arXiv subjects

Wenlong Shi

Publications and source records attributed to Wenlong Shi.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

PersonaArena: Dynamic Simulation for Evaluating and Enhancing Persona-Level Role-Playing in Large Language Models

Large language models (LLMs) increasingly serve as interactive social agents, yet their ability to maintain coherent and authentic persona-level role-playing remains limited, particularly in realistic social scenarios. Existing research predominantly focuses on character-level settings and relies on static evaluation formats, failing to capture the complexity of everyday social interactions. In this work, we present PersonaArena, a dynamic simulation framework for evaluating and improving persona-level role-playing in LLMs. PersonaArena leverages a large, filtered corpus of user-generated social content to construct a nuanced persona bank, and elicits multi-turn, context-rich interactions within simulated social environments. Our framework features a multi-agent debating judge for holistic and unbiased assessment. Through extensive experiments, we demonstrate that PersonaArena enables rigorous evaluation and enhancement of LLMs' role-playing capabilities, advancing the development of more authentic and socially adept AI agents.

cs.AI↗

arXiv2026

Synchronization-Safe Dynamic Microgrid Formation for DER-Led Distribution System Restoration With Constraint-Aware Graph Learning

Prolonged blackouts in distribution systems (DSs) with high penetration of distributed energy resources (DERs) necessitate novel restoration strategies to rapidly restore loads. However, the resulting complex optimization problem significantly limits scalability. This paper proposes a synchronization-safe dynamic microgrid (MG) formation (SSDMGF)-enabled restoration framework, in which a constraint-aware graph learning approach is developed to enhance solution efficiency. To characterize the restoration status of systems with evolving boundaries, the concepts of system mode and system class are defined. To ensure synchronization safety during restoration, the transitions of system mode and class for dynamically formed MGs are explicitly restricted. To further accelerate the solution process, a constraint-aware spatio-temporal graph convolutional network (STGCN) is designed to partially generate high-quality warm-start solutions, where synchronization-related constraints are embedded into a differentiable feasibility-resolving layer based on the straight-through estimator (STE). Case studies on a modified IEEE 123-node feeder validate that the proposed method ensures synchronization-safe MG formation and improves restoration performance. Meanwhile, the proposed acceleration framework achieves significant computational speed-ups without compromising final optimality.

eess.SY↗

arXiv2025

Underground Power Distribution System Restoration Using Inverter Based Resources

Underground power distribution systems (PDSs) are increasingly deployed in urban areas. The integration of smart devices including smart switchgears, pad-mounted distribution transformers and inverter-based resources (IBRs) enhance system resilience, however simultaneously introducing unique challenges. The challenges include inrush currents caused by trapped charges in underground cables, ferroresonance in distribution transformers during energization, and three-phase load imbalance resulting from single-phase underground laterals. To address these issues, this paper proposes an underground PDS restoration framework using IBRs. Firstly, an underground cable energization model is developed to quantify inrush current by analyzing voltage differences across both switchgear terminals. Secondly, a distribution transformer energization model is proposed to evaluate ferroresonance using Q-factor constraints based on underground cable capacitance and damping resistance. Thirdly, a phase-swapping model is proposed to improve load balancing by dynamically reassigning lateral-phase connections through smart switchgears. The proposed models are further integrated into a mixed-integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) formulation to maximize the total weighted restored load while constraining inrush currents, ferroresonance, and phase imbalance. To address the nonlinearity induced by impedance matrix reordering during phase swapping, a permutation-based linearization technique is proposed. Finally, case studies on an underground PDS established based on IEEE 123-Node Test Feeder validate the effectiveness of the proposed strategy in improving uderground PDS restoration performance.

eess.SY↗

arXiv2025

Learning to Mitigate Post-Outage Load Surges: A Data-Driven Framework for Electrifying and Decarbonizing Grids

Electrification and decarbonization are transforming power system demand and recovery dynamics, yet their implications for post-outage load surges remain poorly understood. Here we analyze a metropolitan-scale heterogeneous dataset for Indianapolis comprising 30,046 feeder-level outages between 2020 and 2024, linked to smart meters and submetering, to quantify the causal impact of electric vehicles (EVs), heat pumps (HPs) and distributed energy resources (DERs) on restoration surges. Statistical analysis and causal forest inference demonstrate that rising penetrations of all three assets significantly increase surge ratios, with effects strongly modulated by restoration timing, outage duration and weather conditions. We develop a component-aware multi-task Transformer estimator that disaggregates EV, HP and DER contributions, and apply it to project historical outages under counterfactual 2035 adoption pathways. In a policy-aligned pathway, evening restorations emerge as the binding reliability constraint, with exceedance probabilities of 0.057 when 30\% of system load is restored within the first 15 minutes. Mitigation measures, probabilistic EV restarts, short thermostat offsets and accelerated DER reconnection, reduce exceedance to 0.019 and eliminate it entirely when 20\% or less of system load is restored. These results demonstrate that transition-era surges are asset-driven and causally linked to electrification and decarbonization, but can be effectively managed through integrated operational strategies.

eess.SY↗

arXiv2025

Multihyperuniform Particle Composites Inspired by Avian Photoreceptor Patterns for Optical Applications

Hyperuniform materials, characterized by anomalously suppressed long-wavelength density fluctuations, exhibit unique optical and photonic properties distinct from both crystalline and random media. While most prior studies have focused on single-species systems, we investigate the broader class of \textit{multihyperuniform} systems inspired by biological photoreceptor mosaics. Using particle-based models with varying species number, size ratios, and interaction competition, we demonstrate that multispecies mixtures can achieve robust and stealthy hyperuniform configurations, even in highly disordered states. We further show how these configurations can be mapped to multifunctional composites with tailored optical responses, including isotropic structural coloration, enhanced absorption, and engineered dielectric properties that facilitate transmission while suppressing scattering. Our results highlight multihyperuniformity as a generalizable design principle for multifunctional disordered photonic materials, opening avenues for robust, tunable, and scalable optical applications.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2025

Data-Driven Stochastic Distribution System Hardening Based on Bayesian Online Learning

Extreme weather frequently cause widespread outages in distribution systems (DSs), demonstrating the importance of hardening strategies for resilience enhancement. However, the well-utilization of real-world outage data with associated weather conditions to make informed hardening decisions in DSs is still an open issue. To bridge this research gap, this paper proposes a data-driven stochastic distribution line (DL) hardening strategy. First, a deep neural network (DNN) regression model is developed to predict the probabilistic evolution of outage scenarios under various hardening decisions. Based on the DNN predictions, the problem is formulated as a decision-dependent distributionally robust optimization (DRO) model, accounting for uncertainties in outage scenario distributions using a data-driven ambiguity set. To address decision-dependent uncertainty, a Bayesian online learning algorithm is proposed. This algorithm decomposes the original problem into inner and outer problems. Then, it iteratively refines hardening decisions by sequentially incorporating outage data and dynamically updating decision-specific ambiguity sets by using Bayes' theorem and Bayesian Inference. Also, the convergence of the algorithm is proven through dynamic regret analysis. Finally, case studies are implemented on a real-world DS in Redfield, Iowa, USA. A dataset spanning 24 years (2001-2024) is constructed based on the utility outage records. The simulation results validates the effectiveness of the proposed strategy.

eess.SY↗

arXiv2025

Power Distribution System Blackstart Restoration Using Renewable Energy

Integrating renewable energy sources into the grid not only reduces global carbon emissions, but also facilitates distribution system (DS) blackstart restoration. This process leverages renewable energy, inverters, situational awareness and distribution automation to initiate blackstart at the DS level, obtaining a fast response and bottom-up restoration. In this Review, we survey the latest technological advances for DS blackstart restoration using renewable energy. We first present mathematical models for distributed energy resources (DERs), network topology, and load dynamics. We then discuss how the situational awareness can help improve restoration performance through real-time monitoring and forecasting. Next, the DS blackstart restoration problem, including objectives, constraints, and existing methodologies for decision-making are provided. Lastly, we outline remaining challenges, and highlight the opportunities and future research directions.

eess.SY↗

arXiv2025

Situationally Aware Rolling Horizon Multi-Tier Load Restoration Considering Behind-The-Meter DER

Restoration in power distribution systems (PDSs) is well studied, however, most existing research focuses on network partition and microgrid formation, where load transfer is limited to adjacent feeders. This focus is not practical, as when adjacent feeders lack sufficient capacity, utilities may request support from more distant feeders in practice. Such a hirarchical restoration is complex, especially when involving changing system conditions due to cold load pickup and delayed reconnection of behind-the-meter DERs. To fill this research gap, a situationally aware multi-tier load restoration framework is proposed. Specifically, models are proposed to describe the multi-tier load restoration, including the multi-tier load transfer and substation transformer and feeder protection models. By introducing binary actional switching variables and load block transfer variables, the models effectively captures the dynamics of switches and multi-tier transfer process. To integrate situational awareness of evolving system conditions, the problem is formulated as a mixed-integer linear program (MILP) and then embedded within a rolling horizon optimization. Particularly, a set of safeguarded constraints are developed based on segment-level restoration reward bounds to mitigate the myopia of traditional rolling horizon optimization. The proposed safeguarded rolling strategy guarantees that each time step is lower bounded by a $(1-\varepsilon)$-fraction of its optimal restoration potential, thereby balancing short-term switching decisions with long-term restoration goals. Finally, cases studies on the modified IEEE 123-node test feeder validate the proposed multi-tier restoration framework.

eess.SY↗

arXiv2025

Fast Feeder Reconfiguration via Mesh Adaptive Direct Search in Black-Box Distribution System Environments

Feeder reconfiguration is a critical operational strategy in power distribution systems. However, existing optimization approaches typically rely on explicit mathematical formulations and analytical models, which are often infeasible in practical utility environments characterized by heterogeneous, proprietary, and black-box simulation modules. To address this challenge, this paper proposes a fast feeder reconfiguration framework based on Mesh Adaptive Direct Search (MADS). The proposed approach requires only performance metric evaluations through simulation modules used for power flow, protection, and voltage regulation analysis. A bi-objective formulation is adopted to jointly minimize active power loss and operational constraint violations. A Pareto-based frontier filter is integrated into the MADS algorithm to efficiently guide the search toward high-quality configurations while systematically pruning dominated solutions. The approach adaptively refines the search space around promising candidates using local polling strategies and convergence aware updates. Case studies on the IEEE-123 node test feeder demonstrate that the proposed approach achieves near-optimal configurations with significantly fewer evaluations compared to heuristic methods.

eess.SY↗

arXiv2025

Accurate and Efficient Fetal Birth Weight Estimation from 3D Ultrasound

Accurate fetal birth weight (FBW) estimation is essential for optimizing delivery decisions and reducing perinatal mortality. However, clinical methods for FBW estimation are inefficient, operator-dependent, and challenging to apply in cases of complex fetal anatomy. Existing deep learning methods are based on 2D standard ultrasound (US) images or videos that lack spatial information, limiting their prediction accuracy. In this study, we propose the first method for directly estimating FBW from 3D fetal US volumes. Our approach integrates a multi-scale feature fusion network (MFFN) and a synthetic sample-based learning framework (SSLF). The MFFN effectively extracts and fuses multi-scale features under sparse supervision by incorporating channel attention, spatial attention, and a ranking-based loss function. SSLF generates synthetic samples by simply combining fetal head and abdomen data from different fetuses, utilizing semi-supervised learning to improve prediction performance. Experimental results demonstrate that our method achieves superior performance, with a mean absolute error of $166.4\pm155.9$ $g$ and a mean absolute percentage error of $5.1\pm4.6$%, outperforming existing methods and approaching the accuracy of a senior doctor. Code is available at: https://github.com/Qioy-i/EFW.

eess.IV↗

arXiv2025

From point patterns to networks: to what extent does the Delaunay triangulation reproduce key spatial and density information?

It is important that a spatial network's construction algorithm reproduces the structural properties of the original physical embedding. Here, we assess the Delaunay triangulation as a spatial network construction algorithm for seven different types of 2D point patterns, including hyperuniform systems. The latter are characterized by completely suppressed normalized infinite-wavelength density fluctuations. We demonstrate that the quartile coefficients of dispersion of multiple centrality measures are capable of rank-ordering hyperuniform and nonhyperuniform systems independently, but they cannot distinguish a system that is nearly hyperuniform from hyperuniform systems. Thus, we investigate the local densities of the point pattern and of the network. We reveal that there is a strong correlation between local densities in the point pattern and network in nonhyperuniform systems, but there is no such correlation in hyperuniform systems. When calculating the pair-correlation function and local density covariance function on the point pattern and network, the point pattern and network functions are similar only in nonhyperuniform systems. In hyperuniform systems, the triangulation has a positive covariance of local network densities in pairs of nodes that are close together that is not present in the point patterns. Thus, we demonstrate that the Delaunay triangulation accurately captures the density fluctuations of the point pattern only when the point pattern possesses a positive local density covariance at small distances. Such positive correlation is seen in most real-world systems, so the Delaunay triangulation is generally an effective tool for building a spatial network from a 2D point pattern, but there are situations (i.e., disordered hyperuniform systems) where we caution that the Delaunay triangulation would not be effective at capturing the underlying physical embedding.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2025

FedMUA: Exploring the Vulnerabilities of Federated Learning to Malicious Unlearning Attacks

Recently, the practical needs of ``the right to be forgotten'' in federated learning gave birth to a paradigm known as federated unlearning, which enables the server to forget personal data upon the client's removal request. Existing studies on federated unlearning have primarily focused on efficiently eliminating the influence of requested data from the client's model without retraining from scratch, however, they have rarely doubted the reliability of the global model posed by the discrepancy between its prediction performance before and after unlearning. To bridge this gap, we take the first step by introducing a novel malicious unlearning attack dubbed FedMUA, aiming to unveil potential vulnerabilities emerging from federated learning during the unlearning process. The crux of FedMUA is to mislead the global model into unlearning more information associated with the influential samples for the target sample than anticipated, thus inducing adverse effects on target samples from other clients. To achieve this, we design a novel two-step method, known as Influential Sample Identification and Malicious Unlearning Generation, to identify and subsequently generate malicious feature unlearning requests within the influential samples. By doing so, we can significantly alter the predictions pertaining to the target sample by initiating the malicious feature unlearning requests, leading to the deliberate manipulation for the user adversely. Additionally, we design a new defense mechanism that is highly resilient against malicious unlearning attacks. Extensive experiments on three realistic datasets reveal that FedMUA effectively induces misclassification on target samples and can achieve an 80% attack success rate by triggering only 0.3% malicious unlearning requests.

cs.CR↗

arXiv2024

Three-Dimensional Construction of Hyperuniform, Nonhyperuniform and Antihyperuniform Random Media via Spectral Density Functions and Their Transport Properties

Rigorous theories connecting physical properties of a heterogeneous material to its microstructure offer a promising avenue to guide the computational material design and optimization. We present here an efficient Fourier-space based computational framework and employ a variety of analytical ${\tilde \chi}_{_V}({k})$ functions that satisfy all known necessary conditions to construct 3D disordered stealthy hyperuniform, standard hyperuniform, nonhyperuniform, and antihyperuniform two-phase heterogeneous material systems at varying phase volume fractions. We show that a rich spectrum of distinct structures within each of the above classes of materials can be generated by tuning correlations in the system across length scales. We present the first realization of antihyperuniform two-phase heterogeneous materials in 3D, which are characterized by a power-law autocovariance function $\chi_{_V}(r)$ and contain clusters of dramatically different sizes and morphologies. We also determine the diffusion spreadability ${\cal S}(t)$ and estimate the fluid permeability $k$ associated with all of the constructed materials directly from the corresponding ${\tilde \chi}_{_V}({k})$ functions. We find that varying the length-scale parameter within each class of ${\tilde \chi}_{_V}({k})$ functions can also lead to orders of magnitude variation of ${\cal S}(t)$ at intermediate and long time scales. Moreover, we find that increasing solid volume fraction $\phi_1$ and correlation length $a$ in the constructed media generally leads to a decrease in the dimensionless fluid permeability $k/a^2$. These results indicate the feasibility of employing parameterized ${\tilde \chi}_{_V}({k})$ for designing composites with targeted transport properties.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2024

Structural Properties of Hyperuniform Networks

Disordered hyperuniform many-particle systems are recently discovered exotic states of matter, characterized by a complete suppression of normalized infinite-wavelength density fluctuations and lack of conventional long-range order. Here, we begin a program to quantify the structural properties of nonhyperuniform and hyperuniform networks. In particular, large two-dimensional (2D) Voronoi networks (graphs) containing approximately 10,000 nodes are created from a variety of different point configurations, including the antihyperuniform HIP, nonhyperuniform Poisson process, nonhyperuniform RSA saturated packing, and both non-stealthy and stealthy hyperuniform point processes. We carry out an extensive study of the Voronoi-cell area distribution of each of the networks through determining multiple metrics that characterize the distribution, including their higher-cumulants. We show that the HIP distribution is far from Gaussian; the Poisson and non-stealthy hyperuniform distributions are Gaussian-like distributions, the RSA and the highest stealthy hyperuniform distributions are also non-Gaussian, with diametrically opposite non-Gaussian behavior of the HIP. Moreover, we compute the Voronoi-area correlation functions $C_{00}(r)$ for the networks [M. A. Klatt and S. Torquato, Phys. Rev. E {\bf 90}, 052120 (2014)]. We show that the correlation functions $C_{00}(r)$ qualitatively distinguish the antihyperuniform, nonhyperuniform and hyperuniform Voronoi networks. We find strong anticorrelations in $C_{00}(r)$ (i.e., negative values) for the hyperuniform networks.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2024

FetusMap: Fetal Pose Estimation in 3D Ultrasound

The 3D ultrasound (US) entrance inspires a multitude of automated prenatal examinations. However, studies about the structuralized description of the whole fetus in 3D US are still rare. In this paper, we propose to estimate the 3D pose of fetus in US volumes to facilitate its quantitative analyses in global and local scales. Given the great challenges in 3D US, including the high volume dimension, poor image quality, symmetric ambiguity in anatomical structures and large variations of fetal pose, our contribution is three-fold. (i) This is the first work about 3D pose estimation of fetus in the literature. We aim to extract the skeleton of whole fetus and assign different segments/joints with correct torso/limb labels. (ii) We propose a self-supervised learning (SSL) framework to finetune the deep network to form visually plausible pose predictions. Specifically, we leverage the landmark-based registration to effectively encode case-adaptive anatomical priors and generate evolving label proxy for supervision. (iii) To enable our 3D network perceive better contextual cues with higher resolution input under limited computing resource, we further adopt the gradient check-pointing (GCP) strategy to save GPU memory and improve the prediction. Extensively validated on a large 3D US dataset, our method tackles varying fetal poses and achieves promising results. 3D pose estimation of fetus has potentials in serving as a map to provide navigation for many advanced studies.

cs.CV↗

arXiv2024

A Foundation Model for General Moving Object Segmentation in Medical Images

Medical image segmentation aims to delineate the anatomical or pathological structures of interest, playing a crucial role in clinical diagnosis. A substantial amount of high-quality annotated data is crucial for constructing high-precision deep segmentation models. However, medical annotation is highly cumbersome and time-consuming, especially for medical videos or 3D volumes, due to the huge labeling space and poor inter-frame consistency. Recently, a fundamental task named Moving Object Segmentation (MOS) has made significant advancements in natural images. Its objective is to delineate moving objects from the background within image sequences, requiring only minimal annotations. In this paper, we propose the first foundation model, named iMOS, for MOS in medical images. Extensive experiments on a large multi-modal medical dataset validate the effectiveness of the proposed iMOS. Specifically, with the annotation of only a small number of images in the sequence, iMOS can achieve satisfactory tracking and segmentation performance of moving objects throughout the entire sequence in bi-directions. We hope that the proposed iMOS can help accelerate the annotation speed of experts, and boost the development of medical foundation models.

cs.CV↗

arXiv2023

Few-shot Shape Recognition by Learning Deep Shape-aware Features

Traditional shape descriptors have been gradually replaced by convolutional neural networks due to their superior performance in feature extraction and classification. The state-of-the-art methods recognize object shapes via image reconstruction or pixel classification. However , these methods are biased toward texture information and overlook the essential shape descriptions, thus, they fail to generalize to unseen shapes. We are the first to propose a fewshot shape descriptor (FSSD) to recognize object shapes given only one or a few samples. We employ an embedding module for FSSD to extract transformation-invariant shape features. Secondly, we develop a dual attention mechanism to decompose and reconstruct the shape features via learnable shape primitives. In this way, any shape can be formed through a finite set basis, and the learned representation model is highly interpretable and extendable to unseen shapes. Thirdly, we propose a decoding module to include the supervision of shape masks and edges and align the original and reconstructed shape features, enforcing the learned features to be more shape-aware. Lastly, all the proposed modules are assembled into a few-shot shape recognition scheme. Experiments on five datasets show that our FSSD significantly improves the shape classification compared to the state-of-the-art under the few-shot setting.

cs.CV↗

arXiv2023

FetusMapV2: Enhanced Fetal Pose Estimation in 3D Ultrasound

Fetal pose estimation in 3D ultrasound (US) involves identifying a set of associated fetal anatomical landmarks. Its primary objective is to provide comprehensive information about the fetus through landmark connections, thus benefiting various critical applications, such as biometric measurements, plane localization, and fetal movement monitoring. However, accurately estimating the 3D fetal pose in US volume has several challenges, including poor image quality, limited GPU memory for tackling high dimensional data, symmetrical or ambiguous anatomical structures, and considerable variations in fetal poses. In this study, we propose a novel 3D fetal pose estimation framework (called FetusMapV2) to overcome the above challenges. Our contribution is three-fold. First, we propose a heuristic scheme that explores the complementary network structure-unconstrained and activation-unreserved GPU memory management approaches, which can enlarge the input image resolution for better results under limited GPU memory. Second, we design a novel Pair Loss to mitigate confusion caused by symmetrical and similar anatomical structures. It separates the hidden classification task from the landmark localization task and thus progressively eases model learning. Last, we propose a shape priors-based self-supervised learning by selecting the relatively stable landmarks to refine the pose online. Extensive experiments and diverse applications on a large-scale fetal US dataset including 1000 volumes with 22 landmarks per volume demonstrate that our method outperforms other strong competitors.

eess.IV↗