将几何模型拟合到异常值污染的数据非常棘手。许多计算机视觉系统依赖于随机采样启发式方法来解决可靠的拟合，这不能提供最佳保证和误差范围。因此，开发新的方法可以弥合昂贵的精确解决方案和不提供质量保证的快速启发式方法之间的差距。在本文中，我们提出了一种用于稳健拟合的杂化量子古典算法。我们的核心贡献是一种新颖的可靠拟合公式，可以解决一系列整数程序，并使用全局解决方案或误差绑定终止。组合子问题可容纳量子退火器，这有助于有效拧紧结合。虽然我们对量子计算的使用并不能超越可靠拟合的基本棘手性，但通过提供误差界限，我们的算法是对随机启发式方法的实际改进。此外，我们的工作代表了计算机视觉中量子计算的具体应用。我们介绍使用实际量子计算机（D-WAVE优势）和通过仿真获得的结果。源代码：https：//github.com/dadung/hqc-robust-fitting

仅在合成数据上培训的最先进的立体声匹配网络通常无法概括到更具挑战性的真实数据域。在本文中，我们试图展开阻碍网络从跨域推广网络的重要因素：通过快捷学习的镜头。我们证明了立体声匹配网络中的特征表示的学习受合成数据伪影（快捷键属性）的严重影响。为了缓解此问题，我们提出了一种信息 - 理论快捷方式避免〜（ITSA）方法，以自动限制与要素表示的快捷键相关信息。因此，我们的提出方法通过最大限度地减少潜在特征的灵敏度来了解强大而快捷的不变性功能。为避免直接输入灵敏度优化的禁止计算成本，我们提出了一种有效但可行的算法来实现鲁棒性。我们表明，使用这种方法，纯粹对合成数据训练的最先进的立体声匹配网络可以有效地推广到具有挑战性和以前看不见的真实数据场景。重要的是，所提出的方法可以增强合成训练网络的鲁棒性，以至于它们优于他们的微调对应物（在实际数据上）以充分挑战域外立体数据集。

强大的模型拟合是计算机视觉中的一个根本问题：用于在异常值存在下预处理原始数据。共识（MaxCon）的最大化是最受欢迎的强大标准之一和广泛使用。最近（Tennakoon等人CVPR2021），MAXCON之间的连接和单调布尔函数的影响估计。用不同的措施装配布尔维亚级并采用不同的采样策略（同一硬币的两侧）可以具有不同的效果：这导致目前的研究。本文研究了求解MAXCON的加权影响的概念。特别是，我们研究了伯努利测量的布尔立方体，并执行偏置（与均匀）采样进行偏见。从理论上讲，我们证明了在该措施下，属于较大结构的点的加权影响小于属于较小结构的点。我们还考虑了另一个“自然”的采样/加权策略系列，用均匀措施采样，集中在特定（汉明）水平的立方体。基于加权采样，我们修改了Tennakoon等人的算法，并在合成和实时数据集测试。本文不促进新方法本身，而是研究加权抽样问题。因此，我们未声称已经产生了卓越的算法：相反，我们展示了伯努利采样的一些适度增益，并且我们在数据和加权采样中阐明了结构之间的一些相互作用。

In this paper, we propose a novel technique, namely INVALIDATOR, to automatically assess the correctness of APR-generated patches via semantic and syntactic reasoning. INVALIDATOR reasons about program semantic via program invariants while it also captures program syntax via language semantic learned from large code corpus using the pre-trained language model. Given a buggy program and the developer-patched program, INVALIDATOR infers likely invariants on both programs. Then, INVALIDATOR determines that a APR-generated patch overfits if: (1) it violates correct specifications or (2) maintains errors behaviors of the original buggy program. In case our approach fails to determine an overfitting patch based on invariants, INVALIDATOR utilizes a trained model from labeled patches to assess patch correctness based on program syntax. The benefit of INVALIDATOR is three-fold. First, INVALIDATOR is able to leverage both semantic and syntactic reasoning to enhance its discriminant capability. Second, INVALIDATOR does not require new test cases to be generated but instead only relies on the current test suite and uses invariant inference to generalize the behaviors of a program. Third, INVALIDATOR is fully automated. We have conducted our experiments on a dataset of 885 patches generated on real-world programs in Defects4J. Experiment results show that INVALIDATOR correctly classified 79% overfitting patches, accounting for 23% more overfitting patches being detected by the best baseline. INVALIDATOR also substantially outperforms the best baselines by 14% and 19% in terms of Accuracy and F-Measure, respectively.

The recent increase in public and academic interest in preserving biodiversity has led to the growth of the field of conservation technology. This field involves designing and constructing tools that utilize technology to aid in the conservation of wildlife. In this article, we will use case studies to demonstrate the importance of designing conservation tools with human-wildlife interaction in mind and provide a framework for creating successful tools. These case studies include a range of complexities, from simple cat collars to machine learning and game theory methodologies. Our goal is to introduce and inform current and future researchers in the field of conservation technology and provide references for educating the next generation of conservation technologists. Conservation technology not only has the potential to benefit biodiversity but also has broader impacts on fields such as sustainability and environmental protection. By using innovative technologies to address conservation challenges, we can find more effective and efficient solutions to protect and preserve our planet's resources.

Variational autoencoders model high-dimensional data by positing low-dimensional latent variables that are mapped through a flexible distribution parametrized by a neural network. Unfortunately, variational autoencoders often suffer from posterior collapse: the posterior of the latent variables is equal to its prior, rendering the variational autoencoder useless as a means to produce meaningful representations. Existing approaches to posterior collapse often attribute it to the use of neural networks or optimization issues due to variational approximation. In this paper, we consider posterior collapse as a problem of latent variable non-identifiability. We prove that the posterior collapses if and only if the latent variables are non-identifiable in the generative model. This fact implies that posterior collapse is not a phenomenon specific to the use of flexible distributions or approximate inference. Rather, it can occur in classical probabilistic models even with exact inference, which we also demonstrate. Based on these results, we propose a class of latent-identifiable variational autoencoders, deep generative models which enforce identifiability without sacrificing flexibility. This model class resolves the problem of latent variable non-identifiability by leveraging bijective Brenier maps and parameterizing them with input convex neural networks, without special variational inference objectives or optimization tricks. Across synthetic and real datasets, latent-identifiable variational autoencoders outperform existing methods in mitigating posterior collapse and providing meaningful representations of the data.

Cashews are grown by over 3 million smallholders in more than 40 countries worldwide as a principal source of income. As the third largest cashew producer in Africa, Benin has nearly 200,000 smallholder cashew growers contributing 15% of the country's national export earnings. However, a lack of information on where and how cashew trees grow across the country hinders decision-making that could support increased cashew production and poverty alleviation. By leveraging 2.4-m Planet Basemaps and 0.5-m aerial imagery, newly developed deep learning algorithms, and large-scale ground truth datasets, we successfully produced the first national map of cashew in Benin and characterized the expansion of cashew plantations between 2015 and 2021. In particular, we developed a SpatioTemporal Classification with Attention (STCA) model to map the distribution of cashew plantations, which can fully capture texture information from discriminative time steps during a growing season. We further developed a Clustering Augmented Self-supervised Temporal Classification (CASTC) model to distinguish high-density versus low-density cashew plantations by automatic feature extraction and optimized clustering. Results show that the STCA model has an overall accuracy of 80% and the CASTC model achieved an overall accuracy of 77.9%. We found that the cashew area in Benin has doubled from 2015 to 2021 with 60% of new plantation development coming from cropland or fallow land, while encroachment of cashew plantations into protected areas has increased by 70%. Only half of cashew plantations were high-density in 2021, suggesting high potential for intensification. Our study illustrates the power of combining high-resolution remote sensing imagery and state-of-the-art deep learning algorithms to better understand tree crops in the heterogeneous smallholder landscape.

Coronary Computed Tomography Angiography (CCTA) provides information on the presence, extent, and severity of obstructive coronary artery disease. Large-scale clinical studies analyzing CCTA-derived metrics typically require ground-truth validation in the form of high-fidelity 3D intravascular imaging. However, manual rigid alignment of intravascular images to corresponding CCTA images is both time consuming and user-dependent. Moreover, intravascular modalities suffer from several non-rigid motion-induced distortions arising from distortions in the imaging catheter path. To address these issues, we here present a semi-automatic segmentation-based framework for both rigid and non-rigid matching of intravascular images to CCTA images. We formulate the problem in terms of finding the optimal \emph{virtual catheter path} that samples the CCTA data to recapitulate the coronary artery morphology found in the intravascular image. We validate our co-registration framework on a cohort of $n=40$ patients using bifurcation landmarks as ground truth for longitudinal and rotational registration. Our results indicate that our non-rigid registration significantly outperforms other co-registration approaches for luminal bifurcation alignment in both longitudinal (mean mismatch: 3.3 frames) and rotational directions (mean mismatch: 28.6 degrees). By providing a differentiable framework for automatic multi-modal intravascular data fusion, our developed co-registration modules significantly reduces the manual effort required to conduct large-scale multi-modal clinical studies while also providing a solid foundation for the development of machine learning-based co-registration approaches.

Springs are efficient in storing and returning elastic potential energy but are unable to hold the energy they store in the absence of an external load. Lockable springs use clutches to hold elastic potential energy in the absence of an external load but have not yet been widely adopted in applications, partly because clutches introduce design complexity, reduce energy efficiency, and typically do not afford high-fidelity control over the energy stored by the spring. Here, we present the design of a novel lockable compression spring that uses a small capstan clutch to passively lock a mechanical spring. The capstan clutch can lock up to 1000 N force at any arbitrary deflection, unlock the spring in less than 10 ms with a control force less than 1 % of the maximal spring force, and provide an 80 % energy storage and return efficiency (comparable to a highly efficient electric motor operated at constant nominal speed). By retaining the form factor of a regular spring while providing high-fidelity locking capability even under large spring forces, the proposed design could facilitate the development of energy-efficient spring-based actuators and robots.

Springs can provide force at zero net energy cost by recycling negative mechanical work to benefit motor-driven robots or spring-augmented humans. However, humans have limited force and range of motion, and motors have a limited ability to produce force. These limits constrain how much energy a conventional spring can store and, consequently, how much assistance a spring can provide. In this paper, we introduce an approach to accumulating negative work in assistive springs over several motion cycles. We show that, by utilizing a novel floating spring mechanism, the weight of a human or robot can be used to iteratively increase spring compression, irrespective of the potential energy stored by the spring. Decoupling the force required to compress a spring from the energy stored by a spring advances prior works, and could enable spring-driven robots and humans to perform physically demanding tasks without the use of large actuators.