Refreshing memory traces: thinking of an item improves retrieval from visual working memory This article provides evidence that refreshing, a hypothetical attention-based process operating in working memory (WM), improves the accessibility of visual representations for recall. Thinking of, one of several concurrently active representations, is assumed to refresh its trace in WM, protecting the representation from being forgotten. The link between refreshing and WM performance, however, has only been tenuously supported by empirical evidence. Here, we controlled which and how often individual items were refreshed in a color reconstruction task by presenting cues prompting participants to think of specific WM items during the retention interval. We show that the frequency with which an item is refreshed improves recall of this item from visual WM. Our study establishes a role of refreshing in recall from visual WM and provides a new method for studying the impact of refreshing on the amount of information we can keep accessible for ongoing cognition.

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


Physiological compliance for social gaming analysis: Cooperative versus competitive play We report the results of an empirical study demonstrating the value of using physiological compliance as a measure of social presence during digital game playing. The physiological activity (facial EMG, electrodermal activity, cardiac activity and respiration) of 21 dyads were acquired synchronously while they were playing a digital game either cooperatively or competitively and either at home or in the laboratory. Physiological compliance was defined as the correlation between the physiological signals of the dyad members. The results of this study confirm that physiological compliance is higher in a conflicting situation than when playing cooperatively. Importantly, the results also demonstrate that physiological compliance is related to self-reported social presence. This suggests that physiological compliance is not limited to negative situations but rather increases due to rich interactions. Only minor differences in physiological compliance were observed between home play and laboratory play, suggesting the ecological validity of laboratory measures. Finally, we propose that compliance measures can be considered as objective indices of social presence in digital gaming. (C) 2012 British Informatics Society Limited. All rights reserved.

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

physiological compliance
social presence
electrodermal activity
cardiac activity


wireless communication glove apparatus for motion tracking, gesture recognition, data transmission, and reception in extreme environments Military personnel need better ways to communicate in hostile, noisy, silence-mandated, and/or extreme environments. Typing on a keyboard is difficult and impractical while wearing comprehensive protective clothing. Wireless data gloves were researched and developed to transmit and receive ASCII code and other signals as hand gestures. Two categories of glove prototypes were constructed: gloves with and without a haptic-IO capability. All data gloves detect motion, such as gestures, using magnetic sensors. Non-haptic gloves only transmit static and dynamic gestures. Haptic gloves have vibro-mechanical devices on the fingertips for feedback about transmitted signals and for covert-signal reception. Many potential communications applications include hazardous and covert military operations, space operations, fire fighting, mining, training, underwater use, and aids for the visually and hearing impaired.

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

communications
gestures
ascii
data transmission and reception
applications

braille
haptic glove
mobile computing
wireless network


MATLAB code for estimating magnetic basement depth using prisms There is a need, within both geophysical exploration and deep geophysical research, to estimate magnetic basement depth. Forward and inverse modeling studies to map the basement depth are commonly used within petroleum geophysics. To obtain the basement topography, modeling studies are made of the 2D profile data or 3D map data. In this study, a different algorithm was introduced to estimate the magnetic basement depth from map data. The algorithm is based on the analytical solution of exponential equations obtained from Fourier transformation of magnetic data. This algorithm has been tested on synthetic magnetic anomalies originated from multi-prisms. Following encouraging test results, the proposed algorithm was also tested on field data. The depths obtained from the proposed approach were satisfactory in comparison with the depths obtained from seismic survey cross-sections and boreholes. Basic MATLAB code is included in the Appendix.

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 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

magnetics
prismatic solutions
exponential approach


Forwarding strategies in named data wireless ad hoc networks: Design and evaluation Named Data Networking (NDN) is a promising information-centric architecture for the future Internet that is also gaining momentum in wireless ad hoc networks as an alternative paradigm to traditional IP networking. NDN shares with other information-centric proposals the same innovative concepts, such as named content, name-based routing, and in-network content caching. These principles and the simple and robust communication model, based on Interest and Data packets exchange, make NDN especially appealing for deployment in wireless ad hoc environments, characterized by a broadcast error-prone channel and time-varying topologies. Nevertheless, making NDN-based solutions really effective in ad hoc networks requires rethinking some of the basic NDN forwarding principles to cope with wireless links and node mobility. In this paper, we analyze two classes of forwarding approaches: (i) a minimalist, provider-blind forwarding strategy, only aimed at keeping packet redundancy on the broadcast wireless medium under control, without any knowledge about the neighborhood and the identity of the content sources; and (ii) a provider-aware strategy, which leverages soft state information about the content sources, piggybacked in Interest and Data packets and locally kept by nodes, to facilitate content retrieval. Performance evaluation is carried by means of ndnSIM, the official NDN simulator, that is overhauled for use in realistic wireless ad hoc environments. Results collected under variable traffic loads and topologies provide insights into the behavior of both forwarding approaches and help to derive a set of recommendations that are crucial to the successful design of a forwarding strategy for named data ad hoc wireless networking.

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

named data networking
wireless ad hoc networks
forwarding

information-centric networking
multihop communications
ieee 802.11


Regularized Pre-image Estimation for Kernel PCA De-noising The main challenge in de-noising by kernel Principal Component Analysis (PCA) is the mapping of de-noised feature space points back into input space, also referred to as the pre-image problem. Since the feature space mapping is typically not bijective, pre-image estimation is inherently illposed. As a consequence the most widely used estimation schemes lack stability. A common way to stabilize such estimates is by augmenting the cost function by a suitable constraint on the solution values. For de-noising applications we here propose Tikhonov input space distance regularization as a stabilizer for pre-image estimation, or sparse reconstruction by Lasso regularization in cases where the main objective is to improve the visual simplicity. We perform extensive experiments on the USPS digit modeling problem to evaluate the stability of three widely used pre-image estimators. We show that the previous methods lack stability in the is non-linear regime, however, by applying our proposed input space distance regularizer the estimates are stabilized with a limited sacrifice in terms of de-noising efficiency. Furthermore, we show how sparse reconstruction can lead to improved visual quality of the estimated pre-image.

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


Analysis and optimal design of plates and shells under dynamic loads - II: optimization In this paper a structural sizing and shape optimization procedure is used to obtain optimum designs for plates and shells under dynamic loads. The optimum designs are obtained by using an integrated system for structural optimization of shells that is formed by a set of independent 'subsystems'. They are surface and mesh generation, finite element analysis, sensitivity analysis, and optimization algorithms. The description of the geometry and mesh generation tools, as well as the implementation and test of the structural dynamic and sensitivity analysis, were given in Part I of this paper. In this part the tools presented in Part I are used along with an optimization algorithm to perform structural shape and sizing optimization (SSO) of shell structures. The sequential quadratic programming algorithm is used to solve the optimization problem. In the present paper special attention is devoted to the problem of elimination of clusters of multiple eigenvalues in the optimal design of symmetrical shells. Several examples are considered that illustrate the potential of the developed tool.

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

thickness and shape optimization
dynamic analysis
variable thickness plates and shells


Best asymptotic normality of the kernel density entropy estimator for smooth densities In the random sampling setting we estimate the entropy of a probability density distribution by the entropy of a kernel density estimator using the double exponential kernel. Under mild smoothness and moment conditions we show that the entropy of the kernel density estimator equals a sum of independent and identically distributed (i.i.d.) random variables plus a perturbation which is asymptotically negligible compared to the parametric rate n-(1/2). An essential part in the proof is obtained by exhibiting almost sure bounds for the Kullback-Leibler divergence between the kernel density estimator and its expected value. The basic technical tools are Doob's submartingale inequality and convexity (Jensen's inequality).

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

entropy estimation
kernel density estimators
kullback-leibler divergence
submartingales


Information technology standards in a changing world: the role of the users (Reprinted from Computer Standards and Interfaces, vol 15, pg 49-56, 1993) Standards for information technology (IT) systems are important to users in effectively applying IT and carrying out the business of their organizations. Users need standards to interconnect products developed by different vendors and to move software, data and applications from one system to another. However, the formal standards development process does not always respond to user needs in a timely way. The cost and complexity of the process often inhibits direct user participation over the long period of time needed to develop standards. Users also have difficulty applying the standards when they are developed in a fragmented and non-integrated fashion. New approaches and tools are needed to enable users to achieve their goals for interoperable multi-vendor systems. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

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

de facto standards
de jure standards
information technology standards
open systems interconnection
open systems environments
voluntary standards


Internet diffusion in China: A dynamic panel data analysis This paper investigates the key factors influencing the rate of Internet penetration in China. Given the significant differences in Internet penetration rates across different regions in China, panel data for 31 Chinese provinces over the period 20032009 are analyzed in a dynamic modelling framework to shed light on the main factors influencing the Internet penetration rate in each region and obtain implications for the digital divide in Internet penetration for China. The most innovative finding is the presence of significant network effect in Internet diffusion. While income is a significant and very important determinant of Internet adoption in each region, literacy and telecommunication infrastructure are also significant determinants of Internet adoption in the less developed western region.

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


Improving operational effectiveness of tactical master plans for emergency and elective patients under stochastic demand and capacitated resources This paper develops a two-stage planning procedure for master planning of elective and emergency patients while allocating at best the available hospital resources. Four types of resources are considered: operating theatre, beds in the medium and in the intensive care units, and nursing hours in the intensive care unit. A tactical plan is obtained by minimizing the deviations of the resources consumption to the target levels of resources utilization, following a goal programming approach. The MIP formulation to get this tactical plan is specifically designed to account for emergency care since it allows for the reservation of some capacity for emergency patients and possible capacity excess. To deal with the deviation between actually arriving elective patients and the average number of patients on which the tactical plan is based, we consider the possibility of planning a higher number of patients than the average to create operating slots in the tactical plan (slack planning). These operating slots are then filled in the operational plan following several flexibility rules. We consider three options for slack planning that lead to three different tactical plans on which we apply three flexibility rules to get finally nine alternative weekly schedules of elective patients. We then develop an algorithm to modify this schedule on a daily basis so as to account for emergency patients arrivals. Scheduled elective patients may be cancelled and emergency patients may be sent to other hospitals. Cancellation rules for both types of patients rely on the possibility to exceed the available capacities. Several performance indicators are defined to assess patient service and hospital efficiency. Simulation results show a trade-off between hospital efficiency and patient service.

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 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 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

intensive care
emergency and elective patients
goal programming

operating theatre planning
operational strategies
master surgical plan


A cost-effective approach to selective IP paging scheme using explicit multicast In this paper, we propose a cost-effective IP paging protocol, which can be used for terminal paging in next-generation wireless IP networks. In the existing IP paging protocols, a paging request packet is delivered to access routers belonging to a paging area by unicast or multicast. However, unicast and multicast result in higher cost, so that we present a selective paging algorithm utilizing explicit multicast (xcast). Xcast is a new kind of multicast scheme for small sized groups which uses unicast with low maintenance overhead. In terms of the paging algorithm, we use a selective paging algorithm to minimize the paging cost, by dividing a paging area into several subpaging areas, while meeting the paging delay bound. In addition, we propose flexible grouping algorithms. For the performance analysis, we develop analytical paging cost and delay models based on the random walk model. Using the models, we compare the selective IP paging scheme using xcast with the existing paging schemes that use unicast or multicast. The results indicate that the proposed scheme significantly reduces the paging cost compared with traditional schemes, especially when the transmission cost is relatively less than the processing cost and the delivery path is not long. In addition, our flexible grouping algorithms, which are adaptive to the session-to-mobility ratio, provide less paging cost and guarantee equal to or less paging delay compared with the existing schemes. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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

ip paging
explicit multicast
selective paging
paging cost
paging delay
performance analysis


Universal Cellular Automata with Two States in the Hyperbolic Plane In this paper, we present a family of rotation invariant cellular automata base on the grids {p. 3} of the hyperbolic plane with p >= 13 which have two states only and which are weakly universal. The presentation is uniform for p >= 17 and we have a specific solution for p = 13 which can trivially be extended to p >= 13.

O B I 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 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


Mapping science introduction: Past, present and future EDITOR'S SUMMARY

data maps
scientific and technical information
electronic visualization
scientometrics
trends


A FourierChebyshev collocation method for the mass transport in a layer of power-law fluid mud A FourierChebyshev collocation spectral method is employed in this work to compute the Lagrangian drift or mass transport due to periodic surface pressure loading in a thin layer of non-Newtonian fluid mud, which is modeled as a power-law fluid. Because of the non-Newtonian rheology, these problems are nonlinear and must be solved numerically. On assuming that the solutions are of the same permanent waveform as the pressure loading, the governing equations are made time-independent by referring to a horizontal axis that moves at the same speed as the wave. The solutions are periodic in the horizontal direction, but are non-periodic in the vertical direction, and the computational domain is therefore discretized according to the FourierChebyshev spectral collocation scheme. In this study, the spatial derivatives are computed with a differentiation matrix. In order to incorporate the boundary conditions, the matrix diagonalization technique is used to solve the matrix equation, and all the definite integrals in the vertical direction based on the collocation points are performed by the modified ClenshawCurtis quadrature rule. The developed method is applied to compute the first- and second-order motion of the mud. The comparison between the numerical results and the analytical solution in the Newtonian limit shows the good accuracy of the spectral method.

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

spectral collocation methods
mass transport in waves
power-law fluid


deploying research technology in the home Deploying research technology in real homes is an important way of uncovering new possibilities for design. We reflect upon the deployment of a simple technological arrangement which might be construed of as a 'breaching experiment' that reveals significant challenges for technology deployment in the home. Of particular issue is the extent to which research deployments resonate with existing infrastructure and disrupt ordinary processes of domestication; the degree of ownership household members exercise over research prototypes and how this constrains domestication; and the nature of research practice and the limits this places on our understanding of domestication.

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

ethnomethodology
home technology
challenges to deployment


Combinatorial group theory and public key cryptography After some excitement generated by recently suggested public key exchange protocols due to Anshel-Anshel-Goldfeld and Ko-Lee et al., it is a prevalent opinion now that the conjugacy search problem is unlikely to provide sufficient level of security if a braid group is used as the platform. In this paper we address the following questions: (1) whether choosing a different group, or a class of groups, can remedy the situation; (2) whether some other "hard" problem from combinatorial group theory can be used, instead of the conjugacy search problem, in a public key exchange protocol. Another question that we address here, although somewhat vague, is likely to become a focus of the future research in public key cryptography based on symbolic computation: (3) whether one can efficiently disguise an element of a given group (or a semigroup) by using defining relations.

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

public key exchange
conjugacy search problem


A bargaining game model for efficiency decomposition in the centralized model of two-stage systems Data envelopment analysis (DEA) is a non-parametric approach for measuring the relative efficiencies of peer decision making units (DMUs). The centralized model has been widely used to examine the efficiencies of two-stage systems, where all the outputs from the first stage are the only inputs to the second stage. Since there may exist some flexibility in decomposing the overall efficiency between the two stages when multiple optimal weights exist, we develop a Nash bargaining game model to obtain a fair efficiency decomposition for the two stages while keeping the overall efficiency unchanged under this circumstance. The minimal achievable efficiencies for the two stages are used as the breakdown point and the unique bargaining decomposition of the overall efficiency is obtained subsequently. The Nash bargaining game model is applied to evaluate the performance of 10 branches of China Construction Bank. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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

data envelopment analysis
nash bargaining game
efficiency decomposition

two-stage systems
performance evaluation


Performance comparison of generational and steady-state asynchronous multi-objective evolutionary algorithms for computationally-intensive problems In the last two decades, multi-objective evolutionary algorithms (MOEAs) have become ever more used in scientific and industrial decision support and decision making contexts the require an a posteriori articulation of preference. The present work is focused on a comparative analysis of the performance of two masterslave parallelization (MSP) methods, the canonical generational scheme and the steady-state asynchronous scheme. Both can be used to improve the convergence speed of multi-objective evolutionary algorithms that must use computationally-intensive fitness evaluation functions. Both previous and present experiments show that a correct choice for one or the other parallelization method can lead to substantial improvements with regard to the overall duration of the optimization process. Our main aim is to provide practitioners of MOEAs with a simple but effective method of deciding which MSP option is better given the particularities of the concrete optimization process. This in turn, would give the decision maker more time for articulating preferences (i.e., more flexibility). Our analysis is performed based on 15 well-known MOOP benchmark problems and two simulation-based industrial optimization processes from the field of electrical drive design. For the first industrial MOOP, when comparing with a preliminary study, applying the steady-state asynchronous MSP enables us to achieve an overall speedup (in terms of total wall-clock computation time) of ?25% ? 25 % . For the second industrial MOOP, applying the steady-state MSP produces an improvement of ?12% ? 12 % . We focus our study on two of the best known and most widely used MOEAs: the Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm II (NSGA-II) and the Strength Pareto Evolutionary Algorithm (SPEA2).

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

masterslave parallelization
electrical drive design

evolutionary computation
multi-objective optimization
performance analysis
steady-state evolution


Computing the Galois group of a linear differential equation of order four In 1978 J. Kovacic described an efficient algorithm for computing liouvillian solutions of a linear homogeneous differential equation of order two over a field C(x), where x' = 1 and C is an algebraically closed field of characteristic 0. During the years from 1990 to 1994 M. Singer and E Ulmer published several papers in which they describe efficient algorithms for determining the Galois group of such a differential equation of order two or three and computing liouvillian solutions using this group. Tn this paper we present results concerning Galois groups of order four linear differential equations. In particular we construct a list of irreducible linear algebraic subgroups of SL(4, C) where C is an algebraically closed field of characteristic zero. This list is complete up to conjugation, and in the finite primitive case:, up to projective equivalence. Then, in keeping with the spirit of the work of Kovacic, Singer and Ulmer we use representation theory to distinguish between the groups in this list.

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

algebraic group
differential galois group
imprimitive
monomial
linear group


a database representation that improves automation and maintains consistency in a multiple view environment The paper presents an approach to information representation that takes advantage of the incremental nature of software development to facilitate automation. Software is developed in stages where input to a stage is highly dependent on the stage that precedes it. A canonical database representation that is shared by the development tools is presented. It aims at the provision of maximum automated services in the development process. At the same time ensuring the consistency of design information and avoiding its redundancy, and yet providing an open environment in which new tools and services can be incorporated with no effect on existing ones. Experiments are carried out to examine the usefulness of the representation to store the artifacts of a system under development and its suitability in achieving automation in the development process. Similar work carried out by researchers in the field and a number of commercially available tools are analyzed.

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

information representation
automation
software development


Broca's Area in Language, Action, and Music The work of Paul Broca has been of pivotal importance in the localization of some higher cognitive brain functions. He first reported that lesions to the caudal part of the inferior frontal gyrus were associated with expressive deficits. Although most of his claims are still true today, the emergence of novel techniques as well as the use of comparative analyses prompts modern research for a revision of the role played by Broca's area. Here we review current research showing that the inferior frontal gyrus and the ventral premotor cortex are activated for tasks other than language production. Specifically, a growing number of studies report the involvement of these two regions in language comprehension, action execution and observation, and music execution and listening. Recently, the critical involvement of the same areas in representing abstract hierarchical structures has also been demonstrated. Indeed, language, action, and music share a common syntactic-like structure. We propose that these areas are tuned to detect and represent complex hierarchical dependencies, regardless of modality and use. We speculate that this capacity evolved from motor and premotor functions associated with action execution and understanding, such as those characterizing the mirror-neuron system.

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

broca's area
mirror neurons
language network
action-perception circuits


Network classification Conceptual clustering plays an important role in machine learning. In this paper, we propose a quasi-clustering method, network classification, which improves upon the computational efficiency of traditional conceptual clustering methods. Network classification is based on the Power Law assumption and the concept of hub observations/instances. The method is evaluated in several domains and compared with examples of both unsupervised learning and supervised learning methods. The results show that network classification maintains a comparable forecasting accuracy, while exhibiting an improved computing performance over conceptual clustering methods.

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

classification
conceptual clustering
network
power law


Modeling and simulation analysis of propyl-thiouracil (PTU), an anti-thyroid drug on thyroid peroxidase (TPO), thyroid stimulating hormone receptor (TSHR), and sodium iodide (NIS) symporter based on systems biology approach The aim of metabolic modeling was to understand the cause effect interaction and reliance linked with the complex interactions of biological networks and molecular systems. Drugs that therapeutically modulate the biological processes of disease are often developed with limited knowledge of the underlying complexity of their specific targets. The robustness for systemic modulating behavior of thyroid hormone secretion during the course of different time unit simulation is explained in this study. In this work, a computational model has been developed which mimics the in vivo simulation. The model was constructed with the help of cell designer 4.1 used for analyzing the effect of perturbed amount of drugs at 0.1, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, 3.0 amounts as a unit, targeting Thyroid Peroxidase (TPO), Thyroid Stimulating Hormone Receptor (TSHR), and Sodium Iodide Symporter (NIS). The rate kinetic equations were defined with each reaction to simulate the molecular species dynamic behavior. The modulating behavior of thyroid hormone secretion was analyzed by the process of activation and inactivation states of TPO, TSHR, and NIS at various amounts of drugs. Obtained results explain suitably the entire observable fact of the drug effects and are capable to proceed in response to the perturbations of the natural cell. TSHR was found as the most potent molecular therapeutic target in this study.

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

systems biology
metabolic modeling
simulation


A DYNAMIC POPULATION-MODEL OF PARITY PROGRESSION IN AGE STRUCTURE First, based on analyzing the process of parity population development, this paper develops a dynamic population model of parity progression in age structure and defines a population development operator of parity progression, while the properties of this operator and the existence and uniqueness of the solution to this model are discussed using operator theory. This model supplies the theoretical basis for further research on parity population dynamics. Then, this paper reveals the quantitative relation between two types of control parameters in population development systems (total fertility rate at macro-level and age-specific parity progressive ratios at micro-level) via developing and discussing a development model of parity women's density ratios. The expression of this relation puts forward a theoretical reference for making population control policy which is based on parity progressive parameters. Finally, this paper introduces a parity-specific model of parity progression with age integration, dicusses the Liapunov's stability of this model, and a criterion of stability is obtained. This result can be used to further the analysis of parity population structure.

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

parity progressive ratios
parity womens density ratios
stability


Excess risk estimation under multistage model misspecification We study the use of simultaneous confidence bands for risk estimation with quantal response data, and derive methods for estimating simultaneous upper confidence limits on predicted extra risk under a multistage model. Monte Carlo evaluations explore characteristics of the point estimates and simultaneous limits when the selection of possible multistage parameters is misspecified. Results show that standard Scheffe-type confidence bands are highly conservative in their coverage. Proportional width bands that exhibit less conservative properties are also studied.

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

extra risk
quantal response data
simultaneous confidence bands

generalized trapezoidal confidence bands


Constructing periodic binary sequences with maximum nonlinear span The nonlinear span of a sequence a; is defined as the length of the shortest feedback shift register that generates x. In this correspondence, we solve the problem of designing periodic binary sequences with given linear complexity and maximal possible nonlinear span. We concentrate on the case of sequences with period N = 2(n) - 1 and we introduce two construction methods.

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

binary periodic sequence
maximal nonlinear span
nonlinear feedback shift register


Efficient file fuzz testing using automated analysis of binary file format Fuzz testing is regarded as the most useful technique in finding serious security holes in a software system. It inserts unexpected data into the input of the software system and finds the systems bugs or errors. However, one of the disadvantages that fuzz testing executed using binary files has is that it requires a large number of fault-inserted files to cover every test case, which could be up to 28FILESIZE 2 8 FILESIZE files. In order to overcome this drawback, we propose a novel algorithm that efficiently reduces the number of fault-inserted files, yet still maintain the maximum test case coverage. The proposed approach enables the automatic analysis of fields of binary files by tracking and analyzing stack frames, assembly codes, and registers as the software system parses the files. We evaluate the efficacy of the new method by implementing a practical tool, the Binary File Analyzer and Fault Injector (BFAFI), which traces the program execution and analyzes the fields in binary file format. Our experiments demonstrate that the BFAFI reduced the total number of fault-inserted files with maximum test case coverage as well as detected approximately 14 times more exceptions than did the general fuzzer. Also, the BFAFI found 11 causes of exceptions; five of them were found only by BFAFI. Ten of the 11 causes of exceptions that we found were generated by a graphic rendering engine (GDI32.dll); the other was generated by the system library (kernel32.dll) in Windows XP SP2.

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

software testing
fuzzing
security testing


Online scheduling of equal-processing-time task systems We consider the problem of online scheduling a set of equal-processing-time tasks with precedence constraints so as to minimize the makespan. For arbitrary precedence constraints, it is known that any list scheduling algorithm has a competitive ratio of 2-1/m, where m is the number of machines. We show that for intree precedence constraints, Hu's algorithm yields an asymptotic competitive ratio of 3/2. (c) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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

online scheduling
intree precedence constraints
competitive ratio
makespan

equal-processing-time tasks
parallel and identical machines


Topology design based on transferred and potential transferred forces The concepts of transferred force and potential transferred force through certain parts of the structure to its supports are explained. Topology design methods for linearly elastic structures with the combined use of these forces are investigated. Since the methods do not require any formal optimization techniques, they are quite straightforward to use. The methods are applied to a cantilever truss structure and 2-D plates. The problem of dependency of the solution on the finite element mesh is studied for the cantilever plate problem. It is concluded that the methods with the combined use of transferred and potential transferred forces are good for material redistribution problems and they give better solutions than the methods that use only transferred forces.

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

topology design
transferred force
optimization

potential transferred force
evolutionary method


On the security of stepwise triangular systems In 2003 and 2004, Kasahara and Sakai suggested the two schemes RSE(2)PKC and RSSE(2)PKC, respectively. Both are examples of public key schemes based on Multivariate Quadratic equations. In this article, we first introduce Step-wise Triangular Schemes (STS) as a new class of Multivariate Quadratic public key schemes. These schemes have m equations, n variables, L steps or layers, r the number of equations and new variables per step and q the size of the underlying finite field F. Then, we derive two very efficient cryptanalytic attacks. The first attack is an inversion attack which computes the message/signature for given ciphertext/message in O(mn(3)Lq(r)+n(2)Lrq(r)), the second is a structural attack which recovers an equivalent version of the secret key in O(mn(3)Lq(r)+mn(4)) operations. As the legitimate user also has a workload growing with q(r) to recover a message/compute a signature, q(r) has to be small for efficient schemes and the attacks presented in this article are therefore efficient. After developing our theory, we demonstrate that both RSE(2)PKC and RSSE(2)PKC are special instances of STS and hence, fall to the attacks developed in our article. In particular, we give the solution for the crypto challenge proposed by Kasahara and Sakai. Finally, we demonstrate that STS cannot be the basis for a secure Multivariate Quadratic public key scheme by discussing all possible variations and pointing out their vulnerabilities.

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

multivariate cryptography
rank attacks
efficient cryptanalysis


The evolving graduate information systems education: A survey of the US Institutions This paper reports the results of a survey of IS graduate programs across the United States. Information summarized includes statistics relating to the nature of institutions offering graduate IS programs, the characteristics of IS faculty members, and the content of these programs. Analyses of the responses suggest that the IS graduate programs are by no means universal: only 38% of the responding institutions had graduate IS programs. However, IS as an academic discipline has matured significantly, with 92% of the faculty holding terminal degrees and 70% having tenure. The most remarkable finding of this survey is that the graduate IS programs have been undergoing dramatic changes over the last five years in terms of contents, with the Internet and client/server related topics supplanting traditional systems analysis/design and programming courses. It is also found that graduate IS programs are putting more emphases on case studies of emerging technologies and corporate IS management strategies. The information provided in this paper should be valuable to IS educators in their curriculum design and to practitioners in their understanding of the graduate IS programs and their graduates.

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

is curriculum
is education
is skill requirements
graduate education


Inventory management for new products with triangularly distributed demand and lead-time We propose a computational methodology to deal with the inventory management of new products. We consider triangular distributions for both demand per unit time and lead-time. We provide an approach to derive the probability density function of the unknown lead-time demand distribution. We use this approach to establish inventory levels via optimization of the total cost. We exemplify the proposed methodology using simulated and real-world demand data.

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

approximation of functions
bisection method
kernel method
kullback-leibler divergence
monte carlo method
(q
r) model
r software
statistical distributions


Rare-Event Simulation for Stochastic Recurrence Equations with Heavy-Tailed Innovations In this article, rare-event simulation for stochastic recurrence equations of the form Xn+1 = A(n+1)X(n) + Bn+1, X-0 = 0 is studied, where {A(n);n >= 1} and {B-n;n >= 1} are independent sequences consisting of independent and identically distributed real-valued random variables. It is assumed that the tail of the distribution of B-1 is regularly varying, whereas the distribution of A(1) has a suitably light tail. The problem of efficient estimation, via simulation, of quantities such as P{X-n > b} and P{sup(k b} for large b and n is studied. Importance sampling strategies are investigated that provide unbiased estimators with bounded relative error as b and n tend to infinity.

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

importance sampling
stochastic recurrence equations


A Secure Automatic Fare Collection System for Time-Based or Distance-Based Services with Revocable Anonymity for Users Automatic fare collection (AFC) systems calculate the fare that the users must pay depending on the time of service (time-based) or the points of entrance and exit of the system (distance-based). The progressive introduction of Information and Communication Technologies allows the use of electronic tickets, which helps us to reduce costs and improve the control of the infrastructures. Nevertheless, these systems must be secure against possible fraud and they must also preserve users' privacy. Therefore, we have studied the security requirements for the time-based and distance-based systems and we have proposed a protocol for each of the AFC systems.(1) The protocols offer strong privacy for honest users, i.e. the service provider is not able to disclose the identity of its users and, moreover, different journeys of the same user are not linkable between them. However, anonymity for users could be revoked if they misbehave. The protocols have been implemented in Android and its performance has been evaluated in two Android smartphones. The results remark that protocols are suitable to be used on an AFC system with a medium class mobile device although they offer a better experience with a high-class smartphone. The appearance in the market of more powerful mobile devices suggests a better usability of our proposal in a near future.

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

mobile applications
e-commerce
applied cryptography


Fault Localization Using Passive End-to-End Measurements and Sequential Testing for Wireless Sensor Networks Faulty components in a network need to be localized and repaired to sustain the health of the network. In this paper, we propose a novel approach that carefully combines active and passive measurements to localize faults in wireless sensor networks. More specifically, we formulate a problem of optimal sequential testing guided by end-to-end data. This problem determines an optimal testing sequence of network components based on end-to-end data in sensor networks to minimize expected testing cost. We prove that this problem is NP-hard, and propose a recursive approach to solve it. This approach leads to a polynomial-time optimal algorithm for line topologies while requiring exponential running time for general topologies. We further develop two polynomial-time heuristic schemes that are applicable to general topologies. Extensive simulation shows that our heuristic schemes only require testing a very small set of network components to localize and repair all faults in the network. Our approach is superior to using active and passive measurements in isolation. It also outperforms the state-of-the-art approaches that localize and repair all faults in a network.

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

wireless sensor networks
fault localization
sequential testing


Monitoring of Grid scientific workflows Scientific workflows are a means of conducting in silico experiments in modern computing infrastructures for e-Science, often built on top of Grids. Monitoring of Grid scientific workflows is essential not only for performance analysis but also to collect provenance data and gather feedback useful in future decisions, e. g., related to optimization of resource usage. In this paper, basic problems related to monitoring of Grid scientific workflows are discussed. Being highly distributed, loosely coupled in space and time, heterogeneous, and heavily using legacy codes, workflows are exceptionally challenging from the monitoring point of view. We propose a Grid monitoring architecture for scientific workflows. Monitoring data correlation problem is described and an algorithm for on-line distributed collection of monitoring data is proposed. We demonstrate a prototype implementation of the proposed workflow monitoring architecture, the GEMINI monitoring system, and its use for monitoring of a real-life scientific workflow.

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


The solution of fuzzy linear systems by non-linear programming: a financial application Fuzzy linear systems of equations play a major role in various financial applications. In this paper we analyse a particular fuzzy linear system: the derivation of the risk neutral probabilities in a fuzzy binary tree. This system has previously been investigated and different solutions to different forms of the same system have been proposed. The aim of this paper is twofold. First, we highlight that the different solutions proposed, arise from different forms of the same system. Second, in order to find a unique vector solution for the system, we propose a practical algorithm that boils down to the solution of a non-linear optimization problem.

O O O B I I O O O O O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 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 comparison study between fuzzy time series model and ARIMA model for forecasting Taiwan export This study compares the application of two forecasting methods on the amount of Taiwan export, the ARIMA time series method and the fuzzy time series method. Models discussed for the fuzzy time series method include the Factor models, the Heuristic models, and the Markov model. When the sample period is prolong in our models, the ARIMA model shows smaller than predicted error and closer predicted trajectory to the realistic trend than those of the fuzzy model, resulted in more accurate forecasts of the export amount in the ARIMA model. Especially, the coefficient of the error term for the previous period has increased to 79%, implying the influential effect of external factors. These external factors attribute to the export amount of Taiwan according to the economic viewpoints. However, this impact reduces as time progressing and the export amount of the lag period of 12 or 13 do not affect current export amount anymore. In conclusion, when the sample period is shorter with only a small set of data available, the fuzzy time series models can be utilized to predict export values accurately, outperforming the ARIMA model.

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

arima model
fuzzy time series
taiwan export


An approximation algorithm for two-dimensional warping A new efficient two-dimensional warping algorithm is presented, in which sub-optimal warping is attained by iterating DP-based local optimization of warp on partially overlapping subplane sequence. From an experimental comparison with a conventional approximation algorithm based on beam search DP, relative superiority of the proposed algorithm is established.

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

two-dimensional warping
dynamic programming


visually prototyping perceptual user interfaces through multimodal storyboarding We are applying our knowledge in designing informal prototyping tools for user interface design to create an interactive visual prototyping tool for perceptual user interfaces. Our tool allows a designer to quickly map out certain types of multimodal, cross-device user interface scenarios. These sketched designs form a multimodal storyboard that can then be executed, quickly testing the interaction and collecting feedback about refinements necessary for the design. By relying on visual prototyping, our multimodal storyboarding tool simplifies and speeds perceptual user interface prototyping and opens up the challenging space of perceptual user interface design to non-programmers.

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


Communications and control - A natural linkage for SWARM We present a simple distributed concept that appears to insinuate SWARM behavior in a collection of mobile platforms. The control is based on the inter-mobile platform communication links' signal-to-noise ratio. This double use of communications is a natural linkage for SWARM behavior.

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 B O


Super-set of permissible functions and its application to the transduction method The Transduction Method is a powerful way to design logic circuits, utilizing already existing circuits. A set of permissible functions (SPF) plays an essential role in such circuit transformation/reduction, and is computed at each point (connection or gate output). Currently, two types of SPFs have been used: the maximum SPFs (MSPFs) and compatible SPFs (CSPFs). At each point, the MSPF is literally the set of all PF's, and CSPF is a subset of the MSPF. When CSPFs are calculated, priorities are first assigned to all gates in the circuit. Based on the priorities, it is decided which subset is to be selected as the CSPF. The quality of the results depends on the priorities. In this paper, the concept of super-sets of permissible functions (SSPFs) is introduced to reduce the effect of the priorities that CSPFs depend on. In order to loosen the dependency, each SSPF is computed to contain CSPFs which are candidates to be selected. The experimental results show that the SSPF-based Transduction Method has intermediate reduction capability and takes an intermediate computation time between the MSPF-based and CSPF-based ones. The capability and the time are considered as an acceptably good trade-off. In addition, without any transformations, since SSPFs are the maximum super-set, SSPFs are applicable for analyzing the maximum performance of the CSPF-based transformation, for comparison with the MSPF-based one. Theoretically, the number of connectable gate pairs detected by the MSPFs is 100%. According to the experimental results obtained using SSPFs, on average, 99% are detectable by SSPFs and 1% are detectable only by using the MSPFs. The results show that by using CSPFs, 72% of connectable gate pairs are detectable with any priority assignment and 99% (SSPFs capability) are detectable on average even when the best priorities are assigned. According to the experimental results of CSPF calculation with five priorities, 82% to 93% are practically detectable on average. This is the first quantitative analysis realized by SSPFs which compares the CSPF-based and MSPF-based Transduction Methods with respect to the coverage of PF's.

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

super-set of permissible functions (sspf)


New results on passivity analysis of memristor-based neural networks with time-varying delays In this paper, the passivity problem of memristor-based neural networks (MNNs) with time-varying delays is investigated. New delay-dependent criteria are established for the passivity of MNNs. The time-varying delays of our paper are not necessary to be differentiable, so our results are less conservative, which enrich and improve the earlier publications. An example is given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the obtained results.

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

memristor-based neural networks
filippov solution
time-varying delays


A finite element method with mesh adaptivity for computing vortex states in fast-rotating BoseEinstein condensates Numerical computations of stationary states of fast-rotating BoseEinstein condensates require high spatial resolution due to the presence of a large number of quantized vortices. In this paper we propose a low-order finite element method with mesh adaptivity by metric control, as an alternative approach to the commonly used high-order (finite difference or spectral) approximation methods. The mesh adaptivity is used with two different numerical algorithms to compute stationary vortex states: an imaginary time propagation method and a Sobolev gradient descent method. We first address the basic issue of the choice of the variable used to compute new metrics for the mesh adaptivity and show that refinement using simultaneously the real and imaginary part of the solution is successful. Mesh refinement using only the modulus of the solution as adaptivity variable fails for complicated test cases. Then we suggest an optimized algorithm for adapting the mesh during the evolution of the solution towards the equilibrium state. Considerable computational time saving is obtained compared to uniform mesh computations. The new method is applied to compute difficult cases relevant for physical experiments (large nonlinear interaction constant and high rotation rates).

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

finite element method
mesh adaptivity
vortex
sobolev gradient
descent method

grosspitaevskii equation
boseeinstein condensate


An improved incremental nonlinear dimensionality reduction for isometric data embedding ? An effective method to update the neighborhood graph and geodesic distances matrix. A simple method to judge the short circuits in the incremental neighborhood graph. A better solution of the incremental eigen-decomposition problem.

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

manifold learning
incremental learning
isomap
design of algorithms


Modular wireless real-time sensor/actuator network for factory automation applications Modern factory facilities are characterized by highly flexible manufacturing cells and highly dynamic processes, where clusters of fixed or moving sensors and actuators have to be controlled in a limited space under stringent real-time and reliability constraints. In such demanding industrial environments, wireless systems can also be beneficial by improving flexibility, cutting cables, and enabling solutions, which are cumbersome or even not possible to realize with wireline systems, especially in controlling moving or rotating parts. In this paper, we present a conceptual study of a wireless real-time system dedicated for remote sensor/actuator control in production automation. System development is based on user requirements, which were extracted from customer interviews and a market research. Low level measurements of frequency- and space-selective wireless channels in a factory-like environment were carried out. System design aspects, i.e., network topology, multiple access schemes, and radio technologies, will be thoroughly reviewed. The performance of a first prototype implementation will be discussed with emphasis on timing behavior and power consumption, as sensors and actuators of the wireless system are intended to operate without power lines or batteries.

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

factory automation systems
multipath radio propagation
real-time communications
wireless sensor/actuator network


univariate power series expansions in algebraic manipulation In this paper we present a complete algorithm for the determination of univariate power series expansions of meromorphic functions on a Riemann surface. The difficulties involved when expanding at singularities of various forms are discussed. We demonstrate how to use these techniques to calculate limits and as an aid in solving polynomial equations. Finally we discuss several of the implementations of power series manipulation systems with special emphasis on the implementation in MACSYMA.

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

implementation demonstrate power use manipulation systems algorithm paper polynomial surface


Robust adaptive self-structuring fuzzy control design for nonaffine, nonlinear systems In this article, a robust adaptive self-structuring fuzzy control (RASFC) scheme for the uncertain or ill-defined nonlinear, nonaffine systems is proposed. The RASFC scheme is composed of a robust adaptive controller and a self-structuring fuzzy controller. In the self-structuring fuzzy controller design, a novel self-structuring fuzzy system (SFS) is used to approximate the unknown plant nonlinearity, and the SFS can automatically grow and prune fuzzy rules to realise a compact fuzzy rule base. The robust adaptive controller is designed to achieve an L2 tracking performance to stabilise the closed-loop system. This L2 tracking performance can provide a clear expression of tracking error in terms of the sum of lumped uncertainty and external disturbance, which has not been shown in previous works. Finally, five examples are presented to show that the proposed RASFC scheme can achieve favourable tracking performance, yet heavy computational burden is relieved.

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

adaptive control
robust control
structure adaptation


Advantages of shift changeovers with meetings: Ergonomic analysis of shift supervisors activity in aircraft building Good shift changeovers contribute to ensuring continuity and reliability in shift work. In situations where production is not maintained 24h a day, changeovers with meetings (SCM) between the two work teams (written plus oral face-to-face handovers) alternate with changeovers without meetings (SCnM; written handovers only). An ergonomic work analysis on an aircraft assembly line showed that (1) incoming and outgoing operators met during the overlap time allotted by the company, and (2) the content of the exchanges was richer for SCMs than for SCnMs. SCMs enabled the operators to pass on and process more aspects of their work than SCnMs did. SCMs also allowed incoming operators to validate their predictions, and enabled both outgoing and incoming operators to update their mental models and work together on peripheral aspects of the technical process over a greater time span. The findings highlight the importance of allowing overlap time in shift work.

O O 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 B I


A two-stage group sampling plan based on truncated life tests for a general distribution A two-stage group acceptance sampling plan based on a truncated life test is proposed, which can be used regardless of the underlying lifetime distribution when multi-item testers are employed. The decision upon lot acceptance can be made in the first or second stage according to the number of failures from each group. The design parameters of the proposed plan such as number of groups required and the acceptance number for each of two stages are determined independently of an underlying lifetime distribution so as to satisfy the consumer's risk at the specified unreliability. Single-stage group sampling plans are also considered as special cases of the proposed plan and compared with the proposed plan in terms of the average sample number and the operating characteristics. Some important distributions are considered to explain the procedure developed here.

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

average sample number
life test
unreliability

consumer's risk
operating characteristic


computationally efficient approximated matrix inversion with application to crosstalk precoding in downstream vdsl An algorithm for approximating crosstalk channel matrix inversion is proposed in this paper. The algorithm decomposes the crosstalk channel matrix into a tridiagonal matrix plus a residual matrix composed of the remaining elements. By using diagonal dominance property, the inverse of the crosstalk channel matrix is approximated. Based on these results we propose a novel precoding method with lower computational complexity for canceling the crosstalk in downstream VDSL. Computer simulation results based on measured channel data are provided to verify the efficiency of the proposed algorithm.

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

crosstalk cancellation
matrix splitting
vectoring
digital subscriber line


Security Analysis of Internet Technology Components Enabling Globally Distributed Workplaces-A Framework As organizations increasingly operate, compete, and cooperate in a global context, business processes are also becoming global to propagate the benefits from coordination and standardization across geographical boundaries. In this context, security has gained significance due to increased threats, as well as legislation and compliance issues. This article presents a framework for assessing the security of Internet technology components that support a globally distributed workplace. Four distinct information flow and design architectures are identified based on location sensitivities and placements of the infrastructure components. Using a combination of scenarios, architectures, and technologies, the article presents the framework of a development tool for information security officers to evaluate the security posture of an information system. To aid managers in better understanding their options to improve security of the system, we also propose a three-dimensional representation, based on the framework, for embedding solution alternatives. To demonstrate its use in a real-world context, the article also applies the framework to assess a globally distributed workforce application at a northeast financial institution.

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

measurement
reliability
management
security analysis
internet applications
risk management


On the generation and maintenance of waves and turbulence in simulations of free-surface turbulence One of the challenges in numerical simulation of waveturbulence interaction is the precise setup and maintenance of wave and turbulence fields. In this paper, we investigate techniques for the generation and suppression of specific surface wave modes, the generation of turbulence in an inhomogeneous physical domain with a wavy boundary-fitted grid, and the generation and maintenance of waves and turbulence during the complex waveturbulence interaction process. We apply surface pressure to generate and suppress waves. Based on the solution of linearized CauchyPoisson problem, we derive three pressure expressions, which lead to a ? ? -function method, a time-segment method, and a gradual method. Numerical experiments show that these methods generate waves as specified and eliminate spurious waves effectively. The nonlinear wave effect is accounted for with a time-relaxation method. For turbulence generation, we extend the linear forcing method to an inhomogeneous physical domain with a curvilinear computational grid. Effects of force distribution and computational grid distortion are examined. For waveturbulence interaction, we develop an algorithm to instantaneously identify specific progressive and standing waves. To precisely control the wave amplitude in a complex turbulent flow field, we further develop an energy controlling method. Finally, a simulation example of waveturbulence interaction is presented. Results show that turbulence has unique features in the presence of waves. Velocity fluctuations are found to be strongly dependent on the wave phase; variations of these fluctuations are explained by the pressurestrain correlation associated with the wave-induced strain field.

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


Does implementation of a JIT-with-customers strategy change an organization's structure? Purpose - Manufacturers have begun to develop and implement strategies that focus on strengthening the operations/marketing interface with customers. Claycomb et at originally identified and described one such strategy, just-in-time (JIT)-with-customers, and assessed its impact on organizational structure. Generally, this study seeks to replicate their original work with two primary differences: marketing, rather than logistics executives, are surveyed and structural equation modeling, rather than regression analysis, is used to analyze the data. Design/methodology/approach - Data collected from 180 marketing executives are analyzed using a structural equation modeling approach to assess the impact of JIT-with-customers on the organizational structure dimensions of integration, performance control, specialization and decentralization. Findings - Results of this study indicate that JIT-with-customers impacts integration, performance control and specialization but is not related to decentralization. Research limitations/implications - The findings generally support the proposition that adoption of a JIT-with-customers strategy will result in changes in organizational structure. Practical implications - Manufacturing managers working to strengthen relationships with customers through a JIT-with-customers approach should prepare for organizational change in terms of increased integration, performance control, and specialization. Originality/value - JIT strategies focusing on the operations/marketing interface are being implemented within the manufacturing sector. This study assesses the impact of one such strategy, JIT-with-customers, for only the second time. The results verify the earlier work of Claycomb et at and expand the operations/marketing interface 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 O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

just in time
organizational structures
structural analysis
modelling


Refinement and Verification of Sequence Diagrams Using the Process Algebra CSP Sequence diagrams are often used in the modular design of softwares. In this paper, we propose a method to verify correctness of sequence diagrams. With this method, using the process algebra CSP, concurrent systems can be synthesized from a number of sequence diagrams. We define new CSP operators for the synthesis of sequence diagrams. We also report on a tool implementing our synthesis method and demonstrate how the tool analyzes sequence diagrams.

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


A computer program for the simulation of folds of different sizes under the influence of gravity Folding&g is a computer program, based on the finite element method, developed to simulate the process of natural folding from small to large scales in two dimensions. Written in Pascal code and compiled with Borland Delphi 3.0, the program has a friendly interactive user interface and can be used for research as well as educational purposes. Four main menu options allow the user to import or to build and to save a model data file, select the type of graphic output, introduce and modify several physical parameters and enter the calculation routines. The program employs isoparametric, initially rectangular elements with eight nodes, which can sustain large deformations. The mathematical procedure is based on the elasticity equations, but has been modified to simulate a viscous rheology, either linear or of power-law type. The parameters to be introduced include either the linear viscosity, or, when the viscosity is non-linear, the material constant, activation energy, temperature and power of the differential stress. All the parameters can be set by rows, which simulate layers. A toggle permits gravity to be introduced into the calculations. In this case, the density of the different rows must be specified, and the sizes of the finite elements and of the whole model become meaningful. Viscosity values can also be assigned to blocks of several rows and columns, which permits the modelling of heterogeneities such as rectangular areas of high strength, which can be used to simulate shearing components interfering with the buckling process. The program is applied to several cases of folding, including a single competent bed and multilayers, and its results compared with analytical and experimental results. The influence of gravity is illustrated by the modelling of diapiric structures and of a large recumbent fold. (C) 2003 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 B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 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 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


The challenge for multichannel services: Cross-channel free-riding behavior In multichannel environments, consumers can move easily among different channels. They engage in cross-channel free-riding when they use one retailer's channel to obtain information or evaluate products and then switch to another retailer's channel to complete the purchase. Cross-channel free-riding erodes profits and is one of the most important issues that firms face in the multichannel era. The current study focuses on the most popular type of cross-channel free-riding: searching for product information in an online store and then purchasing in another brick-and-mortar store. It explores antecedents that may contribute to consumer switching behaviors through a questionnaire focused on cross-channel free-riding behavior. The empirical results reveal that when consumers perceive more multichannel self-efficacy, they engage in more cross-channel free-riding behavior. Perceived service quality of competitors' offline store and the reduced risk in the brick-and-mortar channel influence the attractiveness of this behavior and increase cross-channel free-riding intentions. By increasing within-firm lock-in levels, firms can reduce consumers' cross-channel free-riding intentions. (C) 2010 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.

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

electronic commerce
switching behavior
free-riding
marketing channels


The Competitive Business Impact of Using Telemedicine for the Treatment of Patients with Chronic Conditions The use of telemedicine to improve patients' health has been evolving rapidly over the past few years. Initially, our clinical research focus was on the development of effective ways for treating chronically ill patients, mostly those suffering from neurological disorders. While we identified the medical benefits of this information technology, there remains a salient strategic question addressing its competitive impact. In this paper, we analyze the impact of introducing telemedicine on the market share of the specialty hospital deploying this technology and on the competing hospitals in the region. Our analytical results prove that, contrary to earlier expectations, the value of telemedicine relative to in-person visits is not always increasing with the distance of the patient from the hospital. This result explains why patients located far from the specialty hospital may not prefer telemedicine care. We prove that telemedicine, unlike numerous other e-commerce applications, does not lead to the "winner takes all" phenomenon. We found that the advent of telemedicine changes the competitive equilibrium between specialty hospitals and community hospitals. Both hospital types will significantly benefit from delivering complementary care to chronic patients, rather than continuing to compete with each other.

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

chronic conditions
community hospitals
telemedicine

economics of telemedicine
health-care competition
health-care it


A weak continuity condition of FEM for axisymmetric couple stress theory and an 18-DOF triangular axisymmetric element The axisymmetric elements of classical continuum mechanics are only required to satisfy C0 continuity. However, the axisymmetric elements based on couple stress theory are required to satisfy C1 continuity. Consequently, traditional axisymmetric elements cannot be adopted directly in the finite element analysis of couple stress theory. In this paper, a weak continuity condition of axisymmetric nonconforming element method based on couple stress theory is proposed. Furthermore, an 18-DOF (degrees of freedom) axisymmetric couple stress triangular element (BCIZ+ART9) is developed by combining the displacement functions of thin plate triangular element BCIZ and refined nonconforming element ART9. The displacement function of BCIZ, which satisfies C0 continuity and quadratic completeness, is used to calculate first derivatives of displacement. The displacement function of ART9, which is constructed by modifying the displacement function of BCIZ based on the proposed C1 weak continuity condition, is used to calculate second derivatives of displacement. Numerical results show that the developed 18-DOF axisymmetric element (BCIZ+ART9) can be used for the analysis of size effect and has desirable convergence characteristic.

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

couple stress theory
c1 weak continuity
triangular axisymmetric element


The myth of global science collaborationCollaboration patterns in epistemic communities Scientific collaboration is often perceived as a joint global process that involves researchers worldwide, regardless of their place of work and residence. Globalization of science, in this respect, implies that collaboration among scientists takes place along the lines of common topics and irrespective of the spatial distances between the collaborators. The networks of collaborators, termed epistemic communities, should thus have a space-independent structure. This paper shows that such a notion of globalized scientific collaboration is not supported by empirical data. It introduces a novel approach of analyzing distance-dependent probabilities of collaboration. The results of the analysis of six distinct scientific fields reveal that intra-country collaboration is about 1050 times more likely to occur than international collaboration. Moreover, strong dependencies exist between collaboration activity (measured in co-authorships) and spatial distance when confined to national borders. However, the fact that distance becomes irrelevant once collaboration is taken to the international scale suggests a globalized science system that is strongly influenced by the gravity of local science clusters. The similarity of the probability functions of the six science fields analyzed suggests a universal mode of spatial governance that is independent from the mode of knowledge creation in science.

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

global science network
epistemic community
geography
distance-dependence
network analysis
spatial scientometrics


A hybrid biometric cryptosystem for securing fingerprint minutiae templates Security concerns regarding the stored biometric data is impeding the widespread public acceptance of biometric technology. Though a number of bio-crypto algorithms have been proposed, they have limited practical applicability due to the trade-off between recognition performance and security of the template. In this paper, we improve the recognition performance as well as the security of a fingerprint based biometric cryptosystem, called fingerprint fuzzy vault. We incorporate minutiae descriptors, which capture ridge orientation and frequency information in a minutia's neighborhood, in the vault construction using the fuzzy commitment approach. Experimental results show that with the use of minutiae descriptors, the fingerprint matching performance improves from an FAR of 0.7% to 0.01% at a GAR of 95% with some improvement in security as well. An analysis of security while considering two different attack scenarios is also presented. A preliminary version of this paper appeared in the International Conference on Pattern Recognition, 2008 and was selected as the Best Scientific Paper in the biometrics track. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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

biometrics
fuzzy vault
minutiae descriptors


The role of (personal) network effects and switching costs in determining mobile users' choice Network effects and switching costs are two major economic forces in information technology industries. Although the consequences of these mechanisms on competition and firm strategy have been well documented in the literature, research on their impact on customer behavior has received less attention. In this study, the authors investigate the role of personal network effects and switching costs in explaining customer choice in the Spanish mobile telecommunications industry. Personal network effects are present when an individual user's utility increases more when some individuals adopt (social network) than when others do. Switching costs refer to costs associated with the process of switching from one provider to another. In addition, this paper studies the drivers of personal network effects and switching behavior. The results reveal that personal network effects and switching costs play a key role in determining mobile users' choice: the probability that a customer selects a mobile phone company increases with the number of members of her social network already subscribed to that firm, and switching costs are significantly present in the mobile phone market making switching providers costly. Concerning the drivers of both mechanisms, the authors find that relationship characteristics (length, depth and breadth) and demographics differently affect personal network effects perceptions and consumer switching behavior. Implications for decision makers are discussed. Journal of Information Technology (2009) 24, 160-171. doi:10.1057/jit.2008.35; published online 17 February 2009

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

personal network effects
switching costs


Extraction of fetal electrocardiogram using H ? adaptive algorithms The fetal electrocardiogram (fECG) contains important information regarding the health of the fetus. However, the fECG obtained noninvasively from the abdominal surface electrical recordings of a pregnant woman are dominated by strong interference from the maternal electrocardiogram (mECG). In this paper, based on the H ? principle, two adaptive algorithms are proposed for the extraction of fECG from the trans-abdominal recordings of pregnant women. The motivation behind the application of H ? techniques is the fact that they are robust with respect to model uncertainties and lack of statistical information regarding noise. The proposed algorithms are applied to simulated as well as real multichannel ECG recordings and their performances are compared to that of the well-known least-mean-square (LMS) adaptive algorithm. It is found that the proposed H ? based algorithms perform superior to the LMS algorithm in extracting the fECG signal.

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

fetal electrocardiogram extraction
adaptive noise cancellation
h ? adaptive filtering


user-assisted similarity estimation for searching related web pages To utilize the similarity information hidden in the Web graph, we investigate the problem of adaptively retrieving related Web pages with user assistance. Given a definition of similarities between pages, it is intuitive to estimate that any similarity will propagate from page to page, inducing an implicit topical relatedness between pages. In this paper, we extract connected subgraphs from the whole graph that consists of all pairs of pages whose similarity scores are above a given threshold, and then sort the candidates of related pages by a novel rank measure which is based on the combination distances of a flexible hierarchical clustering. Moreover, due to the subjectivity of similarity values, we dynamically supply the ordering list of related pages according to a parameter adjusted by users. We show our approach effectively handles a set of pages originating from three related categories of Web hierarchies, such as Google Directory. The experiments with three similarity measures demonstrate that using in-link information is favorable while using a combination measure of in-links and out-links lowers the precision of identifying similar pages.

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Meshless singular boundary methods for biharmonic problems In this paper, the meshless singular boundary method (SBM) is first presented for the numerical solution of biharmonic problems. The SBM uses the source intensity factor to isolate the singularity of fundamental solutions and an inverse interpolation technique (IIT) to compute the source intensity factor, and thus avoids the fictitious boundary required in the method of fundamental solutions. However, the IIT may worsen the performance of the SBM. Then, a further development of the improved SBM (ISBM) is also presented for boundary-only analysis of biharmonic problems. In the ISBM, a new regularization technique is developed to compute the source intensity factor, which leads to higher computational precision and better numerical stability. Some numerical examples illustrate the efficiency and accuracy of both the SBM and the ISBM.

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

meshless method
improved singular boundary method
fundamental solution
biharmonic problem