An ontology-centric architecture for extensible scientific data management systems ? Data management has become a critical challenge faced by a wide array of scientific disciplines in which the provision of sound data management is pivotal to the achievements and impact of research projects. Massive and rapidly expanding amounts of data combined with data models that evolve over time contribute to making data management an increasingly challenging task that warrants a new approach. In this paper we present an ontology-centric architecture for data management systems that is extensible and domain independent. In this architecture, the behaviors of domain concepts and objects are captured entirely by ontological entities, around which all data management tasks are carried out. The open and semantic nature of ontology languages also makes this architecture amenable to greater data reuse and interoperability. To evaluate the proposed architecture, we have applied it to the challenge of managing phenomics data.

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 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 B O

podd
owl
ontology-centric architecture
bioinformatics


Redesign of a sharp heel draft tube by a validated CFD-optimization Numerical optimization techniques in flow design are often used to find optimal shape solutions, regarding, for instance, performance, flow behaviour, construction considerations and economical aspects. The present paper investigates the possibilities of using these techniques in the design process of a hydropower plant. This is realized by optimizing the shape of an existing sharp heel draft tube and validating the result with previously performed experiments. The actual shape optimization is carried out with the response surface methodology, by maximizing the average pressure recovery factor and minimizing the energy loss factor. The result from the optimization shows that it is possible to find an optimal solution on rather coarse grids. The location of the optimum is similar to the experiments, but the improvements are unexpectedly small. This surprising result indicates that the simulated flow field does not completely act as the real flow, which may be a result of the applied inlet boundary conditions, insufficient turbulence models and/or the steady flow assumption. Copyright (c) 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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

optimization
response surface methodology
draft tube
hydropower


Coupling of two methods, waveform superposition and numerical, to model blast vibration effect on slope stability in jointed rock masses Drilling and blasting is a major technology in mining since it is necessary for the initial breakage of rock masses in mining. Only a fraction of the explosive energy is efficiently consumed in the actual breakage and displacement of the rock mass, and the rest of the energy is spent in undesirable effects, such as ground vibrations. The prediction of induced ground vibrations across a fractured rock mass is of great concern to rock engineers in assessing the stability of rock slopes in open pit mines. The waveform superposition method was used in the Gol-E-Gohar iron mine to simulate the production blast seismograms based upon the single-hole shot vibration measurements carried out at a distance of 39m from the blast. The simulated production blast seismograms were then used as input to predict particle velocity time histories of blast vibrations in the mine wall using the universal distinct element code (UDEC). Simulated time histories of particle velocity showed a good agreement with the measured production blast time histories. Displacements and peak particle velocities were determined at various points of the engineered slope. The maximum displacement at the crest of the nearest bench in the X and Y directions was 26mm, which is acceptable in regard to open pit slope stability.

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

numerical simulation
peak particle velocity


Response Properties of Baroreceptive NTS Neurons Neurons in the nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS) responding to activation of arterial baroreceptors were recorded intracellularly using patch pipettes in an in situ arterially perfused working heart-brain stem preparation of rat. Seven of 15 (i.e., 46%) of NTS neurons showed adaptive (nonlinear) excitatory synaptic response patterns during baroreceptor stimulation followed by an evoked hyperpolarization. This evoked hyperpolarization was stimulus intensity dependent and capable of shunting out a subsequent baroreceptor input. We suggest that this adaptive response behavior may be mediated, in part, by calcium-dependent potassium currents (IKCa) since neurons showed spike frequency adaptation during step depolarizations and an after-hyperpolarization after repetitive firing. Furthermore, in in vivo anesthetized rats, NTS microinjections of either charybdotoxin (225 fmol) or apamin (4.5 pmol) to block IKCa increased the baroreceptor reflex gain. Our data purport that the responsiveness of baroreceptive NTS neurons can be regulated by intrinsic membrane conductances such as IKCa. Modulation of such conductances during either physiological (exercise) or pathophysiological (essential hypertension) conditions may lead to changes in both the operating point and gain of the baroreceptor reflex.

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

carotid sinus
calcium-dependent potassium currents
gabaa receptors


Connections between rough set theory and Dempster-Shafer theory of evidence In rough set theory there exists a pair of approximation operators, the upper and lower approximations, whereas in Dempster-Shafer theory of evidence there exists a dual pair of uncertainty measures, the plausibility and belief functions. It seems that there is some kind of natural connection between the two theories. The purpose of this paper is to establish the relationship between rough set theory and Dempster-Shafer theory of evidence. Various generalizations of the Dempster-Shafer belief structure and their induced uncertainty measures, the plausibility and belief functions, are first reviewed and examined. Generalizations of Pawlak approximation space and their induced approximation operators, the upper and lower approximations, are then summarized. Concepts of random rough sets, which include the mechanisms of numeric and non-numeric aspects of uncertain knowledge, are then proposed. Notions of the Dempster-Shafer theory of evidence within the framework of rough set theory are subsequently formed and interpreted. It is demonstrated that various belief structures are associated with various rough approximation spaces such that different dual pairs of upper and lower approximation operators induced by the rough approximation spaces may be used to interpret the corresponding dual pairs of plausibility and belief functions induced by the belief structures.

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

fuzzy random variables
fuzzy sets
possibility measures
random sets


Decision tree-based method for integrating gene expression, demographic, and clinical data to determine disease endotypes Complex diseases are often difficult to diagnose, treat and study due to the multi-factorial nature of the underlying etiology. Large data sets are now widely available that can be used to define novel, mechanistically distinct disease subtypes (endotypes) in a completely data-driven manner. However, significant challenges exist with regard to how to segregate individuals into suitable subtypes of the disease and understand the distinct biological mechanisms of each when the goal is to maximize the discovery potential of these data sets.

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


XML Data Clustering: An Overview In the last few years we have observed a proliferation of approaches for clustering XML documents and schemas based on their structure and content. The presence of such a huge amount of approaches is due to the different applications requiring the clustering of XML data. These applications need data in the form of similar contents, tags, paths, structures, and semantics. In this article, we first outline the application contexts in which clustering is useful, then we survey approaches so far proposed relying on the abstract representation of data (instances or schema), on the identified similarity measure, and on the clustering algorithm. In this presentation, we aim to draw a taxonomy in which the current approaches can be classified and compared. We aim at introducing an integrated view that is useful when comparing XML data clustering approaches, when developing a new clustering algorithm, and when implementing an XML clustering component. Finally, the article moves into the description of future trends and research issues that still need to be faced.

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

documentation
algorithms
performance
tree similarity
schema matching
semantic similarity
structural similarity


Optimization and analysis of the profitability of tariff structures with two-part tariffs Service providers often offer tariff structures with several two-part tariffs that consist of a fixed fee and a usage price, such that consumers may pick the tariff they prefer. Prices of tariffs have significant impacts on service providers profit, because they simultaneously influence consumers tariff choices and their usage. The number of tariffs also plays an important role, because more tariffs segment the market better but also increase the administrative burden and require more marketing effort. This article presents a mixed-integer nonlinear programming optimization problem to determine profit-maximizing tariffs; compares several heuristic search methods, in particular, the gradient method, stochastic search, and simulated annealing, to solve this problem; analyses the profitability of different tariff structures; and outlines the factors that drive differences in profitability across various tariff structures. The results show that especially for large samples of more than 100 consumers, simulated annealing performs best and deviates only 0.2% from the optimum. Structures with fewer two-part tariffs are generally sufficient, because additional two-part tariffs only negligibly increase service providers profit.

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

pricing
two-part tariffs
mixed integer nonlinear programming


Smooth interfaces for spectral element method for the solution of incompressible Newtonian fluid flow A smoothing technique is developed to calculate the interface conditions of spectral element method for solving the incompressible Newtonian fluid flow. The first derivative at the interface of spectral elements is calculated by using only the adjacent subdomains. Numerical simulations of an incompressible laminar fluid flow through a planar channel and a 2:1 planar contraction channel are presented for various Reynolds numbers.

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

spectral element method
planar contraction channel

least square method
navier-stokes equations
reynolds number


Adaptive neural model-based fault tolerant control for multi-variable processes An adaptive neural network model-based fault tolerant control approach for unknown non-linear multi-variable dynamic systems is proposed. A multi-layer Perceptron network is used as the process model and is adapted on-line using the extended Kalman filter to learn changes in process dynamics. In this way, the adaptive model will learn the post-fault dynamics caused by actuator or component faults. Then, the inversion of the neural model is used as a controller to maintain the system stability and control performance after fault occurrence. The convergence of the model inversion control is proved using Lyapunov method. The proposed method is applied to the simulation of a two-input two-output continuous-stirred tank reactor to demonstrate the effectiveness of the approach. Several actuator and component faults are simulated on the continuously stirred tank reactor process when the system is under the proposed fault tolerant control. The results have shown a fast recovery of tracking performance and the maintained stability.

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

adaptive neural models
multi-variable systems
extended kalman filters


Development of a machine learning technique for automatic analysis of seafloor image data: Case example, Pogonophora coverage at mud volcanoes Digital image processing provides powerful tools for fast and precise analysis of large image data sets in marine and geoscientific applications. Because of the increasing volume of georeferenced image and video data acquired by underwater platforms such as remotely operated vehicles, means of automatic analysis of the acquired image data are required. A new and fast-developing application is the combination of video imagery and mosaicking techniques for seafloor habitat mapping. In this article we introduce an approach to fully automatic detection and quantification of Pogonophora coverage in seafloor video mosaics from mud volcanoes. The automatic recognition is based on textural image features extracted from the raw image data and classification using machine learning techniques. Classification rates of up to 98.86% were achieved on the training data. The approach was extensively validated on a data set of more than 4000 seafloor video mosaics from the Hkon Mosby Mud Volcano.

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

automatic image analysis
supervised learning
image classification
pogonophora recognition


Uncovering Bivariate Interactions in High Dimensional Data Using Random Forests with Data Augmentation Random Forests (RF) is an ensemble technology for classification and regression which has become widely accepted in the bioinformatics community in the last few years. Its predictive strength, along with some of the utilities, rich in information, provided by the output, has made RF an efficient data mining tool for discovering patterns in high dimensional data. In this paper we propose a search strategy that explores a subset of the input space in an exhaustive way using RF as the search engine. Our procedure begins by taking the variables previously rejected by a sequential search procedure and uses the out of bag error rate of the ensemble, obtained when trained over an augmented data set, as criterion to capture difficult to uncover bivariate patterns associated with an outcome variable. We will show the performance of the procedure in some synthetic scenarios and will give an application to a real microarray experiment in order to illustrate how it works for gene expression data.

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

bivariate interactions
random forests
high dimensional data


An ActOn-based semantic information service for Grids We describe a semantic information service that aggregates metadata from a large number of information sources of a large-scale Grid infrastructure. It uses an ontology-based information integration architecture (ActOn) suitable for the highly dynamic distributed information sources available in Grid systems, where information changes frequently and where the information of distributed sources has to be aggregated in order to solve complex queries. These two challenges are addressed by a Metadata Cache that works with an update-on-demand policy and by an information source selection module that selects the most suitable source at a given point in time. We have evaluated the quality of this information service, and compared it with other similar services from the EGEE production testbed, with promising results.

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

information services
ontology
semantic grid


Optimal dispersion and central places This paper presents research into optimal dispersion models as applied to central places. The literature regarding location optimization and central places is reviewed and the motivation for employing dispersion models is identified. Models that employ the objective of maximal dispersion in the context of central places are formulated and solved in the context of both single- and multiple-good systems. Two methods for generating multiple-good systems are presented: a multiple-type dispersion model and a K-value constraint set formulation. Sequential solutions to dispersion models demonstrate how a system of central places could develop over time. The solutions to these models generate the patterns of central places expected under the organizing principles of central place theory. The objective of maximal dispersion is posited as both a motivating factor in central place location decisions, and as the optimal outcome of a mature system of central places.

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

dispersion
central place theory
optimization


Inter-frame dependence arising from preceding and succeeding frames - Application to speech recognition This paper extends the notion of capturing temporal information within an HMM framework by permitting the observed frame not only to be dependent upon preceding frames, but also upon succeeding frames. In particular the IFD-HMM (Ming and Smith, 1996) is extended to support any number of preceding and/or succeeding frame dependencies. The means through which such a dependency might be integrated into an HMM framework are explored, and details given of the resultant changes to the IFD-HMM. Experimental results are provided, contrasting the use of bi-directional frame dependencies to the use of preceding only frame dependencies and exploring how such dependencies can be best employed. It was found that a dependency upon succeeding frames enabled dynamic spectral information not found in the preceding frames to be usefully employed, resulting in a significant increase in the recognition accuracy. It was also found that the use of frame dependencies proved to be a more effective means of increasing recognition accuracy than the use of multiple mixtures. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science 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 B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

speech recognition
hmm
interframe dependence


Cost-conscious multiple kernel learning Recently, it has been proposed to combine multiple kernels using a weighted linear sum. In certain applications, different kernels may be using different input representations and these methods do not consider neither the cost of acquiring them nor the cost of evaluating the kernels. We generalize the framework of Multiple Kernel Learning (Mkl) for this cost-conscious methodology. On 12 benchmark data sets from the UCI repository, we compare Mkl and its cost-conscious variants in terms of accuracy, support vector count, and total cost. Cost-conscious Mkl achieves statistically similar accuracy results by using fewer support vectors/kernels by best trading off accuracy brought by each representation/kernel with the concomitant cost. We also test our approach on two popular bioinformatics data sets from MIPS comprehensive yeast genome database (CYGD) and see that integrating the cost factor into kernel combination allows us to obtain cheaper kernel combinations by using fewer active kernels and/or support vectors.

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

kernel combination
multiple kernel learning


CMOS demodulator for short-range wireless interconnection using ASK/CDMA technique A demodulator for short-range wireless interconnect using ASK/CDMA technique has been developed with 0.25 mum CMOS technology. The fabricated demodulator demonstrates the demodulation of 7.35 Mbps bit rate with 31 spread spectrum code length at 10 GHz carrier frequency.

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


creating a searchable map library via data mining Maps in journal articles are difficult to access since they are rarely indexed apart from the articles themselves. Our prototype of a searchable map library was built by extracting maps and harvesting metadata from scanned articles to classify each map.

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

geographic information retrieval
metadata harvesting


The logic of "initially" and "next": Complete axiomatization and complexity Andreka et al. (1995) obtained a large number of completeness results for discrete linear-time temporal logics. One of them is left open: the completeness of the logic of "initially" and "next", for which a deductive system is proposed. This simple logic is of practical importance, since the proof of program invariants only require these modalities. We show here that the conjectured medium completeness of this system indeed holds; further, we show that deciding this entailment is PSPACE-complete, while deciding validity is only coNP-complete. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

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

temporal logic
computational complexity
automatic theorem proving
program specification


MAkE: Multiobjective algorithm for k-way equipartitioning of a point set The classical problem of partitioning a given set of points, has applications in several areas such as facility location, scattered network, and in hierarchical design of VLSI circuits. While equipartitioning is traditionally associated with the single objective of minimum cutcost, the above application areas appear to demand more. In this paper, we introduce the problem of multiobjective k-way equipartitioning of a point set. Brief discussions on the above applications are followed by their generic formulation as a multiobjective k-way equipartitioning problem of a given point set. The non-commensurate multiobjective criteria addressed include (i) minimizing overall areas of the partitions, (ii) maximizing area of the individual partitions, (iii) minimizing the total compactness of the partitions, and (iv) minimizing the total geometric diversity of the obtained partitions. Since this optimization problem is computationally expensive in time and space, a technique based on genetic algorithm is proposed in order to obtain high quality results. Crossover and mutation operators specific to the k-way equipartitioning problem, have been designed and a new greedy operator named compaction is proposed to accelerate convergence. To illustrate the utility of the proposed formulation and the algorithm, a problem in VLSI layout design is considered. Results on synthetic data sets as well as those extracted from layouts of benchmark circuits demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed multiobjective approach.

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

multiobjective optimization
cluster analysis
balanced partitioning


AUTOMATIC CLASSIFICATION OF MEDICAL X-RAY IMAGES Image representation is one of the major aspects of automatic classification algorithms. In this paper, different feature extraction techniques have been utilized to represent medical X-ray images. They are categorized into two groups; (i) low-level image representation such as Gray Level Co-occurrence Matrix(GLCM), Canny Edge Operator, Local Binary Pattern(LBP), pixel value, and (ii) local patch-based image representation such as Bag of Words (BoW). These features have been exploited in different algorithms for automatic classification of medical X-ray images. We then analyzed the classification performance obtained with regard to the image representation techniques used. These experiments were evaluated on ImageCLEF 2007 database consists of 11000 medical X-ray images with 116 classes. Experimental results showed the classification performance obtained by exploiting LBP and BoW outperformed the other algorithms with respect to the image representation techniques used.

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


Solving the k-influence region problem with the GPU In this paper we study a problem that arises in the competitive facility location field. Facilities and customers are represented by points of a planar Euclidean domain. We associate a weighted distance to each facility to reflect that customers select facilities depending on distance and importance. We define, by considering weighted distances, the k-influence region of a facility as the set of points of the domain that has the given facility among their k-nearest/farthest neighbors. On the other hand, we partition the domain into subregions so that each subregion has a non-negative weight associated to it which measures a characteristic related to the area of the subregion. Given a weighted partition of the domain, the k-influence region problem finds the points of the domain where are new facility should be opened. This is done considering the known weight associated to the new facility and ensuring a minimum weighted area of its k-influence region. We present a GPU parallel approach, designed under CUDA architecture, for approximately solving the k-influence region problem. In addition, we describe how to visualize the solutions, which improves the understanding of the problem and reveals complicated structures that would be hard to capture otherwise. Integration of computation and visualization facilitates decision makers with an iterative what-if analysis process, to acquire more information to obtain an approximate optimal location. Finally, we provide and discuss experimental results showing the efficiency and scalability of our approach.

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

competitive facility location
visualization

computer science
decision-making support system
influence region
graphics processing unit (gpu)


Evaluating cost taxonomies for information systems management The consideration of costs, benefits and risks underpin many Information System (IS) evaluation decisions. Yet, vendors and project-champions alike tend to identify and focus much of their effort on the benefits achievable from the adoption of new technology, as it is often not in the interest of key stakeholders to spend too much time considering the wider cost and risk implications of enterprise-wide technology adoptions. In identifying a void in the literature, the authors of the paper present a critical analysis of IS-cost taxonomies. In doing so, the authors establish that such cost taxonomies tend to be esoteric and difficult to operationalize, as they lack specifics in detail. Therefore, in developing a deeper understanding of IS-related costs, the authors position the need to identify, control and reduce IS-related costs within the information systems evaluation domain, through culminating and then synthesizing the literature into a frame of reference that supports the evaluation of information systems through a deeper understanding of IS-cost taxonomies. The paper then concludes by emphasizing that the total costs associated with IS-adoption can only be determined after having considered the multi-faceted dimensions of information system investments.

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


Performance evaluation of fault-branch detection in TDM passive optical networks by spectral analysis of interferometric signals A new fault-branch detection scheme is proposed to troubleshoot the breaks of any distribution fibers in a time-division multiplexing (TDM) passive optical network. We employ a continuous optical frequency sweeper at the optical line terminal (OLT) and an interferometric (IF) device at each optical network unit (ONU). By analyzing the spectrum of the returned combined signals at the OLT, we can obtain the status of all branches. This detection method not only uses a small optical frequency band for surveillance monitoring, but is also simple to operate. Furthermore, a modified architecture is proposed to relax the specifications of IF devices. The tolerance of the IF device length was analyzed using the Monte-Carlo simulation method.

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

passive optical networks
surveillance monitoring
spectral analysis

fault-branch detection
interferometric signal


Fuzzy Generalized Ordered Weighted Averaging Distance Operator and Its Application to Decision Making We develop the fuzzy generalized ordered weighted averaging distance (FGOWAD) operator. It is a new aggregation operator that uses the main characteristics of the generalized OWA (GOWA), the ordered weighted averaging distance (OWAD) and uncertain information represented as fuzzy numbers. This operator includes a wide range of distance measures and aggregation operators such as the fuzzy maximum distance, the fuzzy minimum distance, the fuzzy normalized Hamming distance (FNHD), the fuzzy weighted Hamming distance (FWHD), the fuzzy normalized Euclidean distance (FNED), the fuzzy weighted Euclidean distance (FWED), the fuzzy ordered weighted averaging distance (FOWAD) operator, the fuzzy Euclidean ordered weighted averaging distance (FEOWAD) operator and the fuzzy generalized ordered weighted averaging (FGOWA) operator. We study some of its main properties. Finally, we apply the developed operator to a multi-person decision-making problem regarding the selection of strategies.

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

distance measure
gowa operator
fuzzy number


A low-power wireless video sensor node for distributed object detection In this paper we propose MicrelEye, a wireless video node for cooperative distributed video processing applications that involve image classification. The node is equipped with a low-cost VGA CMOS image sensor, a reconfigurable processing engine (FPGA, Microcontroller, SRAM) and a Bluetooth 100-m transceiver. It has a size of few cubic centimeters and its typical power consumption is approximately ten times less than that of typical commercial DSP-based solutions. As regards classification, a highly optimized hardware-oriented support vector machine-like (SVM-like) algorithm called ERSVM is proposed and implemented. We describe our hardware and software architecture, its performance and power characteristics. The case study considered in this paper is people detection. The obtained results suggest that the present technology allows for the design of simple intelligent video nodes capable of performing classification tasks locally.

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 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

wireless sensors network
low power architectures
support vector machine


Hybrid Analytical Modeling of Pending Cache Hits, Data Prefetching, and MSHRs This article proposes techniques to predict the performance impact of pending cache hits, hardware prefetching, and miss status holding register resources on superscalar microprocessors using hybrid analytical models. The proposed models focus on timeliness of pending hits and prefetches and account for a limited number of MSHRs. They improve modeling accuracy of pending hits by 3.9x and when modeling data prefetching, a limited number of MSHRs, or both, these techniques result in average errors of 9.5% to 17.8%. The impact of non-uniform DRAM memory latency is shown to be approximated well by using a moving average of memory access latency.

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

performance
analytical modeling
data prefetching
miss status holding register


ADOPTION OF ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORDS IN THE PRESENCE OF PRIVACY CONCERNS: THE ELABORATION LIKELIHOOD MODEL AND INDIVIDUAL PERSUASION Within the emerging context of the digitization of health care, electronic health records (EHRs) constitute a significant technological advance in the way medical information is stored, communicated, and processed by the multiple parties involved in health care delivery. However, in spite of the anticipated value potential of this technology, there is widespread concerti that consumer privacy issues may impede its diffusion. In this study, we pose the question: Can individuals be persuaded to change their attitudes and opt-in behavioral intentions toward EHRs, and allow their medical information to be digitized even in the presence of significant privacy concerns? To investigate this question, we integrate an individual's concern for information privacy (CFIP) with the elaboration likelihood model (ELM) to examine attitude change and likelihood of opting-in to an EHR system. We theorize that issue involvement and argument framing interact to influence attitude change, and that concern for information privacy further moderates the effects of these variables. We also propose that likelihood of adoption is driven by concern for information privacy and attitude. We test our predictions using at? experiment with 366 subjects where we manipulate the framing of the arguments supporting EHRs. We find that an individual's CFIP interacts with argument framing and issue involvement to affect attitudes toward the use of EHRs. In addition, results suggest that attitude toward EHR use and CFIP directly influence opt-in behavioral intentions. An important finding for both theory and practice is that even when people have high concerns for privacy, their attitudes can be positively altered with appropriate message framing. These results as well as other theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

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

privacy
elaboration likelihood model
elm
electronic health records
ehr
cfip
attitude


Upper and lower bound limit analysis of plates using FEM and second-order cone programming This paper presents two novel numerical procedures to determine upper and lower bounds on the actual collapse load multiplier for plates in bending. The conforming HsiehCloughTocher (HCT) and enhanced Morley (EM) elements are used to discrete the problem fields. A Morley element with enhanced moment fields is used. The constant moment fields is added a quadratic mode in which the pressure is equilibrated by corner loads only, ensuring that exact equilibrium relations associated with a uniform pressure can be obtained. Once the displacement or moment fields are approximated and the bound theorems applied, limit analysis becomes a problem of optimization. In this paper, the optimization problems are formulated in the form of a standard second-order cone programming which can be solved using highly efficient interior point solvers. The procedures are tested by applying it to several benchmark plate problems and are found good agreement between the present upper and lower bound solutions and results in the literature.

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 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 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

displacement and equilibrium models
criterion of mean
second order cone programming


Occlusion detection using horizontally segmented windows for vehicle tracking This paper proposes an efficient algorithm for detecting occlusions in a video sequences of ground vehicles using color information. The proposed method uses a rectangular window to track a target vehicle, and the window is horizontally divided into several sub-regions of equal width. Each region is determined to be occluded or not based on the color histogram similarity to the corresponding region of the target. The occlusion detection results are used in likelihood computation of the conventional tracking algorithm based on particle filtering. Experimental results in real scenes show that the proposed method finds the occluded region successfully and improves the performance of the conventional trackers.

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

occlusion detection
histogram similarity

computer vision
object tracking
particle filters


Numerical simulation for rotating internal weakly viscoelastic flows in rectangular ducts The present work develops a numerical method for the solution of rotating internal weakly viscoelastic flows in rectangular ducts for dimensionless parameters such as the Reynolds, Rossby and Weissenberg numbers, taken respectively in the intervals between 171 and 12000, 0.047 and 1/12 and up to 1/10000. It is shown that the usual counter-rotating double-vortex configuration of secondary flow breaks down with the increase of the Reynolds number (over the threshold of 171). For higher Reynolds numbers such as 7500 and 12000 the secondary flow diffuses to the interior of the duct where it assumes a fully developed configuration and the transition to the turbulence structure is observed. The Sobolev norms increase almost proportionally to the increase of the Reynolds number, and play an essential role for more complex problems involving transition to turbulence modelling. Copyright (C) 2002 John Wiley Sons, Ltd.

O O O 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 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


Soft constraint abstraction based on semiring homomorphism The semiring-based constraint satisfaction problems (semiring CSPs), proposed by Bistarelli, Montanari and Rossi [S. Bistarelli, U. Montanari, F. Rossi, Semiring-based constraints solving and optimization, journal of the ACM 44 (2) (1997) 201-236], is a very general framework of soft constraints. In this paper we propose an abstraction scheme for soft constraints that uses semiring homomorphism. To find optimal solutions of the concrete problem, we first work in the abstract problem and find its optimal solutions, and then use them to solve the concrete problem. In particular, we show that a mapping preserves optimal solutions if and only if it is an order-reflecting semiring homomorphism. Moreover, for a semiring homomorphism alpha and a problem P over S, if t is optimal in alpha(P), then there is an optimal solution (t) over bar of P such that (t) over bar has the same value as t in alpha(P). (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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

constraint solving
soft constraint satisfaction
order-reflecting


Buyer behavior adaptation based on a fuzzy logic controller and prediction techniques The current form of Web provides numerous product resources available to users. Users can rely on intelligent agents for purchase actions. These actions are taken in specific environments such as Electronic Markets (EMs). In this paper, we study the interaction process between buyers and sellers and focus on the buyer side. Each buyer has the opportunity to interact with a number of sellers trying to buy the most appropriate products. This interaction can be modeled as a finite horizon Bargaining Game (BG). In this game. players have opposite goals concerning the product price. We adopt a number of techniques in the buyer side trying to give the appropriate level of efficiency in the buyer decision process. The buyer uses a prediction mechanism in combination with the use of Fuzzy Logic (FL) theory in order to be able to predict the upcoming seller proposal and, thus, understand the seller pricing policy. Based on this, he/she can adapt his/her behavior when trying to purchase products. The buyer adaptation mechanism produces the belief that the buyer has about the seller pricing policy and a parameter that indicates his/her own pricing policy which yields the buyer offers in the upcoming rounds. Moreover, the buyer is based on FL system that derives the appropriate actions at every round of the BG. Our results show that the combination of Fuzzy Logic (FL) with the above-mentioned techniques provides an efficient decision mechanism in the buyer side that in specific scenarios outperforms an optimal stopping model. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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

fuzzy logic
electronic markets
intelligent agents
prediction


A star network approach in heterogeneous multiprocessors system on chip Multiprocessor System on Chip (MPSoC) platform plays a vital role in parallel processor architecture design. However, with the growing number of processors, interconnect on chip is becoming one of the major bottlenecks of MPSoC architecture. In this paper, we propose a star network based on peer to peer links on FPGA. The star network utilizes fast simplex links (FSL) as basic structure to connect the scheduler with heterogeneous processing elements, including processors and hardware IP cores. Blocking and nonblocking application interfaces are provided for high level programming. We built a prototype system on FPGA to evaluate the transfer time and hardware cost of the proposed star network architecture. Experiment results demonstrated that the average transfer time for each word could be reduced to 7 cycles, which achieves 14 speedup against state-of-the-art shared memory literatures. Moreover, the star network cost only 1.2% Flip Flops and 2.45% LUTs of a single FPGA.

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

multiprocessor system on chip
star network


Augmenting supersaturated designs with Bayesian D D -optimality A methodology is developed to add runs to existing supersaturated designs. The technique uses information from the analysis of the initial experiment to choose the best possible follow-up runs. After analysis of the initial data, factors are classified into one of three groups: primary, secondary, and potential. Runs are added to maximize a Bayesian D D -optimality criterion to increase the information gained about those factors. Simulation results show the method can outperform existing supersaturated design augmentation strategies that add runs without analyzing the initial response variables.

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

adding runs
computer-generated designs
experimental design
screening designs


An experiment planner for performing successive focused grid searches with an automated chemistry workstation Automated chemistry workstations equipped for parallel and adaptive experimentation can provide a significant impact in chemistry research, particularly for exploring search spaces as part of optimization studies. A traditional method of investigating a search space involves generation of a response surface upon examination of a regular grid of points (e.g., as in a full factorial design). Such experimental approaches are compatible with parallel experimentation but are not adaptive in directing the search toward favorable regions of the search space. We have developed an algorithm wherein a succession of grid searches is performed in a search space. The location of the optimal response obtained in one search cycle constitutes the location about which a subsequent more fine-grained search is performed. In this manner, a sequential iterative optimization can be achieved: one cycle is comprised of a set of parallel reactions followed by data evaluation, and multiple cycles occur until one of several user-defined termination criteria is satisfied. In successive cycles, the number of levels on each dimension can be decremented and the range of each dimension can be decreased by a defined "shrinkage" factor. The resulting successive focused grid search (SFGS) affords a breadth-first then in-depth study. We have developed an experimental planner that enables the SFGS algorithm to be implemented on an automated chemistry workstation. Options are available for adjusting the scope of experimentation to conserve material resources (e.g., solvent, reagents, reactants) or to curtail the duration of experimentation. Collectively, the SFGS module enables parallel adaptive experimentation and affords a comprehensive response surface that is fine-grained in the region of optimal response. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

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

grid search
factorial design
automated chemistry workstation
parallel experimentation
adaptive experimentation


Design and development of an innovative individualized adaptive and intelligent e-learning system for teaching-learning of probability unit: Details of UZWEBMAT In this study, an innovative adaptive and intelligent web based e-learning system, UZWEBMAT (Turkish abbreviation of Adaptive and INtelligent WEB based MAThematics teaching-learning system) was designed, developed and implemented. This e-learning system was intended for learning and teaching secondary school level permutation-combination-binomial expansion and probability subjects. Content which was prepared according to Turkish curriculum for secondary school mathematics course was transformed into learning objects in three different ways in accordance with VAK (Visual-Auditory-Kinesthetic) learning styles. Primary/secondary/tertiary learning styles of learners registering the system are determined and each learner receives the content appropriate for his/her dominant learning style. Also, they can be directed to contents of other styles according to their performances thanks to an expert system. Learning objects constituting the content were prepared according to constructivist approach. An active role for the learner was the purpose. Tips and intelligent solution supports within the learning objects were presented with expert system support to the learners. With this structure, UZWEBMAT bears the characteristics of intelligent tutoring system as well as an adaptive e-learning environment. All the movements of learners studying with UZWEBMAT are recorded and the necessary information is reported to both learners and teachers in a visualized way. Crown Copyright (C) 2012 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 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 educational hypermedia
individualized e-learning
individual differences
learning style based e-learning system
mathematics education


a simplified executable model to evaluate latency and throughput of networks-on-chip This paper proposes a technique that mixes simulation and an analytical method to evaluate the characteristics of Networks-on-Chips (NoCs). The advantage of this technique is to reduce the simulation time by reducing the complexity of the NoC model while still obtaining accurate results for latency and throughput. The basis of this technique is: ( i ) to send the whole payload data at once in the packet header; ( ii ) to reduce the NoC simulation complexity by omitting the flit by flit payload forwarding; ( iii ) to use an algorithm for controlling the release of the packet trailer in order to close the connection at the right time. For the evaluation of this technique, an actor-oriented model of a NoC, JOSELITO, was created. Simulation results show that JOSELITO is in average 2.3 times faster in 88\% of the executed case studies than the implementation without using the proposed technique. The worst case simulation results for latency and throughput have, respectively, 5.26\% and 0.1\% error compared to the corresponding Register Transfer Level (RTL) model.

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

networks-on-chip
modeling
performance evaluation


A framework for semantic interoperability for distributed geospatial repositories Interoperable access of geospatial information across disparate geospatial applications has become essential. Geospatial data are highly heterogeneous the heterogeneity arises both at the syntactic and semantic levels. Finding and accessing appropriate data in such a distributed environment is an important research issue. The paper proposes a methodology for interoperable access of geospatial information based on Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) specified standards. An architecture for integrating diverse geospatial data repositories has been proposed using service-based methodology. The semantic issues for discovery and retrieval of geospatial data over distributed geospatial services have also been proposed in the paper. The proposed architecture utilizes the ontological concepts for service description and subsequent discovery of services. An approach for semantic similarity assessment of geospatial services has been discussed.

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

geospatial ontology
spatial semantics
spatial services
service similarity assessment


A framework to analyze argumentative knowledge construction in computer-supported collaborative learning Computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) is often based on written argumentative discourse of learners, who discuss their perspectives on a problem with the goal to acquire knowledge. Lately, CSCL research focuses on the facilitation of specific processes of argumentative knowledge construction, e.g., with computer-supported collaboration scripts. In order to refine process-oriented instructional support, such as scripts, we need to measure the influence of scripts on specific processes of argumentative knowledge construction. In this article, we propose a multi-dimensional approach to analyze argumentative knowledge construction in CSCL from sampling and segmentation of the discourse corpora to the analysis of four process dimensions (participation, epistemic, argumentative, social mode). (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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


an adaptative visual device to assist patients affected by visual scotoma The presence of a central visual scotoma disrupts recognition and any visual identification. The current visual apparatus (lens) obliges the patient to develop a new referential visual to investigate differently the visual information but regrettably they are not very successful. In this project, we elaborated an innovative adaptive optical device. Adaptive, because it is no longer the patient who has to adapt himself to his handicap but the device which is going to adapt its environment to his visual needs in real time. We suggest synchronizing eye movement and availability of the visual information by unmasking the visual information present under the scotoma. Our result shows that the subject is disrupted during the reading with the presence of the scotoma when more than 6 letters are masked. Beyond, we improve significantly the speed of reading according to the unmasking principle.A new proposal for the unmasking of information by respecting the cognitive and linguistic cues of the text is the object of the continuity of this project.

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

adaptative optical device
low vision
eye tracking
visual impairment
ergonomy


D'Agents: Applications and performance of a mobile-agent system D'Agents is a general-purpose mobile-agent system that has been used in several information-retrieval applications. In this paper, we first examine one such application, operational support for military field personnel, where D'Agents greatly simplifies the task of providing efficient, application-specific access to remote information resources. After describing the application, we discuss the key differences between D'Agents and most other mobile-agent systems, notably its support for strong mobility and multiple agent languages. Finally, we derive a small, simple application that is representative of many information-retrieval tasks, including those in the example application, and use this application to compare the scalability of mobile agents and traditional client/server approaches. The results confirm and quantify the usefulness of mobile code, and perhaps more importantly, confirm that intuition about when to use mobile code is usually correct. Although significant additional experiments are required to fully characterize the complex mobile-agent performance space, the results presented here help to answer the basic question of when mobile agents should be considered at all, particularly for information-retrieval applications. Copyright (C) 2002 John Wiley Sons, Ltd.

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

mobile code
mobile agents
performance
scalability


Formal concept analysis approach to cognitive functionalities of bidirectional associative memory ? Pattern association is one among the ways through which human brain stores and recalls information. From the literature, it is evident that cognitive abilities of human brain such as learning, memorizing, recalling and updating of information are performed via concepts and their connections. In this work we have made use of Formal Concept Analysis (FCA), a mathematical framework for data and knowledge processing, to represent memories and to perform some of the cognitive functions of human brain. In particular, we model the functionalities of bidirectional associative memories. The proposed model can learn, memorize the learnt information, bi-directionally recall the information that is associated with the presented cue with the help of object-attribute relations that exists in the scenario and update the knowledge when there is a change in the considered scenario. Also when a noisy cue is given, the model is capable of recalling the most closely associated pattern by exploiting the concept hierarchy principle of FCA. Similarly, when a new information is presented on a learnt scenario, the proposed model can update its knowledge by avoiding the need to re-learn scenario. We illustrate the proposed model with a case study and validate with experiments on few real world datasets.

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

associative memories
concept hierarchy
formal concept analysis
pattern association


Hydrological cycle simulation of an irrigation district based on a SWAT model A distributed hydrological cycle model of an irrigation district was developed based on the SWAT model (Soil and Water Assessment Tool) and an artificial-natural composite of the hydrological cycle was considered. The SWAT model was modified in the aspects of the extraction of ditches, distributed subbasins and hydrologic response units, and the calculation method of the crop's actual ET. The applicability of the model was validated in the Fenhe irrigation district. The information on hydrology, weather and water use from 1996 to 2001 in the Fenhe irrigation district was used to simulate and analyze the water balance. The sensitive parameters were estimated by E(ns), R(E) and R(2). The model was further validated with the monthly flow data from 2002 to 2006. The results showed that the simulated results of two monitoring points meet the estimated requirements. The RE value of the average annual runoff at the Erba Station varied from 7.34% to 19.13% except a low RE value (30.70%) in 2006. The RE of the average annual run of fat the Yitang station was from 17.21% to 9.86% with an exceptional RE value (21.13%) in 2003. From the monthly simulated results, the R(2) of the monthly runoff at the Erb a and Yitang stations was 0. 81 and 0. 77, respectively. The E(ns) of the monthly run off was 0. 72 and 0. 65, respectively. A modified SWAT model was applicable for water balance simulation at the Fenhe irrigation district. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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

geographic information system
distributed hydrological model
runoff simulation
precision water management


inconsistency detection and resolution for context-aware middleware support Context-awareness is a key feature of pervasive computing whose environments keep evolving. The support of context-awareness requires comprehensive management including detection and resolution of context inconsistency, which occurs naturally in pervasive computing. In this paper we present a framework for realizing dynamic context consistency management. The framework supports inconsistency detection based on a semantic matching and inconsistency triggering model, and inconsistency resolution with proactive actions to context sources. We further present an implementation based on the Cabot middleware. The feasibility of the framework and its performance are evaluated through a case study and a simulated experiment, respectively.

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 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

context consistency management
semantic matching
pervasive computing


Linearly implicit quantization-based integration methods for stiff ordinary differential equations In this paper, new integration methods for stiff ordinary differential equations (ODEs) are developed. Following the idea of quantization-based integration (QBI), i.e., replacing the time discretization by state quantization, the proposed algorithms generalize the idea of linearly implicit algorithms. Also, the implementation of the new algorithms in a DEVS simulation tool is discussed. The efficiency of these new methods is verified by comparing their performance in the simulation of two benchmark problems with that of other numerical stiff ODE solvers. In particular, the advantages of these new algorithms for the simulation of electronic circuits are demonstrated.

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

ordinary differential equation
stiff systems
quantized state systems
powerdevs


Does birds of a feather flock together matterEvidence from a longitudinal study on USChina scientific collaboration China's status as a scientific power, particularly in the emerging area of nanotechnology, has become widely accepted in the global scientific community. The role of knowledge spillover in China's nanotechnology development is generally assumed, albeit without much convincing evidence. Very little has been investigated on the different mechanisms of knowledge spillover. Utilizing both cross-sectional data and longitudinal data of 77 Chinese nanoscientists publications, this study aims to differentiate individual effects from the effect of international collaboration on the research performance of Chinese researchers. The study finds evidence in support of the birds of a feather flock together argument that China's best scientists collaborate at international level. It also finds that collaboration across national boundaries has a consistently positive effect on China's nano research quality with a time-decaying pattern. Language turns out to be the most influential factor impacting the quality or visibility of Chinese nano research. Policy implications on research evaluation, human capital management, and public research and development allocation are also discussed in the end.

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

research evaluation
international collaboration


On-line Reputation Systems: The Effects of Feedback Comments and Reactions on Building and Rebuilding Trust in On-line Auctions Previous research on reputation systems primarily focused on their trust-building function. The present research addresses their trust-rebuilding function-specifically, the role of the short text comments given in reaction to negative feedback. Rebuilding trust is often necessary because on-line markets are noisy environments. The results of two experimental studies of eBay users show that trustworthiness judgments are influenced by the text comments accompanying negative feedback and also by whether a trust violation is perceived as competence-based or morality-based. Plain apologies were more successful than denials in repairing trust. These effects were mediated by the perceived believability of the comments. Thus, to avoid the detrimental effect of noise on trust, operators of on-line marketplaces should encourage text feedback comments and reactions.

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


Multiple fuzzy neural networks modeling with sparse data It is difficult to establish a black-box model for sparse data, because not enough data can be applied for training. This paper presents a novel identification approach using multiple fuzzy neural networks. It focuses on structure and parameters uncertainty which have been widely explored in the literature. Firstly, the sparse data are used within a fixed time interval to generate model structure. Then kernel regression methods are used to generate training data, a stable updating algorithm is proposed to train the membership functions. To cope structure change, a hysteresis strategy is proposed to enable multiple fuzzy neural identifier switching with guaranteed performance. Both theoretic analysis and simulation example show the efficacy of the proposed method.

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

fuzzy neural networks
modeling
sparse data


Real-time multicast for wireless multihop networks Wireless multicast for multihop ad-hoc networks ensures that the same information is delivered efficiently to multiple recipients simultaneously. However, existing protocols ignore the real-time nature of many wireless applications such as real-time video and audio communications in mesh and ad-hoc networks. Further, devices in Such networks are typically energy-constrained, i.e., multicast protocols have to trade off timeliness with energy efficiency. This paper presents RTMC, a real-time multicast protocol for wireless multihop networks that allows receivers to specify their individual real-time constraints and establishes multicast trees such that receivers' deadlines are met and overall energy consumption in the network is reduced. Toward this end, RTMC relies oil dynamically prioritized packet scheduling on forwarding nodes, prioritized channel access at the MAC layer, feedback control for latency management, tree adaptations to address mobility, dynamic subscriptions and unsubscriptions, and adaptations to address link breakages. Simulation results show that, compared to non-real-time multicast techniques, RTMC can provide user-specific latency management while reducing the energy consumption in the network. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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

wireless multihop routing
medium access control
priority scheduling
real-time systems


A symmetric splitting method for rigid body dynamics It has been known since the time of Jacobi that the solution to the free rigid body Euler equations of motion is given in terms of a certain type of elliptic functions. Using the Arithmetic-Geometric mean algorithm, Abramowitz & Stegun (1992), these functions can be calculated efficiently and accurately. The overall approach yields a faster and more accurate numerical solution to the Euler equations compared to standard numerical ODE and symplectic solvers. In this paper we investigate the possibility of extending this approach to the case of rigid bodies subject to external forces. By using a splitting strategy similar to the one proposed in Reich (1996), we decompose the vector field of our problem in a free rigid body (FRB) problem and another completely integrable vector held. We apply the method to the simulation of the heavy top.

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

symmetric methods
symplectic methods
jacobi elliptic functions


An efficient spherical mapping algorithm and its application on spherical harmonics The sphere is a natural and seamless parametric domain for closed genus-0 surfaces. We introduce an efficient hierarchical optimization approach for the computation of spherical parametrization for closed genus-0 surfaces by minimizing a nonlinear energy balancing angle and area distortions. The mapping results are bijective and lowly distorted. Our algorithm converges efficiently and is suitable to manipulate large-scale geometric models. We demonstrate and analyze the effectiveness of our mapping in spherical harmonics decomposition.

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

spherical parametrization
hierarchical optimization
spherical harmonics


Scientific research in the Indian subcontinent: selected trends and indicators 1973-2007 comparing Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka with India, the local giant As part of a research program to analyse research in Bangladesh we provide a comparison between research indicators related to India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. In this investigation we make use of Web of Science (WoS) data as well as Scopus data (using the SCImago website). Special attention is given to collaboration data and to the evolution of country h-indices. A comparison based on relative quality indicators shows that Sri Lanka is the best performer among these four countries. Such a result agrees with the ranking of these countries according to the United Nations' Human Development Index (HDI).

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


Weak formulation of axi-symmetric frictionless contact problems with boundary elements application to interface cracks A boundary element formulation of the axi-symmetric elastic problem, including contact conditions for multidomain problems, is presented in this paper and applied to the analysis of interface cracks. A weak formulation of the equilibrium and compatibility equations has been developed to allow non-conforming discretizations to be used in the contacting boundaries. In order to obtain a high accuracy in the solution (employing continuous linear elements), the singular terms appearing in the axi-symmetric boundary integral equations have been integrated analytically. The numerical analysis of a penny-shaped crack at the interface of two dissimilar materials and of a fibre-matrix debonding crack in the single fibre fragmentation test is presented. (c) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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

elastic problem
frictionless contact
interface cracks
single fibre fragmentation test

boundary element method
axial symmetry
weak application of contact equations
non-conforming discretizations


Entropy-based method for topological optimization of truss structures This paper presents an entropy-based topological optimization method for truss structures. To begin with, a group of variables which mean the density distribution of structural strain energy are introduced. By the variables, a bridge between the energy distribution and topological optimization of trusses is constructed so that the problem of searching for optimal topology is transformed into a problem of finding out the optimum distribution of the strain energy. Once, then, the energy distribution is known, the optimal cross-sectional areas of elements are found out. The above two steps are executed in turn till the convergence is reached. Next, the stiffness and strength reliability corresponding to the final topological structure is computed with the reasonable result.

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

maximum entropy principle
topology optimization
structural reliability
linear programming


Algorithm-system scalability of heterogeneous computing Scalability is a key factor of the design of distributed systems and parallel algorithms and machines. However, conventional scalabilities are designed for homogeneous parallel processing. There is no suitable and commonly accepted definition of scalability metric for heterogeneous systems. Isospeed scalability is a well-defined metric for homogeneous computing. This study extends the isospeed scalability metric to general heterogeneous computing systems. The proposed isospeed-efficiency model is suitable for both homogeneous and heterogeneous computing. Through theoretical analyses, we derive methodologies of scalability measurement and prediction for heterogeneous systems. Experimental results have verified the analytical results and confirmed that the proposed isospeed-efficiency scalability works well in both homogeneous and heterogeneous environments. (C) 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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

performance evaluation
parallel computing


A ghost fluid Lattice Boltzmann method for complex geometries A ghost fluid Lattice Boltzmann method (GF-LBM) is developed in this study to represent complex boundaries in Lattice Boltzmann simulations of fluid flows. Velocity and density values at the ghost points are extrapolated from the fluid interior and domain boundary via obtaining image points along the boundary normal inside the fluid domain. A general bilinear interpolation algorithm is used to obtain values at image points which are then extrapolated to ghost nodes thus satisfying hydrodynamic boundary conditions. The method ensures no-penetration and no-slip conditions at the boundaries. Equilibrium distribution functions at the ghost points are computed using the extrapolated values of the hydrodynamic variables, while non-equilibrium distribution functions are extrapolated from the interior nodes. The method developed is general, and is capable of prescribing Dirichlet as well as Neumann boundary conditions for pressure and velocity. Consistency and second-order accuracy of the method are established by running three test problems including cylindrical Couette flow, flow between eccentric rotating cylinders and flow over a cylinder in a confined channel. Copyright (C) 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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

ghost fluid
cylindrical couette
eccentric rotating cylinders

immersed boundary
lattice-boltzmann
flow over cylinder


Multi-block PLS modeling for L-shape data structures with applications to mixture modeling In some situations blocks of data are available from different sources. These data matrices often have no common dimension and are connected in a T- or L-shape structure. The example treated in this paper involves mixture modeling where blocks of data are available on the final product properties (Y), on the process conditions used to manufacture the products (Z), on the ratios of raw materials used in the formulations (R) and on the properties of each of those raw materials (X). In previous research [K. Muteki, J.F. MacGregor, T. Ueda, On the rapid development of new polymer blends: The optimal selection of materials and blend ratios, Industrial Engineering Chemical Research, Published on-line, May 25 (in press)] T- or L-shaped data matrices were combined using ideal or other known mixing rules to achieve a block data structure with a single common dimension as required in regression modeling. In this paper, we present an alternative multi-block PLS regression approach that does not require the use of such mixing rules to combine the data. Rather, it directly builds a multi-block PLS model for the T- or L-shaped structure. The approach is very flexible and provides increased interpretability on the relationships among the blocks. Furthermore, the method is extended to allow for nonlinear modeling between any of the adjacent data blocks, thereby allowing for non-ideal situations where ideal mixing rules do not hold or are unknown, and where the process is nonlinear. The approach is illustrated using data from an industrial coke making operation where many coals having different properties are blended and processed in coke ovens. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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

concurrent formulation and process design


Proving properties for behavioural specifications with term observation Behavioural specifications allow to focus only on the "observable" behaviour of objects. These observations are made through "observable contexts" which are particular terms with a hole to be filled in with an object. We consider behavioural specifications based on the observation of a specified set of linear terms. The set of observable contexts is often infinite; therefore, we give an algorithm for computing some special contexts that we call "covering contexts", and show that they are sufficient for proving that two terms are behaviourally equal.

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

behavioural specifications
term observation
observable contexts
covering contexts


Generic groups, collision resistance, and ECDSA Proved here is the sufficiency of certain conditions to ensure the Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA) existentially unforgeable by adaptive chosen-message attacks. The sufficient conditions include (i) a uniformity property and collision-resistance for the underlying hash function, (ii) pseudorandomness in the private key space for the ephemeral private key generator, (iii) generic treatment of the underlying group, and (iv) a further condition on how the ephemeral public keys are mapped into the private key space. For completeness, a brief survey of necessary security conditions is also given. Some of the necessary conditions are weaker than the corresponding sufficient conditions used in the security proofs here, but others are identical. Despite the similarity between DSA and ECDSA, the main result is not appropriate for DSA, because the fourth condition above seems to fail for DSA. (The corresponding necessary condition is plausible for DSA, but is not proved here nor is the security of DSA proved assuming this weaker condition.) Brickell et al. [Vol. 1751 of Lecture Notes in computer Science, pp. 276-292], Jakobsson et al. [Vol. 1976 of Lecture Notes in computer Science, pp. 73-89] and Pointcheval et al. [Vol. 13 of Journal of Cryptology, pp. 361-396] only consider signature schemes that include the ephemeral public key in the hash input, which ECDSA does not do, and moreover, assume a condition on the hash function stronger than the first condition above. This work seems to be the first advance in the provable security of ECDSA.

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

public key cryptography
digital signatures


On the minimum size of visibility graphs In this paper we give tight lower bounds on the size of the visibility graph, the contracted visibility graph, and the bar-visibility graph of n disjoint line segments in the plane, according to their vertex-connectivity. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

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

combinatorial problems
computational geometry
lower bound


Leagile software development: An experience report analysis of the application of lean approaches in agile software development In recent years there has been a noticeable shift in attention from those who use agile software development toward lean software development, often labelled as a shift from agile to lean. However, the reality may not be as simple or linear as this label implies. To provide a better understanding of lean software development approaches and how they are applied in agile software development, we have examined 30 experience reports published in past agile software conferences in which experiences of applying lean approaches in agile software development were reported. The analysis identified six types of lean application. The results of our study show that lean can be applied in agile processes in different manners for different purposes. Lean concepts, principles and practices are most often used for continuous agile process improvement, with the most recent introduction being the kanban approach, introducing a continuous, flow-based substitute to time-boxed agile processes.

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

agile software development
lean software development
leagile
kanban
experience report


a new room decoration assistance system based on 3d reconstruction and integrated service This paper introduces a room decoration assistance system that delivers a new interactive 3D service to mobile customers. First we analyze the requirements of room decoration system. Then an intelligent solution base on an efficient 3D reconstruction algorithm and integrated network are provided. The new approach makes use of the mobility property of the wireless service and the computing power of the home multimedia terminal. Visual results on real images are shown to demonstrate the effectiveness of the new 3D reconstruction algorithm. This new system brings new richly interactive 3D experience to customers and takes advantage of the intergraded network such as three screen services to deliver the service.

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

home multimedia terminal
room decoration system
3d reconstruction


Diversity-driven generation of link-based cluster ensemble and application to data classification New data-transformation method that makes use of link-based cluster ensemble (LCE). For accurate clustering, LCE is coupled with diversity-driven ensemble generation. Evaluated on published datasets with C4.5, NB, KNN, ANN and Random Forest models. New method usually performs better than benckmark techniques.

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

ensemble clustering
optimization
feature transformation


Paramagnetic centers in amorphous GeO2 E?-Ge, GeGe, and Ge-FO configurations are studied by first-principles techniques. Ge(2) center in a-GeO2 arises from GeFO configurations. E?-Ge? is not explained by GeGe or distorted E?-Ge configurations. Optical absorption at about 5eV could be related to GeFO configurations.

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a reconfigurable hardware based embedded scheduler for buffered crossbar switches In this paper, we propose a new internally buffered crossbar (IBC) switching architecture where the input and output distributed schedulers are embedded inside the crossbar fabric chip. As opposed to previous designs, where these schedulers are spread across input and output line cards, our design allows the schedulers to have cheap and fast access to the internal buffers, optimizes the flow control mechanism and makes the IBC more scalable. We employed the Xilinx Virtex-4FX platform to show the feasibility of our proposal and implemented a reconfigurable hardware based IBC switch with the maximum port count that we could fit on a single chip. The experiments suggest that a 24x24 IBC switch running a 10 Gbps port speed and a clock cycle time of 6.4 ns can be implemented.

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Stochastic resonance and coincidence detection in single neurons We demonstrate that a realistic neuron model expressed by the Hodgkin-Huxley equations shows a stochastic resonance phenomenon, by computing cross-correlation between input and output spike timing when the neuron receives both aperiodic signal input of spike packets and background random noise of both excitatory and inhibitory spikes. We consider that such a signal detection is realized because the neuron with active properties is sensitive to fluctuation caused by a sharp increase just after a sudden dip of excitatory noise spikes and a gradual decrease of inhibitory noise spikes. We also show that the model generates highly irregular firing of output spikes on the basis of the modulation detecting property.

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aperiodic signal
coincidence detection
stochastic resonance

conductance stimulus
cross-correlation
hodgkin-huxley equations
leaky integrate-and-fire model
reverse correlation analysis


Extending and correcting some research results on minimal and harmonic surfaces In this article, we give necessary and beneficial extension for several important theorems by Monterde et al. on minimal and harmonic surfaces, so that they can be applied to all generic situations for n x m (n not equal or n = m) Bezier surfaces, instead of the special case of n x n Bezier surfaces. At the same time, we point out the errors in Monterde et al.'s six papers, and give the correct and precise answers. (C )2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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partial differential equation
energy function
minimum value
bezier surface
minimal surface
harmonic surface


increasing security and usability of computer systems with graphical passwords To gain access to computer systems, users are required to be authenticated. This is usually accomplished by having the user enter an alphanumeric username and password. Users are usually required to remember multiple passwords for different systems and this poses such problems as usability, memorabilty and secuurity. Passwords are usually difficult to remember and users have developed their own methods some of which are not secure of selecting passwords which are easy to remember. In this research we developed a secure and usable password system which addresses the memorability problem. In our system users are required to remember three cartoon images which we demonstrate is easier to recall than a typical secure text password. This system is shown to be secure based on the probability of guessing a password and on the likelihood of an observer "shoulder surfing" the password and on the difficulty of launching a brute force attack against a graphical image system. Our work demonstrates that security and usability can be achieved simultaneously. It lays the foundation for developing a class of similar password systems, differing only in the degree of security required. Our password system with its low memory requirements can be used in a wide array of applications.

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Sparse algorithms of Random Weight Networks and applications ? Gives sparse algorithms of random weights networks. The algorithms have effective performance compared with some traditional algorithms. The algorithms are used to diagnose the faults of switch reluctance motor. The algorithms are employed effectively in the face recognition.

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feedforward neural networks
sparse algorithm
fault diagnosis
human face recognition