Self-paced Convolutional Neural Network for Computer Aided Detection in Medical Imaging Analysis

Tissue characterization has long been an important component of Computer Aided Diagnosis (CAD) systems for automatic lesion detection and further clinical planning. Motivated by the superior performance of deep learning methods on various computer vision problems, there has been increasing work applying deep learning to medical image analysis. However, the development of a robust and reliable deep learning model for computer-aided diagnosis is still highly challenging due to the combination of the high heterogeneity in the medical images and the relative lack of training samples. Specifically, annotation and labeling of the medical images is much more expensive and time-consuming than other applications and often involves manual labor from multiple domain experts. In this work, we propose a multi-stage, self-paced learning framework utilizing a convolutional neural network (CNN) to classify Computed Tomography (CT) image patches. The key contribution of this approach is that we augment the size of training samples by refining the unlabeled instances with a self-paced learning CNN. By implementing the framework on high performance computing servers including the NVIDIA DGX1 machine, we obtained the experimental result, showing that the self-pace boosted network consistently outperformed the original network even with very scarce manual labels. The performance gain indicates that applications with limited training samples such as medical image analysis can benefit from using the proposed framework.Comment: accepted by 8th International Workshop on Machine Learning in Medical Imaging (MLMI 2017

A Network Disaster Recovery Plan Framework for Academic Computing Centre

This thesis presents a network disaster recovery plan (DRP) framework for academic computing centre. Universiti Utara Malaysia Computer Centre is taken as a case study. The proposed framework consists of seven phases of disaster recovery plan which has been enhanced and improved by researcher based on past studies. The phases of the framework are risk assessment, prevention, preparedness, reaction, immediate recovery, restoration and review. The type of disaster in this study focuses on virus threats. In addition, the framework describes the virus management processes in each phases which is before, during and after virus occurs. The framework of network disaster recovery plan outlined here should provide the direction necessary for planning at any academic computing centre

A cost-effective intelligent robotic system with dual-arm dexterous coordination and real-time vision

Dexterous coordination of manipulators based on the use of redundant degrees of freedom, multiple sensors, and built-in robot intelligence represents a critical breakthrough in development of advanced manufacturing technology. A cost-effective approach for achieving this new generation of robotics has been made possible by the unprecedented growth of the latest microcomputer and network systems. The resulting flexible automation offers the opportunity to improve the product quality, increase the reliability of the manufacturing process, and augment the production procedures for optimizing the utilization of the robotic system. Moreover, the Advanced Robotic System (ARS) is modular in design and can be upgraded by closely following technological advancements as they occur in various fields. This approach to manufacturing automation enhances the financial justification and ensures the long-term profitability and most efficient implementation of robotic technology. The new system also addresses a broad spectrum of manufacturing demand and has the potential to address both complex jobs as well as highly labor-intensive tasks. The ARS prototype employs the decomposed optimization technique in spatial planning. This technique is implemented to the framework of the sensor-actuator network to establish the general-purpose geometric reasoning system. The development computer system is a multiple microcomputer network system, which provides the architecture for executing the modular network computing algorithms. The knowledge-based approach used in both the robot vision subsystem and the manipulation control subsystems results in the real-time image processing vision-based capability. The vision-based task environment analysis capability and the responsive motion capability are under the command of the local intelligence centers. An array of ultrasonic, proximity, and optoelectronic sensors is used for path planning. The ARS currently has 18 degrees of freedom made up by two articulated arms, one movable robot head, and two charged coupled device (CCD) cameras for producing the stereoscopic views, and articulated cylindrical-type lower body, and an optional mobile base. A functional prototype is demonstrated

Simulated penetration testing and mitigation analysis

Da Unternehmensnetzwerke und Internetdienste stetig komplexer werden, wird es immer schwieriger, installierte Programme, Schwachstellen und Sicherheitsprotokolle zu überblicken. Die Idee hinter simuliertem Penetrationstesten ist es, Informationen über ein Netzwerk in ein formales Modell zu transferiern und darin einen Angreifer zu simulieren. Diesem Modell fügen wir einen Verteidiger hinzu, der mittels eigener Aktionen versucht, die Fähigkeiten des Angreifers zu minimieren. Dieses zwei-Spieler Handlungsplanungsproblem nennen wir Stackelberg planning. Ziel ist es, Administratoren, Penetrationstestern und der Führungsebene dabei zu helfen, die Schwachstellen großer Netzwerke zu identifizieren und kosteneffiziente Gegenmaßnahmen vorzuschlagen. Wir schaffen in dieser Dissertation erstens die formalen und algorithmischen Grundlagen von Stackelberg planning. Indem wir dabei auf klassischen Planungsproblemen aufbauen, können wir von gut erforschten Heuristiken und anderen Techniken zur Analysebeschleunigung, z.B. symbolischer Suche, profitieren. Zweitens entwerfen wir einen Formalismus für Privilegien-Eskalation und demonstrieren die Anwendbarkeit unserer Simulation auf lokale Computernetzwerke. Drittens wenden wir unsere Simulation auf internetweite Szenarien an und untersuchen die Robustheit sowohl der E-Mail-Infrastruktur als auch von Webseiten. Viertens ermöglichen wir mittels webbasierter Benutzeroberflächen den leichten Zugang zu unseren Tools und Analyseergebnissen.As corporate networks and Internet services are becoming increasingly more complex, it is hard to keep an overview over all deployed software, their potential vulnerabilities, and all existing security protocols. Simulated penetration testing was proposed to extend regular penetration testing by transferring gathered information about a network into a formal model and simulate an attacker in this model. Having a formal model of a network enables us to add a defender trying to mitigate the capabilities of the attacker with their own actions. We name this two-player planning task Stackelberg planning. The goal behind this is to help administrators, penetration testing consultants, and the management level at finding weak spots of large computer infrastructure and suggesting cost-effective mitigations to lower the security risk. In this thesis, we first lay the formal and algorithmic foundations for Stackelberg planning tasks. By building it in a classical planning framework, we can benefit from well-studied heuristics, pruning techniques, and other approaches to speed up the search, for example symbolic search. Second, we design a theory for privilege escalation and demonstrate the applicability of our framework to local computer networks. Third, we apply our framework to Internet-wide scenarios by investigating the robustness of both the email infrastructure and the web. Fourth, we make our findings and our toolchain easily accessible via web-based user interfaces

GRASP algorithms for the robust railway network design problem

This paper analyzes the solvability of a railway network design problem and its robust version. These problems are modeled as integer linear programming problems with binary variables, and their solutions provide topological railway networks maximizing the trip coverage in the presence of a competing mode, both assuming that the network works fine and that links can fail, respectively. Since these problems are computationally intractable for realistic sizes, GRASP heuristics are proposed for finding good feasible solutions. The results obtained in a computational experience indicate that our GRASP algorithms are suitable for railway network design problems. © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.We would like to thank the Spanish Ministerio de Fomento under grant PT-2007-003, Ministerio de Ciencia y Educacion under grant MTM2009-14243, the Junta de Andalucia under grant P09-TEP-5022 for supporting this research, the FEDER funds of the European Union and TUSSAM (Seville, Spain). Special thanks are due to two anonymous referees for their valuable comments.García-Archilla, B.; Lozano, AJ.; Mesa, JA.; Perea Rojas Marcos, F. (2011). GRASP algorithms for the robust railway network design problem. Journal of Heuristics. 19(2):399-422. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10732-011-9185-zS399422192Baaj, M., Mahmassani, H.: An AI-based approach for transit route system planning and design. J. Adv. Transp. 25(2), 187–210 (1991)Cancela, H., Robledo, F., Rubino, G.: A grasp algorithm with tree based local search for designing a survivable wide area network backbone. J. Comput. Sci. Technol. 4(1), 52–58 (2004)Díaz, J.A., Luna, D., Luna, R.: A grasp heuristic for the manufacturing cell formation problem. TOP (2011). doi: 10.1007/s11750-010-0159-3Feo, T., Resende, M.: A probabilistic heuristic for a computationally difficult set covering problem. Oper. Res. Lett. 8, 67–71 (1989)Goossens, J., van Hoesel, C., Kroon, L.: A branch-and-cut approach for solving railway line-planning problems. Transp. Sci. 38, 379–393 (2004)Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers: IEEE Standard Computer Dictionary: A Compilation of IEEE Standard Computer Glossaries (1990)Laporte, G., Mesa, J., Perea, F.: A game theoretic framework for the robust railway transit network design problem. Transp. Res., Part B, Methodol. 44, 447–459 (2010)Laporte, G., Marín, A., Mesa, J., Perea, F.: Designing robust rapid transit networks with alternative routes. J. Adv. Transp. 45, 54–65 (2011)Marín, A., García-Ródenas, R.: Location of infrastructure in urban railway networks. Comput. Oper. Res. 36, 1461–1477 (2009)Marín, A., Jaramillo, P.: Urban rapid transit network design: accelerated Benders decomposition. Ann. Oper. Res. 169(1), 35–53 (2009)Marín, A., Mesa, J.A., Perea, F.: Integrating robust railway network design and line planning under failures. Lect. Notes Comput. Sci. 5868, 273–292 (2009)Mauttone, A., Urquhart, M.E.: A route set construction algorithm for the transit network design problem. Comput. Oper. Res. 36, 2440–2449 (2009)Murphey, R., Pardalos, P., Pitsoulis, L.: A GRASP for the multitarget multisensor tracking problem. In: Networks. Discrete Mathematics and Theoretical Computer Science Series, vol. 40, pp. 277–302. American Mathematical Society, Providence (1998)Nesmachnow, S., Cancela, H., Alba, E.: Evolutionary algorithms applied to reliable communication network design. Eng. Optim. 39(7), 831–855 (2007)Schöbel, A., Scholl, S.: Line planning with minimal transfers. In: 5th Workshop on Algorithmic Methods and Models for Optimization of Railways, Number 06901 in Dagstuhl Seminar Proceedings (2006

ON COMPUTER SIMULATION AS A COMPONENT IN INFORMATION SYSTEMS RESEARCH

Computer simulation is widely regarded as a useful activity during various phases of research. However, depending on its context, the meaning, definition, and focus of the term can vary: In traffic planning, for example, simulation is used to determine useful configurations of a road network, thus focusing on the environment. An entirely different perspective is used within multi-agent systems. In such settings, the environment of the agents remains static, while the interesting research questions concern the behavior of the agents themselves. The research focuses on the microscopic level and the resulting emergent behavior. This article puts such diverse meanings in the context of a research process that treats descriptive and prescriptive research as two sides of the same coin. We develop a framework to classify different types of simulation, based on the actual research activity they are intended to be used for. Two case studies supplement the framework

A multicriteria approach for a phased design of water distribution networks

Published13th Computer Control for Water Industry Conference, CCWI 2015Water distribution networks are key infrastructure that provide essential water supply to communities. Planning water distribution networks involves many actors, including water companies, governments, environmentalists, consumers and financing institutions, and they tend to have conflicting perspectives. This work proposes a multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) as a useful tool for providing decision support in such circumstances. A phased planning horizon scheme is proposed that identifies the design for the first time interval while considering possible future conditions that the network might have to cope with. The results identify the best ranked phased design solutions.This paper is based on research conducted under the DESAFIO project (www.desafioglobal.org). DESAFIO is funded by the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Union for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no. 320303. The information contained in this work reflects only the opinion of the authors and the European Union is not responsible for the use which may be made of the information contained therein