Contamination Estimation via Convex Relaxations

Identifying anomalies and contamination in datasets is important in a wide variety of settings. In this paper, we describe a new technique for estimating contamination in large, discrete valued datasets. Our approach considers the normal condition of the data to be specified by a model consisting of a set of distributions. Our key contribution is in our approach to contamination estimation. Specifically, we develop a technique that identifies the minimum number of data points that must be discarded (i.e., the level of contamination) from an empirical data set in order to match the model to within a specified goodness-of-fit, controlled by a p-value. Appealing to results from large deviations theory, we show a lower bound on the level of contamination is obtained by solving a series of convex programs. Theoretical results guarantee the bound converges at a rate of $O(\sqrt{\log(p)/p})$, where p is the size of the empirical data set.Comment: To appear, ISIT 201

Inclusion by Design: Accessible Housing and Mobility Impairment

In the midst of pervasive national efforts at improving accessibility to public places for people with disabilities, there is no national design standard for making single-family residential housing accessible to the mobility impaired. As a consequence, people with mobility impairment often find that they are unable to safely and easily visit the homes of family, friends, neighbors, and colleagues because their housing is designed with exclusionary and unsafe features-features that would not be permitted if the property were a public place, a place of public accommodation, or publicly funded housing. This Article questions the difference in inclusive design requirements as between public places and private homes. In so doing, it suggests that the difference rests upon two fundamental misunderstandings. The first is based on a failure to appreciate the public nature of private housing, and the second involves misperceptions concerning the ability (inability) of individuals to bargain for socially optimal outcomes in the market for private residential homes. In response to these conclusions, the Article supports a national inclusive design standard for all new single-family residential housing