18,107 research outputs found
Learning parametric dictionaries for graph signals
In sparse signal representation, the choice of a dictionary often involves a
tradeoff between two desirable properties -- the ability to adapt to specific
signal data and a fast implementation of the dictionary. To sparsely represent
signals residing on weighted graphs, an additional design challenge is to
incorporate the intrinsic geometric structure of the irregular data domain into
the atoms of the dictionary. In this work, we propose a parametric dictionary
learning algorithm to design data-adapted, structured dictionaries that
sparsely represent graph signals. In particular, we model graph signals as
combinations of overlapping local patterns. We impose the constraint that each
dictionary is a concatenation of subdictionaries, with each subdictionary being
a polynomial of the graph Laplacian matrix, representing a single pattern
translated to different areas of the graph. The learning algorithm adapts the
patterns to a training set of graph signals. Experimental results on both
synthetic and real datasets demonstrate that the dictionaries learned by the
proposed algorithm are competitive with and often better than unstructured
dictionaries learned by state-of-the-art numerical learning algorithms in terms
of sparse approximation of graph signals. In contrast to the unstructured
dictionaries, however, the dictionaries learned by the proposed algorithm
feature localized atoms and can be implemented in a computationally efficient
manner in signal processing tasks such as compression, denoising, and
classification
The Self-Organisation of Strategic Alliances
Strategic alliances form a vital part of today's business environment. The sheer variety of collaborative forms is notable - which include R&D coalitions, marketing and distribution agreements, franchising, co-production agreements, licensing, consortiums and joint ventures. Here we define a strategic alliance as a cooperative agreement between two or more autonomous firms pursuing common objectives or working towards solving common problems through a period of sustained interaction. A distinction is commonly made between 'formal' and 'informal' inter-firm alliances. Informal alliances involve voluntary contact and interaction while in formal alliances cooperation is governed by a contractual agreement. The advantage of formal alliances is the ability to put in place IPR clauses, confidentially agreements and other contractual measures designed to safeguard the firm against knowledge spill-over. However, these measures are costly to instigate and police. By contrast, a key attraction of informal relationships is their low co-ordination costs. Informal know-how trading is relatively simple, uncomplicated and more flexible, and has been observed in a number of industries. A number of factors affecting firms' decisions to cooperate or not cooperate within strategic alliances have been raised in the literature. In this paper we consider three factors in particular: the relative costs of coordinating activity through strategic alliances vis-a-vis the costs of coordinating activity in-house, the degree of uncertainty present in the competitive environment, and the feedback between individual decision-making and industry structure. Whereas discussion of the first two factors is well developed in the strategic alliance literature, the third factor has hitherto only been addressed indirectly. The contribution to this under-researched area represents an important contribution of this paper to the current discourse. In order to focus the discussion, the paper considers the formation of horizontal inter-firm strategic alliances in dynamic product markets. These markets are characterised by rapid rates of technological change, a high degree of market uncertainty, and high rewards (supernormal profits) for successful firms offset by shortening life cycles.Strategic Alliances, Innovation Networks, Self-Organisation
Inferring processes of cultural transmission: the critical role of rare variants in distinguishing neutrality from novelty biases
Neutral evolution assumes that there are no selective forces distinguishing
different variants in a population. Despite this striking assumption, many
recent studies have sought to assess whether neutrality can provide a good
description of different episodes of cultural change. One approach has been to
test whether neutral predictions are consistent with observed progeny
distributions, recording the number of variants that have produced a given
number of new instances within a specified time interval: a classic example is
the distribution of baby names. Using an overlapping generations model we show
that these distributions consist of two phases: a power law phase with a
constant exponent of -3/2, followed by an exponential cut-off for variants with
very large numbers of progeny. Maximum likelihood estimations of the model
parameters provide a direct way to establish whether observed empirical
patterns are consistent with neutral evolution. We apply our approach to a
complete data set of baby names from Australia. Crucially we show that analyses
based on only the most popular variants, as is often the case in studies of
cultural evolution, can provide misleading evidence for underlying transmission
hypotheses. While neutrality provides a plausible description of progeny
distributions of abundant variants, rare variants deviate from neutrality.
Further, we develop a simulation framework that allows for the detection of
alternative cultural transmission processes. We show that anti-novelty bias is
able to replicate the complete progeny distribution of the Australian data set
NetLSD: Hearing the Shape of a Graph
Comparison among graphs is ubiquitous in graph analytics. However, it is a
hard task in terms of the expressiveness of the employed similarity measure and
the efficiency of its computation. Ideally, graph comparison should be
invariant to the order of nodes and the sizes of compared graphs, adaptive to
the scale of graph patterns, and scalable. Unfortunately, these properties have
not been addressed together. Graph comparisons still rely on direct approaches,
graph kernels, or representation-based methods, which are all inefficient and
impractical for large graph collections.
In this paper, we propose the Network Laplacian Spectral Descriptor (NetLSD):
the first, to our knowledge, permutation- and size-invariant, scale-adaptive,
and efficiently computable graph representation method that allows for
straightforward comparisons of large graphs. NetLSD extracts a compact
signature that inherits the formal properties of the Laplacian spectrum,
specifically its heat or wave kernel; thus, it hears the shape of a graph. Our
evaluation on a variety of real-world graphs demonstrates that it outperforms
previous works in both expressiveness and efficiency.Comment: KDD '18: The 24th ACM SIGKDD International Conference on Knowledge
Discovery & Data Mining, August 19--23, 2018, London, United Kingdo
Identification of Network Externalities in Markets for Non-Durables
This paper introduces a structural econometric model of consumer demand for non-durable goods, which exhibits network externalities. The structural model allows us to identify the parameters, which determine the strength of the externalities in the underlying economic model from the empirical estimation results. The estimates of these parameters can then be employed to test the economic significance of the externalities and the compatibility of networks. The identifying assumption that drives our results is that consumers care about the lagged instead of the current network size. We argue that it does not necessarily bound their rationality. To complete our structural model, we provide an example of functional specification that yields a simple linear stochastic model of demand. Using this functional specification, we identify all structural parameters of the model. In the end, the estimation and the stochastic structure of the resulting econometric model are discussed. ZUSAMMENFASSUNG - ( Identifikation der Netzwerkeffekten in den MĂ€rkten fĂŒr nicht-dauerhafte GĂŒter) Der vorliegende Beitrag stellt ein strukturelles ökonometrisches Modell der Konsumnachfrage fĂŒr nicht-dauerhafte GĂŒter mit externen Netzwerkeffekten vor. Das strukturelle Modell lĂ€sst uns die Parameter von Netzwerkeffekten im zugrunde liegenden ökonomischen Modell empirisch zu identifizieren. Die SchĂ€tzer der Strukturparameter könnten fĂŒr das Testen der NetzwerkkompatibilitĂ€t und der ökonomischen Signifikanz der Netzwerkeffekte verwendet werden. FĂŒr die Identifikation nehmen wir an, dass die Konsumenten die NetzwerksgröĂe verzögert wahrnehmen. Wir argumentieren, dass diese Annahme nicht notwendigerweise mit irrationalem Verhalten gleichzusetzen ist. Um das strukturelle Modell zu vollstĂ€ndigen, geben wir eine funktionale Spezifikation, aus der ein lineares stochastisches Nachfragemodell folgt. Unter Verwendung dieser Spezifikation sind alle Strukturparameter von dem Modell identifiziert. Zum Schluss diskutieren wir die SchĂ€tzung und die stochastische Struktur des sich ergebenden ökonometrischen Modells.Structural Econometric Model, Network Externalities, Innovation Diffusion
Learning theories reveal loss of pancreatic electrical connectivity in diabetes as an adaptive response
Cells of almost all solid tissues are connected with gap junctions which
permit the direct transfer of ions and small molecules, integral to regulating
coordinated function in the tissue. The pancreatic islets of Langerhans are
responsible for secreting the hormone insulin in response to glucose
stimulation. Gap junctions are the only electrical contacts between the
beta-cells in the tissue of these excitable islets. It is generally believed
that they are responsible for synchrony of the membrane voltage oscillations
among beta-cells, and thereby pulsatility of insulin secretion. Most attempts
to understand connectivity in islets are often interpreted, bottom-up, in terms
of measurements of gap junctional conductance. This does not, however explain
systematic changes, such as a diminished junctional conductance in type 2
diabetes. We attempt to address this deficit via the model presented here,
which is a learning theory of gap junctional adaptation derived with analogy to
neural systems. Here, gap junctions are modelled as bonds in a beta-cell
network, that are altered according to homeostatic rules of plasticity. Our
analysis reveals that it is nearly impossible to view gap junctions as
homogeneous across a tissue. A modified view that accommodates heterogeneity of
junction strengths in the islet can explain why, for example, a loss of gap
junction conductance in diabetes is necessary for an increase in plasma insulin
levels following hyperglycemia.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figures. To appear in PLoS One (2013
The History of the Quantitative Methods in Finance Conference Series. 1992-2007
This report charts the history of the Quantitative Methods in Finance (QMF) conference from its beginning in 1993 to the 15th conference in 2007. It lists alphabetically the 1037 speakers who presented at all 15 conferences and the titles of their papers.
A Neural Network Model for the Development of Simple and Complex Cell Receptive Fields Within Cortical Maps of Orientation and Ocular Dominance
Prenatal development of the primary visual cortex leads to simple cells with spatially distinct and oriented ON and OFF subregions. These simple cells are organized into spatial maps of orientation and ocular dominance that exhibit singularities, fractures, and linear zones. On a finer spatial scale, simple cells occur that are sensitive to similar orientations but opposite contrast polarities, and exhibit both even-symmetric and odd-symmetric receptive fields. Pooling of outputs from oppositely polarized simple cells leads to complex cells that respond to both contrast polarities. A neural network model is described which simulates how simple and complex cells self-organize starting from unsegregated and unoriented geniculocortical inputs during prenatal development. Neighboring simple cells that are sensitive to opposite contrast polarities develop from a combination of spatially short-range inhibition and high-gain recurrent habituative excitation between cells that obey membrane equations. Habituation, or depression, of synapses controls reset of cell activations both through enhanced ON responses and OFF antagonistic rebounds. Orientation and ocular dominance maps form when high-gain medium-range recurrent excitation and long-range inhibition interact with the short-range mechanisms. The resulting structure clarifies how simple and complex cells contribute to perceptual processes such as texture segregation and perceptual grouping.Air Force Office of Scientific Research (F49620-92-J-0334); British Petroleum (BP 89A-1204); National Science Foundation (IRI-90-24877); Office of Naval Research (N00014-91-J-4100); Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the Office of Naval Research (N00014-95-1-0409
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