositional manner on top of the transductive reparameterization (Netanyahu et al., 2023), which decomposes the input variable (the state in our case) into an anchor and its difference from the original input. Our COCOA seeks both in-distribution anchors and differences by utilizing the learned reverse dynamics model, encouraging conservatism in the compositional input space for the policy or value function. Such compositional conservatism is independent of and agnostic to the prevalent behavioral conservatism in offline RL. We apply COCOA to four state-of-the-art offline RL algorithms and evaluate them on the D4RL benchmark, where COCOA generally improves the performance of each algorithm. The code is available at https://github.com/runamu/compositional-conservatism.
Autonomous Artificial Intelligence Agents for Clinical Decision Making in Oncology
Authors: Dyke Ferber, Omar S. M. El Nahhas, Georg Wölflein, Isabella C. Wiest, Jan Clusmann, Marie-Elisabeth Leßman, Sebastian Foersch, Jacqueline Lammert, Maximilian Tschochohei, Dirk Jäger, Manuel Salto-Tellez, Nikolaus Schultz, Daniel Truhn, Jakob Nikolas Kather
Date: 2024-04-06 00:00:00
Tasks: Decision Making, Language Modelling, Large Language Model

Multimodal artificial intelligence (AI) systems have the potential to enhance clinical decision-making by interpreting various types of medical data. However, the effectiveness of these models across all medical fields is uncertain. Each discipline presents unique challenges that need to be addressed for optimal performance. This complexity is further increased when attempting to integrate different fields into a single model. Here, we introduce an alternative approach to multimodal medical AI that utilizes the generalist capabilities of a large language model (LLM) as a central reasoning engine. This engine autonomously coordinates and deploys a set of specialized medical AI tools. These tools include text, radiology and histopathology image interpretation, genomic data processing, web searches, and document retrieval from medical guidelines. We validate our system across a series of clinical oncology scenarios that closely resemble typical patient care workflows. We show that the system has a high capability in employing appropriate tools (97%), drawing correct conclusions (93.6%), and providing complete (94%), and helpful (89.2%) recommendations for individual patient cases while consistently referencing relevant literature (82.5%) upon instruction. This work provides evidence that LLMs can effectively plan and execute domain-specific models to retrieve or synthesize new information when used as autonomous agents. This enables them to function as specialist, patient-tailored clinical assistants. It also simplifies regulatory compliance by allowing each component tool to be individually validated and approved. We believe, that our work can serve as a proof-of-concept for more advanced LLM-agents in the medical domain.
Adaptive Intra-Class Variation Contrastive Learning for Unsupervised Person Re-Identification
Authors: Lingzhi Liu, Haiyang Zhang, Chengwei Tang, Tiantian Zhang
Date: 2024-04-06 00:00:00
Tasks: Clustering, Contrastive Learning, Person Re-Identification, Unsupervised Person Re-Identification

The memory dictionary-based contrastive learning method has achieved remarkable results in the field of unsupervised person Re-ID. However, The method of updating memory based on all samples does not fully utilize the hardest sample to improve the generalization ability of the model, and the method based on hardest sample mining will inevitably introduce false-positive samples that are incorrectly clustered in the early stages of the model. Clustering-based methods usually discard a significant number of outliers, leading to the loss of valuable information. In order to address the issues mentioned before, we propose an adaptive intra-class variation contrastive learning algorithm for unsupervised Re-ID, called AdaInCV. And the algorithm quantitatively evaluates the learning ability of the model for each class by considering the intra-class variations after clustering, which helps in selecting appropriate samples during the training process of the model. To be more specific, two new strategies are proposed: Adaptive Sample Mining (AdaSaM) and Adaptive Outlier Filter (AdaOF). The first one gradually creates more reliable clusters to dynamically refine the memory, while the second can identify and filter out valuable outliers as negative samples.
Focused Active Learning for Histopathological Image Classification
Authors: Arne Schmidt, Pablo Morales-Álvarez, Lee A. D. Cooper, Lee A. Newberg, Andinet Enquobahrie, Aggelos K. Katsaggelos, Rafael Molina
Date: 2024-04-06 00:00:00
Tasks: Active Learning, Classification, Histopathological Image Classification, image-classification, Image Classification, Out-of-Distribution Detection

Active Learning (AL) has the potential to solve a major problem of digital pathology: the efficient acquisition of labeled data for machine learning algorithms. However, existing AL methods often struggle in realistic settings with artifacts, ambiguities, and class imbalances, as commonly seen in the medical field. The lack of precise uncertainty estimations leads to the acquisition of images with a low informative value. To address these challenges, we propose Focused Active Learning (FocAL), which combines a Bayesian Neural Network with Out-of-Distribution detection to estimate different uncertainties for the acquisition function. Specifically, the weighted epistemic uncertainty accounts for the class imbalance, aleatoric uncertainty for ambiguous images, and an OoD score for artifacts. We perform extensive experiments to validate our method on MNIST and the real-world Panda dataset for the classification of prostate cancer. The results confirm that other AL methods are 'distracted' by ambiguities and artifacts which harm the performance. FocAL effectively focuses on the most informative images, avoiding ambiguities and artifacts during acquisition. For both experiments, FocAL outperforms existing AL approaches, reaching a Cohen's kappa of 0.764 with only 0.69% of the labeled Panda data.
Transform then Explore: a Simple and Effective Technique for Exploratory Combinatorial Optimization with Reinforcement Learning
Authors: Tianle Pu, Changjun Fan, Mutian Shen, Yizhou Lu, Li Zeng, Zohar Nussinov, Chao Chen, Zhong Liu
Date: 2024-04-06 00:00:00
Tasks: Combinatorial Optimization, Feature Engineering, Reinforcement Learning (RL)

Many complex problems encountered in both production and daily life can be conceptualized as combinatorial optimization problems (COPs) over graphs. Recent years, reinforcement learning (RL) based models have emerged as a promising direction, which treat the COPs solving as a heuristic learning problem. However, current finite-horizon-MDP based RL models have inherent limitations. They are not allowed to explore adquately for improving solutions at test time, which may be necessary given the complexity of NP-hard optimization tasks. Some recent attempts solve this issue by focusing on reward design and state feature engineering, which are tedious and ad-hoc. In this work, we instead propose a much simpler but more effective technique, named gauge transformation (GT). The technique is originated from physics, but is very effective in enabling RL agents to explore to continuously improve the solutions during test. Morever, GT is very simple, which can be implemented with less than 10 lines of Python codes, and can be applied to a vast majority of RL models. Experimentally, we show that traditional RL models with GT technique produce the state-of-the-art performances on the MaxCut problem. Furthermore, since GT is independent of any RL models, it can be seamlessly integrated into various RL frameworks, paving the way of these models for more effective explorations in the solving of general COPs.
Binary Classifier Optimization for Large Language Model Alignment
Authors: Seungjae Jung, Gunsoo Han, Daniel Wontae Nam, Kyoung-Woon On
Date: 2024-04-06 00:00:00
Tasks: Language Modeling, Language Modelling, Large Language Model, model

Aligning Large Language Models (LLMs) to human preferences through preference optimization has been crucial but labor-intensive, necessitating for each prompt a comparison of both a chosen and a rejected text completion by evaluators. Recently, Kahneman-Tversky Optimization (KTO) has demonstrated that LLMs can be aligned using merely binary "thumbs-up" or "thumbs-down" signals on each prompt-completion pair. In this paper, we present theoretical foundations to explain the successful alignment achieved through these binary signals. Our analysis uncovers a new perspective: optimizing a binary classifier, whose logit is a reward, implicitly induces minimizing the Direct Preference Optimization (DPO) loss. In the process of this discovery, we identified two techniques for effective alignment: reward shift and underlying distribution matching. Consequently, we propose a new algorithm, \textit{Binary Classifier Optimization}, that integrates the techniques. We validate our methodology in two settings: first, on a paired preference dataset, where our method performs on par with DPO and KTO; and second, on binary signal datasets simulating real-world conditions with divergent underlying distributions between thumbs-up and thumbs-down data. Our model consistently demonstrates effective and robust alignment across two base LLMs and three different binary signal datasets, showcasing the strength of our approach to learning from binary feedback.
Power-Efficient Image Storage: Leveraging Super Resolution Generative Adversarial Network for Sustainable Compression and Reduced Carbon Footprint
Authors: Ashok Mondal, Satyam Singh
Date: 2024-04-06 00:00:00
Tasks: Data Compression, Generative Adversarial Network, Image Compression, SSIM, Super-Resolution

In recent years, large-scale adoption of cloud storage solutions has revolutionized the way we think about digital data storage. However, the exponential increase in data volume, especially images, has raised environmental concerns regarding power and resource consumption, as well as the rising digital carbon footprint emissions. The aim of this research is to propose a methodology for cloud-based image storage by integrating image compression technology with SuperResolution Generative Adversarial Networks (SRGAN). Rather than storing images in their original format directly on the cloud, our approach involves initially reducing the image size through compression and downsizing techniques before storage. Upon request, these compressed images will be retrieved and processed by SRGAN to generate images. The efficacy of the proposed method is evaluated in terms of PSNR and SSIM metrics. Additionally, a mathematical analysis is given to calculate power consumption and carbon footprint assesment. The proposed data compression technique provides a significant solution to achieve a reasonable trade off between environmental sustainability and industrial efficiency.
Towards Analyzing and Understanding the Limitations of DPO: A Theoretical Perspective
Authors: Duanyu Feng, Bowen Qin, Chen Huang, Zheng Zhang, Wenqiang Lei
Date: 2024-04-06 00:00:00

Direct Preference Optimization (DPO), which derives reward signals directly from pairwise preference data, has shown its effectiveness on aligning Large Language Models (LLMs) with human preferences. Despite its widespread use across various tasks, DPO has been criticized for its sensitivity to the SFT's effectiveness and its hindrance to the learning capacity towards human-preferred responses, leading to less satisfactory performance. To overcome those limitations, the theoretical understanding of DPO are indispensable but still lacking. To this end, we take a step towards theoretically analyzing and understanding the limitations of DPO. Specifically, we provide an analytical framework using the field theory to analyze the optimization process of DPO. By analyzing the gradient vector field of the DPO loss function, we find that the DPO loss function decreases the probability of producing human dispreferred data at a faster rate than it increases the probability of producing preferred data. This provides theoretical insights for understanding the limitations of DPO discovered in the related research experiments, thereby setting the foundation for its improvement.
Do We Really Need a Complex Agent System? Distill Embodied Agent into a Single Model
Authors: Zhonghan Zhao, Ke Ma, Wenhao Chai, Xuan Wang, Kewei Chen, Dongxu Guo, Yanting Zhang, Hongwei Wang, Gaoang Wang
Date: 2024-04-06 00:00:00
Tasks: Knowledge Distillation

With the power of large language models (LLMs), open-ended embodied agents can flexibly understand human instructions, generate interpretable guidance strategies, and output executable actions. Nowadays, Multi-modal Language Models~(MLMs) integrate multi-modal signals into LLMs, further bringing richer perception to entity agents and allowing embodied agents to perceive world-understanding tasks more delicately. However, existing works: 1) operate independently by agents, each containing multiple LLMs, from perception to action, resulting in gaps between complex tasks and execution; 2) train MLMs on static data, struggling with dynamics in open-ended scenarios; 3) input prior knowledge directly as prompts, suppressing application flexibility. We propose STEVE-2, a hierarchical knowledge distillation framework for open-ended embodied tasks, characterized by 1) a hierarchical system for multi-granular task division, 2) a mirrored distillation method for parallel simulation data, and 3) an extra expert model for bringing additional knowledge into parallel simulation. After distillation, embodied agents can complete complex, open-ended tasks without additional expert guidance, utilizing the performance and knowledge of a versatile MLM. Extensive evaluations on navigation and creation tasks highlight the superior performance of STEVE-2 in open-ended tasks, with $1.4 \times$ - $7.3 \times$ in performance.
PointSAGE: Mesh-independent superresolution approach to fluid flow predictions
Authors: Rajat Sarkar, Krishna Sai Sudhir Aripirala, Vishal Sudam Jadhav, Sagar Srinivas Sakhinana, Venkataramana Runkana
Date: 2024-04-06 00:00:00
Tasks: Super-Resolution

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) serves as a powerful tool for simulating fluid flow across diverse industries. High-resolution CFD simulations offer valuable insights into fluid behavior and flow patterns, aiding in optimizing design features or enhancing system performance. However, as resolution increases, computational data requirements and time increase proportionately. This presents a persistent challenge in CFD. Recently, efforts have been directed towards accurately predicting fine-mesh simulations using coarse-mesh simulations, with geometry and boundary conditions as input. Drawing inspiration from models designed for super-resolution, deep learning techniques like UNets have been applied to address this challenge. However, these existing methods are limited to structured data and fail if the mesh is unstructured due to its inability to convolute. Additionally, incorporating geometry/mesh information in the training process introduces drawbacks such as increased data requirements, challenges in generalizing to unseen geometries for the same physical phenomena, and issues with robustness to mesh distortions. To address these concerns, we propose a novel framework, PointSAGE a mesh-independent network that leverages the unordered, mesh-less nature of Pointcloud to learn the complex fluid flow and directly predict fine simulations, completely neglecting mesh information. Utilizing an adaptable framework, the model accurately predicts the fine data across diverse point cloud sizes, regardless of the training dataset's dimension. We have evaluated the effectiveness of PointSAGE on diverse datasets in different scenarios, demonstrating notable results and a significant acceleration in computational time in generating fine simulations compared to standard CFD techniques.
Panoptic Perception: A Novel Task and Fine-grained Dataset for Universal Remote Sensing Image Interpretation
Authors: Danpei Zhao, Bo Yuan, Ziqiang Chen, Tian Li, Zhuoran Liu, Wentao Li, Yue Gao
Date: 2024-04-06 00:00:00
Tasks: Image Captioning, Instance Segmentation, Multi-Task Learning, Scene Understanding, Segmentation, Semantic Segmentation

Current remote-sensing interpretation models often focus on a single task such as detection, segmentation, or caption. However, the task-specific designed models are unattainable to achieve the comprehensive multi-level interpretation of images. The field also lacks support for multi-task joint interpretation datasets. In this paper, we propose Panoptic Perception, a novel task and a new fine-grained dataset (FineGrip) to achieve a more thorough and universal interpretation for RSIs. The new task, 1) integrates pixel-level, instance-level, and image-level information for universal image perception, 2) captures image information from coarse to fine granularity, achieving deeper scene understanding and description, and 3) enables various independent tasks to complement and enhance each other through multi-task learning. By emphasizing multi-task interactions and the consistency of perception results, this task enables the simultaneous processing of fine-grained foreground instance segmentation, background semantic segmentation, and global fine-grained image captioning. Concretely, the FineGrip dataset includes 2,649 remote sensing images, 12,054 fine-grained instance segmentation masks belonging to 20 foreground things categories, 7,599 background semantic masks for 5 stuff classes and 13,245 captioning sentences. Furthermore, we propose a joint optimization-based panoptic perception model. Experimental results on FineGrip demonstrate the feasibility of the panoptic perception task and the beneficial effect of multi-task joint optimization on individual tasks. The dataset will be publicly available.
Neuroevolving Electronic Dynamical Networks
Authors: Derek Whitley
Date: 2024-04-06 00:00:00
Tasks: Dynamic neural networks

Neuroevolution is a powerful method of applying an evolutionary algorithm to refine the performance of artificial neural networks through natural selection; however, the fitness evaluation of these networks can be time-consuming and computationally expensive, particularly for continuous time recurrent neural networks (CTRNNs) that necessitate the simulation of differential equations. To overcome this challenge, field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) have emerged as an increasingly popular solution, due to their high performance and low power consumption. Further, their ability to undergo dynamic and partial reconfiguration enables the extremely rapid evaluation of the fitness of CTRNNs, effectively addressing the bottleneck associated with conventional methods of evolvable hardware. By incorporating fitness evaluation directly upon the programmable logic of the FPGA, hyper-parallel evaluation becomes feasible, dramatically reducing the time required for assessment. This inherent parallelism of FPGAs accelerates the entire neuroevolutionary process by several orders of magnitude, facilitating faster convergence to an optimal solution. The work presented in this study demonstrates the potential of utilizing dynamic and partial reconfiguration on capable FPGAs as a powerful platform for neuroevolving dynamic neural networks.