Souss-Massa Region
Large Language Models for Combinatorial Optimization: A Systematic Review
Da Ros, Francesca, Soprano, Michael, Di Gaspero, Luca, Roitero, Kevin
This systematic review explores the application of Large Language Models (LLMs) in Combinatorial Optimization (CO). We report our findings using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. We conduct a literature search via Scopus and Google Scholar, examining over 2,000 publications. We assess publications against four inclusion and four exclusion criteria related to their language, research focus, publication year, and type. Eventually, we select 103 studies. We classify these studies into semantic categories and topics to provide a comprehensive overview of the field, including the tasks performed by LLMs, the architectures of LLMs, the existing datasets specifically designed for evaluating LLMs in CO, and the field of application. Finally, we identify future directions for leveraging LLMs in this field.
Enhancing DeepLabV3+ to Fuse Aerial and Satellite Images for Semantic Segmentation
Berka, Anas, Hajji, Mohamed El, Canals, Raphael, Es-saady, Youssef, Hafiane, Adel
Aerial and satellite imagery are inherently complementary remote sensing sources, offering high-resolution detail alongside expansive spatial coverage. However, the use of these sources for land cover segmentation introduces several challenges, prompting the development of a variety of segmentation methods. Among these approaches, the DeepLabV3+ architecture is considered as a promising approach in the field of single-source image segmentation. However, despite its reliable results for segmentation, there is still a need to increase its robustness and improve its performance. This is particularly crucial for multimodal image segmentation, where the fusion of diverse types of information is essential. An interesting approach involves enhancing this architectural framework through the integration of novel components and the modification of certain internal processes. In this paper, we enhance the DeepLabV3+ architecture by introducing a new transposed conventional layers block for upsampling a second entry to fuse it with high level features. This block is designed to amplify and integrate information from satellite images, thereby enriching the segmentation process through fusion with aerial images. For experiments, we used the LandCover.ai (Land Cover from Aerial Imagery) dataset for aerial images, alongside the corresponding dataset sourced from Sentinel 2 data. Through the fusion of both sources, the mean Intersection over Union (mIoU) achieved a total mIoU of 84.91% without data augmentation.
JustAct+: Justified and Accountable Actions in Policy-Regulated, Multi-Domain Data Processing
Esterhuyse, Christopher A., Müller, Tim, van Binsbergen, L. Thomas
Inter-organisational data exchange is regulated by norms originating from sources ranging from (inter)national laws, to processing agreements, and individual consent. Verifying norm compliance is complex because laws (e.g., GDPR) distribute responsibility and require accountability. Moreover, in some application domains (e.g., healthcare), privacy requirements extend the norms (e.g., patient consent). In contrast, existing solutions such as smart contracts, access- and usage-control assume policies to be public, or otherwise, statically partition policy information at the cost of accountability and flexibility. Instead, our framework prescribes how decentralised agents justify their actions with policy fragments that the agents autonomously create, gossip, and assemble. Crucially, the permission of actions is always reproducible by any observer, even with a partial view of all the dynamic policies. Actors can be sure that future auditors will confirm their permissions. Systems centralise control by (re)configuring externally synchronised agreements, the bases of all justifications. As a result, control is centralised only to the extent desired by the agents. In this paper, we define the JustAct framework, detail its implementation in a particular data-processing system, and design a suitable policy language based on logic programming. A case study reproduces Brane - an existing policy-regulated, inter-domain, medical data processing system - and serves to demonstrate and assess the qualities of the framework.
Deep Learning 2.0: Artificial Neurons That Matter -- Reject Correlation, Embrace Orthogonality
We introduce a yat-product-powered neural network, the Neural Matter Network (NMN), a breakthrough in deep learning that achieves non-linear pattern recognition without activation functions. Our key innovation relies on the yat-product and yat-product, which naturally induces non-linearity by projecting inputs into a pseudo-metric space, eliminating the need for traditional activation functions while maintaining only a softmax layer for final class probability distribution. This approach simplifies network architecture and provides unprecedented transparency into the network's decision-making process. Our comprehensive empirical evaluation across different datasets demonstrates that NMN consistently outperforms traditional MLPs. The results challenge the assumption that separate activation functions are necessary for effective deep-learning models. The implications of this work extend beyond immediate architectural benefits, by eliminating intermediate activation functions while preserving non-linear capabilities, yat-MLP establishes a new paradigm for neural network design that combines simplicity with effectiveness. Most importantly, our approach provides unprecedented insights into the traditionally opaque "black-box" nature of neural networks, offering a clearer understanding of how these models process and classify information.
On the Utility of Domain Modeling Assistance with Large Language Models
Chaaben, Meriem Ben, Burgueño, Lola, David, Istvan, Sahraoui, Houari
Model-driven engineering (MDE) simplifies software development through abstraction, yet challenges such as time constraints, incomplete domain understanding, and adherence to syntactic constraints hinder the design process. This paper presents a study to evaluate the usefulness of a novel approach utilizing large language models (LLMs) and few-shot prompt learning to assist in domain modeling. The aim of this approach is to overcome the need for extensive training of AI-based completion models on scarce domain-specific datasets and to offer versatile support for various modeling activities, providing valuable recommendations to software modelers. To support this approach, we developed MAGDA, a user-friendly tool, through which we conduct a user study and assess the real-world applicability of our approach in the context of domain modeling, offering valuable insights into its usability and effectiveness.
SimO Loss: Anchor-Free Contrastive Loss for Fine-Grained Supervised Contrastive Learning
Bouhsine, Taha, Aaroussi, Imad El, Faysal, Atik, Huaxia, Wang
We introduce a novel anchor-free contrastive learning (AFCL) method leveraging our proposed Similarity-Orthogonality (SimO) loss. The AFCL method, powered by SimO loss, creates a fiber bundle topological structure in the embedding space, forming class-specific, internally cohesive yet orthogonal neighborhoods. We validate the efficacy of our method on the CIFAR-10 dataset, providing visualizations that demonstrate the impact of SimO loss on the embedding space. Our results illustrate the formation of distinct, orthogonal class neighborhoods, showcasing the method's ability to create well-structured embeddings that balance class separation with intra-class variability. This work opens new avenues for understanding and leveraging the geometric properties of learned representations in various machine learning tasks. The pursuit of effective representation learning (Gidaris et al. (2018); Wu et al. (2018); Oord et al. (2019)) has been a cornerstone of modern machine learning, with contrastive methods emerging as particularly powerful tools in recent years. Despite significant advancements, the field of supervised contrastive learning (Khosla et al. (2021); Balestriero et al. (2023)) continues to grapple with fundamental challenges that impede the development of truly robust and interpretable models.
Evaluating the Impact of Convolutional Neural Network Layer Depth on the Enhancement of Inertial Navigation System Solutions
Aftatah, Mohammed, Zebbara, Khalid
Secure navigation is pivotal for several applications including autonomous vehicles, robotics, and aviation. The inertial navigation system estimates position, velocity, and attitude through dead reckoning especially when external references like GPS are unavailable. However, the three accelerometers and three gyroscopes that compose the system are exposed to various types of errors including bias errors, scale factor errors, and noise, which can significantly degrade the accuracy of navigation constituting also a key vulnerability of this system. This work aims to adopt a supervised convolutional neural network (ConvNet) to address this vulnerability inherent in inertial navigation systems. In addition to this, this paper evaluates the impact of the ConvNet layer's depth on the accuracy of these corrections. This evaluation aims to determine the optimal layer configuration maximizing the effectiveness of error correction in INS (Inertial Navigation System) leading to precise navigation solutions.
Fine-Tuning Hybrid Physics-Informed Neural Networks for Vehicle Dynamics Model Estimation
Accurate dynamic modeling is critical for autonomous racing vehicles, especially during high-speed and agile maneuvers where precise motion prediction is essential for safety. Traditional parameter estimation methods face limitations such as reliance on initial guesses, labor-intensive fitting procedures, and complex testing setups. On the other hand, purely data-driven machine learning methods struggle to capture inherent physical constraints and typically require large datasets for optimal performance. To address these challenges, this paper introduces the Fine-Tuning Hybrid Dynamics (FTHD) method, which integrates supervised and unsupervised Physics-Informed Neural Networks (PINNs), combining physics-based modeling with data-driven techniques. FTHD fine-tunes a pre-trained Deep Dynamics Model (DDM) using a smaller training dataset, delivering superior performance compared to state-of-the-art methods such as the Deep Pacejka Model (DPM) and outperforming the original DDM. Furthermore, an Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) is embedded within FTHD (EKF-FTHD) to effectively manage noisy real-world data, ensuring accurate denoising while preserving the vehicle's essential physical characteristics. The proposed FTHD framework is validated through scaled simulations using the BayesRace Physics-based Simulator and full-scale real-world experiments from the Indy Autonomous Challenge. Results demonstrate that the hybrid approach significantly improves parameter estimation accuracy, even with reduced data, and outperforms existing models. EKF-FTHD enhances robustness by denoising real-world data while maintaining physical insights, representing a notable advancement in vehicle dynamics modeling for high-speed autonomous racing.