bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
VLSI implementation of an energy-aware wake-up detector for an acoustic surveillance sensor network
Authors: Goldberg David H. , Andreou Andreas G. , Julián Pedro , Pouliquen Philippe O. , Riddle Laurence , Rosasco Rich
Published: April 2007

We present a low-power VLSI wake-up detector for a sensor network that uses acoustic signals to localize ground-based vehicles. The detection criterion is the degree of low-frequency periodicity in the acoustic signal, and the periodicity is computed from the “bumpiness” of the autocorrelation of a one-bit version of the signal. We then describe a CMOS ASIC that implements the periodicity estimation algorithm. The ASIC is fully functional and its core consumes 835 nanowatts. It was integrated into an acoustic enclosure and deployed in field tests with synthesized sounds and ground-based vehicles.
Clamp
Authors: Anbalagan Prasanth , Xie Tao
Published: April 2007

Software refactoring consists of a set of techniques to reorganize code while preserving the external behavior. Aspect-Oriented Programming (AOP) provides new modularization of software systems by encapsulating crosscutting concerns. Based on these two techniques, Aspect-Oriented (AO) refactoring restructures crosscutting elements in code. AO refactoring includes two steps: aspect mining (identification of aspect candidates in code) and aspect refactoring (semantic-preserving transformation to migrate the aspect-candidate code to AO code). Aspect refactoring clusters the join points for the aspect candidates and encapsulates each cluster with an effective pointcut definition. With the increase in size of the code and crosscutting concerns, it is tedious to manually identify aspects and their corresponding join points, cluster the join points, and infer a pointcut expression. This paper proposes an automated framework that clusters join point candidates and infers a pointcut expression for each cluster.
Refactoring-aware software merging and configuration management
Authors: Dig Danny , Manzoor Kashif , Nguyen Tien N. , Johnson Ralph
Published: April 2007

Refactoring tools allow programmers to change their source code quicker than before. However, the complexity of these changes cause versioning tools that operate at a file level to lose the history of entities and be unable to merge refactored entities. This problem can be solved by semantic, operation-based SCM with persistent IDs. MolhadoRef, our proto-type, can successfully merge edit and refactoring operations which were performed on different development branches, preserves program history better and makes it easier to understand program evolution.
Nu
Authors: Dyer Robert , Narayanappa Harish , Rajan Hridesh
Published: April 2007

For a number of reasons, such as to generate object code that is compliant with the existing virtual machines (VM), current compilers for aspect-oriented languages sacrifice design modularity when transforming source to object code by losing textual locality and intermingling concerns in the object code. Sacrificing design modularity has significant costs, especially in terms of the speed of incremental compilation. We present an intermediate language design that preserves aspect-oriented design modularity in Java byte code. We briefly describe our extensions to the Sun Hotspot VM to support the new intermediate language design.
An empty exercise
Authors: de Boor Carl
Published: April 2007

The exercise in question concerns the rules which should govern the treatment of empty matrices in a matrix-oriented computing environment like MATLAB. This provides students of Linear Algebra with an unusual test of their understanding of the standard definitions and rules governing matrices.
N factorial computations, timing, etc
Authors: Schnebly Dexter A.
Published: April 2007

I recently did a small school project on a DEC MicroVAX II. For the project I rewrote an "N Factorial" calculations program that I had earlier written as a result of discussions in H. K. Hodge's article of
SIGSMALL/PC NOTES
of May 1989.
Obstacle avoidance during walking in real and virtual environments
Authors: Fink Philip W. , Foo Patrick S. , Warren William H.
Published: April 2007

Immersive virtual environments are a promising research tool for the study of perception and action, on the assumption that visual--motor behavior in virtual and real environments is essentially similar. We investigated this issue for locomotor behavior and tested the generality of Fajen and Warren's [2003] steering dynamics model. Participants walked to a stationary goal while avoiding a stationary obstacle in matched physical and virtual environments. There were small, but reliable, differences in locomotor paths, with a larger maximum deviation (Δ = 0.16 m), larger obstacle clearance (Δ = 0.16 m), and slower walking speed (Δ = 0.13 m/s) in the virtual environment. Separate model fits closely captured the mean virtual and physical paths (R
2
> 0.98). Simulations implied that the path differences are not because of walking speed or a 50% distance compression in virtual environments, but might be a result of greater uncertainty about the egocentric location of virtual obstacles. On the other hand, paths had similar shapes in the two environments with no difference in median curvature and could be modeled with a single set of parameter values (R
2
> 0.95). Fajen and Warren's original parameters successfully generalized to new virtual and physical object configurations (R
2
> 0.95). These results justify the use of virtual environments to study locomotor behavior.
Step frequency and perceived self-motion
Authors: Durgin Frank H. , Reed Catherine , Tigue Cara
Published: April 2007

There is a discrepancy between the ability to correctly match the gains of visual and motor speed in virtual reality (VR) when walking on solid ground and the failure of this ability when walking on a treadmill. Moreover, this discrepancy has been found to interact with effects of the structure of the visual environment. The authors used a high-fidelity treadmill VR system to reproduce the high interactivity of normal walking in wide-area VR. Under these conditions, it was found that gain matches in a richly structured near environment differ by only about 10% in treadmill VR from matches in wide-area VR and that trial-to-trial variations in step frequency predicted changes in perceived locomotor speed. Gait differences resulting from treadmill walking (which are shown not to be a product of wearing a head-mounted display), apparently lead to an overestimation of motor speed on treadmills. When the near visual environment represented an empty hallway, additional errors were present that could be accounted for by known illusions in the perception of visual speed during self-motion. A study of normal gait at different speeds measured by head-tracker is reported as evidence of other possible sources of perceptual estimates of locomotor speed in normal walking.
Sum-of-squares heuristics for bin packing and memory allocation
Authors: Bender Michael A. , Bradley Bryan , Jagannathan Geetha , Pillaipakkamnatt Krishnan
Published: April 2007

The sum-of-squares algorithm (SS) was introduced by Csirik, Johnson, Kenyon, Shor, and Weber for online bin packing of integral-sized items into integral-sized bins. First, we show the results of experiments from two new variants of the SS algorithm. The first variant, which runs in time
O
(
n
√
B
log
B
), appears to have almost identical expected waste as the sum-of-squares algorithm on all the distributions mentioned in the original papers on this topic. The other variant, which runs in
O
(
n
log
B
) time, performs well on most, but not on all of those distributions. We also apply SS to the online memory-allocation problem. Our experimental comparisons between SS and Best Fit indicate that neither algorithm is consistently better than the other. If the amount of randomness in item sizes is low, SS appears to have lower waste than Best Fit, whereas, if the amount of randomness is high Best Fit appears to have lower waste than SS. Our experiments suggest that in both real and synthetic traces, SS does not seem to have an asymptotic advantage over Best Fit, in contrast with the bin-packing problem.
Digital support for abductive learning in introductory computing courses
Authors: Radenski Atanas
Published: April 2007

Students who grew up browsing the Web are skilled in what is usually referred to as abduction, a reasoning process that starts with a set of specific observations and then generates the best possible explanation of those observations. In order to exploit the abduction skills of contemporary students, we have developed digital CS1/2 study packs that promote and support active learning through abduction, i.e., abductive learning. The study packs integrate a variety of digital resources: online self-guided labs, e-texts, tutorial links, sample programs, quizzes, and slides. These online packs stimulate students to learn abductively by browsing, searching, and performing self-guided lab experiments. In two years of study pack use, the failure rate in the CS1/2 courses at Chapman University has been reduced from 14% to 5%. The study packs have been published online at studypack.com and adopted in various institutions.
CS4HS
Authors: Blum Lenore , Cortina Thomas J.
Published: April 2007

In this paper, we describe a pilot summer workshop (CS4HS) held at Carnegie Mellon University in July 2006 for high school CS teachers to provide compelling material that the teachers can use in their classes to emphasize computational thinking and the many possibilities of computer science. Diversity and broadening participation was explicitly addressed throughout the workshop. We focused on broadening the image of what CS is -- and who computer scientists are -- since the reasons for under-representation in the field are very much the same as the reasons for the huge decline in interest. We describe the design of the workshop along with results from initial surveys and evaluations. Short-term evaluations show that this workshop was successful in changing the perception of CS for these teachers and giving them the impetus to include broader topics in their programming courses for the upcoming school year. Future surveys will track the long-term effect of this workshop.
Retaining majors through the introductory sequence
Authors: Turner Elise H. , Albert Erik , Turner Roy M. , Latour Laurence
Published: April 2007

Retention is an important issue for Computer Science Departments. In many cases students leave the major due to frustrations with programming in the complex languages often used in CS1 and CS2 or because they do not understand that computer science is much more than programming. We have redesigned our introductory sequence to include a rigorous, non-programming introduction to the field and a CS1 course which uses Scheme so that students can focus on the principles of programming instead of the complexities of a particular language. In the first year that we have required these courses in our major, we have had positive results. In this paper, we describe what we have learned through discussions with students and student surveys.
Subverting the fundamentals sequence
Authors: Clifton Curtis , Kaczmarczyk Lisa C. , Mrozek Michael
Published: April 2007

Instructors of introductory courses face many challenges, not the least of which is dealing with a large volume of course materials and students with differing backgrounds. There are often too many administrative demands to have as much time for creative pedagogy as one would like. Team projects, and complex realistic projects in general, increase psychic demands, and conflicting schedules make creative collaboration with other instructors impossible. In order to address these issues, we need to find ways to increase effective handling of course development, to free up time for creative pedagogical efforts. This paper reports on an exploratory project in which two instructors and an undergraduate teaching assistant used the Subversion version control system to collaborate remotely on developing and running two CS1 classes. We focus on the ease and efficiency of course management using Subversion, providing a new perspective on how version control can enhance teaching.
Discrete math with programming
Authors: McMaster Kirby , Anderson Nicole , Rague Brian
Published: April 2007

This paper proposes a Discrete Mathatics course that is integrated with programming. The course consists of a sequence of Math modules with coordinated programming projects. Advantages of this approach are presented, and a methodology for developing the course is shown. A sample list of Math modules and brief project descriptions are included.
A visual object-oriented programming environment
Authors: Feinberg Dave
Published: April 2007

This paper explores both the design and classroom usage of a visual and interactive programming environment. This environment, named JavaTown, provides a visual representation of the inner workings of object-oriented programs, in which on-screen characters are literally depicted as carrying messages to each other and remembering values. JavaTown was created to aid in the introduction of some of the most elusive concepts in the CS1/CS2 curriculum: object references, parameter passing, variable scope, recursion, and linked lists.
Building an autonomous vehicle by integrating lego mindstorms and a web cam
Authors: Stevenson Daniel E. , Schwarzmeier James D.
Published: April 2007

There are many possible ways to integrate Lego Mindstorms robots into the standard computer science curriculum. This paper presents a way to use these robots to teach image processing or vision by building an autonomous vehicle. The vehicle uses an off-the-shelf web cam for all of its navigation. Integration of the camera, robot, and controlling computer is discussed, as are the image processing units used, the structure of a state machine controlling them, and the cross-cutting concern of reducing both input and output noise throughout all aspects of the project.
Technically speaking
Authors: Havill Jessen T. , Ludwig Lewis D.
Published: April 2007

The Department of Mathematics and Computer Science at Denison University has introduced a significant new oral communication component early in both majors. The sophomore computer science and mathematics majors meet together each week for a "lab" taught jointly by a computer scientist and a mathematician. There were three goals in this endeavor: (1) to prepare students for the workforce and graduate school by improving their oral communication skills, (2) to nurture future researchers in both fields by exposing them to research early in their undergraduate training, and (3) to increase computer science students' exposure to mathematics. In the following, we establish the need for such a course, describe our approach, how it satisfies our three goals, and additional outcomes.
Active learning sheets for a beginner's course on reasoning about imperative programs
Authors: Lau Kung-Kiu
Published: April 2007

We decided to support active learning on a beginner's course on Reasoning about Imperative Programs because our students find the material challenging. Because of the large class size and resource implications, we opted for a simple approach: the modified lecture format. We devised active learning sheets for use during lectures. Each sheet consisted of short questions which covered the main points of the lecture. Students had to answer the questions during the lectures as they listened. In this paper we describe how we designed the active learning sheets for this particular course, and the students' (positive) response to them.
Teaching graphics with the openGL shading language
Authors: Talton Jerry O. , Fitzpatrick Darren
Published: April 2007

A long-standing difficulty in the development of introductory courses in computer graphics is balancing the educational necessity of ensuring mastery of fundamental graphical concepts with the highly desirable goal of exciting and inspiring students to further study by enabling them to produce visually interesting programming projects. Recently, we have developed a modified curriculum predicated on the extensive integration of the OpenGL Shading Language with a more traditional pedagogical approach. We utilized this curriculum in the quarter-long, upper-division introductory graphics course taught in the Department of Computer Science at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Our experience indicates that making shading an integral part of the entry-level curriculum inculcates students with a comprehensive understanding of the algorithms and mathematical concepts that underlie modern graphical systems, while simultaneously equipping them with the tools necessary to produce complex projects with state-of-the-art technology.
Commonsense computing
Authors: Chen Tzu-Yi , Lewandowski Gary , McCartney Robert , Sanders Kate , Simon Beth
Published: April 2007

We examine students' commonsense understanding of computer science concepts before they receive any formal instruction in the field. For this study, we asked students on the first day of a CS1 class to describe in English how they would arrange a set of numbers in ascending, sorted order; we then repeated the experiment asking students to sort a list of dates (in mm/dd/yyyy format).We found that a majority of students described a coherent algorithm; some described versions of insertion or selection sort, but many gave unexpected algorithms. We also found significant differences between responses given for sorting numbers versus dates. Based on our analysis of the data we suggest that beginning-programming instructors more explicitly discuss data types, begin loop instruction with post-test loops, assist students in recognizing implicit conditional and iteration use in natural language solutions to probls, and recognize that novices and experts focus on different aspects of the probl in even basic probl solving tasks.
Software-defined radio for undergraduate projects
Authors: Birmingham William , Acker Leah
Published: April 2007

Software-defined radio (SDR) is a self-contained, embedded software system with hardware components and real-time constraints. SDR is the basis for many of today's wireless communications systems. Because SDR combines basic digital signal processing, circuitry, and software elements, it is the perfect project for multi-disciplinary, undergraduate teams. This paper explains both the SDR system created by computer science and engineering undergraduates at Grove City College and how SDR projects can help undergraduates acquire the skills to succeed on multidisciplinary teams.
Integrating traditional and agile processes in the classroom
Authors: Kessler Robert , Dykman Nathan
Published: April 2007

Teaching software engineering is difficult because the true benefits of a disciplined software process and the production of significant artifacts are most meaningful when programming-in-the-large, with varying levels of team experience in the context of a professional organization. Using the same techniques when programming-in-the-small can often lead to the students feeling that it is better to not use any process because the effort and tedium of producing artifacts is so great compared with the relatively simple task of writing the code for the target solution. This paper describes our solution, a curriculum that exposes the students to both lightweight traditional and lightweight agile processes. We describe two offerings of the class and conclude from the positive student feedback that we have found the correct balance.
Food-first computer science
Authors: Davis Janet , Rebelsky Samuel A.
Published: April 2007

We consider in some depth a common exercise for the first session of a typical introductory computer science course: The task of writing instructions to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The exercise, although simple, can engage students and motivate a variety of topics important throughout the semester. We discuss reasons to use such an exercise on the first day of class, present lessons students can learn from the exercise, and give practical advice for the instructor who wishes to make the most of this exercise.
Developing resources to support a national computer science curriculum for K-12
Authors: Verno Anita , Cooper Steve , Cortina Thomas J. , Ericson Barb , Madden Bill
Published: April 2007

This session will continue efforts by the ACM and Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) to create a comprehensive body of resources to support the implementation of a national K-12 computer science curriculum. The ACM K-12 Computer Science Curriculum Committee, with input from the Computer Science educational community, published a Model Curriculum [1] in 2003. The Model suggests a four-level curriculum. Level-I topics, primarily for the K-8 years, closely follow the well-defined ISTE Standards [2]. Level-II topics are suggested for all students in grades 9 or 10 and are comprised of introductory computer science content. Level-III topics focus on analysis and design with emphasis on the scientific and engineering aspects of computer science. The Level III course is intended for students who may be interested in continuing their education in computer science at the college level. AP Computer Science and special topics courses comprise Level-4. This special session will focus on the learning objectives and activities for Level III of the K-12 Computer Science Model curriculum. Attendees will be invited to provide critical feedback that will help move the curriculum project forward.
Forming a women's computer science support group
Authors: Beck Jon
Published: April 2007

It has been demonstrated that an undergraduate women's computer science support group can provide significant benefits to female CS students. It can be difficult for students to establish such a group without institutional support. We successfully established a thriving, self-sustaining support group with a modest initial outlay of time and money. This program serves as a model and template to help other small to mid-sized undergraduate departments accomplish the same.
Threads™
Authors: Furst Merrick , Isbell Charles , Guzdial Mark
Published: April 2007

In his book
The World is Flat
, Thomas Friedman convincingly explains the challenges of a global marketplace [4]. One implication is that software development can be out-sourced, as can any narrow, skills-based occupation; however, as Friedman also points out, leadership, innovation, and insight are always in demand. We have recently created and are implementing threadstm, a new structuring principle for computing curricula. Threads provides one clear path for computer scientists seeking to reinvent and re-invigorate computer science degree programs. Threads form a cohesive, coordinated set of
contexts
for understanding computing. The union of all threads covers the breadth "computer science." The union of

any
two
threads

is sufficient to cover a computer science degree. In this paper, we describe Threads, our process, the impact so far, and some of our future plans. We close with recommendations for other schools, especially schools with smaller programs.
Teaching compiler construction and language design
Authors: Ruckert Martin
Published: April 2007

This paper presents an unusual programming language, textttklx, illustrating the type of compiler construction projects the author uses successfully to accompany a mostly traditional lecture on compilers.The target processor of textttklx is the PostScript interpreter, and the paper argues that this is a very good choice. A PostScript interpreter simulates an elegant stack machine with built-in graphic capabilities. It is the perfect target for languages like textttklx, making them easy to implement and fun to use. The exact definition of the source language is an integral part of the student project.The use of non standard languages and a non standard target fosters student creativity in language design and implementation. It invites "out of the box" thinking, and prepares the knowledge transfer from the rich tradition of compiler construction to new and forthcoming areas of computer science.
RegeXeX
Authors: Brown Christopher W. , Hardisty Eric A.
Published: April 2007

This paper presents RegeXeX (Regular expression exercises), an interactive system for teaching students to write regular expressions. The system poses problems (prose descriptions of languages), students enter solutions (regular expressions defining these languages), and the system provides feedback. What is novel in this system is the type of feedback: students are not merely told that a submitted regular expression is wrong, they are given examples of strings that the expression either matches and shouldn't or does not match and should, and asked to try again. Additionally, student responses need only be
equivalent
to the solution, not identical. Results of classroom experience with this system are also reported, and demonstrate its effectiveness in teaching students to write regular expressions with little or no instructor interaction.RegeXeX is a freely available, portable system, written in C++ and using the Qt library for its GUI. It is distributed with several exercise sets, but is designed so instructors can easily write their own. The system logs student work and offers facilities for submitting log-files to instructors as well, allowing for automatic grading, or in-depth analysis of student performance and evolution of responses throughout the exercise set.
Open source projects in programming courses
Authors: Pedroni Michela , Bay Till , Oriol Manuel , Pedroni Andreas
Published: April 2007

One of the main shortcomings of programming courses is the lack of practice with real-world systs. As a result, students feel unprepared for industry jobs. In parallel, open source software is accepting contributions even from inexperienced programmers and achieves software that competes both in quality and functionality with industrial systs. This article describes: first, a setting in which students were required to contribute to existing open source software; second, the evaluation of this experience using a motivation measuring technique; and third, an analysis of the efficiency and commitment of students over the time. The study shows that students are at first afraid of failing the assignment, but end up having the impression of a greater achievent. It ses also that students are inclined to keep working on the project to which they contributed after the end of the course.
Using google hacking to enhance defense strategies
Authors: Lancor Lisa , Workman Robert
Published: April 2007

This paper provides a description of how the topic of Google hacking was incorporated into a graduate course on web security which was offered in the Fall of 2005. It begins by providing an overview of Google hacking and describes what it is, how it is used, and most importantly how to defend against it. The paper then describes a series of exercises that students must complete providing them with hands-on Google hacking strategies, techniques and countermeasures.
Bridging the conceptual gap
Authors: Wick Michael R.
Published: April 2007

In this paper, we describe an experiment designed to test the effect of a novel first day lecture on student attitudes toward programming. The lecture does not require any knowledge of a specific language or a specific paradigm. Student evaluation surveys indicate that the lecture is effective at helping students to see programming as more than the simple creation of an artifact but rather as a systematic problem-solving process.
Embracing the social relevance
Authors: Purewal Tarsem S. , Bennett Chris , Maier Frederick
Published: April 2007

We propose the integration of service-learning into the early undergraduate computer science curriculum by way of a course on computing, ethics and society. We believe that such a course will fill a common gap in computer science and can be used to draw smart, motivated students to the discipline by embracing its social relevance. Additionally, we outline a particular service-learning project that can be undertaken by students in the course--initiating a community computer recycling program. We describe the successful implementation of such a recycling program and describe some logistical issues that may arise in organizing such a program in a service-learning course. We believe that a student-implemented community outreach project such as this can alter the public's perception of computer science and will assist in reversing the trend of declining undergraduate enrollment.
ClassCompass
Authors: Coelho Wesley , Murphy Gail
Published: April 2007

Becoming a quality software developer requires practice under the guidance of an expert mentor. Unfortunately, in most academic environments, there are not enough experts to provide any significant design mentoring for software engineering students. To address this problem, we present a collaborative software design tool intended to maximize an instructor's ability to mentor a group of students. Students use the system to create software designs for a given set of requirements. While they work, students receive automated feedback regarding common design mistakes. The system then provides support and guidance for students to manually critique each other's work. Students can view and learn from the design approaches taken by other students, as well as the critiques associated with them. We have tried this approach in software engineering classes with some positive results. We believe that this collaborative and partially automated approach can significantly improve the quality of software design education when few mentors are available.
History places
Authors: Hendry David G.
Published: April 2007

This article presents a project-based case study that was developed for students with diverse backgrounds and varied inclinations for engaging technical topics. The project, called History Places, requires that student teams develop a vision for a kind of digital library, propose a conceptual model, and use the model to derive a logical model and information retrieval specification. From these two design representations, students implement a data-driven Web site that enables users to browse content and search by exact and best-match queries. The project brief contains a set of general requirements that promote creative solutions, while also bounding the complexity of the solution space. The article includes teaching notes and a conceptual model, expressed as an enhanced entity-relationship model in UML. The model, consisting of approximately ten entities, contains binary, unary, ternary, and specialization/generalization relationships. The article concludes with some reflections based on the experiences of using this project in six classes over four years.
Relaxed space bounding for moving objects
Authors: Guo Shuqiao , Huang Zhiyong , Jagadish H. V. , Ooi Beng Chin , Zhang Zhenjie
Published: April 2007

Rapid advancements in positioning systems and wireless communications enable accurate tracking of continuously moving objects. This development poses new challenges to database technology since maintaining up-to-date information regarding the location of moving objects incurs an enormous amount of updates. There have been many efforts to address these challenges, most of which depend on the use of a minimum bounding rectangle (MBR) in a multi-dimensional index structure such as R-tree. The maintenance of MBRs causes lock contention and association of moving speeds with the MBRs cause large overlap between them. This problem becomes more severe as the number of concurrent operations increases. In this paper, we propose a "new" simple variant of the Buddy-tree, in which we enlarge the query rectangle to account for object movement rather than use an enlarged MBR. The result is not only elegant, but also efficient, particularly in terms of lock contention. An extensive experimental study was conducted and the results show that our proposed structure outperforms existing structures by a wide margin.
Data management for a smart earth
Authors: Aberer Karl , Alonso Gustavo , Kossmann Donald
Published: April 2007

The Swiss National Competence Center for Research in mobile Information and Communication Systems (NCCR-MICS or MICS) is one of several research initiatives sponsored by the Swiss National Science Foundation to promote long term research projects in areas of vital strategic importance for the evolution of science in Switzerland, for the country's economy and for Swiss society. NCCR-MICS covers a wide spectrum of topics in the area of mobile information and communication systems ranging from information theory related to ad-hoc sensor networks to business models for pervasive computing, including network and routing issues, software and application development, and actual deployments of sensor networks (from architecture to geology). In this paper, we briefly present MICS as a whole and discuss in some detail two ambitious projects in the area of data management. The first project, XTream, addresses the whole life cycle of sensor based applications from the acquisition by sensors, aggregation and integration in gateways, storage in databases, generation of events that are relevant to users and applications, up to the subscription and consumption of events in a distributed architecture. The second project is Global Sensor Networks (GSN), which aims at enabling the rapid and efficient publication, sharing and interoperability of heterogeneous sensor data sources over large networks such as the Internet and P2P overlays.
Normalization theory for XML
Authors: Arenas Marcelo
Published: April 2007

Since the beginnings of the relational model, it was clear for the database community that the process of designing a database is a nontrivial and time-consuming task. Even for simple application domains, there are many possible ways of storing the data of interest.
A high assurance MLS file server
Authors: Robinson Jeffrey Choi , Alves-Foss Jim
Published: April 2007

In this paper, we present the design of a high assurance file server model developed to operate within the Multiple Independent Levels of Security framework. The file server model is a multilevel application that utilizes separation to mediate information flow by adhering to a security policy formulated from a modified version of the Bell and LaPadula Model and the GWVr2 policy, which is a separation kernel based policy developed for high assurance architectures. This paper focuses on the design aspects of the file server model and the underlying architecture. The purpose of this file server design is to develop a formal model to meet the formal methods requirement of Common Criteria, which is a system design and specification guideline for high assurance systems. The model is also an example application for the Multiple Independent Levels of Security architecture.
Yootopia!
Authors: Reeves Daniel M. , Soule Bethany M. , Kasturi Tejaswi
Published: April 2007

The nascent Yootopia Project at Yahoo! Research brings together three related research agendas: mechanisms for group decision making, prediction, and payment infrastructure. The currency (scrip system) is called Yootles and underlies (but is orthogonal to) the group decision and prediction mechanisms. We present an array of currency-agnostic decision mechanisms for small groups, describing new and existing mechanisms for (1) choosing among a short list of options, (2) choosing among an effectively innumerable list of options, as in meeting scheduling, (3) allocating shared goods and responsibilities, (4) public good provision, and (5) bilateral trade. We list desirable mechanism properties and describe the tradeoffs that the mechanisms make among them. Finally, we describe a small step towards synthesis of group decisions and group prediction: an interface for friendly wagers.
Building bridges
Authors: Merelo Juan-Julián , Cotta Carlos
Published: April 2007

Very few fields in science are completely isolated; most disciplines have a fair amount of interdisciplinarity, even more so when the field is so settled that new results come only through interaction among one or several disciplines within a large field. This means that authors from initially separate fields end up converging, and creating new links in the coauthorship network. Besides, this implies a transfer of knowledge, so that authors initially focused in a single field (say, evolutionary computation) end up authoring papers in several other fields (such as, say, tabu search or scatter search) and thus extending their coauthorship ego-network and the coauthorship network in the field where both disciplines interact. This interaction also comes through horizontal applications (such as, for instance, scheduling), or broad problem areas, such as multiobjective optimization. Authors specialized on applications or on problem areas eventually coauthor papers in many different method areas, and thus build bridges that convey problem-solving (or, at least, paper-writing) expertise from a narrow field (such as evolutionary computation) to a broader one (such as metaheuristics).
Designing data-intensive web applications for content accessibility using web marts
Authors: Ceri Stefano , Matera Maristella , Rizzo Francesca , Demaldé Vera
Published: April 2007

Developing technology to increase the accessibility of Web sites.
Inconsistencies and disconnects
Authors: Stone Jeffrey A. , Madigan Elinor
Published: April 2007

The gap between the perception and reality of the technology skills of first-year college students raises questions about the role of state curriculum standards.
Mastering the mess
Authors: Denning Peter J.
Published: April 2007

We frequently find ourselves immersed in intransigent situations whose resolution demands a disruptive innovation. There are useful strategies for these situations.
Livermore time-sharing system for the CDC 7600
Authors: Sutherland George G. , Coverston Harriet G. , DuBois Pierre J. , Emery Donald R. , Kent Douglas A. , Lund Paul E. , Powles George H. , Storch F. David , Tennant Lee O. , Von Buskirk Donald L.
Published: April 2007

A time-sharing software system for the CDC 7600 is described. The user is provided with a file-based system and the means to communicate with the system via Teletype. All software was conceived and implemented by the computations staff at the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory, Livermore; most of the programming is done in an extended FORTRAN.
KDD workshop on data mining standards, services & platforms (DM-SSP) 2006
Authors: Grossman Robert L.
Published: April 2007

DM-SSP '06 was the fourth year there has been a conference on data mining standards, services and platforms and the sixth year that there has been a conference on the Predictive Model Markup Language (PMML) and related areas. The workshop consisted of five talks and two panels.
KDD-2006 workshop report: Theory and Practice of Temporal Data Mining
Authors: Li Tao , Perng Chang-shing
Published: April 2007

In this paper we provide a summary of the workshop on Theory and Practice of Temporal Data Mining held in conjunction with ACM SIGKDD 2006, on August 20st in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. We report in detail about the research issues addressed in the talks at the workshop.
Thunder
Authors: Zhang Jingbin , Yan Ting , Stankovi John A. , Son Sang H.
Published: April 2007

Localization for outdoor wireless sensor networks has been a challenge for real applications. Although many solutions have been proposed, few of them can be used in real applications because of their high cost, low accuracy or infeasibility due to practical issues. In this paper, we propose a practical acoustic localization scheme called Thunder. Thunder employs an asymmetric architecture and shifts most of the complexities and hardware requirements from each node to a single powerful centralized device. The solution is efficient, and requires virtually zero cost in terms of extra per node hardware and innetwork communication. This paper also presents an efficient scheduling algorithm called Equilateral Triangle Scheduling to schedule Thunder for very large sensor networks and a resilient algorithm called Adaptive Fuzzy Clustering to provide robust localization without sacrificing efficiency in the presence of a high percentage of large ranging errors. To validate and evaluate Thunder, we built an experimental localization system based on the Mica2 platform, which achieved localization errors of about 1 meter in medium scale localization experiments.
A practical evaluation of radio signal strength for ranging-based localization
Authors: Whitehouse Kamin , Karlof Chris , Culler David
Published: April 2007

Radio signal strength (RSS) is notorious for being a noisy signal that is difficult to use for ranging-based localization. In this study, we demonstrate that RSS can be used to localize a multi-hop sensor network, and we quantify the effects of various environmental factors on the resulting localization error. We achieve 4.1m error in a 49 node network deployed in a half-football field sized area, demonstrating that RSS localization can be a feasible alternative to solutions like GPS given the right conditions. However, we also show that this result is highly sensitive to subtle environmental factors such as the grass height, radio enclosure, and elevation of the nodes from the ground.
Use of mathematical switches to solve differential equation problems
Authors: Chiang Yi Ling
Published: April 2007

Mathematical switches have been used to choose the suitable numerical scheme automatically at every computing step while solving differential equation problems with a multischeme approach. The concept of using mathematical switches in a numerical computation with a multiprocessor computer is feasible. The use of the switches in a multischeme computation yields a more accurate solution than the use of only a single scheme. We examined the use of two mathematical switches, namely, the one of exact error and of truncation error. The numerical results from the use of the former switch confirmed our conjecture that a combined solution of several schemes is indeed more accurate than one of an individual scheme. However, a switch of exact error is not practical and the one of truncation error is not satisfactory. Hence, further study is needed to design more practical and more satisfactory mathematical switches, and to establish the practical value on their use.
Comments on version 3.1 of draft ISO/IEC 10967
Authors: IFIP Working Group 2.5 (Numerical Software) Corporate
Published: April 2007

An extremely encouraging development of the past several years for those concerned with constructing portable numerical software has been the increasingly widespread use of hardware that conforms to the IEEE standard for binary floating-point arithmetic (ISO/IEC 559:1989 and ANSI/IEEE 754-1985). This was designed with great care and has many features that assist the construction of software that is robust and executes rapidly.
LAPACK is now available
Authors: Dongarra Jack
Published: April 2007

LAPACK is a transportable library of Fortran 77 subroutines for solving the most common problems in numerical linear algebra: systems of linear equations, linear least squares problems, eigenvalue problems, and singular value problems. It has been designed to be efficient on a wide range of modern high-performance computers.
Book review: Inside AutoCAD: The Complete AutoCad Guide,, by D. Raker and H. Rice (New Riders Publishing)
Authors: Wood Percy G.
Published: April 2007

Computer Aided Design (CAD) is one of the fastest growing areas of small system usage. Such programs operate in the area where 'workstations' and 'personal computers' overlap, and AutoCAD, from Autodesk, has been a best seller. Versions of AutoCAD run under MS-DOS, OS/2 and on UNIX environments. Inside AutoCAD is an extensive tutorial on this very large and capable drawing system. This edition features release 11, with references back to release 10. The fifth edition focuses on release 10.
The role of computer software in numerical analysis teaching
Authors: Carroll John
Published: April 2007

We consider some key issues in the use of computer software in Numerical Analysis teaching. By first examining the role of the computer in education, we consider how the teaching of numerical analysis is enhanced through the introduction of computer software. Practical issues such as programming language requirements and sources of numerical software are reviewed. We also consider the different ways in which textbooks and software have been combined to provide a single teaching tool. The potential for interaction between symbolic and numerical computation is also considered and one particular symbolic algebra package is briefly reviewed. Another mode of software usage within the teaching framework is that of interactive environments and, here, we concentrate on two well-known packages, MATLAB [50] and CLAM [34]. Finally we present the experiences of some Numerical Analysis teachers as they outline individual approaches to efficient use of software in their respective syllabi.
A Graphical Notation Editing System (AGNES)
Authors: Liu HsiaoYing
Published: April 2007

A Graphical Notation Editing System (AGNES) project was initially undertaken in order to resolve some of the traditional problems in textual interfaces as manifested in most database management systems and knowledge base management systems. Entity-Relationship (E-R) Models have provided a popular technique for use in information modeling and analysis [Zhang, 1983]. Although offering a visual model containing a great deal of information in relatively little space, E-R models need to be supported by the necessary graphical tools for accessing and manipulating data. AGNES is an icon based editing tool which provides a graphic user interface between a Database Management System and the user. As the work began, it became immediately apparent that such an interface could also greatly enhance the modeling capability of E-R models. What follows is a set of enhancement tools that can be implemented.
Microcomputers and multi-tasking machine control
Authors: Kempka Anthony A.
Published: April 2007

Microcomputers offer the world of machine control an unequaled tool in providing flexible control of large and complicated machines. Traditionally a microcomputer is allotted for each machine to be controlled thereby massing several microcomputers. However, factors such as economic considerations or logistics may force a designer to stretch a microcomputer beyond its traditional capabilities. A method of providing concurrent control of multiple machines using a single uni-tasking microcomputer system is investigated. The investigation is founded upon a working system designed and built for the USDA-ARS soils laboratory in Morris, Minnesota. The analysis, therefore, has a certain practical flair to it that can be found useful for other projects where multiple tasks need to be handled simultaneously.
An instability problem in Chebyshev expansions for special functions
Authors: MacLeod Allan
Published: April 2007

For the last 2 or 3 years, I have been developing a software package MISCFUN which evaluates mathematical functions not found in the standard libraries such as NAG or IMSL, or in public-domain packages such as SPECFUN or FNLIB.
PLG
Authors: Krell Mitchell
Published: April 2007

This paper attempts to introduce a model for three-dimensional computer graphics in personal computers (PC). It introduces a design based on the Programmers Hierarchical Interactive Graphics System (PHIGS) and suggests some methods for achieving this design on PCs.