On Hierarchical Diameter-Clustering and the Supplier Problem

Given a data set in a metric space, we study the problem of hierarchical clustering to minimize the maximum cluster diameter, and the hierarchical k-supplier problem with customers arriving online. We prove that two previously known algorithms for hierarchical clustering, one (offline) due to Dasgupta and Long and the other (online) due to Charikar, Chekuri, Feder and Motwani, output essentially the same result when points are considered in the same order. We show that the analyses of both algorithms are tight and exhibit a new lower bound for hierarchical clustering. Finally we present the first constant factor approximation algorithm for the online hierarchical k-supplier problem.     

Vesicles and Amoebae: On Globally Constrained Shape Deformation

Modeling the deformation of shapes under constraints on both perimeter and area is a challenging task due to the highly nontrivial interaction between the need for flexible local rules for manipulating the boundary and the global constraints. We propose several methods to address this problem and generate “random walks” in the space of shapes obeying quite general possibly time varying constraints on their perimeter and area. Design of perimeter and area preserving deformations are an interesting and useful special case of this problem. The resulting deformation models are employed in annealing processes that evolve original shapes toward shapes that are optimal in terms of boundary bending-energy or other functionals. Furthermore, such models may find applications in the analysis of sequences of real images of deforming objects obeying global constraints as building blocks for registration and tracking algorithms.     

Interacting and Annealing Particle Filters: Mathematics and a Recipe for Applications

Interacting and annealing are two powerful strategies that are applied in different areas of stochastic modelling and data analysis. Interacting particle systems approximate a distribution of interest by a finite number of particles where the particles interact between the time steps. In computer vision, they are commonly known as particle filters. Simulated annealing, on the other hand, is a global optimization method derived from statistical mechanics. A recent heuristic approach to fuse these two techniques for motion capturing has become known as annealed particle filter. In order to analyze these techniques, we rigorously derive in this paper two algorithms with annealing properties based on the mathematical theory of interacting particle systems. Convergence results and sufficient parameter restrictions enable us to point out limitations of the annealed particle filter. Moreover, we evaluate the impact of the parameters on the performance in various experiments, including the tracking of articulated bodies from noisy measurements. Our results provide a general guidance on suitable parameter choices for different applications.

Exact Minkowksi Sums of Polyhedra and Exact and Efficient Decomposition of Polyhedra into Convex Pieces

We present the first exact and robust implementation of the 3D Minkowski sum of two non-convex polyhedra. Our implementation decomposes the two polyhedra into convex pieces, performs pairwise Minkowski sums on the convex pieces, and constructs their union. We achieve exactness and the handling of all degeneracies by building upon 3D Nef polyhedra as provided by Cgal. The implementation also supports open and closed polyhedra. This allows the handling of degenerate scenarios like the tight passage problem in robot motion planning. The bottleneck of our approach is the union step. We address efficiency by optimizing this step by two means: we implement an efficient decomposition that yields a small number of convex pieces, and develop, test and optimize multiple strategies for uniting the partial sums by consecutive binary union operations. The decomposition that we implemented as part of the Minkowski sum is interesting in its own right. It is the first robust implementation of a decomposition of polyhedra into convex pieces that yields at most O(r ²) pieces, where r is the number of edges whose adjacent facets comprise an angle of more than 180 degrees with respect to the interior of the polyhedron. This work was partially supported by the Netherlands’ Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) under project no. 639.023.301.     

Lower Bounds for Kernelizations and Other Preprocessing Procedures

We first present a method to rule out the existence of parameter non-increasing polynomial kernelizations of parameterized problems under the hypothesis P≠NP. This method is applicable, for example, to the problem Sat parameterized by the number of variables of the input formula. Then we obtain further improvements of corresponding results in (Bodlaender et al. in Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 5125, pp. 563–574, Springer, Berlin, 2008; Fortnow and Santhanam in Proceedings of the 40th ACM Symposium on the Theory of Computing (STOC’08), ACM, New York, pp. 133–142, 2008) by refining the central lemma of their proof method, a lemma due to Fortnow and Santhanam. In particular, assuming that the polynomial hierarchy does not collapse to its third level, we show that every parameterized problem with a “linear OR” and with NP-hard underlying classical problem does not have polynomial self-reductions that assign to every instance x with parameter k an instance y with |y|=k ^O(1)⋅|x|^1−ε (here ε is any given real number greater than zero). We give various applications of these results. On the structural side we prove several results clarifying the relationship between the different notions of preprocessing procedures, namely the various notions of kernelizations, self-reductions and compressions.     

Local and Nonlocal Discrete Regularization on Weighted Graphs for Image and Mesh Processing

We propose a discrete regularization framework on weighted graphs of arbitrary topology, which unifies local and nonlocal processing of images, meshes, and more generally discrete data. The approach considers the problem as a variational one, which consists in minimizing a weighted sum of two energy terms: a regularization one that uses the discrete p-Dirichlet form, and an approximation one. The proposed model is parametrized by the degree p of regularity, by the graph structure and by the weight function. The minimization solution leads to a family of simple linear and nonlinear processing methods. In particular, this family includes the exact expression or the discrete version of several neighborhood filters, such as the bilateral and the nonlocal means filter. In the context of images, local and nonlocal regularizations, based on the total variation models, are the continuous analog of the proposed model. Indirectly and naturally, it provides a discrete extension of these regularization methods for any discrete data or functions.     

Optimal and online preemptive scheduling on uniformly related machines

We consider the problem of preemptive scheduling on uniformly related machines. We present a semi-online algorithm which, if the optimal makespan is given in advance, produces an optimal schedule. Using the standard doubling technique, this yields a 4-competitive deterministic and an e≈2.71-competitive randomized online algorithm. In addition, it matches the performance of the previously known algorithms for the offline case, with a considerably simpler proof. Finally, we study the performance of greedy heuristics for the same problem.     

Network Design with Edge-Connectivity and Degree Constraints

We consider the following network design problem; Given a vertex set V with a metric cost c on V, an integer k≥1, and a degree specification b, find a minimum cost k-edge-connected multigraph on V under the constraint that the degree of each vertex v∈V is equal to b(v). This problem generalizes metric TSP. In this paper, we show that the problem admits a ρ-approximation algorithm if b(v)≥2, v∈V, where ρ=2.5 if k is even, and ρ=2.5+1.5/k if k is odd. We also prove that the digraph version of this problem admits a 2.5-approximation algorithm and discuss some generalization of metric TSP.     

Evaluation of gang scheduling performance and cost in a cloud computing system

Cloud Computing refers to the notion of outsourcing on-site available services, computational facilities, or data storage to an off-site, location-transparent centralized facility or “Cloud.” Gang Scheduling is an efficient job scheduling algorithm for time sharing, already applied in parallel and distributed systems. This paper studies the performance of a distributed Cloud Computing model, based on the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) architecture that implements a Gang Scheduling scheme. Our model utilizes the concept of Virtual Machines (or VMs) which act as the computational units of the system. Initially, the system includes no VMs, but depending on the computational needs of the jobs being serviced new VMs can be leased and later released dynamically. A simulation of the aforementioned model is used to study, analyze, and evaluate both the performance and the overall cost of two major gang scheduling algorithms. Results reveal that Gang Scheduling can be effectively applied in a Cloud Computing environment both performance-wise and cost-wise.     

Lattice Boltzmann Model Based on the Rebuilding-Divergency Method for the Laplace Equation and the Poisson Equation

In this paper, a new lattice Boltzmann model based on the rebuilding-divergency method for the Poisson equation is proposed. In order to translate the Poisson equation into a conservation law equation, the source term and diffusion term are changed into divergence forms. By using the Chapman-Enskog expansion and the multi-scale time expansion, a series of partial differential equations in different time scales and several higher-order moments of equilibrium distribution functions are obtained. Thus, by rebuilding the divergence of the source and diffusion terms, the Laplace equation and the Poisson equation with the second accuracy of the truncation errors are recovered. In the numerical examples, we compare the numerical results of this scheme with those obtained by other classical method for the Green-Taylor vortex flow, numerical results agree well with the classical ones.     

Generalized Jacobi Rational Spectral Method and Its Applications

We introduce an orthogonal system on the whole line, induced by the generalized Jacobi functions. Some results on the generalized Jacobi rational approximation are established, which play important roles in the related spectral methods. As examples of applications, the rational spectral schemes are proposed for sine-Gordon, Klein-Gordon and Fisher equations, with the convergence analysis. Numerical results demonstrate their efficiency.     

Primal Discontinuous Galerkin Methods for Time-Dependent Coupled Surface and Subsurface Flow

This paper introduces and analyzes a numerical method based on discontinuous finite element methods for solving the two-dimensional coupled problem of time-dependent incompressible Navier-Stokes equations with the Darcy equations through Beaver-Joseph-Saffman’s condition on the interface. The proposed method employs Crank-Nicolson discretization in time (which requires one step of a first order scheme namely backward Euler) and primal DG method in space. With the correct assumption on the first time step optimal error estimates are obtained that are high order in space and second order in time.     

Parallel spatiotemporal autocorrelation and visualization system for large-scale remotely sensed images

Current studies on large-scale remotely sensed images are of great national importance for monitoring and evaluating global climate and ecological changes. In particular, real time distributed high-performance visualization and computation have become indispensable research components in facilitating the extraction of remotely sensed image textures to enable mining spatiotemporal patterns and dynamics of landscapes from massive geo-digital information collected from satellites. Remotely sensed images are usually highly correlated with rich landscape features. By exploiting the structures of these images and extracting their textures, fundamental insights of the landscape can be derived. Furthermore, the interdisciplinary collaboration on the remotely sensed image analysis demands multifarious expertise in a wide spectrum of fields including geography, computer science, and engineering.     

A new model for the integrated vehicle-crew-rostering problem and a computational study on rosters

Operational planning within public transit companies has been extensively tackled but still remains a challenging area for operations research models and techniques. This phase of the planning process comprises vehicle-scheduling, crew-scheduling and rostering problems. In this paper, a new integer mathematical formulation to describe the integrated vehicle-crew-rostering problem is presented. The method proposed to obtain feasible solutions for this binary non-linear multi-objective optimization problem is a sequential algorithm considered within a preemptive goal programming framework that gives a higher priority to the integrated vehicle-crew-scheduling goal and a lower priority to the driver rostering goals. A heuristic approach is developed where the decision maker can choose from different vehicle-crew schedules and rosters, while respecting as much as possible management’s interests and drivers’ preferences. An application to real data of a Portuguese bus company shows the influence of vehicle-crew-scheduling optimization on rostering solutions.     

Spectral necessary and sufficient conditions for sampling-period-independent stabilisation of periodic and aperiodic sampled-data systems using a class of generalised sampled-data hold functions

Sampling-period-independent (SPI) stabilisation of both periodic and aperiodic sampled-data systems using a class of generalised sampled-data hold functions is addressed. It is proved that for this specific class of hold functions, a continuous-time linear system with rank-minimal input matrix and with non-defective eigenvalues on the imaginary axis is SPI-stabilisable if and only if the spectrum of the system is contained in the closed left-half plane. A systematic procedure for constructing suitable state-feedback controllers is also provided. Several examples are finally discussed for illustration.     

The optimal unbiased value estimator and its relation to LSTD,TD and MC

In this analytical study we derive the optimal unbiased value estimator (MVU) and compare its statistical risk to three well known value estimators: Temporal Difference learning (TD), Monte Carlo estimation (MC) and Least-Squares Temporal Difference Learning (LSTD). We demonstrate that LSTD is equivalent to the MVU if the Markov Reward Process (MRP) is acyclic and show that both differ for most cyclic MRPs as LSTD is then typically biased. More generally, we show that estimators that fulfill the Bellman equation can only be unbiased for special cyclic MRPs. The reason for this is that at each state the bias is calculated with a different probability measure and due to the strong coupling by the Bellman equation it is typically not possible for a set of value estimators to be unbiased with respect to each of these measures. Furthermore, we derive relations of the MVU to MC and TD. The most important of these relations is the equivalence of MC to the MVU and to LSTD for undiscounted MRPs in which MC has the same amount of information. In the discounted case this equivalence does not hold anymore. For TD we show that it is essentially unbiased for acyclic MRPs and biased for cyclic MRPs. We also order estimators according to their risk and present counter-examples to show that no general ordering exists between the MVU and LSTD, between MC and LSTD and between TD and MC. Theoretical results are supported by examples and an empirical evaluation.     

Energetically consistent simulation of simultaneous impacts and contacts in multibody systems with friction

This paper presents a methodology for treating energy consistency when considering simultaneous impacts and contacts with friction in the simulation of systems of interconnected bodies. Hard impact and contact is considered where deformation of the impacting surfaces is negligible. The proposed approach uses a discrete algebraic model of impact in conjunction with moment and tangential coefficients of restitution (CORs) to develop a general impact law for determining post-impact velocities. This process depends on impulse–momentum theory, the complementarity conditions, a principle of maximum dissipation, and the determination of contact forces and post-impact accelerations. The proposed methodology also uses an energy-modifying COR to directly control the system’s energy profile over time. The key result is that different energy profiles yield different results and thus energy consistency should be considered carefully in the development of dynamic simulations. The approach is illustrated on a double pendulum, considered to be a benchmark case, and a bicycle structure.     

Joint feature re-extraction and classification using an iterative semi-supervised support vector machine algorithm

The focus of this paper is on joint feature re-extraction and classification in cases when the training data set is small. An iterative semi-supervised support vector machine (SVM) algorithm is proposed, where each iteration consists both feature re-extraction and classification, and the feature re-extraction is based on the classification results from the previous iteration. Feature extraction is first discussed in the framework of Rayleigh coefficient maximization. The effectiveness of common spatial pattern (CSP) feature, which is commonly used in Electroencephalogram (EEG) data analysis and EEG-based brain computer interfaces (BCIs), can be explained by Rayleigh coefficient maximization. Two other features are also defined using the Rayleigh coefficient. These features are effective for discriminating two classes with different means or different variances. If we extract features based on Rayleigh coefficient maximization, a large training data set with labels is required in general; otherwise, the extracted features are not reliable. Thus we present an iterative semi-supervised SVM algorithm embedded with feature re-extraction. This iterative algorithm can be used to extract these three features reliably and perform classification simultaneously in cases where the training data set is small. Each iteration is composed of two main steps: (i) the training data set is updated/augmented using unlabeled test data with their predicted labels; features are re-extracted based on the augmented training data set. (ii) The re-extracted features are classified by a standard SVM. Regarding parameter setting and model selection of our algorithm, we also propose a semi-supervised learning-based method using the Rayleigh coefficient, in which both training data and test data are used. This method is suitable when cross-validation model selection may not work for small training data set. Finally, the results of data analysis are presented to demonstrate the validity of our approach. Editor: Olivier Chapelle.     

Minimum Augmentation of Edge-Connectivity between Vertices and Sets of Vertices in Undirected Graphs

Given an undirected multigraph G=(V,E), a family $\mathcal{W}Given an undirected multigraph G=(V,E), a family W\mathcal{W} of areas W⊆V, and a target connectivity k≥1, we consider the problem of augmenting G by the smallest number of new edges so that the resulting graph has at least k edge-disjoint paths between v and W for every pair of a vertex v∈V and an area W ? WW\in \mathcal{W} . So far this problem was shown to be NP-complete in the case of k=1 and polynomially solvable in the case of k=2. In this paper, we show that the problem for k≥3 can be solved in O(m+n(k ³+n ²)(p+kn+nlog n)log k+pkn ³log (n/k)) time, where n=|V|, m=|{{u,v}|(u,v)∈E}|, and p=|W|p=|\mathcal{W}| .