Publications | Empirical Inference - Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems

Shajarisales, N. A Novel Causal Inference Method for Time Series Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Germany, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Germany, 2014 (mastersthesis)

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A global analysis of extreme events and consequences for the terrestrial carbon cycle

Zscheischler, J.

Diss. No. 22043, ETH Zurich, Switzerland, ETH Zurich, Switzerland, 2014 (phdthesis)

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Zscheischler, J. A global analysis of extreme events and consequences for the terrestrial carbon cycle Diss. No. 22043, ETH Zurich, Switzerland, ETH Zurich, Switzerland, 2014 (phdthesis)

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Development of advanced methods for improving astronomical images

Schmeißer, N.

Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Germany, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Germany, 2014 (diplomathesis)

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Schmeißer, N. Development of advanced methods for improving astronomical images Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Germany, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Germany, 2014 (diplomathesis)

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The Feasibility of Causal Discovery in Complex Systems: An Examination of Climate Change Attribution and Detection

Lacosse, E.

Graduate Training Centre of Neuroscience, University of Tübingen, Germany, Graduate Training Centre of Neuroscience, University of Tübingen, Germany, 2014 (mastersthesis)

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Lacosse, E. The Feasibility of Causal Discovery in Complex Systems: An Examination of Climate Change Attribution and Detection Graduate Training Centre of Neuroscience, University of Tübingen, Germany, Graduate Training Centre of Neuroscience, University of Tübingen, Germany, 2014 (mastersthesis)

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Causal Discovery in the Presence of Time-Dependent Relations or Small Sample Size

Huang, B.

Graduate Training Centre of Neuroscience, University of Tübingen, Germany, Graduate Training Centre of Neuroscience, University of Tübingen, Germany, 2014 (mastersthesis)

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Huang, B. Causal Discovery in the Presence of Time-Dependent Relations or Small Sample Size Graduate Training Centre of Neuroscience, University of Tübingen, Germany, Graduate Training Centre of Neuroscience, University of Tübingen, Germany, 2014 (mastersthesis)

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Analysis of Distance Functions in Graphs

Alamgir, M.

University of Hamburg, Germany, University of Hamburg, Germany, 2014 (phdthesis)

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Alamgir, M. Analysis of Distance Functions in Graphs University of Hamburg, Germany, University of Hamburg, Germany, 2014 (phdthesis)

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2010

Computationally efficient algorithms for statistical image processing: Implementation in R

Langovoy, M., Wittich, O.

(2010-053), EURANDOM, Technische Universiteit Eindhoven, December 2010 (techreport)

Abstract

In the series of our earlier papers on the subject, we proposed a novel statistical hy- pothesis testing method for detection of objects in noisy images. The method uses results from percolation theory and random graph theory. We developed algorithms that allowed to detect objects of unknown shapes in the presence of nonparametric noise of unknown level and of un- known distribution. No boundary shape constraints were imposed on the objects, only a weak bulk condition for the object's interior was required. Our algorithms have linear complexity and exponential accuracy. In the present paper, we describe an implementation of our nonparametric hypothesis testing method. We provide a program that can be used for statistical experiments in image processing. This program is written in the statistical programming language R.

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2010

Langovoy, M., Wittich, O. Computationally efficient algorithms for statistical image processing: Implementation in R (2010-053), EURANDOM, Technische Universiteit Eindhoven, December 2010 (techreport)

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Fast Convergent Algorithms for Expectation Propagation Approximate Bayesian Inference

Seeger, M., Nickisch, H.

Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, December 2010 (techreport)

Abstract

We propose a novel algorithm to solve the expectation propagation relaxation of Bayesian inference for continuous-variable graphical models. In contrast to most previous algorithms, our method is provably convergent. By marrying convergent EP ideas from (Opper&Winther 05) with covariance decoupling techniques (Wipf&Nagarajan 08, Nickisch&Seeger 09), it runs at least an order of magnitude faster than the most commonly used EP solver.

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Seeger, M., Nickisch, H. Fast Convergent Algorithms for Expectation Propagation Approximate Bayesian Inference Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, December 2010 (techreport)

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Approximate Inference in Graphical Models

Hennig, P.

University of Cambridge, November 2010 (phdthesis)

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Hennig, P. Approximate Inference in Graphical Models University of Cambridge, November 2010 (phdthesis)

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Bayesian Inference and Experimental Design for Large Generalised Linear Models

Nickisch, H.

Biologische Kybernetik, Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany, September 2010 (phdthesis)

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Nickisch, H. Bayesian Inference and Experimental Design for Large Generalised Linear Models Biologische Kybernetik, Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany, September 2010 (phdthesis)

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A PAC-Bayesian Analysis of Graph Clustering and Pairwise Clustering

Seldin, Y.

Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Tübingen, Germany, September 2010 (techreport)

Abstract

We formulate weighted graph clustering as a prediction problem: given a subset of edge weights we analyze the ability of graph clustering to predict the remaining edge weights. This formulation enables practical and theoretical comparison of different approaches to graph clustering as well as comparison of graph clustering with other possible ways to model the graph. We adapt the PAC-Bayesian analysis of co-clustering (Seldin and Tishby, 2008; Seldin, 2009) to derive a PAC-Bayesian generalization bound for graph clustering. The bound shows that graph clustering should optimize a trade-off between empirical data fit and the mutual information that clusters preserve on the graph nodes. A similar trade-off derived from information-theoretic considerations was already shown to produce state-of-the-art results in practice (Slonim et al., 2005; Yom-Tov and Slonim, 2009). This paper supports the empirical evidence by providing a better theoretical foundation, suggesting formal generalization guarantees, and offering a more accurate way to deal with finite sample issues. We derive a bound minimization algorithm and show that it provides good results in real-life problems and that the derived PAC-Bayesian bound is reasonably tight.

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Seldin, Y. A PAC-Bayesian Analysis of Graph Clustering and Pairwise Clustering Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Tübingen, Germany, September 2010 (techreport)

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Sparse nonnegative matrix approximation: new formulations and algorithms

Tandon, R., Sra, S.

(193), Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Tübingen, Germany, September 2010 (techreport)

Abstract

We introduce several new formulations for sparse nonnegative matrix approximation. Subsequently, we solve these formulations by developing generic algorithms. Further, to help selecting a particular sparse formulation, we briefly discuss the interpretation of each formulation. Finally, preliminary experiments are presented to illustrate the behavior of our formulations and algorithms.

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Tandon, R., Sra, S. Sparse nonnegative matrix approximation: new formulations and algorithms (193), Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Tübingen, Germany, September 2010 (techreport)

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Robust nonparametric detection of objects in noisy images

Langovoy, M., Wittich, O.

(2010-049), EURANDOM, Technische Universiteit Eindhoven, September 2010 (techreport)

Abstract

We propose a novel statistical hypothesis testing method for detection of objects in noisy images. The method uses results from percolation theory and random graph theory. We present an algorithm that allows to detect objects of unknown shapes in the presence of nonparametric noise of unknown level and of unknown distribution. No boundary shape constraints are imposed on the object, only a weak bulk condition for the object's interior is required. The algorithm has linear complexity and exponential accuracy and is appropriate for real-time systems. In this paper, we develop further the mathematical formalism of our method and explore im- portant connections to the mathematical theory of percolation and statistical physics. We prove results on consistency and algorithmic complexity of our testing procedure. In addition, we address not only an asymptotic behavior of the method, but also a nite sample performance of our test.

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Langovoy, M., Wittich, O. Robust nonparametric detection of objects in noisy images (2010-049), EURANDOM, Technische Universiteit Eindhoven, September 2010 (techreport)

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Large Scale Variational Inference and Experimental Design for Sparse Generalized Linear Models

Seeger, M., Nickisch, H.

Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, August 2010 (techreport)

Abstract

Many problems of low-level computer vision and image processing, such as denoising, deconvolution, tomographic reconstruction or super-resolution, can be addressed by maximizing the posterior distribution of a sparse linear model (SLM). We show how higher-order Bayesian decision-making problems, such as optimizing image acquisition in magnetic resonance scanners, can be addressed by querying the SLM posterior covariance, unrelated to the density's mode. We propose a scalable algorithmic framework, with which SLM posteriors over full, high-resolution images can be approximated for the first time, solving a variational optimization problem which is convex iff posterior mode finding is convex. These methods successfully drive the optimization of sampling trajectories for real-world magnetic resonance imaging through Bayesian experimental design, which has not been attempted before. Our methodology provides new insight into similarities and differences between sparse reconstruction and approximate Bayesian inference, and has important implications for compressive sensing of real-world images.

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Seeger, M., Nickisch, H. Large Scale Variational Inference and Experimental Design for Sparse Generalized Linear Models Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, August 2010 (techreport)

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Cooperative Cuts for Image Segmentation

Jegelka, S., Bilmes, J.

(UWEETR-1020-0003), University of Washington, Washington DC, USA, August 2010 (techreport)

Abstract

We propose a novel framework for graph-based cooperative regularization that uses submodular costs on graph edges. We introduce an efficient iterative algorithm to solve the resulting hard discrete optimization problem, and show that it has a guaranteed approximation factor. The edge-submodular formulation is amenable to the same extensions as standard graph cut approaches, and applicable to a range of problems. We apply this method to the image segmentation problem. Specifically, Here, we apply it to introduce a discount for homogeneous boundaries in binary image segmentation on very difficult images, precisely, long thin objects and color and grayscale images with a shading gradient. The experiments show that significant portions of previously truncated objects are now preserved.

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Jegelka, S., Bilmes, J. Cooperative Cuts for Image Segmentation (UWEETR-1020-0003), University of Washington, Washington DC, USA, August 2010 (techreport)

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Inferring High-Dimensional Causal Relations using Free Probability Theory

Zscheischler, J.

Humboldt Universität Berlin, Germany, August 2010 (diplomathesis)

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Zscheischler, J. Inferring High-Dimensional Causal Relations using Free Probability Theory Humboldt Universität Berlin, Germany, August 2010 (diplomathesis)

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Fast algorithms for total-variationbased optimization

Barbero, A., Sra, S.

(194), Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Tübingen, Germany, August 2010 (techreport)

Abstract

We derive a number of methods to solve efficiently simple optimization problems subject to a totalvariation (TV) regularization, under different norms of the TV operator and both for the case of 1-dimensional and 2-dimensional data. In spite of the non-smooth, non-separable nature of the TV terms considered, we show that a dual formulation with strong structure can be derived. Taking advantage of this structure we develop adaptions of existing algorithms from the optimization literature, resulting in efficient methods for the problem at hand. Experimental results show that for 1-dimensional data the proposed methods achieve convergence within good accuracy levels in practically linear time, both for L1 and L2 norms. For the more challenging 2-dimensional case a performance of order O(N2 log2 N) for N x N inputs is achieved when using the L2 norm. A final section suggests possible extensions and lines of further work.

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Barbero, A., Sra, S. Fast algorithms for total-variationbased optimization (194), Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Tübingen, Germany, August 2010 (techreport)

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Predictive Representations For Sequential Decision Making Under Uncertainty

Boularias, A.

Université Laval, Quebec, Canada, July 2010 (phdthesis)

Abstract

The problem of making decisions is ubiquitous in life. This problem becomes even more complex when the decisions should be made sequentially. In fact, the execution of an action at a given time leads to a change in the environment of the problem, and this change cannot be predicted with certainty. The aim of a decision-making process is to optimally select actions in an uncertain environment. To this end, the environment is often modeled as a dynamical system with multiple states, and the actions are executed so that the system evolves toward a desirable state. In this thesis, we proposed a family of stochastic models and algorithms in order to improve the quality of of the decision-making process. The proposed models are alternative to Markov Decision Processes, a largely used framework for this type of problems. In particular, we showed that the state of a dynamical system can be represented more compactly if it is described in terms of predictions of certain future events. We also showed that even the cognitive process of selecting actions, known as policy, can be seen as a dynamical system. Starting from this observation, we proposed a panoply of algorithms, all based on predictive policy representations, in order to solve different problems of decision-making, such as decentralized planning, reinforcement learning, or imitation learning. We also analytically and empirically demonstrated that the proposed approaches lead to a decrease in the computational complexity and an increase in the quality of the decisions, compared to standard approaches for planning and learning under uncertainty.

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Boularias, A. Predictive Representations For Sequential Decision Making Under Uncertainty Université Laval, Quebec, Canada, July 2010 (phdthesis)

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Semi-supervised Subspace Learning and Application to Human Functional Magnetic Brain Resonance Imaging Data

Shelton, J.

Biologische Kybernetik, Eberhard Karls Universität, Tübingen, Germany, July 2010 (diplomathesis)

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Shelton, J. Semi-supervised Subspace Learning and Application to Human Functional Magnetic Brain Resonance Imaging Data Biologische Kybernetik, Eberhard Karls Universität, Tübingen, Germany, July 2010 (diplomathesis)

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Gaussian Mixture Modeling with Gaussian Process Latent Variable Models

Nickisch, H., Rasmussen, C.

Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, June 2010 (techreport)

Abstract

Density modeling is notoriously difficult for high dimensional data. One approach to the problem is to search for a lower dimensional manifold which captures the main characteristics of the data. Recently, the Gaussian Process Latent Variable Model (GPLVM) has successfully been used to find low dimensional manifolds in a variety of complex data. The GPLVM consists of a set of points in a low dimensional latent space, and a stochastic map to the observed space. We show how it can be interpreted as a density model in the observed space. However, the GPLVM is not trained as a density model and therefore yields bad density estimates. We propose a new training strategy and obtain improved generalisation performance and better density estimates in comparative evaluations on several benchmark data sets.

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Nickisch, H., Rasmussen, C. Gaussian Mixture Modeling with Gaussian Process Latent Variable Models Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, June 2010 (techreport)

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Generalized Proximity and Projection with Norms and Mixed-norms

Sra, S.

(192), Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Tübingen, Germany, May 2010 (techreport)

Abstract

We discuss generalized proximity operators (GPO) and their associated generalized projection problems. On inputs of size n, we show how to efficiently apply GPOs and generalized projections for separable norms and distance-like functions to accuracy e in O(n log(1/e)) time. We also derive projection algorithms that run theoretically in O(n log n log(1/e)) time but can for suitable parameter ranges empirically outperform the O(n log(1/e)) projection method. The proximity and projection tasks are either separable, and solved directly, or are reduced to a single root-finding step. We highlight that as a byproduct, our analysis also yields an O(n log(1/e)) (weakly linear-time) procedure for Euclidean projections onto the l1;1-norm ball; previously only an O(n log n) method was known. We provide empirical evaluation to illustrate the performance of our methods, noting that for the l1;1-norm projection, our implementation is more than two orders of magnitude faster than the previously known method.

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Sra, S. Generalized Proximity and Projection with Norms and Mixed-norms (192), Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Tübingen, Germany, May 2010 (techreport)

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Cooperative Cuts: Graph Cuts with Submodular Edge Weights

Jegelka, S., Bilmes, J.

(189), Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Tuebingen, Germany, March 2010 (techreport)

Abstract

We introduce a problem we call Cooperative cut, where the goal is to find a minimum-cost graph cut but where a submodular function is used to define the cost of a subsets of edges. That means, the cost of an edge that is added to the current cut set C depends on the edges in C. This generalization of the cost in the standard min-cut problem to a submodular cost function immediately makes the problem harder. Not only do we prove NP hardness even for nonnegative submodular costs, but also show a lower bound of Omega(|V|^(1/3)) on the approximation factor for the problem. On the positive side, we propose and compare four approximation algorithms with an overall approximation factor of min { |V|/2, |C*|, O( sqrt(|E|) log |V|), |P_max|}, where C* is the optimal solution, and P_max is the longest s, t path across the cut between given s, t. We also introduce additional heuristics for the problem which have attractive properties from the perspective of practical applications and implementations in that existing fast min-cut libraries may be used as subroutines. Both our approximation algorithms, and our heuristics, appear to do well in practice.

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Jegelka, S., Bilmes, J. Cooperative Cuts: Graph Cuts with Submodular Edge Weights (189), Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Tuebingen, Germany, March 2010 (techreport)

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Quantitative Evaluation of MR-based Attenuation Correction for Positron Emission Tomography (PET)

Mantlik, F.

Biologische Kybernetik, Universität Mannheim, Germany, March 2010 (diplomathesis)

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Mantlik, F. Quantitative Evaluation of MR-based Attenuation Correction for Positron Emission Tomography (PET) Biologische Kybernetik, Universität Mannheim, Germany, March 2010 (diplomathesis)

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Finding Gene-Gene Interactions using Support Vector Machines

Rakitsch, B.

Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Germany, 2010 (diplomathesis)

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Rakitsch, B. Finding Gene-Gene Interactions using Support Vector Machines Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Germany, 2010 (diplomathesis)

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Accurate Prediction of Protein-Coding Genes with Discriminative Learning Techniques

Schweikert, G.

Technische Universität Berlin, Germany, 2010 (phdthesis)

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Schweikert, G. Accurate Prediction of Protein-Coding Genes with Discriminative Learning Techniques Technische Universität Berlin, Germany, 2010 (phdthesis)

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Quantitative Positron Emission Tomography with a Combined PET/MR System

Hofmann, M.

University of Oxford, UK, 2010 (phdthesis)

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Hofmann, M. Quantitative Positron Emission Tomography with a Combined PET/MR System University of Oxford, UK, 2010 (phdthesis)

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Structural and Relational Data Mining for Systems Biology Applications

Georgii, E.

Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Germany , 2010 (phdthesis)

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Georgii, E. Structural and Relational Data Mining for Systems Biology Applications Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Germany , 2010 (phdthesis)

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Population Coding in the Visual System: Statistical Methods and Theory

Macke, J.

Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Germany, 2010 (phdthesis)

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Macke, J. Population Coding in the Visual System: Statistical Methods and Theory Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Germany, 2010 (phdthesis)

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Bayesian Methods for Neural Data Analysis

Gerwinn, S.

Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Germany, 2010 (phdthesis)

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Gerwinn, S. Bayesian Methods for Neural Data Analysis Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Germany, 2010 (phdthesis)

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Clustering with Neighborhood Graphs

Maier, M.

Universität des Saarlandes, Saarbrücken, Germany, 2010 (phdthesis)

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Maier, M. Clustering with Neighborhood Graphs Universität des Saarlandes, Saarbrücken, Germany, 2010 (phdthesis)

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Information-theoretic inference of common ancestors

Steudel, B., Ay, N.

Computing Research Repository (CoRR), abs/1010.5720, pages: 18, 2010 (techreport)

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Steudel, B., Ay, N. Information-theoretic inference of common ancestors Computing Research Repository (CoRR), abs/1010.5720, pages: 18, 2010 (techreport)

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Detecting and modeling time shifts in microarray time series data applying Gaussian processes

Zwießele, M.

Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Germany, 2010 (thesis)

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Zwießele, M. Detecting and modeling time shifts in microarray time series data applying Gaussian processes Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Germany, 2010 (thesis)

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Detecting the mincut in sparse random graphs

Köhler, R.

Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Germany, 2010 (diplomathesis)

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Köhler, R. Detecting the mincut in sparse random graphs Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Germany, 2010 (diplomathesis)

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A wider view on encoding and decoding in the visual brain-computer interface speller system

Martens, S.

Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Germany, 2010 (phdthesis)

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Martens, S. A wider view on encoding and decoding in the visual brain-computer interface speller system Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Germany, 2010 (phdthesis)

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2009

Learning an Interactive Segmentation System

Nickisch, H., Kohli, P., Rother, C.

Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, December 2009 (techreport)

Abstract

Many successful applications of computer vision to image or video manipulation are interactive by nature. However, parameters of such systems are often trained neglecting the user. Traditionally, interactive systems have been treated in the same manner as their fully automatic counterparts. Their performance is evaluated by computing the accuracy of their solutions under some fixed set of user interactions. This paper proposes a new evaluation and learning method which brings the user in the loop. It is based on the use of an active robot user - a simulated model of a human user. We show how this approach can be used to evaluate and learn parameters of state-of-the-art interactive segmentation systems. We also show how simulated user models can be integrated into the popular max-margin method for parameter learning and propose an algorithm to solve the resulting optimisation problem.

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2009

Nickisch, H., Kohli, P., Rother, C. Learning an Interactive Segmentation System Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, December 2009 (techreport)

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Detection of objects in noisy images and site percolation on square lattices

Langovoy, M., Wittich, O.

(2009-035), EURANDOM, Technische Universiteit Eindhoven, November 2009 (techreport)

Abstract

We propose a novel probabilistic method for detection of objects in noisy images. The method uses results from percolation and random graph theories. We present an algorithm that allows to detect objects of unknown shapes in the presence of random noise. Our procedure substantially differs from wavelets-based algorithms. The algorithm has linear complexity and exponential accuracy and is appropriate for real-time systems. We prove results on consistency and algorithmic complexity of our procedure.

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Langovoy, M., Wittich, O. Detection of objects in noisy images and site percolation on square lattices (2009-035), EURANDOM, Technische Universiteit Eindhoven, November 2009 (techreport)

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An Incremental GEM Framework for Multiframe Blind Deconvolution, Super-Resolution, and Saturation Correction

Harmeling, S., Sra, S., Hirsch, M., Schölkopf, B.

(187), Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Tübingen, Germany, November 2009 (techreport)

Abstract

We develop an incremental generalized expectation maximization (GEM) framework to model the multiframe blind deconvolution problem. A simplistic version of this problem was recently studied by Harmeling etal~cite{harmeling09}. We solve a more realistic version of this problem which includes the following major features: (i) super-resolution ability emph{despite} noise and unknown blurring; (ii) saturation-correction, i.e., handling of overexposed pixels that can otherwise confound the image processing; and (iii) simultaneous handling of color channels. These features are seamlessly integrated into our incremental GEM framework to yield simple but efficient multiframe blind deconvolution algorithms. We present technical details concerning critical steps of our algorithms, especially to highlight how all operations can be written using matrix-vector multiplications. We apply our algorithm to real-world images from astronomy and super resolution tasks. Our experimental results show that our methods yield improve d resolution and deconvolution at the same time.

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Harmeling, S., Sra, S., Hirsch, M., Schölkopf, B. An Incremental GEM Framework for Multiframe Blind Deconvolution, Super-Resolution, and Saturation Correction (187), Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Tübingen, Germany, November 2009 (techreport)

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Efficient Filter Flow for Space-Variant Multiframe Blind Deconvolution

Hirsch, M., Sra, S., Schölkopf, B., Harmeling, S.

(188), Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Tübingen, Germany, November 2009 (techreport)

Abstract

Ultimately being motivated by facilitating space-variant blind deconvolution, we present a class of linear transformations, that are expressive enough for space-variant filters, but at the same time especially designed for efficient matrix-vector-multiplications. Successful results on astronomical imaging through atmospheric turbulences and on noisy magnetic resonance images of constantly moving objects demonstrate the practical significance of our approach.

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Hirsch, M., Sra, S., Schölkopf, B., Harmeling, S. Efficient Filter Flow for Space-Variant Multiframe Blind Deconvolution (188), Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Tübingen, Germany, November 2009 (techreport)

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Algebraic polynomials and moments of stochastic integrals

Langovoy, M.

(2009-031), EURANDOM, Technische Universiteit Eindhoven, October 2009 (techreport)

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Langovoy, M. Algebraic polynomials and moments of stochastic integrals (2009-031), EURANDOM, Technische Universiteit Eindhoven, October 2009 (techreport)

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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.

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

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A PAC-Bayesian Approach to Structure Learning

Seldin, Y.

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

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

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Expectation Propagation on the Maximum of Correlated Normal Variables

Hennig, P.

Cavendish Laboratory: University of Cambridge, July 2009 (techreport)

Abstract

Many inference problems involving questions of optimality ask for the maximum or the minimum of a finite set of unknown quantities. This technical report derives the first two posterior moments of the maximum of two correlated Gaussian variables and the first two posterior moments of the two generating variables (corresponding to Gaussian approximations minimizing relative entropy). It is shown how this can be used to build a heuristic approximation to the maximum relationship over a finite set of Gaussian variables, allowing approximate inference by Expectation Propagation on such quantities.

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Hennig, P. Expectation Propagation on the Maximum of Correlated Normal Variables Cavendish Laboratory: University of Cambridge, July 2009 (techreport)

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Consistent Nonparametric Tests of Independence

Gretton, A., Györfi, L.

(172), Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Tübingen, Germany, July 2009 (techreport)

Abstract

Three simple and explicit procedures for testing the independence of two multi-dimensional random variables are described. Two of the associated test statistics (L1, log-likelihood) are defined when the empirical distribution of the variables is restricted to finite partitions. A third test statistic is defined as a kernel-based independence measure. Two kinds of tests are provided. Distribution-free strong consistent tests are derived on the basis of large deviation bounds on the test statistcs: these tests make almost surely no Type I or Type II error after a random sample size. Asymptotically alpha-level tests are obtained from the limiting distribution of the test statistics. For the latter tests, the Type I error converges to a fixed non-zero value alpha, and the Type II error drops to zero, for increasing sample size. All tests reject the null hypothesis of independence if the test statistics become large. The performance of the tests is evaluated experimentally on benchmark data.

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Gretton, A., Györfi, L. Consistent Nonparametric Tests of Independence (172), Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Tübingen, Germany, July 2009 (techreport)

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Semi-supervised subspace analysis of human functional magnetic resonance imaging data

Shelton, J., Blaschko, M., Bartels, A.

(185), Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Tübingen, Germany, May 2009 (techreport)

Abstract

Kernel Canonical Correlation Analysis is a very general technique for subspace learning that incorporates PCA and LDA as special cases. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) acquired data is naturally amenable to these techniques as data are well aligned. fMRI data of the human brain is 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 multi-variate labels (corresponding to video content subjects viewed during the image acquisition). In each variate condition, the semi-supervised variants of KCCA performed better than the supervised variants, including a supervised variant with Laplacian regularization. We additionally analyze the weights learned by the regression in order to infer brain regions that are important to different types of visual processing.

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Shelton, J., Blaschko, M., Bartels, A. Semi-supervised subspace analysis of human functional magnetic resonance imaging data (185), Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Tübingen, Germany, May 2009 (techreport)

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

Blaschko, MB.

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

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

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Model selection, large deviations and consistency of data-driven tests

Langovoy, M.

(2009-007), EURANDOM, Technische Universiteit Eindhoven, March 2009 (techreport)

Abstract

We consider three general classes of data-driven statistical tests. Neyman's smooth tests, data-driven score tests and data-driven score tests for statistical inverse problems serve as important special examples for the classes of tests under consideration. Our tests are additionally incorporated with model selection rules. The rules are based on the penalization idea. Most of the optimal penalties, derived in statistical literature, can be used in our tests. We prove general consistency theorems for the tests from those classes. Our proofs make use of large deviations inequalities for deterministic and random quadratic forms. The paper shows that the tests can be applied for simple and composite parametric, semi- and nonparametric hypotheses. Applications to testing in statistical inverse problems and statistics for stochastic processes are also presented..

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