A robust data mining approach for formulation of geotechnical engineering systems Purpose - The complexity of analysis of geotechnical behavior is due to multivariable dependencies of soil and rock responses. In order to cope with this complex behavior, traditional forms of engineering design solutions are reasonably simplified. Incorporating simplifying assumptions into the development of the traditional models may lead to very large errors. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate capabilities of promising variants of genetic programming (GP), namely linear genetic programming (LGP), gene expression programming (GEP), and multi-expression programming (MEP) by applying them to the formulation of several complex geotechnical engineering problems. Design/methodology/approach - LGP, GEP, and MEP are new variants of GP that make a clear distinction between the genotype and the phenotype of an individual. Compared with the traditional GP, the LGP, GEP, and MEP techniques are more compatible with computer architectures. This results in a significant speedup in their execution. These methods have a great ability to directly capture the knowledge contained in the experimental data without making assumptions about the underlying rules governing the system. This is one of their major advantages over most of the traditional constitutive modeling methods. Findings - In order to demonstrate the simulation capabilities of LGP, GEP, and MEP, they were applied to the prediction of: relative crest settlement of concrete-faced rockfill dams; slope stability; settlement around tunnels; and soil liquefaction. The results are compared with those obtained by other models presented in the literature and found to be more accurate. LGP has the best overall behavior for the analysis of the considered problems in comparison with GEP and MEP. The simple and straightforward constitutive models developed using LGP, GEP and MEP provide valuable analysis tools accessible to practicing engineers. Originality/value - The LGP, GEP, and MEP approaches overcome the shortcomings of different methods previously presented in the literature for the analysis of geotechnical engineering systems. Contrary to artificial neural networks and many other soft computing tools, LGP, GEP, and MEP provide prediction equations that can readily be used for routine design practice. The constitutive models derived using these methods can efficiently be incorporated into the finite element or finite difference analyses as material models. They may also be used as a quick check on solutions developed by more time consuming and in-depth deterministic analyses.

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

data collection
programming and algorithm theory
systems analysis


Multi-dimensional dynamic programming in ruled surface fitting ? A multi-dimensional dynamic programming based ruled surface fitting scheme to a freeform rational surface. Providing solutions for the Ruled Surface Fitting (RSF) problem and the Ruled Surface Partitioning (RSP) problem in the discrete domain. Error-bound can be achieved by using the surfacesurface composition technique. Highly parallel algorithms running on GPUs are employed to evaluate the multi-dimensional dynamic programming.

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

ruled surface fitting
surfacesurface composition

multi-dimensional dynamic programming
gpu algorithms


Topology optimization of flexible micro-fluidic devices A multi-objective topology optimization formulation for the design of dynamically tunable fluidic devices is presented. The flow is manipulated via external and internal mechanical actuation, leading to elastic deformations of flow channels. The design objectives characterize the performance in the undeformed and deformed configurations. The layout of fluid channels is determined by material topology optimization. In addition, the thickness distribution, the distribution of active material for internal actuation, and the support conditions are optimized. The coupled fluid-structure response is predicted by a non-linear finite element model and a hydrodynamic lattice Boltzmann method. Focusing on applications with low flow velocities and pressures, structural deformations due to fluidforces are neglected. A mapping scheme is presented that couples the material distributions in the structural and fluid mesh. The governing and the adjoint equations of the resulting fluid-structure interaction problem are derived. The proposed method is illustrated with the design of tunable manifolds.

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

fluid-structure interaction
non-linear elasticity
adjoint sensitivity analysis


Number-theoretic interpretation and construction of a digital circle This paper presents a new interpretation of a digital circle in terms of the distribution of square numbers in discrete intervals. The number-theoretic analysis that leads to many important properties of a digital circle succinctly captures the original perspectives of digital calculus and digital geometry for its visualization and characterization. To demonstrate the capability and efficacy of the proposed method, two simple algorithms for the construction of digital circles, based on simple number-theoretic concepts, have been reported. Both the algorithms require only a few primitive operations and are completely devoid of any floating-point computation. To speedup the computation, especially for circular arcs of high radii, a hybridized version of these two algorithms has been given. Experimental results have been furnished to elucidate the analytical power and algorithmic efficiency of the proposed approach. It has been also shown, how and why, for sufficiently high radius, the number-theoretic technique can expedite a circle construction algorithm.

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

number theory
bresenhams algorithm
computer graphics


ontology-based wom extraction service from weblogs In this paper, we introduce a web-based service that extracts reputations of a product from the internet. If a user inputs the product name, the service first collects articles reviewing the product from weblogs, bbs, and so on. Also, it analyzes their contents using metadata and ontologies with conventional NLP techniques. Then, it indicates the reputations (positive or negative) from the overall and several pre-defined aspects, and other related products that are the subject of much discussion in the articles. This paper illustrates two technical points regarding use of metadata and ontologies with NLP, and summarizes evaluations in a case that we applied it to a market research for a vehicle.

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

reputation extraction
semantic web
ontology
weblog


An Algorithm for the Complete Solution of Quadratic Eigenvalue Problems We develop a new algorithm for the computation of all the eigenvalues and optionally the right and left eigenvectors of dense quadratic matrix polynomials. It incorporates scaling of the problem parameters prior to the computation of eigenvalues, a choice of linearization with favorable conditioning and backward stability properties, and a preprocessing step that reveals and deflates the zero and infinite eigenvalues contributed by singular leading and trailing matrix coefficients. The algorithm is backward-stable for quadratics that are not too heavily damped. Numerical experiments show that our MATLAB implementation of the algorithm, quadeig, outperforms the MATLAB function polyeig in terms of both stability and efficiency.

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

algorithms
performance
reliability
quadratic eigenvalue problem
deflation
companion form
backward error
condition number
eigenvector


Image denoising using 2-D FIR filters designed with DEPSO Digital images are often corrupted by additive noises during transmission. Thus, how to alleviate noise as much as possible has received concerns for decades. In this paper, we present a simple denoising method based on two dimensional (2-D) finite impulse response (FIR) filtering, where by differential evolution particle swarm optimization (DEPSO) algorithm, five two dimensional finite impulse response filters are designed to filter different kinds of pixels. Comprised by differential evolution algorithm and particle swarm optimization algorithm, differential evolution particle swarm optimization algorithm is effective and robust, which helps to yield better denoise performance. And computer simulation demonstrates that the proposed method is superior to the conventional lowpass filtering method, as well as the modern bilateral filtering and stochastic denoising method.

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 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


Answering content and structure-based queries on XML documents using relevance propagation As XML documents contain both content and structure information, taking advantage of the document structure in the retrieval process can lead to better identify relevant information units. In this paper, we describe an information retrieval (IR) approach dealing with queries composed of content and structure conditions. The XFIRM model we propose is designed to be as flexible as possible to process such queries. It is based on a complete query language, derived from XPath and on a relevance values propagation method. This paper aims at evaluating functions used in the propagation process, and particularly the use of distance between nodes as a parameter. The proposed method is evaluated, thanks to the INEX evaluation initiative. Results show a relative high precision of our proposal.

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

relevance propagation method
content and structure queries


Taxonomies for categorization and research: Is a mining analogy valid? EDITOR'S SUMMARY

data mining
economics of information
information discovery
metaphors


EBG structure with T-shaped slits for suppression of simultaneous switching noise In this article, electromagnetic band gap (EBG) structure with T-shaped slits is proposed for suppressing simultaneous switching noise. T-shaped slits, bridges, and the solid ground plane are used to constitute the novel L-EBG structure. Considering a threshold of ?35 dB, the stopband of the proposed EBG structure is about 7.29 GHz which is 1.68 GHz wider than that of a conventional L-EBG structure. Measurement results confirm the wide bandwidth of the prototype that is predicted in simulations. In addition, the lower and upper cutoff frequencies are estimated by use of lumped-component circuit models and parallel-plate waveguide models, respectively. Moreover, the IR-drop and dc resistance are examined through simulations. Additionally, common signal integrity issues in a power distribution network such as IR-drop, DC resistance, and eye diagrams are investigated and compared to a conventional L-EBG structure. 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE 25:419426, 2015.

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

electromagnetic band gap
signal integrity
simultaneous switching noise


Archetype relational mapping - a practical openEHR persistence solution One of the primary obstacles to the widespread adoption of openEHR methodology is the lack of practical persistence solutions for future-proof electronic health record (EHR) systems as described by the openEHR specifications. This paper presents an archetype relational mapping (ARM) persistence solution for the archetype-based EHR systems to support healthcare delivery in the clinical environment.

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

archetype
relational database
data persistence


A proposal to apply inductive logic programming to self-healing problem in grid computing: How will it work? As computation systems get extremely large and complex, failure diagnosis becomes even more complex. To cope with this ever increasing complexity of managing heterogeneous systems-such as grids and nowadays clouds-systems should manage their own behavior themselves. This vision of self-managing systems also referred to as autonomic computing (AC) aims to allow systems to recover themselves from various failures or malfunctions. This is known as self-healing (SH) and is one of the requirements of AC. However, dealing with these complex failure scenarios is always an open challenge. Dealing with this challenge requires prediction and control through a number of automated learning and proactive actions. In this work, we present the usage of a relational learning method known as inductive logic programming, for prediction and root casual analysis, and the development of an SH component. Copyright (C) 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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

grids
autonomic computing
inductive logic programming


Coupled multi-object tracking and labeling for vehicle trajectory estimation and matching Efficient detection and tracking of moving objects in real life conditions is a very challenging research issue, mainly due to occlusions, illumination variations, appearance (disappearance) of new (existing) objects and overlapping issues. In this paper, we address these difficulties by incorporating non-linear and recursive identification mechanisms in motion-based detection and tracking algorithms. Non-linearity allows correct identification of object of complex visual properties while the adaptability makes the proposed scheme able to update its behaviour to the dynamic environmental changes. In addition, in this paper, we introduce the concept of polar spectrum which is a measure for determining the deviation of a vehicle trajectory from an ideal trace. The proposed methods (object tracking and trajectory matching) are applied in survey engineering problems dealing with safe design road turns. In particular, the automatically detected trajectory of a moving vehicle is compared with the ideal trace, through the polar spectrum measure, to determine the safety of a road turn. This trace is also compared with the one manually derived using photogrammetric algorithms and a small error is obtained verifying the efficiency of the method.

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

motion-based tracking
non linear object labelling
neural networks


hipe on amd64 Erlang is a concurrent functional language designed for developing large-scale, distributed, fault-tolerant systems. The primary implementation of the language is the Erlang/OTP system from Ericsson. Even though Erlang/OTP is by default based on a virtual machine interpreter, it nowadays also includes the HiPE (High Performance Erlang) native code compiler as a fully integrated component. This paper describes the recently developed port of HiPE to the AMD64 architecture. We discuss technical issues that had to be addressed when developing the port, decisions we took and why, and report on the speedups (compared with BEAM) which HiPE/AMD64 achieves across a range of Erlang programs and how these compare with speedups for the more mature SPARC and x86 back-ends.

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


Towards the design and computational characterization of a membrane protein The design of a transmembrane four-helix bundle is described. We start with an idealized four-helix bundle geometry, then use statistical information to build a plausible transmembrane bundle. Appropriate residues are chosen using database knowledge on the sequences of membrane helices and loops, then the packing of the bundle core is optimized, and favorable side chain rotamers from rotamer libraries are selected. Next, we use explicit physical knowledge from biomolecular simulation force fields and molecular dynamics simulations to test whether the designed structure is physically possible. These procedures test whether the designed protein will indeed be ?-helical, well packed and stable over a time scale of several nanoseconds in a realistic lipid bilayer environment. We then test a modeling approach that does not include sophisticated database knowledge about proteins, but rather relies on applying our knowledge of the physics that governs protein motions. This independent validation of the design is based on simulated annealing and restrained molecular dynamics simulation in vacuo, comparable to procedures used to refine NMR and X-ray structures.

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


appearance based retrieval for tracked objects in surveillance videos This paper focuses on indexing and retrieval at the object level for video surveillance. Object retrieval is difficult due to imprecise object detection and tracking. In the indexing phase, a new representative blob detection method allows to choose the most relevant blobs that represent various object's visual aspects. In the retrieval phase, a new robust object matching method retrieves successfully objects even though they are not perfectly tracked. We validate our approach thanks to videos coming from a subway monitoring project. The representative blob detection method improves the state of the art. The obtained retrieval results show that the object matching method is robust while working with imprecise object tracking algorithms.

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


Generalized N-dimensional independent component analysis and its application to multiple feature selection and fusion for image classification We propose a multilinear independent component analysis (ICA) framework called generalized N-dimensional ICA (GND-ICA) by extending the conventional linear ICA based on the multilinear algebra. Unlike the linear ICA that only treats one-dimensional data, the proposed GND-ICA treats N-dimensional data as a tensor without any preprocess of data vectorization. We furthermore introduce two types of GND-ICA solutions and analyze their efficiency and effectiveness. As an application, the GND-ICA can be used for multiple feature fusion and representation for color image classification. Many features extracted from a given image are constructed as a tensor. The feature tensor can be effective represented by GND-ICA. Compared with the conventional linear subspace learning methods, GND-ICA is capable of obtaining more distinctive representation for color image classification.

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

multiple feature selection
multiple feature fusion
image classification

generalized n-dimensional independent component analysis


Refactoring with Synthesis Refactoring has become an integral part of modern software development, with wide support in popular integrated development environments (IDEs). Modern IDEs provide a fixed set of supported refactorings, listed in a refactoring menu. But with IDEs supporting more and more refactorings, it is becoming increasingly difficult for programmers to discover and memorize all their names and meanings. Also, since the set of refactorings is hard-coded, if a programmer wants to achieve a slightly different code transformation, she has to either apply a (possibly non-obvious) sequence of several built-in refactorings, or just perform the transformation by hand. We propose a novel synthesis system which addresses these limitations. Our system employs a recently proposed refactoring interface, in which a refactoring is achieved via three simple steps: the programmer first indicates the start of a code refactoring phase; then she performs some of the desired code changes manually; and finally, she asks the tool to complete the refactoring. Given the initial and modified programs, our synthesis system completes the refactoring by first extracting the difference between the starting program and the modified version, and then synthesizing a sequence of refactorings that achieves (at least) the desired changes. To enable scalable synthesis, we introduce local refactorings, which allow for first discovering a refactoring sequence on small program fragments and then extrapolating it to a full refactoring sequence. We implemented our approach as an Eclipse plug-in, with an architecture that is easily extendable with new refactorings. The experimental results are encouraging: with only minimal user input, the synthesizer was able to quickly discover complex refactoring sequences for several challenging realistic examples.

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


Affine invariants for object recognition using the wavelet transform Dyadic wavelet transform has been used to derive affine invariant functions. The invariant functions are based on the dyadic wavelet transform of the object boundary. Three invariant functions have been calculated using different numbers of dyadic levels. Experimental results show that these invariant functions outperform some traditional invariant functions. The stability of these invariant functions have been tested for a large perspective transformation.

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 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

affine transformation
planar object recognition
invariant features


From timetabling to train regulation - a new train operation model A new train operation model proposed here not only considers the flexibility of train regulation, or train rescheduling problem, but also the objectives of timetabling process. A genetic algorithm is applied to solve this problem efficiently. Thus no matter the problem is planning the timetable of trains, the unusual passenger flow occurrence or the incident caused delay, our model will make the train regulation as the same as the timetable construction. This will simplify the work of administration. Our model also shows that once the delay occurred, the waiting time of the passengers will be the cost to delay every train. If the delay is not large enough, the system can have some rooms for removing the influence of the delay through our model. (c) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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


A multigrid finite element solver for the CahnHilliard equation A multigrid finite element solver for the CahnHilliard equation is presented that has mesh-independent convergence rates for any time-step size, including in the important limit ??0 which is examined via numerical examples. Numerics are performed for a number of test problems which show that the features of the CahnHilliard equation (minimising interface measure, Lyapunov energy functional etc.) are preserved. We also explore the use of this solver in conjunction with adaptive time-stepping and adaptive mesh strategies.

O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 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 cost efficient mobile service and information management in ubiquitous environment with cloud resource scheduling We study the service instance selection problem in the cloud environment. We aim to deploy persistent service for the wide-area users over the long-run. We present a new QoS model. We classify the problem into three cases. We present algorithms for all the cases, and evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithms via extensive simulations. The simulation results show that our algorithms have a significant efficiency on service response time reduction.

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


Kontextabhngige 3-Faktor-Authentifizierung fr den mobilen Zugriff auf Unternehmensanwendungen Der Zugriff von mobilen Gerten auf Unternehmensanwendungen birgt Sicherheitsrisiken, die ber die stationrer Hardware hinausgehen. Diese umfassen unter anderem den Verlust oder den Diebstahl ganzer Gerte, das Aushorchen der drahtlosen Internetverbindung oder das Aussphen per Shoulder-Sniffing. Im Rahmen des Projektes SumoDacs wurde eine 3-Faktor-Authentifizierung entwickelt, die neben einem konventionellen Zugangspasswort aus einem Hardware-Vertrauensanker und einer kontextsensitiven Zugriffskontrolle besteht. Die Authentifizierung wird clientseitig durch einen lokalen Proxy-Dienst realisiert.

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

3-faktor-authentifizierung
kontextsensitive zugriffskontrolle
hardware-sicherheits-token
kontextschalter
mobiler datenzugriff


evaluation of the residual packet-loss rate using packet-level fec for delay-constrained media network transport We propose a system model and an evaluation methodology to describe the performance of general delay-constrained packet-media transport over networks protected by packet-level FEC. Furthermore, we describe an algorithm to compute the residual packet-loss rate after FEC decoding in delay-constrained packet-media transmissions. Finally, we illustrate the influence of several key system parameters on the performance of FEC through specific examples.

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

residual packet-loss rate
packet-level fec
delay-constrained media
autoregressive model


Routing, scheduling and channel assignment in Wireless Mesh Networks: Optimization models and algorithms Wireless Mesh Networks (WMNs) can partially replace the wired backbone of traditional wireless access networks and, similarly, they require to carefully plan radio resource assignment in order to provide the same quality guarantees to traffic flows. In this paper we study the radio resource assignment optimization problem in Wireless Mesh Networks assuming a time division multiple access (TDMA) scheme, a dynamic power control able to vary emitted power slot-by-slot, and a rate adaptation mechanism that sets transmission rates according to the signal-to-interference-and-noise ratio (SINR). The proposed optimization framework includes routing, scheduling and channel assignment. Quality requirements of traffic demands are expressed in terms of minimum bandwidth and modeled with constraints defining the number of information units (packets) that must be delivered per frame. We consider an alternative problem formulation where decision variables represent compatible sets of links active in the same slot and channel, called configurations. We propose a two phases solution approach where a set of configurations is first selected to meet traffic requirements along the best available paths, and then configurations are assigned to channels according to device characteristics and constraints. The optimization goal is to minimize the number of used slots, which is directly related to the global resource allocation efficiency. We provide a lower bound of the optimal solution solving the continuous relaxation of problem formulation. Moreover, we propose a heuristic approach to determine practical integer solutions (upper bound). Since configuration variables are exponentially many, our solution approaches are based on the column generation technique. In order to assess the effectiveness of the proposed algorithms we show the numerical results obtained on a set of realistic-size randomly generated instances.

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

optimization
routing
scheduling
channel assignment
radio resource assignment
power control
column generation

rate control
mixed integer linear programming


On applying or-parallelism and tabling to logic programs Logic programming languages, such as Prolog, provide a high-level, declarative approach to programming. Logic Programming offers great potential for implicit parallelism, thus allowing parallel systems to often reduce a program's execution time without programmer intervention. We believe that for complex applications that take several hours, if not days, to return an answer, even limited speedups from parallel execution can directly translate to very significant productivity gains. It has been argued that Prolog's evaluation strategy - SLD resolution often limits the potential of the logic programming paradigm. The past years have therefore seen widening efforts at increasing Prolog's declarativeness and expressiveness. Tabling has proved to be a viable technique to efficiently overcome SLD's susceptibility to infinite loops and redundant subcomputations. Our research demonstrates that implicit or-parallelism is a natural fit for logic programs with tabling. To substantiate this belief, we have designed and implemented an or-parallel tabling engine - OPTYap - and we used a shared-memory parallel machine to evaluate its performance. To the best of our knowledge, OPTYap is the first implementation of a parallel tabling engine for logic programming systems. OPTYap builds on Yap's efficient sequential Prolog engine. Its execution model is based on the SLG-WAM for tabling, and on the environment copying for or-parallelism. Preliminary results indicate that the mechanisms proposed to parallelize search in the context of SLD resolution can indeed be effectively and naturally generalized to parallelize tabled computations, and that the resulting systems can achieve good performance on shared-memory parallel machines. More importantly, it emphasizes our belief that through applying or-parallelism and tabling to logic programs the range of applications for Logic Programming can be increased.

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


Advancing nursing documentation-An intervention study using patients with leg ulcer as an example Aim: The aim was to implement and evaluate a standardised nursing record, using patients with leg ulcer as an example, regarding the content of the nursing record and district nurses' experiences of documentation. Method: This was a prospective, stratified and randomised intervention study, with one intervention group and one control group. A standardised nursing wound care record was designed and implemented in the electronic patient record in the intervention group for a period of 3 months. Pre- and post-intervention audits of nursing records [n = 102 and n = 92, respectively] were carried out and 126 district nurses answered questionnaires pre-intervention and 83 post-intervention. Result: The standardised nursing wound care record led to more informative, comprehensive and knowledge-intensive documentation according to the audit and district nurses' opinions. Furthermore, the district nurses' self-reported knowledge of nursing documentation increased in the intervention group. When the standardised nursing wound care record was not used, the documentation was mostly incomplete with a lack of nursing relevance. There were no differences in the district nurses' experiences of documentation in general between the two groups. Conclusion: Using the standardised nursing wound care record improved nursing documentation meeting legal demands, which should increase the safety of patient. There was however a discrepancy between the nurses stated knowledge and how they carried out the documentation. Regular in-service training together with use of evidence based standardised nursing records, as a link to clinical reasoning about nursing care, could be ways effecting change. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ireland 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 B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 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

community health nursing
primary health care
medical records computerized


Routing Management in the PSTN and the Internet: A Historical Perspective Two highly visible public communication networks are the public-switched telephone network (PSTN) and the Internet. While they typically provide different services and the basic technologies underneath are different, both networks rely heavily on routing for communication between any two points. In this paper, we present a brief overview of routing mechanisms used in the PSTN and the Internet from a historical perspective. In particular, we discuss the role of management for the different routing mechanisms, where and how one is similar or different from the other, as well as where the management aspect is heading in an inter-networked environment of the PSTN and the Internet where voice over IP (VoIP) services are offered.

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

pstn
internet
routing management
historical perspective


Data Acquisition Systems: An Approach to the Amazonian Environment This paper presents the development of a prototype of a system for remote data acquisition of environmental variables in the Amazon Forest called GETFOREST. The system performs all the functions of a Datalogger and has the task of analyzing behavior in a forest reserve by an intelligent agent, which contains expert systems of the patterns related to environmental variables of temperature, relative humidity and dew point. The sensor hardware is composed by a computational embedded unit that contains an analog/digital data acquisition in wireless communication interfaces.

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

environmental data acquisition
sensor fusion
remote monitoring


a three-fold introduction to computer science We have developed a new introduction to the computer science major, consisting of two courses, called Science of Computing 1 and Science of Computing 2. This sequence emphasizes balanced development of basic abilities in all three of computer science's fundamental methods of inquiry (design, theory, and empirical analysis), as opposed to the more traditional emphasis on programming and data structures. Science of Computing 1 introduces students to all three methods of inquiry, in the context of recursive algorithms and their mathematical and experimental analysis. Science of Computing 2 extends, and provides extensive practice in, all three methods. Both courses use a strongly hands-on approach to demonstrate the importance of, and interactions between, the three methods of inquiry. Preliminary results indicate that these courses successfully teach basic design, theory, and empirical analysis, and encourage students to continue studying computer science at a rate as high as or higher than that of traditional introductory courses.

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

computer science
science
use
design theory
analysis
data structures
context
demonstrate
sequence

interaction
program
method
experimentation
recursion
developer
computation
empirical analysis
algorithm
practical
student


Analysis and design of warning delivery service in intervehicular networks This paper focuses on intervehicular networks providing warning delivery service. As soon as a danger is detected, the propagation of a warning message is triggered, with the aim of guaranteeing a safety area around the point in which the danger is located. Multiple broadcast cycles can be generated so that a given lifetime of the safety area is guaranteed. The service is based on multihop ad hoc intervehicular communications with a probabilistic choice of relay nodes. The scenario we consider consists of highspeed streets such as highways in which vehicles exhibit one-dimensional movements along the direction of the road. We propose some analytical models for the study of this service and derive performance indices such as the probability that a vehicle is informed, the average number of duplicate messages received by a vehicle, and the average delay. Moreover, we use the models to discuss system design issues which include the proper setting of the forwarding probability at each vehicle so that a given probability to receive the warning can be guaranteed to all vehicles in the safety area. The analytical results are validated against simulation results. By being very accurate, the models can be instrumental to the performance evaluation and design of broadcasting techniques in intervehicular networks.

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

vehicular networks
multihop ad hoc networks
road safety


Extrapolating Internet users in Taiwan by risk assessment In a competitive environment, most products usually have different stages of life cycle by different sales; thus, satisfying consumers' requirements could make the product competitive. From the experiences of experts, the analytic hierarchy process has been used to analyze the expected range for a specified PLC stage to enable a decision-maker to derive proper marketing strategies. However, in decision theory, the behavior of a decision-maker is always affected by her risk perception and risk propensity to result in different decision-making. In order to cope with this problem, a fuzzy forecasting system to the risk perception and risk propensity is derived to extrapolate the Internet users for a specified PLC stage because of uncertainty and unknown system structure in the future. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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

extrapolate
risk propensity
risk perception


Case Studies of e-Infrastructure Adoption This article reports results from a study of e-Infrastructure adoption in the social sciences and humanities (SSH). The authors find that bridging barriers between computer and domain scientists is of key importance. In particular, SSH communities have to be accepted as being distinct and not suited to a "one size fits all'' strategy of e-Infrastructure diffusion. Sustainability was also a core issue, whereas barriers to resource sharing could mostly be resolved with technological solutions, and skills and training activities are a reflection of the general "user dilemma.'' The authors' recommendations to European Union (EU) policy makers point the way to promoting e-Infrastructure development and wider application in the SSH.

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


Domination in the families of Frank and Hamacher t-norms Domination is a relation between general operations defined on a poset. The old open problem is whether domination is transitive on the set of all t-norms. In this paper we contribute partially by inspection of domination in the family of Frank and Hamacher t-norms. We show that between two different t-norms from the same family, the domination occurs iff at least one of the t-norms involved is a maximal or minimal member of the family. The immediate consequence of this observation is the transitivity of domination on both inspected families of t-norms.

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


Adaptive neuro fuzzy selection of heart rate variability parameters affected by autonomic nervous system Heart rate variability (HRV) parameters can be used as specific indicator of autonomic nervous system (ANS) behavior. ANS, with its main two branches, sympathetic and parasympathetic, may be considered as a coordinated neuronal network which controls heart rate continually. Many parameters define heart rate variability in different domains such as time, frequency or nonlinear. An excessively high computational complexity can occur when developing models for medical applications when the best set of inputs to use is not known. To build a model that can predict a specific process output, it is desirable to select a subset of variables that are truly relevant or the most influential to this output. This procedure is typically called variable selection, and it corresponds to finding a subset of the full set of recorded variables that exhibits good predictive abilities. In this study an architecture for modeling complex systems in function approximation and regression was used, based on using adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS). Variable searching using the ANFIS network was performed to determine how the ANS branches affect the most relevant HRV parameters. The method utilized may work as a basis for examination of ANS influence on HRV activity.

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

heart rate variability
autonomic nervous system
variable selection


A family of dissipative active scalar equations with singular velocity and measure initial data This paper considers a family of generalized active scalar equations, with fractional dissipation, whose velocity fields are more singular than Riesz transform. We prove global well-posedness results for small initial data belonging to BesovMorrey spaces, which contain strongly singular functions and measures concentrated at points (Diracs) and on smooth curves. Self-similar solutions are obtained for initial data and coupling-velocity operator with correct homogeneities. We also show an asymptotic behavior result and obtain a class of asymptotically self-similar solutions.

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

generalized surface quasi-geostrophic equations


Efficient solution of nonlinear elliptic problems using hierarchical matrices with Broyden updates The numerical solution of nonlinear problems is usually connected with Newton's method. Due to its computational cost, variants (so-called inexact and quasi-Newton methods) have been developed in which the arising inverse of the Jacobian is replaced by an approximation. In this article we present a new approach which is based on Broyden updates. This method does not require to store the update history since the updates are explicitly added to the matrix. In addition to updating the inverse we introduce a method which constructs updates of the LU decomposition. To this end, we present an algorithm for the efficient multiplication of hierarchical and semi-separable matrices. Since an approximate LU decomposition of finite element stiffness matrices can be efficiently computed in the set of hierarchical matrices, the complexity of the proposed method scales almost linearly. Numerical examples demonstrate the effectiveness of this new approach.

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

quasi-newton methods
nonlinear elliptic equations


monitor petri nets for security monitoring In our integrated model-based development process for security monitors, we use Live Sequence Charts (LSCs) as expressive, formal specification. Generating target specific monitors from these, requires a complex interpretation of their syntax and semantics. In this paper, we propose a Petri Net dialect as an intermediate language for monitor generation---named Monitor Petri Nets (MPNs). It is based on standard Petri Nets that are syntactically and semantically extended to suit the needs of monitoring. With our MPNs, we are able to represent use and misuse cases described by LSCs in a format that is easy to interpret. MPNs provide the basis for the generation of SW/HW security monitors or can alternatively be interpreted by a generic monitor.

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


Compliance by design for artifact-centric business processes Compliance to legal regulations, internal policies, or best practices is becoming a more and more important aspect in business processes management. Compliance requirements are usually formulated in a set of rules that can be checked during or after the execution of the business process, called compliance by detection. If noncompliant behavior is detected, the business process needs to be redesigned. Alternatively, the rules can be already taken into account while modeling the business process to result in a business process that is compliant by design. This technique has the advantage that a subsequent verification of compliance is not required. This paper focuses on compliance by design and employs an artifact-centric approach. In this school of thought, business processes are not described as a sequence of tasks to be performed (i.e., imperatively), but from the point of view of the artifacts that are manipulated during the process (i.e., declaratively). We extend the artifact-centric approach to model compliance rules and show how compliant business processes can be synthesized automatically. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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 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

artifact-centric business processes
process synthesis
compliance management


Control strategy PSO An evaluation index called Control Strategy PSO is developed. It can be applied to other intelligent algorithms. We present a detailed theoretical and empirical analysis.

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

particle swarm optimization
parameter selection
control theory


performance verification using partial evaluation and interval analysis Summary form only given. A performance model for a typical design represented in a high-level description language can be generated by augmenting the design components with attributes and evaluation rules. An attribute represents some performance aspect of a design that can be either assigned a base initial value or calculated using an evaluation rule. Heat dissipation, dynamic power consumption, and maximum throughput rate are just a few examples of various performance aspects that can be represented with attributes. Evaluation rules contained in the performance model can be classified as either equational or procedural. An equational performance model is a model containing only evaluation rules that are composed of mathematical operations such as addition, subtraction, and so forth. Likewise, a procedural performance model may contain equational rules, but it also has rules composed of complex programming constructs such as an assignment statement, if-then-else, case, and while control constructs and procedure calls. Our method for performance verification involves placing relational constraints on attributes in the performance model and determining whether all constraints can be satisfied simultaneously. Interval mathematics provides a convenient technique to represent relational constraints as intervals. Each attribute has an initial interval from negative infinity to positive infinity. Further constraints are specified by the user, the interval analysis technique is applied, and a verification result is produced.

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

partial evaluation
performance verification
evaluation rules
attributes
equational performance model
performance model
interval mathematics
relational constraints
interval analysis

formal verification
pdl
high-level description language
procedural performance model


Analysis of the Maximum Straight Line Length for Prairie Highway using Driver's Heart Rate Variability The attention of driver traveling along a long straight line of prairie highway is easy to be distracted. In this paper, the correlation of straight line length and driver's attention is studied through laboratory simulation experiment and regression analysis. It can be theoretically concluded that the maximum straight line length for prairie highway within which the driver could travel with proper attention is 5km. This study is significant both for prairie highway construction and Intelligent Transportation System.

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

prairie highway
the maximum straight line length
heart rate variability


A simulation study for implementing color rescheduling storage in an automotive factory This article outlines a simulation study relating to the design and the implementation of color rescheduling storage (CRS) in an automotive factory. In a painting shop, the colors of vehicles are changed frequently according to the assembly schedule. When the color of a vehicle is changed, the cleaning process of the painting gun is necessary, which generates a cost. The major objective of CRS is to reduce the changeover cost in the painting process by grouping vehicles with the same color. In this article, a case study of CRS in an automotive factory is presented. The procedure for designing CRS is explained, and the storage/retrieval algorithms are suggested. The proposed system is verified using simulation models, and comparisons among alternatives are examined to determine the best design. The authors also investigate the effect of color distribution on the system performance measures.

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

color rescheduling storage
automotive
painting shop


virtual world grammar Organization-based multi-agent systems (MAS) can be represented by means of 3D virtual worlds facilitating then the interaction among participants, i.e humans and agents. In this paper we propose a system that can automatically generate a 3D virtual world from formal specifications of both a MAS and a design visual style (i.e a shape grammar). We propose an extension of shape grammars in combination with virtual world paradigms, called Virtual World Grammar (VWG), to support the design generation process. Virtual World Grammar includes semantic information about both MAS specification which establishes the activities participants can engage on and shape grammar elements. This information, along with heuristics and validations, guides the generation process and allows us to produce functional designs. The Virtual World Builder Toolkit, integrated in our Shape Grammar Interpreter tool, supports both the definition and execution of the Virtual World Grammar.

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


An automated land subdivision tool for urban and regional planning: Concepts, implementation and testing Simulation of the land subdivision process is useful in many applied and research areas. Planners use such tools to understand potential impacts of planning regulations prior to their implementation. While the credibility of both land-use change and urban growth models would be enhanced by integrating capabilities to simulate land subdivision, such research is lacking in the published literature. Of the few subdivision tools that exist, most are either not fully-automated or are unable to generate realistic subdivision layouts. This limits their applicability, particularly for high resolution land-use change models. In this paper, we present a fully-automated land subdivision tool that uses vector data and is capable of generating layouts with both lot and street arrangements for land parcels of any shape. When the new streets are generally parallel to each other and lots are of approximately the same size, the simulations output very closely resembles observed subdivision patterns in our southeastern Australia study area. From this, we identify opportunities to improve the subdivision tool for a next version. Future research will also explore how this subdivision tool could be used in conjunction with a land-use change model for urban and regional planning.

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

land subdivision
urban and regional planning


Interrupted cognition in an undergraduate programming course Computer and Information Science courses are frequently taught in networked computer laboratories where students have access to advanced development environments, connectivity, communications, and multi-media capabilities. Advanced connectivity and communications can have positive or negative effects on learning. One cause for concern can be interruptions from emails, cell phones, and instant messages. This paper presents a theoretical foundation for Technology Interrupted Cognitive processes with examples of how learners' cognitive schemas maybe positively or negatively affected by the interruptions specifically from instant messages. The paper also presents findings from a research study to document the frequency and prevalence of instant messaging use by students. Results document the approaches that the students participating in the study use and how their cognitive structures are affected by instant messaging interruptions. Finally the paper also recommends guidelines for reducing the negative effects of interruptions on cognitive processes.

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


Tree decomposition-based indexing for efficient shortest path and nearest neighbors query answering on graphs We propose an indexing scheme for efficient graph query processing. We introduce a decomposition algorithm which works for all graphs. We design query answering algorithms for shortest path and kNN.

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

graphs algorithms
graph indexing
tree decomposition
k nearest neighbors problems


Finite size scaling by using scaling functions in two-dimensional q=2 and 7 state Potts models The scaling behaviors of the percolation cumulant and the surface renormalization are studied on q = 2 and 7 state Potts models. The results show that the scaling functions can be safely used to determine infinite lattice transition points and the thermal and magnetic exponents indicating that these functions have very small correction to scaling contributions.

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

phase transition
potts model
monte carlo simulation


Automatic sampling with the ratio-of-uniforms method Applying the ratio-of-uniforms method for generating random variates results in very efficient, fast, and easy-to-implement algorithms. However parameters for every particular type of density must be precalculated analytically. In this article we show, that the ratio-of-uniforms method is also useful for the design of a black-box algorithm suitable for a large class of distributions, including all with log-concave densities. Using polygonal envelopes and squeezes results in an algorithm that is extremely fast. In opposition to any other ratio-of-uniforms algorithm the expected number of uniform random numbers is less than two. Furthermore, we show that this method is in some sense equivalent to transformed density rejection.

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

adaptive method
log-concave
nonuniform
random number generation
ratio of uniforms
rejection method
t-concave
universal method


Assessing a knowledge-based approach to commercial loan underwriting We discuss the challenges in developing decision support tools for commercial underwriting and discuss how several different approaches to the underwriting problem have been addressed. We then describe an expert system-based approach to credit underwriting that has been in commercial usage for over ten years in a variety of financial institutions. The expert system approach addresses many features of the underwriting process that alternative approaches do not. The system is characterized by a functional representation of knowledge and a graph-based inference mechanism. The inference mechanism is unique in its pragmatic approach to the implementation of probability theory. This approach offers flexibility for modeling various aspects of real world credit decisions not always treated by traditional approaches. We give examples of how this approach can be and is currently being applied to facilitating underwriting decisions in commercial lending contexts.

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

credit risk
credit scoring
expert systems
functional systems


Scalability of hybrid programming for a CFD code on the Earth Simulator The Earth Simulator (ES) is an SMP cluster system. There are two types of parallel programming models available on the ES. One is a flat programming model, in which a parallel program is implemented by MPI interfaces only, both within an SMP node and among nodes. The other is a hybrid programming model, in which a parallel program is written by using thread programming within an SMP node and MPI programming among nodes simultaneously. It is generally known that it is difficult to obtain the same high level of performance using the hybrid programming model as can be achieved with the flat programming model. In this paper, we have evaluated scalability of the code for direct numerical simulation of the NavierStokes equations on the ES. The hybrid programming model achieves the sustained performance of 346.9Gflop/s, while the flat programming model achieves 296.4Gflop/s with 16 PNs of the ES for a DNS problem size of 2563. For small scale problems, however, the hybrid programming model is not as efficient because of microtasking overhead. It is shown that there is an advantage for the hybrid programming model on the ES for the larger size problems.

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

smp cluster
earth simulator
hybrid programming
mpi programming
scalability


Applying a student modeling with non-monotonic diagnosis to Intelligent Virtual Environment for Training/Instruction We present the design of a new Student Modeling Agent (SMA). SMA to be part of an Intelligent Virtual Environment for Training/Instruction. Classifying and solving contradictions occurred during the pedagogic diagnosis. Based on the information stored in a student ontology and an ATMS. Design of proper mechanisms to deal with the non monotonic nature of the diagnosis.

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

intelligent tutoring system
student model


The box-TDI system associated with 2-edge connected spanning subgraphs Let G G be a graph and let A A be its cutset-edge incidence matrix. We prove that the linear system 1 2 A x ? 1 , x ? 0 is box totally dual integral (box-TDI) if and only if G G is a series-parallel graph; a by-product of this characterization is a structural description of a box-TDI system on matroids. Our results strengthen two previous theorems obtained respectively by Cornujols, Fonlupt, and Naddef and by Mahjoub which assert that both polyhedra { x ? 1 2 A x ? 1 , x ? 0 } and { x ? 1 2 A x ? 1 , 1 ? x ? 0 } are integral if G G is series-parallel.

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

polyhedron
box total dual integrality
cut
traveling salesman problem


improving dpop with function filtering DPOP is an algorithm for distributed constraint optimization which has, as main drawback, the exponential size of some of its messages. Recently, some algorithms for distributed cluster tree elimination have been proposed. They also suffer from exponential size messages. However, using the strategy of cost function filtering, in practice these algorithms obtain important reductions in maximum message size and total communication cost. In this paper, we explain the relation between DPOP and these algorithms, and show how cost function filtering can be combined with DPOP. We present experimental evidence of the benefits of this new approach.

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


Logical and Complexity-theoretic Aspects of Models of Computation with Restricted Access to Arrays We study a class of program schemes, NPSB, in which, aside from basic assignments, non-deterministic guessing and while loops, we have access to arrays; but where these arrays are binary write-once in that they are initialized to 'zero' and can only ever be set to 'one'. We show, amongst other results, that: NPSB can be realized as a vectorized Lindstrom logic; there are problems accepted by program schemes of NPSB that are not definable in the bounded-variable infinitary logic L(infinity omega)(omega); all problems accepted by the program schemes of NPSB have asymptotic probability 1 and on ordered structures, NPSB captures the complexity class L(NP). We give equivalences (on the class of all finite structures) of the complexity-theoretic question 'Does NP equal PSPACE?', where the logics and classes of program schemes involved in the equivalent statements define or accept only problems with asymptotic probability 0 or 1 and so do not cover many computationally trivial problems. The class of program schemes NPSB is actually the union of an infinite hierarchy of classes of program schemes. Finally, when we amend the semantics of our program schemes slightly, we find that the classes of the resulting hierarchy capture the complexity classes Sigma(p)(i) (where i >= 2) of the Polynomial Hierarchy PH.

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 B I 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 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 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

finite model theory
descriptive complexity


Exploitable levels of ILP in future processors Through simulations, the effect of several microarchitectural parameters on the performance of a dynamic out-of-order executing microprocessor is shown. Next, we show that memory instructions, especially stores, limit the available instruction level parallelism (ILP) considerably. Techniques are proposed to mitigate the memory instructions effect: A statical, a mixed statical/dynamical and a fully dynamical technique are proposed. We focus on the fully dynamical technique which enables the out-of-order execution of loads/stores. If a memory dependence fault is detected, the traditional branch misprediction recovery hardware is used for recovery. Since this scheme is not very performant, a dependence-fault predicting cache is introduced.

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

dependence prediction
memory instructions out-of-order
branch misprediction penalty
branch prediction


Evolving models of player decision making: Personas versus clones ? The current paper investigates multiple approaches to modeling human decision making styles for procedural play-testing. Building on decision and persona theory we evolve game playing agents representing human decision making styles. Three kinds of agents are evolved from the same representation: procedural personas, evolved from game designer expert knowledge, clones, evolved from observations of human play and aimed at general behavioral replication, and specialized agents, also evolved from observation, but aimed at determining the maximal behavioral replication ability of the representation. These three methods are then compared on their ability to represent individual human decision makers. Comparisons are conducted using three different proposed metrics that address the problem of matching decisions at the action, tactical, and strategic levels. Results indicate that a small gallery of personas evolved from designer intuitions can capture human decision making styles equally well as clones evolved from human play-traces for the testbed game MiniDungeons.

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

procedural content generation
evolutionary computation
player modeling


Analysis of Optimized Aggregation Timing in Wireless Sensor Networks In a wireless sensor network (WSN) each sensor node deals with numerous sensing data elements. For the sake of energy efficiency and network lifetime, sensing data must be handled effectively. A technique used for this is data aggregation. Sending/receiving data involves numerous steps such as MAC layer control packet handshakes and route path setup, and these steps consume energy. Because these steps are involved in all data communication, the total cost increases are related to the counts of data sent/received. Therefore, many studies have proposed sending combined data, which is known as data aggregation. Very effective methods to aggregate sensing data have been suggested, but there is no means of deciding how long the sensor node should wait for aggregation. This is a very important issue, because the wait time affects the total communication cost and data reliability. There are two types of data aggregation; the data counting method and the time waiting method. However, each has weaknesses in terms of the delay. A hybrid method can be adopted to alleviate these problems. But, it cannot provide an optimal point of aggregation. In this paper, we suggest a stochastic-based data aggregation scheme, which provides the cost (in terms of communication and delay) optimal aggregation point. We present numerical analysis and results.

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

wireless sensor network
data aggregation


coevolution of pattern generators and recognizers Proposed is an automatic system for creating pattern generators and recognizers that may provide new and human-independent insight into the pattern recognition problem. The system is based on a three-cornered coevolution of image-transformation programs.

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 O O O O O O O B O O O


A reliable triangular mesh intersection algorithm and its application in geological modelling We introduce a reliable intersection algorithm for manifold surface meshes. The proposed algorithm builds conforming surface meshes from a set of intersecting triangulated surfaces. This algorithm effectively handles all degenerate triangletriangle intersection cases. The key idea of the algorithm is based on an extensive set of triangleedge intersection cases, combined with an intersection curve tracking method. The intersection operations do not rely on global spatial search operations and no remeshing steps are needed. The intersection curves are introduced into each surface mesh using a unique curve imprinting algorithm. The imprinting algorithm naturally handles degenerate intersection cases of many surfaces at an edge or at a point. The algorithm produces a consistent mesh data structure for subsequent mesh optimization operations. The mesh intersection algorithm is used within a general framework for modelling and meshing of geological formations, which are essential for reliable mathematical modelling of oil reservoirs.

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

surface mesh intersection
triangle-edge data structure


Simdist: a distribution system for easy parallelization of evolutionary computation This article introduces Simdist, a software tool for parallel execution of evolutionary algorithms (EAs) in a master-slave configuration on cluster architectures. Clusters have become a cost-effective parallel solution, and the potential computational capabilities are phenomenal. However, the transition from traditional R&D on a personal computer to parallel development and deployment can be a major step. Simdist simplifies this transition considerably, by separating the task of distributing data across the cluster network from the actual EA-related processing performed on the master and slave nodes. Simdist is constructed in the vein of traditional Unix command line tools; it runs in a separate process and communicates with EA child processes via standard input and output. As a result, Simdist is oblivious to the programming language(s) used in the EA, and the EA is similarly oblivious to the internals of Simdist.

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

distributed computing
program development


A scalable anti-sticking layer process via controlled evaporation Controlled deposition of anti-sticking layers based on the use of evaporation cell. Tuning of process time and uniformity by multiple-cell arrangement. Uniformity of surface energy better than 4% over 100mm diameter. Low surface energy (?1015mN/m) obtained after 40min at 120C.

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

anti-sticking treatment
thermal evaporation
scalability


Design and evaluation of spatial similarity approaches for image retrieval Similarity retrieval by spatial image content (i.e. using multiple objects and their relationships in space) is still an open problem which has received considerable attention in the literature. The most powerful approaches of spatial image content representation and matching are attributed relational graphs (ARGs) and symbolic projections (e.g. two-dimensional 2D strings). A framework is proposed for studying the performance of spatial similarity approaches in image databases (IDBs). The classical ARG and 2D string matching methods are evaluated. Several variants of ARG and 2D string methods for improving their accuracy and speeding-up their time responses are also proposed and evaluated. A critical analysis of the performance of all these methods is presented. The analysis indicates that in retrieving images by spatial content, retrieval response time and accuracy are traded-off.

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

image retrieval
attributed relational graphs
2d strings


Voting-model based evaluation of fuzzy quantified sentences: a general framework The framework here presented allows the definition of new probabilistic methods for fuzzy quantification and also the description of previous ones. All of these methods are endowed with a clear semantic interpretation that is based on a voting model. The methods within the framework fulfil a number of important and adequate properties of interest for fuzzy quantification and can also deal with very different types of quantifiers, as comparative and exception ones. (C) 2004 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 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

fuzzy quantifiers
theory of generalized quantifiers
basic mass assignment
evidence theory
random sets


All-Against-All Circular Pattern Matching Given a text T=T[1 ... n] and a circular pattern P=P[1 ... m], the circular pattern matching (CPM) problem is to find all occurrences of P in T. We present the first algorithm that exploits suffix links to solve the exact CPM (ECPM) problem in O(n log vertical bar Sigma vertical bar) time and O(n) space, where Sigma is the symbol alphabet. Then, we present a q-gram-based algorithm for the approximate CPM (ACPM) problem using the idea of bidirectional edit distance. Our algorithm finds all k-approximate occurrences of P in T. We then extend each algorithm to solve the all-against-all variant of the CPM problem for both exact and k-approximate matches. Although the CPM problem has been studied since the 1980s, this is the first attempt on the all-against-all variant, without using a trivial application of standard CPM algorithms. Given a database S=S-1$S-1(2)$(2) ... S-Z$(Z) of Z sequences, our algorithms solve the all-against-all ACPM problem in O(km(a)N) time on average and O(km(m)N(2)) worst case, where k is the error parameter, N=Sigma i=1Z(vertical bar S-i vertical bar+1), m(a)=N/Z and m(m)=max(i=1,2,... Z){vertical bar S-i vertical bar}. Space complexity is O(N). These can be compared with the O(N(2)m(a)log m(a)) average and O(N(3)log m(m)) worst case time required by the best available ACPM algorithm.

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

circular pattern matching
suffix links
bidirectional edit distance


the dissemination of knowledge management Our study on a community of knowledge management (KM) practitioners in the aerospace industry reveals challenges in the dissemination of KM concepts and tools. In this paper, we identify four reasons: (1) disparity of the community's stated purpose and the actual motives of its members; (2) multidisciplinary nature of KM; (3) unique characteristics of the aerospace industry and its engineering culture and (4) adoption of preferred or recommended solutions provided by chosen reference groups rather than a grounded approach. In particular, we address the issues in promoting recommended ideas and tools by chosen reference groups in work organizations without fully understanding work practices.

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

aerospace industry
reference groups
knowledge management

work practice
communities of practice
diffusion


A hybrid approach to convert relational schema to object-oriented schema In the paradigm of DataBase Re-Engineering (DBRE), reverse-engineering data semantics by schema translation from lower level of abstraction such as relational schema to a higher level of abstraction such as Extended Entity Relational (EER) model has been, in the past, extensively studied with due to its relative simplicity in matching. However, schema transformation from EER model to Object-Oriented DataBase (OODB) schema is not straightforward due to its missing of dynamic semantic representation, since an Object-Oriented (OO) schema should contain both the structure and operations of the data objects. In this paper, we describe a hybrid approach which applies both heuristic learning techniques in discovering the behavioural semantics from relational schema and knowledge-based approach in recovering static and structural semantics, to reach a complete conversion. A practical case is applied through an implemented prototype to validate the effectiveness of our methodology.

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

object-oriented
relational database
database re-engineering
knowledge-based technique
heuristic learning technique


Constructing large DNA segments by iterative clone recombination Methods for constructing large contiguous segments of DNA will be enabling for Synthetic Biology, where the assembly of genes encoding circuits, biosynthetic pathways or even whole microbial organisms is of interest. Currently, invitro approaches to DNA synthesis are adequate for generating DNAs that are up to 10s of kbp in length, and invivo recombination strategies are more suitable for building DNA constructs that are 100kbp or larger. We have developed a vector system for efficient assembly of large DNA molecules by iterative invivo recombination of fosmid clones. Two custom fosmid vectors have been built, pFOSAMP and pFOSKAN, that support antibiotic switching. Using this technique we rebuilt two non-contiguous regions of the Haemophilus influenzae genome as episomes in recombinogenic Escherichia coli host cells. These regions together comprise190kbp, or 10.4% of the H. influenze genome.

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

gene synthesis
synthetic genome
recombineering
lambda red


Hardware accelerator for molecular dynamics: MDGRAPE-2 We developed MDGRAPE-2, a hardware accelerator that calculates forces at high speed in molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. MDGRAPE-2 is connected to a PC or a workstation as an extension board. The sustained performance of one MDGRAPE-2 board is 15 Gflops, roughly equivalent to the peak performance of the fastest supercomputer processing element. One board is able to calculate all forces between 10000 particles in 0.28s (i.e. 310000 time steps per day). If 16 boards are connected to one computer and operated in parallel, this calculation speed becomes ?10 times faster. In addition to MD, MDGRAPE-2 can be applied to gravitational N-body simulations, the vortex method and smoothed particle hydrodynamics in computational fluid dynamics.

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


Robust tools for prediction of variability and optimization in structural dynamics The aims of this work were to quantify the effects of uncertainties of design parameters on the variability of linear and non-linear behaviour of mechanical structures that we wish to optimize, and to calculate optimal and robust solutions resulting from numerical simulations. We propose a method that takes into account the propagation of uncertainties in finite-element models in a multi-objective optimization procedure. This method is based on coupling the stochastic response surface method (SRSM) and the non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA). SRSM is based on application of the stochastic finite-element method via the polynomial chaos expansion method or the modal perturbation method. This strategy avoids the use of Monte Carlo simulation, in which costs can become prohibitive in optimization problems, especially when the finite-element models are large and have a considerable number of design parameters. The robust design described here has been developed to obtain an optimum value that is insensitive to changes of design variables within a feasible range.

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

uncertainties
optimization
variability
response surface method

robustness
stochastic finite-element method


Integrating collaborative processes and quality assurance techniques: Experiences from requirements negotiation Collaboration is essential in many mission-critical activities. Consequently, numerous methods and tools are available supporting collaborative processes such as strategic planning, risk management, requirements definition, and so on. These methods typically emphasize the collaborative, value-creating activities, but there is often less emphasis on quality aspects. Quality assurance (QA) techniques have been well-known in engineering for a long time, and their effectiveness and efficiency has been empirically evaluated in many domains. In this paper, we propose to integrate repeatable QA techniques and collaborative processes. We evaluate our idea in the context of a collaborative process for requirements negotiation. We propose pre-process techniques to be used before the actual negotiation, in-process techniques for checking quality during a negotiation, as well as post-process inspection techniques. These techniques help a project team reduce unnecessary complexity and to mitigate risks stemming from defects in requirements negotiation results. We present the results of a feasibility study we conducted to test our approach.

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

quality assurance techniques
requirements negotiation

collaboration engineering
group support systems


A heuristic algorithm for designing near-optimal mobile agent itineraries Several distributed architectures, incorporating mobile agent technology, have been recently proposed to answer the scalability limitations of their centralized counterparts. However, these architectures fail to address scalability problems, when distributed tasks requiring the employment of itinerant agents is considered. This is because they lack mechanisms that guarantee optimization of agents' itineraries so as to minimize the total migration cost in terms of the round-trip latency and the incurred traffic. This is of particular importance when MAs itineraries span multiple subnets. The work presented herein aspires to address these issues. To that end, we have designed and implemented an algorithm that adapts methods usually applied for addressing network design problems in the specific area of mobile agent itinerary planning. The algorithm not only suggests the optimal number of mobile agents that minimize the overall cost but also constructs optimal itineraries for each of them. The algorithm implementation has been integrated into our mobile agent framework research prototype and tested in real network environments, demonstrating significant cost savings.

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

heuristic
itinerary planning
mobile agents
optimization

network monitoring
performance evaluation


Value networks and two-sided markets of Internet content delivery The paper analyses the economic feasibility of information-centric networking. An overview and comparison of four Internet content delivery models is given. The models are: client-server, CDNs, P2P networks, and ICN. Value networks and two-sided markets of the content delivery models are identified.

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

two-sided markets
value network
information-centric networking
content delivery network
peer-to-peer


Computer simulation of flood operation in multireservoir systems In this article, a summary of experience with the development of methods for controlling multiple-reservoir systems during flood periods, gained through computer simulation, is presented. Several decision mechanisms based on online forecasting and optimization are taken into consideration. Particular attention is focused on a two-level control structure with periodic coordination. The advantages of applying parallel global algorithms to determine the optimal decisions regarding outflows from the reservoirs are presented. Advantages of developing sophisticated control structures, as well as decision mechanisms with respect to the available quality of inflow forecasting and delays involved by data transmission and computation time, are considered. Finally, the results of simulations of online management in the case study of two reservoir systems located in the southern part of Poland are described and discussed.

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

flood management
hierarchical control
simulation-based optimization


Curvature analysis of roller-follower cam mechanisms The equations related to the curvature analysis of the roller-follower cam mechanisms are presented for roller surfaces being revolution surface, hyperboloidal surface, and globoidal surface. These equations give the expressions of the meshing function, the limit function of the first kind, and the limit function of the second kind. Once these functions are known, the principal curvatures of the cam surface, the relative normal curvatures of contacting surfaces, and the condition of undercutting can be derived. Three particular cam mechanisms with hyperboloidal roller are illustrated and the numerical comparison between 2-D and 3-D cam is given. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

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

cam mechanism
roller-follower
principal curvature


Insights from pre-service teachers using science-based augmented reality This research examined the results of an exploratory case study on the use of the augmented reality (AR) platform Aurasma in the higher education science classroom. Thirty-one pre-service students, enrolled in an undergraduate science methodology course, participated in the study. Research methods included data collection of teaching reflections regarding pre-service teachers experiences using the platform Aurasma for learning. Findings included student perceptions regarding the usability of AR in the classroom setting and insights into how the Aurasma platform facilitated inquiry and understanding of science concepts. An analysis of the data suggested that AR has the potential to positively impact classroom learning experiences including an increase in motivation and engagement, teacher enthusiasm, and the facilitation of a community of practice. However, the incorporation of AR into the classroom was not without challenges, highlighting the fact that AR may be time consuming, teachers may not have the skills needed to use such technology, or there may be a lack of infrastructure. Each topic is discussed and supported by relevant literature and excerpts from the student reflections. Recommendations are given for future classroom implementation.

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

augmented reality (ar)
pre-service teachers
visual literacy
virtual technology