bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Study on the Chronological Changes and Their Short-Lived Effects on the Market Index and the Stock Return of Tehran Stock Exchange Market
Authors: Hanifi Farhad , Mahdavirad Hamid , Kordlouie Hamidreza
Published: January 2015

Detection and prediction of return fluctuations of securities have always been of great interest to those active in financial markets, leading to their research in financial and economic fields. This research aims at studying and detecting the return difference on specific days and months of a given year-if there is any. For this research the 2 lunar months of Ramadan and Muharram along with the two solar months of Farvardin- March 21 to April 2- and Shahrivar – August 22 to September 22 were chosen. In order to carry out this research, the return difference of the afore-mentioned months was tested against those of other months. Moreover, the return difference of a specific day of the week, namely Saturday – the beginning day of the week in Iran- was also tested against that of the other weekdays. It should be mentioned that the research also aimed at studying the difference of the aforementioned months and days with reference to the principles of behavioral finance. The research considered a 13 year span of time- from 2001 to 2013. Generally speaking, the following research studies the level of effect of chronological changes on a set of target indexes in Tehran securities market in the pre-mentioned span of time. The statistical method applied for the research is thesign test. The results of this research proved significant differences in the return patterns of the target months; however, these differences did not prove to be meaningful in any way.
Dynamic Modeling of Cable-Driven Parallel Manipulators With Distributed Mass Flexible Cables
Authors: Du Jingli , Agrawal Sunil K.
Published: January 2015

A cable-driven parallel manipulator is an economic way to achieve manipulation over large workspace. However, unavoidable vibration in long cables can dramatically degenerate the positioning performance of manipulators. In this paper, dynamic models of large cable-driven parallel manipulators (CDPMs) are addressed where each cable is considered with distributed mass and can change in length during operation. The dynamic equation of a cable deployed or retrieved is derived using Hamilton's principle. The dynamic model of the system is characterized by partial differential equations with algebraic constraints. By properly selecting the independent unknowns, we solve the model using assumed-mode method.
Whole-Body Cryotherapy’s Enhancement of Acute Recovery of Running Performance in Well-Trained Athletes
Authors: Krüger Malte , de Mareés Markus , Dittmar Karl-Heinrich , Sperlich Billy , Mester Joachim
Published: January 2015

Purpose:

To examine the effects of a whole-body cryotherapy (WBC) protocol (3 min at –110°C) on acute recovery and key variables of endurance performance during high-intensity intermittent exercise in a thermoneutral environment.

Methods:

Eleven endurance athletes were tested twice in a randomized crossover design in which 5 × 5 min of high-intensity running (HIR) were followed by 1 h of passive rest at ~22°C, including either 3 min of whole-body exposure to –110°C (WBC) or a placebo intervention of 3 min walking (PBO). A ramp-test protocol was performed before HIR (R1) and after the 1-h recovery period (R2). Time to exhaustion (tlim) was measured along with alterations in oxygen content of the vastus lateralis (TSI), oxygen consumption (VO2), capillary blood lactate, heart rate (HR), and rating of perceived exertion (RPE) during submaximal and maximal running.

Results:

The difference in tlim between R1 and R2 was lower in WBC than in PBO (P < .05, effect size d = 1.13). During R2, TSI was higher in WBC during submaximal and maximal running (P < .01, d = 0.68−1.01). In addition, VO2, HR, and RPE were lower at submaximal level of R2 after WBC than in PBO (P = .04 to <.01, d = 0.23−0.83).

Conclusion:

WBC improves acute recovery during high-intensity intermittent exercise in thermoneutral conditions. The improvements might be induced by enhanced oxygenation of the working muscles, as well as a reduction in cardiovascular strain and increased work economy at submaximal intensities.
Gender-Specific Activity Demands Experienced During Semiprofessional Basketball Game Play
Authors: Scanlan Aaron T. , Dascombe Ben J. , Kidcaff Andrew P. , Peucker Jessica L. , Dalbo Vincent J.
Published: January 2015

Purpose:

To compare game activity demands between female and male semiprofessional basketball players.

Methods:

Female (n = 12) and male (n = 12) semiprofessional basketball players were monitored across 3 competitive games. Time–motion-analysis procedures quantified player activity into predefined movement categories across backcourt (BC) and frontcourt (FC) positions. Activity frequencies, durations, and distances were calculated relative to live playing time (min). Work:rest ratios were also calculated using the video data. Game activity was compared between genders for each playing position and all players.

Results:

Female players performed at greater running work-rates than male players (45.7 ± 1.4 vs. 42.1 ± 1.7 m/min, P = .05), while male players performed more dribbling than female players (2.5 ± 0.3 vs. 3.0 ± 0.2 s/min; 8.4 ± 0.3 vs. 9.7 ± 0.7 m/min, P = .05). Positional analyses revealed that female BC players performed more low-intensity shuffling (P = .04) and jumping (P = .05), as well as longer (P = .04) jogging durations, than male BC players. Female FC players executed more upper-body activity (P = .03) and larger work:rest ratios (P < .001) than male FC players. No significant gender differences were observed in the overall intermittent demands, distance traveled, high-intensity shuffling activity, and sprinting requirements during game play.

Conclusions:

These findings indicate that gender-specific running and dribbling differences might exist in semiprofessional basketball. Furthermore, position-specific variations between female and male basketball players should be considered. These data may prove useful in the development of gender-specific conditioning plans relative to playing position in basketball.
Athletes’ Use of Mental Skills During Sport Injury Rehabilitation
Authors: Arvinen-Barrow Monna , Clement Damien , Hamson-Utley Jennifer J. , Zakrajsek Rebecca A. , Lee Sae-Mi , Kamphoff Cindra , Lintunen Taru , Hemmings Brian , Martin Scott B.
Published: January 2015

Context:

Existing theoretical frameworks and empirical research support the applicability and usefulness of integrating mental skills throughout sport injury rehabilitation.

Objective:

To determine what, if any, mental skills athletes use during injury rehabilitation, and by who these skills were taught. Cross-cultural differences were also examined.

Design:

Cross-sectional design.

Setting:

College athletes from 5 universities in the United States and a mixture of collegiate, professional, and recreational club athletes from the United Kingdom and Finland were recruited for this study.

Participants:

A total of 1283 athletes from the United States, United Kingdom, and Finland, who participated in diverse sports at varying competitive levels took part in this study.

Main Outcome Measures:

As part of a larger study on athletes’ expectations of injury rehabilitation, participants were asked a series of open-ended and closed-ended questions concerning their use of mental skills during injury rehabilitation.

Results:

Over half (64.0%) of the sample reported previous experience with athletic training, while 27.0% indicated that they used mental skills during injury rehabilitation. The top 3 mental skills reported were goal setting, positive self-talk/positive thoughts, and imagery. Of those athletes that used mental skills, 71.6% indicated that they felt mental skills helped them to rehabilitate faster. A greater proportion of athletes from the United States (33.4%) reported that they used mental skills during rehabilitation compared with athletes from the United Kingdom (23.4%) and Finland (20.3%). A small portion (27.6%) of the participants indicated that their sports medicine professional had taught them how to use mental skills; only 3% were taught mental skills by a sport psychologist.

Conclusions:

The low number of athletes who reported using mental skills during rehabilitation is discouraging, but not surprising given research findings that mental skills are underutilized by injured athletes in the 3 countries examined. More effort should be focused on educating and training athletes, coaches, and sports medicine professionals on the effectiveness of mental training in the injury rehabilitation context.
Effect of Prophylactic Ankle-Brace Use During a High School Competitive Basketball Season on Dynamic Postural Control
Authors: Crockett Nathan J. , Sandrey Michelle A.
Published: January 2015

Context:

Few studies have evaluated the long-term effects of prophylactic ankle-brace use during a sport season.

Objective:

To determine the effects of prophylactic ankle-brace use during a high school basketball season on dynamic postural control and functional tests.

Design:

Prospective repeated-measures design.

Setting:

High school athletic facility.

Participants:

21 healthy high school basketball athletes (13 girls, 8 boys).

Interventions:

The order of testing was randomized using the Star Excursion Balance Test (SEBT) for posteromedial (PM), medial (M), and anteromedial (AM) directions and 3 functional tests (FT) consisting of the single-leg crossover hop, single-leg vertical jump, and the single-leg 6-m hop for time at pre-, mid-, and postseason. After pretesting, the ankle brace was worn on both limbs during the entire 16-wk competitive basketball season.

Main Outcome Measures:

SEBT for PM, M, and AM and 3 single-leg FTs.

Results:

Dynamic postural control using the SEBT and the 3 FTs improved over time, notably from pretest to posttest. The left limb was different from the right limb during the single-leg vertical jump. Effect sizes were large for pretest to posttest for the 3 SEBT directions and 2 of the 3 FTs.

Conclusions:

The 16-wk basketball prophylactic ankle-brace intervention significantly improved dynamic postural control and single-limb FTs over time.
Shoulder-Muscle Activation in Individuals With Previous Shoulder Injuries
Authors: Muething Alyssa , Acocello Shellie , Pritchard Kimberly A. , Brockmeier Stephen F. , Saliba Susan A. , Hart Joseph M.
Published: January 2015

Context:

Understanding how muscles activate in a population with a previous glenohumeral-joint (GH) injury may help clinicians understand how to build a conservative treatment plan to strengthen or activate the specific muscles in an attempt to reduce recurrent shoulder injury and development of GH laxity.

Objective:

To investigate muscle-activation differences between the previously injured limb of individuals with a history of GH-joint injury and healthy matched controls during functional isometric contractions.

Design:

Case control.

Setting:

University research laboratory.

Participants:

17 individuals (8 women, 9 men; age 22.3 ± 2.6 y, height 172.4 ± 8.8 cm, mass 75.4 ± 16.5 kg) with previous unilateral shoulder pain and 17 (8 women, 9 men; age 22.9 ± 3.9 y, height 170.9 ± 11.3 cm, mass 73.6 ± 22.9 kg) with no history of shoulder pain or injury.

Intervention(s):

Diagnostic ultrasound measurements of the supraspinatus were completed in both resting and contracted states to assess changes in muscle thickness. Manual muscle tests (anterior deltoid, upper trapezius, infraspinatus, lower trapezius, serratus anterior) and functional isometric contractions (forward flexion, scaption, abduction) were measured using electromyography.

Main Outcome Measures:

Peak, normalized activation of each muscle and supraspinatus thickness activation ratio were compared between groups and bilaterally within groups using separate ANOVAs.

Results:

The anterior deltoid was significantly less activated during all functional isometric tasks in previously injured subjects than in healthy subjects (P = .024). In previously injured subjects, the involved limb-lower trapezius was significantly less activated during scaption and abduction tasks than the contralateral side (P = .022 and P = .031, respectively).

Conclusions:

There were decreases in muscle activation in the anterior deltoid between previously injured and healthy people, as well as in the lower trapezius, in previously injured subjects. Understanding the source of muscle-activation deficits can help clinicians focus rehabilitation exercises on specific muscles.
Acute Effects of Stretching on Passive Properties of Human Gastrocnemius Muscle–Tendon Unit: Analysis of Differences Between Hold-Relax and Static Stretching
Authors: Nakamura Masatoshi , Ikezoe Tome , Tokugawa Takahiro , Ichihashi Noriaki
Published: January 2015

Context:

Hold–relax stretching (HRS) and static stretching (SS) are commonly used to increase joint range of motion (ROM) and decrease muscle stiffness. However, whether there are differences between acute effects of HRS and SS on end ROM, passive torque, and muscle stiffness is unclear. In addition, any differences between the mechanisms by which HRS and SS lead to an increase in end ROM are unclear.

Objective:

To compare the acute effects of HRS and SS on the passive properties of the gastrocnemius muscle–tendon unit (MTU), end ROM, passive torque, and muscle stiffness in vivo and to investigate the factors involved in increasing end ROM.

Design:

Crossover experimental design.

Participants:

30 healthy men (21.7 ± 1.2 y) with no history of neuromuscular disease or musculoskeletal injury involving the lower limbs.

Intervention:

Both HRS and SS of 30 s were repeated 4 times, lasting a total of 2 min.

Main Outcome Measures:

End ROM, passive torque, and muscle stiffness were measured during passive ankle dorsiflexion using a dynamometer and ultrasonography before and immediately after HRS and SS.

Results:

The results showed that end ROM and passive torque at end ROM significantly increased immediately after both HRS and SS, whereas muscle stiffness significantly decreased. In addition, the percentage change in passive torque at end ROM on use of the HRS technique was significantly higher than that after use of the SS technique. However, the percentage change in muscle stiffness after SS was significantly higher than that with HRS.

Conclusion:

These results suggest that both HRS and SS can effectively decrease muscle stiffness of the gastrocnemius MTU and that HRS induces a change in the passive torque at end ROM—ie, sensory perception—rather than changing muscle stiffness.
Assessing the potential for maladaptation during active management of limber pine populations: a common garden study detects genetic differentiation in response to soil moisture in the Southern Rocky Mountains
Authors: Borgman Erin M. , Schoettle Anna W. , Angert Amy L.
Published: January 2015

Active management is needed to sustain healthy limber pine (Pinus flexilis E. James) forests in the Southern Rocky Mountains (henceforth, Southern Rockies), as they are threatened by the interaction of the mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins) epidemic, climate change, and the spread of the non-native pathogen that causes white pine blister rust disease (Cronartium ribicola A. Dietr.). Appropriate source material for restoration and proactive introduction needs to be selected, taking into account potential genetic differentiation that would hamper management success. We conducted a common garden study in a greenhouse to determine the degree of genetic differentiation among limber pine populations in the Southern Rockies. We evaluated the differential responses of populations from northern and southern portions of the Southern Rockies to different moisture regimes during early seedling growth by measuring primary needle length, stem diameter, water potential, biomass allocation between root and shoot, and carbon isotope ratios (δ13C; a proxy for water-use efficiency). There were significant (p < 0.05) effects of source region for root length, stem diameter, needle length, and total dry mass, with seedlings from southern sources bigger than seedlings from northern sources. Furthermore, there was a marginally significant interaction between soil moisture regime and source region for carbon isotope ratio (p = 0.0778), suggesting possible local adaptation. These data indicate that genetic differentiation exists among populations in the Southern Rockies, potentially increasing the risk of maladaptation when moving seed far from its source for active management.
Optical filtering properties of TiO2/Al2O3 heterostructures from first principles
Authors: Dadsetani M. , Omidi A. R.
Published: January 2015

This study combines the use of the full potential linear-augmented plane wave method (FP-LAPW) within the framework of the density functional theory (DFT) and the optical matrix approach for modeling the multilayer assembly. A new class of heterostructures with sufficient number of alternating layers of rutile- TiO 2 (as a high index material) and α- Al 2 O 3 (as a low index material) are proposed and their transmittance spectra are investigated. This study shows that the number of alternating layers, and the thickness and arrangement of them should be considered in making a heterostructured filter. The relation between heterostructure parameters and narrow-band-pass peaks of transmittance spectra is investigated. The proposed model seems to be successful in predicting the optical behavior of heterostructures and simulations agree well with the experimental observations. In addition, our model is very flexible and the effect of other parameters such as incident angle and light polarization can be easily investigated.
Limit Cycles Sparked by Mutation in the Repeated Prisoner's Dilemma
Authors: Toupo Danielle F. P. , Rand David G. , Strogatz Steven H.
Published: January 2015

We explore a replicator–mutator model of the repeated Prisoner's Dilemma involving three strategies: always cooperate (ALLC), always defect (ALLD), and tit-for-tat (TFT). The dynamics resulting from single unidirectional mutations are considered, with detailed results presented for the mutations TFT → ALLC and ALLD → ALLC. For certain combinations of parameters, given by the mutation rate μ and the complexity cost c of playing tit-for-tat, we find that the population settles into limit cycle oscillations, with the relative abundance of ALLC, ALLD, and TFT cycling periodically. Surprisingly, these oscillations can occur for unidirectional mutations between any two strategies. In each case, the limit cycles are created and destroyed by supercritical Hopf and homoclinic bifurcations, organized by a Bogdanov–Takens bifurcation. Our results suggest that stable oscillations are a robust aspect of a world of ALLC, ALLD, and costly TFT; the existence of cycles does not depend on the details of assumptions of how mutation is implemented.
A Simple RLCC-Diode-Opamp Chaotic Oscillator
Authors: San-Um Wimol , Suksiri Bandhit , Ketthong Patinya
Published: January 2015

This paper presents a simple autonomous chaotic oscillator. The design method is primarily based on a linear oscillator constructed by a closed loop connection of two building blocks, i.e. an inverting active integrator and a passive second-order LC integrator. A diode is inserted in parallel to the two building blocks for inducing chaos. The mathematical model reveals a set of three-dimensional ordinary differential equations, containing seven terms with four constants and an exponential nonlinearity. The dynamics properties are investigated in terms of an equilibrium point, Jacobian matrix, chaotic attractors, bifurcation, Lyapunov exponents, and chaotic waveforms in time domain. The proposed chaotic oscillator potentially exhibits complex dynamical behaviors through the utilization of only six minimal electronic components.
Dynamical Analysis of bantam-Regulated Drosophila Circadian Rhythm Model
Authors: Li Ying , Liu Zengrong
Published: January 2015

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) interact with 3′untranslated region (UTR) elements of target genes to regulate mRNA stability or translation, and play a crucial role in regulating many different biological processes. bantam, a conserved miRNA, is involved in several functions, such as regulating Drosophila growth and circadian rhythm. Recently, it has been discovered that bantam plays a crucial role in the core circadian pacemaker. In this paper, based on experimental observations, a detailed dynamical model of bantam-regulated circadian clock system is developed to show the post-transcriptional behaviors in the modulation of Drosophila circadian rhythm, in which the regulation of bantam is incorporated into a classical model. The dynamical behaviors of the model are consistent with the experimental observations, which shows that bantam is an important regulator of Drosophila circadian rhythm. The sensitivity analysis of parameters demonstrates that with the regulation of bantam the system is more sensitive to perturbations, indicating that bantam regulation makes it easier for the organism to modulate its period against the environmental perturbations. The effectiveness in rescuing locomotor activity rhythms of mutated flies shows that bantam is necessary for strong and sustained rhythms. In addition, the biological mechanisms of bantam regulation are analyzed, which may help us more clearly understand Drosophila circadian rhythm regulated by other miRNAs.
On Discontinuous Dynamics of a Freight Train Suspension System
Authors: O'Connor Dennis , Luo Albert C. J.
Published: January 2015

In this paper, a freight train suspension system is presented for all possible types of motion. The suspension system experiences impacts and friction between wedges and bolster. The impacts cause the chatter motions between wedges and bolster, and the friction will cause the stick and nonstick motions between wedges and bolster. Due to the wedge effect, the suspension system may become stuck and not move, which can cause the suspension to lose functions. To discuss such phenomena in the freight train suspension systems, the theory of discontinuous dynamical systems is used, and the motion mechanism of impacting chatter with stick and stuck is discussed. The analytical conditions for the onset and vanishing of stick motions between the wedges and bolster are presented, and the condition for maintaining stick motion was achieved as well. The analytical conditions are developed for the onset and vanishing conditions for stuck motion. An analytical prediction of periodic motions relative to impacting chatter with stick and stuck motions in the train suspension is performed through the mapping dynamics. The corresponding analyses of local stability and bifurcation are carried out, and the grazing and stick conditions are used to determine periodic motions. Numerical simulations illustrate periodic motions of stick and stuck motions. Finally, from field testing data, the effects of wedge angle on the motions of the suspension are presented to find a more desirable suspension response for design.
Buckling of Functionally-Graded Beams with Partially Delaminated Piezoelectric Layers
Authors: Torki Mohammad Ebrahim , Reddy Junuthula N.
Published: January 2015

The critical buckling load of a functionally-graded simply-supported beam with partially delaminated piezoelectric layers is discussed. The governing equations of motion are derived using two different, i.e. Euler–Bernoulli and Timoshenko beam theories, and the buckling load was evaluated from the exact solution to the corresponding eigenvalue equation. The equations were simplified to some extent by shifting the coordinate origin such that there is zero bending-extension coupling. Effects induced by the delaminated length, asymmetry, piezoelectric thickness, voltage, and the functionally graded materials (FGMs) volume fraction are evaluated. The validity of results and the invoked assumptions were successfully verified with existing results and finite element calculations. There is some difference between the analytical buckling load and that calculated with the finite element method (FEM), proven small in amount but predictable in terms of the piezoelectric thickness. Further, a general formula is derived to evaluate the dimensionless critical buckling load with the parameters obtained from regression analysis of the solution that can be utilized for all cases where the materials are not far different in their mechanical properties. The results can be utilized as benchmark design tool.
CHINESE SMEs' USES OF FINANCIAL STATEMENTS IN DECISION MAKING
Authors: VAN AUKEN HOWARD , YANG KUI
Published: January 2015

With a sample of 46 Chinese small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), this study examines factors that might affect firms' use of financial statements to make decisions. Financial statements contain insightful information about potential risk and return implications of various decisions. A logit analysis shows that owners of Chinese SMEs use financial statements to make decisions according to the frequency of available financial statement information and their ability to interpret the information contained in the financial statements. These results can help owners of SMEs, educators and service providers understand which factors affect the use of financial statements and the process by which financial statements are incorporated into SMEs' decisions.
Simple and Scalable Response Prediction for Display Advertising
Authors: Chapelle Olivier , Manavoglu Eren , Rosales Romer
Published: January 2015

Clickthrough and conversation rates estimation are two core predictions tasks in display advertising. We present in this article a machine learning framework based on logistic regression that is specifically designed to tackle the specifics of display advertising. The resulting system has the following characteristics: It is easy to implement and deploy, it is highly scalable (we have trained it on terabytes of data), and it provides models with state-of-the-art accuracy.
Strategic Information Disclosure to People with Multiple Alternatives
Authors: Azaria Amos , Rabinovich Zinovi , Goldman Claudia V. , Kraus Sarit
Published: January 2015

In this article, we study automated agents that are designed to encourage humans to take some actions over others by strategically disclosing key pieces of information. To this end, we utilize the framework of persuasion games—a branch of game theory that deals with asymmetric interactions where one player (Sender) possesses more information about the world, but it is only the other player (Receiver) who can take an action. In particular, we use an extended persuasion model, where the Sender’s information is imperfect and the Receiver has more than two alternative actions available. We design a computational algorithm that, from the Sender’s standpoint, calculates the optimal information disclosure rule. The algorithm is parameterized by the Receiver’s decision model (i.e., what choice he will make based on the information disclosed by the Sender) and can be retuned accordingly.

We then provide an extensive experimental study of the algorithm’s performance in interactions with human Receivers. First, we consider a fully rational (in the Bayesian sense) Receiver decision model and experimentally show the efficacy of the resulting Sender’s solution in a routing domain. Despite the discrepancy in the Sender’s and the Receiver’s utilities from each of the Receiver’s choices, our Sender agent successfully persuaded human Receivers to select an option more beneficial for the agent. Dropping the Receiver’s rationality assumption, we introduce a machine learning procedure that generates a more realistic human Receiver model. We then show its significant benefit to the Sender solution by repeating our routing experiment. To complete our study, we introduce a second (supply--demand) experimental domain and, by contrasting it with the routing domain, obtain general guidelines for a Sender on how to construct a Receiver model.
Graph of Game Worlds
Authors: Zhu Meng , Wang Alf Inge , Guo Hong , Trætteberg Hallvard
Published: January 2015

Software architectures of video games have evolved radically over the past decade. Researchers and practitioners have proposed architectural patterns such as stand-alone configuration, peer-to-peer, client server and hybrid, and some of them have successfully been used in commercial game titles. A conceptual framework for game architectures—Game Worlds Graph (GWG)—is presented in this paper for three purposes: 1) classifying existing architectures, 2) communicating and sense-making of game architectures, and 3) exploring and discovering future game architectures. The framework is based on the Game World and the World Connector concepts, which reveal some essential characteristics of game architectures—thus can be more descriptive and informative than existing taxonomies.
Reviving Traditional Chinese Culture Through an Interactive Chat Application
Authors: Wang Xuan , Khoo Eng Tat , Wei Jun , Cheok Adrian David
Published: January 2015

In this paper, we present an interactive system that allows people to enjoy an entertaining experience with traditional Chinese culture. We have created a mobile application called iSage Confucius, which can be used to chat with a virtual Confucius, the famous philosopher in Ancient China. By presenting age-old values and concepts in a new medium, we hope that to spark interest in Confucian culture among a younger generation and help revive a valuable traditional culture in the modern world.
An Algorithm for Quantum Template Matching
Authors: Rahman Md. Mazder , Dueck Gerhard W. , Horton Joseph D.
Published: January 2015

Quantum circuits are often generated by decomposing gates from networks with classical reversible gates. Only in rare cases, the results are minimal. Post-optimization methods, such as template matching, are employed to reduce the quantum costs of circuits. Quantum templates are derived from identity circuits. All minimal realizations, within certain limitations, can be embedded into templates. Due to this property, templates matching has the potential to reduce quantum costs of circuits. However, one of the difficulties in finding templates matches is due to the mobility of the gates within the circuit. Thus far, template matching procedures have employed heuristics to reduce the search space. This article presents an in-depth study of exact template matching with a set of algorithms. A graph structure with the corresponding circuits facilitates the discovery of potential sequences of templates to be matched, and how exact minimization of circuits can be accomplished. The significance of the proposed method is verified in benchmarks optimization.
Realizing Reversible Computing in QCA Framework Resulting in Efficient Design of Testable ALU
Authors: Sen Bibhash , Dutta Manojit , Some Samik , Sikdar Biplab K.
Published: January 2015

Reversible logic is emerging as a prospective logic design style for implementing ultra-low-power VLSI circuits. It promises low-power consuming circuits by nullifying the energy dissipation in irreversible logic. On the other hand, as a potential alternative to CMOS technology, Quantum-dot Cellular Automata (QCA) promises energy efficient digital design with high device density and high computing speed. The integration of reversible logic in QCA circuit is expected to be effective in addressing the issue of energy dissipation at nano scale regime. This work targets the design of reversible ALU (arithmetic logic unit) in QCA framework and proposes a new “Reversible QCA” (RQCA). The primary design focus is on optimizing the number of reversible gates, quantum cost and the garbage outputs that are the most important hindrances in realizing reversible logic. Besides optimization, the fault coverage capability of RQCA under missing/additional cell deposition defects is analysed. The scope of reversible logic is further outstretched by introducing a novel DFT (design for testability) architecture around the reversible ALU that reduces testing overhead. The performance of proposed ALU is evaluated, subjected to different faults, and is established to be more effective than the existing ALU.
A Synthesis Algorithm for 4-Bit Reversible Logic Circuits with Minimum Quantum Cost
Authors: Li Zhiqiang , Chen Hanwu , Song Xiaoyu , Perkowski Marek
Published: January 2015

This article presents an algorithm which can quickly find the exact minimum solution to almost all of 4-bit reversible functions. We assume minimization of quantum cost (MQC). This algorithm is designed in the most memory-efficient way, or it will quickly run out of memory. Therefore, we construct the shortest coding of permutations, the topological compression and flexible data structures for the memory savings. First, hash tables are used for all 8-gate 4-bit circuits with the minimization of gate count (MGC) by using the GT library (with NOT, CNOT, Toffoli and Toffoli-4 gates). Second, we merge and split the hash tables, thus generating a single longer hash table for high-performance. Third, we synthesize these circuits with MQC by using the GTP library (with GT, Peres, and Inverted Peres gates) based on the hash table. Finally, according to the comparison of the QC of circuits, the algorithm can quickly converge for any 4-bit reversible circuit with MQC. By synthesizing all benchmark functions, in comparison with Szyprowski and Kerntopf [2011], the running time and QC are reduced up to 99.95% and 18.2%, respectively.
In-Network Distributed Solar Current Prediction
Authors: Basha Elizabeth , Jurdak Raja , Rus Daniela
Published: January 2015

Long-term sensor network deployments demand careful power management. While managing power requires understanding the amount of energy harvestable from the local environment, current solar prediction methods rely only on recent local history, which makes them susceptible to high variability. In this article, we present a model and algorithms for distributed solar current prediction based on multiple linear regression to predict future solar current based on local, in situ climatic and solar measurements. These algorithms leverage spatial information from neighbors and adapt to the changing local conditions not captured by global climatic information. We implement these algorithms on our Fleck platform and run a 7-week-long experiment validating our work. In analyzing our results from this experiment, we determined that computing our model requires an increased energy expenditure of 4.5mJ over simpler models (on the order of 10
-7
% of the harvested energy) to gain a prediction improvement of 39.7%.
HEAPO
Authors: Hwang Taeho , Jung Jaemin , Won Youjip
Published: January 2015

In this work, we developed a Heap-Based Persistent Object Store (HEAPO) to manage persistent objects in byte-addressable Nonvolatile RAM (NVRAM). HEAPO defines its own persistent heap layout, the persistent object format, name space organization, object sharing and protection mechanism, and undo-only log-based crash recovery, all of which are effectively tailored for NVRAM. We put our effort into developing a
lightweight
and
flexible
layer to exploit the DRAM-like access latency of NVRAM. To address this objective, we developed (i) a native management layer for NVRAM to eliminate redundancy between in-core and on-disk copies of the metadata, (ii) an expandable object format, (iii) a burst trie-based global name space with local name space caching, (iv) static address binding, and (v)
minimal
logging for
undo-only
crash recovery. We implemented HEAPO at commodity OS (Linux 2.6.32) and measured the performance. By eliminating metadata redundancy, HEAPO improved the speed of creating, attaching, and expanding an object by 1.3×, 4.5×, and 3.8×, respectively, compared to memory-mapped file-based persistent object store. Burst trie-based name space organization of HEAPO yielded 7.6× better lookup performance compared to hashed B-tree-based name space of EXT4. We modified memcachedb to use HEAPO in maintaining its search structure. For hash table update, HEAPO-based memcachedb yielded 3.4× performance improvement against original memcachedb implementation which uses mmap() over ramdisk approach to maintain the key-value store in memory.
Compliance Checking of Organizational Interactions
Authors: Jiang Jie , Aldewereld Huib , Dignum Virginia , Tan Yao-Hua
Published: January 2015

In business environments, different sorts of regulations are imposed to restrict the behavior of both public and private organizations, ranging from legal regulations to internal policies. Regulatory compliance is important for the safety of individual actors as well as the overall business environment. However, complexity derives from not only the contents of the regulations but also their interdependencies. As such, the verification of whether actors are able to comply with the combined regulations cannot be done by checking each regulation separately.

To these ends, we introduce a normative structure
Norm Nets
(NNs) for modeling sets of interrelated regulations and setting a basis for compliance checking of organizational interactions against interrelated regulations. NNs support a modular design by providing the constructs to represent regulations and the relationships between them. Additionally, we propose a computational mechanism to reason about regulatory compliance by mapping NNs to
Colored Petri Nets
(CPNs). We show that compliance checking of both individual actors’ behavior and the collective behavior of the business environment can be achieved automatically using state space analysis techniques of CPNs. The approach is illustrated with a case study from the domain of international trade.
Garment Replacement in Monocular Video Sequences
Authors: Rogge Lorenz , Klose Felix , Stengel Michael , Eisemann Martin , Magnor Marcus
Published: January 2015

We present a semi-automatic approach to exchange the clothes of an actor for arbitrary virtual garments in conventional monocular video footage as a postprocess. We reconstruct the actor's body shape and motion from the input video using a parameterized body model. The reconstructed dynamic 3D geometry of the actor serves as an animated mannequin for simulating the virtual garment. It also aids in scene illumination estimation, necessary to realistically light the virtual garment. An image-based warping technique ensures realistic compositing of the rendered virtual garment and the original video. We present results for eight real-world video sequences featuring complex test cases to evaluate performance for different types of motion, camera settings, and illumination conditions.
A Conceptual Framework for Secrecy-preserving Reasoning in Knowledge Bases
Authors: Tao Jia , Slutzki Giora , Honavar Vasant
Published: January 2015

In many applications, Knowledge Bases (KBs) contain confidential or private information (secrets). The KB should be able to use this secret information in its reasoning process but in answering user queries care must be exercised so that secrets are not revealed to unauthorized users. We consider this problem under the Open World Assumption (OWA) in a setting with multiple querying agents
M
1
,…,
M

m

that can pose queries against the KB
K
and selectively share answers that they receive from
K
with one or more other querying agents. We assume that for each
M

i

, the KB has a prespecified set of secrets
S

i

that need to be protected from
M

i

. Communication between querying agents is modeled by a communication graph, a directed graph with self-loops. We introduce a general framework and propose an approach to secrecy-preserving query answering based on sound and complete proof systems. The idea is to hide the truthful answer from a querying agent
M

i

by feigning ignorance without lying (i.e., to provide the answer ‘Unknown’ to a query
q
if it needs to be protected. Under the OWA, a querying agent cannot distinguish between the case that
q
is being protected (for reasons of secrecy) and the case that it cannot be inferred from
K
. In the pre-query stage we compute a set of envelopes
E
1
, …,
E

m

(restricted to a finite subset of the set of formulae that are entailed by
K
) so that
S

i

⊆ E
i
, and a query α posed by agent
M

i

can be answered truthfully whenever α ∉
E

i

and ¬ α ∉
E

i

. After the pre-query stage, the envelope is updated as needed. We illustrate this approach with two simple cases: the Propositional Horn KBs and the Description Logic
AL
KBs.
Spectral Quadrangulation with Feature Curve Alignment and Element Size Control
Authors: Ling Ruotian , Huang Jin , Jüttler Bert , Sun Feng , Bao Hujun , Wang Wenping
Published: January 2015

Existing methods for surface quadrangulation cannot ensure accurate alignment with feature or boundary curves and tight control of local element size, which are important requirements in many numerical applications (e.g., FEA). Some methods rely on a prescribed direction field to guide quadrangulation for feature alignment, but such a direction field may conflict with a desired density field, thus making it difficult to control the element size. We propose a new spectral method that achieves both accurate feature curve alignment and tight control of local element size according to a given density field. Specifically, the following three technical contributions are made. First, to make the quadrangulation align accurately with feature curves or surface boundary curves, we introduce novel boundary conditions for wave-like functions that satisfy the Helmholtz equation approximately in the least squares sense. Such functions, called
quasi-eigenfunctions
, are computed efficiently as the solutions to a variational problem. Second, the mesh element size is effectively controlled by locally modulating the Laplace operator in the Helmholtz equation according to a given density field. Third, to improve robustness, we propose a novel scheme to minimize the vibration difference of the quasi-eigenfunction in two orthogonal directions. It is demonstrated by extensive experiments that our method outperforms previous methods in generating feature-aligned quadrilateral meshes with tight control of local elememt size. We further present some preliminary results to show that our method can be extended to generating hex-dominant volume meshes.
Ontology-Based Data Access
Authors: Bienvenu Meghyn , Cate Balder Ten , Lutz Carsten , Wolter Frank
Published: January 2015

Ontology-based data access is concerned with querying incomplete data sources in the presence of domain-specific knowledge provided by an ontology. A central notion in this setting is that of an
ontology-mediated query
, which is a database query coupled with an ontology. In this article, we study several classes of ontology-mediated queries, where the database queries are given as some form of conjunctive query and the ontologies are formulated in description logics or other relevant fragments of first-order logic, such as the guarded fragment and the unary negation fragment. The contributions of the article are threefold. First, we show that popular ontology-mediated query languages have the same expressive power as natural fragments of disjunctive datalog, and we study the relative succinctness of ontology-mediated queries and disjunctive datalog queries. Second, we establish intimate connections between ontology-mediated queries and constraint satisfaction problems (CSPs) and their logical generalization, MMSNP formulas. Third, we exploit these connections to obtain new results regarding: (i) first-order rewritability and datalog rewritability of ontology-mediated queries; (ii) P/NP dichotomies for ontology-mediated queries; and (iii) the query containment problem for ontology-mediated queries.
Parameterized Weighted Containment
Authors: Avni Guy , Kupferman Orna
Published: January 2015

Partially specified systems and specifications are used in formal methods such as stepwise design and query checking. Existing methods consider a setting in which systems and their correctness are Boolean. In recent years, there has been growing interest and need for quantitative formal methods, where systems may be weighted and specifications may be multivalued. Weighted automata, which map input words to a numerical value, play a key role in quantitative reasoning. Technically, every transition in a weighted automaton
A
has a cost, and the value
A
assigns to a finite word
w
is the sum of the costs on the transitions traversed along the most expensive accepting run of
A
on
w
. We study
parameterized weighted containment
: given three weighted automata
A
,
B
, and
C
, with
B
being partial, the goal is to find an assignment to the missing costs in
B
so that we end up with
B
′ for which
B
′≤
C
, where ≤ is the weighted counterpart of containment. We also consider a one-sided version of the problem, where only
A
or only
C
is given in addition to
B
, and the goal is to find a minimal assignment with which
A
≤
B
′ or, respectively, a maximal one with which
B
′ ≤
C
. We argue that both problems are useful in stepwise design of weighted systems as well as approximated minimization of weighted automata.

We show that when the automata are deterministic, we can solve the problems in polynomial time. Our solution is based on the observation that the set of legal assignments to
k
missing costs forms a
k
-dimensional polytope. The technical challenge is to find an assignment in polynomial time even though the polytope is defined by means of exponentially many inequalities. We do so by developing a divide-and-conquer algorithm based on a separation oracle for polytopes. For nondeterministic automata, the weighted setting is much more complex, and in fact even nonparameterized containment is undecidable. We are able to show positive results for variants of the problems, where containment is replaced by simulation.
Gathering people to gather data
Authors: MacLean Diana Lynn
Published: January 2015

An interview with Paul Wicks, Vice President of Innovation at PatientsLikeMe, a patient network and real-time research platform.
Smartphones, Studio-Based Learning, and Scaffolding
Authors: Reardon Susan , Tangney Brendan
Published: January 2015

This article describes how smartphones, studio-based learning, and extensive scaffolding were used in combination in the teaching of a freshman Introduction to Programming course. To reduce cognitive overload, a phased approach was followed in introducing programming concepts and development environments, beginning with the visual programming environment Scratch and culminating with Java development for Android smartphones. Studio-based learning, a pedagogical approach long established in the fields of architecture and design education, was used as the basis for a collaborative social constructivist—and constructionist—approach to learning. Smartphones offered students the potential to develop applications for a context that is both immediate and clearly relevant to the ways in which they utilize and interact with technology.

The research was carried out over three full academic years and included 53 student participants. An exploratory case study methodology was used to investigate the efficacy of the approach in helping to overcome the barriers faced by novice programmers. The findings indicate that the approach has merit. The students were motivated and engaged by the learning experience and were able to develop sophisticated applications that incorporated images, sound, arrays, and event handling. There is evidence that aspects of the studio-based learning approach, such as the scope that it gave students to innovate and the open feedback during student presentations, provided a learning environment that was motivating. Overall, the combination of smartphones, studio-based learning, and appropriate scaffolding offers an effective way to teach introductory programming courses.
Distributed information processing in biological and computational systems
Authors: Navlakha Saket , Bar-Joseph Ziv
Published: January 2015

Exploring the similarities and differences between distributed computations in biological and computational systems.