an audio-haptic interface based on auditory depth cues Spatialization of sound sources in depth allows a hierarchical display of multiple audio streams and therefore may be an efficient tool for developing novel auditory interfaces. In this paper we present an audio-haptic interface for audio browsing based on rendering distance cues for ordering sound sources in depth. The haptic interface includes a linear position tactile sensor made by conductive material. The touch position on the ribbon is mapped onto the listening position on a rectangular virtual membrane, modeled by a bidimensional Digital Waveguide Mesh and providing distance cues of four equally spaced sound sources. Furthermore a knob of a MIDI controller controls the position of the mesh along the playlist, which allows to browse the whole set of files. Subjects involved in a user study found the interface intuitive and entertaining. In particular the interaction with the stripe was highly appreciated.

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 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

distance perception
audio-haptic interface
auditory navigation


Text mining self-disclosing health information for public health service Understanding specific patterns or knowledge of self-disclosing health information could support public health surveillance and healthcare. This study aimed to develop an analytical framework to identify self-disclosing health information with unusual messages on web forums by leveraging advanced text-mining techniques. To demonstrate the performance of the proposed analytical framework, we conducted an experimental study on 2 major human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) forums in Taiwan. The experimental results show that the classification accuracy increased significantly (up to 83.83%) when using features selected by the information gain technique. The results also show the importance of adopting domain-specific features in analyzing unusual messages on web forums. This study has practical implications for the prevention and support of HIV/AIDS healthcare. For example, public health agencies can re-allocate resources and deliver services to people who need help via social media sites. In addition, individuals can also join a social media site to get better suggestions and support from each other.

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


On the use of second-order derivatives and metamodel-based Monte-Carlo for uncertainty estimation in aerodynamics This article addresses the delicate issue of estimating physical uncertainties in aerodynamics. Usually, flow simulations are performed in a fully deterministic approach, although in real life operational uncertainty arises due to unpredictable factors that alter the flow conditions. In this article, we present and compare two methods to account for uncertainty in aerodynamic simulation. Firstly, automatic differentiation tools are used to estimate first- and second-order derivatives of aerodynamic coefficients with respect to uncertain variables, yielding an estimate of expectation and variance values (Method of Moments). Secondly, metamodelling techniques (radial basis functions, kriging) are employed in conjunction with Monte-Carlo simulations to derive statistical information. These methods are demonstrated for 3D Eulerian flows around the wing of a business aircraft at different regimes subject to uncertain Mach number and angle of attack. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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 B 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


The development of synthetic biology: a patent analysis In the past decades, synthetic biology has gained interest regarding research and development efforts within the biotechnology domain. However, it is unclear to what extent synthetic biology has matured already into being commercially exploitable. By means of a patent analysis, this study shows that there is an increasing trend regarding synthetic biology related patent applications. The majority of retrieved patents relates to innovations facilitating the realisation of synthetic biology through improved understanding of biological systems. In addition, there is increased activity concerning the development of synthetic biology based applications. When looking at potential application areas, the majority of synthetic biology patents seems most relevant for the medical, energy and industrial sector. Furthermore, the analysis shows that most activity has been carried out by the USA, with Japan and a number of European countries considerably trailing behind. In addition, both universities and companies are major patent applicant actor types. The results presented here form a starting point for follow-up studies concerning the identification of drivers explaining the observed patent application trends in synthetic biology.

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

emerging technologies
innovation dynamics


Faxed Arabic prescriptions: A medication error waiting to happen? The Arabic language uses notations called diacritical marks around characters to change which letter a symbol represents, changing the word in which that letter is contained. We explore the potential for error of these marks when faxed in a critical case such as prescriptions. A large number of patients are hurt by medical errors each year [1]. Extensive literature already documents the risks from handwritten prescriptions, while little work has been done with risks from reproduced printed prescriptions. No literature exists to examine risks of prescriptions in non-Roman character alphabets being reproduced. Reproduction via fax transmission is a common practice and often produces damaged copies which can lead to medication errors [2], [3]and[4]. Languages with diacritical marks, particularly small ones, used for critical contextual meaning would more likely be at risk for misreading due to fax damage. We generated text in English and Arabic reproducing common prescribing instructions, such as every day at various font sizes. This was placed on commonly used prescription paper, and reproduced via fax between 2 medical facility fax machines. We demonstrate meaningful change of prescribing instructions in the Arabic text by both the fax compression algorithm changing the appearance of diacritical marks along with a large amount of stochastic noise and dropouts being present. This change produced a potentially dangerous change in the instructions in the example we present. Prescriptions that are faxed in languages that use diacritical marks to denote contextual meaning, are at high risk for misreading when reproduced via fax. We suggest mitigating strategies, including minimal font size and use of alliteration text in other languages.

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


On Peirce's Pragmatic Notion of Semiosis-A Contribution for the Design of Meaning Machines How to model meaning processes (semiosis) in artificial semiotic systems? Once all computer simulation becomes tantamount to theoretical simulation, involving epistemological metaphors of world versions, the selection and choice of models will dramatically compromise the nature of all work involving simulation. According to the pragmatic Peircean based approach, semiosis is an interpreter-dependent process that cannot be dissociated from the notion of a situated (and actively distributed) communicational agent. Our approach centers on the consideration of relevant properties and aspects of Peirce's pragmatic concept of semiotics. Upon developing this approach, we have no pretensions of our being able to present an exhaustive analysis of the differences between Peirce and other theoretical positions. Nevertheless, our contribution will serve to demonstrate how theorists contribute toward revealing certain fundamental 'semiotic constraints' that will be of interest and importance.

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

meaning
semiosis
semiotic systems
simulation


An intelligent condition-based maintenance platform for rotating machinery Maintenance is of necessity for sustaining machinery availability and reliability in order to ensure productivity, product quality, on-time delivery, and safe working environment. The costly maintenance strategies such as corrective maintenance and scheduled maintenance have been progressively replaced by superior maintenance strategies in which condition-based maintenance (CBM) is one of the delegates. This strategy commonly consists of sequent modules such as data acquisition, signal processing, feature extraction and feature selection, condition monitoring, etc. However, approaches in literature which have been developed for each module and implemented for different applications are standalone instead of a comprehensive system. Furthermore, these approaches have been demonstrated in a laboratory environment without any industrial validations. For these reasons, an intelligent algorithm based CBM platform is proposed in this paper to be applied for rotating machinery easily and effectively. Subsequently, two case-studies are presented in order to evaluate the effectiveness of this platform in industrial applications.

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

signal processing
feature extraction
feature selection

condition-based maintenance
diagnostics
prognostics


Towards a Formal Semantics for the Process Model of the Taverna Workbench. Part II Workflow development and enactment workbenches are becoming a standard tool for conducting in silico experiments. Their main advantages are easy to operate user interfaces, specialized and expressive graphical workflow specification languages and integration with a huge number of bioinformatic services. A popular example of such a workbench is Taverna, which has many additional useful features like service discovery, storing intermediate results and tracking data provenance. We discuss a detailed formal semantics for Scufl - the workflow definition language of the Taverna workbench. It has several interesting features that are not met in other models including dynamic and transparent type coercion and implicit iteration, control edges, failure mechanisms, and incoming-links strategies. We study these features and investigate their usefulness separately as well as in combination, and discuss alternatives. The formal definition of such a detailed semantics not only allows to exactly understand what is being done in a given experiment, but is also the first step toward automatic correctness verification and allows the creation of auxiliary tools that would detect potential errors and suggest possible solutions to workflow creators, the same way as Integrated Development Environments aid modern programmers. A formal semantics is also essential for work on enactment optimization and in designing the means to effectively query workflow repositories. This paper is the second of two. In the first one [13] we have defined, explained and discussed fundamental notions for describing Scufl graphs and their semantics. Here, in the second part, we use these notions to define the semantics and show that our definition can be used to prove properties of Scufl graphs.

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 O O O O O O O B I O B 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 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 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

formal semantics
scufl
taverna workbench


Towards an interdisciplinary perspective of training intervention for negotiations: Developing strategic negotiation support contents This paper presents a prototype negotiation support system (NSS) intended to help the user to analyze the economic underpinnings of the negotiation, and to construct an initial offer. We also present the results of a behavioral test of the system using techniques from the field of experimental economics. In the test, negotiators have private, asymmetric information about the value of the negotiated item. In one treatment both negotiators operate without an NSS, and in a second treatment the seller has an NSS. The data shows that the NSS assisted negotiators make offers that lead to better price outcomes for themselves. The NSS is web-based and the system might have particular relevance for e-negotiating.

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

electronic negotiation support systems
negotiation analysis
game theory
e-commerce


Raster-network regionalization for watershed data processing Difficulties exist in calculating watershed parameters from raster datasets over large regions because of the excessive computation time involved. A technique is presented which divides a large region into hydrologically distinct subregions, in each of which raster analyses are performed, in order to efficiently process large raster datasets. The results of raster analyses are stored as attributes on the resulting vector data. The vector data are then merged, and appropriate values accumulated to obtain regional parameter values for points of interest along the stream network. The technique, called Raster-Network Regionalization, uses the vector stream network as the backbone for the integration of subregions into a single region. A case study is presented which utilizes the technique to prepare geospatial inputs for the Water Rights Analysis Package simulation model.

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 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

arcgis hydro data model (arc hydro)
wrap hydro
water supply modelling


Safety evaluation and management of complex systems: A system engineering approach This article addresses the problem of safety evaluation of complex systems. It proposes an original and rigorous approach that integrates safety analysis in system engineering processes. The approach is based on system engineering principles and uses the famous industrial system engineering standard American National Standards Institute/Electronic Industries Alliance 632:1999. The objective is to help designers and safety engineers in safety management of complex systems. For an efficient design, the model-driven design is adopted through the definition of an information model. The system language "System Modeling Language" is used to address requirements definition and their traceability toward the solution and the verification and validation elements. This common language allows sharing information between the different persons involved in the design project like the system engineer and safety engineer.

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

system engineering
safety
requirements
system modeling language


Hierarchical mesh segmentation based on fitting primitives In this paper, we describe a hierarchical face clustering algorithm for triangle meshes based on fitting primitives belonging to an arbitrary set. The method proposed is completely automatic, and generates a binary tree of clusters, each of which is fitted by one of the primitives employed. Initially, each triangle represents a single cluster; at every iteration, all the pairs of adjacent clusters are considered, and the one that can be better approximated by one of the primitives forms a new single cluster. The approximation error is evaluated using the same metric for all the primitives, so that it makes sense to choose which is the most suitable primitive to approximate the set of triangles in a cluster. Based on this approach, we have implemented a prototype that uses planes, spheres and cylinders, and have experimented that for meshes made of 100 K faces, the whole binary tree of clusters can be built in about 8 s on a standard PC. The framework described here has natural application in reverse engineering processes, but it has also been tested for surface denoising, feature recovery and character skinning.

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

clustering
denoising
reverse engineering


Lot sizing with minimum order quantity We consider the single item lot sizing problem with minimum order quantity where each period has an additional constraint on minimum production quantity. We study special cases of the general problem from the algorithmic and mathematical programming perspective. We exhibit a polynomial case when capacity is constant and minimum order quantities are non-increasing in time. Linear programming extended formulations are provided for various cases with constant minimum order quantity.

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

integer programming
lp extended formulation


On the support of graph Lie algebras We deal with the support of graph Lie algebras and we characterize the set of independence alphabets for which the noncommutative result can naturally be extended. We also provide an algorithm which decides if an independence alphabet fulfills the preceding condition. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

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

graph lie algebras
independence alphabet

simple support
f-minimal independence alphabet


An optimisation-based reconstruction engine for 3D modelling by sketching An engine that automatically reconstructs a large variety of polyhedral, origami and wire-frame objects from single-view sketched drawings generated in a calligraphic interface is presented. The engine has two stages. An innovative optimisation-based line-drawing beautifier stage is introduced to convert rough sketches into tidied-up line drawings. Optimisation-based 3D reconstruction follows. Solutions are provided with which to overcome the problems associated with earlier approaches to optimisation-based 3D reconstruction. Suitable adjustments in the optimisation algorithms are proposed; simple and efficient tentative models are introduced, and current regularities are categorised in order to allow the objective function to be simplified. All three actions help to prevent local optima and improve the computational efficiency of optimisation-based 3D reconstruction. They all proved to be effective techniques to reduce the typical failure rate of optimisation approaches. A discussion of results that validate the engine is also provided.

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

graphics recognition and interpretation
visual perception
sketch understanding
line drawings reconstruction
geometric modelling


An improved multipath MANET routing using link estimation and swarm intelligence Routing in ad hoc networks is challenging as nodes are mobile and links are continuously created and broken. Current on-demand ad hoc routing algorithms start route discovery after path break, incurring high cost to detect the disconnection and to establish a new route. Specifically, when a path is liable to break, the source is warned about the likelihood of disconnection. The source then starts path discovery avoiding disconnection entirely. A path is likely to break when link availability decreases. Since routing is nondeterministic polynomial (NP) hard, this work proposes an improved ad hoc on-demand multipath distance vector (AOMDV) based on link availability, neighboring nodes queuing delay, node mobility, and bit error rate. The optimal path is selected using BAT meta-heuristic optimization. Simulation shows improved performance compared to AOMDV.

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 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 O O O O O 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 B 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

routing
route discovery
link availability

ad hoc on-demand multipath distance vector (aomdv)


State complexity of power The number of states in a deterministic finite automaton (DFA) recognizing the language L(k) where L is regular language recognized by an n-state DFA, and k >= 2 is a constant, is shown to be at most n2((k-1)n) and at least (n - k)2((k-1)(n-k)) in the worst case, for every n > k and for every alphabet of at least six letters. Thus, the state complexity of L(k) is Theta(n2((k-1)n)). In the case k = 3 the corresponding state complexity function for L(3) is determined as 6n-3/84(n) - (n-1)2(n) - n with the lower bound witnessed by automata over a four-letter alphabet. The nondeterministic state complexity of L(k) is demonstrated to be nk. This bound is shown to be tight over a two-letter alphabet. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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 B I 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

descriptional complexity
finite automata
combined operations
concatenation


Hypomethylation: One Side of a Larger Picture Hypomethylation signifies one end of a spectrum of DNA methylation states. In most cases hypomethylation refers to a relative state that represents a change from the normal methylation level. Hypomethylation, when approached from a topographical perspective, has been used to describe either overall decreases in the methylation status of the entire genome (global hypomethylation) or more localized relative demethylation of specific subsets of the genome, such as the promoter regions of protooncogenes or normally highly methylated repetitive sequences. Global hypomethylation accompanied by gene-specific hypermethylation is observed in at least two important settings

B 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 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 B 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 B O O O O O O O O

hypomethylation
repetitive sequences
hypermethylation

5-methylcytosine
cancer
transposable elements


Design of Z-copy controlled-gain voltage differencing current conveyor based adjustable functional generator This paper introduces interesting active element and its application in the field of square and triangular wave generators. Active element, so-called Z-Copy Controlled Gain Voltage Differencing Current Conveyor (ZC-CG-VDCC), has availability of three mutually independently and electronically adjustable parameters (transconductance, intrinsic resistance of the current input terminal and current gain between two terminals) that are very popular for control of applications today. In addition, a proposed device utilizes very useful z-copy (additional auxiliary terminal) features and two terminals providing voltage difference. All mentioned features are beneficial in mixed-mode circuit synthesis and design of adjustable applications (active filters, oscillators, generators, modulators, etc.). Electronically adjustable properties of the device are involved in the design of an adjustable generator. The generator provides voltage- and current-mode square wave outputs that can be also used for differential square wave output when very simply modified. Application of the generator in simple pulse width modulator (PWM) is also introduced. A detailed analysis and Spice simulation results are given and main features of the circuits are compared to electronically controllable solutions of recent development in this field.

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

pwm
transconductance
current gain
voltage differencing current conveyor

square and triangular wave generator
differential mode
electronic control
voltage- and current-mode


Time-dependent deformation in high concrete-faced rockfill dam and separation between concrete face slab and cushion layer The contact behavior between concrete face slab and dam body is important to the safety of concrete-faced rockfill dams. The deficient of dam body and the separation of concrete slab from cushion layer during construction and in operation are the main concerns. This paper proposes a contact analysis method to study the effect of non-linearity and time-dependent deformation on the separation and the deficient. This contact analysis method regards dam body and concrete slab as two independent deformable bodies. These two deformable bodies follow Coulomb friction law at contact interface when they contact each other. The rockfill materials in dam body are assumed to be non-linear and time-dependent but concrete slab is elastic. As an example, a high concrete-faced rockfill dam of Tianshengqiao-I in China is numerically analyzed, and the numerical results are compared with in situ measurements. The results reveal that whether the deformation of dam body is non-linear or time-dependent, this contact analysis method can effectively simulate the separation between concrete slab and cushion layer without the drawbacks of interface element methods.

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

concrete face slab
contact analysis
separation

high concrete-faced rockfill dam
finite element method
non-linearity
creep deformation


a taxonomy for multimedia service composition The realization of multimedia systems still heavily relies on building monolithic systems that need to be reengineered for every change in the application and little of which can be reused in subsequent developments even for similar applications. Hence, building complex large scale multimedia systems is still a difficult and challenging problem. Service-based architectures, like researched in the Web community, form a possible solution to this problem: The service-based paradigm decomposes complex tasks into smaller independent entities (e.g. Web services), and then supports a flexible service composition in a variety of ways. However, due to the characteristics of multimedia applications and rich semantic structure of multimedia data and workflows, a direct application of Web-based research results is still difficult. The reason is that Web service frameworks cannot yet cope with the complexity of multimedia applications and their metadata. In this paper, we describe a basic taxonomy for the composition of services to support complex multimedia workflows. We will investigate in detail the necessary steps and methodology for multimedia service compositions and apply our taxonomy to different service composition instances. We will illustrate all composition instances within our taxonomy with case studies and point to possible techniques for the composition problem.

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


secure cross-domain data sharing architecture for crisis management Crisis management requires rapid sharing of data among organizations responders. Existing crisis management practices rely on ad hoc or centralized data sharing based on agreements written in natural language. The ambiguity of natural language specifications often leads to errors and can hinder data availability. Therefore, it is desirable to develop automatic data sharing systems. This also presents additional challenges, such as evaluation of security constraints in different administrative domains and in situations with intermittent network connectivity. We compare two different architectural approaches to develop secure data sharing solutions. The first approach assumes reliable network connectivity, while the second approach works in ad hoc networks. We then suggest a unified architecture that caters for both scenarios.

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

data sharing agreement (dsa)
enterprise rights management (erm)


A Brief Tutorial on How to Extract Information from User-Generated Content (UGC) In this brief tutorial, we provide an overview of investigating text-based user-generated content for information that is relevant in the corporate context. We structure the overall process along three stages: collection, analysis, and visualization. Corresponding to the stages we outline challenges and basic techniques to extract information of different levels of granularity.

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

opinion mining
information extraction
text mining
natural language processing
web mining


Breast cancer detection by MichaelisMenten constants via linear programming The MichaelisMenten constants (Km and Vmax) operated by linear programming, were employed for detection of breast cancer. The rate of enzymatic hydrolysis of fluorescein diacetate (FDA) in living peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), derived from healthy subjects and breast cancer (BC) patients, was assessed by measuring the fluorescence intensity (FI) in individual cells under incubation with either the mitogen phytohemagglutinin (PHA) or with tumor tissue, as compared to control. The suggested model diagnoses three conditions: (1) the subject is diseased, (2) the diagnosis is uncertain, and (3) the subject is not diseased. Out of 50 subjects tested, 44 were diagnosed correctly, in 5 cases the diagnosis was not certain, and 1 subject was diagnosed incorrectly.

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

peripheral blood mononuclear cells (pbmc)


An RDF-based P2P overlay network supporting range and wildcard queries In recent years, a new branch of the P2P research called the semantic-based system has been emerged. The semantic-based P2P overlay network uses metadata to describe resources so that complex queries can be implemented. Although systems such as RDFPeers and RDF-Chord support complex queries including the range query, none of these systems in the literature supports the wildcard query. In this paper, we propose a RDF-based P2P overlay network, called RDFChord-W, which supports all atomic queries, conjunctive and disjunctive queries, the range query, and the wildcard query. In RDFChord-W, nodes are arranged into multiple layers where each layer is organized as a Chord-like ring. Resources are described by their RDF triples. Hence, the indices of resources can be generated by hashing their RDF triples and then distributed to corresponding nodes. Based on our survey in the P2P literature, RDFChord-W is the first RDF-based P2P overlay network that supports the wildcard query. Although RDFChord-W supports various types of queries, its performance is much superior to traditional P2P overlay networks such as RDFPeers and Squid through intensive experiments, which are executed by the well-known simulator PeerSim.

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 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 B 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 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

distributed hash table
dht
peer-to-peer overlay network


A dual-response forwarding approach for containerizing air cargoes under uncertainty, based on stochastic mixed 0-1 programming This paper proposes a dual-response forwarding approach for renting air containers and simultaneously determining how cargoes are distributed into the containers under uncertain information. Containers have to be booked in advance to obtain a discount rental rate from airlines, as urgent requirement or cancellation of containers on the day of shipping will incur a heavy penalty. We firstly formulate a mixed 0-1 integer model to determine the booking types and quantities of containers for the deterministic problem under accurate information. We then formulate a stochastic mixed 0-1 model to structure a dual-response forwarding system for the uncertain problem where accurate information is not available when booking. The first-stage response is to determine the booking types and quantities of containers. The second-stage response is to prepare for different scenarios that might occur on the day of shipping, including the types and quantities of containers required or returned for each scenario, and also the corresponding cargo loading plan. Computational results show that the stochastic model can provide a cost-efficient, flexible and responsive cargo forwarding system.

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

air transport
globalization
logistics
stochastic programming


constraint-driven floorplan repair Floorplanning algorithms have traditionally underperformed experienced designers, even when relatively simple interconnect metrics are concerned. However, the sheer scale of modern systems on chip makes an all-manual design flow infeasible. In this paper, we propose a new efficient automated approach to the floorplan repair problem, where a set of violated design constraints are satisfied by applying small changes to an existing rough floorplan. Such a floorplan can be produced by a human designer, by a scalable placement algorithm, or result from engineering adjustments to a pre-existing floorplan. In all cases, overlapping modules must be separated, and in some instances, modules may need to be repositioned to satisfy other requirements.The algorithmic framework we propose is built upon an expressive graph-based encoding of constraints. While capable of representing floorplans with or without overlapping modules, it can also support the outline of the core area, fixed module locations, region constraints, proximity and alignment constraints, etc. Instead of applying randomized local search in the hope of satisfying these constraints, we track all implications of imposed constraints and resolve violations by invoking gradual modifications to the floorplan.The primary focus of this paper is on a particularly efficient conflict-directed algorithm for floorplan repair and legalization. It is shown to completely eliminate overlaps from layouts produced by Capo 9.4, Feng Shui 5.1 and APlace 2.01 on IBM-HB benchmarks with hard blocks, typically requiring negligible runtime and increasing interconnect length by only several percent. Furthermore, we are able to generate legal solutions for these instances that surpass previously reported results in wirelength by an average of roughly 7\%.

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

floorplanning
framework
constraints
scale
design
human
paper
runtime
local search
region
legalization
module
flow
placement
support
interconnect
core
algorithm

requirements
aligning
efficiency
engine
scalability
benchmark
proximics
metrication
express
layout
randomization
automation
change
locatability
graph
system on-chip
tracking
encode


Clean development mechanism in China: Regional distribution and prospects Late in 2012, when the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol came to an end, it was further extended to December 2020. This was based on the strong realisation that the clean development mechanism (CDM) projects have been playing an important role globally, particularly in promoting clean development in China. Based on a review of international and domestic sources, the paper analyses the progress in the development of CDM projects both globally and in China. China has attracted the lion share of CDM investment in terms of projects located in this country and the global annual certified emission reductions under this mechanism. Due to the relative easiness of implementation, the main area of investment is new and renewable energy. China's fast economic development, open door investment policy, political stability, high educational and technological standards and reliable infrastructure are all encouraging the interest of foreign investors seeking to reduce their domestic carbon footprint. In order to facilitate the location of CDM projects, the Chinese government formulated a series of policies and regulations as well as established national coordinating groups for climate change, CDM Designated National Authorities and projects auditing boards, which are responsible for projects application, auditing and management. There are however large differences in the regional distribution of Chinese CDM projects. Provinces, such as Yunnan, Sichuan, Inner Mongolia, Hunan and Gansu (located in central and western China) are attracting more projects because of their rich hydro and wind resources while there are very few projects in the eastern already developed parts of the country. This trend is consistent with the CDM's main goal to assist less developed regions to achieve a more sustainable development. (C) 2013 IMACS. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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 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

types distribution
influencing factors
market prospect


comparing graph-based representations of protein for mining purposes Recently, the principles of graph theory are being adopted to address molecular and chemical structures investigations such as 3D protein structure prediction and spatial motifs discovery. Proteins have been parsed into graphs according to several approaches and methods and then studied based on graph theory concepts and data mining tools. In this paper we make a brief survey on the most used graph-based representations and we propose a nave method to help with the protein graph making since a key step of a valuable protein structure mining process is to build concise and correct graphs holding reliable information. We, also, show that some existing and widespread methods present remarkable weaknesses and don't really reflect the real protein conformation.

O O O 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 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

amino acids
bonds
chemical interactions
discriminative feature
edges
graph representation
preprocessing
vertices


Should European gamblers play lotto in the USA? Any jackpot building game is designed to have a negative expected return for the gambler, but it can be profitable under certain circumstances. Previous studies have shown that the purchase of a single ticket of US-American state lotteries is sometimes a gamble with a positive expected value. Lottery winnings are not taxed in Europe, which suggests that the profitability of European games may be even higher. We present an exact formula for the calculation of the expected value of a single lotto ticket and find European lottery drawings to be far less profitable for the gambler compared to the US-American lotto market. Those US lotteries that generate profitable drawings are not characterized by higher redistribution rates or by their specific rules, but by the purchasing behavior of the gamblers. These gamblers buy far fewer tickets (per capita) and they barely react to increasing jackpots, even though the jackpots are large enough to cause positive expected winnings.

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


are ultra-large systems systems of systems? Ultra Large Systems are characterized by its complexity, size, diversity of concerns and missions. As complexity of systems grows and the demands on interoperability between them grow, the concerns of how to build, maintain and manage them becomes more important. It is however a question how this complexity can be managed, or how the complexity can be simplified. A second question is related to a question whether an ultra-large system is the same as ultra-large integration of systems, i.e. systems of systems? In this short position paper we exploit a hypothesis that ultra-large systems are either loosely integrated systems and in that case they should be treated as systems of systems, or tight-coupled systems and in that case they should have an layered architecture. As illustration, the paper shows some examples from Scandinavian industry that manage systems which are approaching the size of ultra-large systems.

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


Comparison of vibration and wave propagation approaches applied to assess damage influence on the behavior of EulerBernoulli beams In the present work, the damage influence on the vibrational behavior and on the wave propagation issues of a slender EulerBernoulli beam is investigated. In the vibration framework, the damage is assessed in the modal space by considering changes in the reduced flexibility matrix of the structure, which is only related to the measured degrees of freedom and may be accurately estimated from a few of the lower frequency modes in a modal test. In the wave propagation framework, on the other hand, the presence of damage is perceived in the time domain by an early echo output generated by the inhomogeneity within the beam in an impact test. A slender aluminium beam with distinct imposed damage scenarios is considered for numerical analysis. The modal properties required to estimate the reduced flexibility matrix of the beam and its impulse response are assumed to be available from modal and impact tests, respectively. In the numerical analysis performed, both approaches showed sensitivities to damage that enable them to be applied for damage identification purposes.

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

wave propagation
flexibility matrix
eulerbernoulli beams


Stochastic scenario-based model and investigating size of battery energy storage and thermal energy storage for micro-grid This paper proposes a unit commitment formulation for micro-grid. In order to best use of multiple PEM-FCPPs, hydrogen storage management is carried out. Due to uncertainty nature of load, PV, WT output power and market price, a scenario-based stochastic programming model, is used. Determine the optimum size of energy storage devices.

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

enhanced cuckoo optimization algorithm
micro-grid
optimal sizing of energy storages
pem-fuel cell
stochastic optimization


A software component implementing a library of models for the simulation of pre-harvest rice grain quality Grain quality is key to determine nutritional and economic value of rice production. We develop a framework-independent software component for rice quality estimation. We calibrate and evaluate three quality models against data from field experiments. Average RRMSE was 26%, with best results achieved for head rice yield simulations. We analyse models responses on a regional scale in two contrasting cropping seasons.

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

end-use value
food security
grain filling
milling quality
starch
warm


definitional interpreters for higher-order programming languages Higher-order programming languages (i.e., languages in which procedures or labels can occur as values) are usually defined by interpreters which are themselves written in a programming language based on the lambda calculus (i.e., an applicative language such as pure LISP). Examples include McCarthy's definition of LISP, Landin's SECD machine, the Vienna definition of PL/I, Reynolds' definitions of GEDANKEN, and recent unpublished work by L. Morris and C. Wadsworth. Such definitions can be classified according to whether the interpreter contains higher-order functions, and whether the order of application (i.e., call-by-value versus call-by-name) in the defined language depends upon the order of application in the defining language. As an example, we consider the definition of a simple applicative programming language by means of an interpreter written in a similar language. Definitions in each of the above classifications are derived from one another by informal but constructive methods. The treatment of imperative features such as jumps and assignment is also discussed.

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

order
lisp
examples
definition
informal
values
language
assignment
secd machine
lambda calculus
gedanken
interpreter

value
applications
pal
classification
label
method
procedure
classifiation
feature
continuation
higher-order function
order of application
language definition
j-operator
closure
applicative language
programming language
reference


Decidual Cell-Expressed Tissue Factor Maintains Hemostasis in Human Endometrium We showed that decidualized stromal cells of luteal phase and pregnant human endometrium express tissue factor (TF), the primary initiator of hemostasis, thereby suggesting a mechanism by which perivascular decidual cells can mitigate the risk of hemorrhage during endovascular trophoblast invasion. Progestins enhanced TF mRNA and protein levels in monolayers of human endometrial stromal cells (HESCs), with estradiol (E2) + progestin, further enhancing TF levels despite a lack of response to E2 alone. This differential ovarian steroid response has been found for several decidualization markers. Further studies with cultured HESCs established that elevated TF levels are mediated by the progesterone receptor and are maintained for weeks in response to E2 plus progestin, thus simulating the chronic upregulation of TF levels observed in decidualized HESCs in vivo. Recent studies revealed that elevated TF expression during in vitro decidualization of HESCs involved both the EGFR and progesterone receptor. Thus, enhancement of TF mRNA and protein levels in the HESCs required co-incubation with a progestin (MPA) and an EGFR agonist such as EGF or TGF-?. In correspondence with co-elevation of EGFR and TF in decidualized HESCs in sections of luteal phase and pregnant endometrium, EGFR levels proved to be progestin-enhanced in the cultured HESCs. We established that progestin-enhanced TF expression in HESCs was trancriptionally regulated, then evaluated the relative roles of SP and EGR-1 sites on the TF promoter in regulating this expression. Transient transfections with a series of promoter constructs containing overlapping SP and EGR-1 sites and with constructs in which the EGR-1 and SP sites were systematically inactivated by site-directed mutagenesis established the dominance of SP sites in both basal and progestin-enhanced TF transcriptional activity. Additional experiments involving transient transfections with SP1overexpressing vectors and with a specific blocker of if Sp1 binding to its corresponding GC box specified the importance of the Sp1 transcription factor. These results were further validated by immunostaining, which revealed that the ratio of Sp1 to Sp3 increased during progestin-regulated decidualization of HESCs in vitro and in vivo. The absence of canonical estrogen and progesterone response elements from either the TF or Sp1 gene promoters suggests that the EGFR may help to mediate progestin-enhanced TF expression during decidualization of HESCs.

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

tissue factor
human endometrium
hemostasis
human endometrial stromal cells


Nonlinear equations and wavelets We use a multi-scale similarity analysis which gives specific relations between the velocity, amplitude and width of localized solutions of nonlinear differential equations, whose exact solutions are generally difficult to obtain. (C) 2002 IMACS. Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

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

multi-scale similarity analysis
linear harmonic analysis


Hybrid soft computing algorithmic framework for smart home energy management Energy management in Smart Home environments is undoubtedly one of the pressing issues in the Smart Grid research field. The aim typically consists in developing a suitable engineering solution able to maximally exploit the availability of renewable resources. Due to the presence of diverse cooperating devices, a complex model, involving the characterization of nonlinear phenomena, is indeed required on purpose. In this paper an Hybrid Soft Computing algorithmic framework, where genetic, neural networks and deterministic optimization algorithms jointly operate, is proposed to perform an efficient scheduling of the electrical tasks and of the activity of energy resources, by adequately handling the inherent nonlinear aspects of the energy management model. In particular, in order to address the end-user comfort constraints, the home thermal characterization is needed: this is accomplished by a nonlinear model relating the energy demand with the required temperature profile. A genetic algorithm, based on such model, is then used to optimally allocate the energy request to match the user thermal constraints, and therefore to allow the mixed-integer deterministic optimization algorithm to determine the remaining energy management actions. From this perspective, the ability to schedule the tasks and allocate the overall energy resources over a finite time horizon is assessed by means of diverse computer simulations in realistic conditions, allowing the authors to positively conclude about the effectiveness of the proposed approach. The degree of realism of the simulated scenario is confirmed by the usage of solar energy production forecasted data, obtained by means of a neural-network based algorithm which completes the framework.

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

smart home energy management
soft computing
genetic algorithm
neural networks
smart grid

task and energy resource scheduling
thermal comfort
mixed-integer programming


a distributed monitoring mechanism for wireless sensor networks In this paper we focus on a large class of wireless sensor networks that are designed and used for monitoring and surveillance. The single most important mechanism underlying such systems is the monitoring of the network itself, that is, the control center needs to be constantly made aware of the existence/health of all the sensors in the network for security reasons. In this study we present plausible alternative communication strategies that can achieve this goal, and then develop and study in more detail a distributed monitoring mechanism that aims at localized decision making and minimizing the propagation of false alarms. Key constraints of such systems include low energy consumption and low complexity. Key performance measures of this mechanism include high detection accuracy (low false alarm probabilities) and high responsiveness (low response latency). We investigate the trade-offs via simulation.

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 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


A parameterized shared-memory scheme for parameterized metaheuristics This paper presents a parameterized shared-memory scheme for parameterized metaheuristics. The use of a parameterized metaheuristic facilitates experimentation with different metaheuristics and hybridation/combinations to adapt them to the particular problem we are working with. Due to the large number of experiments necessary for the metaheuristic selection and tuning, parallelism should be used to reduce the execution time. To obtain parallel versions of the metaheuristics and to adapt them to the characteristics of the parallel system, a unified parameterized shared-memory scheme is developed. Given a particular computational system and fixed parameters for the sequential metaheuristic, the appropriate selection of parameters in the unified parallel scheme eases the development of parallel efficient metaheuristics.

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

parallel metaheuristics
shared-memory
parameterized algorithms
algorithms optimization


Mean utility in the assurance region model This paper addresses the problem of ranking a finite set of alternatives through a linear utility with coefficients randomly distributed. In order to model relative importance of the different criteria, assurance regions on weights are used. A closed formula for the expected utility of each alternative is obtained under uniformity assumptions, and as a consequence, different ranking methods are proposed.

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 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 O O O

multicriteria analysis
random convex combinations


hiding the complexity of lbs While the demand for Location-based Services (LBS) is strongly increasing, technical laymen are not yet able to build and provide location-aware applications. This paper presents a radical simplification of the lifecycle of LBSs. An authoring toolkit enables non-technicians to easily develop context-aware mobile applications. In addition, an adaptive user interface makes the consumption of LBSs easier. The platform we present, in covering the whole LBS supply chain, is hiding the complexity of providing and consuming LBSs from the end-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

context-aware utilization
widgets
end-user development
location-based services


CMIstark:

Python

package

for

the

Stark-effect

calculation

and

symmetry

classification

of

linear,

symmetric

and

asymmetric

top

wavefunctions

in

dc

electric

fields

The

Controlled

Molecule

Imaging

group

(CMI)

at

the

Center

for

Free

Electron

Laser

Science

(CFEL)

has

developed

the

CMIstark

software

to

calculate,

view,

and

analyze

the

energy

levels

of

adiabatic

Stark

energy

curves

of

linear,

symmetric

top

and

asymmetric

top

molecules.

The

program

exploits

the

symmetry

of

the

Hamiltonian

to

generate

fully

labeled

adiabatic

Stark

energy

curves.

CMIstark

is

written

in

Python

and

easily

extendable,

while

the

core

numerical

calculations

make

use

of

machine

optimized

BLAS

and

LAPACK

routines.

Calculated

energies

are

stored

in

files

for

convenient

access

and

programs

to

extract

ASCII

data

or

to

generate

graphical

plots

are

provided.

Program

title:

CMIstark

Catalogue

identifier:

Program

summary

Program

obtainable

from:

CPC

Program

Library,

Queens

University,

Belfast,

N.

Ireland

Licensing

provisions:

GNU

General

Public

License

version

or

later

with

amendments.

See

code

for

details.

No.

of

lines

in

distributed

program,

including

test

data,

etc.:

No.

of

bytes

in

distributed

program,

including

test

data,

etc.:

Distribution

format:

tar.gz

Programming

language:

Python

(version

Computer:

Any

Macintosh,

PC,

or

Linux/UNIX

workstations

with

a

modern

Python

distribution.

Operating

system:

Tested

on

Mac

OS

X

and

a

variety

of

Linux

distributions.

RAM:

GB

for

typical

calculations

Classification:

External

routines:

Python

packages

numpy

and

scipy;

utilizes

(optimized)

LAPACK

and

BLAS

through

scipy.

All

packages

available

under

open-source

licenses.

Nature

of

problem:

Calculation

of

the

Stark

effect

of

asymmetric

top

molecules

in

arbitrarily

strong

dc

electric

fields

in

a

correct

symmetry

classification

and

using

correct

labeling

of

the

adiabatic

Stark

curves.

Solution

method:

We

set

up

the

full

M

M

matrices

of

the

quantum-mechanical

Hamiltonian

in

the

basis

set

of

symmetric

top

wavefunctions

and,

subsequently,

Wang

transform

the

Hamiltonian

matrix.

We

separate,

as

far

as

possible,

the

sub-matrices

according

to

the

remaining

symmetry,

and

then

diagonalize

the

individual

blocks.

This

application

of

the

symmetry

consideration

to

the

Hamiltonian

allows

an

adiabatic

correlation

of

the

asymmetric

top

eigenstates

in

the

dc

electric

field

to

the

field-free

eigenstates.

This

directly

yields

correct

adiabatic

state

labels

and,

correspondingly,

adiabatic

Stark

energy

curves.

Restrictions:

The

maximum

value

of

J

J

is

limited

by

the

available

main

memory.

A

modern

desktop

computer

with

of

main

memory

allows

for

calculations

including

all

Js

J

s

up

to

a

values

larger

than

even

for

the

most

complex

cases

of

asymmetric

tops.

Running

time:

Typically

week

on

a

single

CPU

or

equivalent

on

multi-CPU

systems

(depending

greatly

on

system

size

and

RAM);

parallelization

through

BLAS/LAPACK.

For

instance,

calculating

all

energies

up

to

J

of

indole

(vide

infra)

for

one

field

strength

takes

CPU-s

on

a

current

iMac.

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

molecular rotation
linear top molecule
symmetric top molecule
asymmetric top molecule


design space exploration comparing homogeneous and heterogeneous network-on-chip architectures Networks-on-chip (NoCs) are communication architecture alternatives for complex Systems-on-Chip (SoCs) designs, due to their high scalability and bandwidth. In this paper, we consider a heterogeneous NoC as an alternative to match performance and energy requirements for dedicated applications. By employing an optimized mix of different routers, a heterogeneous network optimized for latency and energy consumption is achieved. A dedicated data structure, the Application Communication Pattern (ACP), models the application, enabling the specification of the communication requirements among cores, together with their execution performance. ACP allows fast analysis, helping the system designer to evaluate the communication performance of a NoC-based system; this performance strongly depends on the placement of the cores, and it is computationally hard to find the optimal placement. An optimization algorithm mixes different router architectures - composing a heterogeneous NoC - and finds optimal placements for application cores. Therefore, a heterogeneous NoC can be achieved, which complies to the application requirements with minimum latency and energy, enabling one to obtain the Pareto curve relating latency and energy for a given application.

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

networks-on-chip
mapping and optimization algorithms
systems-on-chip


ADAPTIVENESS IN MONOTONE PSEUDO-BOOLEAN OPTIMIZATION AND STOCHASTIC NEURAL COMPUTATION Hopfield neural network (HNN) is a nonlinear computational model successfully applied in finding near-optimal solutions, of several difficult combinatorial problems. In many cases, the network energy function is obtained through a learning procedure so that its minima are states falling into a proper subspace (feasible region) of the search space. However, because of the network nonlinearity, a number of undesirable local energy minima emerge from the learning procedure, significantly effecting the network performance. In the neural model analyzed here, we combine both a penalty and a stochastic process in order to enhance the performance of a binary HNN. The penalty strategy allows us to gradually lead the search towards states representing feasible solutions, so avoiding oscillatory behaviors or asymptotically instable convergence. Presence of stochastic dynamics potentially prevents the network to fall into shallow local minima of the energy function, i.e., quite far from global optimum. Hence, for a given fixed network topology, the desired final distribution on the states can be reached by carefully modulating such process. The model uses pseudo-Boolean functions both to express problem constraints and cost function; a combination of these two functions is then interpreted as energy of the neural network. A wide variety of NP-hard problems fall in the class of problems that call be solved by the model at hand, particularly those having a monotonic quadratic pseudo-Boolean function as constraint function. That is, functions easily derived by closed algebraic expressions representing the constraint structure and easy (polynomial time) to maximize. We show the asymptotic convergence properties of this model characterizing its state space distribution at thermal equilibrium in terms of Markov chain and give evidence of its ability to find high quality solutions on benchmarks and randomly generated instances of two specific problems taken from the computational graph theory.

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

hopfield neural networks
nonlinear pseudo-boolean optimization
penalty strategies
heuristics


Telecommunications privatization and tariff rebalancing: evidence from Latin America Using panel data on 23 countries, we find a positive and statistically significant relationship between privatization and network expansion and efficiency in the Latin American region. We also find that excess demand for basic service is strongly and negatively related to tariff rebalancing, suggesting that an increase in residential service prices can mitigate unmet demand for basic service in the Latin American region by, in the long run, increasing the supply of main lines. According to our results, a 10 percent increase from the average residential price in Latin America is likely to reduce unmet demand by approximately 4.1 percent. Finally, we find that privatization is negatively related to unmet demand. In particular, privatization reduces unmet demand by approximately 28 percent. This indicates that, even after controlling for tariff rebalancing, there are concrete efficiency gains from privatization.

B B 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 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 B 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 B

telecommunications
privatization
tariff rebalancing


Learning fuzzy rules from data We present an algorithm, FUZZEX, for learning fuzzy rules from a corpus of data mapping input antecedents to output consequents. The input and output spaces are first divided into a grid of cells and primitive if ... then rules formulated from each occupied input cell in the role of an antecedent. The distribution of output cells into which data in the input cell maps, plays the role of the consequent interpreted as a fuzzy set. Those input cells associated with sufficiently similar fuzzy output sets are then combined to form a composite rule. A concise set of rules in Disjunctive Normal Form (DNF) is formed by combining adjacent input cells belonging to the same rule, thereby simplifying the logical expression of the antecedents. Optionally, more succinctness of expression may be obtained by recruiting into a rule, adjacent input cells with (little or) no data, but which happen to simplify rule expression. Preliminary testing on testbed datasets is presented. FUZZEX can be applied effectively to problems of large dimensionality.

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

fuzzy algorithms
fuzzy systems
if then rules
machine learning


A syntax-based approach to measuring the degree of inconsistency for belief bases Measuring the degree of inconsistency of a belief base is an important issue in many real-world applications. It has been increasingly recognized that deriving syntax sensitive inconsistency measures for a belief base from its minimal inconsistent subsets is a natural way forward. Most of the current proposals along this line do not take the impact of the size of each minimal inconsistent subset into account. However, as illustrated by the well-known Lottery Paradox, as the size of a minimal inconsistent subset increases, the degree of its inconsistency decreases. Another lack in current studies in this area is about the role of free formulas of a belief base in measuring the degree of inconsistency. This has not yet been characterized well. Adding free formulas to a belief base can enlarge the set of consistent subsets of that base. However, consistent subsets of a belief base also have an impact on the syntax sensitive normalized measures of the degree of inconsistency, the reason for this is that each consistent subset can be considered as a distinctive plausible perspective reflected by that belief base, whilst each minimal inconsistent subset projects a distinctive view of the inconsistency. To address these two issues, we propose a normalized framework for measuring the degree of inconsistency of a belief base which unifies the impact of both consistent subsets and minimal inconsistent subsets. We also show that this normalized framework satisfies all the properties deemed necessary by common consent to characterize an intuitively satisfactory measure of the degree of inconsistency for belief bases. Finally, we use a simple but explanatory example in requirements engineering to illustrate the application of the normalized framework. (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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

minimal inconsistent subsets
degree of inconsistency


the m.s. program in computer science The need for graduates from master's programs in computer science and related areas is well recognized [19, 20]. Indeed, some companies have a policy of extensively utilizing master's programs at universities for the continuing education of their employees. The Graduate Study Program of Bell Laboratories is well known. At Honeywell Information Systems it has been found that support of continuing studies at the master's level helps in hiring and retaining personnel, and is beneficial to the dissemination of new technology through the organization [29]. It has been demonstrated that programmers acquire new knowledge primarily from other programmers [17]; periodic influx into an organization of graduates of programs of advanced study is therefore essential if the organization is to retain technical soundness. Universities have responded to this need, but in a rather haphazard manner, with the result that we have today a variety of programs, some of which have very little to do with computer science. Some of the programs are no more than, to use Smoliar's [41] words, undergraduate programs for grown-ups. Others are viewed as a first stage in the preparation for research careers of narrow specialization. Late in 1972 Terry Walker [45] conducted a poll of master's degree granting departments. The four primary objectives of a master's program given by the 93 respondents were: prepare a person for a job designing computer software systems, prepare a person for a job as a systems analyst, prepare a person to pursue a doctoral degree in computer science, prepare a person for a job as a scientific programmer. Today one would add a fifth objective: prepare a person for teaching computer science at the junior college level. There is clearly a need to reconcile these different objectives with a unified view of computer science.

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

computer science
education
program
software
organization
research
specialization
use
policy
systems
teaching
support
knowledge
programmer

sound
technologies
computation
object
laboratory
information system


Multiobjective optimization of MPLS-IP networks with a variable neighborhood genetic algorithm A multiobjective genetic algorithm is proposed for packet routing in MPLS IP networks. The proposed GA, called VN-MGA, employs operators that work on two different solution neighborhoods, resembling the VNS metaheuristics. The solutions delivered by VN-MGA are compared with the ones delivered by the exact solutions provided by an ILP solver, for medium-sized problem instances. The VN-MGA was found to be able to find most of the exact Pareto-optimal solutions, leaving a small gap in the other cases. The VN-MGA has been statistically compared with a pure VNS strategy, outperforming that algorithm. Since the ILP approach is not applicable to large problem instances, the VN-MGA can be considered a suitable alternative for those problems.

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

routing on ip networks
variable neighborhood search
multi-objective genetic algorithm


PRSS to aid palaeocontinental reconstructions simulation research The palaeocontinental reconstructions have been a hot issue in global tectonics and geodynamics research. In addition, the development of computers promises new methods and means for quantitative analysis of the palaeocontinental reconstructions. Therefore, the Palaeocontinental Reconstructions Simulation System (PRSS) was independently developed using a set of methods based on paleomagnetism, computer models of plate tectonics, motion characteristics on a spherical surface and relevant mathematical algorithms to analyse quantitatively and simulate dynamically plate motions during geologic history. Also, we concluded that the method of reconstructions, especially for small terranes from Mesozoic, could be summarized into four steps: (1) reconstruct the absolute positions at several different geological ages on the basis of paleomagnetic data which constrain palaeolatitude; (2) use a variety of information (e.g., palaeontology, lithofacies, paleoclimate etc.) to constrain palaeolongitude; (3) construct Euler poles to describe relative motion for each pair of continents; and (4) calculate Euler poles by concatenating Euler poles of relative motion to determine continents motion history. Practical application effect proves that this method and the software can accurately simulate and intuitively show the state and the trajectories of plate's motion at different stages in the geologic history, which provides a solid foundation for research on geologic history and geodynamics. The paper gives a detailed description of the functions and relevant algorithms of PRSS.

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

euler's theorem
palaeomagnetism
spherical geometric theorem


ON THE COMPUTATIONAL POWER OF DEMAND QUERIES We study the computational power of iterative combinatorial auctions. Most existing iterative combinatorial auctions are based on repeatedly suggesting prices for bundles of items and querying the bidders for their "demand" under these prices. We prove several results regarding such auctions that use a polynomial number of demand queries: ( 1) that such auctions can simulate several other natural types of queries; ( 2) that they can approximate the optimal allocation as well as generally possible using polynomial communication or computation, while weaker types of queries cannot do so; ( 3) that such auctions that use only item prices may solve allocation problems in communication cost that is exponentially lower than the cost incurred by auctions that use prices for bundles. For the latter result, we initiate the study of how prices of bundles can be represented when they are not linear and show that the "default" representation has severe limitations. Our results hold for any series of demand queries with polynomial length, without any additional restrictions on the queries (e.g., to ascending prices).

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

communication complexity
iterative auctions


Evolving fuzzy granular modeling from nonstationary fuzzy data streams Evolving granular modeling is an approach that considers online granular data stream processing and structurally adaptive rule-based models. As uncertain data prevail in stream applications, excessive data granularity becomes unnecessary and inefficient. This paper introduces an evolving fuzzy granular framework to learn from and model time-varying fuzzy inputoutput data streams. The fuzzy-set based evolving modeling framework consists of a one-pass learning algorithm capable to gradually develop the structure of rule-based models. This framework is particularly suitable to handle potentially unbounded fuzzy data streams and render singular and granular approximations of nonstationary functions. The main objective of this paper is to shed light into the role of evolving fuzzy granular computing in providing high-quality approximate solutions from large volumes of real-world online data streams. An application example in weather temperature prediction using actual data is used to evaluate and illustrate the usefulness of the modeling approach. The behavior of nonstationary fuzzy data streams with gradual and abrupt regime shifts is also verified in the realm of the weather temperature prediction.

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

fuzzy data stream
information granule
online learning
time series prediction


analysis of coevolution for worst-case optimization The problem of finding entities with the best worst-case performance across multiple scenarios arises in domains ranging from job shop scheduling to designing physical artifacts. In spite of previous successful applications of evolutionary computation techniques, particularly coevolution, to such domains, little work has examined utilizing coevolution for optimizing worst-case behavior. Previous work assesses certain algorithm mechanisms using aggregate performance on test problems. We examine fitness and population trajectories of individual algorithm runs, making two observations: first, that aggregate plots wash out important effects that call into question what these algorithms can produce; and second, that none of the mechanisms is generally better than the rest. More importantly, our dynamics analysis explains how the interplay of algorithm properties and problem properties influences performance. These contributions argue in favor of a reassessment of what makes for a good worst-case coevolutionary algorithm and suggest how to design one.

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 B 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 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

best worst-case
coevolutionary algorithms
worst-case optimization
minimax


On Probabilistic scheme for encryption using Nonlinear codes mapped from Z(4) linear codes Probabilistic encryption becomes more and more important since its ability to against chosen-ciphertext attack. Applications like online voting schemes and one-show credentials are based on probabilistic encryption. Research on good probabilistic encryptions are on going, while many good deterministic encryption schemes are already well implemented and available in many systems. To convert any deterministic encryption scheme into a probabilistic encryption scheme, a randomized media is needed to apply on the message and carry the message over as an randomized input. In this paper, nonlinear codes obtained by certain mapping from linear error-correcting codes are considered to serve as such carrying media. Binary nonlinear codes obtained by Gray mapping from Z(4)-linear codes are discussed as example for a such scheme.

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

deterministic encryption
probabilistic encryption
gray mapping


Nurses' information management across complex health care organizations The purpose of this study was to describe the information management used by hospital and home care nurses for patients in need of continuing care after an episode of hospitalization. Method:: A prospective descriptive design was used. In total 287 hospital nurses and 220 home care nurses were asked to complete a questionnaire before and after the hospital implemented nursing documentation integrated in the electronic patient record (EPR). Results:: Discrepancies between the policies expressed by the health care organizations and the authorities in formal documents and the information management used by the nurses were identified. Differences were also found between nurses in hospital and home care with regard to how they assessed the information management during patient admission, throughout the patient's hospital stay and at the patient's discharge. The perceived differences decreased, however, after the hospital introduced electronic nursing documentation. The study shows a need to contextualize and customize the information that nurses exchange. In addition technological problems with the lack of integrated EPR systems between the hospital and the home health care as well as different practice models in the two organizations entail complex information handling during a patient's trajectory through the health system. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

O B I 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 B I O O B I I 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 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

information management
hospital nurses
home care nurses
electronic patient record

information exchange
organizational management


The analytic network process for managing inter-enterprise collaboration: A case study in a collaborative enterprise network In the last years, collaboration among enterprises has gained attention in the business environment as a means to remain competitive. Enterprises that are collaborating look for improving their performance but, in real assessments, they often do not establish efficient frameworks to structure and manage the enterprise association/inter-enterprise performance. In addition, there are many factors that act as barriers to effective collaboration and have to be also properly managed as they impact on the inter-enterprise performance. This paper provides a methodology based on the analytic network process (ANP) to identify and measure, under an integrated approach, both factors and inter-enterprise performance considering their reciprocal impact. With this innovative approach, enterprises will obtain significant information for the decision-making process regarding which are the factors and inter-enterprise performance elements that generate a higher impact and therefore have a high priority within the specific collaborative relationship. Thus, enterprises can focus their efforts on improving those most important factors and performance elements, and consequently, enhancing their competitiveness. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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

analytic network process
collaboration
enterprise network

performance management
balanced scorecard


Formalizing refactoring by using graph transformation Refactoring is one of the promising techniques for improving software design by means of behavior-preserving structural transformation, and is widely taken into practice. In particular, it is frequently applied to design models represented with UML such as class diagrams. However, since UML design models includes multiple diagrams which are closely related from various views, to get behavior-preserving property, we should get the other types of design information and should handle with the propagation of the change on a diagram to the other diagrams. For example, to refactor a class diagram, we need behavioral information of methods included in the class and should also refactor diagrams which represent the behavior, such as state diagrams, activity diagrams. In this paper, we introduce refactoring on design models as transformations of a graph described by UML class diagram and action semantics. First, we define basic transformations of design models that preserve the behavior of designed software. and compose them into refactoring operations. We use Object Constraint Language (OCL) to specify when we can apply a refactoring operation. Furthermore we implement our technique on a graph transformation system AGG to support the automation of refactoring, together with evaluation mechanism of OCL expressions. Some illustrations are presented to show its effectiveness. The work is the first step to handle with refactoring on UML design models in integrated way.

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

object-oriented design
graph grammar
meta model


taming wildcards in java's type system Wildcards have become an important part of Java's type system since their introduction 7 years ago. Yet there are still many open problems with Java's wildcards. For example, there are no known sound and complete algorithms for subtyping (and consequently type checking) Java wildcards, and in fact subtyping is suspected to be undecidable because wildcards are a form of bounded existential types. Furthermore, some Java types with wildcards have no joins, making inference of type arguments for generic methods particularly difficult. Although there has been progress on these fronts, we have identified significant shortcomings of the current state of the art, along with new problems that have not been addressed. In this paper, we illustrate how these shortcomings reflect the subtle complexity of the problem domain, and then present major improvements to the current algorithms for wildcards by making slight restrictions on the usage of wildcards. Our survey of existing Java programs suggests that realistic code should already satisfy our restrictions without any modifications. We present a simple algorithm for subtyping which is both sound and complete with our restrictions, an algorithm for lazily joining types with wildcards which addresses some of the shortcomings of prior work, and techniques for improving the Java type system as a whole. Lastly, we describe various extensions to wildcards that would be compatible with our algorithms.

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

existential types
joins
subtyping
wildcards

parametric types
single-instantiation inheritance
type inference


Impact of variance components on reliability of absolute quantification using digital PCR Digital polymerase chain reaction (dPCR) is an increasingly popular technology for detecting and quantifying target nucleic acids. Its advertised strength is high precision absolute quantification without needing reference curves. The standard data analytic approach follows a seemingly straightforward theoretical framework but ignores sources of variation in the data generating process. These stem from both technical and biological factors, where we distinguish features that are 1) hard-wired in the equipment, 2) user-dependent and 3) provided by manufacturers but may be adapted by the user. The impact of the corresponding variance components on the accuracy and precision of target concentration estimators presented in the literature is studied through simulation.

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

digital pcr
precision
accuracy
reliability
polymerase chain reaction

absolute nucleic acid quantification
cnv
variance component
experimental design