Enhancing privacy in public spaces through crossmodal displays The authors introduce the notion of a crossmodal display as a proposal for enhancing the privacy of public information displays. The selection of appropriate display technology and interaction techniques relies on an understanding of the public-private nature of information and the spaces from which it is accessed. The crossmodal display framework supports multiple users simultaneously accessing information that contains public and personal elements. Crossmodal displays are multiuser interfaces that facilitate the efficient public access of personalized information, while maintaining the anonymity of each user in physical public spaces. Based on psychological theories of crossmodal attention that characterize human capabilities for matching information received through different modalities, the framework takes advantage of public displays and mobile devices through the use of peripheral cues and allows information personalization in public space. Two example systems are presented, in the first individuals access situated ambient displays of directions to destinations, and in the second a structured combination of cues is used to provide access to information board displays. The configuration and implications for privacy of both systems is introduced and analyzed within the wider context of access to public information displays in pervasive computing.

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

crossmodal displays
pervasive computing
privacy
public displays


The Pro- and Anti-Inflammatory Potential of Interleukin-12 T helper (Th) lymphocytes, upon activation and differential costimulation, differentiate into various types of Th memory cells with distinct functions. Upon activation in the presence of interleukin-12 (IL-12), Th1 memory cells are imprinted for the expression of interferon-? (IFN-?), by genetic modification of the ifn? gene and expression of the transcription factor T-bet. Th1 cells are potent inducers of chronic inflammation of tissues expressing their cognate (auto)antigen. Here, we discuss an anti-inflammatory potential of Th1 cells, based on their expression of IL-10. While the expression of IFN-? in memory Th1 cells is independent of the original inducer IL-12, IL-12 is and remains required to induce expression of the regulatory cytokine IL-10 by Th1 memory cells giving IL-12 the potential to act anti-inflammatory during secondary responses

O O O O O O O B I 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

anti-inflammatory
interleukin-10 (il-10)
interleukin-12 (il-12)


Fuzzy almost disturbance decoupling for MIMO nonlinear uncertain systems based on high-gainobserver The problem of disturbance decoupling with internal stability is investigated for a class of multi-inputmulti-output (MIMO) nonlinear systems in strict-feedback form. The considered nonlinear system contains unknown nonlinear uncertainties and unmeasured states. Fuzzy logic systems are first utilized to approximate the unknown nonlinear uncertainties, and then a high-gain state observer is established to estimate the unmeasured states. Based on the backstepping design approach and combining with dynamic surface control (DSC) technique, a new fuzzy adaptive output feedback control scheme is constructed. It is proved that the proposed control scheme can not only achieve internal stability of the closed-loop system, but also diminish the effect of the disturbance on output in the sense of L2 gain. In addition, since DSC is introduced into the backstepping design, the proposed control scheme can overcome the problem of explosion of complexity inherent in the traditional backstepping design. Simulation results and comparisons with the previous methods are included to indicate that the proposed adaptive fuzzy control approach has a satisfactory control performance.

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

mimo nonlinear systems
fuzzy logic systems
dynamic surface control
adaptive output feedback
disturbance decoupling


Regional lung perfusion as determined by electrical impedance tomography in comparison with electron beam CT imaging The aim of the experiments was to check the feasibility of pulmonary perfusion imaging by functional electrical impedance tomography (FIT) and to compare the FIT findings with electron beam computed tomography (EBCT) scans. In three pigs, a Swan-Ganz catheter was positioned in a pulmonary artery branch and hypertonic saline solution or a radiographic contrast agent were administered as boli through the distal or proximal openings of the catheter. During the administration through the proximal opening, the balloon at the tip of the catheter was either deflated or inflated. The latter case represented a perfusion defect. The series of FIT scans of the momentary distribution of electrical impedance within the chest were obtained during each saline bolus administration at a rate of 13/s. EBCT scans were acquired at a rate of 3.3/s during bolus administrations of the radiopaque contrast material under the same steady-state conditions. The FIT data were used to generate local time-impedance curves and functional FIT images showing the perfusion of a small lung region, both lungs with a perfusion defect and complete both lungs during bolus administration through the distal and proximal catheter opening with an inflated or deflated balloon, respectively. The results indicate that FIT imaging of lung perfusion is feasible when an electrical impedance contrast agent is used.

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

eit
functional imaging
pulmonary embolism
pulmonary flow
thoracic impedance


Deep learning of support vector machines with class probability output networks Deep learning methods endeavor to learn features automatically at multiple levels and allow systems to learn complex functions mapping from the input space to the output space for the given data. The ability to learn powerful features automatically is increasingly important as the volume of data and range of applications of machine learning methods continues to grow. This paper proposes a new deep architecture that uses support vector machines (SVMs) with class probability output networks (CPONs) to provide better generalization power for pattern classification problems. As a result, deep features are extracted without additional feature engineering steps, using multiple layers of the SVM classifiers with CPONs. The proposed structure closely approaches the ideal Bayes classifier as the number of layers increases. Using a simulation of classification problems, the effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated.

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

support vector machine
class probability output network
uncertainty measure


In Bovine Heart Na+/Ca2+ Exchanger Maximal Ca2+i Affinity Requires Simultaneously High pHi and PtdIns-4,5-P2 Binding to the Carrier Na+i-dependent Ca2+ uptake, Na+-dependent Ca2+ release, and PtdIns-4,5-P2 binding to Na+/Ca2+ exchanger (NCX1) as a function of extravesicular (intracellular) [Ca2+] were measured. Alkalinization increases Ca2+i affinity and PtdIns-4,5-P2 bound to NCX1; these effects are abolished by pretreatment with PtdIns-PLC and are insensitive to MgATP. Acidification reduces Ca2+i affinity. MgATP reverts it only partially despite the fact that the PtdIns-4,5-P2 bound to NCX1 reaches the same levels as at pH 7.8. Extravesicular Na+-stimulated and Ca2+-dependent Ca2+efflux indicate the Ca2+ regulatory site is involved. Therefore, to display maximal affinity to Ca2+i, PtdIns-4,5-P2 binding and deprotonation of NCX1 are simultaneously need

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

na+/ca2+ exchange
ph and ptdins-4
5-p2 modulation
ca2+i affinity


The Internet a catalyst for change Hype and hyperbole about the Internet and its impact (or lack of impact) are widespread and many authors have felt compelled to add their favorite metaphor to make a salient point. As there is always room for one more, it is suggested that the Internet can be characterized as a catalyst for change. The expectation for change is probably the one constant that should be anticipated if one decides to use the Internet as one tool for the construction of learning environments.

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


a theory-based framework for evaluating exergames as persuasive technology Exergames are video games that use exertion-based interfaces to promote physical activity, fitness, and gross motor skill development. The purpose of this paper is to describe the development of an organizing framework based on principles of learning theory to classify and rank exergames according to embedded behavior change principles. Behavioral contingencies represent a key theory-based game design principle that can be objectively measured, evaluated, and manipulated to help explain and change the frequency and duration of game play. Case examples are presented that demonstrate how to code dimensions of behavior, consequences of behavior, and antecedents of behavior. Our framework may be used to identify game principles which, in the future, might be used to predict which games are most likely to promote adoption and maintenance of leisure time physical activity.

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

exertainment
behavior analysis
exercise
public health
operant theory


Software quality, non-functional software requirements and IT-business alignment High quality might seem an obvious requirement for any piece of software, but do the different stakeholder groups involved in its production and use conceptualize this requirement in the same way? Many existing models refine the broad concept of quality into a number of well-defined and measurable attributes related to the software product itself and the development process which produced it. But despite growing awareness of the importance of achieving cultural alignment between holders of different business and IT groups, little attempt has been made to empirically examine the requirements for software quality held by different groups involved in the development process. We conducted a survey of more than 300 current and recently graduated students of one of the leading Executive MBA programs in the United States, asking them to rate the importance of each of 13 widely-cited attributes related to software quality. The results showed business role-related differences in some specific areas and agreement in many others. The results suggest that a strong shared culture may be able to bridge the gulf created between holders of IT and business stakeholder roles.

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

it business alignment
software stakeholders
requirements analysis
non-functional software requirements


Analysis of temperature measurement for monitoring radio-frequency brain lesioning During ablative neurosurgery of movement disorders, for instance therapy of Parkinson's disease, temperature monitoring is crucial. This study aims at a quantitative comparison of measurement deviations between the maximum temperature located outside the lesioning electrode and two possible thermocouple locations inside the electrode. In order to obtain the detailed temperature field necessary for the analysis, four finite element models associated with different surroundings and with different power supplies are studied. The results from the simulations show that both the power level and the power density as well as the surrounding medium affect the temperature measurement and the temperature field in general. Since the maximum temperature is located outside the electrode there will always be a deviation in time and level between the measured and the maximum temperature. The deviation is usually 2-7 s and 3-12 degreesC, depending on, for example, the thermocouple location and surrounding medium. Therefore, not only the measured temperature but also the relation between measured and maximum Temperature must be accounted for during therapy and device design.

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 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

ablative neurosurgery
temperature measurement

radio-frequency brain electrodes
thermal modelling


Flame recognition in video ? This paper presents an automatic system for fire detection in video sequences. There are several previous methods to detect fire, however, all except two use spectroscopy or particle sensors. The two that use visual information suffer from the inability to cope with a moving camera or a moving scene. One of these is not able to work on general data, such as movie sequences. The other is too simplistic and unrestrictive in determining what is considered fire; so that it can be used reliably only in aircraft dry bays. We propose a system that uses color and motion information computed from video sequences to locate fire. This is done by first using an approach that is based upon creating a Gaussian-smoothed color histogram to detect the fire-colored pixels, and then using a temporal variation of pixels to determine which of these pixels are actually fire pixels. Next, some spurious fire pixels are automatically removed using an erode operation, and some missing fire pixels are found using region growing method. Unlike the two previous vision-based methods for fire detection, our method is applicable to more areas because of its insensitivity to camera motion. Two specific applications not possible with previous algorithms are the recognition of fire in the presence of global camera motion or scene motion and the recognition of fire in movies for possible use in an automatic rating system. We show that our method works in a variety of conditions, and that it can automatically determine when it has insufficient information.

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 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

color predicate
skin detection
change detection


declarative ajax and client side evaluation of workflows using itasks Workflow systems coordinate tasks of humans and computers. The iTask system is a recently developed toolkit with which workflows can be defined declaratively on a very high level of abstraction. It offers functionality which cannot be found in commercial workflow systems: workflows are constructed dynamically depending on the outcome of earlier work, workflows are strongly typed, and they can be of higher order. From the specification, a web-based multi-user workflow system is generated. Up until now we could only generate thin clients. All information produced by a worker triggers a round trip to the server. For real world workflows this is unsatisfactory. Modern Ajax web technology to update part of a web page is required, as well as the ability to execute tasks on clients. The architecture of any system that supports such features is complex: it manages distributed computing on clients and server which generally involves the collaboration of applications written in different programming languages. The contribution of this paper is that we integrate partial updates of web pages and client side task evaluation within the iTask system, while retaining its approach of a single language and declarative nature. The workflow designer uses light-weight annotations to control the run-time behavior of work. The iTask implementation takes care of all the hard work under the hood. Arbitrary tasks (functional programs) can be evaluated at web clients. When such a task cannot be evaluated on the client for some reason, the system switches to server side evaluation. All communication and synchronization issues are handled by the extended iTask system

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

web programming
sapl
generic programming
clean
idata


bottom-up saliency based on weighted sparse coding residual The guidance of attention helps the human vision system (HVS) to detect and recognize objects rapidly. In this paper, we propose a bottom-up saliency algorithm based on sparse coding theory. Sparse coding decomposes the inputs into two parts, codes and residual. From the viewpoint of biological vision and information theory, the coding length is closely related to the local complexity while the residual is closely related to the uncertainty. The proposed algorithm defines the weighted residual using sparse coding length as saliency. By multiplying the L0 norm of sparse codes and the residual, a saliency map is obtained. The performance of the proposed method is evaluated using ROC curves with two different scale datasets and is compared with state-of-the-art models. Our algorithm outperforms all other methods and the results indicate a robust and accurate saliency.

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


Effects of the impact angle variations on the erosion rate of glass in powder blasting process Sandblasting, a conventional technique which is used for paint or scale removing, deburring, and glass decorating, has recently been developed into a powder blasting technique for brittle materials capable of producing micro-structures larger than 100?m. This article describes an investigation of the effects of the impact angle of particles, the scanning times, and the standoff distance on the surface roughness, the weight-loss rate of samples with no mask, and the wall profile and over-etching of samples with different mask patterns in powder blasting of soda-lime glass. The parameters are the various impact angles between 50 and 90, the scanning times of a nozzle up to 40, and the standoff distances between 70 and 100mm. The widths of the mask pattern are 0.2mm, 0.5mm, and 1mm. The powder used is Al2O3 sharp particles, WA#600. The mass flow rate of powder during the erosion test is constant at 175g/min and the blasting pressure of the powder is 0.2Mpa. After a series of necessary experiments are performed, the results are investigated and analysed. As a result, a fundamental basis is established that can be applied to powder blasting to produce micro-mechanical parts of glass.

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

powder blasting
glass
impact angle
surface roughness
wall profile


trends in the evolution of the database curriculum This paper focuses on the current database curriculum and how it reflects changes in the practice of data management. The content of the database course is determined using a series of three surveys given to groups of database educators over a period of four years. The results of these surveys are presented in the paper and are used to indicate trends in database courses as they are actually taught. The paper examines the different focus choices used in the introductory database course and describes how these have changed during the period, 1999-2002. The paper also examines how actual database curricula compare with the CC2001 curriculum recommendations.

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

database curriculum
database survey
information management


Fuzzy partitioning for clinical DSSs using statistical information transformed into possibility-based knowledge Fuzzy logic has gained much importance for its applications in Decision Support Systems (DSSs), especially in fields like medicine, where the final user has to handle uncertain data and vague concepts, and needs an intelligible system based on clear rule bases. In medical applications, physicians are often skilled to reason using statistical approaches, since this type of information is often known, or can be extracted from data. However, since decisions have to be applied to single patients, clinical data items have to be classified in order to obtain the plausibility of conclusions, rather than their probability. Therefore, statistical information can be used, in order to define fuzzy sets and rules for constructing DSSs based on fuzzy logic. While the transformation of probability distributions is well known in literature, here, an approach is presented for transforming likelihood functions into fuzzy sets, based on possibility theory, which is actually instanced into four different new methods for knowledge representation. A comparison among different methods is shown, as well as the analysis of transformation properties and resulting fuzzy sets characteristics are considered, by using synthetic and real data. Finally, some considerations about the most suitable method to be used in the context of clinical DSSs are given.

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

fuzzy probability possibility transformation


The design features of forecasting support systems and their effectiveness Forecasts play a key role in the management of the supply chain. In most organisations such forecasts form part of an information system on which other functions, such as scheduling, resource planning and marketing depend. Forecast accuracy is, therefore, an important component in the delivery of an effective supply chain. Typically, the forecasts are produced by integrating managerial judgment with quantitative forecasts within a forecasting support system (FSS). However, there is much evidence that this integration is often carried out poorly with deleterious effects on accuracy. This study integrates the literatures on forecasting and decision support to explain the causes of the problem and to identify design features of FSSs that might help to ameliorate it. It is also argued that, by studying the supply chain forecasting task, DSS researchers could learn much about decision support in general and also make a significant contribution to the improvement of forecasting practice.

O O O O B I I 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 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 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

forecasting support systems
supply chain

combining statistical methods and judgment


Some neural network applications in environmental sciences. Part II: advancing computational efficiency of environmental numerical models A new generic neural network (NN) applicationimproving computational efficiency of certain processes in numerical environmental modelsis considered. This approach can be used to accelerate the calculations and improve the accuracy of the parameterizations of several types of physical processes which generally require computations involving complex mathematical expressions, including differential and integral equations, rules, restrictions and highly nonlinear empirical relations based on physical or statistical models. It is shown that, from a mathematical point of view, such parameterizations can usually be considered as continuous mappings (continuous dependencies between two vectors) and, therefore, NNs can be used to replace primary parameterization algorithms. In addition to fast and accurate approximation of the primary parameterization, NN also provides the entire Jacobian for very little computation cost. Four particular real-life applications of the NN approach are presented here: for oceanic numerical models, a NN approximation of the UNESCO equation of state of the sea water (NN for the density of the seawater) and an inversion of this equation (NN for the salinity of the seawater); for atmospheric numerical models, a NN approximation for long wave radiative transfer code; and for wave models, a NN approximation for the nonlinear wavewave interaction. In all considered applications a significant acceleration of numerical computations has been achieved. The first two of these NN applications have already been implemented in the multi-scale ocean forecast system at NCEP. The NN approach introduced in this paper can provide numerically efficient solutions to a wide range of problems in numerical models where lengthy, complicated calculations, which describe physical, chemical and/or biological processes, must be repeated frequently.

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

neural networks
numerical modeling
atmospheric modeling
oceanic modeling
wave modeling
nonlinear interaction
parameterization of physics


Multidimensional extended spatial evolutionary games Introducing time-varying payoff matrices in mean-field games. New possibilities for more accurate and complex game theoretic simulation. Spatial lattice with simulation of interaction between cells and environment. Heterogeneity of individuals (poly-phenotypic players) in spatial games (MSEG). More precisely biological phenomena, especially for cancer cell populations.

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

biomathematical modeling
cellular automata
sensitivity
polymorphism


probabilistic latent preference analysis for collaborative filtering A central goal of collaborative filtering (CF) is to rank items by their utilities with respect to individual users in order to make personalized recommendations. Traditionally, this is often formulated as a rating prediction problem. However, it is more desirable for CF algorithms to address the ranking problem directly without going through an extra rating prediction step. In this paper, we propose the probabilistic latent preference analysis (pLPA) model for ranking predictions by directly modeling user preferences with respect to a set of items rather than the rating scores on individual items. From a user's observed ratings, we extract his preferences in the form of pairwise comparisons of items which are modeled by a mixture distribution based on Bradley-Terry model. An EM algorithm for fitting the corresponding latent class model as well as a method for predicting the optimal ranking are described. Experimental results on real world data sets demonstrated the superiority of the proposed method over several existing CF algorithms based on rating predictions in terms of ranking performance measure NDCG.

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

ranking
collaborative filtering
latent class model


Analysis of two-sensors forward BSS structure with post-filters in the presence of coherent and incoherent noise We propose a post-filter technique analysis on the presence of coherent noise. New criteria are proposed to quantify the post-filter behaviour in noisy condition. The new first proposed parameter is the speech to coherent noise ratio (SCR). The second proposed parameter is the coherent to diffuse noise ratio (CDR). A perfect agreement between the proposed theory and the experimentation is shown.

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

coherent noise to diffuse noise (cdr) ratio


Integrating soil water monitoring technology and weather based crop modelling to provide improved decision support for sugarcane irrigation management Soil water data were successfully integrated into weather based crop simulations. Simulation analysis identified cases of drought stress and poor crop husbandry. The integrated system enhances support for sugarcane irrigation management.

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

cane yield
irrigation scheduling
crop model
weather data
capacitance sensor
soil water content


Nanoindentation for reliability assessment of ULK films and interconnects structures The structural integrity of interconnect structures containing ultra-low-k (ULK) dielectrics is highly dependent on the mechanical properties of the porous dielectrics, e.g. fracture toughness elastic modulus and adhesion as well. Four-point-bending (FPB) and double-cantilever-beam (DCB) methods for the evaluation of fracture properties require out-of-fab sample preparation and testing. The reliable characterization of interfacial adhesion is important for in-line/at-line process development and control in microelectronics manufacturing. The ability to detect an out-of-spec or defective ULK film at an early process step could potentially save processing and materials cost. Therefore, the development of quick turnaround experimental methodologies for monitoring in-line/at-line mechanical stability of ULK films and ULK-containing interconnects is of great interest for semiconductor industry. This study presents two novel experimental approaches for the evaluation of interface adhesion and mechanical robustness of on-chip interconnects structures based on nanoindentation and nanoscratch, (a) wedge indentation and (b) bump assisted BEOL stability indentation (BABSI) tests, respectively. Wedge indentation tests on ULK films with increasing porosity show a decrease of adhesion values. Correspondingly, BABSI tests show increasing failure rates for Cu/ULK interconnect structures containing mechanically weaker dielectrics.

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


Shuffled languages-Representation and recognition Language models that use interleaving, or shuffle, operators have applications in various areas of computer science, including system verification, plan recognition, and natural language processing. We study the complexity of the membership problem for such models, in other words, how difficult it is to determine if a string belongs to a language or not. In particular, we investigate how interleaving can be introduced into models that capture the context-free languages. (c) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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


Automated mineral identification algorithm using optical properties of crystals A novel automated mineral identification (MI) scheme is developed. Weighted color and texture features are employed for the MI task. The scheme uses CIELab color space equipped with the well-defined color metric ?E. A mineral database is developed considering alteration and indicatrix.

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

image processing
local binary pattern (lbp)


hp h p -boundary layer mesh sequences with applications to shell problems Thin shell structures remain the most challenging simple structures from the computational point of view. They have a very rich boundary layer structure including internal layers. In this paper we introduce a method for applying the concept of hp h p -approximation of boundary layers by Schwab in two-dimensional problems. The effectiveness of the method is demonstrated through a set of experiments both in one- and two-dimensional problems.

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

hp h p -fem hp h p hp h p h p
mesh generation


Artificial and biological color band design as spectral compression The incredibly complex spectral information available to animals is far too detailed to be measured or used by those animals. What nature has evolved is a way of compressing the spectral information into a few signals that are easily detected and readily used for robust discrimination among objects or events of importance to the animal. The spectral discriminants human brains compute from those measurements and attribute to perceived objects in the world are what we call colors. Artificial Color uses the same approach to accomplish machine perception. In both Artificial and Biological Color, the number and spectral details of the spectral bands used to compress the available spectral information represent a complex tradeoff among multiple factors: Domain Coverage, Band Number, Discrimination Utility, and Manufacturability. In Biological Color, there are multiple objectives (from the viewpoint of population survival of a species) and those objectives are not equally weighted; so no single number can be defined as a figure of merit to be optimized. Artificial Color nearly always has the advantage of having very narrowly defined objectives, so it can often be much better for that purpose than the general Biological Color. We explore the criteria used to compare choices of spectral bands and the tradeoffs among those choices. We then discuss some of the solutions nature has evolved and some of the means open to Artificial Color that are not open to Biological Color.

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


Recovery time guaranteed heuristic routing for improving computation complexity in survivable WDM networks In this paper, we investigate the protection for survivable WDM optical network and propose a new algorithm called Quick Heuristic Routing (QHR) to tolerate the single-link failure. In QHR, each connection request will be assigned to one primary path and multiple segment-backup paths to guarantee the recovery time in the worst case. Compared to previous algorithm, QHR can yield significant improvement in computation time and blocking probability. Simulations are shown to be promising. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

B I 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 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

optical networks
segment-backup path
time complexity


Acclimatization model of an aerobic bioreactor for the treatment of toxic wastewater This work proposes a mathematical model for the acclimatization process of a bioreactor treating toxic wastewater. Experimental data was used to identify the changing kinetic parameters of the model as acclimatization progresses. It was found that only one key parameter, the specific biomass growth rate function, changed during the acclimatization process. Therefore, an acclimatization model was proposed to explain the changes of this parameter.

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

acclimatization
bioreactor
mathematical model


Analysis of retinal vasculature using a multiresolution Hermite model This paper presents a vascular representation and segmentation algorithm based on a multiresolution Hermite model (MHM). A two-dimensional Hermite function intensity model is developed which models blood vessel profiles in a quad-tree structure over a range of spatial resolutions. The use of a multiresolution representation simplifies the image modeling and allows for a robust analysis by combining information across scales. Estimation over scale also reduces the overall computation complexity. As well as using MHM for vessel labelling, the local image modeling can accurately represent vessel directions, widths, amplitudes, and branch points which readily enable the global topology to be inferred. An expectation-maximization (EM) type of optimization scheme is used to estimate local model parameters and an information theoretic test is then applied to select the most appropriate scale/feature model for each region of the image. In the final stage, Bayesian stochastic inference is employed for linking the local features to obtain a description of the global vascular structure. After a detailed description and analysis of MHM, experimental results on two standard retinal databases are given that demonstrate its comparative performance. These show MHM to perform comparably with other retinal vessel labelling methods.

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

akaike information criteria (aic)
expectation maximization (em)
hermite modeling
kruskal m-spanning tree
retinal images
stochastic linking algorithm


Acceleration of the SmithWaterman algorithm using single and multiple graphics processors Finding regions of similarity between two very long data streams is a computationally intensive problem referred to as sequence alignment. Alignment algorithms must allow for imperfect sequence matching with different starting locations and some gaps and errors between the two data sequences. Perhaps the most well known application of sequence matching is the testing of DNA or protein sequences against genome databases. The SmithWaterman algorithm is a method for precisely characterizing how well two sequences can be aligned and for determining the optimal alignment of those two sequences. Like many applications in computational science, the SmithWaterman algorithm is constrained by the memory access speed and can be accelerated significantly by using graphics processors (GPUs) as the compute engine. In this work we show that effective use of the GPU requires a novel reformulation of the SmithWaterman algorithm. The performance of this new version of the algorithm is demonstrated using the SSCA#1 (Bioinformatics) benchmark running on one GPU and on up to four GPUs executing in parallel. The results indicate that for large problems a single GPU is up to 45 times faster than a CPU for this application, and the parallel implementation shows linear speed up on up to 4GPUs.

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


Comparison of laboratory studies with predictions of the required sweat rate index (ISO 7933) for climates with moderate to high thermal radiation For International Standard ISO 7933 (Hot environmentsanalytical determination and interpretation of thermal stress using calculation of required sweat rate. International Organization for Standardization, Geneva, 1989) it has been questioned whether the heat stress index required sweat rate is applicable in environments where mean radiant temperature (tr) exceeds dry air temperature (ta). Based on a re-analysis of 556 climatic chamber experiments on 16 subjects the observed sweat rates were compared with required sweat rates predicted according to the ISO standard. Under climatic conditions with tr>ta the predictions overestimate the observed sweat rates on average by 86% in clothed subjects and by 25% in nude subjects. In climates with tr=ta the predictions highly agreed with the observed sweat rates in nude subjects and were slightly overestimated (13%) in clothed subjects. The misjudgement of the present ISO standard is obviously caused by an inappropriate calculation of radiative heat exchange. Corrections are proposed to improve the validity concerning climates with tr>ta.

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

thermal radiation
required sweat rate
heat stress index


diversifying landmark image search results by learning interested views from community photos In this paper, we demonstrate a novel landmark photo search and browsing system: Agate, which ranks landmark image search results considering their relevance, diversity and quality. Agate learns from community photos the most interested aspects and related activities of a landmark, and generates adaptively a Table of Content (TOC) as a summary of the attractions to facilitate the user browsing. Image search results are thus re-ranked with the TOC so as to ensure a quick overview of the attractions of the landmarks. A novel non-parametric TOC generation and set-based ranking algorithm, MoM-DPM Sets, is proposed as the key technology of Agate. Experimental results based on human evaluation show the effectiveness of our model and users' preference for Agate.

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

user interest modeling
set-based ranking


refinements and multi-dimensional separation of concerns Step-wise refinement (SWR) asserts that complex programs can be derived from simple programs by progressively adding features. The length of a program specification is the number of features that the program has. Critical to the scalability of SWR are multi-dimensional models that separate orthogonal feature sets. Let n be the dimensionality of a model and k be the number of features along a dimension. We show program specifications that could be O(k n ) features long have short and easy-to-understand specifications of length O(kn) when multi-dimensional models are used. We present new examples of multidimensional models: a micro example of a product-line (whose programs are 30 lines of code) and isomorphic macro examples (whose programs exceed 30K lines of code). Our work provides strong evidence that SWR scales to synthesis of large systems.

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

program
systems
examples
scalability
code
multidimensional separation of concerns
synthesis
evidence
model
feature
refinements

genvoca
macros
product line
program synthesis
separation-of-concerns
feature-oriented programming
complexity
critic
ahead
origami


fractionally-sampled blind channel estimation for a mobile communication system This paper introduces a blind channel estimation method for a block transmission system in which symbols are transmitted in blocks. In most of digital communication systems, low-pass filters are placed at a transmitter to confine the transmitting waveform to an allocated bandwidth and at a receiver to improve signal-to-noise power ratio. Consequently, if the received waveform is sampled with sufficiently fast rate, the resulting discrete-time signal is band-limited and exhibits a smooth waveform. The method exploits this smooth property for estimating the channel impulse response, via an interpolation formula. One block of transmission is sufficient to estimate the channel, making the method suitable for mobile communication environment, in which the channel characteristic changes in a relatively short time span. No knowledge of input statistics or the autocorrelation of the received signals is required.

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

blind channel estimation
block transmission

fractionally-sampled estimation
deterministic estimation


Modelling the early phases of bone regeneration around an endosseous oral implant The objective of this study was to see whether a mathematical model of fracture healing was able to mimic bone formation around an unloaded screw-shaped titanium implant as it is well-believed that both processes exhibit many biological similarities. This model describes the spatio-temporal evolution of cellular activities, ranging from mesenchymal stem cell migration, proliferation, differentiation to bone formation, which are initiated and regulated by the growth factors present at the peri-implant site. For the simulations, a finite volume code was used and adequate initial and boundary conditions were applied. Two sets of analyses have been performed, in which either initial and boundary condition or model parameter values were changed with respect to the fracture healing model parameter values. For a number of combinations, the spatio-temporal evolution of bone density was well-predicted. However reducing cell proliferation rate and increasing osteoblast differentiation and osteogenic growth factor synthesis rates, the simulation results were in agreement with the experimental data.

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

mathematical model
bone regeneration
oral implant


Training an Active Random Field for Real-Time Image Denoising Many computer vision problems can be formulated in a Bayesian framework based on Markov random fields (MRF) or conditional random fields (CRF). Generally, the MRF/CRF model is learned independently of the inference algorithm that is used to obtain the final result. In this paper, we observe considerable gains in speed and accuracy by training the MRF/CRF model together with a fast and suboptimal inference algorithm. An active random field (ARF) is defined as a combination of a MRF/CRF based model and a fast inference algorithm for the MRF/CRF model. This combination is trained through an optimization of a loss function and a training set consisting of pairs of input images and desired outputs. We apply the ARF concept to image denoising, using the Fields of Experts MRF together with a 1-4 iteration gradient descent algorithm for inference. Experimental validation on unseen data shows that the ARF approach obtains an improved benchmark performance as well as a 1000-3000 times speedup compared to the Fields of Experts MRF. Using the ARF approach, image denoising can be performed in real-time, at 8fps on a single CPU for a 256 x 256 image sequence, with close to state-of-the-art accuracy.

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

conditional random field (crf) training
markov random field (mrf) training


on-chip 3.3v-to-1.8v voltage down converter for low-power vlsi chips This paper proposes a new on-chip 3.3V-to-1.8V voltage down converter, which employs a new reference voltage generator (RVG) and a PMOS pass device with forward-biased source-to-bulk circuit. By the use of the forward-biased source-to-bulk technique, the circuit achieves approximately an 18\% output current improvement over its nonforward-biased state. The proposed VDC has characteristic such as output voltage (V out ) is stabilized within 6mV over a large load current range (0-100mA) and within 0.16\% for 10\% variation of supply voltage. The temperature dependency of Vout is only 0.53mV/0 C with temperature ranging from 0 to 100 0 C.

O O B I I 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 O O O O O

dc-to-dc
forward-biased source-to-bulk technique
3.3v-to-1.8v


M_OBS_SIM: A powerful modular optical burst switched (OBS) network SIMulator This paper introduces M_OBS_SIM, a network simulator conceived to evaluate the performance of networks where the Optical Burst Switching (OBS) paradigm is implemented. Its accurate design allows to investigate the behavior of optical edge and core routers, as well as to assess the performance of the whole optical network; its modular construction guarantees a high degree of flexibility and a facilitated introduction of further developments. Its functional blocks, properly configured, allow to explore the effects that the most salient features of an OBS network - input traffic statistics, assembly algorithms, resource reservation policies, routing strategies - have on user performance. New and valuable results for different classes of applications with diverse service requirements are provided and discussed. (C) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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

optical network simulator
edge-to-edge performance evaluation


the learning complexity of smooth functions of a single variable We study the on-line learning of classes of functions of a single real variable formed through bounds on various norms of functions' derivatives. We determine the best bounds obtainable on the worst-case sum of squared errors (also absolute errors) for several such classes.

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


A novel virtual node approach for interactive visual analytics of big datasets in parallel coordinates Create virtual nodes that innovatively makes direct mouse click on data items possible in parallel coordinates visualization. Refine the classification of visual interactions into a four-layer model. The new approach can handle visualization and interaction with extremely large dataset.

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 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

big data
hierarchical clustering
multidimensional data visualization
data retrieval


Delaunay partitions in Rn applied to non-convex programs and vertex/facet enumeration problems Using a pair of theorems linking Delaunay partitions and linear programming, we develop a method to generate all simplices in a Delaunay partition of a set of points, and suggest an application to a piecewise linear non-convex optimization problem. The same method is shown to enumerate all facets of a polytope given as the convex hull of a finite set of points. The dual problem of enumerating all vertices of a polytope P defined as the intersection of a finite number of half-spaces is also addressed and solved by sequentially enumerating vertices of expanding polytopes defined within P. None of our algorithms are affected by degeneracy. Examples and computational results are given.

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

delaunay simplices
voronoi diagrams
global optimization
facet enumeration
vertex enumeration


A distributed QoS mechanism for ad hoc network This paper presents a new mechanism of QoS Medium Access in ad hoc IEEE 802.11 network. The Distributed Coordination Function Ad Hoc (DCFAH) offers a fair medium access mechanism and a minimum bandwidth to all stations that ask for Quality of Service (QoS). Also is concerned about the delay and jitter metrics. The DCFAH uses the Enhanced Distributed Channel Access (EDCA) mechanism to provide the difference of QoS services among flows inside a station. The fairness of DCFAH is provided with the use of a distributed control mechanism during the QoS period. The DCFAH also provides the Best Effort (BE) service to applications that do not need QoS.

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


Algebraic-coalgebraic specification in COCASL We introduce COCASL as a light-weight but expressive coalgebraic extension of the algebraic specification language CASL. COCASL allows the nested combination of algebraic datatypes and coalgebraic process types. Moreover, it provides syntactic sugar for an observer-indexed modal logic that allows e.g. expressing fairness properties. This logic includes a generic definition of modal operators for observers with structured equational result types. We prove existence of final models for specifications in a format that allows the use of equationally specified initial datatypes as observations, as well as modal axioms. The use Of COCASL is illustrated by specifications of the process algebras CSP and CCS. (c) 2005 Published by Elsevier Inc.

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


Approximations of the packet error rate under quasi-static fading in direct and relayed links The packet error rate (PER) is a metric of choice to compute the practical performance of communication systems experiencing block fading, e.g., fading processes whose coherence time is relatively slow when compared to the symbol transmission rate. For these types of channels, we derive a closed-form asymptotic expression which approximates the value of the PER for high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). We also provide another approximation based on a unit-step formulation of the symbol error rate (SER). We show that the two approximations are related and may be derived from one another, thereby allowing us to obtain closed-form approximations of the block fading PER in both coded and uncoded systems. We then show how these approximations may be used in practice, through the derivation of a packet error outage (PEO) metric covering the case where the links experience shadowing on top of block fading, as well as asymptotically optimal power allocations in relay channels under a block fading hypothesis.

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

slow fading channels
block fading channel
relay channel


Current-division-based digital frequency tuning for active RC filters This manuscript presents a novel digital frequency tuning technique for integrated active RC filters. Unlike the traditional tuning approach of varying the values of the capacitors or resistors, the proposed technique achieves the tuning by varying the currents that flow through the resistors or capacitors. In this manuscript, the current varying is achieved by using a digital-controlled MOSFET-only current division network. This new tuning technique features digital tuning, compact size, and wide tuning range as well as high linearity as demonstrated by transistor-level circuit simulations.

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

digital frequency tuning
current division


Improving hardware Trojan detection by retiming Effects of path-delays on Trojan testability are studied by analysis and experiment. A retiming algorithm, namely TDR, is proposed to enhance Trojan-detection probability. TDR works by reducing the process noise during path-delay fingerprinting. Trojan detectability is highly improved (up to about 100% if false-alarm rate=2%).

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

hardware trojan horses
design for hardware trust
trust-driven synthesis
path-delay fingerprinting


A system for international telemedicine through integrated synchronous/asynchronous collaboration To support international medical collaboration activities carried out among Japan, Sri Lanka and other countries in Asia, we have been developing a collaboration system, which incorporates synchronous and asynchronous collaboration paradigms through network-effective persistent information sharing. The designed system facilitates synchronous collaborative work on maxillo-facial cases through real-time high-quality image delivery and by bringing the system database objects to a shared-workspace. The asynchronous activities are supported through a web based collaborative environment that enables both activity-centric and object-centric navigation of collaboration contents incorporated with email notifications of the system updates. Multimedia records of synchronous sessions are posted to the system database for later reviewing. Geographically dispersed groups experiencing different scales of network heterogeneities are served by a distributed application level multicast overlay and an adaptive multimedia delivery mechanism. The designed collaboration system also features several useful collaboration tools, user friendly GUI and ubiquitous connectivity.

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

application level multicast
adaptive multimedia delivery
telemedicine


Protein

conformational

flexibility

analysis

with

noisy

data

Protein

conformational

changes

play

a

critical

role

in

biological

functions

such

as

ligand-protein

and

protein-protein

interactions.

Due

to

the

noise

in

structural

data,

determining

salient

conformational

changes

reliably

and

efficiently

is

a

challenging

problem.

This

paper

presents

an

efficient

algorithm

for

analyzing

protein

conformational

changes,

when

the

data

is

noisy.

It

applies

a

statistical

flexibility

test

to

all

contiguous

fragments

of

a

protein

and

combines

the

information

from

these

tests

to

compute

a

consensus

flexibility

measure

for

each

residue

of

the

protein.

We

tested

the

algorithm

using

data

from

the

Protein

Data

Bank

and

the

Macromolecular

Movements

Database.

The

results

show

that

our

algorithm

can

reliably

detect

different

types

of

salient

conformational

changes,

including

well-known

examples

such

as

hinge

and

shear,

as

well

as

the

flap

motion

of

protease.

The

software

implementing

our

algorithm

is

available

at

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

algorithms
biology
computational molecular biology


Shortcut method for reliability comparisons in RAID Given that the reliability of each disk in a disk array during its useful lifetime is given as r=1?? with ??1, we show that the reliability of a RAID disk array tolerating all possible n?1 disk failures can be specified as R?1?an?n, where an is the smallest nonzero coefficient in the corresponding asymptotic expansion, e.g., for n-way replication R=1??n. We compare the reliability of several mirrored disk organizations, which provide tradeoffs between reliability and load balancedness (after disk failure) by comparing their a2 values, which can be obtained via a partial reliability analysis taking into account a few disk failures. We next use asymptotic expansions to compare the reliability of hierarchical RAID disk arrays, which combine replication and rotated parity disk arrays (RAID5 and RAID6). Finally, we argue that the mean time to data loss in systems with repair is related to the reliability without repair. As part of this discussion we show how to estimate the mean time to data loss in RAID5 and RAID6 disk arrays without resorting to transient analysis.

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

redundant arrays of independent disks raid


Longitudinal sampling and aliasing in spiral CT Although analyses of in-plane aliasing have been done for conventional computed tomography (CT) images, longitudinal aliasing in spiral CT has not been properly investigated. We propose a mathematical model of the three-dimensional (3-D) sampling scheme in spiral CT and analyze its effects on longitudinal aliasing, We investigated longitudinal aliasing as a function of the helical-interpolation algorithm, pitch, and reconstruction interval using CT simulations and actual phantom scans, Our model predicts, and we verified, that for a radially uniform object at the isocenter, the spiral sampling scheme results in spatially varying cancellation of the aliased spectral islands which, in turn, results in spatially varying longitudinal aliasing. The aliasing is minimal at the scanner isocenter, but,worsens with distance from it and rapidly becomes significant, Our results agree with published results observed at the isocenter of the scanner and further provide new insight into the aliasing conditions at off-isocenter locations with respect to the pitch, interpolation algorithm, and reconstruction interval, We conclude that longitudinal aliasing at off-isocenter locations can be significant, and that its magnitude and effects cannot be predicted bg measurements made only at the scanner isocenter.

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

longitudinal aliasing
sampling
spiral ct


NORMALIZATION IN TYPE-2 FUZZY RELATIONAL DATA MODEL BASED ON FUZZY FUNCTIONAL DEPENDENCY USING FUZZY FUNCTIONS In fuzzy relational databases, the data dependencies, especially the fuzzy functional dependency(ffd) plays an important role in maintaining the consistency of the database and in avoiding the redundant storage of the data. In the past, it has been shown that the type-2 fuzzy relational databases captures impreciseness and incompleteness in data in a better way. The aim of this paper is to provide the concepts for database normalization in a type-2 fuzzy relational database, so that the normalized schemas can be obtained. Here, we deal with the fuzzy functional dependency(ffd) based normalization of type-2 fuzzy relational databases. We use the concepts of fuzzy functions to derive the fuzzy equality and using this fuzzy equality, we define a new definition of fuzzy functional dependency. First we discuss various approaches proposed by the researchers in this context and show why our fuzzy functional dependency is better, as compared to the earlier ffds proposed by the researchers. We call our ffd as non-0 LHS ffd. We identify an anomaly called "spurious ffd" and show that some of the significant contributions proposed by the earlier researchers are suffering from this anomaly, but the non-0 LHS ffd does not suffer from it. Then, we prove that the set of inference rules for the non-0 LHS ffd are sound and complete. We use the definition of non-0 LHS ffd in obtaining the first three normal forms upto BCNF for type-1 and type-2 fuzzy relational schemas. The result of the decomposition and the procedure to obtain the membership value of the decomposed relations is proposed. The associated concepts like the fuzzy key, fuzzy superkey, fuzzy foreign key are defined in terms of non-0 LHS ffd. On the basis of these concepts, we define full ffd, partial ffd etc. In the last, we show that in our case, the relationship of total-ordering between the three normal forms in classical relational databases is also observed.

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 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 I I 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 O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 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

fuzzy relational database
fuzzy functional dependency
fuzzy key


Digital lock in amplifier: study, design and development with a digital signal processor In this work, the study, design and development of a Digital Lock In Amplifier (DLIA) with a Digital Signal Processor (DSP) DSP32C from AT&T is presented. To synchronize the DLIA oscillator with external signal, a Discrete Phase Locked Loop (DPLL) is added to the systems. A theoretical introduction of both systems is also presented. The algorithm of the DPLL presented is valid only for constant uniform sampling frequency.

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 I 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

discrete phase locked loop
lock in amplifier

digital signal processing
phase locked loop


Introducing k-point parallelism into VASP For many years ab initio electronic structure calculations based upon density functional theory have been one of the main application areas in high performance computing (HPC). Typically, the KohnSham equations are solved by minimisation of the total energy functional, using a plane wave basis set for valence electrons and pseudopotentials to obviate the representation of core states. One of the best known and widely used software for performing this type of calculation is the Vienna Ab initio Simulation Package, VASP, which currently offers a parallelisation strategy based on the distribution of bands and plane wave coefficients over the machine processors. We report here an improved parallelisation strategy that also distributes the k-point sampling workload over different processors, allowing much better scalability for massively parallel computers. As a result, some difficult problems requiring large k-point sampling become tractable in current computing facilities. We showcase three important applications: dielectric function of epitaxially strained indium oxide, solution energies of tetravalent dopants in metallic VO2, and hydrogen on graphene.

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

methods of electronic structure calculations


Nonlinear canonical correlation analysis by neural networks Canonical correlation analysis (CCA) is widely used to extract the correlated patterns between two sets of variables. A nonlinear canonical correlation analysis (NLCCA) method is formulated here using three feedforward neural networks. The first network has a double-barreled architecture, and an unconventional cost function, which maximizes the correlation between the two output neurons (the canonical variates). The remaining two networks map from the canonical variates back to the original two sets of variables. Tested on data sets with correlated nonlinear structures, NLCCA showed that the underlying nonlinear structures could be retrieved accurately under moderately noisy conditions. After a mode had been retrieved, NLCCA was applied to the residual to successfully retrieve the next mode. When tested for prediction skills, the NLCCA outperformed the CCA when the two sets of variables contained correlated nonlinear structures.

B I I I O B I 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 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


Do three-part tariffs improve efficiency in residential broadband networks? We analyze subscriber usage data from an Internet Service Provider that sells service using three-part tariff and unlimited plans. Subscribers facing three-part tariffs have lower average usage than subscribers on unlimited plans, and differences among heavy users explain nearly all the overall difference. Hence, the three-part tariff saves network costs and narrows the gap, between light and heavy users, in price per Gigabyte used. However, subscribers facing three-part tariffs cut usage similarly during peak and off-peak hours. Since off-peak usage adds no network costs, these off-peak usage reductions lower welfare. Differentially pricing peak usage could further enhance efficiency.

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 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


Space-time series modelling of beach and shoreline data This paper focuses on utilizing Box-Jenkins modelling procedures to identify models which best describe a time series (1978-1993) of beach and shoreline data collected from the Northeast Beach, Point Pelee, Lake Erie, Canada. The results highlight the influence of localized stochastic processes on beach sediment flux levels and on shoreline change. A spatial autoregressive model best describes the variation for beach net sediment flux. The model reinforces the hypothesis that beach net sediment flux in adjacent sites are interdependent and represent the cumulative spatial effects of short-term sediment Row processes such as longshore drift and persistent localized sediment circulation cells. Additional findings also suggest that a space-time autoregressive model best fits the data on spatial-temporal variations of shoreline retreat. The implication of this model is that the shoreline will retreat quite rapidly, but readjusts to an aggradational state at a much slower rate. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

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

box-jenkins
beach variations
spatial-temporal


Fan-type degree condition restricted to triples of induced subgraphs ensuring Hamiltonicity By restricting Fan-type degree condition to induced subgraphs of graphs, we enlarge the graph classes ensuring Hamiltonicity. It is the first time to find certain triples of Fan-type heavy subgraphs for Hamiltonicity of 2-connected graphs. Our work will give new views to the topic of Hamiltonicity, and stimulate the further studies for finding sufficient conditions for Hamiltonicity.

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

combinatorial problems
hamilton cycle
fan-type degree condition
induced subgraph
claw


Fast-path I/O architecture for high performance streaming server In a disk-network scenario where expensive data transfers are the norm, such as in multimedia streaming applications, for example, a fast-path I/O architecture is generally considered to be "good practice." Here, I/O performance can be improved through minimizing the number of in-memory data movements and context switches. In this paper, we report the results of the design and implementation of a high-performance streaming server using cheap hardware units assembled directly on a test card (i.e., NS card). The hardware part of our architecture is open to further reuse, extension, and integration with other applications even in the case of inexpensive and/or faster hardware. From the viewpoint of software-aided I/O, we offer Stream Disk Array (SDA) for scatter/gather-style block I/O, EXT3NS multimedia file system for large-scale file I/O, and interoperable streaming server for stream 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

fast-path i/o
zero-copy
ext3ns file system
network storage card (ns card)


Major Genomic Events and Their Consequences for Vertebrate Evolution and Endocrinology Comparative studies of proteins often face the problem of distinguishing a true orthologue (species homologue) from a paralogue (a gene duplicate). This identification task is particularly challenging for endocrine peptides and neuropeptides because they are short and usually have several invariant positions. For some peptide families, this has led to a terminology with peptide names relating to the first species where a specific peptide sequence was determined, such as chicken or salmon gonadotropin-releasing hormone, or names that highlight amino acid differences, e.g., Lys-vasopressin. With accumulating information from multiple species, such a terminology becomes almost impenetrable for nonexperts and difficult even for aficionados. The sequenced genomes offer a new way to distinguish orthologues and paralogues, namely by location of the genes relative to neighboring genes on the chromosomes. In addition, the genome databases can ideally provide a complete listing of the family members in each species. Many vertebrate gene families have expanded in the two basal tetraploidizations (2R) and the teleost fish third tetraploidization (3R), after which some vertebrate lineages have lost some of the duplicates. We review here some peptide families (neuropeptide Y, oxytocinvasopressin, and somatostatin) where genomic information helps simplify nomenclature. This approach is useful also for other gene families, such as peptide receptors.

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

receptor
chromosome
gene duplication
npy
pyy
oxytocin
vasopressin
vasotocin


How design characteristics of robots determine evaluation and uncanny valley related responses Categories of robots with distinct design characteristics were identified. Relationships between design and evaluation of robots are outlined. Contrasting the uncanny valley a cubic function did not fit our data best.

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


interfacing ada 95 to microsoft com and dcom technologies COM, the Component Object Model, and DCOM, Distributed COM, were introduced as the underlying technologies of Microsoft's second version of OLE, but have since proven their utility as powerful model for distributed systems. This paper intends to introduce COM and DCOM to the Ada community and demonstrate how to create and use objects that conform to these models.

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


The effects of gratifications on intention to read citizen journalism news: The mediating effect of attitude The indirect effects of gratifications on intention to read citizen journalism news. Using a survey conducted across nearly 300 users, hypotheses were tested. All gratifications, except for escape, have direct effects on attitude. However, none of the gratifications has a direct effect on intention. Attitude mediates the path between all gratifications and intention.

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 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


cophir image collection under the microscope The Content-based Photo Image Retrieval (CoPhIR) dataset is the largest available database of digital images with corresponding visual descriptors. It contains five MPEG-7 global descriptors extracted from more than 106 million images from Flickr photo-sharing system. In this paper, we analyze this dataset focusing on 1) efficiency of similarity-based indexing and searching and on 2) expressiveness of combination of the descriptors with respect to subjective perception of visual similarity. We treat the descriptors as metric spaces and then combine them into a multi-metric space. We analyze distance distributions of individual descriptors, measure intrinsic dimensionality of these datasets and statistically evaluate correlation between these descriptors. Further, we use two methods to assess subjective accuracy and satisfaction of similarity retrieval based on a combination of descriptors that is recommended for CoPhIR, and we compare these results on databases of 10 and 100 million CoPhIR images. Finally, we suggest, explore and evaluate two approaches to improve the accuracy: 1) applying logarithms in order to weaken influence of a single descriptor contribution if it deviates from the rest, and 2) the possibility of categorization of the dataset and identifying visual characteristics important for individual categories.

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


Two step composite quantile regression for single-index models This paper is concerned with composite quantile regression for single-index models. Under mild conditions, we show that the linear composite quantile regression offers a consistent estimate of the index parameter vector. With a root-n n consistent estimate of the index vector, the unknown link function can be estimated by local composite quantile regression. This procedure enables us to reduce the computational cost and is also appealing in high-dimensional data analysis. We show that the resulting estimator of the composite quantile function performs asymptotically as efficiently as if the true value of the index vector is known. The simulation studies and real data applications are conducted to illustrate the finite sample performance of the proposed methods.

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

linearity condition
local polynomial regression
single-index model


Automated design of thin-walled packaging structures This paper presents an automated method to generate thin-walled packaging structures with reinforcement. This method first obtains a thin-walled design space compose of hexahedral elements, which covers the models to be packaged without undercut effect. After the proper boundary conditions are assigned by designers, topology optimization is applied to identify the optimal placement of reinforcement. This automated method can also be used to generate foam packaging structures. Design examples are presented to demonstrate the efficiency of this method.

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

thin-walled packaging
optimal reinforcement


Discovering Activities to Recognize and Track in a Smart Environment The machine learning and pervasive sensing technologies found in smart homes offer unprecedented opportunities for providing health monitoring and assistance to individuals experiencing difficulties living independently at home. In order to monitor the functional health of smart home residents, we need to design technologies that recognize and track activities that people normally perform as part of their daily routines. Although approaches do exist for recognizing activities, the approaches are applied to activities that have been preselected and for which labeled training data are available. In contrast, we introduce an automated approach to activity tracking that identifies frequent activities that naturally occur in an individual's routine. With this capability, we can then track the occurrence of regular activities to monitor functional health and to detect changes in an individual's patterns and lifestyle. In this paper, we describe our activity mining and tracking approach, and validate our algorithms on data collected in physical smart environments.

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

activity recognition
data mining
sequence mining
clustering


Hybrid multi-agent framework for detection of stealthy probes Probing tools are widely used to discover system information. Once the information is known, attackers can launch computer attacks against the vulnerable services running on the system. Even though current computer systems are protected against known attacks by implementing a number of access restriction policies, protection against novel attacks still remains as an elusive goal for the researchers. Attackers defeat current protection and detection mechanisms by exploiting unknown weakness and bugs in system and application software. Stealthy and low profile probes that include only a few carefully crafted packets over an extended period of time are used to delude firewalls and intrusion detection systems (IDS). Building effective IDSs, unfortunately, has remained an elusive goal owing to the great technical challenges involved and applied AI techniques are increasingly being utilized in attempts to overcome the difficulties. This paper presents computational intelligent agents-based approach to detect computer probes at the originating host. We also investigate and compare the performance of different classifiers used for detecting probes, with respect to the data collected on a real network that includes a variety of simulated probe attacks and the normal activity. Through a variety of experiments and analysis, it is found that with appropriately chosen network features computer probes can be detected in real time or near real time at the originating host. Using the detection information, an effective response mechanism can be implemented at the boundary controllers.

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 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

intrusion detection systems
stealthy probes


A Case for Hybrid Discrete-Continuous Architectures Current technology trends indicate that power- and energy-efficiency will limit chip throughput in the future. Current solutions to these problems, either in the way of programmable or fixed-function digital accelerators will soon reach their limits as microarchitectural overheads are successively trimmed. A significant departure from current computing methods is required to carry forward computing advances beyond digital accelerators. In this paper we describe how the energy-efficiency of a large class of problems can be improved by employing a hybrid of the discrete and continuous models of computation instead of the ubiquitous, traditional discrete model of computation. We present preliminary analysis of domains and benchmarks that can be accelerated with the new model. Analysis shows that machine learning, physics and up to one-third of SPEC, RMS and Berkeley suite of applications can be accelerated with the new hybrid model.

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

hybrid systems
processor architectures
design studies


Optimal tradeoffs for location-based routing in large-scale ad hoc networks Existing location-based routing protocols are not versatile enough for a large-scale ad hoc environment to simultaneously meet all of the requirements of scalability, bandwidth efficiency, energy efficiency, and quality-of-service routing. To remedy this deficiency, we propose an optimal tradeoff approach that: 1) constructs a hybrid routing protocol by combining well-known location-update schemes (i.e., proactive location updates within nodes' local regions and a distributed location service), and 2) derives its optimal configuration, in terms of location-update thresholds (both distance- and time-based), to minimize the overall routing overhead. We also build a route-discovery scheme based on an Internet-like architecture, i.e., first querying the location of a destination, then applying a series of local-region routing until finding a complete route by aggregating the thus-found partial routes. To find the optimal thresholds for the hybrid protocol, we derive the costs associated with both location updates and route discovery as a function of location-update thresholds, assuming a random mobility model and a general distribution for route request arrivals. The problem of minimizing the total cost is then cast into a distributed optimization problem. We first prove that the total cost is a convex function of the thresholds, and then derive the optimal thresholds. Finally, we show, via simulation, that our analysis results indeed capture the real behavior.

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 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

location-based routing
mobile ad hoc networks


polynomial algorithms for partitioning problems on graphs with fixed clique-width (extended abstract) We consider three graph partitioning problems, both from the vertices and the edges point of view. These problems are dominating set, list- q -coloring with costs (fixed number of colors q ) and coloring with non-fixed number of colors. They are all known to be NP-hard in general. We show that all these problems (except edge-coloring) can be solved in polynomial time on graphs with clique-width bounded by some constant k , if the k -expression of the input graph is also given. In particular, we present the first polynomial algorithms (on these classes) for chromatic number, edge-dominating set and list- q -coloring with costs (fixed number of colors q , both vertex and edge versions). Since these classes of graphs include classes like P 4 -sparse graphs, distance hereditary graphs and graphs with bounded treewidth, our algorithms also apply to these graphs.

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

dominating set
coloring
polynomial algorithms

edge-coloring
clique-width
edge-dominating set


Semantic component networking: Toward the synergy of static reuse and dynamic clustering of resources in the knowledge grid ? Model is a kind of codified knowledge that has been verified in solving problems. Solving a complex problem usually needs a set of models. Using components, the composition of a set of closely related models, could enhance the efficiency of solving problems as components are experience in form of knowledge network. Mappings between components vary with the relevancy of problems. Such mappings can help retrieve appropriate components when solving new problems. This paper investigates the relationship between components to identify these mappings by a set of semantic links and develops relevant rules to form a mechanism for semantically networking and using components. Flexible component reuse can be realized by semantic retrieval and rule reasoning. Extending the notion of component to a general service mechanism, this paper further investigates the organization, reuse and clustering of components in form of Web services and research spaces. The semantic component networking overlay supports intelligent e-Science Knowledge Grid applications by the synergy of static reuse and dynamic clustering of various research spaces and resources on-demand.

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

component
model
reasoning
reuse
rules
knowledge grid
service
web