Physical Representation-based Predicate Optimization for a Visual Analytics Database

Querying the content of images, video, and other non-textual data sources requires expensive content extraction methods. Modern extraction techniques are based on deep convolutional neural networks (CNNs) and can classify objects within images with astounding accuracy. Unfortunately, these methods are slow: processing a single image can take about 10 milliseconds on modern GPU-based hardware. As massive video libraries become ubiquitous, running a content-based query over millions of video frames is prohibitive. One promising approach to reduce the runtime cost of queries of visual content is to use a hierarchical model, such as a cascade, where simple cases are handled by an inexpensive classifier. Prior work has sought to design cascades that optimize the computational cost of inference by, for example, using smaller CNNs. However, we observe that there are critical factors besides the inference time that dramatically impact the overall query time. Notably, by treating the physical representation of the input image as part of our query optimization---that is, by including image transforms, such as resolution scaling or color-depth reduction, within the cascade---we can optimize data handling costs and enable drastically more efficient classifier cascades. In this paper, we propose Tahoma, which generates and evaluates many potential classifier cascades that jointly optimize the CNN architecture and input data representation. Our experiments on a subset of ImageNet show that Tahoma's input transformations speed up cascades by up to 35 times. We also find up to a 98x speedup over the ResNet50 classifier with no loss in accuracy, and a 280x speedup if some accuracy is sacrificed.Comment: Camera-ready version of the paper submitted to ICDE 2019, In Proceedings of the 35th IEEE International Conference on Data Engineering (ICDE 2019

Live, Personal Data Integration Through UI-Oriented Computing

This paper proposes a new perspective on the problem of data integration on the Web: the one of the Surface Web. It introduces the concept of UI-oriented computing as a computing paradigm whose core ingredient are the user interfaces that build up the SurfaceWeb, and shows how a sensible mapping of data integration tasks to user interface elements and user interactions is able to cope with data integration scenarios that so far have only be conceived for the Deep Web with its APIs and Web services. The described approach provides a novel conceptual and technological framework for practices, such as the integration of data APIs/services and the extraction of content from Web pages, that are common practice but still not adequately supported. The approach targets both programmers and users alike and comes as an extensible, open-source browser extension

Malignant teratoma in Klippel-Feil syndrome: a case report and review of the literature

Introduction: Klippel-Feil syndrome is characterized by a congenital fusion of cervical vertebrae. Intracranial teratomas are nongerminomatous germ cell tumors and they account for 0.3 to 0.9% of all intracranial tumors. Teratomas with malignant transformation refer to lesions which give rise to malignant cancer of somatic type. The association between tumors of dermoid origin and Klippel-Feil malformation is extremely rare. Only 23 other cases have so far been reported, and only one case of dermoid tumor with areas of dedifferentiation on squamous cell carcinoma has been described. Case presentation: We report the case of a 72-year-old white man with a 2-year history of gait and balance disturbances. A brain magnetic resonance imaging revealed a fourth ventricle neoplastic process with infiltrative features. He was operated through a suboccipital craniectomy with a C1 laminotomy and bilateral vertebral artery transposition. At 6-months follow-up, magnetic resonance imaging showed an early regrowth of the fourth ventricle tumor, with the same radiological features. Conclusions: Patients with Klippel-Feil malformation could develop posterior fossa dermoid tumors. The malignant potential of such tumors must be considered and surgery is recommended. Particular attention must be focused on the histopathological analysis in order to identify possible foci of malignant transformation

Geomagnetic field variations at low and high latitude during the January 10-11, 1997 magnetic cloud

On Jan. 10-11, 1997 a wide magnetic cloud reached the Earth triggering intense geomagnetic activity. Observations performed at low and very high latitude show that the same features appear simultaneously in correspondence to different changes in the solar wind conditions. In particular, highly polarized modes are simultaneously observed at the same discrete frequencies after the passage of the high density solar wind region following the cloud. SI's and ULF waves polarization are also examined in a wide latitudinal and longitudinal extent

Full one-loop amplitudes from tree amplitudes

We establish an efficient polynomial-complexity algorithm for one-loop calculations, based on generalized $D$-dimensional unitarity. It allows automated computations of both cut-constructible {\it and} rational parts of one-loop scattering amplitudes from on-shell tree amplitudes. We illustrate the method by (re)-computing all four-, five- and six-gluon scattering amplitudes in QCD at one-loop.Comment: 27 pages, revte

Geomagnetic field observations at a new Antarctic site, within the AIMNet project

During the 2007-2008 antarctic campaign, the Italian PNRA installed a Low Power Magnetometer within the framework of the AIMNet (Antarctic International Magnetometer Network) project, proposed and coordinated by BAS. The magnetometer is situated at Talos Dome, around 300 km geographically North-West from Mario Zucchelli Station (MZS), and approximately at the same geomagnetic latitude as MZS. In this work we present a preliminary analysis of the geomagnetic field 1-min data, and a comparison with simultaneous data from different Antarctic stations

NNLO massive corrections to Bhabha scattering and theoretical precision of BabaYaga@NLO

We provide an exact calculation of next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO) massive corrections to Bhabha scattering in QED, relevant for precision luminosity monitoring at meson factories. Using realistic reference event selections, exact numerical results for leptonic and hadronic corrections are given and compared with the corresponding approximate predictions of the event generator BabaYaga@NLO. It is shown that the NNLO massive corrections are necessary for luminosity measurements with per mille precision. At the same time they are found to be well accounted for in the generator at an accuracy level below the one per mille. An update of the total theoretical precision of BabaYaga@NLO is presented and possible directions for a further error reduction are sketched.Comment: 5 pages, 3 tables, contrib. to proceedings of International Workshop on e+e- collisions: from Phi to Psi, PHIPSI11, BINP, Novosibirsk, Russia, September 19-22, 201

Feynman Rules for the Rational Part of the QCD 1-loop amplitudes

We compute the complete set of Feynman Rules producing the Rational Terms of kind R_2 needed to perform any QCD 1-loop calculation. We also explicitly check that in order to account for the entire R_2 contribution, even in case of processes with more than four external legs, only up to four-point vertices are needed. Our results are expressed both in the 't Hooft Veltman regularization scheme and in the Four Dimensional Helicity scheme, using explicit color configurations as well as the color connection language.Comment: 18 pages, 11 figures. Misprints corrected in Appendix A. Version to be published in JHE

Polarizing the Dipoles

We extend the massless dipole formalism of Catani and Seymour, as well as its massive version as developed by Catani, Dittmaier, Seymour and Trocsanyi, to arbitrary helicity eigenstates of the external partons. We modify the real radiation subtraction terms only, the primary aim being an improved efficiency of the numerical Monte Carlo integration of this contribution as part of a complete next-to-leading order calculation. In consequence, our extension is only applicable to unpolarized scattering. Upon summation over the helicities of the emitter pairs, our formulae trivially reduce to their original form. We implement our extension within the framework of Helac-Phegas, and give some examples of results pertinent to recent studies of backgrounds for the LHC. The code is publicly available. Since the integrated dipole contributions do not require any modifications, we do not discuss them, but they are implemented in the software.Comment: 20 pages, 4 figures, Integrated dipoles implemented for massless and massive case

Multi-gluon helicity amplitudes with one off-shell leg within high energy factorization

Basing on the Slavnov-Taylor identities, we derive a new prescription to obtain gauge invariant tree-level scattering amplitudes for the process g*g->Ng within high energy factorization. Using the helicity method, we check the formalism up to several final state gluons, and we present analytical formulas for the the helicity amplitudes for N=2. We also compare the method with Lipatov's effective action approach.Comment: 25 pages, quite a few figures, an appendix added, typos correcte