Unsupervised pre-training on vast amounts of graph data is critical in real-world applications wherein labeled data is limited, such as molecule properties prediction or materials science. Existing approaches pre-train models for specific graph domains, neglecting the inherent connections within networks. This limits their ability to transfer knowledge to various supervised tasks. In this work, we propose a novel pre-training strategy on graphs that focuses on modeling their multi-resolution structural information, allowing us to capture global information of the whole graph while preserving local structures around its nodes. We extend the work of Wave}let Positional Encoding (WavePE) from (Ngo et al., 2023) by pretraining a High-Order Permutation-Equivariant Autoencoder (HOPE-WavePE) to reconstruct node connectivities from their multi-resolution wavelet signals. Unlike existing positional encodings, our method is designed to become sensitivity to the input graph size in downstream tasks, which efficiently capture global structure on graphs. Since our approach relies solely on the graph structure, it is also domain-agnostic and adaptable to datasets from various domains, therefore paving the wave for developing general graph structure encoders and graph foundation models. We theoretically demonstrate that there exists a parametrization of such architecture that it can predict the output adjacency up to arbitrarily low error. We also evaluate HOPE-WavePE on graph-level prediction tasks of different areas and show its superiority compared to other methods.

Abstract: Remaining Useful Life (RUL) of battery is an important parameter to know the battery's remaining life and need for recharge. The goal of this research project is to develop machine learning-based models for the battery RUL dataset. Different ML models are developed to classify the RUL of the vehicle, and the IoT (Internet of Things) concept is simulated for automating the charging system and managing any faults aligning. The graphs plotted depict the relationship between various vehicle parameters using the Blynk IoT platform. Results show that the catboost, Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP), Gated Recurrent Unit (GRU), and hybrid model developed could classify RUL into three classes with 99% more accuracy. The data is fed using the tkinter GUI for simulating artificial intelligence (AI)-based charging, and with a pyserial backend, data can be entered into the Esp-32 microcontroller for making charge discharge possible with the model's predictions. Also, with an IoT system, the charging can be disconnected, monitored, and analyzed for automation. The results show that an accuracy of 99% can be obtained on models MLP, catboost model and similar accuracy on GRU model can be obtained, and finally relay-based triggering can be made by prediction through the model used for automating the charging and energy-saving mechanism. Keywords: RUL, power management, Internet of Things, catboost, cross-validation 1. Introduction A battery's ability to store and release energy steadily diminishes with use as a result of a number of variables, including temperature changes, chemical deterioration, and charge-discharge cycles. An estimate of how long the battery should continue to function dependably is given by the RUL.

In this paper, we introduce the gated perceptron, an enhancement of the conventional perceptron, which incorporates an additional input computed as the product of the existing inputs. This allows the perceptron to capture non-linear interactions between features, significantly improving its ability to classify and regress on complex datasets. We explore its application in both linear and non-linear regression tasks using the Iris dataset, as well as binary and multi-class classification problems, including the PIMA Indian dataset and Breast Cancer Wisconsin dataset. Our results demonstrate that the gated perceptron can generate more distinct decision regions compared to traditional perceptrons, enhancing its classification capabilities, particularly in handling non-linear data. Performance comparisons show that the gated perceptron competes with state-of-the-art classifiers while maintaining a simple architecture.

Human motion prediction is a cornerstone of human-robot collaboration (HRC), as robots need to infer the future movements of human workers based on past motion cues to proactively plan their motion, ensuring safety in close collaboration scenarios. The diffusion model has demonstrated remarkable performance in predicting high-quality motion samples with reasonable diversity, but suffers from a slow generative process which necessitates multiple model evaluations, hindering real-world applications. To enable real-time prediction, in this work, we propose training a one-step multi-layer perceptron-based (MLP-based) diffusion model for motion prediction using knowledge distillation and Bayesian optimization. Our method contains two steps. First, we distill a pretrained diffusion-based motion predictor, TransFusion, directly into a one-step diffusion model with the same denoiser architecture. Then, to further reduce the inference time, we remove the computationally expensive components from the original denoiser and use knowledge distillation once again to distill the obtained one-step diffusion model into an even smaller model based solely on MLPs. Bayesian optimization is used to tune the hyperparameters for training the smaller diffusion model. Extensive experimental studies are conducted on benchmark datasets, and our model can significantly improve the inference speed, achieving real-time prediction without noticeable degradation in performance.

Insider threats usually occur from within the workplace, where the attacker is an entity closely associated with the organization. The sequence of actions the entities take on the resources to which they have access rights allows us to identify the insiders. Insider Threat Detection (ITD) using Machine Learning (ML)-based approaches gained attention in the last few years. However, most techniques employed centralized ML methods to perform such an ITD. Organizations operating from multiple locations cannot contribute to the centralized models as the data is generated from various locations. In particular, the user behavior data, which is the primary source of ITD, cannot be shared among the locations due to privacy concerns. Additionally, the data distributed across various locations result in extreme class imbalance due to the rarity of attacks. Federated Learning (FL), a distributed data modeling paradigm, gained much interest recently. However, FL-enabled ITD is not yet explored, and it still needs research to study the significant issues of its implementation in practical settings. As such, our work investigates an FL-enabled multiclass ITD paradigm that considers non-Independent and Identically Distributed (non-IID) data distribution to detect insider threats from different locations (clients) of an organization. Specifically, we propose a Federated Adversarial Training (FedAT) approach using a generative model to alleviate the extreme data skewness arising from the non-IID data distribution among the clients. Besides, we propose to utilize a Self-normalized Neural Network-based Multi-Layer Perceptron (SNN-MLP) model to improve ITD. We perform comprehensive experiments and compare the results with the benchmarks to manifest the enhanced performance of the proposed FedATdriven ITD scheme.

Incorporating the Forward Forward algorithm into neural network training represents a transformative shift from traditional methods, introducing a dual forward mechanism that streamlines the learning process by bypassing the complexities of derivative propagation. This method is noted for its simplicity and efficiency and involves executing two forward passes the first with actual data to promote positive reinforcement, and the second with synthetically generated negative data to enable discriminative learning. Our experiments confirm that the Forward Forward algorithm is not merely an experimental novelty but a viable training strategy that competes robustly with conventional multi layer perceptron (MLP) architectures. To overcome the limitations inherent in traditional saliency techniques, which predominantly rely on gradient based methods, we developed a bespoke saliency algorithm specifically tailored for the Forward Forward framework. This innovative algorithm enhances the intuitive understanding of feature importance and network decision-making, providing clear visualizations of the data features most influential in model predictions. By leveraging this specialized saliency method, we gain deeper insights into the internal workings of the model, significantly enhancing our interpretative capabilities beyond those offered by standard approaches. Our evaluations, utilizing the MNIST and Fashion MNIST datasets, demonstrate that our method performs comparably to traditional MLP-based models.

Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) have significantly advanced various fields by effectively recognizing patterns and solving complex problems. Despite these advancements, their interpretability remains a critical challenge, especially in applications where transparency and accountability are essential. To address this, explainable AI (XAI) has made progress in demystifying ANNs, yet interpretability alone is often insufficient. In certain applications, model predictions must align with expert-imposed requirements, sometimes exemplified by partial monotonicity constraints. While monotonic approaches are found in the literature for traditional Multi-layer Perceptrons (MLPs), they still face difficulties in achieving both interpretability and certified partial monotonicity. Recently, the Kolmogorov-Arnold Network (KAN) architecture, based on learnable activation functions parametrized as splines, has been proposed as a more interpretable alternative to MLPs. Building on this, we introduce a novel ANN architecture called MonoKAN, which is based on the KAN architecture and achieves certified partial monotonicity while enhancing interpretability. To achieve this, we employ cubic Hermite splines, which guarantee monotonicity through a set of straightforward conditions. Additionally, by using positive weights in the linear combinations of these splines, we ensure that the network preserves the monotonic relationships between input and output. Our experiments demonstrate that MonoKAN not only enhances interpretability but also improves predictive performance across the majority of benchmarks, outperforming state-of-the-art monotonic MLP approaches.

Multilayer Perceptrons (MLPs) have long been a cornerstone in deep learning, known for their capacity to model complex relationships. Recently, Kolmogorov-Arnold Networks (KANs) have emerged as a compelling alternative, utilizing highly flexible learnable activation functions directly on network edges, a departure from the neuron-centric approach of MLPs. However, KANs significantly increase the number of learnable parameters, raising concerns about their effectiveness in data-scarce environments. This paper presents a comprehensive comparative study of MLPs and KANs from both algorithmic and experimental perspectives, with a focus on low-data regimes. We introduce an effective technique for designing MLPs with unique, parameterized activation functions for each neuron, enabling a more balanced comparison with KANs. Using empirical evaluations on simulated data and two real-world data sets from medicine and engineering, we explore the trade-offs between model complexity and accuracy, with particular attention to the role of network depth. Our findings show that MLPs with individualized activation functions achieve significantly higher predictive accuracy with only a modest increase in parameters, especially when the sample size is limited to around one hundred. For example, in a three-class classification problem within additive manufacturing, MLPs achieve a median accuracy of 0.91, significantly outperforming KANs, which only reach a median accuracy of 0.53 with default hyperparameters. These results offer valuable insights into the impact of activation function selection in neural networks.

Collaborative filtering (CF) remains essential in recommender systems, leveraging user--item interactions to provide personalized recommendations. Meanwhile, a number of CF techniques have evolved into sophisticated model architectures based on multi-layer perceptrons (MLPs). However, MLPs often suffer from catastrophic forgetting, and thus lose previously acquired knowledge when new information is learned, particularly in dynamic environments requiring continual learning. To tackle this problem, we propose CF-KAN, a new CF method utilizing Kolmogorov-Arnold networks (KANs). By learning nonlinear functions on the edge level, KANs are more robust to the catastrophic forgetting problem than MLPs. Built upon a KAN-based autoencoder, CF-KAN is designed in the sense of effectively capturing the intricacies of sparse user--item interactions and retaining information from previous data instances. Despite its simplicity, our extensive experiments demonstrate 1) CF-KAN's superiority over state-of-the-art methods in recommendation accuracy, 2) CF-KAN's resilience to catastrophic forgetting, underscoring its effectiveness in both static and dynamic recommendation scenarios, and 3) CF-KAN's edge-level interpretation facilitating the explainability of recommendations.

Kolmogorov-Arnold Networks (KAN) has recently attracted significant attention as a promising alternative to traditional Multi-Layer Perceptrons (MLP). Despite their theoretical appeal, KAN require validation on large-scale benchmark datasets. Time series data, which has become increasingly prevalent in recent years, especially univariate time series are naturally suited for validating KAN. Therefore, we conducted a fair comparison among KAN, MLP, and mixed structures. The results indicate that KAN can achieve performance comparable to, or even slightly better than, MLP across 128 time series datasets. We also performed an ablation study on KAN, revealing that the output is primarily determined by the base component instead of b-spline function. Furthermore, we assessed the robustness of these models and found that KAN and the hybrid structure MLP\_KAN exhibit significant robustness advantages, attributed to their lower Lipschitz constants. This suggests that KAN and KAN layers hold strong potential to be robust models or to improve the adversarial robustness of other models.