LearNAT: Learning NL2SQL with AST-guided Task Decomposition for Large Language Models

Natural Language to SQL (NL2SQL) has emerged as a critical task for enabling seamless interaction with databases. Recent advancements in Large Language Models (LLMs) have demonstrated remarkable performance in this domain. However, existing NL2SQL methods predominantly rely on closed-source LLMs leveraging prompt engineering, while open-source models typically require fine-tuning to acquire domain-specific knowledge. Despite these efforts, open-source LLMs struggle with complex NL2SQL tasks due to the indirect expression of user query objectives and the semantic gap between user queries and database schemas. Inspired by the application of reinforcement learning in mathematical problem-solving to encourage step-by-step reasoning in LLMs, we propose LearNAT (Learning NL2SQL with AST-guided Task Decomposition), a novel framework that improves the performance of open-source LLMs on complex NL2SQL tasks through task decomposition and reinforcement learning. LearNAT introduces three key components: (1) a Decomposition Synthesis Procedure that leverages Abstract Syntax Trees (ASTs) to guide efficient search and pruning strategies for task decomposition, (2) Margin-aware Reinforcement Learning, which employs fine-grained step-level optimization via DPO with AST margins, and (3) Adaptive Demonstration Reasoning, a mechanism for dynamically selecting relevant examples to enhance decomposition capabilities. Extensive experiments on two benchmark datasets, Spider and BIRD, demonstrate that LearNAT enables a 7B-parameter open-source LLM to achieve performance comparable to GPT-4, while offering improved efficiency and accessibility.

Multi-Scale Transformer Architecture for Accurate Medical Image Classification

This study introduces an AI-driven skin lesion classification algorithm built on an enhanced Transformer architecture, addressing the challenges of accuracy and robustness in medical image analysis. By integrating a multi-scale feature fusion mechanism and refining the self-attention process, the model effectively extracts both global and local features, enhancing its ability to detect lesions with ambiguous boundaries and intricate structures. Performance evaluation on the ISIC 2017 dataset demonstrates that the improved Transformer surpasses established AI models, including ResNet50, VGG19, ResNext, and Vision Transformer, across key metrics such as accuracy, AUC, F1-Score, and Precision. Grad-CAM visualizations further highlight the interpretability of the model, showcasing strong alignment between the algorithm's focus areas and actual lesion sites. This research underscores the transformative potential of advanced AI models in medical imaging, paving the way for more accurate and reliable diagnostic tools. Future work will explore the scalability of this approach to broader medical imaging tasks and investigate the integration of multimodal data to enhance AI-driven diagnostic frameworks for intelligent healthcare.

Quantifying Correlations of Machine Learning Models

Machine Learning models are being extensively used in safety critical applications where errors from these models could cause harm to the user. Such risks are amplified when multiple machine learning models, which are deployed concurrently, interact and make errors simultaneously. This paper explores three scenarios where error correlations between multiple models arise, resulting in such aggregated risks. Using real-world data, we simulate these scenarios and quantify the correlations in errors of different models. Our findings indicate that aggregated risks are substantial, particularly when models share similar algorithms, training datasets, or foundational models. Overall, we observe that correlations across models are pervasive and likely to intensify with increased reliance on foundational models and widely used public datasets, highlighting the need for effective mitigation strategies to address these challenges.

DRESSing Up LLM: Efficient Stylized Question-Answering via Style Subspace Editing

We introduce DRESS, a novel approach for generating stylized large language model (LLM) responses through representation editing. Existing methods like prompting and fine-tuning are either insufficient for complex style adaptation or computationally expensive, particularly in tasks like NPC creation or character role-playing. Our approach leverages the over-parameterized nature of LLMs to disentangle a style-relevant subspace within the model's representation space to conduct representation editing, ensuring a minimal impact on the original semantics. By applying adaptive editing strengths, we dynamically adjust the steering vectors in the style subspace to maintain both stylistic fidelity and semantic integrity. We develop two stylized QA benchmark datasets to validate the effectiveness of DRESS, and the results demonstrate significant improvements compared to baseline methods such as prompting and ITI. In short, DRESS is a lightweight, train-free solution for enhancing LLMs with flexible and effective style control, making it particularly useful for developing stylized conversational agents. Codes and benchmark datasets are available at https://github.com/ArthurLeoM/DRESS-LLM.

Deep Learning in Image Classification: Evaluating VGG19's Performance on Complex Visual Data

This study aims to explore the automatic classification method of pneumonia X-ray images based on VGG19 deep convolutional neural network, and evaluate its application effect in pneumonia diagnosis by comparing with classic models such as SVM, XGBoost, MLP, and ResNet50. The experimental results show that VGG19 performs well in multiple indicators such as accuracy (92%), AUC (0.95), F1 score (0.90) and recall rate (0.87), which is better than other comparison models, especially in image feature extraction and classification accuracy. Although ResNet50 performs well in some indicators, it is slightly inferior to VGG19 in recall rate and F1 score. Traditional machine learning models SVM and XGBoost are obviously limited in image classification tasks, especially in complex medical image analysis tasks, and their performance is relatively mediocre. The research results show that deep learning, especially convolutional neural networks, have significant advantages in medical image classification tasks, especially in pneumonia X-ray image analysis, and can provide efficient and accurate automatic diagnosis support. This research provides strong technical support for the early detection of pneumonia and the development of automated diagnosis systems and also lays the foundation for further promoting the application and development of automated medical image processing technology.

Enhancing Topic Interpretability for Neural Topic Modeling through Topic-wise Contrastive Learning

Data mining and knowledge discovery are essential aspects of extracting valuable insights from vast datasets. Neural topic models (NTMs) have emerged as a valuable unsupervised tool in this field. However, the predominant objective in NTMs, which aims to discover topics maximizing data likelihood, often lacks alignment with the central goals of data mining and knowledge discovery which is to reveal interpretable insights from large data repositories. Overemphasizing likelihood maximization without incorporating topic regularization can lead to an overly expansive latent space for topic modeling. In this paper, we present an innovative approach to NTMs that addresses this misalignment by introducing contrastive learning measures to assess topic interpretability. We propose a novel NTM framework, named ContraTopic, that integrates a differentiable regularizer capable of evaluating multiple facets of topic interpretability throughout the training process. Our regularizer adopts a unique topic-wise contrastive methodology, fostering both internal coherence within topics and clear external distinctions among them. Comprehensive experiments conducted on three diverse datasets demonstrate that our approach consistently produces topics with superior interpretability compared to state-of-the-art NTMs.

Accurate Medical Named Entity Recognition Through Specialized NLP Models

This study evaluated the effect of BioBERT in medical text processing for the task of medical named entity recognition. Through comparative experiments with models such as BERT, ClinicalBERT, SciBERT, and BlueBERT, the results showed that BioBERT achieved the best performance in both precision and F1 score, verifying its applicability and superiority in the medical field. BioBERT enhances its ability to understand professional terms and complex medical texts through pre-training on biomedical data, providing a powerful tool for medical information extraction and clinical decision support. The study also explored the privacy and compliance challenges of BioBERT when processing medical data, and proposed future research directions for combining other medical-specific models to improve generalization and robustness. With the development of deep learning technology, the potential of BioBERT in application fields such as intelligent medicine, personalized treatment, and disease prediction will be further expanded. Future research can focus on the real-time and interpretability of the model to promote its widespread application in the medical field.

An In-Depth Examination of Risk Assessment in Multi-Class Classification Algorithms

Advanced classification algorithms are being increasingly used in safety-critical applications like health-care, engineering, etc. In such applications, miss-classifications made by ML algorithms can result in substantial financial or health-related losses. To better anticipate and prepare for such losses, the algorithm user seeks an estimate for the probability that the algorithm miss-classifies a sample. We refer to this task as the risk-assessment. For a variety of models and datasets, we numerically analyze the performance of different methods in solving the risk-assessment problem. We consider two solution strategies: a) calibration techniques that calibrate the output probabilities of classification models to provide accurate probability outputs; and b) a novel approach based upon the prediction interval generation technique of conformal prediction. Our conformal prediction based approach is model and data-distribution agnostic, simple to implement, and provides reasonable results for a variety of use-cases. We compare the different methods on a broad variety of models and datasets.

Adversarial Neural Networks in Medical Imaging Advancements and Challenges in Semantic Segmentation

Recent advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) have precipitated a paradigm shift in medical imaging, particularly revolutionizing the domain of brain imaging. This paper systematically investigates the integration of deep learning -- a principal branch of AI -- into the semantic segmentation of brain images. Semantic segmentation serves as an indispensable technique for the delineation of discrete anatomical structures and the identification of pathological markers, essential for the diagnosis of complex neurological disorders. Historically, the reliance on manual interpretation by radiologists, while noteworthy for its accuracy, is plagued by inherent subjectivity and inter-observer variability. This limitation becomes more pronounced with the exponential increase in imaging data, which traditional methods struggle to process efficiently and effectively. In response to these challenges, this study introduces the application of adversarial neural networks, a novel AI approach that not only automates but also refines the semantic segmentation process. By leveraging these advanced neural networks, our approach enhances the precision of diagnostic outputs, reducing human error and increasing the throughput of imaging data analysis. The paper provides a detailed discussion on how adversarial neural networks facilitate a more robust, objective, and scalable solution, thereby significantly improving diagnostic accuracies in neurological evaluations. This exploration highlights the transformative impact of AI on medical imaging, setting a new benchmark for future research and clinical practice in neurology.

RazorAttention: Efficient KV Cache Compression Through Retrieval Heads

The memory and computational demands of Key-Value (KV) cache present significant challenges for deploying long-context language models. Previous approaches attempt to mitigate this issue by selectively dropping tokens, which irreversibly erases critical information that might be needed for future queries. In this paper, we propose a novel compression technique for KV cache that preserves all token information. Our investigation reveals that: i) Most attention heads primarily focus on the local context; ii) Only a few heads, denoted as retrieval heads, can essentially pay attention to all input tokens. These key observations motivate us to use separate caching strategy for attention heads. Therefore, we propose RazorAttention, a training-free KV cache compression algorithm, which maintains a full cache for these crucial retrieval heads and discards the remote tokens in non-retrieval heads. Furthermore, we introduce a novel mechanism involving a "compensation token" to further recover the information in the dropped tokens. Extensive evaluations across a diverse set of large language models (LLMs) demonstrate that RazorAttention achieves a reduction in KV cache size by over 70% without noticeable impacts on performance. Additionally, RazorAttention is compatible with FlashAttention, rendering it an efficient and plug-and-play solution that enhances LLM inference efficiency without overhead or retraining of the original model.