Computer-aided design of effluent irrigation Effluent irrigation systems are engineering systems that have been identified as an attractive option for effluent disposal in Australia for environmental pollution control and resource reuse. As engineering systems, they should be designed based on established engineering procedures. At the moment, the systems are designed mainly on the guidelines issued by individual states in Australia, which are general engineering practices. However, the guidelines are quite different in different states. There are no generalised and commonly acceptable design procedures available for reference. This paper reports a generic calculation model for effluent irrigation design, and a decision support system called Computer-Aided Design of Effluent (CAD-Effluent) that was developed based on the model. The model can accommodate different methods of estimating sustainable effluent loading rates such as the methods specified in guidelines, simulation models that describe the pollutant transformation processes in soils, or other empirical methods. The application of CAD-Effluent is demonstrated using Queensland guidelines and climate data from thirty-one locations.

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

design procedure
computer-aided design
effluent quality
sustainable loading rate


MIMSA relational database of imagery on Mars ? Mars Image Mining System (MIMS) is a relational database of internet links to most of the images which were acquired by missions Mariner 9, Viking 1 and 2, Mars Global Surveyor, Mars Odyssey and Mars Express (a total of 329,240 images on December 15, 2005). Unlike existing online databases, it allows to search for images of several missions simultaneously, based on criteria such as image resolution, location and nearest feature name. Also, MIMS allows searching for images acquired on the same location by different missions, thus enabling the user to evaluate the evolution in time (from 1971 to 2005) of external geodynamic phenomena and features such as dust coverage, dune fields, the formation of gullies or cratering.

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


Throughput analysis of STS-based CDMA system with variable spreading factor in non-frequency selective Rayleigh fading channel The throughput enhancement of spacetime spreading (STS)-based code division multiple access (CDMA) system is investigated in this paper. Variable spreading factor (VSF) is utilized to improve the data throughput of the system in non-frequency selective Rayleigh fading channel. In this contribution, an analytical approach is proposed to compute a new expression for the bit error rate (BER) performance of the STS-based CDMA system against pre-despreading signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR) for different values of spreading factor. The other contribution of the paper is deriving a new analytical expression for the throughput enhancement of the VSF STS-based CDMA system in non-frequency selective Rayleigh fading channel. Simulation and analytical results demonstrate that using VSF method in STS-based CDMA system improves the throughput of the system by keeping the BER performance at a target level.

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

cdma
spacetime spreading
throughput
variable spreading factor


Salient geometric features for partial shape matching and similarity This article introduces a method for partial matching of surfaces represented by triangular meshes. Our method matches surface regions that are numerically and topologically dissimilar, but approximately similar regions. We introduce novel local surface descriptors which efficiently represent the geometry of local regions of the surface. The descriptors are defined independently of the underlying triangulation, and form a compatible representation that allows matching of surfaces with different triangulations. To cope with the combinatorial complexity of partial matching of large meshes, we introduce the abstraction of salient geometric features and present a method to construct them. A salient geometric feature is a compound high-level feature of nontrivial local shapes. We show that a relatively small number of such salient geometric features characterizes the surface well for various similarity applications. Matching salient geometric features is based on indexing rotation-invariant features and a voting scheme accelerated by geometric hashing. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our method with a number of applications, such as computing self-similarity, alignments, and subparts similarity.

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

algorithms
shape retrieval
salient features
geometric transformations


Hands-on, simulated, and remote laboratories: A comparative literature review Laboratory-based courses play a critical role in scientific education. Automation is changing the nature of these laboratories, and there is a long-running debate about the value of hands-on versus simulated laboratories. In addition, the introduction of remote laboratories adds a third category to the debate. Through a review of the literature related to these labs in education, the authors draw several conclusions about the state of current research. The debate over different technologies is confounded by the use of different educational objectives as criteria for judging the laboratories: Hands-on advocates emphasize design skills, while remote lab advocates focus on conceptual understanding. We observe that the boundaries among the three labs are blurred in the sense that most laboratories are mediated by computers, and that the psychology of presence may be as important as technology. We also discuss areas for future research.

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

experimentation
performance
simulation
thought experiments
human-computer interaction
teleoperation


A Parallel General Game Player We have parallelized our general game player Ary on a cluster of computers. We propose multiple parallelization algorithms. For the sake of simplicity all our algorithms have processes that run independently and that join their results at the end of the thinking time in order to choose a move. Parallelization works very well for checkers, quite well for other two player sequential move games and not at all for a few other games.

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


Analytic constructions of periodic and non-periodic complementary sequences An analytic approach for the generation of non-periodic and periodic complementary sequences is advanced for lengths that are powers of two. The periodic complementary sequences can be obtained using symmetric or anti-symmetric extensions. The properties of their autocorrelation functions are studied. The non-periodic complementary sequences are the intersection between anti-symmetric and symmetric periodic sequences. These non-periodic and periodic complementary sequences are identified to be special cases of non-periodic and periodic (or cyclic) orthogonal wavelet transforms. This relationship leads to the novel approach.

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

correlation
discrete fourier transforms
orthogonal functions
wavelet transforms


Efficient computer implementation of coupled hydro-thermo-mechanical analysis Hydro-thermo-mechanical analysis of reactor vessels based on the finite element method is a very demanding task due to its complexity as well as the large number of unknowns. This contribution deals with efficient computer implementation of the coupled analysis and attention is also devoted to domain decomposition methods which enable utilisation of parallel computers. The parallel processing leads to very good speedup and it also enables to solve significantly large problems in acceptable time. The proposed strategy is demonstrated on a coupled analysis of an existing reactor vessel. (C) 2008 IMACS. Published by 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 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


Towards inverse modeling of turbidity currents: The inverse lock-exchange problem A new approach is introduced for turbidite modeling, leveraging the potential of computational fluid dynamics methods to simulate the flow processes that led to turbidite formation. The practical use of numerical flow simulation for the purpose of turbidite modeling so far is hindered by the need to specify parameters and initial flow conditions that are a priori unknown. The present study proposes a method to determine optimal simulation parameters via an automated optimization process. An iterative procedure matches deposit predictions from successive flow simulations against available localized reference data, as in practice may be obtained from well logs, and aims at convergence towards the best-fit scenario. The final result is a prediction of the entire deposit thickness and local grain size distribution. The optimization strategy is based on a derivative-free, surrogate-based technique. Direct numerical simulations are performed to compute the flow dynamics. A proof of concept is successfully conducted for the simple test case of a two-dimensional lock-exchange turbidity current. The optimization approach is demonstrated to accurately retrieve the initial conditions used in a reference calculation.

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

flow inversion
surrogate management framework


Communication goals and online persuasion: An empirical examination Computer-mediated communication (CMC) is frequently applied as a tool for organizational marketing and consumer research. This paper explores the underlying structure of message receivers communication goals and their impact on persuasiveness in the context of CMC. Extending prior research on the structure of primary and secondary goals, we identified five specific communication goals that are important to receivers. We conducted an online exercise in which subjects respond to a message requesting them to volunteer their time. The results demonstrate all five communication goals are important to one or more indicators of persuasiveness, including attitude toward the issue, source credibility, perceived information quality, and behavioral intention to comply with the request.

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

computer-mediated communication
influence goals
uses and gratifications theory
interpersonal influence
interpersonal communication


An inventory model with Weibull demand rate, finite rate of production and shortages We develop here an inventory model with time-dependent two-parameter Weibull demand rate, allowing shortages in the inventory. The shortages are completely backlogged. The production rate is assumed to be finite and proportional to the demand rate. The model is solved analytically to obtain the optimal solution of the problem. It is then illustrated with the help of numerical examples. Sensitivity of the optimal solution with respect to changes in the values of the system parameters is also studied. Special features of time-dependent Weibull demand rate are discussed.

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


A dynamically reconfigurable communication architecture for multicore embedded systems ? To deal with the communication bottleneck of multiprocessor systems, several communication architectures have been proposed in the last decade. Yet, none of them has demonstrated the performance of the direct connections between two communicating units. In this paper, we propose dynamically reconfigurable point-to-point (DRP2P) interconnects for setting up direct connection between two communicating units before the communication starts. DRP2P is neither point-to-point (P2P) nor Network-on-Chip (NoC); it stands between these two on-chip communication architectures. It is as fast as P2P and as scalable as NoC. Instead of using routers like in NoC, we utilize partial reconfiguration ability of FPGAs for routing data packets. Furthermore, DRP2P can work both on regular and irregular topologies. The only drawback of our approach is the reconfiguration latency. This drawback is completely hidden when the reconfiguration of the communication links is achieved during the computation times of the cores. DRP2P solves the scalability issue of P2P by setting up on-demand communication-specific links between cores. So, the occupied area and the total power consumption of communication architecture can be reduced significantly. We designed an on-chip self-reconfiguration core, c2 c 2 PCAP so as to achieve DRP2P interconnects as fast as possible. The c2 c 2 PCAP core is designed for Xilinx FPGAs and can partially reconfigure the FPGA at the highest rate proposed by the manufacturer (e.g. up to 400MB/s for Virtex-4).

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

fpga
partial reconfiguration
multiprocessor
noc

runtime reconfiguration
dynamic reconfiguration
bitstream compression
interconnect


The Sparse Matrix Transform for Covariance Estimation and Analysis of High Dimensional Signals Covariance estimation for high dimensional signals is a classically difficult problem in statistical signal analysis and machine learning. In this paper, we propose a maximum likelihood (ML) approach to covariance estimation, which employs a novel non-linear sparsity constraint. More specifically, the covariance is constrained to have an eigen decomposition which can be represented as a sparse matrix transform (SMT). The SMT is formed by a product of pairwise coordinate rotations known as Givens rotations. Using this framework, the covariance can be efficiently estimated using greedy optimization of the log-likelihood function, and the number of Givens rotations can be efficiently computed using a cross-validation procedure. The resulting estimator is generally positive definite and well-conditioned, even when the sample size is limited. Experiments on a combination of simulated data, standard hyperspectral data, and face image sets show that the SMT-based covariance estimates are consistently more accurate than both traditional shrinkage estimates and recently proposed graphical lasso estimates for a variety of different classes and sample sizes. An important property of the new covariance estimate is that it naturally yields a fast implementation of the estimated eigen-transformation using the SMT representation. In fact, the SMT can be viewed as a generalization of the classical fast Fourier transform (FFT) in that it uses "butterflies" to represent an orthonormal transform. However, unlike the FFT, the SMT can be used for fast eigen-signal analysis of general non-stationary signals.

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

covariance estimation
hyperspectral data
sparse matrix transform

eigen-image analysis
maximum likelihood estimation


Test data compression and test time reduction using an embedded microprocessor Systems-on-a-chip (SOCs) with many complex intellectual property cores require a large volume of data for manufacturing test. The computing power of the embedded processor in a SOC can be used to test the cores within the chip boundary, reducing the test time and memory requirements. This paper discusses techniques that use the computing power of the embedded processor in a more sophisticated way. The processor can generate and reuse random numbers to construct test patterns and selectively apply only those patterns that contribute to the fault coverage, significantly reducing the pattern generation time, the total number of test applications and, hence, the test time. It can also apply deterministic test patterns that have been compressed using the characteristics of the random patterns as well as those of the deterministic patterns themselves, which leads to high compression of test data. We compare three fast run-length coding schemes which are easily implemented and effective for test-data compression. We also demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach by applying it to some benchmark circuits and by comparing it with other available techniques.

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

built-in self test (bist)
data compression/decompression
embedded core testing
processor-based testing
random pattern generation
system-on-a-chip (soc)


Characterization and Detection of Location Spoofing Attacks With the proliferation of diverse wireless devices, there is an increasing concern about the security of location information which can be spoofed or disrupted by adversaries. This paper investigates the characterization and detection of location spoofing attacks, specifically those which are attempting to falsify (degrade) the position estimate through signal strength based attacks. Since the physical-layer approach identifies and assesses the security risk of position information based solely on using received signal strength (RSS), it is applicable to nearly any practical wireless network. In this paper, we characterize the impact of signal strength and beamforming attacks on range estimates and the resulting position estimate. It is shown that such attacks can be characterized by a scaling factor that biases the individual range estimators either uniformly or selectively. We then identify the more severe types of attacks, and develop an attack detection approach which does not rely on a priori knowledge (either statistical or environmental). The resulting approach, which exploits the dissimilar behavior of two RSS-based estimators when under attack, is shown to be effective at detecting both types of attacks with the detection rate increasing with the severity of the induced location error.

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

location attacks
location estimation
location security
position location


a system for safe flash-heat pasteurization of human breast milk We present ongoing development of a low-cost system to improve the flash-heat pasteurization process for human breast milk currently utilized in resource-constrained developing regions. Flash-heat was designed for low-resource environments, is simple to use and requires minimal infrastructure. It is currently used at a small-scale to provide safe breast milk to vulnerable infants with special needs. Safety concerns have limited the adoption of this method for use in human milk banks. The system presented in this paper improves the safety and procedural compliance of the flash-heat process by continuously monitoring the temperature of milk as it is being pasteurized, providing feedback to the user performing the procedure and bringing-in remotely-located quality assurance personnel into the process-approval loop. In partnership with PATH, a Seattle-based NGO, the system will be piloted at a human milk bank in South Africa later this year. The longer-term vision of the project is that the improved monitoring, feedback and reporting capabilities will help scale-up the adoption of cost-effective flash-heat pasteurization for establishing human milk banks in developing countries. We present results from in-lab experiments that have helped us assess the feedback capabilities of our system and have validated the need for having a temperature monitoring and feedback system to enhance the safety of the flash-heat process.

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

temperature sensing
flash-heat pasteurization
sensor systems
mobile phones
sms


Sensitivity based voltage instability alleviation using ANN Today an average transmission line is loaded more heavily than ever before and this has given rise to serious problem of voltage instability. A noble method for power system voltage instability estimation and improvement using ANN is presented. The method is based on the fact that reactive power injections at critical buses of the power system help to steer the system away from a developing voltage collapse. The location and quantum of reactive power support has been computed based on sensitivity. The sensitivity matrix is formulated by cascading the output/input sensitivity of multiplayer perceptron model with that of input features versus reactive power injections. The effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated on Ward-Hale 6-bus, IEEE 14-bus and IEEE 30-bus test systems. The method can be effectively used to make the system secure against voltage collapse condition in system planning and on-line operation.

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

voltage instability
multiplayer perceptron
voltage collapse
sensitivity matrix


Edge selection based on the geometry of dually flat spaces for Gaussian graphical models We propose a method for selecting edges in undirected Gaussian graphical models. Our algorithm takes after our previous work, an extension of Least Angle Regression (LARS), and it is based on the information geometry of dually flat spaces. Non-diagonal elements of the inverse of the covariance matrix, the concentration matrix, play an important role in edge selection. Our iterative method estimates these elements and selects covariance models simultaneously. A sequence of pairs of estimates of the concentration matrix and an independence graph is generated, whose length is the same as the number of non-diagonal elements of the matrix. In our algorithm, the next estimate of the graph is the nearest graph to the latest estimate of the concentration matrix. The next estimate of the concentration matrix is not just the projection of the latest estimate, and it is shrunk to the origin. We describe the algorithm and show results for some datasets. Furthermore, we give some remarks on model identification and prediction.

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 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 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 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

concentration matrix
edge selection
information geometry

dually flat space
gaussian graphical model
kullbackleibler divergence


Closing the gap in the capacity of wireless networks via percolation theory An achievable bit rate per source-destination pair in a wireless network of a randomly located nodes is determined adopting the scaling limit approach of statistical physics. It is shown that randomly scattered nodes can achieve, with high probability, the same 1/root n, transmission rate of arbitrarily located nodes. This contrasts with previous results suggesting that a 1/root n log n reduced rate is the price to pay for the randomness due to the location of the nodes. The network operation strategy to achieve the result corresponds to the transition region between order and disorder of an underlying percolation model. If nodes are allowed to transmit over large distances, then paths of connected nodes that cross the entire network area can be easily found, but these generate excessive interference. If nodes transmit over short distances, then such crossing paths do not exist. Percolation theory ensures that crossing paths form in the transition region between these two extreme scenarios. Nodes along these paths are used as a backbone, relaying data for other nodes, and can transport the total amount of information generated by all the sources. A lower bound on the achievable bit rate is then obtained by performing pairwise coding and decoding at each hop along the paths, and using a time division multiple access scheme.

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

capacity
percolation theory
wireless networks


Convergence analysis for variational inequality problems and fixed point problems in 2-uniformly smooth and uniformly convex Banach spaces In this paper, we study a new iterative algorithm by a modified extragradient method for finding a common element of the set of solutions of variational inequalities for two inverse strongly accretive mappings and the set of common fixed points of an infinite family of nonexpansive mappings in a real 2-uniformly smooth and uniformly convex Banach space. We prove some strong convergence theorems under suitable conditions. The results obtained in this paper improve and extend the corresponding results announced by many others. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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 B I 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

strong convergence
variational inequality
fixed point
nonexpansive mappings
banach space


Environmentally sustainable composite resistors with low temperature coefficient of resistance Temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) of thick film resistors are based on fired conducting grains and glass composites. Many analog sensor and control circuits require low (<100ppm/C) TCR value. To prepare resistors with low TCR value, knowledge of processing conditions and conduction mechanism parameters are of particular importance because TCR is finalised during firing and cannot be trimmed in the latter stage to a target value as resistors can be. This paper reports the preparation and properties such as microstructural and electrical in particular to sheet resistance, TCR (hot and cold) of eco-friendly composite resistor paste compositions. Our resistor compositions showed the sheet resistance in the range of 1.181.38K?/? and the hot and cold TCR of the compositions reduced substantially from 360 to 100ppm/C and 175 to 60ppm/C with the addition of TCR modifier.

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

composite
resistor
temperature coefficient of resistance


Geodesic Revision The purpose of this article is to introduce a class of distance-based iterated revision operators generated by minimizing the geodesic distance on a graph. Such operators correspond bijectively to metrics and have a simple finite presentation. As distance is generated by distinguishability, our framework is appropriate for modelling contexts where distance is generated by threshold, and therefore, when measurement is erroneous.

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

belief revision
distance-based reasoning
similarity
indistinguishability
indiscernibility


a robust eco engine by resource-constraint-aware technology mapping and incremental routing optimization ECO re-mapping is a key step in functional ECO tools. It implements a given patch function on a layout database with a limited spare cell resource. Previous ECO re-mapping algorithms are based on existing technology mappers. However, these mappers are not designed to consider the resource limitation and thus the corresponding ECO results are generally not good enough, or even become much worse when the spare cells are sparse. In this paper, we proposed a new solution for ECO remapping. It includes a robust resource-constraint-aware technology mapper and a fast incremental router for wire-length optimization. Moreover, we adopt a Pseudo-Boolean solver to search feasible solutions when the spare cells are sparse. Our experimental results show that our ECO engine can outperform the previous tool in both runtime and routing costs. We also demonstrate the robustness of our tool by performing ECOs on various spare cell limitations.

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


Identification and Characterization of Merozoite Antigens of a Theileria Species Highly Pathogenic for Small Ruminants in China A new pathogenic Theileria species transmitted by Haemaphysalis qinghaiensis was identified in the Northwestern part of China and was shown to be highly pathogenic for small ruminants. The present article aimed at identifying merozoite antigens that might be suitable for developing diagnostic methods and designing a potential vaccine. Absence of other theilerial or babesial infections was confirmed by reverse line blot in all antigen samples used. Extensive Western blot analyses using serum from infected and noninfected animals led to the identification of four potential merozoite immunoreactive proteins at different molecular weights. Further protein characterization using peptide mass mapping by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) followed by database searching resulted in two significant hits that identified two proteins of parasite origin, one homologous to a possible MO25-family protein from Cryptosporidium parvum and the other with an HSP70 from Theileria annulata. Another protein was also identified as a parasite protein but without significant homology. Immunization of rabbits with selected proteins produced antisera that reacted specifically on Western blots with merozoite antigens of the corresponding sizes. This article represents the first identification and characterization of potential antigenic proteins of Theileria sp. (China) for veterinary purposes

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

matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (maldi)


On handshakes in random graphs In [Y. Metivier, N. Saheb, A. Zemmari, Analysis of a randomized rendezvous algorithm, Inform. and Comput. 184 (2003) 109-128], the authors introduce and analyze a randomized procedure to implement handshakes in graphs. In this paper, we investigate the same problem in random graphs. We prove results on the probability of success and we study the distribution of the random variable which counts the number of handshakes in the graph. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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

analysis of algorithms
randomized algorithms


Mining and exploring care pathways from electronic medical records with visual analytics We extract sequences of events from EMRs to correlate with patient outcome. We propose Care Pathway Explorer that combines sequence mining with visualizations. We support the integration of data-driven insights into care pathway discovery. We analyze the diagnoses and treatments of hyperlipidemic patients. We demonstrate the clinical relevance of patterns mined from EMR data.

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

temporal event visualization
frequent sequence mining
data-driven care plans


Sampled-data observer-based output-feedback fuzzy stabilization of nonlinear systems: Exact discrete-time design approach This paper presents a new direct discrete-time design methodology of a sampled-data observer-based output-feedback fuzzy controller for a class of nonlinear system that is exactly modeled in Takagi-Sugeno's form at least locally. A fundamental yet challenging issue in this direction is the unavailability of the exact discrete-time model of the nonlinear plant in a closed form. In contrast to the earlier works that are based on an approximate discrete-time model thus the stability obtained in the design step is not preserved in the implementation step, we employ an exact discrete-time fuzzy model in an integral form. Sufficient asymptotic stabilization conditions are investigated in the discrete-time Lyapunov sense. We then show that the resulting sampled-data controller indeed asymptotically stabilizes the nonlinear plant. An example is provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed methodology. (C) 2012 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 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

sampled-data fuzzy control
observer-based output-feedback
direct discrete-time design
exact discrete-time model


Cloning considered harmful considered harmful: patterns of cloning in software Literature on the topic of code cloning often asserts that duplicating code within a software system is a bad practice, that it causes harm to the systems design and should be avoided. However, in our studies, we have found significant evidence that cloning is often used in a variety of ways as a principled engineering tool. For example, one way to evaluate possible new features for a system is to clone the affected subsystems and introduce the new features there, in a kind of sandbox testbed. As features mature and become stable within the experimental subsystems, they can be migrated incrementally into the stable code base; in this way, the risk of introducing instabilities in the stable version is minimized. This paper describes several patterns of cloning that we have observed in our case studies and discusses the advantages and disadvantages associated with using them. We also examine through a case study the frequencies of these clones in two medium-sized open source software systems, the Apache web server and the Gnumeric spreadsheet application. In this study, we found that as many as 71% of the clones could be considered to have a positive impact on the maintainability of the software system.

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

clone detection
clone analysis
reverse engineering


Are inconsistent decisions better? An experiment with pairwise comparisons This paper tries to contribute to the well-known and lengthy discussion on whether we should allow decision makers to be inconsistent, or, to put it in another way, if intransitive decisions better represent their preferences. We will focus specifically on the multiple-criteria decision making problem, since it is one of the most usual stances where this intransitivity appears. Results from an experiment carried out with graduate students shows that, when intransitivities are removed, the preferences of decision makers are not better represented, and therefore that the effort to do so may not be justified.

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

decision analysis
multiple-criteria analysis
consistency


EXAMINING TECHNOLOGY ENACTMENT IN THE FIXED INCOME MARKET While the use of electronic trading systems (ETS) in fixed income (FI) market is becoming more common in the last few years, only a small number of empirical studies have been conducted to examine their adoption and impact in the market. In this study, we use the technology enactment framework (TEF) to identify various institutional and organizational factors that influence ETS adoption. Based on a comprehensive survey and face-to-face interviews with senior managers, sales representatives, and traders from major Canadian financial institutions, we find that the FI market is characterized by a high level of embedded relationships and that the ETS users do not entirely trust their ETS. This study also presents, among others, important findings regarding the impact of ETS on the users' job performance and their perception about the asymmetric nature of benefits provided by ETS in the FI market.

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

technology enactment
fixed income market
electronic trading systems


Exact explicit time integration of hyperbolic partial differential equations with mesh free radial basis functions This study is a progress report that examines the numerical solution of inviscid hyperbolic partial differential equations (PDEs) without the need for upwind differencing and other numerical artifacts. The fixed frame PDEs are locally transformed by rotating and translating the coordinate system at each local discretization point. These transformations yield a simpler PDE system that is effectively linearized. It is assumed that in this transformed local frame within a time interval, ?t ? t , the dependent variables are products of the spatial dependent radial basis functions (RBFs), and the time dependent expansion coefficients, ?(t) ? ( t ) . This linearization is exploited by transforming the PDEs into systems of linear ordinary differential equations (ODEs) in terms of the expansion coefficients. The affine space decomposition is used to obtain an ODE system of Ni N i ODEs in Ni N i unknowns that can be integrated exactly in time. Then the entire set of N expansion coefficients is found. Numerical results show that hyperbolic PDEs can be integrated in time without upwinding and the root mean square errors between the exact and numerical solutions are indeed very small.

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 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 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

linearized ode systems
moving data centers
exact explicit time solutions


natural language processing for browse help In this paper, we will present three "browsing" systems that should save user's time. The first uses named entities and gives a way to reduce search space. By using a information visualization system, the user can comprehend more easily the content of a corpus or a document. Named entities are highlighted for quick reading, temporal and geographic representation gives a global view of the result of a query. All these browse and search helps seem to be very useful. Nevertheless, an evaluation would give more practical results.

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

named entities
information visualization

geographical projection
temporal represenation


Using the minimum description length principle to reduce the rate of false positives of best-fit algorithms The inference of gene regulatory networks is a core problem in systems biology. Many inference algorithms have been proposed and all suffer from false positives. In this paper, we use the minimum description length (MDL) principle to reduce the rate of false positives for best-fit algorithms. The performance of these algorithms is evaluated via two metrics: the normalized-edge Hamming distance and the steady-state distribution distance. Results for synthetic networks and a well-studied budding-yeast cell cycle network show that MDL-based filtering is more effective than filtering based on conditional mutual information (CMI). In addition, MDL-based filtering provides better inference than the MDL algorithm itself.

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

minimum description length principle
conditional mutual information


A multi-class approach for ranking graph nodes: Models and experiments with incomplete data After the phenomenal success of the PageRank algorithm, many researchers have extended the PageRank approach to ranking graphs with richer structures in addition to the simple linkage structure. Indeed, in some scenarios we have to deal with networks modeling multi-parameters data where each node has additional features and there are important relationships between such features. This paper addresses the need of a systematic approach to deal with multi-parameter data. We propose models and ranking algorithms that can be applied to a large variety of networks (bibliographic data, patent data, twitter and social data, healthcare data). We focus on several aspects not previously addressed in the literature: (1) we propose different models for ranking multi-parameters data and a class of numerical algorithms for efficiently computing the ranking score of such models, (2) we analyze stability and convergence of the proposed numerical schemes and we derive a fast and stable ranking algorithm, (3) we analyze the robustness of our models when data are incomplete. The comparison of the rank on the incomplete data with the rank on the full structure shows that our models compute consistent rankings whose correlation is up to 60% when just 10% of the links of the attributes are maintained.

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

link analysis
models for ranking graph nodes
missing links
web matrix reducibility and permutation


Filtered and recovering beam search algorithms for the early/tardy scheduling problem with no idle time In this paper, we present filtered and recovering beam search algorithms for the single machine earliness/tardiness scheduling problem with no idle time, and compare them with existing neighbourhood search and dispatch rule heuristics. Filtering procedures using both priority evaluation functions and problem-specific properties have been considered. The computational results show that the recovering beam search algorithms outperform their filtered counterparts, while the priority-based filtering procedure proves superior to the rules-based alternative. The best solutions are given by the neighbourhood search algorithm, but this procedure is computationally intensive and can only be applied to small or medium size instances. The recovering beam search heuristic provides results that are close in solution quality and is significantly faster, so it can be used to solve even large problems. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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


Scenery image segmentation using support vector machines This paper presents an effective and efficient method for solving scenery image segmentation by applying the SVMs methodology. Scenery image segmentation is regarded as a data classification problem, and is effectively answered by the proposed method in this paper. Using the model selection in our system architecture, our system is relatively simple compared to other conventional heuristic image segmentation approaches yet demonstrates promising classification results.

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

svms
scenery image segmentation
model selection


Noninvasive Three-Dimensional Cardiac Activation Imaging From Body Surface Potential Maps: A Computational and Experimental Study on a Rabbit Model Three-dimensional (3-D) cardiac activation imaging (3-DCAI) is a recently developed technique that aims at imaging the activation sequence throughout the the ventricular myocardium. 3-DCAI entails the modeling and estimation of the cardiac equivalent current density (ECD) distribution from which the activation time at any myocardial site is determined as the time point with the peak amplitude of local ECD estimates. In this paper, we report, for the first time, an in vivo validation study assessing the feasibility of 3-DCAI in comparison with the 3-D intracardiac mapping, for a group of four healthy rabbits undergoing the ventricular pacing from various locations. During the experiments, the body surface potentials and the intramural bipolar electrical recordings were simultaneously measured in a closed-chest condition. The ventricular activation sequence noninvasively imaged from the body surface measurements by using 3-DCAI was generally in agreement with that obtained from the invasive intramural recordings. The quantitative comparison between them showed a root mean square (rms) error of 7.42 +/- 0.61 ms, a relative error (RE) of 0.24 +/- 0.03, and a localization error (LE) of 5.47 +/- 1.57mm. The experimental results were also consistent with our computer simulations conducted in well-controlled and realistic conditions. The present study suggest that 3-DCAI can noninvasively capture some important features of ventricular excitation (e.g., the activation origin and the activation sequence), and has the potential of becoming a useful imaging tool aiding cardiovascular research and clinical diagnosis of cardiac diseases.

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

activation imaging
intracardiac mapping
rabbit model

cardiac electrical imaging
electrocardiography
inverse problem


A linear ridgelet network approach for fault diagnosis of analog circuit A linear ridgelet network combining ridgelet, linear term and the standard feed-forward neural network used for diagnosing the faults of analog circuit is constructed, and a training algorithm based on the steepest gradient descent method and momentum method for this network and the procedure for diagnosing these faults are proposed. The resulting linear ridgelet network can learn more rapidly from training samples and handle more effectively the complicated fault information of circuit under test than wavelet network and ridgelet network, classifying these faults efficiently and correctly and achieving a high classification accuracy. The simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of this approach.

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

fault diagnosis of analog circuit
ridgelet

linear ridgelet network
wavelet packet decomposition


Object tracking from image sequences using adaptive models in fuzzy particle filter This paper describes a vision-based system for tracking objects from image sequences. The proposed system has the standard architecture with a particle filter which is a popular algorithm to track objects in real time. Many tracking algorithms have a great difficulty in tracking objects robustly by reason of complex background and rapid changes under a real complex environment such as a traffic road. To make a robust algorithm for object tracking, we propose the method that uses the adaptive autoregressive model as a state transition model and the adaptive appearance mixture model as an observation model. But, in case of changing the state of a tracked object suddenly, the adaptive models may not make the optimal parameters for accurate states at current time. Because the noise variance of the adaptive models in this case is larger than that in normal case, it has an effect on the accuracy of an object tracking algorithm. Thus, we propose a fuzzy particle filter to overcome problems from the occurrence of the unexpected improper variances due to several causes. In this paper, as the process noises and the observation noises in a fuzzy particle filter are considered as fuzzy variables by using the possibility theory, a fuzzy particle filter with fuzzy noises is used to manage uncertainty in various noise models. Also, we make possibility measure as using the fuzzy relation equation which is defined by these fuzzy variables. And then, the states are estimated by using a fuzzy expected value operator. Also, because the proposed algorithm applies several functions to improve the accuracy of tracking an object, the performance of tracking speed deteriorates. To resolve this problem to some extent, we consider the fact that a fuzzy particle filter has a little bit of an effect on the number of particles. Consequently, we propose the method which can adjust the number of particles by using the result from a measurement step in order to improve the speed for an object tracking in the proposed algorithm. The experiments of this paper show that the proposed method is efficient and has many advantages for an object tracking in real environments.

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

object tracking
adaptive autoregressive model
appearance mixture model
possibility theory
particle filter


design of an optimal loosely coupled heterogeneous multiprocessor system This paper presents an approach for mapping tasks optimal to hardware and software components in order to design a real-time system. The tasks are derived from an algorithm and are represented by a task-graph. The performance of the algorithm on the resulting real- time system will meet the specified timing constraints. Some of the hardware components are programmable and others are application specific hardware processors. We propose a powerful MILP (Mixed Integer Linear Program) model with and without functional pipelining. The efficiency of the method is demonstrated with practical examples.

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

order
examples
efficiency
design
performance
model
paper
practical
method
functional pipelining
hardware
algorithm
multiprocessor
integer linear program

task
applications
time constraint
pipeline
real-time systems
task mapping
map
system design
heterogeneity
hardware/software codesign
component
processor
systems
optimality
software component
functional
graph
programmer


Comparison of radio frequency physical vapor deposition target material used for LaOx cap layer deposition in 32nm NMOSFETs The MOSFET gate length reduction down to 32nm requires the introduction of a metal gate and a high-K dielectric as gate stack, both stable at high temperature. Here we use a nanometric layer of Lanthanum to shift the device threshold voltage from 500mV. Because this layer plays a key role in the device performance and strongly depends on its deposition process, we have compared two LaOx deposition methods in terms of physical properties and influence on electrical NMOS device parameters. Chemical characterizations have shown a different oxidization state according to Lanthanum thickness deposited. It has been related to threshold voltage shift and gate leakage current variations on NMOS transistors. Furthermore mobility extractions have shown that Lanthanum is a cause of mobility degradation.

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

rf-pvd
capping layer
lanthanum oxide
nmosfet


Does light direct life toward cosmic awareness? The evolution of life on Our planet is briefly reviewed emphasizing the roles played by light and language. Life and language are regarded as a single interlocking system which light has stimulated to serve as an organ of cosmic awareness. Light first rewarded life with energy. Light then stimulated life to grow upward from the Surface of our planet. Life is now integrating into itself detailed knowledge of the cosmos by decoding the vast store of inforniation contained in celestial light.

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


Optimum Receiver for a Realistic Transmit-Receive Diversity System in Correlated Fading A transmit-receive diversity system in correlated Rayleigh fading in which the receiver estimates the channel through pilot symbols, and feeds this information back to the transmitter through a feedback path, is considered. The imperfect channel state information (CSI) is used by the transmitter to obtain the transmit weight vector for data transmission. The optimum receiver in the maximum-likelihood (ML) sense obtained from the conditional distribution of the received signal vector, conditioned on the imperfect CSI and the transmit weight vector, is derived for the system. For the case of M-ary phase-shift keying (MPSK), an analytical expression for the conditional symbol error probability (SEP), conditioned on the channel estimate and the transmit weight vector, is obtained, with the transmit weight vector chosen to minimize this conditional SEP. For the receive-only and transmit-only correlation scenarios with ill-conditioned eigen-values of the receive and transmit covariance matrices (that is, some of the eigenvalues are very small), we derive expressions for the diversity gain. Numerical results are presented to compare the performance of our receiver with that of a conventional receiver in case of exponentially correlated fading. These results show that the optimum receiver typically has about a 0.5-dB gain over a conventional receiver when the correlation coefficient exceeds 0.5 and the number of receive antennas is much larger than the number of transmit antennas.

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

correlated rayleigh fading
diversity gain
optimum receiver

imperfect channel state information (csi)


BioPhytMol: a drug discovery community resource on anti-mycobacterial phytomolecules and plant extracts Tuberculosis (TB) is the second leading cause of death from a single infectious organism, demanding attention towards discovery of novel anti-tubercular compounds. Natural products or their derivatives have provided more than 50% of all existing drugs, offering a chemically diverse space for discovery of novel drugs.

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

biophytmol
tb
tuberculosis
drug discovery

anti-tubercular anti-tb anti-mycobacterial crowdsourcing


Wyner-Ziv-based bidirectionally decodable video coding In this paper, we propose a novel Wyner-Ziv-based video compression scheme which supports encoding a new type of inter frame called 'M-frame'. Different from traditional multi-hypothesis inter frames, the M-frame is specially compressed with its two neighbor frames as reference at the encoder, but can be identically reconstructed by using any one of them as prediction at the decoder. Based on this, the proposed Wyner-Ziv-based bidirectionally decodable video compression scheme supports decoding the frames in a video stream in both temporal order and reverse order. Unlike the other schemes which support reverse playback, our scheme achieves the reversibility with low extra cost of storage and bandwidth. In error-resilient test, our scheme outperforms H.264 based schemes up to 3.5 dB at same bit rate. The proposed scheme also provides more flexibility for stream switching. (C) 2009 Elsevier Inc. 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 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

video streaming
error resilience
wyner-ziv
m-frame


A hybrid fuzzy goal programming approach with different goal priorities to aggregate production planning In this study a hybrid (including qualitative and quantitative objectives) fuzzy multi objective nonlinear programming (H-FMONLP) model with different goal priorities will be developed for aggregate production planning (APP) problem in a fuzzy environment. Using an interactive decision making process the proposed model tries to minimize total production costs, carrying and back ordering costs and costs of changes in workforce level (quantitative objectives) and maximize total customer satisfaction (qualitative objective) with regarding the inventory level, demand, labor level, machines capacity and warehouse space. A real-world industrial case study demonstrates applicability of proposed model to practical APP decision problems. GENOCOP III (Genetic Algorithm for Numerical Optimization of Constrained Problems) has been used to solve final crisp nonlinear programming problem. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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

aggregate production planning
fuzzy goal programming
goal priorities
nonlinear programming


Constructing test functions for global optimization using continuous formulations of graph problems A method for constructing test functions for global optimization which utilizes continuous formulations of combinatorial optimization problems is suggested. In particular, global optimization formulations for the maximum independent set, maximum clique, and MAX CUT problems on arbitrary graphs are considered, and proofs for some of them are given. A number of sample test functions based on these formulations are proposed.

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

maximum independent set
maximum clique
max cut

monstrained global optimization
test problems


Classical and modern methods for time-constrained energy optimal motion - Application to a badminton robot Two control approaches are presented to improve the energy efficiency of a robot which has to perform point-to-point motions during a fixed time interval. One is called Proximate Energy Optimal Servo (PEOS) and the other is called Energy-Optimal Model Predictive Control (EOMPC). The PEOS approach is based on the Proximate Time Optimal Servo (PTOS) control algorithm whose parameters are optimized in order to achieve energy efficient behavior. The EOMPC approach developed based on the Time-Optimal Model Predictive Control (TOMPC) approach achieves energy optimal performance by minimizing the energy losses in the object function. The two developed approaches are applied to a robot playing badminton and compared to two existing control approaches: the Proximate Time Optimal Servo (PTOS) and the Time-Optimal Model Predictive Control (TOMPC). The robot is still able to intercept most of the opponent shuttles on time, while a significant reduction of the energy consumption is demonstrated in both cases. (C) 2013 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

motion control
model based control
time-optimal control
energy optimal control
embedded mechanical systems


Routing and scheduling of RoRo ships with stowage constraints Roll-on/Roll-off ships are used for international transport of vehicles and other rolling equipment. We consider the problem where a ship sails between two geographical regions, picking up cargo in the first and making deliveries to the second. Several variations are considered with optional cargoes, flexible cargo quantities, and ship stability restrictions. Decisions must be made regarding the route and schedule of the ship as well as the stowage of cargo onboard. The problem is modeled as a mixed integer program, which has been solved using Xpress. In addition, a tailor made heuristic procedure is built using components from tabu search and squeaky wheel optimization. Extensive computational results are presented, showing that the heuristic is able to handle realistically sized problem instances.

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


An optimal bandwidth allocation and data droppage scheme for differentiated services in a wireless network This paper presents an optimal proportional bandwidth allocation and data droppage scheme to provide differentiated services (DiffServ) for downlink pre-orchestrated multimedia data in a single-hop wireless network. The proposed resource allocation scheme finds the optimal bandwidth allocation and data drop rates under minimum quality-of-service (QoS) constraints. It combines the desirable attributes of relative DiffServ and absolute DiffServ approaches. In contrast to relative DiffServ approach, the proposed scheme guarantees the minimum amount of bandwidth provided to each user without dropping any data at the base-station, when the network has sufficient resources. If the network does not have sufficient resources to provide minimum bandwidth guarantees to all users without dropping data, the proportional data dropper finds the optimal data drop rates within acceptable levels of QoS and thus avoids the inflexibility of absolute DiffServ approach. The optimal bandwidth allocation and data droppage problems are formulated as constrained nonlinear optimization problems and solved using efficient techniques. Simulations are performed to show that the proposed scheme exhibits the desirable features of absolute and relative DiffServ. Copyright (C) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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

bandwidth allocation
data droppage
differentiated services
wireless network


Study of the evolution of air pollution in Salamanca (Spain) along a five-year period (19941998) using HJ-Biplot simultaneous representation analysis Five-year data of SO2, PM10, NO, NO2, O3 and CO levels recorded at two air pollution monitoring stations in the city of Salamanca were analysed using a HJ-Biplot Simultaneous Representation analysis method in order to determine the possible relationships among the different pollutants and to gain insight into the temporal evolution of pollution in this city. Use of this statistical method proved to be very useful for such purposes. Current trends in the evolution of atmospheric pollution in Salamanca are shown, pointing to an important decrease in SO2 and PM10, and an increase in NOx and photochemical pollution, as indicated by O3 levels. Additionally, the increase in photochemical pollution has meant that this is more preponderant in the summer. In general, at the start of the study period pollution was mainly characterised by pollutants typically found in winter, thereafter evolving towards pollution characterised by nitrogen oxides and ozone towards the end of the period studied.

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

hj-biplot simultaneous representation analysis


Field dependenceindependence and instructional-design effects on learners performance with a computer-modeling tool The study investigated the extent to which two types of instructional materials and learner field dependenceindependence affected learners cognitive load, time spent on task, and problem-solving performance in a complex system with a computer-modeling tool. One hundred and one primary student teachers were initially categorized into field dependent, field mixed, and field-independent learners based on their performance on the Hidden Figures Test, and were then randomly assigned to two experimental conditions. One group received a static diagram and a textual description in a split format, and the second group received the same static diagram and textual description in an integrated format. MANOVA revealed that the split-format materials contributed to higher cognitive load, higher time spent on task, and lower problem-solving performance than the integrated-format materials. There was also an interaction effect, only in terms of students problem-solving performance, between field dependenceindependence and instructional materials, indicating that the facilitating effect of the integrated-format materials was restricted to the field-independent learners. Conclusions are drawn in terms of how the well-documented split-attention effect manifests itself irrespective of students field dependence-independence. Implications of the effects of reduced extraneous cognitive load on students problem-solving performance are also discussed.

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

cognitive load
field dependenceindependence

complex systems
modeling software
split-attention effect


Solid-fluid diffuse interface model in cases of extreme deformations Diffuse interface methods have been recently proposed and successfully used for accurate compressible multi-fluid computations Abgrall [1]; Kapila et al. [20]; Saurel et al. [30]. These methods deal with extended systems of hyperbolic equations involving a non-conservative volume fraction equation and relaxation terms. Following the same theoretical frame, we derive here an Eulerian diffuse interface model for elastic solid-compressible fluid interactions in situations involving extreme deformations. Elastic effects are included following the Eulerian conservative formulation proposed in Godunov [16], Miller and Colella [23], Godunov and Romenskii [17], Plohr and Plohr [27] and Gavrilyuk et al. [14]. We apply first the Hamilton principle of stationary action to derive the conservative part of the model. The relaxation terms are then added which are compatible with the entropy inequality. In the limit of vanishing volume fractions the Euler equations of compressible fluids and a conservative hyperelastic model are recovered. It is solved by a unique hyperbolic solver valid at each mesh point (pure fluid, pure solid and mixture cell). Capabilities of the model and methods are illustrated on various tests of impacts of solids moving in an ambient compressible fluid. (C) 2009 Elsevier Inc. 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

diffuse solid-fluid interfaces
shocks
hyperelasticity
riemann problem
godunov type methods


Edge and total coloring of interval graphs ? An edge coloring of a graph is a function assigning colors to edges so that incident edges acquire distinct colors. The least number of colors sufficient for an edge coloring of a graph G is called its chromatic index and denoted by ??(G). Let ?(G) be the maximal degree of G; if ??(G)=?(G), then G is said to belong to class 1, and otherwise G is said to belong to class 2. A total coloring of a graph is a function assigning colors to its vertices and edges so that adjacent or incident elements acquire distinct colors. The least number of colors sufficient for a total coloring of a graph G is called its total chromatic number and denoted by ?T(G). If ?T(G)=?(G)+1 then G is said to belong to type 1, and if ?(G)=?(G)+2 then G is said to belong to type 2. We consider the problem of classifying interval graphs and prove that every interval graph with odd maximal degree belongs to class 1; its edges can be colored in the minimal number of colors in time O(|VG|+|EG|+(?(G))2). Then we show that the conjecture of Behzad and Vizing that ?T(G)??(G)+2 holds for interval graphs. We also prove that every interval graph with even maximal degree belongs to type and its elements can be totally colored in time O(|VG|+|EG|+(?(G))2).

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 O O 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 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


Monotone Increasing Binary Similarity and Its Application to Automatic Document-Acquisition of a Category A technique that acquires documents in the same category with a given short text is introduced. Regarding the given text as a training document, the system marks up the most similar document, or sufficiently similar documents, from among the document domain (or entire Web). The system then adds the marked documents to the training set to learn the set, and this process is repeated until no more documents are marked. Setting a monotone increasing property to the similarity as it learns enables the system to 1) detect the correct timing so that no more documents remain to be marked and to 2) decide the threshold value that the classifier uses. In addition, under the condition that the normalization process is limited to what term weights are divided by a p-norm of the weights, the linear classifier in which training documents are indexed in a binary manner is the only instance that satisfies the monotone increasing property. The feasibility of the proposed technique was confirmed through an examination of binary similarity and using English and German documents randomly selected from the Web.

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

web mining
text categorization
cosine similarity
document indexing
language identification


Generating

and

using

truly

random

quantum

states

in

Mathematica

The

problem

of

generating

random

quantum

states

is

of

a

great

interest

from

the

quantum

information

theory

point

of

view.

In

this

paper

we

present

a

package

for

Mathematica

computing

system

harnessing

a

specific

piece

of

hardware,

namely

Quantis

quantum

random

number

generator

(QRNG),

for

investigating

statistical

properties

of

quantum

states.

The

described

package

implements

a

number

of

functions

for

generating

random

states,

which

use

Quantis

QRNG

as

a

source

of

randomness.

It

also

provides

procedures

which

can

be

used

in

simulations

not

related

directly

to

quantum

information

processing.

Program

summary

Program

title:

TRQS

Catalogue

identifier:

Program

summary

URL:

Program

obtainable

from:

CPC

Program

Library,

Queen's

University,

Belfast,

N.

Ireland

Licensing

provisions:

Standard

CPC

licence,

No.

of

lines

in

distributed

program,

including

test

data,

etc.:

No.

of

bytes

in

distributed

program,

including

test

data,

etc.:

Distribution

format:

tar.gz

Programming

language:

Mathematica,

C

Computer:

Requires

a

Quantis

quantum

random

number

generator

(QRNG,

and

supporting

a

recent

version

of

Mathematica

Operating

system:

Any

platform

supporting

Mathematica;

tested

with

GNU/Linux

and

bit)

RAM:

Case

dependent

Classification:

Nature

of

problem:

Generation

of

random

density

matrices.

Solution

method:

Use

of

a

physical

quantum

random

number

generator.

Running

time:

Generating

random

numbers

takes

about

second,

generating

random

density

matrices

takes

more

than

a

minute.

(C)

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

random density matrices
quantum information


Iterative approximation for common solutions of equilibrium problems, variational inequality and fixed point problems Our purpose in this paper is to construct a new iterative scheme by the hybrid method and prove the strong convergence theorem using our new iterative scheme for approximation of a common fixed point of a countable family of uniformly quasi-phi-asymptotically nonexpansive mappings which is also a common solution to infinite systems of equilibrium and variational inequality problems in a uniformly smooth and strictly convex real Banach space with the Kadec-Klee property using the properties of the generalized f-projection operator. Our results extend many known recent results in the literature. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. 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 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 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

equilibrium problems
variational inequality problems
hybrid method

quasi-phi-asymptotically mappings
banach spaces


Localized twin SVM via convex minimization Multisurface proximal support vector machine via generalized eigenvalues (GEPSVM), being an effective classification tool for supervised learning, tries to seek two nonparallel planes that are determined by solving two generalized eigenvalue problems (GEPs). The GEPs may lead to an instable classification performance, due to matrix singularity. Proximal support vector machine using local information (LIPSVM), as a variant of GEPSVM, attempts to avoid the above shortcoming through adopting a similar formulation to the Maximum Margin Criterion (MMC). The solution to an LIPSVM follows directly from solving two standard eigenvalue problems. Actually, an LIPSVM can be viewed as a reduced algorithm, because it uses the selectively generated points to train the classifier. A major advantage of an LIPSVM is that it is resistant to outliers. In this paper, following the geometric intuition of an LIPSVM, a novel multi-plane learning approach called Localized Twin SVM via Convex Minimization (LCTSVM) is proposed. This approach determines two nonparallel planes by solving two newly formed SVM-type problems. In addition to keeping the superior characteristics of an LIPSVM, an LCTSVM still has its additional edges: (1) it has similar or better classification capability compared to LIPSVM, TWSVM and LSTSVM; (2) each plane is generated from a quadratic programming problem (QPP) instead of a special convex difference optimization arising from an LIPSVM; (3) the solution can be reduced to solving two systems of linear equations, resulting in considerably lesser computational cost; and (4) it can find the global minimum. Experiments carried out on both toy and real-world problems disclose the effectiveness of an LCTSVM.

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

gepsvm
outliers
quadratic programming
linear equations
global minimum


Solving the bi-objective maximum-flow network-interdiction problem We describe a new algorithm for computing the efficient frontier of the "bi-objective maximum-flow network-interdiction problem." In this problem, an "interdictor" seeks to interdict (destroy) a set of arcs in a capacitated network that are Pareto-optimal with respect to two objectives, minimizing total interdiction cost and minimizing maximum flow. The algorithm identifies these solutions through a sequence of single-objective problems solved using Lagrangian relaxation and a specialized branch-and-bound algorithm. The Lagrangian problems are simply max-flow min-cut problems, while the branch-and-bound procedure partially enumerates s-t cuts. Computational tests reveal the new algorithm to be one to two orders of magnitude faster than an algorithm that replaces the specialized branch-and-bound algorithm with a standard integer-programming solver.

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

interdiction
maximum flow
lagrangian relaxation


using an interactive evolutionary algorithm to help fitting a cochlear implant Cochlear implants are electronic devices that stimulate directly the auditory nerve to allow totally deaf patients to hear again. This paper presents an interactive evolutionary algorithm (IEA) designed to help finding the best parameters of a cochlear implant for a specific patient.If early cochlear implants only featured one electrode, modern devices now offer up to 22 electrodes, with the hope to be able to transmit more details and help the patient hear better. The work presented in this paper shows however that having more electrodes is not necessarily better.Tests on a patient show surprisingly that some combinations of electrodes yield better results than others, with the problem that there is no real way to determine which electrode is beneficial to speech understanding and which is not.The best result obtained by the patient on a speech understanding evaluation protocol was 48.5/100 after 10 years of fitting sessions by an expert practitioner. For many reasons explained in this paper, the evaluation of the best parameter setting found by the IEA in one day was 91.5/100.

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 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


Projection techniques for nonlinear principal component analysis Principal Components Analysis (PCA) is traditionally a linear technique for projecting multidimensional data onto lower dimensional subspaces with minimal loss of variance. However, there are several applications where the data lie in a lower dimensional subspace that is not linear; in these cases linear PCA is not the optimal method to recover this subspace and thus account for the largest proportion of variance in the data. Nonlinear PCA addresses the nonlinearity problem by relaxing the linear restrictions on standard PCA. We investigate both linear and nonlinear approaches to PCA both exclusively and in combination. In particular we introduce a combination of projection pursuit and nonlinear regression for nonlinear PCA. We compare the success of PCA techniques in variance recovery by applying linear, nonlinear and hybrid methods to some simulated and real data sets. We show that the best linear projection that captures the structure in the data (in the sense that the original data can be reconstructed from the projection) is not necessarily a (linear) principal component. We also show that the ability of certain nonlinear projections to capture data structure is affected by the choice of constraint in the eigendecomposition of a nonlinear transform of the data. Similar success in recovering data structure was observed for both linear and nonlinear projections.

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

feature extraction
radial basis functions
self-consistency
intrinsic dimensionality
least squares approximation


Efficient and accurate sensor network localization Wireless sensor networks (WSN) have great potential in ubiquitous computing. However, the severe resource constraints of WSN rule out the use of many existing networking protocols and require careful design of systems that prioritizes energy conservation over performance optimization. A key infrastructural problem in WSN is localizationthe problem of determining the geographical locations of nodes. WSN typically have some nodes called seeds that know their locations using global positioning systems or other means. Non-seed nodes compute their locations by exchanging messages with nodes within their radio range. Several algorithms have been proposed for localization in different scenarios. Algorithms have been designed for networks in which each node has ranging capabilities, i.e., can estimate distances to its neighbours. Other algorithms have been proposed for networks in which no node has such capabilities. Some algorithms only work when nodes are static. Some other algorithms are designed specifically for networks in which all nodes are mobile. We propose a very general, fully distributed localization algorithm called range-based Monte Carlo boxed (RMCB) for WSN. RMCB allows nodes to be static or mobile and that can work with nodes that can perform ranging as well as with nodes that lack ranging capabilities. RMCB uses a small fraction of seeds. It makes use of the received signal strength measurements that are available from the sensor hardware. We use RMCB to investigate the question: When does range-based localization work better than range-free localization? We demonstrate using empirical signal strength data from sensor hardware (Texas Instruments EZ430-RF2500) and simulations that RMCB outperforms a very good range-free algorithm called weighted Monte Carlo localization (WMCL) in terms of localization error in a number of scenarios and has a similar computational complexity to WMCL. We also implement WMCL and RMCB on sensor hardware and demonstrate that it outperforms WMCL. The performance of RMCB depends critically on the quality of range estimation. We describe the limitations of our range estimation approach and provide guidelines on when range-based localization is preferable.

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

wireless sensor networks
localization
ranging


A generalized bi-criteria fuzzy integer flow sharing problem The flow sharing problem is a class of techniques that can be used to find the optimal flow in a capacitated network, which realizes an equitable distribution of flows. This paper extends the integer flow sharing problem by considering fuzzy capacities and fuzzy weights such that the flux received at each sink node and the flow value through each arc are restricted to be multiples of some block unit. Fuzzy capacity describes the flexibility of the upper limit of flow value through each arc. Fuzzy weight represents the degree of satisfaction of the flux to a sink node. Our model has the two following criteria: to maximize the minimal degree of satisfaction among all of the fuzzy capacity constraints and to maximize the minimal degree of satisfaction among the fluxes to all of the sink nodes. Because an optimal flow pattern that simultaneously maximizes the two objectives is usually not feasible, we define non-domination in this setting and propose a pseudo-polynomial algorithm that finds some non-dominated flow patterns. Finally, a numerical example is presented to demonstrate how our algorithm works. (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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

flow sharing
fuzzy capacity
fuzzy weight


Super-streaming: A new object delivery paradigm for continuous media servers A number of studies have focused on the design of continuous media, CM, (e.g., video and audio) servers to support the real-time delivery of CM objects. These systems have been deployed in local environments such as hotels, hospitals and cruise ships to support media-on-demand applications. They typically stream CM objects to the clients with the objective of minimizing the buffer space required at the client site. This objective can now be relaxed due to the availability of inexpensive storage devices at the client side. Therefore, we propose a Super-streaming paradigm that can utilize the client side resources in order to improve the utilization of the CM server. To support super-streaming, we propose a technique to enable the CM servers to deliver CM objects at a rate higher than their display bandwidth requirement. We also propose alternative admission control policies to downgrade super-streams in favor of regular streams when the resources are scarce. We demonstrate the superiority of our paradigm over streaming with both analytical and simulation models. Moreover, new distributed applications such as distant-learning, digital libraries, and home entertainment require the delivery of CM objects to geographically disbursed clients. For quality purposes, recently many studies proposed dedicated distributed architectures to support these types of applications. We extend our super-streaming paradigm to be applicable in such distributed architectures. We propose a sophisticated resource management policy to support super-streaming in the presence of multiple servers, network links and clients. Due to the complexity involved in modeling these architectures, we only evaluate the performance of super-streaming by a simulation study.

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

continuous media delivery
video on demand
distributed systems


Information fusion for computer security: State of the art and open issues In this paper, we critically review the issue of information fusion for computer security, both in terms of problem formulation and in terms of state-of-the-art solutions. We also analyze main strengths and weaknesses of currently used approaches and propose some research issues that should be investigated in the future. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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


Measuring and Fingerprinting Click-Spam in Ad Networks Advertising plays a vital role in supporting free websites and smart-phone apps. Click-spam, i.e., fraudulent or invalid clicks on on-line ads where the user has no actual interest in the advertiser's site, results in advertising revenue being misappropriated by click-spammers. While ad networks take active measures to block click-spam today, the effectiveness of these measures is largely unknown. Moreover, advertisers and third parties have no way of independently estimating or defending against click-spam. In this paper, we take the first systematic look at click-spam. We propose the first methodology for advertisers to independently measure click-spam rates on their ads. We also develop an automated methodology for ad networks to proactively detect different simultaneous click-spam attacks. We validate both methodologies using data from major ad networks. We then conduct a large-scale measurement study of click-spam across ten major ad networks and four types of ads. In the process, we identify and perform in-depth analysis on seven ongoing click-spam attacks not blocked by major ad networks at the time of this writing. Our findings highlight the severity of the click-spam problem, especially for mobile ads.

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