Memory (and Time) Efficient Sequential Monte Carlo Seong-Hwan Jun

Abstract Memory efficiency is an important issue in Sequential Monte Carlo (SMC) algorithms, arising for example in inference of high-dimensional latent variables via Rao-Blackwellized SMC algorithms, where the size of individual particles combined with the required number of particles can stress the main memory. Standard SMC methods have a memory requirement that scales linearly in the number of particles present at all stage of the algorithm. Our contribution is a simple scheme that makes the memory cost of SMC methods depends on the number of distinct particles that survive resampling. We show that this difference has a large empirical impact on the quality of the approximation in realistic scenarios, and also-since memory access is generally slow-on the running time. The method is based on a two pass generation of the particles, which are represented implicitly in the first pass. We parameterize the accuracy of our algorithm with a memory budget rather than with a fixed number of particles. Our algorithm adaptively selects an optimal number of particle to exploit this fixed memory budget. We show that this adaptation does not interfere with the usual consistency guarantees that come with SMC algorithms

Optimum seismic design of concentrically braced steel frames: concepts and design procedures

A methodology is presented for optimization of the dynamic response of concentrically braced steel frames subjected to seismic excitation, based on the concept of uniform distribution of deformation. In order to obtain the optimum distribution of structural properties, an iterative optimization procedure has been adopted. In this approach, the structural properties are modified so that inefficient material is gradually shifted from strong to weak areas of a structure. This process is continued until a state of uniform deformation is achieved. It is shown that the seismic performance of such a structure is optimal, and behaves generally better than those designed by conventional methods. In order to avoid onerous analysis of the frame models, an equivalent procedure is introduced for performing the optimization procedure on the modified reduced shear-building model of the frames, which is shown to be accurate enough for design purposes

Recent Advances in the Understanding, Diagnosis and Management of Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory demyelinating disease of the central nervous system and a common cause of disability in young adults. This brief review will focus on recent advances in the pathogenesis, diagnosis and management of MS

UBC Press Catalogue, Spring 2013

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Professor Emeritus Kent McNeil’s new book, Flawed Precedent: The St. Catherine’s Case and Aboriginal Title, was published by UBC Press in May

In 1888, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London ruled in St. Catherine’s Milling and Lumber Company v. The Queen, a case involving the Saulteaux people’s land rights in Ontario. This precedent-setting case would define the legal contours of Aboriginal title in Canada for almost a hundred years, despite the racist assumptions about Indigenous peoples at the heart of the case. In Flawed Precedent, preeminent legal scholar Kent McNeil thoroughly investigates this contentious case. He begins by delving into the historical and ideological context of the 1880s. He then examines the trial in detail, demonstrating how prejudicial attitudes towards Indigenous peoples and their use of the land influenced the decision. He also discusses the effects that St. Catherine’s had on Canadian law and policy until the 1970s when its authority was finally questioned by the Supreme Court in Calder, then in Delgamuukw, Marshall/Bernard, Tsilhqot’in, and other key rulings. McNeil has written a compelling and illuminating account of a landmark case that influenced law and policy on Indigenous land rights for almost a century. He also provides an informative analysis of the current judicial understanding of Aboriginal title in Canada, now driven by evidence of Indigenous law and land use rather than by the discarded prejudicial assumptions of a bygone era. This book is vital reading for everyone involved in Aboriginal law or title, for legal historians and scholars, and for anyone interested in Indigenous rights in Canada