Introducing privileged words: Privileged complexity of Sturmian words In this paper we introduce a new class of so-called privileged words which have been previously considered only a little. We develop the basic properties of privileged words, which turn out to share similar properties with palindromes. Privileged words are studied in relation to previously studied classes of words, rich words, Sturmian words and episturmian words. A new characterization of Sturmian words is given in terms of privileged complexity. The privileged complexity of the Thue-Morse word is also briefly studied. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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

sturmian words
palindromes
privileged words
rich words


Virtual indurator: A tool for simulation of induration of wet iron ore pellets on a moving grate Pelletization of iron ore fines is an important step in an integrated steel plant. It essentially involves balling of line powders on a rotating disk or drum to produce wet pellets and induration on a moving grate to produce fired pellets. The development of a user-friendly simulation tool, virtual indurator, for induration is presented here. The simulator is based on a phenomenological model of induration. The mean diameter and moisture content of wet pellets, composition and temperature of inlet gas, firing hood temperature profile, pellet bed and hearth layer heights, and furnace design parameters such as grate length are used as model inputs. The model predicts bed and gas temperature and composition profiles, burn-through point temperature and its location, etc. This simulator can be utilized for improving furnace productivity, for optimizing fuel costs and as an operator training simulator. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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

pelletization
induration
simulator
iron ore
moving grate


Explaining and predicting users' continuance intention toward e-learning: An extension of the expectation-confirmation model Although e-learning has been prompted to various education levels, the intention to continue using such systems is still very low, and the acceptance-discontinuance anomaly phenomenon (i.e., users discontinue using e-learning after initially accepting it) is a common occurrence. This paper synthesizes the expectation-confirmation model (ECM), the technology acceptance model (TAM), the theory of planned behavior (TPB), and the flow theory to hypothesize a theoretical model to explain and predict the users' intentions to continue using e-learning. The hypothesized model is validated empirically using a sample collected from 363 learners of a Web-based learning program designed for continuing education. The results demonstrate that satisfaction has the most significant effect on users' continuance intention, followed by perceived usefulness, attitude, concentration, subjective norm, and perceived behavior control as significant but weaker predictors. The implications of these findings for e-learning practitioners are discussed at the end of this work. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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

expectation-confirmation model (ecm)
theory of planned behavior (tpb)
technology acceptance model (tam)
e-learning


Improving upstream transmission performance using a receiver with decision threshold level adjustment in a loopback WDM-PON We have experimentally demonstrated that the use of an optical receiver with decision threshold level adjustment (DTLA) improved the performance of an upstream transmission in reflective semiconductor optical amplifier (RSOA)-based loopback wavelength division multiplexing-passive optical network (WDM-PON). Even though the extinction ratio (ER) of the downstream signal was as much as 9dB and the injection power into the RSOA at the optical network unit was about ?24dBm, we successfully obtained error-free transmission results for the upstream signal through careful control of the decision threshold value in the optical receiver located at optical line terminal (OLT). Using an optical receiver with DTLA for upstream signal detection overcame significant obstacles related to the injection power into the RSOA and the ER of the downstream signal, which were previously considered limitations of the wavelength remodulation scheme. This technique is expected to provide flexibility for the optical link design in the practical deployment of a WDM-PON.

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


real-time tracking for sensor networks via sdp and gradient method The sensor tracking problem is an important problem studied in many different fields. But many of those studies use analysis or machine learning method rather than optimization method. Recently, several approaches have been proposed to solve the static version of the tracking problem, the sensor network localization problem, via Semi-definite Programming(SDP). In this paper, we analyze a new real-time sensor tracking scheme by combining the SDP approach and the gradient method. We show that this approach provides fast and accurate tracking for network sensors. We also discuss the problem of extracting information from the moving sensors, which could be used to predict their movements.

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


A hybrid ARFIMA and neural network model for electricity price prediction First, the ARFIMA model simulates the original series. Then, the FFNN is employed to model the residuals which are regarded as the nonlinear component. The final forecasts are the summed values of these two models.

O O B O O O O O B I 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

ann
hybrid model
nordpool electricity market


On storage of topological information The usefulness of topology in science and mathematics means that topological spaces must be studied, and computers must be used in this study. Here are examples of this need from physics: In classical physics, the Euclidean spaces and compact Hausdorff spaces that arise can be approximated by finite spaces, and the goal of this paper is to discuss such approximation. A recent nonclassical development in physics uses a version of such finite approximation to view the universe as finite and eternally changing, and this is also discussed. Finite spaces are completely determined by their specialization orders. As a special case, digital n-space, used to interpret Euclidean n-space and in particular, the computer screen, is also dealt with in terms of the specialization.

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

connected ordered topological space (cots)

skew (=stable) ( = stable ) compactness (=stable) ( = stable ) (=stable) ( = stable ) ( = stable )


Adaptive fuzzy tracking control of nonlinear time-delay systems with unknown virtual control coefficients In this paper, a novel adaptive fuzzy control scheme is proposed for a class of uncertain single-input and single-output (SISO) nonlinear time-delay systems with the lower triangular form. Fuzzy logic systems are used to approximate unknown nonlinear functions, then the adaptive fuzzy tracking controller is constructed by combining Lyapunov-Krasovskii functionals and the backstepping approach. The proposed controller guarantees uniform ultimate boundedness of all the signals in the closed-loop system, while the tracking error converges to a small neighborhood of the origin. An advantage of the proposed control scheme lies in that the number of adaptive parameters is not more than the order of the systems under consideration. Finally, simulation studies are given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed design scheme. (c) 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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 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

nonlinear time-delay systems
adaptive control
uncertainty


Predictable integration and reuse of executable real-time components RVN concept supports temporal- and functional-isolations using two-step deployment. A proof-of-concept case study demonstrates temporal-fault containment within an RVN. Results show the reuse property of RVNs without altering their temporal behaviour. Server-based communication supports RVNs predictable integration and reuse properties.

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

real-time components' integration
component reuse
hierarchical scheduling


hairy brushes Paint brushes are modeled as a collection of bristles which evolve over the course of the stroke, leaving a realistic image of a sumi brush stroke. The major representational units are (1) Brush: a compound object composed of bristles, (2) Stroke: a trajectory of position and pressure, (3) Dip: a description of the application of paint to a class of brushes, and (4) Paper: a mapping onto the display device. This modular system allows experimentation with various stochastic models of ink flow and color change. By selecting from a library of brushes, dips, and papers, the stroke can take on a wide variety of expressive textures.

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

stroke color experimentation paint device object flow modular image paper change class

select
applications
texture
systems
trajectories
collect
express
map
stochastic modeling
libraries
posit


Image-Guided Intraoperative Cortical Deformation Recovery Using Game Theory: Application to Neocortical Epilepsy Surgery During neurosurgery, nonrigid brain deformation prevents preoperatively-acquired images from accurately depicting the intraoperative brain. Stereo vision systems can be used to track intraoperative cortical surface deformation and update preoperative brain images in conjunction with a biomechanical model. However, these stereo systems are often plagued with calibration error, which can corrupt the deformation estimation. In order to decouple the effects of camera calibration from the surface deformation estimation, a framework that can solve for disparate and often competing variables is needed. Game theory, which was developed to handle decision making in this type of competitive environment, has been applied to various fields from economics to biology. In this paper, game theory is applied to cortical surface tracking during neocortical epilepsy surgery and used to infer information about the physical processes of brain surface deformation and image acquisition. The method is successfully applied to eight in vivo cases, resulting in an 81% decrease in mean surface displacement error. This includes a case in which some of the initial camera calibration parameters had errors of 70%. Additionally, the advantages of using a game theoretic approach in neocortical epilepsy surgery are clearly demonstrated in its robustness to initial conditions.

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

biomedical image processing
image registration


Adaptive probability-based broadcast forwarding in energy-saving sensor networks Networking protocols for multihop wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are required to simultaneously minimize resource usage as well as optimize performance metrics such as latency and reliability. This article explores the energy-latency-reliability tradeoff for broadcast in WSNs by presenting a new protocol called PBBF. Essentially, for a given reliability level, energy and latency are found to be inversely related and our study quantifies this relationship at the reliability boundary. Therefore, PBBF offers an application designer considerable flexibility in the choice of desired operation points. Furthermore, we propose an extension to dynamically adjust the PBBF parameters to minimize the input required from the designer.

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 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

design
sensor network
probabilistic protocols


Application of neuro-fuzz techniques to robust speed control of PMSM Purpose - The purpose of the paper is to find a simple structure of speed controller robust against drive parameter variations. Application of neuro-fuzzy technique in the controller of PI type creates proper nonlinear characteristics, which ensures controller robustness. Design/methodology/approach - The robustness of the controller is based on its nonlinear characteristic introduced by neuro-fuzzy technique. The paper proposes a novel approach to neural controller synthesis to be performed in two stages. The first stage consists in training the neuro-fuzzy system to form the proper shape of the control surface, which represents the nonlinear characteristic of the controller. At the second stage, the PI controller settings are adjusted by means of the random weight change procedure, which optimises the control quality index formulated in the paper. The synthesis is performed using simulation techniques and subsequently the behavior of a laboratory speed control system is validated in the experimental setup. The control algorithms of the system are performed by a microprocessor floating point DSP control system. Findings - The proposed controller structure with proper control surface created by the neuro-fuzzy technique guarantees expected robustness. Research limitations/implications - The proposed controller was tested on a single machine under well defined conditions. Further investigations are required before any industrial applications can be made. Practical implications - The proposed controller synthesis and its results may be very helpful in the robotic system where changing of system parameters is characteristic for many industrial robots and manipulators. Originality/value - The original method of robust controller synthesis was proposed and validated by simulation and experimental investigations.

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 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 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 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

motion
fuzzy control
magnetism
magnetic devices


Hierarchical classification of dynamically varying radar pulse repetition interval modulation patterns The central purpose of passive signal intercept receivers is to perform automatic categorization of unknown radar signals. Currently, there is an urgent need to develop intelligent classification algorithms for these devices due to emerging complexity of radar waveforms. Especially multifunction radars (MFRs) capable of performing several simultaneous tasks by utilizing complex, dynamically varying scheduled waveforms are a major challenge for automatic pattern classification systems. To assist recognition of complex radar emissions in modern intercept receivers, we have developed a novel method to recognize dynamically varying pulse repetition interval (PRI) modulation patterns emitted by MFRs. We use robust feature extraction and classifier design techniques to assist recognition in unpredictable real-world signal environments. We classify received pulse trains hierarchically which allows unambiguous detection of the subpatterns using a sliding window. Accuracy, robustness and reliability of the technique are demonstrated with extensive simulations using both static and dynamically varying PRI modulation patterns.

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

radar emitter classification
pulse train
scheduled pri modulation
multifunction radar
multi-layer perceptron
frequency agility


The use of automated feature extraction for diagnosing double inter-tropical convergence zones ? We develop an automated and user-trained algorithm that spatially analyzes satellite data and detects the presence of double inter-tropical convergence zones (DITCZ) and apply it to 30 years worth of satellite collected outgoing long-wave radiation data. The analysis of the data via vertical wavelet transform identifies DITCZ occurrences over the Indian Ocean in the last three decades.

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


Memory optimization in FPGA-accelerated scientific codes based on unstructured meshes This paper approaches the memory bottleneck problem in FPGA-accelerated codes processing unstructured meshes. A methodology to reduce the required memory bandwidth is presented and evaluated, based on the combined application of data sorting, coding and compression techniques. Sorting allows efficient streaming between the memory and the FPGA, improving data locality and avoiding redundant data requests. Coding achieves a compact representation of the mesh connectivity. Differential compression reduces the size of the mesh data. We propose a hardware implementation with low resource requirements, tailored to accelerators based on reconfigurable devices. The combination of techniques reduces the memory traffic of two computational problems down to an average 34% and 19% of their original sizes, respectively.

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


Vector bundles and codes on the Hermitian curve The construction of algebraic-geometry (AG) codes can be seen as a distinctly geometric process, and yet decoding procedures tend to rely on algebraic ideas that have no direct geometric interpretation. Recently, however, Trygve Johnsen observed that decoding can be viewed in abstract terms of a class of vector bundles on the underlying curve. The present paper describes these objects at a concrete computational level for the Hermitian codes C Omega(D,mP(infinity)) defined over F-q2 (q a power of 2). The construction of explicit. representations of the vector bundles by transition matrices involves finding functions on the curve that satisfy a certain property in their power series expansions around P-infinity computing the image of the corresponding global sections under Serre duality, and finding a suitable open cover of the curve. The cover enables any rational point to be expressed as a line bundle by a simple kind of transition function. A special case is considered in which these functions can be realized as ratios of linear forms.

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

algebraic-geometry (ag) codes
serres duality
transition matrix


A new integrated design concept evaluation approach based on vague sets Design concept evaluation which is in the end of conceptual design is one of the most critical decision points in product development. It relates to the final success of product development, because a poor design concept can rarely be compensated at the later stages. Design concept evaluation is a complicated multi-criteria decision-making problem under uncertain environments. Vague set theory is superior to fuzzy set theory in dealing with uncertain and imprecise judgments of decision makers (DMs) due to its ability of supporting opposing evidences. In this paper, a new integrated design concept evaluation approach based on vague sets is presented. Linguistic variables are transformed into vague numbers by vague set theory. Modified weighted least squares model (WSLM) based on vague sets is proposed to aggregate all individual judgments in group decision-making. Vague cross-entropy integrated with the technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) framework is proposed to rank the order of alternatives according to the synthetic vague decision matrix. Numerical example of design concept evaluation problem of a horizontal directional drilling (HDD) machine indicates that the proposed integrated approach is systematic and effective to solve design concept evaluation problem regardless of complexity of product.

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

design concept evaluation
vague sets
vague numbers
topsis

group decision-making
vague cross-entropy


Fabricating Articulated Characters from Skinned Meshes Articulated deformable characters are widespread in computer animation. Unfortunately, we lack methods for their automatic fabrication using modern additive manufacturing (AM) technologies. We propose a method that takes a skinned mesh as input, then estimates a fabricatable single-material model that approximates the 3D kinematics of the corresponding virtual articulated character in a piecewise linear manner. We first extract a set of potential joint locations. From this set, together with optional, user-specified range constraints, we then estimate mechanical friction joints that satisfy inter-joint non-penetration and other fabrication constraints. To avoid brittle joint designs, we place joint centers on an approximate medial axis representation of the input geometry, and maximize each joint's minimal cross-sectional area. We provide several demonstrations, manufactured as single, assembled pieces using 3D printers.

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

fabrication
additive manufacturing
animation


agent trust evaluation and team formation in heterogeneous organizations This demonstration highlights different aspects of the bottom-up assembly of multi-agent teams; illustrating trust evaluation of potential partners via experience- and reputation-based trust models, multi-dimensional trust evaluation of potential partners, task selection through personality-based modeling and team selection strategies that maximize a team's ability to function in dynamic environments. The demonstration format will be a software live demo with supporting slide shows.

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


Generic environments for knowledge management and visualization There is an increasing need for usable tools to support knowledge elicitation, formalization and management. As an answer to this need, this paper describes fully integrated semantic web frameworks, where users can represent and manage their knowledge in a visual way, without the need of semantic web experts as intermediaries. These frameworks typically incorporate an ontology editor, a resource editor, reasoning capabilities and intuitive interaction and visualization facilities. In particular, two frameworks are presented: IRCS, a system to semantically index, search, and navigate heterogeneous resources, and AWI, a collaborative environment aiming to collect and share knowledge of user communities. These generic frameworks were developed within applied research projects and used to create semantic web applications in different domains such as water management plants and business process management. An interesting aspect of these systems is that they provide visualization tools to present both ontologies and resources in a familiar and intuitive way in order to simplify their understanding. The use of effective visualization techniques is also investigated in the EasyOnto project, where a web application that graphically represents ontologies using different methods was developed.

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

knowledge visualization
integrated frameworks


A note on minimum makespan assembly plans An important class of problems in manufacturing are those in which there is an item to be produced, a set of components which can be assembled together to produce the item, and a set of identical machines capable to perform the assembly operations. After discussing several optimality criteria, we address the problem in which we want to select a sequence of assembly operations (assembly plan), and schedule the selected operations on the machines, in such a way to minimize the makespan. This problem generalizes P|tree|Cmax, i.e., the minimum makespan machine scheduling problem with tree-type precedence constraints, where the list of operations to be scheduled is known a priori. We show that the problem can be quite naturally modelled making use of Directed Hypergraphs, and describe a general heuristic, showing that in a particular but still relevant case it yields solutions with a bounded relative error. Computational results are presented.

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


A finite source multi-server inventory system with service facility In this article, we study a continuous review retrial inventory system with a finite source of customers and identical multiple servers in parallel. The customers arrive according a quasi-random process. The customers demand unit item and the demanded items are delivered after performing some service the duration of which is distributed as exponential. The ordering policy is according to (s, S) policy. The lead times for the orders are assumed to have independent and identical exponential distributions. The arriving customer who finds all servers are busy or all items are in service, joins an orbit. These orbiting customer competes for service by sending out signals at random times until she finds a free server and at least one item is not in the service. The inter-retrial times are exponentially distributed with parameter depending on the number of customers in the orbit. The joint probability distribution of the number of customer in the orbit, the number of busy servers and the inventory level is obtained in the steady state case. The Laplace-Stieltjes transform of the waiting time distribution and the moments of the waiting time distribution are calculated. Various measures of stationary system performance are computed and the total expected cost per unit time is calculated. The results are illustrated numerically. (c) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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


a simple, fast and scalable non-blocking concurrent fifo queue for shared memory multiprocessor systems A non-blocking FIFO queue algorithm for multiprocessor shared memory systems is presented in this paper. The algorithm is very simple, fast and scales very well in both symmetric and non-symmetric multiprocessor shared memory systems. Experiments on a 64-node SUN Enterprise 10000 a symmetric multiprocessorsystem and on a 64-node SGI Origin 2000 a cache coherent non uniform memory access multiprocessorsystem indicate that our algorithm considerably outperforms the best of the known alternatives in both multiprocessors in any level of multiprogramming. This work introduces two new, simple algorithmic mechanisms. The first lowers the contention to key variables used by the concurrent enqueue and/or dequeue operations which consequently results in the good performance of the algorithm, the second deals with the pointer recycling problem, an inconsistency problem that all non-blocking algorithms based on the compare-and-swap synchronisation primitive have to address. In our construction we selected to use compare-and-swap since compare-and-swap is an atomic primitive that scales well under contention and either is supported by modern multiprocessors or can be implemented efficiently on them.

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

shared memory
contention
cache
use
systems
enterprise
performance
access
algorithm
paper
multiprocessor

variability
atom
scalability
shared memory multiprocessors
concurrency
addressing
operability
memorialized
experience
pointers
coherence


A BOUNDED FINITE-DIFFERENCE DISCRETIZATION OF A TWO-DIMENSIONAL DIFFUSION EQUATION WITH LOGISTIC NONLINEAR REACTION In the present manuscript, we introduce a finite-difference scheme to approximate solutions of the two-dimensional version of Fisher's equation from population dynamics, which is a model for which the existence of traveling-wave fronts bounded within (0, 1) is a well-known fact. The method presented here is a nonstandard technique which, in the linear regime, approximates the solutions of the original model with a consistency of second order in space and first order in time. The theory of M-matrices is employed here in order to elucidate conditions under which the method is able to preserve the positivity and the boundedness of solutions. In fact, our main result establishes relatively flexible conditions under which the preservation of the positivity and the boundedness of new approximations is guaranteed. Some simulations of the propagation of a traveling-wave solution confirm the analytical results derived in this work; moreover, the experiments evince a good agreement between the numerical result and the analytical solutions.

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

fisher's equation
two-dimensional model
finite-difference scheme


an integrating pedagogical tool based on writing articles This article describes a teaching method based on the writing of review or vulgarization articles by the students in their fields of study. The best articles are published in a magazine distributed to data processing managers and practitioners. The advantages of this method and a list of evaluation criteria are presented.

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

tool
review
teaching
method
data processing
distributed
writing
evaluation


Moderating effects of governance on information infrastructure and e-government development Drawing from the resource complementarity perspective of the resource-based view of a firm, this study examines the complementary role of governance dimensionsnamely, voice and accountability, political stability, government effectiveness, regulatory quality, rule of law, and control of corruptionon the relationship between information infrastructure in a country and its e-government development. Based on publicly available archival data from 178 countries, our results provide support for the hypothesized model. Specifically, whereas political stability, government effectiveness, and rule of law moderated the relationship of information infrastructure with e-government development in a positive direction, voice and accountability and control of corruption moderated the relationship negatively. Further, the relationship between information infrastructure and e-government development was not contingent on regulatory quality. Our findings contribute to the theoretical discourse on e-government development by highlighting the complementary role of governance and provide suggestions for practice in managing e-government development by enhancing governance, thereby leveraging the effect of information infrastructure on e-government development.

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

diffusion of innovation
world wide web
(countries and regions)


On the stability of bubble functions and a stabilized mixed finite element formulation for the Stokes problem In this paper we investigate the relationship between stabilized and enriched finite element formulations for the Stokes problem. We also present it new stabilized mixed formulation for which the stability parameter is derived purely by the method of weighted residuals. This new formulation allows equal-order interpolation for the velocity and pressure fields. Finally, we show by counterexample that a direct equivalence between subgrid-based stabilized finite element methods and Galerkin methods enriched by bubble functions cannot be constructed for quadrilateral and hexahedral elements using standard bubble functions. Copyright (C) 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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

stabilized finite elements
stokes equations
multi-scale formulation
mixed methods
finite elements for fluids


comparing tag scheme variations using an abstract machine generator In this paper we study, in the context of a WAM-based abstract machine for Prolog, how variations in the encoding of type information in tagged words and in their associated basic operations impact performance and memory usage.We use a high-level language to specify encodings and the associated operations. An automatic generator constructs both the abstract machine using this encoding and the associated Prolog-to-bytecode compiler. Annotations in this language make it possible to impose constraints on the final representation of tagged words, such as the effectively addressable space (fixing, for example, the word size of the target processor / architecture), the layout of the tag and value bits inside the tagged word, and how the basic operations are implemented. We evaluate a large number of combinations of the different parameters in two scenarios: a) trying to obtain an optimal general-purpose abstract machine and b) automatically generating a specially-tuned abstract machine for a particular program. We conclude that we are able to automatically generate code featuring all the optimizations present in a hand-written, highly-optimized abstract machine and we can also obtain emulators with larger addressable space and better performance

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

warren's abstract machine
low-level representation optimization
compilation


A simple strategy to assess the error in the numerical wave number of the finite element solution of the Helmholtz equation ? The standard approach for goal oriented error estimation and adaptivity uses an error representation via an adjoint problem, based on the linear functional output representing the quantity of interest. For the assessment of the error in the approximation of the wave number for the Helmholtz problem (also referred to as dispersion or pollution error), this strategy cannot be applied. This is because there is no linear extractor producing the wave number from the solution of the acoustic problem. Moreover, in this context, the error assessment paradigm is reverted in the sense that the exact value of the wave number, ? , is known (it is part of the problem data) and the effort produced in the error assessment technique aims at obtaining the numerical wave number, ?H ? H , as a postprocess of the numerical solution, uH u H . The strategy introduced in this paper is based on the ideas used in the a priori analysis. A modified equation corresponding to a modified wave number ?m ? m is introduced. Then, the value of ?m ? m such that the modified problem better accommodates the numerical solution uH u H is taken as the estimate of the numerical wave number ?H ? H . Thus, both global and local versions of the error estimator are proposed. The obtained estimates of the dispersion error match the a priori predicted dispersion error and, in academical examples, the actual values of the error in the wave number.

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

wave problems
error estimation of wave number
dispersion/pollution error
goal oriented adaptivity
global/local estimates


Impulsive fractional differential equations with nonlinear boundary conditions In this paper, we study certain impulsive functional fractional differential equations with nonlinear boundary conditions. By means of monotone iterative method coupled with lower and upper solutions, some new sufficient conditions for the existence of solutions are established. (C) 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd

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

nonlinear boundary conditions
lower and upper solutions

fractional differential equation
monotone iterative technique


towards a practical model to facilitate reasoning about rest extensions and reuse We believe that there is a need for a practical model to visualize the structure and design rationale of REST, so researchers can study more easily the reutilization of this architectural style or parts of it, to the design of software solutions with different requirements than those of the early WWW. In this work we propose the utilization of extended influence diagrams to represent the structure and design rationale of an architectural style. The model is evaluated qualitatively by showing how a diagram of REST, populated with information extracted from the doctoral dissertation that introduced the term, is helpful to gain a better understanding of the properties and limitations of this style, and to reason about potential modifications for applications with different goals than those of the early WWW.

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

representational state transfer
architectural styles
network-based software
extended influence diagrams
software architecture
restful
web service
software design


Cache-efficient multigrid algorithms Multigrid is widely used as an efficient solver for sparse linear systems arising from the discretization of elliptic boundary value problems. Linear relaxation methods such as Gauss-Seidel and Red-Black Gauss-Seidel form the principal computational component of multigrid, and thus affect its efficiency. In the context of multigrid, these iterative solvers are executed for a small number of iterations (2-8). We exploit this property of the algorithm to develop a cache-efficient multigrid method, by focusing on improving the memory behavior of the linear relaxation methods. The efficiency in our cache-efficient linear relaxation algorithm comes from two sources: reducing the number of data cache and TLB misses, and reducing the number of memory references by keeping values register-resident. Our optimizations are applicable to multigrid applied to linear systems arising from constant coefficient elliptic PDEs on structured grids. Experiments on five modern computing platforms show a performance improvement of 1.15-2.7 times over a standard implementation of Full Multigrid V-Cycle.

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


Ab

initio

and

DFT

study

of

the

inner

mechanism

and

dynamic

stereochemistry

of

electrophilic

addition

reaction

of

bromine

to

The

inner

mechanism

and

dynamic

stereochemistry

of

electrophilic

addition

of

bromine

to

bisbenzotetracyclo[6.2.2.2(3,6).0(2,7)]tetradeca-4,9,11,13-tetraene(BBTT)

molecule

have

been

investigated

by

the

methods

of

quantum

chemistry.

The

structure

of

the

BBTT

molecule

has

been

studied

by

ab

initio

and

methods

using

the

and

basis

sets.

The

double

bonds

of

BBTT

molecule

are

endo-pyramidalized.

The

structure

and

stability

of

the

cationic

intermediates

and

products

of

the

addition

reaction

have

been

investigated

by

and

methods.

The

bridged

bromonium

cation

isomerized

into

the

more

stable

nonclassical

delocalized

N-

and

U-type

cations

and

the

difference

between

the

stability

of

these

cations

is

small.

For

the

determination

of

the

direction

of

addition

reaction

and

the

stereochemistry

of

the

products,

the

stability

of

nonclassical

delocalized

N-

and

U-type

ions

and

the

structure

of

their

cationic

centres

play

a

vital

role.

Since

the

cationic

centre

of

the

N-type

ion

is

in

interaction

with

the

benzene

ring

from

the

exo

face,

the

nucleofilic

attackof

the

bromide

anion

to

this

centre

occurs

from

the

endo

face

and

the

exo,endo-isomer

of

the

N-type

product

is

obtained.

The

attack

of

bromide

anion,

towards

the

cationic

centre

of

U-type

ion

from

the

endo

face

is

sterically

hindered

by

the

hydrogen

atom

therefore

the

attack

occurs

from

the

exo

face,

which

interacts

with

the

benzene

ring

and

the

more

stable

exo,exo-isomer

of

U-type

product

is

formed.

Although,

the

U-type

cation

was

kcal

more

stable

than

the

N-type

cation,

the

U-type

product

was

kcal

less

stable

than

the

N-type

product.

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


Structural and algorithmic properties for parametric minimum cuts We consider the minimum s, t-cut problem in a network with parametrized arc capacities. Following the seminal work of Gallo et al. (SIAM J. Comput. 18(1):30-55, 1989), classes of this parametric problem have been shown to enjoy the nice Structural Property that minimum cuts are nested, and the nice Algorithmic Property that all minimum cuts can be computed in the same asymptotic time as a single minimum cut by using a clever Flow Update step to move from one value of the parameter to the next. We present a general framework for parametric minimum cuts that extends and unifies such results. We define two conditions on parametrized arc capacities that are necessary and sufficient for (strictly) decreasing differences of the parametric cut function. Known results in parametric submodular optimization then imply the Structural Property. We show how to construct appropriate Flow Updates in linear time under the above conditions, implying that the Algorithmic Property also holds under these conditions. We then consider other classes of parametric minimum cut problems, without decreasing differences, for which we establish the Structural and/or the Algorithmic Property, as well as other cases where nested minimum cuts arise.

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

submodularity
minimum cut/maximum flow
parametric optimization
nested solutions
comparative statics


A multi-objective micro genetic ELM algorithm The extreme learning machine (ELM) is a methodology for learning single-hidden layer feedforward neural networks (SLFN) which has been proved to be extremely fast and to provide very good generalization performance. ELM works by randomly choosing the weights and biases of the hidden nodes and then analytically obtaining the output weights and biases for a SLFN with the number of hidden nodes previously fixed. In this work, we develop a multi-objective micro genetic ELM (?G-ELM) ( ? G - ELM ) which provides the appropriate number of hidden nodes for the problem being solved as well as the weights and biases which minimize the MSE. The multi-objective algorithm is conducted by two criteria: the number of hidden nodes and the mean square error (MSE). Furthermore, as a novelty, ?G-ELM ? G - ELM incorporates a regression device in order to decide whether the number of hidden nodes of the individuals of the population should be increased or decreased or unchanged. In general, the proposed algorithm reaches better errors by also implying a smaller number of hidden nodes for the data sets and competitors considered.

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

artificial neural networks
genetic algorithm
multi-objective optimization


Individual strategies in the tasks of graphical retrieval of technical drawings ? A cognitive environment for content-based technical drawing retrieval is proposed. It provides various meaningful graphic search patterns. Customization of search patterns is an effective way of query concretization. The retrieval system satisfies designers by relevance, transparency, control, and guidance. The environment allows a user to implement flexible search strategies.

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

fslg fuzzy spatial loaded graph
csg constructive solid geometry


Methods for aggregating intuitionistic uncertain linguistic variables and their application to group decision making With respect to multiple attribute group decision making (MAGDM) problems in which the attribute weights and the expert weights take the form of real numbers and the attribute values take the form of intuitionistic uncertain linguistic variables, new group decision making methods have been developed. First, operational laws, expected value definitions, score functions and accuracy functions of intuitionistic uncertain linguistic variables are introduced. Then, an intuitionistic uncertain linguistic weighted geometric average (IULWGA) operator and an intuitionistic uncertain linguistic ordered weighted geometric (IULOWG) operator are developed. Furthermore, some desirable properties of these operators, such as commutativity, idempotency, monotonicity and boundedness, have been studied, and an intuitionistic uncertain linguistic hybrid geometric (IULHG) operator, which generalizes both the IULWGA operator and the IULOWG operator, was developed. Based on these operators, two methods for multiple attribute group decision making problems with intuitionistic uncertain linguistic information have been proposed. Finally, an illustrative example is given to verify the developed approaches and demonstrate their practicality and effectiveness.

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 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 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

uncertain linguistic variable
intuitionistic fuzzy set
geometric operator


VLSI-DSP based real time solution of DSC-SRI for an ultrasound system In this paper, VLSI-DSP based a real time solution for Digital Scan Conversion (DSC) and speckle reduced imaging (SRI) of an ultrasonography (USG) are proposed. DSC is needed to convert the polar format data to Cartesian coordinate to make them compatible for the display device. To reduce Moire artifact a new interpolation algorithm is proposed which is a combination of warped distance based adaptive bilinear interpolation method and modified selective sampling technique. This new algorithm is implemented on TMS320C64x + DSP and is capable of processing 640 x 480 size images at the rate of 83 frames per second. Moreover, to reduce speckle noise a modified aggressive region growing filter is implemented on Xilinx XC2VP30 FPGA. It operates at 128.29 MHz frequency, which is equivalent to processing 417 frames per second. With such high frame rate, motion blind detection of the objects may be possible using USG. (C) 2011 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 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 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

ultrasound sonography
speckle reduction imaging
davinci


A genetic algorithm for combined topology and shape optimisations A method to find optimal topology and shape of structures is presented. With the first the optimal distribution of an assigned mass is found using an approach based on homogenisation theory, that seeks in which elements of a meshed domain it is present mass; with the second the discontinuous boundaries are smoothed. The problem of the optimal topology search has an ON/OFF nature and has suggested the employment of genetic algorithms. Thus in this paper a genetic algorithm has been developed, which uses as design variables, in the topology optimisation, the relative densities (with respect to effective material density) 0 or 1 of each element of the structure and, in the shape one, the coordinates of the keypoints of changeable boundaries constituted by curves. In both the steps the aim is that to find the variable sets producing the maximum stiffness of the structure, respecting an upper limit on the employed mass. The structural evaluations are carried out with a FEM commercial code, linked to the algorithm. Some applications have been performed and results compared with solutions reported in literature.

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

genetic algorithms
topology optimisation


A framework for evaluating the data-hiding capacity of image sources An information-theoretic model for image watermarking and data hiding is presented in this paper. Recent theoretical results are used to characterize the fundamental capacity limits of image watermarking and data-hiding systems. Capacity is determined by the statistical model used for the host image, by the distortion constraints on the data hider and the attacker, and by the information available to the data hider, to the attacker, and to the decoder. We consider autoregressive, block-DCT, and wavelet statistical models for images and compute data-hiding capacity for compressed and uncompressed host-image sources. Closed-form expressions are obtained under sparse-model approximations. Models for geometric attacks and distortion measures that are invariant to such attacks are considered.

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 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

autoregressive processes
discrete cosine transform
image modeling
information theory
minimax techniques
wavelets


the many facets of hci In the last ten years HCI, the study and practice of usability, has emerged as a multidisciplinary, multifaceted field. HCI is an essential knowledge area that pervades the computing field and should be included in every computing professional's education. Computing professionals need to create software, and other technologies, so that users will want to use them and will be able to effectively use them. User advocacy distinguishes the Information Technology discipline from the other computing disciplines. Graduates need to understand the many facets of HCI. These include not only understanding the design of the interface, but also the broader issues of the user experience, process and business concerns, challenges of distributed computing, the emergence of supportive technologies, and the impact of ubiquitous computing. This paper will introduce the key HCI concepts, and discuss the challenges, issues and future developments of the field that will drive Information Technology curriculum development.

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

human-computer interaction
design methods
usability engineering


A generation alternation model for usersystem cooperative evolutionary computation Usersystem cooperative evolution (CEUS) is an evolutionary computation (EC) method to optimize quantitative and qualitative criteria. In previous work of CEUS, the whole population update is performed at every generation, and the user observes very few individuals. This paper proposes a generation alternation model designed for CEUS. The proposed model allows a user to find widely varied individuals in addition to the best individuals by replacing just one individual in a population for each generation, and consequently, contributes users idea generation by enhancing divergent thinking.

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 O 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-system cooperative evolution
interactive evolutionary computation
genetic algorithm


Biased semantics for right and left in 50 Indo-European and non-Indo-European languages The negative bias accompanying the terms left and left-handers has long interested researchers. This paper examines a large number of languages of Indo-European and non-Indo-European origin for such biasing. One surprising outcome is that, within the Indo-European language family, the terms for right and left do not go back to one set of antonyms but have their etymological roots in a number of different core semantic concepts. As in the non-Indo-European languages, right is almost always thought of positively, whereas left is negatively connotated. This is interpreted as the outcome of a universal human evaluation process, partly based on the principle of embodiment. The terms for right never have, in any of the examined languages, a negative bias; the words for left, usually never positively biased, were turned into euphemisms in three language groups (Scandinavian, Greek, and Avestan). On one interpretation, this seems to be an act of historical political correctness, corroborating the negative attitude cultures have for left-handers, very likely an outcome of discrimination of minorities.

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

right left semantics languages embodiment discrimination universal

connotations indo-european non-indo-european minority


Provably secure multi-proxy signature scheme with revocation in the standard model Multi-proxy signature schemes are very useful tools when an original signer needs to delegate his signing capability to a group of proxy signers, and have been suggested in numerous applications. The proxy revocation problem is an essential issue of the proxy signature schemes, however, it is seldom considered in the multi-proxy signature schemes. In this paper, we give a formal definition and security model of the multi-proxy signature schemes with proxy revocation, and propose a multi-proxy signature scheme with proxy revocation. Our scheme can perform the immediate revocation by using a security mediator (SEM), who examines whether each proxy signer signs according to a warrant or its identity exists in a revocation list, and then decides if it issues a proxy token for each proxy signer. The proposed scheme is proven existentially unforgeable against chosen message/warrant attacks based on the computational Diffie-Hellman intractability assumption in the standard model. Furthermore, the size of a multi-proxy signature is constant and independent of the number of the proxy signers. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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 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 signature
multi-proxy
provable security
bilinear pairings


Detectionestimation of multi-rank Gaussian sources using expected likelihood We consider the problem of detectionestimation (resolution) of a number of sources impinging upon an antenna array, where the covariance matrix of each source has a limited signal eigen-subspace, spanned by a known linear subspace. In general, the direction of arrival (DoA) and the subspace rank of each source is not known a priori and must be estimated, along with detection of the total number of such sources. We introduce the application of a GLRT-based (expected likelihood (EL)) detectionestimation framework to this problem in conjunction with a novel multi-rank MUSIC technique for initial DoA estimation.

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


A stabilized incremental projection scheme for the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations It is well known that any spatial discretization of the saddle-point Stokes problem should satisfy the Ladyzhenskaya-Brezzi-Babuska (LBB) stability condition in order to prevent the appearance of spurious pressure modes. Particularly, if an equal-order approximation is applied, the Schur complement (or, as called some times, the Uzawa matrix) of the pressure system has a non-trivial null space that gives rise to such modes. An idea in the past was that all the schemes that solve a Poisson equation for the pressure rather than the Uzawa pressure equation (splitting/projection methods) should overcome this difficulty; this idea was wrong. There is numerical evidence that at least the so-called incremental projection scheme still suffers from spurious pressure oscillations if an equal-order approximation is applied. The present paper tries to distinguish which projection requires LBB-compliant approximation and which does nor. Moreover, a stabilized version of the incremental projection scheme is derived. Proper bounds for the stabilization parameter are also given. The numerical results show that the stabilized scheme does indeed achieve second-order accuracy and does not produce spurious (node to node) pressure oscillations. Copyright (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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

finite element method
pressure stabilization
projection methods


Interactive surgery simulation for the nose augmentation using CT data Surgery to reshape the nose with an implant has been a regular procedure for enhancing a patients appearance and self-confidence. The purpose of this study was to establish a computed tomography (CT) based three-dimensional assistant plastic surgery systems, which can provide the patients with realistic prediction of their own postoperative appearance in computer and specifically produce a nose implant for an individual patient. Preoperative CT data and 3D reconstruction techniques were employed to generate 3D model of the patients skull. 3D collision detection and finite elements model deformation were then applied to simulate nose augmentation surgery and predict postoperative appearance. According to the patients expectation, digital models of the nose implants were constantly modified. When the patient is satisfied with the simulated results, custom made silicone implants were produced by a computer controlled device. Accurately regeneration of 3D images and realistic operative simulations could be achieved with this system. The implants produced exactly conformed to the results of simulation. No curving and reshaping were needed during operating. The clinical results extremely matched with the simulations. The system enhances surgeon patient communication and facilitates preoperative planning. It is especially desirable for implant surgery with less guesswork of size, contour, and orientation of the implant. The best chance of optimal results could be achieved.

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

nose augmentation
surgery simulation
3d reconstruction
collision detection
implant


A 3-D indirect boundary element method for bounded creeping flow of drops The simulation of the flow of emulsions in porous media presents formidable challenges, due to the extremely complex evolving geometry. Methods based on boundary integral equations, suitable for creeping flows, reduce the effort dedicated to geometry representation, but can become computationally expensive. An efficient indirect boundary integral formulation representing deformable drops in a bounded Stokes flow, resulting in a set of Fredholm integral equations of the second kind, is presented. The boundary element method (BEM) based on the formulation employs an accurate numerical integration scheme for the singular kernels involved, an effective and accurate curvature and normal calculation method, and an adaptive remeshing method to simulate interfacial deformation of drops. Two benchmark problems are used to assess the accuracy of the method, and to investigate its behavior for large problems. The method is found to provide accurate results combined with well-posedness, making it suitable for use in accelerated fast multipole method algorithms.

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

multiphase flow
indirect bie
iterative solution


Efficient remote data possession checking in critical information infrastructures Checking data possession in networked information systems such as those related to critical infrastructures (power facilities, airports, data vaults, defense systems, and so forth) is a matter of crucial importance. Remote data possession checking protocols permit checking that a remote server can access an uncorrupted file in such a way that the verifier does not need to know beforehand the entire file that is being verified. Unfortunately, current protocols only allow a limited number of successive verifications or are impractical from the computational point of view. In this paper, we present a new remote data possession checking protocol such that 1) it allows an unlimited number of file integrity verifications and 2) its maximum running time can be chosen at set-up time and traded off against storage at the verifier.

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

management of computing and information systems


Performance analysis of single-phase, multiphase, and multicomponent lattice-Boltzmann fluid flow simulations on GPU clusters The lattice-Boltzmann method is well suited for implementation in single-instruction multiple-data (SIMD) environments provided by general purpose graphics processing units (GPGPUs). This paper discusses the integration of these GPGPU programs with OpenMP to create lattice-Boltzmann applications for multi-GPU clusters. In addition to the standard single-phase single-component lattice-Boltzmann method, the performances of more complex multiphase, multicomponent models are also examined. The contributions of various GPU lattice-Boltzmann parameters to the performance are examined and quantified with a statistical model of the performance using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). By examining single-and multi-GPU lattice-Boltzmann simulations with ANOVA, we show that all the lattice-Boltzmann simulations primarily depend on effects corresponding to simulation geometry and decomposition, and not on the architectural aspects of GPU. Additionally, using ANOVA we confirm that the metrics of Efficiency and Utilization are not suitable for memory-bandwidth-dependent codes. Copyright (C) 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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

openmp
multiphase
multicomponent
performance analysis

graphics processing unit
cuda
lattice-boltzmann method
fluid dynamics


A grammatical approach to the alignment of structure-annotated strings In this paper, we are concerned with a structural ambiguity problem of tree adjoining grammars (TAGS), which is an essential problem when we try to model consensus structures of given set of ribonucleic acid (RNA) secondary structures by TAGS. RNA secondary structures can be represented as strings with structural information, and TAGS have a descriptive capability of this kind of strings, what we call structure-annotated strings. Thus, we can model RNA secondary structures by TAGs. It is sufficient to use existing alignment methods for just computing the optimal alignment between RNA secondary structures. However, when we also want to model the resulting alignment by grammars, if we adopt these existing methods, then we may fail in modeling the alignment result by grammars. Therefore, it is important to introduce a new alignment method whose alignment results can be appropriately modeled by grammars. In this paper, we will propose an alignment method based on TAG'S derivations each corresponding to a given RNA secondary structure. For an RNA secondary structure, there exist a number of derivations of TAGS which correspond to the structure. From the grammatical point of view, the property of TAGS drives us to the question how we should choose a derivation from these candidates in order to obtain an optimal alignment. This is the structural ambiguity problem of TAGS, which will be mainly discussed in this paper. For dealing with this problem appropriately, we will propose an edit distance between two structure-annotated strings, and then present an algorithm which computes an optimal alignment based on the edit distance.

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

tree adjoining grammars
structural ambiguity
edit distance

structure-annotated strings
alignment problem


Fitting of kinetic parameters of NO reduction by CO in fibrous media using a genetic algorithm An empirical model is fitted to the performance of NO reduction by CO gas on an alumina fibrous catalyst support media The model is highly non-linear and contains 13 fitted parameters. To fit the reaction kinetic parameters in the model to the experimental results, a genetic algorithm was applied to search for the best fit parameter values. The fitted model and experimental results for Pd. Pt and Rh catalysts are in good agreement. The effects of NO decomposition by varying fiber diameter, media depth, and catalyst particle size on rhodium catalyst can be calculated from the model The model results show the temperature of complete NO decomposition decreases with greater media depth, higher fractional area of coverage by the catalyst particles, and with smaller catalyst particle size. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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 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


Evaluating the role of p38 MAP kinase in growth of Werner syndrome fibroblasts The accelerated aging of Werner syndrome (WS) fibroblasts can be prevented by treatment with the p38 kinase inhibitor SB203580. If accelerated cellular senescence underlies the premature ageing features seen in this human aging model, then p38 inhibitors may have therapeutic potential in WS. However, SB203580 can inhibit in vitro several kinases that are involved in control of cellular growth, in particular, c-Raf1, CK1, and RIPK2. Thus, a better understanding of the role of this inhibitor in WS cells is required. Here we use a combination of kinase inhibitors and small intefering RNA-induced gene knockdown to show that it is inhibition of the stress-induced p38 MAP kinase that is the most plausible explanation for the effects of SB203580 on the growth of WS cells. As the development of highly selective p38 inhibitors with low toxicity is a major effort of the pharmaceuticals sector, these studies help pave the way for possible therapeutics for WS.

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

c-raf1
casein kinase 1
rip kinase 2
stress signalling
replicative senescence


Filters of ordered semigroups based on the fuzzy points In the paper [B. Davvaz and A. Khan, Generalized fuzzy filters in ordered semigroups, IJST (2012) Vol. 36, A1: 77-86], Davvaz and Khan discussed the notion of (is an element of, is an element of boolean OR q)-fuzzy left (right) filters as a generalization of the notion of fuzzy left (right) filters of ordered semigroups. In this article, we try to obtain a more general form than (is an element of, is an element of boolean OR q)-fuzzy left (right) filters in ordered semigroups. The notion of an (is an element of, is an element of boolean OR q(k))-fuzzy left (right) filter is introduced, and several properties are investigated. Characterizations of an (is an element of, is an element of boolean OR q(k))-fuzzy left (right) filter are established. A condition for an (is an element of, is an element of boolean OR q(k))-fuzzy left (right) filter to be a fuzzy left (right) filter is provided. Using implication operators and the notion of implication-based fuzzy left (resp. right) filters, characterizations of a fuzzy left (resp. right) filter and an (is an element of, is an element of boolean OR q(k))-fuzzy left (resp. right) filter are considered.

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

(is an element of, is an element of boolean or q)-fuzzy left (right) filter

(is an element of, is an element of boolean or q(k))-fuzzy left (right) filter

t-implication-based fuzzy left (right) filter


FLOW-BASED REPUTATION: MORE THAN JUST RANKING The last years have seen a growing interest in collaborative systems like electronic marketplaces and P2P file sharing systems where people are intended to interact with other people. Those systems, however, are subject to security and operational risks because of their open and distributed nature. Reputation systems provide a mechanism to reduce such risks by building trust relationships among entities and identifying malicious entities. A popular reputation model is the so-called flow-based model. Most existing reputation systems based on such a model provide only a ranking, without absolute reputation values; this makes it difficult to determine whether entities are actually trustworthy or untrustworthy. In addition, those systems ignore a significant part of the available information; as a consequence, reputation values may not be accurate. In this paper, we present a flow-based reputation metric that gives absolute values instead of merely a ranking. Our metric makes use of all the available information. We study, both analytically and numerically, the properties of the proposed metric and the er effect of attacks on reputation values.

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


meta-level patterns for interactive knowledge capture Current knowledge acquisition tools have limited understanding of how users enter knowledge and how acquired knowledge is used, and provide limited assistance in organizing various knowledge authoring tasks. Users have to make up for these shortcomings by keeping track of past mistakes, current status, potential new problems, and possible courses of actions by themselves. In this paper, we present a novel extension to existing knowledge acquisition tools where the system organizes the episodes of past interactions through a set of declarative meta-level patterns and improves its suggestions based on relevant episodes. In particular, we focus on 1) assessing the level of confidence in suggesting an action, 2) suggesting how a knowledge authoring action can be done based on successful past actions, and 3) monitoring dynamic changes in the environment to suggest relevant modifications in the knowledge base. A preliminary study with varying synthetic user interactions shows that this meta-level assessment may reduce the number of incorrect suggestions, prevent some of the user mistakes and improve the overall problem solving results.

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


DNA splicing: computing by observing Motivated by several techniques for observing molecular processes in real-time we introduce a computing device that stresses the role of the observer in biological computations and that is based on the observed behavior of a splicing system. The basic idea is to introduce a marked DNA strand into a test tube with other DNA strands and restriction enzymes. Under the action of these enzymes the DNA starts to splice. An external observer monitors and registers the evolution of the marked DNA strand. The input marked DNA strand is then accepted if its observed evolution follows a certain expected pattern. We prove that using simple observers (finite automata), applied on finite splicing systems (finite set of rules and finite set of axioms), the class of recursively enumerable languages can be recognized.

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


Two branch-and-bound algorithms for the robust parallel machine scheduling problem Uncertainty is an inevitable element in many practical production planning and scheduling environments. When a due date is predetermined for performing a set of jobs for a customer, production managers are often concerned with establishing a schedule with the highest possible confidence of meeting the due date. In this paper, we study the problem of scheduling a given number of jobs on a specified number of identical parallel machines when the processing time of each job is stochastic. Our goal is to find a robust schedule that maximizes the customer service level, which is the probability of the makespan not exceeding the due date. We develop two branch-and-bound algorithms for finding an optimal solution; the two algorithms differ mainly in their branching scheme. We generate a set of benchmark instances and compare the performance of the algorithms based on this dataset.

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

robust scheduling
stochastic processing times


Isotone Optimization in R: Pool-Adjacent-Violators Algorithm (PAVA) and Active Set Methods In this paper we give a general framework for isotone optimization. First we discuss a generalized version of the pool-adjacent-violators algorithm (PAVA) to minimize a separable convex function with simple chain constraints. Besides of general convex functions we extend existing PAVA implementations in terms of observation weights, approaches for tie handling, and responses from repeated measurement designs. Since isotone optimization problems can be formulated as convex programming problems with linear constraints we then develop a primal active set method to solve such problem. This methodology is applied on specific loss functions relevant in statistics. Both approaches are implemented in the R package isotone.

B I O B O O B 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 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 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 B O O


Nonlinear dispersion relations We examine how nonlinear dispersion relations (NLDR) can be used as a simple, universal algebraic tool to provide information for the localized, nonlinear solutions of PDE that model physical systems. Such scaling relations between width, amplitude and velocity are of great help for numerical investigations of nonlinear solutions. The methodology is applied to a variety of examples from diverse branches of physics, both Hamiltonian as well as dissipative ones. The limitations of the approach are also discussed. (c) 2006 IMACS. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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

nonlinear systems
partial differential equations
solitons


Extended spatial keyframing for complex character animation As 3D computer animation becomes snore accessible to novice users, it snakes it possible for these users to create high-quality animations. This paper introduces a more powerful system to create highly articulated character animations With an intuitive setup then the previous research, Spatial Keyframing (SK). As the main purpose of SK Was tire rapid generation of primitive animation over quality animation, we propose Extended Spatial Keyframing (ESK) that exploits a global control structure coupled With multiple sets of spatial keyframes, and hierarchical relationship between controllers. The generated structure can be flexibly embedded into the given rigged character, and the system enables tire given character to be animated delicately by user performance. During the performance, the movement of the highest ranking controllers' across the control hierarchy is recorded in layered style to increase tire level of detail for final motions. Copyright (C) 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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

performance-driven animation
character articulation


memory optimization by counting points in integer transformations of parametric polytopes Memory size reduction and memory accesses optimization are crucial issues for embedded systems. In the context of affine programs, these two challenges are classically tackled by array linearization, cache access optimization and memory size computation. Their formalization in the polyhedral model reduce to solving the following problem: count the number of solutions of a Presburger formula .In this paper we propose a novel algorithm that answers this question. We solve the Presburger formula whose solution is a union of parametric Z-polytopes and we propose an algorithm to count points in such a union of parametric Z-polytopes. These algorithms were implemented and we compare them to other existing 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 B 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

cache access optimization
array linearization

polytope model
exact memory size computation
counting lattice points in polytopes


Reactive local search for the maximum clique problem A new Reactive Local Search (RLS) algorithm is proposed for the solution of the Maximum-Clique problem. RLS is based on local search complemented by a feedback (history-sensitive) scheme to determine the amount of diversification. The reaction acts on the single parameter that decides the temporary prohibition of selected moves in the neighborhood, in a manner inspired by Tabu Search. The performance obtained in computational tests appears to be significantly better with respect to all algorithms tested at the the second DIMACS implementation challenge. The worst-case complexity per iteration of the algorithm is O (max{n, m}) where n and m are the number of nodes and edges of the graph. In practice, when a vertex is moved, the number of operations tends to be proportional to its number of missing edges and therefore the iterations are particularly fast in dense graphs.

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

maximum-clique problem
heuristic algorithms
reactive search


Advanced mobile agent security models for code integrity and malicious availability check Mobile agent technology is an emerging paradigm in distributed computing environment and it holds a potential status in the relevant research field due to its unique capabilities like flexibility, dynamic customization and robust interaction in unreliable networks. But the limited security perspectives and shortfalls of the mobile agent environments degrade its usage in a variety of application domains. Even though some of the protection models are available for protecting the environments, they are not efficient in handling the security issues. To make the mobile agent environment secure, this paper proposed advanced models to improve the efficiency of the existing Malicious Identification Police model for scanning the incoming agent to detect the malicious activities and to overcome the availability of vulnerabilities in the existing Root Canal algorithm for code integrity checks. The MIP model is extended with the policy to differentiate the agent owners in the distributed environment and the Root Canal algorithm is improved as eXtended Root Canal algorithm. The experimental results of the advanced models show that though these mechanisms take more time complexity than the existing malicious identification police model and Root Canal model, these models are efficient in protecting the agent code integrity and scanning the agent for malicious activities. Also the new models possess less time complexity compared to the other related existing models in the secure mobile agent environment.

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

mobile agent security
code integrity check
attack code identification
mobile agent platform protection


Analyzing image structure by multidimensional frequency modulation We develop a mathematical framework for quantifying and understanding multidimensional frequency modulations in digital images. We begin with the widely accepted definition of the instantaneous frequency vector ( IF) as the gradient of the phase and define the instantaneous frequency gradient tensor ( IFGT) as the tensor of component derivatives of the IF vector. Frequency modulation bounds are derived and interpreted in terms of the eigendecomposition of the IFGT. Using the IFGT, we derive the ordinary differential equations ( ODEs) that describe image flowlines. We study the diagonalization of the ODEs of multidimensional frequency modulation on the IFGT eigenvector coordinate system and suggest that separable transforms can be computed along these coordinates. We illustrate these new methods of image pattern analysis on textured and fingerprint images. We envision that this work will find value in applications involving the analysis of image textures that are nonstationary yet exhibit local regularity. Examples of such textures abound in nature.

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

theory and models
image processing and computer vision
image models


Integrating Evolutionary Computation with Abstraction Refinement for Model Checking Model checking for large-scale systems is extremely difficult due to the state explosion problem. Creating useful abstractions for model checking task is a challenging problem, often involving many iterations of refinement. In this paper we consider techniques for model checking in the counterexample-guided abstraction refinement. The state separation problem is one popular approach in counterexample-guided abstraction refinement, and it poses the main hurdle during the refinement process. To achieve effective minimization of the separation set, we present a novel probabilistic learning approach based on the sample learning technique, evolutionary algorithm, and effective heuristics. We integrate it with the abstraction refinement framework in the VIS [1] model checker. We include experimental results on model checking to compare our new approach to recently published techniques. The benchmark results show that our approach has overall speedup of more than 56 percent against previous techniques. Our work is the first successful integration of evolutionary algorithm and abstraction refinement for model checking.

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


How stakeholders view the impacts of international ICT standards Assessing the impacts of standards is a challenging task. A survey instrument was developed aiming at assessing standards impacts from the point of view of stakeholders in the standard development process. The survey was administered to members of ETSI (European Telecommunication Standards Institute), ITU (International Telecommunication Union) and CEN/ISSS (European Committee for Standardisation/Information Society Standardisation System) standards committees. Many of the findings either countered the predictions of much current theory or otherwise raised new grounds to question many common assumptions about the impacts of standards. Although many variations were found according to whether the standards were formal, informal or proprietary, several strong general findings emerged also. Overall, the findings indicate that cost-related impacts are less relevant to stakeholders than various market shaping aspects. Stakeholders perceived the main positive impacts in terms of the ability to increase product variety and to develop new global outsourcing opportunities. Finally, the impacts of formal standards were rated significantly higher and more positively than the other types of standards. It was concluded that the changes in the institutional landscape of standardisation in the ICT sector represent a challenge both for the theory of standardisation and for the development of adequate methodologies to assess their impacts.

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

information and communication technology