Using Renyi's information and wavelets for target detection: An application to mammograms In this paper we represent a multi-scale method for the detection of small targets embedded in noisy background. The multi-scale representation is built using a weighted undecimated discrete wavelet transform. The method, in essence, is based on the maximisation of information available at each resolution level of the representation. We show that such objective can be achieved by maximising Renyi's information. This approach allows us to determine an adaptive threshold useful for discriminating, at each scale, between wavelet coefficients representing targets and those representing background noise. Eventually, avoiding inverse transformation, scale-dependent estimates are combined according to a majority vote strategy. The proposed technique is experimented on a standard data set of mammographic images.

O O O O O O B I O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

mammograms
target detection
wavelet transform

medical imaging
multi-resolution
renyi's information
scale-space


power grid voltage integrity verification Full-chip verification requires one to check if the power grid is safe , i.e., if the voltage drop on the grid does not exceed a certain threshold. The traditional simulation-based solution to this problem is computationally expensive, because of the large variety of possible circuit behaviors that would need to be simulated; it also has the disadvantage that it requires full knowledge of the details of the circuit attached to the grid, thereby precluding early verification of the grid. We propose a power grid verification technique that can be applied before the complete circuit has been designed and without exact knowledge of the circuit currents. We use current constraints , which are upper bound constraints on the currents that can be drawn from the grid, as a way to capture the uncertainty about the circuit details and activity. Based on this, we propose two solution approaches. One approach gives an upper-bound on the worst-case voltage drop at every node of the grid. Another, less expensive approach, applies a sufficient condition (thus, this becomes a conservative approach) to check if the drop on the grid exceeds a given voltage threshold

B I B I O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

power grid
voltage integrity
voltage drop


A decoding-based fusion rule for cooperative spectrum sensing with nonorthogonal transmission of local decisions Cooperative spectrum sensing in cognitive radio (CR) networks is studied in which each CR performs energy detection to obtain a binary decision on the absence/presence of the primary user. The problem of interest is how to efficiently report and combine the local decisions to/at the fusion center under fading channels. In order to reduce the required transmission bandwidth in the reporting phase, the paper examines nonorthogonal transmission of local decisions by means of on-off keying. Proposed and analyzed is a novel decoding-based fusion rule that essentially performs in three steps: (1) estimating minimum mean-square error of the transmitted information from cognitive radios, (2) making hard decisions of the transmitted bits based on the estimated information, and (3) combining the hard decisions in a linear manner. Simulation results support the theoretical analysis and show that the added complexity of the decoding-based fusion rule leads to a considerable performance gain over the simpler energy-based fusion rule when the reporting links are reasonably strong.

O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O B I O B I O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

cognitive radio
spectrum sensing
energy detection

likelihood ratio test
on-off keying
noncoherent transmission
signature sequences


A coordination-theoretic investigation of the impact of electronic integration on logistics performance Using the Coordination Theory, we explored the impact of electronic integration of intra-organizational and inter-organizational business processes on organizational performance in terms of logistics cost and service improvements. Our work extends knowledge on adoption of information technology (IT) in logistics operations, with a focus on examining the performance implications of electronic integration within and between firms in a supply chain. Data was collected from 227 trading firms in Hong Kong and analyzed to investigate the research issues. Our empirical findings revealed that electronic integration is positively associated with logistics performance in cost but not in service, suggesting that electronic integration is not sufficient for delivering superior logistics services. Theoretical and practical implications of our results are discussed.

O O O O O O O B I O O O O O B I O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

electronic integration
coordination theory

logistics service performance
logistics cost performance


Modeling of pervaporation processes controlled by concentration polarization Pervaporation is considered a clean and energetically efficient process used for a wide range of applications, working separately or integrated into a hybrid process. In this work, a mathematical model has been developed accounting for the mass transport phenomena under non-isothermal conditions with strong contribution of polarization concentration that prevail in pervaporation systems. The mathematical model incorporates characteristics of the module geometry, mass and heat transfer correlations and estimation of the system physicochemical properties. The equation-oriented simulation software g-PROMSO was used in the solution of the final problem. Finally, the model was tested against a representative case study, pervaporative dehydration of cyclohexane, the solvent used in the manufacture of synthetic rubber. Model simulated curves described satisfactorily well the kinetic data of cyclohexane dehydration obtained in a pilot plant set-up. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

B O B O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O

pervaporation
modeling
cyclohexane dehydration


Capital budgeting, investment project valuation and financing mix: Methodological proposals A firm using a discount rate defined at the corporate scale as a weighted average cost of capital (WACC) may have to value projects subject to a different tax rate from the one used to calculate its discount rate. Moreover, to determine the economic value of a project, the WACC and ArdittiLevy methods need to be adjusted if the firm allocates to this project a loan representing proportionally more (or less) than the fraction corresponding to the target debt ratio defined by the firm for projects in the same class of risk. We first propose a method which corresponds to the adjustment of standard WACC calculations. The formulation adopted (generalized ATWACC method) has the advantage of being independent of any consideration related to debt ratios. We then develop a consistent adaptation of the ArdittiLevy method (adapted BTWACC method), but it does not possess the simplicity of that of the generalized ATWACC method.

B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

investment analysis
finance
energy
net present value


Neural spike sorting using mathematical morphology, multiwavelets transform and hierarchical clustering Neural spike sorting is an indispensable first step for the analysis of multiple spike train data. As it is very common that noises degrade the performance of most of the available spike sorting method, in this paper we have proposed a novel spike sorting algorithm framework which seems less susceptible to heavy noises. At first, mathematical morphology operation is used to facilitate the spike event detection process, especially in strong noisy situations. Then, multiwavelets transform is performed to the detected spike waveforms to extract discriminative features. Finally, hierarchical clustering with an outlier removal process proceeds to separate the first 10 distinguishable multiwavelets coefficients. The results show that our spike sorting method performs quite well even for the heavy noisy simulated spike data.

O B I O B I B I O B I O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O

spike sorting
mathematical morphology
multiwavelets transform
hierarchical clustering
outlier removal process


Empirical study on the maintainability of Web applications: Model-driven Engineering vs Code-centric Model-driven Engineering (MDE) approaches are often acknowledged to improve the maintainability of the resulting applications. However, there is a scarcity of empirical evidence that backs their claimed benefits and limitations with respect to code-centric approaches. The purpose of this paper is to compare the performance and satisfaction of junior software maintainers while executing maintainability tasks on Web applications with two different development approaches, one being OOH4RIA, a model-driven approach, and the other being a code-centric approach based on Visual Studio .NET and the Agile Unified Process. We have conducted a quasi-experiment with 27 graduated students from the University of Alicante. They were randomly divided into two groups, and each group was assigned to a different Web application on which they performed a set of maintainability tasks. The results show that maintaining Web applications with OOH4RIA clearly improves the performance of subjects. It also tips the satisfaction balance in favor of OOH4RIA, although not significantly. Model-driven development methods seem to improve both the developers objective performance and subjective opinions on ease of use of the method. This notwithstanding, further experimentation is needed to be able to generalize the results to different populations, methods, languages and tools, different domains and different application sizes.

O O O O B O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O


A wavelength routing device by using cyclic AWGs and tunable FBGs This paper presents a dense wavelength-division multiplexing (DWDM) routing device based on a pair of 1N and N1 cyclic array waveguide gratings (AWGs) and tunable fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) to configure all channels in a dynamic network. With the AWG cyclic spectral routing rule, all the DWDM channels (e.g., more than 8 DWDM channels can be configured based on a pair of cyclic 18 and 81 AWGs) can be added and dropped by using the multiple tunable FBGs to reflect the channels that need to be dropped to the drop port as well as to reflect the local DWDM channels that are same as the drop wavelength channels to the output port. Three DWDM channels are demonstrated to verify that all the DWDM channels can be added and dropped in one pair of cyclic AWGs. The results show that the proposed DWDM routing device is feasible to use and offers more flexibility in all-optics dynamic networks.

O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

reconfigurable optical adddrop multiplexer (roadm)

dense wavelength division multiplexing (dwdm)


An application of CIMOSA concepts in the development of change capable manufacturing cells A new approach to the design and reconfiguration of change capable manufacturing cells is described. The approach is based on (i) the development of particular models of cells, where the use of CIMOSA modelling constructs is structured and informed by a semi-generic model of similar manufacturing cells and (ii) the use of new constructs and tools that operationalise particular models in the form of an explicit, model-based configuration of cell resources and software components. The paper describes key elements of the semi-generic model and a case study application of the approach when designing and prototyping a case study manufacturing cell. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

O O O B O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O B O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

reconfiguration
manufacturing cells
cimosa

enterprise modelling
component-based systems


Networked non-linear control for an aluminum plate thermal process with time-delays This article considers networked non-linear control for an aluminum plate thermal process. This is done by using operator-based robust right coprime factorisation approach and Bezout identity to guarantee robust stable networked control system, as well as an operator-based tracking controller to ensure the controlled process output tracking the desired reference input. An experimental result is given for the case of temperature control of the aluminum plate thermal process.

O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B

networked control
coprime factorisation
process


Realization of Dynamic Stair Climbing for Biped Humanoid Robot Using Force/Torque Sensors This paper proposes a control algorithm for the dynamic stair climbing of a human-sized biped humanoid robot. Dynamic stair climbing can cause more instability than dynamic biped walking on the ground because stair climbing requires an additional vertical motions and a large step length. We assume that stair configuration is already known and only use force/torque sensors at ankle joint to achieve a control algorithm for a stable dynamic stair climbing. We describe a stair climbing pattern generation and stair climbing stages, and then propose a real-time balance control algorithm which is composed of several online controllers. Each online controller is addressed in detail with experimental results. Finally, the effectiveness and performance of the proposed control algorithm are verified through a dynamic stair climbing experiment of KHR-2.

O O B I I O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O B I I O O O B I I B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I I O O O

dynamic stair climbing
biped humanoid robot

real-time balance control
khr-2
force/torque sensor


Tensor product Bezier surfaces on triangle Bezier surfaces An explicit formula as well as a geometric algorithm are given for converting a rectangular subpatch of a triangular Bezier surface into a tensor product Bezier representation. Based on de Casteljau recursions and convex combinations of combinatorial constants, both formula and algorithm are numerically stable. Examples and special problems are discussed such as the suitcase corner problem and surfaces of the same polynomial degree. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

surfaces on surfaces
composition
segmentation
subpatches
tensor product surfaces
triangle surfaces


A Framework to Automate the Parsing of Arabic Language Sentences This paper proposes a framework to automate the parsing (sic) of Arabic language sentences in general, although it focuses on the simple verbal sentences but it can be extended to any Arabic language sentence. The proposed system is divided into two separated phases which are lexical analysis and syntax analysis. Lexical phase analyses the words, finds its originals and roots, separates it from prefixes and suffixes, and assigns the filtered words to special tokens. Syntax analysis receives all the tokens and finds the best grammar for the given sequence of the tokens by using context free grammar. Our system assumes that the entered sentences are correct lexically and grammatically.

O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O


A Multi-Rate Supported Energy-Efficient Routing Protocol for Wireless Ad Hoc Networks The paper presents a multi-rate supported energy-efficient routing protocol (MERP) for stations to construct an energy efficient and reliable route to resist the variation of wireless channels in wireless ad hoc networks. Providing a reliable transmission, and reducing the retransmission cost and the energy consumption are critical importance for wireless ad hoc networks. MERP considers some important lower-layer factors, such as the power strength, transfer rate, and the interference, to construct an energy efficient and reliable route. Moreover, stations applying MERP can adjust the routing path according to the variation of the channel condition. Simulation results also show that MERP can efficiently reduce the retransmission cost so that stations' energy can be efficiently used.

O O O O B O O B I I I O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O


Generalized k k -ary tanglegrams on level graphs: A satisfiability-based approach and its evaluation ? A tanglegram is a pair of (not necessarily binary) trees on the same set of leaves with matching leaves in the two trees joined by an edge. Tanglegrams are widely used in computational biology to compare evolutionary histories of species. In this work we present a formulation of two related combinatorial embedding problems concerning tanglegrams in terms of CNF-formulas. The first problem is known as the planar embedding and the second as the crossing minimization problem. We show that our satisfiability-based encoding of these problems can handle a much more general case with more than two, not necessarily binary or complete, trees defined on arbitrary sets of leaves and allowed to vary their layouts. Furthermore, we present an experimental comparison of our technique and several known heuristics for solving generalized binary tanglegrams, showing its competitive performance and efficiency and thus proving its practical usability.

O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

planar embedding
tanglegram
crossing minimization
computational biology

satisfiability
mixed horn formula
2-cnf
level graph
graph drawing
combinatorial optimization


Affine projection M-estimate subband adaptive filters for robust adaptive filtering in impulsive noise ? An APM-SAF is proposed for robust adaptive filtering in impulsive noise. A stability analysis of the APM-SAF is carried out by the energy conservation technique. An improved proportionate APM-SAF is developed to further improve the performance of the APM-SAF. The computational complexity of the proposed algorithms is briefly discussed.

B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

adaptive filter
impulsive noise suppression
m-estimate
subband adaptive filter (saf)
acoustic echo cancellation (aec)


The control of myopic behavior in semi-heterarchical production systems: A holonic framework ? Heterarchical control architectures are essentially founded on cooperation and full local autonomy, resulting in high reactivity, no master/slave relationships and local information retention. Consequently, these architectures experience myopic decision-making, bringing entities towards local optimality rather than the systems overall performance. Although this issue has been identified as an important problem within heterarchical control architectures, it has not been formally studied. The aim of this paper is to identify the dimensions of myopic behavior and propose mechanisms to control this behavior. This study focuses on myopic behavior found in manufacturing control. For this particular study, we propose a holonic framework and a holonic organization that integrates specific mechanisms to control the temporal and social myopia. Our proposal was validated using simulations designed for solving the allocation problem in flexible manufacturing systems. These simulations were conducted to show the improvement by integrating the new mechanisms. These simulation results indicate that the myopic control mechanisms achieve better performance than the reactive strategies, because not only they introduce a planning horizon, but also because they balance local and global objectives, seeking a consensus.

O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O


efficient online monitoring of web-service slas If an organization depends on the service quality provided by another organization it often enters into a bilateral service level agreement (SLA), which mitigates outsourcing risks by associating penalty payments with poor service quality. Once these agreements are entered into, it becomes necessary to monitor their conditions, which will commonly relate to timeliness, reliability and request throughput, at run-time. We show how these conditions can be translated into timed automata. Acceptance of a timed word by a timed automaton can be decided in quadratic time and because the timed automata can operate while messages are exchanged at run-time there is effectively only a linear run-time overhead. We present an implementation to derive on-line monitors for web services automatically from SLAs using an Eclipse plugin. We evaluate the efficiency and scalability of this approach using a large-scale case study in a service-oriented computational grid.

O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

on-line monitoring
service level agreements


Monitoring, planning, and self-efficacy during learning with hypermedia: The impact of conceptual scaffolds Self-report data and think-aloud data from 37 undergraduates were used to examine the impact of conceptual scaffolds on self-efficacy, monitoring, and planning during learning with a commercial hypermedia environment. Participants, randomly assigned to either the No Scaffolding (NS) or Conceptual Scaffolding (CS) condition, used a hypermedia environment for 30min to learn about the circulatory system. Think-aloud data collected during this learning task was used to measure participants self-regulated learning (SRL) with hypermedia. Additionally, participants completed a self-efficacy questionnaire at three points during the learning task (immediately prior to the 30-min hypermedia learning task, 10min into the learning task, and 20min into the learning task). Results indicated that participants from both conditions reported higher levels of self-efficacy immediately before the hypermedia learning task, and that they decreased their use of SRL processes related to monitoring as they progressed through the hypermedia learning task. In addition, results also indicated that participants in the CS condition used, on average, more SRL processes related to planning during the hypermedia learning task than participants in the NS condition.

O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O

self-regulated learning
self-efficacy
motivation
cognitive processes
science
mental models
mixed methodology


Uncertain Alternating Renewal Process and Its Application Uncertain process is a sequence of uncertain variables indexed by time and space. First, this paper presents a kind of uncertain process, known as the uncertain alternating renewal process, whose alternating interarrival times are uncertain variables. Then, it proves an uncertain alternating renewal theorem on the limit value of average working rate. Finally, an application of the alternating renewal theorem is discussed.

O B I I O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

alternating renewal process
uncertain process


New Insights into the Genetics of Familial Chromaffin Cell Tumors We review genetic aspects and recent advances in our understanding of the molecular pathogenesis of familial chromaffin cell tumors (pheochromocytoma, paraganglioma). About 10 percent of pheochromocytomas are familial and occur as part of multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2 (MEN 2), von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) disease, and neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF 1). A subset of paragangliomas, tumors that can also produce and secrete catecholamines, are also familial and occur in patients with germline mutations in genes that encode subunits of the mitochondrial complex II. The precise molecular mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of chromaffin cell tumors remain widely unknown, although recent studies in hereditary tumors help elucidate their development. In MEN 2, overrepresentation of mutant RET in selected adrenomedullary cells may be an important mechanism in initiating the formation of a pheochromocytoma. In VHL disease, pheochromocytoma development appears to occur according to Knudson's two-hit model, a VHL germline mutation and wildtype allelic deletion. Tumorigenesis of NF1-associated pheochromocytomas remains unknown, as does tumor formation (i.e., carotid body tumor) in patients with germline mutations in SDHB, SDHC, and SDHD, genes that encode subunits of the mitochondrial complex II, the smallest complex in the respiratory chain. Many genetic alterations have been found in sporadic chromaffin cell tumors. However, at present such genetic changes are difficult to place into context with regard to tumor formation and progression.

O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B B O O O O O O O O O O O O B I I I I O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O B O B O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O B B O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O

ret
vhl
sdhd
sdhc
sdhb
multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2
paraganglioma
pheochromocytoma
tumor formation


An image-based key agreement protocol using the morphing technique Most traditional key agreement protocols are based on data exchange. In this paper, a novel key agreement protocol based on image exchange is proposed. In this protocol, the communication entities who want to establish a session key are pre-assigned a secret image by the registration center (RC) initially. In real-time communication, using this image as the source image, along with another image of her/his choosing as the target image, the entity creates a morphed image and transmits it to the other communication entity. At the receiver side, the entity de-morphs the received image using the same source image and recovers the target image. However, the recovered image is not completely the same as the original image because some pixels have been lost during the morphing process. Therefore, the relationship between the original image and the morphed image needs to be analyzed and the lost pixels are located accurately. By removing the lost pixels from the self-generated original image and the recovered image of the other entity, both communication entities can obtain the same information that can be used as the secret session key. This approach using the exchanged morphed image for establishing secret session key can conceal the purpose of the key distribution and therefore enhances its security. In addition, the exchange of the image between two entities provides intuitive information for communication entities.

O O B I O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O


A novel CMOS triode transconductor based on current division A compact transconductor based on transistors operating in the triode region is presented. A novel V-I conversion stage made up of current dividers is proposed. The circuit allows tunability by adjusting a dc current and the transconductance is independent of transconductance parameter of the triode transistors. Besides, the circuit is simple because feedback structures to fix source-drain voltages of triode transistors are not needed, saving area and featuring low power consumption. Measurement and simulation results are presented and analyzed for validating the proposed technique.

O O O B B O O O O O O B O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O


slack analysis in the system design loop We present a system-level technique to analyze the impact of design optimizations on system-level timing dependencies. This technique enables us to speed up the design cycle by substituting, in the design the loop, the time-consuming simulation step with a fast timing update routine. As a result, we can significantly reduce the design time from on the order of hours/days to the order of seconds/minutes. The update algorithm is defined on the Transaction Level Model (TLM) and can be used by any design flow that invokes TLM-based optimizations. This algorithm has linear-time complexity in the program size and experimental results indicate that any loss of accuracy due to this technique is negligible (

B I O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

timing update
slack analysis
system design loop


Affect control processes: Intelligent affective interaction using a partially observable Markov decision process This paper describes a novel method for building affectively intelligent human-interactive agents. The method is based on a key sociological insight that has been developed and extensively verified over the last twenty years, but has yet to make an impact in artificial intelligence. The insight is that resource bounded humans will, by default, act to maintain affective consistency. Humans have culturally shared fundamental affective sentiments about identities, behaviours, and objects, and they act so that the transient affective sentiments created during interactions confirm the fundamental sentiments. Humans seek and create situations that confirm or are consistent with, and avoid and suppress situations that disconfirm or are inconsistent with, their culturally shared affective sentiments. This affect control principle has been shown to be a powerful predictor of human behaviour. In this paper, we present a probabilistic and decision-theoretic generalisation of this principle, and we demonstrate how it can be leveraged to build affectively intelligent artificial agents. The new model, called BayesAct, can maintain multiple hypotheses about sentiments simultaneously as a probability distribution, and can make use of an explicit utility function to make value-directed action choices. This allows the model to generate affectively intelligent interactions with people by learning about their identity, predicting their behaviours using the affect control principle, and taking actions that are simultaneously goal-directed and affect-sensitive. We demonstrate this generalisation with a set of simulations. We then show how our model can be used as an emotional plug-in for artificially intelligent systems that interact with humans in two different settings: an exam practice assistant (tutor) and an assistive device for persons with a cognitive disability.

B O O O O O O O O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

emotion
sociology
affect control theory
intelligent tutoring system
assistive technology
humancomputer interaction


Robot-assisted wayfinding for the visually impaired in structured indoor environments We present a robot-assisted wayfinding system for the visually impaired in structured indoor environments. The system consists of a mobile robotic guide and small passive RFID sensors embedded in the environment. The system is intended for use in indoor environments, such as office buildings, supermarkets and airports. We describe how the system was deployed in two indoor environments and evaluated by visually impaired participants in a series of pilot experiments. We analyze the system's successes and failures and outline our plans for future research and development.

O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

assistive robotics
robot-assisted wayfinding
rfid-based localization
human-robot interaction


Robust energy-aware routing with redundancy elimination We present an extended multi-commodity flow problem with compressible traffic flows where uncertainties in both traffic volumes and compression rates are taken into consideration. We apply this extended model into energy-aware routing and formally define the Robust-GreenRE problem using Mixed Integer Linear Program (MILP). We propose a heuristic algorithm that is effective for large instances. By simulation, we show the energy savings offered by our methods on backbone networks with real-life data traffic traces and compression rate fluctuations.

O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

robust network optimization
green networking
energy-aware routing


RACAM: design and implementation of a recursively adjusting co-allocation method with efficient replica selection in Data Grids Data Grids enable the sharing, selection, and connection of a wide variety of geographically distributed computational and storage resources for addressing large-scale data-intensive scientific application needs in, for instance, high-energy physics, bioinformatics, and virtual astrophysical observatories. Data sets are replicated in Data Grids and distributed among multiple sites. Unfortunately, data sets of interest sometimes are significantly large in size, and may cause access efficiency overhead. A co-allocation architecture was developed in order to enable parallel downloading of data sets from multiple servers. Several co-allocation strategies have been coupled and used to exploit download rate by specifying among various client-server divides files into multiple blocks of equal sizes to link and address dynamic rate fluctuations. However, one major obstacle, the idle time of faster servers having to wait for the slowest server to deliver the final block, makes it important to reduce differences in finishing time among replica servers. In this paper, we propose a dynamic co-allocation method, called Recursively Adjusting Co-Allocation Method (RACAM), to improve the performance of parallel data file transfer. Our approach reduces the idle time spent waiting for the slowest server and decreases data transfer completion time. We also provide an effective scheme for reducing the cost of reassembling data blocks. Copyright (C) 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

grid computing
data grid
co-allocation
globus toolkit
gridftp
parallel transfer


Embodied interaction with a 3D versus 2D mobile map In comparison to 2D maps, 3D mobile maps involve volumetric instead of flat representation of space, realistic instead of symbolic representation of objects, more variable views that are directional and bound to a first-person perspective, more degrees of freedom in movement, and dynamically changing object details. We conducted a field experiment to understand the influence of these qualities on a mobile spatial task where buildings shown on the map were to be localized in the real world. The representational differences were reflected in how often users interact with the physical environment and in when they are more likely to physically turn and move the device, instead of using virtual commands. 2D maps direct users into using reliable and ubiquitous environmental cues like street names and crossings, and 2D better affords the use of pre-knowledge and bodily action to reduce cognitive workload. Both acclaimed virtues of 3D mobile mapsrapid identification of objects and ego-centric alignmentworked poorly due reasons we discuss. However, with practice, some 3D users learned to shift to 2D-like strategies and could thereby improve performance. We conclude with a discussion of how representational differences in mobile maps affect strategies of embodied interaction.

O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

3d graphics
pointing task
spatial cognition
virtual environment


I2CSec: A secure serial Chip-to-Chip communication protocol This paper presents a secured I2C (Inter-Integrated Circuit) protocol for Chip-to-Chip communications. The well known AES-GCM cryptographic and authentication algorithm is used to secure this low speed serial communication protocol. This securization allows the use of this standard into applications where security is an issue and the computation resources are constrained. Both the hardware architecture and the protocol are presented. The implementation of the I2CSec presented in the paper has been optimized for FPGA devices.

O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O


reinforcement learning of interface mapping for interactivity enhancement of robot control in assistive environments The supervisory control of robots is a very demanding application. In the context of robots control in assistive environments, it is important that the robot user is able to give commands to robots in a way that is easy and intuitive. There are several tasks that can be achieved using robots under assistive environments. It is challenging to efficiently control multiple robots / robots with degrees of freedom with a simple/intuitive interface by a single operator. In this proposal, we propose the use of Reinforcement Learning for intuitive interface mapping. Based on interaction with the environments, we can determine the optimal interface mapping through the process of Reinforcement Learning. The novelty of this paper is the use of changing reward functions based on qualitative performance evaluation for the Reinforcement Learning algorithm. In this paper, we show that the use of proposed reward functions can result in optimal/intuitive interface mapping for multiple robots / robots with degrees of freedom control applications.

B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O


Comparing measures of urban land use mix Reviews mathematical formulas and conceptual underpinnings for a wide range of measures of urban land use mix. Conducts a Monte Carlo simulation to discover statistical relationships between various mixed use measures. Compares results from the Monte Carlo simulation to empirical data from Hillsboro, Oregon. Identifies crucial limitations of mixed use measures and discusses techniques for adapting to those limitations. Provides recommendations about which mixed use measure to use based upon available contextual information.

O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I I O O O O O O B I O O O O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O

land use patterns
entropy index
dissimilarity index


How does non-random spontaneous activity contribute to brain development? Highly non-random forms of spontaneous activity are proposed to play an instrumental role in the early development of the visual system. However, both the fundamental properties of spontaneous activity required to drive map formation, as well as the exact role of this information remain largely unknown. Here, a realistic computational model of spontaneous retinal waves is employed to demonstrate that both the amplitude and frequency of waves may play determining roles in retinocollicular map formation. Furthermore, results obtained with different learning rules show that spike precision in the order of milliseconds may be instrumental to neural development: a rule based on precise spike interactions (spike-timing-dependent plasticity) reduced the density of aberrant projections to the SC to a markedly greater extent than a rule based on interactions at much broader time-scale (correlation-based plasticity). Taken together, these results argue for an important role of spontaneous yet highly non-random activity, along with temporally precise learning rules, in the formation of neural circuits.

O O O B I O O O B O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

retinocollicular projections
spike-timing-dependent plasticity
topographic map


what if there were desktop access to the computer science literature? What if there were an electronic computer science library? Consider the possibilities of having your favorite publications available within finger's reach. Consider Project Envision, an ongoing effort to build a user-centered database from the computer science literature. This paper describes the project's first year progress, stressing the underlying motivation, user-centered development, and the overall design.

O O O O O B O O B I O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O B O O B I O O B O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O B

computer science
project
paper
access
motivation
database
design


SEAR: a secure efficient ad hoc on demand routing protocol for wireless networks Multi-hop routing is essential to the operation of wireless ad hoc networks. Unfortunately, it is very easy for an adversary to forge or modify routing messages to inflict severe damage on the underlying routing protocol. In this paper, we present SEAR, a secure efficient ad hoc routing (SEAR) protocol for ad hoc networks that is mainly based on efficient symmetric cryptography, with asymmetric cryptography used only for the distribution of initial key commitments. SEAR uses one-way hash functions to protect the propagation of the routing messages. Intermediate nodes verify the routing messages by applying one-way functions, while malicious nodes cannot construct beneficial false routing messages when forwarding them. Route error (RERR) messages are protected through a variation of the TESLA broadcast authentication scheme. The SEAR protocol does not require any additional routing packet formats, and thus follows the same basic design as ad hoc on-demand distance vector (AODV). We show, through both theoretical examination and simulations, that SEAR provides better security with significantly less overhead than other existing secure AODV (SAODV) protocols. Copyright (C) 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O B O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

authenticator
one-way hash function
secure routing


A computational framework for determining run-maximal strings We investigate the function ?d(n)=max{r(x)|x is a (d,n)-string} ? d ( n ) = max { r ( x ) | x is a ( d , n ) -string } , where r(x) r ( x ) denotes the number of runs in a string x and (d,n) ( d , n ) -string denotes a string of length n with exactly d distinct symbols. The notion of an r-cover is presented and discussed with emphasis on the recursive computational determination of ?d(n) ? d ( n ) . This notion is used as a key element of a computational framework for an efficient computation of the maximum number of runs. In particular, we were able to determine all previously known ?2(n) ? 2 ( n ) values for n?60 n ? 60 in a matter of hours, confirming the results reported by Kolpakov and Kucherov, and were able to extend the computations up to and including n=74 n = 74 . Noticeably, these computations reveal the unexpected existence of a binary run-maximal string of length 66 containing aaaa a a a a .

O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O


Grids with multiple batch systems for performance enhancement of multi-component and parameter sweep parallel applications ? In this work, we evaluate the benefits of using Grids with multiple batch systems to improve the performance of multi-component and parameter sweep parallel applications by reduction in queue waiting times. Using different job traces of different loads, job distributions and queue waiting times corresponding to three different queuing policies (FCFS, conservative and EASY backfilling), we conducted a large number of experiments using simulators of two important classes of applications. The first simulator models Community Climate System Model (CCSM), a prominent multi-component application and the second simulator models parameter sweep applications. We compare the performance of the applications when executed on multiple batch systems and on a single batch system for different system and application configurations. We show that there are a large number of configurations for which application execution using multiple batch systems can give improved performance over execution on a single system.

B O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O

grids
batch systems
parameter sweep applications
queue waiting times


generalized resource sharing Resource sharing is one of the main tasks in high-level synthesis, and although many algorithms have addressed the problem there are still several limitations which restrict the generality and applicability of current algorithms. Most clique-partitioning-based algorithms use local and inaccurate cost-functions which result in inefficient results. This paper presents algorithms for the resource sharing problem on registers and functional units, and shows how they overcome the limitations of existing algorithms. The main characteristics of this work are: interleaved register and functional unit merging in a global clique partitioning based framework, accurate merging cost estimation, accurate interconnect cost estimation, relative control cost taken into account and efficient false loop elimination. The results obtained show significant improvements in the delay of designs, while also minimizing area, specially for large designs with many sharing possibilities.

B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O B I I O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I

generalized resource sharing
functional unit
interconnect cost estimation
functional units
merging cost estimation
sharing possibilities

clique-partitioning-based algorithms
high level synthesis
high-level synthesis


Optimised PWL recursive approximation and its application to neuro-fuzzy systems In this work, a piecewise-linear (PWL) function approximation is described by a lattice algebra. The maximum (V) and minimum (A) lattice operators have been modified to incorporate interpolation capability of generated PWL function vertexes. As a result of that, a new recursive method called centred recursive interpolation (CRI) based on such operators is proposed and analysed for successive function smoothing and more accurate approximation. The resultant computational scheme is accurate but simple, as few parameters are needed for function definition. The method is tested by applying it to the optimum approximation of some sample functions, and it turns out to be a natural quadratic approximation. Due to its advantageous characteristics and the properties that Gaussian-like function based neuro-fuzzy systems show, optimised approximation of programmable Gaussian functions has been studied in detail. A table of optimum parameters has been obtained for approximating the function through different design schemes. This constitutes a previous theoretical work for the future hardware implementation of function generators in neuro-fuzzy systems. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

function approximation
neuro-fuzzy systems
membership function circuit
gaussian function


Broadband absorption enhancement in periodic structure plasmonic solar cell In this paper, a novel design of plasmonic solar cell is investigated and analysed using 3D finite difference time domain method. The suggested design has a cylindrical metallic nanoparticles with hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) as an active material. The aim of our work is to get maximum absorption of thin film solar cell by scattering the light from metal nanoparticles. Therefore, the effects of the structure geometrical parameters on the absorption are investigated. The numerical results show that 35% absorption improvement is achieved over the conventional thin film solar cell without metallic nanoparticles.

O B I O O O B O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O B I I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

plasmonic
absorption enhancement
finite difference time domain


Defects at Ge:GeO2 and Ge:MeOx interfaces Various interface configurations of Ge:MeOx are studied. The configuration of the valence alternation pair interfacial defect is studied. The valence alternation pair defects affect the band offsets. The interfacial oxygen vacancy can collapse to a metalGe bond for the case of Hf. The interfacial oxygen vacancy does not collapse to a metalGe bond for Al or La.

O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

ge
ge:geo2 interface
passivation
calculation


spatio-temporal models for estimating click-through rate We propose novel spatio-temporal models to estimate click-through rates in the context of content recommendation. We track article CTR at a fixed location over time through a dynamic Gamma-Poisson model and combine information from correlated locations through dynamic linear regressions, significantly improving on per-location model. Our models adjust for user fatigue through an exponential tilt to the first-view CTR (probability of click on first article exposure) that is based only on user-specific repeat-exposure features. We illustrate our approach on data obtained from a module (Today Module) published regularly on Yahoo! Front Page and demonstrate significant improvement over commonly used baseline methods. Large scale simulation experiments to study the performance of our models under different scenarios provide encouraging results. Throughout, all modeling assumptions are validated via rigorous exploratory data analysis.

O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O B O B O O O O O O O B O O O O O O B O O O O B O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O B O B O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O B O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I

simulation
performance
context
probability
data analysis
model
user
recommendation
dynamic
module
data
demonstrate

scenario
estimates
paging
large-scale
temporal
experience
timing
informal
contention
ctr positional correlation
method
locatability
content recommendation
tracking
feature


Quasi-hamiltonian paths in semicomplete multipartite digraphs A quasi-hamiltonian path in a semicomplete multipartite digraph D D is a path which visits each maximal independent set (also called a partite set) of D D at least once. This is a generalization of a hamiltonian path in a tournament. In this paper we investigate the complexity of finding a quasi-hamiltonian path, in a given semicomplete multipartite digraph, from a prescribed vertex x x to a prescribed vertex y y as well as the complexity of finding a quasi-hamiltonian path whose end vertices belong to a given set of two vertices {x,y} { x , y } . While both of these problems are polynomially solvable for semicomplete digraphs (here all maximal independent sets have size one), we prove that the first problem is NP-complete and describe a polynomial algorithm for the latter problem.

O O O O O O O O O O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O

polynomial algorithm
semicomplete multipartite digraph

np-complete
extended semicomplete digraph
multipartite tournament
quasi-hamiltonian path


Autoantibody Responses to Carbohydrate Epitopes in Endometriosis Autoantibody responses to endometrial and serum antigens are a common feature of endometriosis. We have shown that the serum autoantibody response in endometriosis to a number of previously identified antigens, including ?2-Heremans Schmidt glycoprotein and carbonic anhydrase, is specific for a carbohydrate epitope common to these proteins. Removal of carbohydrate moieties from these antigens resulted in a loss of antibody binding. Antibody reactivity was abolished following adsorption with the lectin jacalin, which specifically binds the Thomsen-Friedenreich (T) antigen (Gal?1-3GalNAc). Demonstration that the autoantibodies also reacted with other Thomsen-Friedenreich antigen-bearing proteins, such as serum IgA1, hemopexin, and MMP-9, confirmed that this glycotope is involved in the autoantibody response. However, the autoantibody binding requires the presence of at least one sialic acid residue. Thus, the glycotope involved may be a sialylated T antigen. These findings allow us to hypothesize a number of mechanisms whereby the autoimmune response plays a direct role in several aspects of the disease process. The proposed mechanisms take into account the salient endocrine dependency of endometriotic lesions and other aspects of the disease process such as aberrant matrix metalloproteinase function and the ability of endometrial cells to implant at ectopic sites. The anti-T-like response may also be indicative of an underlying genetic defect in glycosylation or in the control of glycosylation by steroid sex hormones. Further characterization of this autoimmune response may prove useful in the development of serum-based diagnostic tests for endometriosis and may lead to the development of therapeutic strategies.

O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O

thomsen-friedenreich antigen
carbohydrate antigen


Statistical Properties of Phase-Decorrelation in Phase-Resolved Doppler Optical Coherence Tomography Decorrelation noise limits the ability of phase-resolved Doppler optical coherence tomography systems to detect smaller vessels exhibiting slower flow velocities, which limits the utility of the technique in many clinical and biological settings. An understanding of the statistical properties of decorrelation noise can aid in the optimal design of these systems and guide the development of noise mitigating strategies. In this work, the statistical properties of decorrelation noise are derived from the underlying statistics of the coherent imaging system and validated through comparison with empirical results and Monte Carlo modeling. Expressions for the noise distribution and the noise variance as a function of relevant imaging system parameters are given, and the implications of these results on both system and algorithm design are discussed.

O O O O O O B I I I B I O O O O O B I I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

decorrelation noise
doppler optical coherence tomography

optical coherence tomography
phase-resolved


Process Simulation in a Mechatronic Bioreactor Device with Speed-Regulated Motors for Growing of Three-Dimensional Cell Cultures Tissue engineering is a new scientific research field that allows the establishment of tissue equivalents rising from isolated cells in combination with biocompatible materials and cultivation in more or less sophisticated bioreactor systems. Such systems gave the unique opportunity to perform in vitro investigations of transcription and translation, cell growth, biochemistry and mechanics of healthy normal organs as well as those affected by malignant tumors, infections, and immune deficiency under controlled conditions. In rotating vessel bioreactors under microgravity and defined medium content, cells proliferate, stay abundant to each other, and form three-dimensional structures, assigned as spheroids. Such spheroids might be grown on microcarriers. A wide spectrum of different cell culture experiments involving normal and transformed human cells indicates tha

O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

rotating wall vessel bioreactors
miniperm
dynamical model
virtual simulation
three dimensional cell culture


Image processing of two-layer CNNs applications and their stability Cellular Neural Networks (CNNs) have been developed as a high-speed parallel signal-processing platform. In this paper; a generalized two-layer cellular neural network model is proposed for image processing, in which two templates are introduced between the two layers. We found from the simulations that the two-layer CNNs efficiently behave compared to the single-layer CNNs for the many applications of image processing. For examples, simulation problems such as linearly non-separable task-logic XOR, center point detection and object separation, etc. can be efficiently solved with the two-layer CNNs. The stability problems of the two-layer CNNs with symmetric and/or special coupling templates are also discussed based on the Lyapunov function technique. Its equilibrium points are found from the trajectories in a phase plane, whose results agree with those from simulations.

B I O O O O O O B B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

cellular neural networks
image processing
stability


Rigorous design of robot software: A formal component-based approach ? ?? We have recently started an effort to combine a state of the art tool for developing functional modules of robotic systems ( G en oM ) with a component based framework for implementing embedded real-time systems (BIP). Unlike some works which study the connection between formal approaches and the highest (decisional) level of the robot software architecture, where deliberative activities such as planning, diagnostics, and execution control are conducted, we tackle the problem of using formal methods for developing modules of the functional level of robots. Little attention has been drawn to the development of these modules whose robustness is paramount to the robustness of the overall platform. To this end, we have successfully developed the G en oM /BIP component based design approach and applied it to the functional level of a complex exploration rover. Here, we report on this work, and show how we: (i) produce a very fine grained formal computational model of the robot functional level; (ii) run the BIP engine on the real robot, which executes and enforces the model semantics at runtime; and (iii) check the model offline for deadlock-freedom, as well as other safety properties. Moreover, we also extended this paradigm in a number of promising directions: (i) introduced a real-time BIP engine which can now use and control a timed BIP model; (ii) distributed the model and the engine over multiple CPUs; (iii) proposed a user-friendly language for specifying constraints on the model; and (iv) linked the model with a temporal plan execution controller. Interestingly, although our approach was initially proposed for the lowest level of robot architectures, these more recent extensions now allow us to model and manage the deliberation taking place at the decisional layer.

O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

robotic software architecture
controller synthesis
verification and validation
robotic functional layer
robust software


vehicular client roaming and location-based handoff through multiple wlan aps in a container terminal This paper reports on measurement results for the simultaneous use of multiple WLAN APs in a large area. We describe some problems of applying legacy IEEE 802.11 WLAN technologies to a freight container terminal as a special application example. We begin by describing the characteristics of IT infrastructures in a container terminal environment, and examine S/W application requirements and work processes in a container terminal. One of the key problems based on clients' complaints is frequent network disconnections. To find the cause of this problem, we observe the characteristics of service clients and collect the raw network data from actual measurements in a container terminal. We transform the collected raw data into meaningful secondary data and analyze the results. Based on our analyses, we suggest several candidate solutions to mitigate the frequent network disconnections and enhance the network performance. We perform one of the suggestions location-based handoff, for evaluation.

O O O O O O O O B O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

vehicular roaming
location-based handoff


Dry etch processes for the fabrication of EUV masks The absorber and buffer etching is a crucial step in the manufacture of EUV masks due to the stringent CD and reflectance requirements. Plasma etching of Cr layers, usually applied as an absorber for conventional masks, induces a resolution-limiting line width reduction. Therefore, new absorber materials for extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL) masks have to be evaluated. We investigated the etching behaviour of two different layer materials, TaN-I and TaN-II. Dense lines and contact holes down to 100 nm have been realized and an etch bias ?+5 nm per feature has been measured. The CD uniformity of lithography and absorber patterning was about 10 nm total range. In addition, etching processes for two different buffer materials, Cr and SiO2, have been developed. These dry etch processes for buffer and absorber layer etching have been successfully applied for EUV test mask fabrication. First results of reflectance measurements of patterned masks showed only a minimal reflectance loss due to mask making of ?1%.

O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O


Melt index prediction by aggregated RBF neural networks trained with chaotic theory Melt index (MI) is considered as one of the most significant parameter to determine the quality and the grade of the practical polypropylene polymerization products. In this paper, the chaotic property of the melt index series is put forward for the first time, where its correlation dimension D2 is obtained to be 1.57, and the maximum Lyapunov exponent is 0.143. Through a fractional dimension and a positive maximum Lyapunov exponent, we demonstrate that the random nature of melt index can be explained as a chaotic phenomenon. Then, the phase space of the melt index series are reconstructed based on the obtained chaotic characteristics, and a novel RBF prediction model for MI prediction (RBF-chaos) are therefore further set up naturally to characterized its strong nonlinear and correlated relationships under chaotic theory. Furthermore, the detailed comparative researches between the RBF-chaos model and the other forecast models reported in the open literatures are carried out, and the research results show that the proposed chaos based neural network approach is superior to the previous models without considering chaotic characteristics.

B I I O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

phase space reconstruction
radial basis function network
propylene polymerization industry


Characterization of pneumatically activated microvalves by measuring electrical conductance Accurate determination of the mechanical response of pneumatic activated microvalves is important for the optimization of a number of microfluidic elements. In the case of multi-layers PDMS devices, pneumatic activated valves are used in combination for pumping, mixing and other functionalities. In such devices, the mechanical response of a valve depends on the PDMS toughness, the membrane thickness as well as the detail of the channel configuration and the pressure applied in both flow and control channels. We describe characterization technique of a pneumatic activated valve based on conductance measurements of electrolytes in the microfluidic channel. We also show that the well calibrated microvalves can be used for the development of more complex functionalities such as high precision dose control of chemical solutions.

O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

microfluidics
electrolyte conductance
microvalve
precise mixing


Convergence theorems by hybrid method for systems of equilibrium problems and fixed point problem The purpose of this paper is to introduce a hybrid algorithm for finding a common element of the set of common fixed points of two relatively quasi-nonexpansive mappings and the set of solutions of a system of equilibrium problems in a uniformly smooth and strictly convex real Banach space which also has Kadec-Klee property using the properties of generalized f-projection operator. Our results extend important recent results. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

O O O B I O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

relatively quasi nonexpansive mappings
generalized f-projection operator
banach spaces


An efficient projection defocus algorithm based on multi-scale convolution kernel templates The focal problems of projection include out-of-focus projection images from the projector caused by incomplete mechanical focus and screen-door effects produced by projection pixilation. To eliminate these defects and enhance the imaging quality and clarity of projectors, a novel adaptive projection defocus algorithm is proposed based on multi-scale convolution kernel templates. This algorithm applies the improved Sobel-Tenengrad focus evaluation function to calculate the sharpness degree of intensity equalization and then constructs multi-scale defocus convolution kernels to remap and render the defocus projection image. The resulting projection defocus corrected images can eliminate out-of-focus effects and improve the sharpness of uncorrected images. Experiments show that the algorithm works quickly and robustly and that it not only effectively eliminates visual artifacts and can run on a self-designed smart projection system in real time but also significantly improves the resolution and clarity of the observer's visual perception.

O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

projection focal
sobel-tenengrad evaluation function
projector defocus
multi-scale convolution kernels


Thermal problem solution using a surrogate model clustering technique The thermal problem defined for the validation challenge workshop involves a simple one-dimensional slab geometry with a defined heat flux at the front face, adiabatic conditions at the rear face, and a provided baseline predictive simulation model to be used to simulate the time-dependent heatup of the slab. This paper will discuss a clustering methodology using a surrogate heat transfer algorithm that allows propagation of the uncertainties in the model parameters using a very limited series of full simulations. This clustering methodology can be used when the predictive model to be run is very expensive, and only a few simulation runs are possible. A series of time-dependent statistical comparisons designed to validate the model against experimental data provided in the problem formulation will also be presented, and limitations of the approach discussed. The purpose of this paper is to represent methods of propagation of uncertainty with limited computer runs, validation with uncertain data, and decision-making under uncertainty. The final results of the analysis indicate that the there is approximately 95% confidence that the regulatory criteria under consideration would be failed given the high level of physical data provided.

O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O B O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O


a novel generative encoding for exploiting neural network sensor and output geometry A significant problem for evolving artificial neural networks is that the physical arrangement of sensors and effectors is invisible to the evolutionary algorithm. For example, in this paper, directional sensors and effectors are placed around the circumference of a robot in analogous arrangements. This configuration ensures that there is a useful geometric correspondence between sensors and effectors. However, if sensors are mapped to a single input layer and the effectors to a single output layer (as is typical), evolution has no means to exploit this fortuitous arrangement. To address this problem, this paper presents a novel generative encoding called connective Compositional Pattern Producing Networks (connective CPPNs) that can effectively detect and capitalize on geometric relationships among sensors and effectors. The key insight is that sensors and effectors with consistent geometric relationships can be exploited by a repeating motif in the neural architecture. Thus, by employing an encoding that can discover such motifs as a function of network geometry, it becomes possible to exploit it. In this paper, a method for evolving connective CPPNs called Hypercube-based Neuroevolution of Augmenting Topologies (HyperNEAT) discovers sensible repeating motifs that take advantage of two different placement schemes, demonstrating the utility of such an approach.

O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

large-scale artifical neural networks
neat


Coupling integrated Earth System Model components with BFG2 GENIE is a suite of modular Earth System Model components coupled in a variety of configurations used to investigate climate phenomena. As part of the GENIEfy project, there is a desire to make the activity of coupling GENIE configurations more flexible in order to ease the integration of new components, permit experimentation with alternative model orderings and connectivity, and execute GENIE components in distributed environments. The current coupling framework is inflexible because models are run in a fixed order by a prescriptive main code. This paper shows how the BFG2 (Bespoke Framework Generator-version 2) coupling tool offers significantly more flexibility. Using BFG2, scientists describe GENIE configurations as metadata that can then be transformed automatically into the desired framework. It is demonstrated that BFG2 provides flexibility in composition and deployment, improvements that are brought without modification to the GENIE components, without loss of performance and in a such a manner that it is possible to produce exactly the same results as under the original framework. We also demonstrate how BFG2 may be used to improve the performance of future GENIE coupled models. Copyright (C) 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

concurrency
earth and atmospheric sciences
code generation
mpi
fortran


implementing operations to navigate semantic star schemas In the last years, lots of work have been devoted to multidimensional modeling, star shape schemas and OLAP operations. However, "drill-across" has not captured as much attention as other operations. This operation allows to change the subject of analysis keeping the same analysis space we were using to analyze another subject. It is assumed that this can be done if both subjects share exactly the same analysis dimensions. In this paper, besides the implementation of an algebraic set of operations on a RDBMS, we are going to show when and how we can change the subject of analysis in the presence of semantic relationships, even if the analysis dimensions do not exactly coincide.

O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O


POTAMOS mass spectrometry calculator: Computer aided mass spectrometry to the post-translational modifications of proteins. A focus on histones POTAMOS mass spectrometry calculator web tool aids to protein mass spectrometry. It calculates post-translational modifications qualitatively and quantitatively. It yields the full set of the unique primary structures. It calculates the masses and charges of a fragmented modified histone variant. It calculates the masses of cleaved peptide fragments.

O B I O O O B I O O O O O O O O O B O B I O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

post-translational modifications
potamos mass spectrometry calculator
protein cleavage
ruby on rails
sqlite
proteomics
bioinformatics


Note on "The induced continuous ordered weighted geometric operators and their application in group decision making" In this short communication, we will show that the condition of the theorem does not hold in general cases in a recent paper "The induced continuous ordered weighted geometric operators and their application in group decision making" [Computers & Industrial Engineering 56 (2009) 1545-1552] by Wu et al., and also illustrate an example to show that we cannot construct a consistent interval multiplicative preference relation according to the condition of theorem in general case. Furthermore, we present a more reasonable condition to satisfy Theorem 1 so that we can construct a consistent interval multiplicative preference relation. (c) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B B I I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B B I I I O O O O O O O


A topology-based filling algorithm In this paper we present a fast-recursive fully automated topology-based algorithm for filling in the interiors of objects that appear in a binary image. The algorithm is based on two topological properties of the image contours: perimeter coincidence and interiority. Based on these parameters the algorithm performs a tree-structured region classification. The final filling is done according to the labels of the tree leaves. The algorithm is well suited to cases in which contours overlap and ambiguities may arise about which regions to fill. The algorithm has been tested with three-dimensional solid objects given by surface representations, both for simple man-made CAD objects and for complicated images taken from human computer tomographies. A table shows the execution times taken by the algorithm for several medical volume data sets.

O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O


Neural network ensemble with probabilistic fusion and its application to gait recognition The recognition of a person from his (or her) gait is a relatively new and promising research direction in biometrics since it is noninvasive and human friendly. Gait recognition, however, has the weakness that it is not reliable compared with other biometrics. To increase reliability, we applied a neural network ensemble with probabilistic fusion to the gait recognition problem. To improve recognition accuracy, we define belief as the posterior probability of the pattern and combine the component neural networks of the ensemble based on the belief. Experiments are performed with the NLPR and SOTON databases, and the effectiveness of the proposed method for gait recognition is demonstrated.

B I I O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I I O O O O O B I O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O

neural network ensemble
belief
gait recognition


predictive design space exploration using genetically programmed response surfaces Exponential increases in architectural design complexity threaten to make traditional processor design optimization techniques intractable. Genetically programmed response surfaces (GPRS) address this challenge by transforming the optimization process from a lengthy series of detailed simulations into the tractable formulation and rapid evaluation of a predictive model. We validate GPRS methodology on realistic processor design spaces and compare it to recently proposed techniques for predictive microarchitectural design space exploration.

O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I I


A complexity analysis of bisimilarity for value-passing processes We study the complexity of deciding bisimilarity between non-deterministic processes with explicit primitives for manipulating data values. In particular, we consider a language with value-passing (input/output of data) and parametric definitions of processes. We distinguish the case in which data cannot be tested and the case in which a simple equality test over data is permitted. In the first case, our main result shows that the problem is PSPACE-hard for the full calculus. In the second case, we first show that the problem is coNP-complete in the fragment with value-passing and no parametric definitions. We then define a compositional polynomial-time translation of the full calculus to the fragment with parametric definitions but no value-passing. The translation preserves bisimilarity: this fact establishes the decidability of the full calculus and shows that the fragment without value-passing is computationally equivalent to the full calculus. For the latter, bisimilarity is then proved to be EXP-complete. Finally, we add to our language a parallel composition operator and show that, for a certain restricted syntactic format, the bisimilarity problem is still decidable and EXP-compIete. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

process algebras
value-passing
bisimulation
computational complexity


Operational and financial effectiveness of e-collaboration tools in supply chain integration This paper develops a comprehensive model of supply chain integration and uses it to analyze and assess the operational and financial effectiveness of different e-collaboration tools at various levels of supply chain integration. This model is also used to evaluate the importance of the sequence in which e-collaboration tools are adopted in supply chain integration. Computational results from a validated system dynamics simulation model with different implementation sequences of e-collaboration tools and different financial scenarios show that local financial constraints can also severely impact operational and financial performance of the entire supply chain.

O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

supply chain management
business modeling
operational and financial evaluation
simulation results


Novel multigrid orientated solution adaptive time-step approaches New performance-improving natural compatabilities between multigrid convergence acceleration and adapted time-step solution procedures are discussed. Echoing the multigrid-coarsened space-steps and interpolations, a novel adaptive temporal 'subcycling' strategy is presented. Tests show, saving storage by basing time-steps on a focused relatively high unsteadiness region, a focused range of variables or multigrid restricted/injected variables can be effective. A novel strategy of advancing comparative solution elements on coarser multigrid levels is found to give time savings. Higher frequency spatial components are accounted for on coarse levels through the multigrid forcing function. Copyright (C) 2002 John Wiley Sons, Ltd.

O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

adaptive time-steps
multigrid methods
transient flow
cyclic flow
turbulence


A Framework for Testing of Wireless Underwater Robots Underwater applications of wireless robots are foreseen to hold a market potential. The standardization process will drive the development of the necessary technology so that devices can work cooperatively. Specific testing procedures have to be developed in order to verify that a device meets requirements. In this paper, a general framework for testing of underwater wireless robot communications is described. The methodology for conformance and interoperability tests is addressed by considering wireless robots as terminals in an underwater acoustic network.

O O O B O O B O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O B B I O O O O O O B O B O O O O O O O O O O O B O O

underwater
wireless robot
testing
conformance
interoperability


The classification of hydrocarbons with factor analysis and the PONA analysis of gasoline The feasibility of classification of hydrocarbons by factor analysis was studied. The difference between the retention indices of 191 hydrocarbons on stationary phases DB-I and DB-5 at the same temperature and their temperature coefficients on each column were processed with Varimax orthogonal rotation and Promax oblique rotation. The hydrocarbons were successfully classified into paraffins (P), olefins (O), naphthenes (N) and aromatics (A). A gasoline sample was analyzed and the PONA value was obtained with the above method. The correctness of this method was fully proved by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

O B I I O B I O O B I O B O O O B I I O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

classification of hydrocarbons
factor analysis
gasoline
pona analysis


finding canonical behaviors in user protocols While the collection of behavioral protocols has been common practice in human-computer interaction research for many years, the analysis of large protocol data sets is often extremely tedious and time-consuming, and automated analysis methods have been slow to develop. This paper proposes an automated method of protocol analysis to find canonical behaviors --- a small subset of protocols that is most representative of the full data set, providing a reasonable "big picture" view of the data with as few protocols as possible. The automated method takes advantage of recent algorithmic developments in computational vision, modifying them to allow for distance measures between behavioral protocols. The paper includes an application of the method to web-browsing protocols, showing how the canonical behaviors found by the method match well to sets of behaviors identified by expert human coders.

O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O


Anonymous membership broadcast schemes A membership broadcast scheme is a method by which a dealer broadcasts a secret identity among a set of users, in such a way that only a single user is sure that he is the intended recipient. Anonymous membership broadcast schemes have several applications, such as anonymous delegation, cheating prevention, etc. In a w-anonymous membership broadcast scheme any coalition of at most w users, which does not include the user chosen by the dealer, has no information about the identity of the chosen user. Wang and Pieprzyk proposed a combinatorial approach to 1-anonymous membership broadcast schemes. In particular, they proposed a 1-anonymous membership broadcast scheme offering a logarithmic complexity for both communication and storage. However, their result is non-constructive. In this paper, we consider w-anonymous membership broadcast schemes. First, we propose a formal model to describe such schemes and show lower bounds on the communication and randomness complexities of the schemes. Afterwards, we show that w-anonymous membership broadcast schemes can be constructed starting from (w+1)-wise independent families of permutations. The communication and storage complexities of our schemes are logarithmic in the number of users.

O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

anonymity
pseudorandom permutations
permutation groups


ELEON3LP Superscalar and low-power enhancements of single issue general purpose processor model Low power consumption and high-performance are the most important factors in modern embedded System-on-Chip (SoC) designs. Increasing computation complexity and incessant growth of clock frequency reveals the necessity for dynamic and smart utilization of the available hardware resources. The paper presents the modified LEON3 processor IP core as an exemplary process of enhancing single issue general purpose processor with superscalar abilities and low-power features. The results of this work can be applied to many existing general purpose processor models to achieve low-power and high-performance systems suitable for modern embedded applications. In comparison with the original LEON3 IP core, the new one may execute up to two instructions per cycle and dynamically manage incorporated power domains. The Enhanced LEON3 IP core was synthesized for 500MHz using UMC 90nm CMOS technology. Performed gate level VCD-based (Value Change Dump) power estimation shows that combining superscalar and low-power techniques allows performing faster program execution with less energy consumption than the original design.

O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

superscalar processor
low-power
high-performance
power management
dsm