1,091,370 research outputs found
Towards an Efficient Evaluation of General Queries
Database applications often require to
evaluate queries containing quantifiers or disjunctions,
e.g., for handling general integrity constraints. Existing
efficient methods for processing quantifiers depart from the
relational model as they rely on non-algebraic procedures.
Looking at quantified query evaluation from a new angle,
we propose an approach to process quantifiers that makes
use of relational algebra operators only. Our approach
performs in two phases. The first phase normalizes the
queries producing a canonical form. This form permits to
improve the translation into relational algebra performed
during the second phase. The improved translation relies
on a new operator - the complement-join - that generalizes
the set difference, on algebraic expressions of universal
quantifiers that avoid the expensive division operator in
many cases, and on a special processing of disjunctions by
means of constrained outer-joins. Our method achieves an
efficiency at least comparable with that of previous
proposals, better in most cases. Furthermore, it is considerably
simpler to implement as it completely relies on
relational data structures and operators
Efficient Evaluation of the Number of False Alarm Criterion
This paper proposes a method for computing efficiently the significance of a
parametric pattern inside a binary image. On the one hand, a-contrario
strategies avoid the user involvement for tuning detection thresholds, and
allow one to account fairly for different pattern sizes. On the other hand,
a-contrario criteria become intractable when the pattern complexity in terms of
parametrization increases. In this work, we introduce a strategy which relies
on the use of a cumulative space of reduced dimensionality, derived from the
coupling of a classic (Hough) cumulative space with an integral histogram
trick. This space allows us to store partial computations which are required by
the a-contrario criterion, and to evaluate the significance with a lower
computational cost than by following a straightforward approach. The method is
illustrated on synthetic examples on patterns with various parametrizations up
to five dimensions. In order to demonstrate how to apply this generic concept
in a real scenario, we consider a difficult crack detection task in still
images, which has been addressed in the literature with various local and
global detection strategies. We model cracks as bounded segments, detected by
the proposed a-contrario criterion, which allow us to introduce additional
spatial constraints based on their relative alignment. On this application, the
proposed strategy yields state-of the-art results, and underlines its potential
for handling complex pattern detection tasks
EsPRESSo: Efficient Privacy-Preserving Evaluation of Sample Set Similarity
Electronic information is increasingly often shared among entities without
complete mutual trust. To address related security and privacy issues, a few
cryptographic techniques have emerged that support privacy-preserving
information sharing and retrieval. One interesting open problem in this context
involves two parties that need to assess the similarity of their datasets, but
are reluctant to disclose their actual content. This paper presents an
efficient and provably-secure construction supporting the privacy-preserving
evaluation of sample set similarity, where similarity is measured as the
Jaccard index. We present two protocols: the first securely computes the
(Jaccard) similarity of two sets, and the second approximates it, using MinHash
techniques, with lower complexities. We show that our novel protocols are
attractive in many compelling applications, including document/multimedia
similarity, biometric authentication, and genetic tests. In the process, we
demonstrate that our constructions are appreciably more efficient than prior
work.Comment: A preliminary version of this paper was published in the Proceedings
of the 7th ESORICS International Workshop on Digital Privacy Management (DPM
2012). This is the full version, appearing in the Journal of Computer
Securit
Efficient importance sampling for Monte Carlo evaluation of exceedance probabilities
Large deviation theory has provided important clues for the choice of
importance sampling measures for Monte Carlo evaluation of exceedance
probabilities. However, Glasserman and Wang [Ann. Appl. Probab. 7 (1997)
731--746] have given examples in which importance sampling measures that are
consistent with large deviations can perform much worse than direct Monte
Carlo. We address this problem by using certain mixtures of exponentially
twisted measures for importance sampling. Their asymptotic optimality is
established by using a new class of likelihood ratio martingales and renewal
theory.Comment: Published at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/105051606000000664 in the
Annals of Applied Probability (http://www.imstat.org/aap/) by the Institute
of Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org
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