Publications | Empirical Inference - Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems

Causal Discovery Beyond Conditional Independences

Sgouritsa, E.

Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Germany, October 2015 (phdthesis)

Sgouritsa, E. Causal Discovery Beyond Conditional Independences Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Germany, October 2015 (phdthesis)

Causal Inference for Empirical Time Series Based on the Postulate of Independence of Cause and Mechanism

Besserve, M.

53rd Annual Allerton Conference on Communication, Control, and Computing, September 2015 (talk)

Besserve, M. Causal Inference for Empirical Time Series Based on the Postulate of Independence of Cause and Mechanism 53rd Annual Allerton Conference on Communication, Control, and Computing, September 2015 (talk)

From Points to Probability Measures: A Statistical Learning on Distributions with Kernel Mean Embedding

Muandet, K.

University of Tübingen, Germany, University of Tübingen, Germany, September 2015 (phdthesis)

Muandet, K. From Points to Probability Measures: A Statistical Learning on Distributions with Kernel Mean Embedding University of Tübingen, Germany, University of Tübingen, Germany, September 2015 (phdthesis)

Machine Learning Approaches to Image Deconvolution

Schuler, C.

University of Tübingen, Germany, University of Tübingen, Germany, September 2015 (phdthesis)

Schuler, C. Machine Learning Approaches to Image Deconvolution University of Tübingen, Germany, University of Tübingen, Germany, September 2015 (phdthesis)

Blind Retrospective Motion Correction of MR Images

Loktyushin, A.

University of Tübingen, Germany, May 2015 (phdthesis)

Loktyushin, A. Blind Retrospective Motion Correction of MR Images University of Tübingen, Germany, May 2015 (phdthesis)

Independence of cause and mechanism in brain networks

Besserve, M.

DALI workshop on Networks: Processes and Causality, April 2015 (talk)

Besserve, M. Independence of cause and mechanism in brain networks DALI workshop on Networks: Processes and Causality, April 2015 (talk)

Information-Theoretic Implications of Classical and Quantum Causal Structures

Chaves, R., Majenz, C., Luft, L., Maciel, T., Janzing, D., Schölkopf, B., Gross, D.

18th Conference on Quantum Information Processing (QIP), 2015 (talk)

Web link (url) [BibTex]

Chaves, R., Majenz, C., Luft, L., Maciel, T., Janzing, D., Schölkopf, B., Gross, D. Information-Theoretic Implications of Classical and Quantum Causal Structures 18th Conference on Quantum Information Processing (QIP), 2015 (talk)

Web link (url) [BibTex]

Assessment of brain tissue damage in the Sub-Acute Stroke Region by Multiparametric Imaging using [89-Zr]-Desferal-EPO-PET/MRI

Castaneda, S. G., Katiyar, P., Russo, F., Disselhorst, J. A., Calaminus, C., Poli, S., Maurer, A., Ziemann, U., Pichler, B. J.

World Molecular Imaging Conference, 2015 (talk)

Castaneda, S. G., Katiyar, P., Russo, F., Disselhorst, J. A., Calaminus, C., Poli, S., Maurer, A., Ziemann, U., Pichler, B. J. Assessment of brain tissue damage in the Sub-Acute Stroke Region by Multiparametric Imaging using [89-Zr]-Desferal-EPO-PET/MRI World Molecular Imaging Conference, 2015 (talk)

A Cognitive Brain-Computer Interface for Patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Hohmann, M.

Graduate Training Centre of Neuroscience, University of Tübingen, Germany, 2015 (mastersthesis)

Hohmann, M. A Cognitive Brain-Computer Interface for Patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Graduate Training Centre of Neuroscience, University of Tübingen, Germany, 2015 (mastersthesis)

Early time point in vivo PET/MR is a promising biomarker for determining efficacy of a novel Db(\alphaEGFR)-scTRAIL fusion protein therapy in a colon cancer model

Divine, M. R., Harant, M., Katiyar, P., Disselhorst, J. A., Bukala, D., Aidone, S., Siegemund, M., Pfizenmaier, K., Kontermann, R., Pichler, B. J.

World Molecular Imaging Conference, 2015 (talk)

Divine, M. R., Harant, M., Katiyar, P., Disselhorst, J. A., Bukala, D., Aidone, S., Siegemund, M., Pfizenmaier, K., Kontermann, R., Pichler, B. J. Early time point in vivo PET/MR is a promising biomarker for determining efficacy of a novel Db(\alphaEGFR)-scTRAIL fusion protein therapy in a colon cancer model World Molecular Imaging Conference, 2015 (talk)

Sequential Image Deconvolution Using Probabilistic Linear Algebra

Gao, M.

Technical University of Munich, Germany, 2015 (mastersthesis)

Gao, M. Sequential Image Deconvolution Using Probabilistic Linear Algebra Technical University of Munich, Germany, 2015 (mastersthesis)

Causal Inference in Neuroimaging

Casarsa de Azevedo, L.

Graduate Training Centre of Neuroscience, University of Tübingen, Germany, 2015 (mastersthesis)

Casarsa de Azevedo, L. Causal Inference in Neuroimaging Graduate Training Centre of Neuroscience, University of Tübingen, Germany, 2015 (mastersthesis)

The effect of frowning on attention

Ibarra Chaoul, A.

Graduate Training Centre of Neuroscience, University of Tübingen, Germany, 2015 (mastersthesis)

Ibarra Chaoul, A. The effect of frowning on attention Graduate Training Centre of Neuroscience, University of Tübingen, Germany, 2015 (mastersthesis)

The search for single exoplanet transits in the Kepler light curves

Foreman-Mackey, D., Hogg, D. W., Schölkopf, B.

IAU General Assembly, 22, pages: 2258352, 2015 (talk)

Foreman-Mackey, D., Hogg, D. W., Schölkopf, B. The search for single exoplanet transits in the Kepler light curves IAU General Assembly, 22, pages: 2258352, 2015 (talk)

2009

Machine Learning for Brain-Computer Interfaces

Hill, NJ.

Mini-Symposia on Assistive Machine Learning for People with Disabilities at NIPS (AMD), December 2009 (talk)

Abstract

Brain-computer interfaces (BCI) aim to be the ultimate in assistive technology: decoding a user‘s intentions directly from brain signals without involving any muscles or peripheral nerves. Thus, some classes of BCI potentially offer hope for users with even the most extreme cases of paralysis, such as in late-stage Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, where nothing else currently allows communication of any kind. Other lines in BCI research aim to restore lost motor function in as natural a way as possible, reconnecting and in some cases re-training motor-cortical areas to control prosthetic, or previously paretic, limbs. Research and development are progressing on both invasive and non-invasive fronts, although BCI has yet to make a breakthrough to widespread clinical application. The high-noise high-dimensional nature of brain-signals, particularly in non-invasive approaches and in patient populations, make robust decoding techniques a necessity. Generally, the approach has been to use relatively simple feature extraction techniques, such as template matching and band-power estimation, coupled to simple linear classifiers. This has led to a prevailing view among applied BCI researchers that (sophisticated) machine-learning is irrelevant since "it doesn‘t matter what classifier you use once you‘ve done your preprocessing right and extracted the right features." I shall show a few examples of how this runs counter to both the empirical reality and the spirit of what needs to be done to bring BCI into clinical application. Along the way I‘ll highlight some of the interesting problems that remain open for machine-learners.

2009

Hill, NJ. Machine Learning for Brain-Computer Interfaces Mini-Symposia on Assistive Machine Learning for People with Disabilities at NIPS (AMD), December 2009 (talk)

PAC-Bayesian Approach to Formulation of Clustering Objectives

Seldin, Y.

NIPS Workshop on "Clustering: Science or Art? Towards Principled Approaches", December 2009 (talk)

Abstract

Clustering is a widely used tool for exploratory data analysis. However, the theoretical understanding of clustering is very limited. We still do not have a well-founded answer to the seemingly simple question of "how many clusters are present in the data?", and furthermore a formal comparison of clusterings based on different optimization objectives is far beyond our abilities. The lack of good theoretical support gives rise to multiple heuristics that confuse the practitioners and stall development of the field. We suggest that the ill-posed nature of clustering problems is caused by the fact that clustering is often taken out of its subsequent application context. We argue that one does not cluster the data just for the sake of clustering it, but rather to facilitate the solution of some higher level task. By evaluation of the clustering‘s contribution to the solution of the higher level task it is possible to compare different clusterings, even those obtained by different optimization objectives. In the preceding work it was shown that such an approach can be applied to evaluation and design of co-clustering solutions. Here we suggest that this approach can be extended to other settings, where clustering is applied.

Seldin, Y. PAC-Bayesian Approach to Formulation of Clustering Objectives NIPS Workshop on "Clustering: Science or Art? Towards Principled Approaches", December 2009 (talk)

Semi-supervised Kernel Canonical Correlation Analysis of Human Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Data

Shelton, JA.

Women in Machine Learning Workshop (WiML), December 2009 (talk)

Abstract

Kernel Canonical Correlation Analysis (KCCA) is a general technique for subspace learning that incorporates principal components analysis (PCA) and Fisher linear discriminant analysis (LDA) as special cases. By finding directions that maximize correlation, KCCA learns representations tied more closely to underlying process generating the the data and can ignore high-variance noise directions. However, for data where acquisition in a given modality is expensive or otherwise limited, KCCA may suffer from small sample effects. We propose to use semi-supervised Laplacian regularization to utilize data that are present in only one modality. This manifold learning approach is able to find highly correlated directions that also lie along the data manifold, resulting in a more robust estimate of correlated subspaces. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) acquired data are naturally amenable to subspace techniques as data are well aligned and such data of the human brain are a particularly interesting candidate. In this study we implemented various supervised and semi-supervised versions of KCCA on human fMRI data, with regression to single and multivariate labels (corresponding to video content subjects viewed during the image acquisition). In each variate condition, Laplacian regularization improved performance whereas the semi-supervised variants of KCCA yielded the best performance. We additionally analyze the weights learned by the regression in order to infer brain regions that are important during different types of visual processing.

Shelton, JA. Semi-supervised Kernel Canonical Correlation Analysis of Human Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Data Women in Machine Learning Workshop (WiML), December 2009 (talk)

Event-Related Potentials in Brain-Computer Interfacing

Hill, NJ.

Invited lecture on the bachelor & masters course "Introduction to Brain-Computer Interfacing", October 2009 (talk)

Abstract

An introduction to event-related potentials with specific reference to their use in brain-computer interfacing applications and research.

Hill, NJ. Event-Related Potentials in Brain-Computer Interfacing Invited lecture on the bachelor & masters course "Introduction to Brain-Computer Interfacing", October 2009 (talk)

BCI2000 and Python

Hill, NJ.

Invited lecture at the 5th International BCI2000 Workshop, October 2009 (talk)

Abstract

A tutorial, with exercises, on how to integrate your own Python code with the BCI2000 software package.

Hill, NJ. BCI2000 and Python Invited lecture at the 5th International BCI2000 Workshop, October 2009 (talk)

Implementing a Signal Processing Filter in BCI2000 Using C++

Hill, NJ., Mellinger, J.

Invited lecture at the 5th International BCI2000 Workshop, October 2009 (talk)

Abstract

This tutorial shows how the functionality of the BCI2000 software package can be extended with one‘s own code, using BCI2000‘s C++ API.

Hill, NJ., Mellinger, J. Implementing a Signal Processing Filter in BCI2000 Using C++ Invited lecture at the 5th International BCI2000 Workshop, October 2009 (talk)

Kernel Learning Approaches for Image Classification

Gehler, PV.

Biologische Kybernetik, Universität des Saarlandes, Saarbrücken, Germany, October 2009 (phdthesis)

Abstract

This thesis extends the use of kernel learning techniques to specific problems of image classification. Kernel learning is a paradigm in the field of machine learning that generalizes the use of inner products to compute similarities between arbitrary objects. In image classification one aims to separate images based on their visual content. We address two important problems that arise in this context: learning with weak label information and combination of heterogeneous data sources. The contributions we report on are not unique to image classification, and apply to a more general class of problems. We study the problem of learning with label ambiguity in the multiple instance learning framework. We discuss several different image classification scenarios that arise in this context and argue that the standard multiple instance learning requires a more detailed disambiguation. Finally we review kernel learning approaches proposed for this problem and derive a more efficient algorithm to solve them. The multiple kernel learning framework is an approach to automatically select kernel parameters. We extend it to its infinite limit and present an algorithm to solve the resulting problem. This result is then applied in two directions. We show how to learn kernels that adapt to the special structure of images. Finally we compare different ways of combining image features for object classification and present significant improvements compared to previous methods.

Gehler, PV. Kernel Learning Approaches for Image Classification Biologische Kybernetik, Universität des Saarlandes, Saarbrücken, Germany, October 2009 (phdthesis)

A PAC-Bayesian Approach to Structure Learning

Seldin, Y.

Biologische Kybernetik, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel, September 2009 (phdthesis)

Seldin, Y. A PAC-Bayesian Approach to Structure Learning Biologische Kybernetik, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel, September 2009 (phdthesis)

Randomized algorithms for statistical image analysis based on percolation theory

Davies, P., Langovoy, M., Wittich, O.

27th European Meeting of Statisticians (EMS), July 2009 (talk)

Abstract

We propose a novel probabilistic method for detection of signals and reconstruction of images in the presence of random noise. The method uses results from percolation and random graph theories (see Grimmett (1999)). We address the problem of detection and estimation of signals in situations where the signal-to-noise ratio is particularly low. We present an algorithm that allows to detect objects of various shapes in noisy images. The algorithm has linear complexity and exponential accuracy. Our algorithm substantially diers from wavelets-based algorithms (see Arias-Castro et.al. (2005)). Moreover, we present an algorithm that produces a crude estimate of an object based on the noisy picture. This algorithm also has linear complexity and is appropriate for real-time systems. We prove results on consistency and algorithmic complexity of our procedures.

Web PDF [BibTex]

Davies, P., Langovoy, M., Wittich, O. Randomized algorithms for statistical image analysis based on percolation theory 27th European Meeting of Statisticians (EMS), July 2009 (talk)

Web PDF [BibTex]

Learning Motor Primitives for Robotics

Kober, J., Peters, J., Oztop, E.

Advanced Telecommunications Research Center ATR, June 2009 (talk)

Abstract

The acquisition and self-improvement of novel motor skills is among the most important problems in robotics. Motor primitives offer one of the most promising frameworks for the application of machine learning techniques in this context. Employing the Dynamic Systems Motor primitives originally introduced by Ijspeert et al. (2003), appropriate learning algorithms for a concerted approach of both imitation and reinforcement learning are presented. Using these algorithms new motor skills, i.e., Ball-in-a-Cup, Ball-Paddling and Dart-Throwing, are learned.

Kober, J., Peters, J., Oztop, E. Learning Motor Primitives for Robotics Advanced Telecommunications Research Center ATR, June 2009 (talk)

Learning To Detect Unseen Object Classes by Between-Class Attribute Transfer

Lampert, C.

IEEE Computer Society Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR), June 2009 (talk)

Lampert, C. Learning To Detect Unseen Object Classes by Between-Class Attribute Transfer IEEE Computer Society Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR), June 2009 (talk)

Kernel Methods in Computer Vision:Object Localization, Clustering,and Taxonomy Discovery

Blaschko, MB.

Biologische Kybernetik, Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany, March 2009 (phdthesis)

PDF PDF [BibTex]

Blaschko, MB. Kernel Methods in Computer Vision:Object Localization, Clustering,and Taxonomy Discovery Biologische Kybernetik, Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany, March 2009 (phdthesis)

PDF PDF [BibTex]

Motor Control and Learning in Table Tennis

Mülling, K.

Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Gerrmany, 2009 (diplomathesis)

Mülling, K. Motor Control and Learning in Table Tennis Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Gerrmany, 2009 (diplomathesis)

Hierarchical Clustering and Density Estimation Based on k-nearest-neighbor graphs

Drewe, P.

Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Germany, 2009 (diplomathesis)

Drewe, P. Hierarchical Clustering and Density Estimation Based on k-nearest-neighbor graphs Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Germany, 2009 (diplomathesis)

Learning with Structured Data: Applications to Computer Vision

Nowozin, S.

Technische Universität Berlin, Germany, 2009 (phdthesis)

Nowozin, S. Learning with Structured Data: Applications to Computer Vision Technische Universität Berlin, Germany, 2009 (phdthesis)

From Differential Equations to Differential Geometry: Aspects of Regularisation in Machine Learning

Steinke, F.

Universität des Saarlandes, Saarbrücken, Germany, 2009 (phdthesis)

Steinke, F. From Differential Equations to Differential Geometry: Aspects of Regularisation in Machine Learning Universität des Saarlandes, Saarbrücken, Germany, 2009 (phdthesis)

2008

BCPy2000

Hill, N., Schreiner, T., Puzicha, C., Farquhar, J.

Workshop "Machine Learning Open-Source Software" at NIPS, December 2008 (talk)

2008

Hill, N., Schreiner, T., Puzicha, C., Farquhar, J. BCPy2000 Workshop "Machine Learning Open-Source Software" at NIPS, December 2008 (talk)

Shervashidze, N., Tsuda, K.

Logistic Regression for Graph Classification

NIPS Workshop on "Structured Input - Structured Output" (NIPS SISO), December 2008 (talk)

Abstract

In this paper we deal with graph classification. We propose a new algorithm for performing sparse logistic regression for graphs, which is comparable in accuracy with other methods of graph classification and produces probabilistic output in addition. Sparsity is required for the reason of interpretability, which is often necessary in domains such as bioinformatics or chemoinformatics.

Shervashidze, N., Tsuda, K. Logistic Regression for Graph Classification NIPS Workshop on "Structured Input - Structured Output" (NIPS SISO), December 2008 (talk)

New Projected Quasi-Newton Methods with Applications

Sra, S.

Microsoft Research Tech-talk, December 2008 (talk)

Abstract

Box-constrained convex optimization problems are central to several applications in a variety of fields such as statistics, psychometrics, signal processing, medical imaging, and machine learning. Two fundamental examples are the non-negative least squares (NNLS) problem and the non-negative Kullback-Leibler (NNKL) divergence minimization problem. The non-negativity constraints are usually based on an underlying physical restriction, for e.g., when dealing with applications in astronomy, tomography, statistical estimation, or image restoration, the underlying parameters represent physical quantities such as concentration, weight, intensity, or frequency counts and are therefore only interpretable with non-negative values. Several modern optimization methods can be inefficient for simple problems such as NNLS and NNKL as they are really designed to handle far more general and complex problems. In this work we develop two simple quasi-Newton methods for solving box-constrained (differentiable) convex optimization problems that utilize the well-known BFGS and limited memory BFGS updates. We position our method between projected gradient (Rosen, 1960) and projected Newton (Bertsekas, 1982) methods, and prove its convergence under a simple Armijo step-size rule. We illustrate our method by showing applications to: Image deblurring, Positron Emission Tomography (PET) image reconstruction, and Non-negative Matrix Approximation (NMA). On medium sized data we observe performance competitive to established procedures, while for larger data the results are even better.

Sra, S. New Projected Quasi-Newton Methods with Applications Microsoft Research Tech-talk, December 2008 (talk)

MR-Based PET Attenuation Correction: Initial Results for Whole Body

Hofmann, M., Steinke, F., Aschoff, P., Lichy, M., Brady, M., Schölkopf, B., Pichler, B.

Medical Imaging Conference, October 2008 (talk)

Hofmann, M., Steinke, F., Aschoff, P., Lichy, M., Brady, M., Schölkopf, B., Pichler, B. MR-Based PET Attenuation Correction: Initial Results for Whole Body Medical Imaging Conference, October 2008 (talk)

Nonparametric Indepedence Tests: Space Partitioning and Kernel Approaches

Gretton, A., Györfi, L.

19th International Conference on Algorithmic Learning Theory (ALT08), October 2008 (talk)

Gretton, A., Györfi, L. Nonparametric Indepedence Tests: Space Partitioning and Kernel Approaches 19th International Conference on Algorithmic Learning Theory (ALT08), October 2008 (talk)

Data-driven goodness-of-fit tests

Langovoy, M.

2008 Barcelona Conference on Asymptotic Statistics (BAS), September 2008 (talk)

Langovoy, M. Data-driven goodness-of-fit tests 2008 Barcelona Conference on Asymptotic Statistics (BAS), September 2008 (talk)

Reinforcement Learning for Motor Primitives

Kober, J.

Biologische Kybernetik, University of Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany, August 2008 (diplomathesis)

Kober, J. Reinforcement Learning for Motor Primitives Biologische Kybernetik, University of Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany, August 2008 (diplomathesis)

Asymmetries of Time Series under Inverting their Direction

Biologische Kybernetik, University of Heidelberg, August 2008 (diplomathesis)

Peters, J. Asymmetries of Time Series under Inverting their Direction Biologische Kybernetik, University of Heidelberg, August 2008 (diplomathesis)

mGene: A Novel Discriminative Gene Finder

Schweikert, G., Zeller, G., Zien, A., Behr, J., Sonnenburg, S., Philips, P., Ong, C., Rätsch, G.

Worm Genomics and Systems Biology meeting, July 2008 (talk)

Schweikert, G., Zeller, G., Zien, A., Behr, J., Sonnenburg, S., Philips, P., Ong, C., Rätsch, G. mGene: A Novel Discriminative Gene Finder Worm Genomics and Systems Biology meeting, July 2008 (talk)

Learning an Interest Operator from Human Eye Movements

Kienzle, W.

Biologische Kybernetik, Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany, July 2008 (phdthesis)

Kienzle, W. Learning an Interest Operator from Human Eye Movements Biologische Kybernetik, Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany, July 2008 (phdthesis)

Discovering Common Sequence Variation in Arabidopsis thaliana

16th Annual International Conference Intelligent Systems for Molecular Biology (ISMB), July 2008 (talk)

Rätsch, G., Clark, R., Schweikert, G., Toomajian, C., Ossowski, S., Zeller, G., Shinn, P., Warthman, N., Hu, T., Fu, G., Hinds, D., Cheng, H., Frazer, K., Huson, D., Schölkopf, B., Nordborg, M., Ecker, J., Weigel, D., Schneeberger, K., Bohlen, A. Discovering Common Sequence Variation in Arabidopsis thaliana 16th Annual International Conference Intelligent Systems for Molecular Biology (ISMB), July 2008 (talk)

Coding Theory in Brain-Computer Interfaces

Martens, SMM.

Soria Summerschool on Computational Mathematics "Algebraic Coding Theory" (S3CM), July 2008 (talk)

Martens, SMM. Coding Theory in Brain-Computer Interfaces Soria Summerschool on Computational Mathematics "Algebraic Coding Theory" (S3CM), July 2008 (talk)

Motor Skill Learning for Cognitive Robotics

6th International Cognitive Robotics Workshop (CogRob), July 2008 (talk)

Abstract

Autonomous robots that can assist humans in situations of daily life have been a long standing vision of robotics, artificial intelligence, and cognitive sciences. A first step towards this goal is to create robots that can learn tasks triggered by environmental context or higher level instruction. However, learning techniques have yet to live up to this promise as only few methods manage to scale to high-dimensional manipulator or humanoid robots. In this tutorial, we give a general overview on motor skill learning for cognitive robotics using research at ATR, USC, CMU and Max-Planck in order to illustrate the problems in motor skill learning. For doing so, we discuss task-appropriate representations and algorithms for learning robot motor skills. Among the topics are the learning basic movements or motor primitives by imitation and reinforcement learning, learning rhytmic and discrete movements, fast regression methods for learning inverse dynamics and setups for learning task-space policies. Examples on various robots, e.g., SARCOS DB, the SARCOS Master Arm, BDI Little Dog and a Barrett WAM, are shown and include Ball-in-a-Cup, T-Ball, Juggling, Devil-Sticking, Operational Space Control and many others.

Peters, J. Motor Skill Learning for Cognitive Robotics 6th International Cognitive Robotics Workshop (CogRob), July 2008 (talk)

Painless Embeddings of Distributions: the Function Space View (Part 1)

Fukumizu, K., Gretton, A., Smola, A.

25th International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML), July 2008 (talk)

Abstract

This tutorial will give an introduction to the recent understanding and methodology of the kernel method: dealing with higher order statistics by embedding painlessly random variables/probability distributions. In the early days of kernel machines research, the "kernel trick" was considered a useful way of constructing nonlinear algorithms from linear ones. More recently, however, it has become clear that a potentially more far reaching use of kernels is as a linear way of dealing with higher order statistics by embedding distributions in a suitable reproducing kernel Hilbert space (RKHS). Notably, unlike the straightforward expansion of higher order moments or conventional characteristic function approach, the use of kernels or RKHS provides a painless, tractable way of embedding distributions. This line of reasoning leads naturally to the questions: what does it mean to embed a distribution in an RKHS? when is this embedding injective (and thus, when do different distributions have unique mappings)? what implications are there for learning algorithms that make use of these embeddings? This tutorial aims at answering these questions. There are a great variety of applications in machine learning and computer science, which require distribution estimation and/or comparison.

Fukumizu, K., Gretton, A., Smola, A. Painless Embeddings of Distributions: the Function Space View (Part 1) 25th International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML), July 2008 (talk)

Reinforcement Learning for Robotics

8th European Workshop on Reinforcement Learning for Robotics (EWRL), July 2008 (talk)

Peters, J. Reinforcement Learning for Robotics 8th European Workshop on Reinforcement Learning for Robotics (EWRL), July 2008 (talk)

Multi-Classification by Categorical Features via Clustering

Seldin, Y.

25th International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML), June 2008 (talk)

Abstract

We derive a generalization bound for multi-classification schemes based on grid clustering in categorical parameter product spaces. Grid clustering partitions the parameter space in the form of a Cartesian product of partitions for each of the parameters. The derived bound provides a means to evaluate clustering solutions in terms of the generalization power of a built-on classifier. For classification based on a single feature the bound serves to find a globally optimal classification rule. Comparison of the generalization power of individual features can then be used for feature ranking. Our experiments show that in this role the bound is much more precise than mutual information or normalized correlation indices.

Seldin, Y. Multi-Classification by Categorical Features via Clustering 25th International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML), June 2008 (talk)

Thin-Plate Splines Between Riemannian Manifolds

Steinke, F., Hein, M., Schölkopf, B.

Workshop on Geometry and Statistics of Shapes, June 2008 (talk)

Abstract

With the help of differential geometry we describe a framework to define a thin-plate spline like energy for maps between arbitrary Riemannian manifolds. The so-called Eells energy only depends on the intrinsic geometry of the input and output manifold, but not on their respective representation. The energy can then be used for regression between manifolds, we present results for cases where the outputs are rotations, sets of angles, or points on 3D surfaces. In the future we plan to also target regression where the output is an element of "shape space", understood as a Riemannian manifold. One could also further explore the meaning of the Eells energy when applied to diffeomorphisms between shapes, especially with regard to its potential use as a distance measure between shapes that does not depend on the embedding or the parametrisation of the shapes.

Steinke, F., Hein, M., Schölkopf, B. Thin-Plate Splines Between Riemannian Manifolds Workshop on Geometry and Statistics of Shapes, June 2008 (talk)

Learning resolved velocity control

2008 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), May 2008 (talk)

Peters, J. Learning resolved velocity control 2008 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), May 2008 (talk)

Causal inference from statistical data

Sun, X.

Biologische Kybernetik, Technische Hochschule Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe, Germany, April 2008 (phdthesis)

Sun, X. Causal inference from statistical data Biologische Kybernetik, Technische Hochschule Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe, Germany, April 2008 (phdthesis)