We introduce stagewise processing in error-correcting codes and image restoration, by extracting information from the former stage and using it selectively to improve the performance of the latter one. Both mean-field analysis using the cavity method and simulations show that it has the advantage of being robust against uncertainties in hyperparameter estimation. 1 Introduction In error-correcting codes [1] and image restoration [2], the choice of the so-called hyperparameters is an important factor in determining their performances. Hyperparameters refer to the coefficients weighing the biases and variances of the tasks. In error correction, they determine the statistical significance given to the paritychecking terms and the received bits. Similarly in image restoration, they determine the statistical weights given to the prior knowledge and the received data.

Output coding is a general method for solving multiclass problems by reducing them to multiple binary classification problems. Previous research on output coding has employed, almost solely, predefined discrete codes. We describe an algorithm that improves the performance of output codes by relaxing them to continuous codes. The relaxation procedure is cast as an optimization problem and is reminiscent of the quadratic program for support vector machines. We describe experiments with the proposed algorithm, comparing it to standard discrete output codes. The experimental results indicate that continuous relaxations of output codes often improve the generalization performance, especially for short codes.

In this paper, we derive a second order mean field theory for directed graphical probability models. By using an information theoretic argument it is shown how this can be done in the absense of a partition function. This method is a direct generalisation of the well-known TAP approximation for Boltzmann Machines. In a numerical example, it is shown that the method greatly improves the first order mean field approximation. For a restricted class of graphical models, so-called single overlap graphs, the second order method has comparable complexity to the first order method. For sigmoid belief networks, the method is shown to be particularly fast and effective.

We analyze Gallager codes by employing a simple mean-field approximation that distorts the model geometry and preserves important interactions between sites. The method naturally recovers the probability propagation decoding algorithm as an extremization of a proper free-energy. We find a thermodynamic phase transition that coincides with information theoretical upper-bounds and explain the practical code performance in terms of the free-energy landscape.

Algebraic geometry is essential to learning theory. In hierarchical learning machines such as layered neural networks and gaussian mixtures, the asymptotic normality does not hold, since Fisher information matrices are singular. In this paper, the rigorous asymptotic form of the stochastic complexity is clarified based on resolution of singularities and two different problems are studied.

We introduce stagewise processing in error-correcting codes and image restoration, by extracting information from the former stage and using it selectively to improve the performance of the latter one. Both mean-field analysis using the cavity method and simulations show that it has the advantage of being robust against uncertainties in hyperparameter estimation. 1 Introduction In error-correcting codes [1] and image restoration [2], the choice of the so-called hyperparameters is an important factor in determining their performances. Hyperparameters refer to the coefficients weighing the biases and variances of the tasks. In error correction, they determine the statistical significance given to the paritychecking terms and the received bits. Similarly in image restoration, they determine the statistical weights given to the prior knowledge and the received data.

We analyze the bit error probability of multiuser demodulators for directsequence binary phase-shift-keying (DSIBPSK) CDMA channel with additive gaussian noise. The problem of multiuser demodulation is cast into the finite-temperature decoding problem, and replica analysis is applied to evaluate the performance of the resulting MPM (Marginal Posterior Mode) demodulators, which include the optimal demodulator and the MAP demodulator as special cases. An approximate implementation of demodulators is proposed using analog-valued Hopfield model as a naive mean-field approximation to the MPM demodulators, and its performance is also evaluated by the replica analysis. Results of the performance evaluation shows effectiveness of the optimal demodulator and the mean-field demodulator compared with the conventional one, especially in the cases of small information bit rate and low noise level.

We introduce a novel algorithm, termed PPA (Performance Prediction Algorithm), that quantitatively measures the contributions of elements of a neural system to the tasks it performs. The algorithm identifies the neurons or areas which participate in a cognitive or behavioral task, given data about performance decrease in a small set of lesions. It also allows the accurate prediction of performances due to multi-element lesions. The effectiveness of the new algorithm is demonstrated in two models of recurrent neural networks with complex interactions among the elements. The algorithm is scalable and applicable to the analysis of large neural networks. Given the recent advances in reversible inactivation techniques, it has the potential to significantly contribute to the understanding of the organization of biological nervous systems, and to shed light on the long-lasting debate about local versus distributed computation in the brain.

The resulting combinatorial problem - finding the best agreement half-space over an input sample - is NP hard to approximate to within some constant factor. We suggest a way to circumvent this theoretical bound by introducing a new measure of success for such algorithms. An algorithm is ILmargin successful if the agreement ratio of the half-space it outputs is as good as that of any half-space once training points that are inside the ILmargins of its separating hyper-plane are disregarded. We prove crisp computational complexity results with respect to this success measure: On one hand, for every positive IL, there exist efficient (poly-time) ILmargin successful learning algorithms. On the other hand, we prove that unless P NP, there is no algorithm that runs in time polynomial in the sample size and in 1/ IL that is ILmargin successful for all IL O. 1 Introduction We consider the computational complexity of learning linear perceptrons for arbitrary (Le.

In this paper, we derive a second order mean field theory for directed graphical probability models. By using an information theoretic argument it is shown how this can be done in the absense of a partition function. This method is a direct generalisation of the well-known TAP approximation for Boltzmann Machines. In a numerical example, it is shown that the method greatly improves the first order mean field approximation. For a restricted class of graphical models, so-called single overlap graphs, the second order method has comparable complexity to the first order method. For sigmoid belief networks, the method is shown to be particularly fast and effective.