A survey on MAC protocols for cognitive radio networks In cognitive radio (CR) networks, identifying the available spectrum resource through spectrum sensing, deciding on the optimal sensing and transmission times, and coordinating with the other users for spectrum access are the important functions of the medium access control (MAC) protocols. In this survey, the characteristic features, advantages, and the limiting factors of the existing CR MAC protocols are thoroughly investigated for both infrastructure-based and ad hoc networks. First, an overview of the spectrum sensing is given, as it ensures that the channel access does not result in interference to the licensed users of the spectrum. Next, a detailed classification of the MAC protocols is presented while considering the infrastructure support, integration of spectrum sensing functionalities, the need for time synchronization, and the number of radio transceivers. The main challenges and future research directions are presented, while highlighting the close coupling of the MAC protocol design with the other layers of the protocol stack.

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

media access control
sensing scheduling
common control channel


Lightness biased cartoon-and-texture decomposition for textile image segmentation ? A new variational model for textile image segmentation is proposed. An image decomposition process is incorporated into the model. A bias field function is introduced to measure the lightness deviation. The model can restrain the estimated image regions from degeneration.

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

image segmentation
cartoon-and-texture decomposition
variational-based model


A genetic algorithm with fuzzy selection and local search for multicast routing problem on the QoS constraint Many network services must ensure stable QoS (Quality of Service) and provide acceptable link costs, time delay, bandwidth and pack loss constraints, essentially a multicast routing problem. Computing such multicast routing problems is an NP-complete problem. In this paper, we propose a genetic algorithm using fuzzy selection and local search (GFLS), to address the multicast routing problem with QoS under delay constraints. The GFLS algorithm finds a multicast tree with minimum cost under delay constraints. The primary simulation results demonstrate that the GFLS can efficiently solve a multicast routing problem under QoS constraints.

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

multicast routing
genetic algorithm
quality of service


Inside communication in nanostructured evolutionary automata - nanophysics and an information concept for viable technologies On the background of previous research work concerning a nanoscale approach to a theory of biomimetic evolutionary systems and biomimetic information processing it is shown that strictly formal-logic based, "hard-wired" electronic hardware misses the very physical nature of bioevolvability. A new, physics-base concept of information, and a new concept of hierarchical, open and dissipative "evolware", much like biosystems "wetware" are required for developing an actually biomimetic "evolutionary automata" technology, but a basic inter- and intra-level communication problem is shown to affect the whole automaton's nanostructure. The problem consists in the difficulty of setting forth causal links bridging the whole hierarchy, from the nanoscale up to the macroscopic structure functions.

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


Poisson integrators An overview of Hamiltonian systems with noncanonical Poisson structures is given. Examples of bi-Hamiltonian ODEs, PDEs, and lattice equations are presented. Numerical integrators using generating functions, Hamiltonian splitting, symplectic Runge-Kutta methods are discussed for Lie-Poisson. systems and Hamiltonian systems with a general Poisson structure. Nambu-Poisson systems and the discrete gradient methods are also presented. (C) 2005 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

hamiltonian odes and pdes
symplectic integrators
lie-poisson systems
bi-hamiltonian systems
integrable discretizations
nambu-hamiltonian systems


Structure in idea sketching behaviour This paper describes a study designed to investigate the structure of idea sketches, here defined as the initial free-hand drawn externalisations produced by a designer of envisioned or partially envisioned entities. In the study, participants were asked to sketch freely from memory a number of chairs and to design a chair. The results obtained from analyzing the drawing process provide clear evidence for structure in idea sketching behaviour which is largely explained by reference to either volumetrical or functional cognitive models of the recalled or designed objects. This suggests that there is an intimate relationship between the cognitive and perceptual processes that are brought to bear on the recall and design tasks and idea sketching. It is concluded that the detailed study of sketching behaviour may provide a fruitful approach to understanding the relationship between cognition, the sketch, and sketching.

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

computer supported design
conceptual design
creativity
design cognition
perception


A Constrained Evolutionary Computation Method for Detecting Controlling Regions of Cortical Networks Controlling regions in cortical networks, which serve as key nodes to control the dynamics of networks to a desired state, can be detected by minimizing the eigenratio R and the maximum imaginary part sigma of an extended connection matrix. Until now, optimal selection of the set of controlling regions is still an open problem and this paper represents the first attempt to include two measures of controllability into one unified framework. The detection problem of controlling regions in cortical networks is converted into a constrained optimization problem (COP), where the objective function R is minimized and sigma is regarded as a constraint. Then, the detection of controlling regions of a weighted and directed complex network (e. g., a cortical network of a cat), is thoroughly investigated. The controlling regions of cortical networks are successfully detected by means of an improved dynamic hybrid framework (IDyHF). Our experiments verify that the proposed IDyHF outperforms two recently developed evolutionary computation methods in constrained optimization field and some traditional methods in control theory as well as graph theory. Based on the IDyHF, the controlling regions are detected in a microscopic and macroscopic way. Our results unveil the dependence of controlling regions on the number of driver nodes l and the constraint r. The controlling regions are largely selected from the regions with a large in-degree and a small out-degree. When r = + infinity, there exists a concave shape of the mean degrees of the driver nodes, i.e., the regions with a large degree are of great importance to the control of the networks when l is small and the regions with a small degree are helpful to control the networks when l increases. When r 0, the mean degrees of the driver nodes increase as a function of l. We find that controlling sigma is becoming more important in controlling a cortical network with increasing l. The methods and results of detecting controlling regions in this paper would promote the coordination and information consensus of various kinds of real-world complex networks including transportation networks, genetic regulatory networks, and social networks, etc.

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

cortical networks
controllability
evolutionary computation
constrained optimization


User profiling in the chronobot/virtual classroom system The Chronobot/ Virtual Classroom (CVC) system is a novel time knowledge exchange platform where any pair of users can exchange their time and knowledge. User profile that contains user attributes, preferences, and learning patterns serves as a primary basis to identify exchange partners and determine exchange rates. In this paper, we described the methodology to acquire knowledge about users i.e. user profile from their activities. The association between user profile and user behaviors (e. g. online reading, chatting and time/knowledge exchanging) is identified by several feedback indicators extracted from browsing history, chatting session and exchange transaction. A linear learning model is constructed to fuse multiple feedback indicators to infer user preference. The methods utilizing user profile to identify the exchange partners and determine the exchange rate are also described in detail.

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


INCREMENTAL COMPILATION OF BAYESIAN NETWORKS BASED ON MAXIMAL PRIME SUBGRAPHS When a Bayesian network (BN) is modified, for example adding or deleting a node, or changing the probability distributions, we usually will need a total recompilation of the model, despite feeling that a partial (re)compilation could have been enough. Especially when considering dynamic models, in which variables are added and removed very frequently, these recompilations are quite resource consuming. But even further, for the task of building a model, which is in many occasions an iterative process, there is a clear lack of flexibility. When we use the term Incremental Compilation or IC we refer to the possibility of modifying a network and avoiding a complete recompilation to obtain I he new (and different) join tree (JT) The main point we intend to study in this work is JT-based inference in Bayesian networks. Apart from undertaking the triangulation problem itself, we have achieved a great improvement for the compilation in BNs. We do not develop a new architecture for BNs inference, but taking some already existing framework JT-based for probability propagation such as Hugin or Shenoy and Shafer, we have designed a method that can be successfully applied to get better performance, as the experimental evaluation will show.

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

maximal prime subgraphs
incremental compilation
triangulation

bayesian networks inference
join/junction trees


Eddy current heating in large salient pole generators Purpose - The purpose of the paper is to investigate pole face heating in large, salient pole generators and establish a modelling procedure for accurate rotor pole heat loss computation using finite element analysis. Design/methodology/approach - Finite element-based simulations of the dynamic electromagnetic problem in an idealized 60 Hz, six-pole, three-phase generator were carried out, including coupling to three-dimensional finite element thermal analysis. Findings - T'he effect of trailing pole face heating was effectively demonstrated. Accurate estimates of the ventilation and convective cooling were shown to be particularly important. Research limitations/implications - Accurate heat transfer values could only be obtained using a very sophisticated model in a computational fluid dynamics analysis software package. The complexity of the stator end winding alone makes this a daunting challenge, without the inclusion of the rotation effects and stator cooling ducts. At this stage, it was deemed more useful to use the thermal analysis to observe trends. Practical implications - Three-dimensional effects are significant and require modelling. However, obtaining steady state behaviour using a 3D analysis is probably not viable yet. The synchronous operating conditions were obtained from a two-dimensional analysis and used as the initial conditions for a full 3D analysis. Originality/value - The paper has helped to enhance the understanding of pole face heat loss in large salient pole synchronous generators, fully examining the mechanisms causing the heating. A complete procedure to achieve this task in a realistic time frame using sophisticated finite element analysis tools has been proposed.

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


Solving machine-loading problem of a flexible manufacturing system with constraint-based genetic algorithm Machine-loading problem of a flexible manufacturing system is known for its complexity. This problem encompasses various types of flexibility aspects pertaining to part selection and operation assignments along with constraints ranging from simple algebraic to potentially very complex conditional constraints. From the literature, it has been seen that simple genetic-algorithm-based heuristics for this problem lead to constraint violations and large number of generations. This paper extends the simple genetic algorithm and proposes a new methodology, constraint-based genetic algorithm (CBGA) to handle a complex variety of variables and constraints in a typical FMS-loading problem. To achieve this aim, three new genetic operatorsconstraint based: initialization, crossover, and mutation are introduced. The methodology developed here helps avoid getting trapped at local minima. The application of the algorithm is tested on standard data sets and its superiority is demonstrated. The solution approach is illustrated by a simple example and the robustness of the algorithm is tested on five well-known functions.

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

genetic algorithm
flexible manufacturing system


A hybrid approach for the control of axonal outgrowth: preliminary simulation results The possible control of axonal outgrowth during neural regeneration could be very useful not only from a neurobiological point of view, but also in the field of neural interfaces. In this manuscript, simulations are presented which investigate the possibility of guiding axons by using a hybrid approach based on the combined used of a chemical model and of a genetic algorithm. Microspheres embedding chemical cues on the basis of information provided by a genetic algorithm are placed to impose a desired trajectory on the axons. Two kinds of simulations were carried out: (i) tracking of linear trajectories; (ii) tracking of trajectories, which were reconstructed from real axonal extension. The results achieved during the simulations seem to confirm the possible use of this approach to guide axonal outgrowth, being the obtained trajectories congruent to possible actual situations. Moreover, the model can be easily extended to a three-dimensional environment.

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

peripheral nervous system
sieve electrodes
genetic algorithms
neuro-robotics
bionics
bio-robotics


Harnessing Traffic Uncertainties in Wireless Mesh Networks-A Stochastic Optimization Approach In this paper, we investigate the routing optimization problem in wireless mesh networks. While existing works usually assume static and known traffic demand, we emphasize that the actual traffic is time-varying and difficult to measure. In light of this, we alternatively pursue a stochastic optimization framework where the expected network utility is maximized. For multi-path routing scenario, we propose a stochastic programming approach which requires no priori knowledge on the probabilistic distribution of the traffic. For the single-path routing counterpart, we develop a learning-based algorithm which provably converges to the global optimum solution asymptotically.

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


A scheduler synthesis methodology for joint SW/HW design exploration of SoC The introduction of high-performance applications such as multimedia applications into SoCs led the manufacturers to provide embedded SoCs able to offer an important computing power which makes it possible to answer the increasing requirements of future evolutions of these applications. One of the adopted solutions is the use of multiprocessor SoCs. In this paper, we present a joint SW/HW design exploration methodology for multiprocessor SoCs. The system model relies on transaction-level component-based models for modeling parallel software and multiprocessor hardware. Our proposal comprises two original points. First, we propose a composable software-level scheduler constraints synthesis technique. Second, we present a combined software-level and exploratory hardware-level schedulers. The methodology has the advantage of combining real-time requirements of software with effective exploitation of multiprocessor hardware. We describe and apply the methodology to synthesize a scheduler of a slice-based MPEG-4 video encoder on the multiprocessor Cake SoCs.

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

multiprocessor system-on-chips (socs)
sw/hw design
scheduling
real-time requirements


Erratum to Comparison of column generation models for channel assignment in cellular networks ?: [Discrete Appl. Math. 112 (2001) 217240] We study several formulations of the channel assignment problem in an FDMA network as a linear integer 01 program. We consider the objective of minimizing the unsatisfied channel demand while satisfying the co-channel, the adjacent channel and the antenna channel spacing constraints. We compare the formulations according to two criteria: the ease with which their linear programming relaxations can be solved, and the quality of the bounds provided by these relaxations. We show that the best lower bound is provided by one of the set covering formulations, while the other two formulations provide the same lower bound. We present computational results that support the theoretical comparison of the models.

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

cellular network
01 integer linear program
weighted independent set
shortest path
resource constraints
branch-and-bound


Robustness analysis for connection weight matrices of global exponential stability of stochastic recurrent neural networks This paper analyzes the robustness of global exponential stability of stochastic recurrent neural networks (SRNNs) subject to parameter uncertainty in connection weight matrices. Given a globally exponentially stable stochastic recurrent neural network, the problem to be addressed here is how much parameter uncertainty in the connection weight matrices that the neural network can remain to be globally exponentially stable. We characterize the upper bounds of the parameter uncertainty for the recurrent neural network to sustain global exponential stability. A numerical example is provided to illustrate the theoretical result.

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

stochastic recurrent neural networks
global exponential stability
robustness


Identification of AMP-activated protein kinase targets by a consensus sequence search of the proteome AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is a heterotrimeric serine/threonine protein kinase that is activated by cellular perturbations associated with ATP depletion or stress. While AMPK modulates the activity of a variety of targets containing a specific phosphorylation consensus sequence, the number of AMPK targets and their influence over cellular processes is currently thought to be limited.

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

ampk
phosphorylation consensus sequence
proteome


Pathogenesis of diabetic neuropathy: bad to the bone Insulin and proinsulin are normally produced only by the pancreas and thymus. We detected in diabetic rodents the presence of extra pancreatic proinsulin-producing bone marrow-derived cells (PI-BMDCs) in the BM, liver, and fat. In mice and rats with diabetic neuropathy, we also found proinsulin-producing cells in the sciatic nerve and neurons of the dorsal root ganglion (DRG). BM transplantation experiments using genetically marked donor and recipient mice showed that the proinsulin-producing cells in the DRG, which morphologically resemble neurons, are actually polyploid proinsulin-producing fusion cells formed between neurons and PI-BMDCs. Additional experiments indicate that diabetic neuropathy is not simply the result of nerve cells being damaged directly by hyperglycemia. Rather, hyperglycemia induces fusogenic PI-BMDCs that travel to the peripheral nervous system, where they fuse with Schwann cells and DRG neurons, causing neuronal dysfunction and death, the sine qua non for diabetic neuropathy. Poorly controlled diabetes is indeed bad to the bone.

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

diabetic complications
bone marrow-derived cells
cell fusion


CaBMA: a case-based reasoning system for capturing, refining, and reusing project plans In this paper, we present CaBMA, a prototype of a knowledge-based system designed to assist with project planning tasks using case-based reasoning. CaBMA introduces a novel approach to project planning in that, for the first time, a knowledge layer is added on top of traditional project management software. Project management software provides editing and bookkeeping capabilities. CaBMA enhances these capabilities by automatically capturing project plans in the form of cases, refining these cases over time to avoid potential inconsistency between them, reusing these cases to generate plans for new projects, and indicating possible repairs for project plans when they derive away from existing knowledge. We will give an overview of the system, provide a detailed explanation on each component, and present an empirical study based on synthetic data.

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


IT Controlling - Concepts and Transformation into Practice In the first part the paper depicts central IT controlling terms and selected IT controlling concepts of the last decade. In the second part a performance oriented IT controlling concept describes central processes of the IT controlling concept by using a three step life cycle model in terms of a reference model. Finally some important results from a current survey concerning the development of IT controlling in German speaking countries are given. Based on these facts the paper describes the needs for action in academia and practice: The role of the IT controller has been established in German speaking countries, but there is disagreement concerning targets, tasks and processes of IT controlling, cost oriented tasks and reporting are dominating the practitioner's work, established economic methods of IT controlling are not consistently used in companies.

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

information management
it performance management


Automated vision tracking of project related entities Tracking of project related entities such as construction equipment, materials, and personnel is used to calculate productivity, detect travel path conflicts, enhance the safety on the site, and monitor the project. Radio frequency tracking technologies (Wi-Fi, RFID, UWB) and GPS are commonly used for this purpose. However, on large-scale sites, deploying, maintaining and removing such systems can be costly and time-consuming. In addition, privacy issues with personnel tracking often limits the usability of these technologies on construction sites. This paper presents a vision based tracking framework that holds promise to address these limitations. The framework uses videos from a set of two or more static cameras placed on construction sites. In each camera view, the framework identifies and tracks construction entities providing 2D image coordinates across frames. Combining the 2D coordinates based on the installed camera system (the distance between the cameras and the view angles of them), 3D coordinates are calculated at each frame. The results of each step are presented to illustrate the feasibility of the framework.

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

artificial intelligence
automation
imaging techniques
automatic identification systems
models
information technology


Smoothed analysis of balancing networks In a balancing network each processor has an initial collection of unit-size jobs (tokens) and in each round, pairs of processors connected by balancers split their load as evenly as possible. An excess token (if any) is placed according to some predefined rule. As it turns out, this rule crucially affects the performance of the network. In this work we propose a model that studies this effect. We suggest a model bridging the uniformly-random assignment rule, and the arbitrary one (in the spirit of smoothed-analysis). We start with an arbitrary assignment of balancer directions and then flip each assignment with probability ? independently. For a large class of balancing networks our result implies that after rounds the discrepancy is with high probability. This matches and generalizes known upper bounds for ? = 0 and ? = 1/2. We also show that a natural network matches the upper bound for any ?. 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Random Struct. Alg., 39, 115138, 2011

B I O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 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
load balancing
average case analysis


Split-Masking: An Output Masking Scheme for Effective Compound Defect Diagnosis in Scan Architecture With Test Compression In modern scan architecture, it is often desirable to compact the output response without jeopardizing the diagnostic resolution. In this paper, we propose an output masking scheme to meet such a stringent requirement. We consider a practical scenario in which an output compactor is in use. We aim to support the harshest condition called compound defect diagnosis, in which faults exist in both the scan chain and the core logic. To overcome the loss of the diagnostic resolution, we incorporate a split-masking scheme, by which one can easily separate the output responses of the faulty chains from those of the fault-free ones. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed scheme can recover the diagnostic resolution loss induced by an output compactor almost completely without sacrificing the compaction ratio.

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

compound defect diagnosis
output compactor
output masking scheme
test compression


Security of the distributed electronic patient record: a case-based approach to identifying policy issues The growth of managed care and integrated delivery systems has created a new commodity, health information and the technology that it requires. Surveys by Deloitte and Touche indicate that over half of the hospitals in the US are in the process of implementing electronic patient record (EPR) systems. The National Research Council has established that industry spends as much as $15 billion on information technology (IT), an amount that is expanding by 20% per year. The importance of collecting, electronically storing, and using the information is undisputed. This information is needed by consumers to make informed choices; by physicians to provide appropriate quality clinical care; and by health plans to assess outcomes, control costs and monitor quality. The collection, storage and communication of a large variety of personal patient data, however, present a major dilemma. How can we provide the data required by the new forms of health care delivery and at the same time protect the personal privacy of patients? Recent debates concerning medical privacy legislation, software regulation, and telemedicine suggest that this dilemma will not be easily resolved. The problem is systemic and arises out of the routine use and flow of information throughout the health industry. Health care information is primarily transferred among authorized users. Not only is the information used for patient care and financial reimbursement, secondary users of the information include medical, nursing, and allied health education, research, social services, public health, regulation, litigation, and commercial purposes such as the development of new medical technology and marketing. The main threats to privacy and confidentiality arise from within the institutions that provide patient care as well as institutions that have access to patient data for secondary purposes.

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

privacy of patient data
data security
privacy act
electronic patient records


Micro/nano machining of polymeric substrates by ion beam techniques Ion beam lithography was studied as an alternative approach for micro/nano machining of polymeric substrates. Our preliminary study was carried out using poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) as a model system. Spin cast PMMA films were submitted to masked Ca+ ion implantation (85 keV, 11014 ions/cm2), and P+ ion implantations (85 keV, 11015 and 11016 ions/cm2 respectively). The patterns generated on the films were characterized by AFM as arrays of holes with nanoscale depth and microscale width. The effect of ion implantation on surface property was investigated by measuring surface hydrophobicity. The results showed that masked ion beam lithography can change not only the surface topography, but also the surface hydrophobicity.

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


Strip-oriented asynchronous prefetching for parallel disk systems Sequential prefetching schemes are widely employed in storage servers to mask disk latency and improve system throughput. However, existing schemes cannot benefit parallel disk systems as expected due to the fact that they ignore the distinct internal characteristics of the parallel disk system, in particular, data striping. Moreover, their aggressive prefetching pattern suffers from premature evictions and prolonged request latencies. In this paper, we propose a strip-oriented asynchronous prefetching (SoAP) technique, which is dedicated to the parallel disk system. It settles the above-mentioned problems by providing multiple novel features, e.g., enhanced prediction accuracy, adaptive prefetching strength, physical data layout awareness, and timely prefetching. To validate SoAP, we implement a prototype by modifying the software redundant arrays of inexpensive disks (RAID) under Linux. Experimental results demonstrate that SoAP can consistently offer improved average response time and throughput to the parallel disk system under non-random workloads compared with STEP, SP, ASP, and Linux-like SEQPs.

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

parallel disk system
sequential prefetching


Vibrations of elastic strings: Mathematical aspects, part one This paper is divided into two parts, Part One Chapter 1 contains the deduction of the model for vertical vibrations of elastic strings with moving ends and its relations to the models of d'Alembert and Kirchhoff-Carrier. Chapter 2 contains the results of investigations related to Kirchhoff-Carrier model during the last twenty years and an almost complete bibliography. Part Two Chapter 3 of the paper is dedicated to the model with moving ends. It contains new results obtained by the authors during the last five years.

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


A

program

for

real-space

analysis

of

quantum

chemical

interactions

in

solids

We

present

a

program

for

the

analysis

of

quantum-mechanical

atomic

and

molecular

interactions

in

periodic

solids.

This

code,

a

greatly

improved

version

of

the

previous

critic

program

(Otero-de-la

Roza

et

al.,

can:

(i)

find

critical

points

of

the

electron

density

and

related

scalar

fields

such

as

the

electron

localization

function

(ELF),

Laplacian,

(ii)

integrate

atomic

properties

in

the

framework

of

Baders

Atoms-in-Molecules

theory

(QTAIM),

(iii)

visualize

non-covalent

interactions

in

crystals

using

the

non-covalent

interactions

(NCI)

index,

(iv)

generate

relevant

graphical

representations

including

lines,

planes,

gradient

paths,

contour

plots,

atomic

basins,

and

(v)

perform

transformations

between

file

formats

describing

scalar

fields

and

crystal

structures.

can

interface

with

the

output

produced

by

a

variety

of

electronic

structure

programs

including

elk,

PI,

abinit,

Quantum

ESPRESSO,

VASP,

Gaussian,

and,

in

general,

any

other

code

capable

of

writing

the

scalar

field

under

study

to

a

three-dimensional

grid.

is

parallelized,

completely

documented

(including

illustrative

test

cases)

and

publicly

available

under

the

GNU

General

Public

License.

Program

title:

Catalogue

identifier:

Program

summary

Program

obtainable

from:

CPC

Program

Library,

Queens

University,

Belfast,

N.

Ireland

Licensing

provisions:

yes

No.

of

lines

in

distributed

program,

including

test

data,

etc.:

No.

of

bytes

in

distributed

program,

including

test

data,

etc.:

Distribution

format:

tar.gz

Programming

language:

Fortran

and

Computer:

Workstations.

Operating

system:

Unix,

GNU/Linux.

Has

the

code

been

vectorized

or

parallelized?:

Shared-memory

parallelization

can

be

used

for

most

tasks.

Classification:

Catalogue

identifier

of

previous

version:

Journal

reference

of

previous

version:

Comput.

Phys.

Comm.

Nature

of

problem:

Analysis

of

quantum-chemical

interactions

in

periodic

solids

by

means

of

atoms-in-molecules

and

related

formalisms.

Solution

method:

Critical

point

search

using

Newtons

algorithm,

atomic

basin

integration

using

bisection,

qtree

and

grid-based

algorithms,

diverse

graphical

representations

and

computation

of

the

non-covalent

interactions

index

on

a

three-dimensional

grid.

Additional

comments:

The

distribution

file

for

this

program

is

over

Mbytes

and

therefore

is

not

delivered

directly

when

download

or

Email

is

requested.

Instead

a

html

file

giving

details

of

how

the

program

can

be

obtained

is

sent.

Running

time:

Variable,

depending

on

the

crystal

and

the

source

of

the

underlying

scalar

field.

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

quantum theory of atoms in molecules (qtaim)


On Decidability Properties of One-Dimensional Cellular Automata In a recent paper Sutner proved that the first-order theory of the phase-space S(A) = (Q(Z),->) of a one-dimensional cellular automaton A whose configurations are elements of Q(Z), for a finite set of states Q, and where -> is the "next configuration relation", is decidable [15]. He asked whether this result could be extended to a more expressive logic. We prove in this paper that this is actuallly the case. We first show that, for each one-dimensional cellular automaton A, the phase-space S(A) is an omega-automatic structure. Then, applying recent results of Kuske and Lohrey on omega-autoniatic structures, it follows that the first-order theory, extended with some counting and cardinality quantifiers, of the structure S(A), is decidable. We give some examples of new decidable properties for one-dimensional cellular automata. In the case of surjective cellular automata, some more efficient algorithms can be deduced from results of [7] on structures of bounded degree. On the other hand we show that the case of cellular automata give new results on automatic graphs.

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

cardinality quantifiers
decidability properties

one-dimensional cellular automaton
space of configurations
omega-automatic structures
first order theory
surjective cellular automaton
automatic graph
reachability relation


Scheduling multimodal transportation systems In this paper a Lagrangian based heuristic procedure for scheduling transportation networks is presented. The solution procedure schedules a single line at a time, possibly correcting the previous decisions at each step.

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

scheduling optimization
transfer coordination


Meta-learning for imbalanced data and classification ensemble in binary classification To conduct binary classification with highly imbalanced data is a very common problem, especially when the examples of interest are relatively rare. In this paper, we proposed the Meta Imbalanced Classification Ensemble (MICE) algorithm in order to dilute the effect of imbalanced data. In the MICE, the majority group is partitioned based on the transformed features from inner product to retain the geometric relation between two groups. The empirical results show that the performance of MICE is better than some renowned classification methods in terms of the specificity and the sensitivity.

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

area under roc curve
fisher (linear) discriminant analysis
meta-learning
roc curve


Enhanced representation and multi-task learning for image annotation In this paper we propose a novel biased random sampling strategy for image representation in Bag-of-Words models. We evaluate its impact on the feature properties and the ranking quality for a set of semantic concepts and show that it improves performance of classifiers in image annotation tasks and increases the correlation between kernels and labels. As second contribution we propose a method called Output Kernel Multi-Task Learning (MTL) to improve ranking performance by transfer information between classes. The main advantages of output kernel MTL are that it permits asymmetric information transfer between tasks and scales to training sets of several thousand images. We give a theoretical interpretation of the method and show that the learned contributions of source tasks to target tasks are semantically consistent. Both strategies are evaluated on the ImageCLEF PhotoAnnotation dataset. Our best visual result which used the MTL method was ranked first according to mean Average Precision (mAP) within the purely visual submissions in the ImageCLEF 2011 PhotoAnnotation Challenge. Our multi-modal submission achieved the first rank by mAP among all submissions in the same competition.

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

image ranking
image classification
multiple kernel learning
multi task learning
bag-of-words representation
mutual information


Application of FFT analyzed cardiac Doppler signals to fuzzy algorithm Doppler signals, recorded from the output of tricuspid, mitral, and aorta valves of 60 patients, were transferred to a personal computer via 16-bit sound card. The fast Fourier transform (FFT) method was applied to the recorded signal from each patient. Since FFT method inherently cannot offer a good spectral resolution at highly turbulent blood flows, it sometimes leads to wrong interpretation of cardiac Doppler signals. In order to avoid this problem, firstly six known diseased heart signals such as hypertension, mitral stenosis, mitral failure, tricuspid stenosis, aorta stenosis, aorta insufficiency were introduced to fuzzy algorithm. Then, the unknown heart diseases from 15 patients were applied to the same fuzzy algorithm in order to detect the kinds of diseases. It is observed that the fuzzy algorithm gives true results for detecting the kind of diseases.

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

fft method
cardiac doppler
heart diseases


Positive solutions of singular dirichlet boundary value problems with sign-changing nonlinearities By a new approach, we present a new existence result of positive solutions to the following Dirichlet boundary value problem, x"(t) + f(t, x(t)) = 0, 0 < t < 1, x(0) = 0 = x(1). It is remarkable that the result of this paper is not obtained by employing the fixed-point theorems in cone and the method of the lower and upper functions. Our nonlinearity may change sign and be singular at t = 0, 1, x = 0. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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

bvps
singularities
sign-changing nonlinearities
fixed points


A reactive blended learning proposal for an introductory control engineering course As it happens in other fields of engineering, blended learning is widely used to teach process control topics. In this paper, the inclusion of a reactive element - a Fuzzy Logic based controller - is proposed for a blended learning approach in an introductory control engineering course. This controller has been designed in order to regulate the workload for each student, according to his activity and performance. The proposed course is based on a web tool called ControlWeb, which includes a complete vision of control topics and is used intensively along the course. The results of the evaluation of the methodology attest its efficiency in terms of learning degree and performance of the students. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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

applications in subject areas
distance education and telelearning
improving classroom teaching
simulations
teaching/learning strategies


Free-form motion processing Motion is the center of attention in many applications of computer graphics. Skeletal motion for articulated characters can be processed and altered in a variety of ways to increase the versatility of each motion clip. However, analogous techniques have not yet been developed for free-form deforming surfaces like cloth and faces. Given the time-consuming nature of producing each free-form motion clip, the ability to alter and reuse free-form motion would be very desirable. We present a novel method for processing free-form motion that opens up a broad range of possible motion alterations including motion blending, keyframe insertion, and temporal signal processing. Our method is based on a simple yet powerful differential surface representation that is invariant under rotation and translation and which is well suited for surface editing in both space and time.

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

deforming surfaces
motion blending
temporal signal processing


The new revolution in toxicology: The good, the bad, and the ugly In 2007, the United States National Academy of Sciences issued a report entitled Toxicity Testing in the 21st Century: A Vision and a Strategy. The report reviewed the state of the science and outlined a strategy for the future of toxicity testing. One of the more significant components of the vision established by the report was an emphasis on toxicity testing in human rather than animal systems. In the context of drug development, it is critical that the tools used to accomplish this strategy are maximally capable of evaluating human risk. Since 2007, many advances toward implementation of this vision have been achieved, particularly with regard to safety assessment of new chemical entities intended for pharmaceutical use.

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


How feedback boosts motivation and play in a brain-training game We study effects of feedback type and valence in a brain-training game. Evaluative feedback increases, but comparative feedback decreases future game play. Negative feedback (NF) decreases feelings of competence, but increases immediate play. Positive feedback boosts intrinsic motivation through competence and autonomy needs. NF motivates repairing poor short-term performance; PF fosters long-term motivation.

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

serious gaming
need satisfaction
self determination theory (sdt)
feedback intervention theory (fit)


Consistent feature selection for pattern recognition in polynomial time We analyze two different feature selection problems: finding a minimal feature set optimal for classification ( MINIMAL-OPTIMAL) vs. finding all features relevant to the target variable ( ALL-RELEVANT). The latter problem is motivated by recent applications within bioinformatics, particularly gene expression analysis. For both problems, we identify classes of data distributions for which there exist consistent, polynomial-time algorithms. We also prove that ALL-RELEVANT is much harder than MINIMAL-OPTIMAL and propose two consistent, polynomial-time algorithms. We argue that the distribution classes considered are reasonable in many practical cases, so that our results simplify feature selection in a wide range of machine learning tasks.

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

learning theory
relevance
markov blanket


How Programmers Debug, Revisited: An Information Foraging Theory Perspective Many theories of human debugging rely on complex mental constructs that offer little practical advice to builders of software engineering tools. Although hypotheses are important in debugging, a theory of navigation adds more practical value to our understanding of how programmers debug. Therefore, in this paper, we reconsider how people go about debugging in large collections of source code using a modern programming environment. We present an information foraging theory of debugging that treats programmer navigation during debugging as being analogous to a predator following scent to find prey in the wild. The theory proposes that constructs of scent and topology provide enough information to describe and predict programmer navigation during debugging, without reference to mental states such as hypotheses. We investigate the scope of our theory through an empirical study of 10 professional programmers debugging a real-world open source program. We found that the programmers' verbalizations far more often concerned scent-following than hypotheses. To evaluate the predictiveness of our theory, we created an executable model that predicted programmer navigation behavior more accurately than comparable models that did not consider information scent. Finally, we discuss the implications of our results for enhancing software engineering tools.

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

information foraging theory
debugging
programmer navigation
information scent

software maintenance
empirical software engineering


The effects of Chinese typeface design, stroke weight, and contrast polarity on glance based legibility This study examines aspects of the legibility of Chinese digital typography. Legibility was measured as the amount of time needed to read text accurately. Typeface style, weight, and contrast polarity were compared across two studies. Hei-style type, set in bold weight in positive contrast was the most legible. Findings have implications for optimal rendering of text on digital displays.

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


Multi-objective bacterial foraging optimization This paper describes a novel Bacterial Foraging Optimization (BFO) approach to multi-objective optimization, called Multi-objective Bacterial Foraging Optimization (MBFO). The objectives in the Multi-objective Bacterial Foraging Optimization are maintained by a fitness survive mechanism. Bacteria with the smaller health values have the better chance to survive. Meanwhile, the main goal of multi-objective optimization problems is to obtain a superior non-dominated front which is closed to the true Pareto front. With identification of such features, the idea of integration between health sorting approach and pareto dominance mechanism are developed to search for Pareto-optimal set of problems. Moreover, strategy keeping a certain unfeasible border solutions based on a given probability is considered to improve the diversity of individuals. In addition, two different performance metrics: Diversity and Generational Distance are introduced as well to evaluate multi-objective optimization problems. Compared to two other multi-objective optimization evolutionary algorithms MOPSO and NSGA-II, simulation results show that in most cases, the proposed MBFO is able to find a much better spread of solutions and convergence to the true Pareto-optimal front faster. It suggests that MBFO is very promising in dealing with ordinary multi-objective optimization problems.

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

bacterial foraging optimization
health sorting approach
pareto dominance mechanism


Secure multiparty payment with an intermediary entity During the last years, many secure electronic payment solutions have been proposed but most of them are focused on the traditional two-party business models with a customer and just one provider. In this paper we propose a new secure multiparty payment model with an intermediary, who helps the customer to make purchases and payments with many providers simultaneously. In our secure infrastructure it is assumed that the intermediary does not need to be a trusted entity (it does not need to be a TTP). One of the most important issues of this contribution is the Intermediary-3D: we propose a simple adaptation of the 3D Secure (TM) payment protocol in order to maintain the 3D Secure (TM) working modes but offering the possibility of making multiple secure payments through an intermediary. By means of this slight adaptation, our model avoids the provider's enrolment process in a centralized system (e.g. Visa Domain) and it makes more robust and secure the multipayment scenarios, as well as, it favors its deployment in global networks like Internet. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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

secure multiparty protocol
intermediation
electronic commerce


A randomized clustering of anonymous wireless ad hoc networks with an application to the initialization problem The Distributed Mobility-Adaptive Clustering (DMAC) due to Basagni partitions the nodes of a mobile ad hoc network into clusters, thus giving the network a hierarchical organization. This algorithm supports the mobility of the nodes, even during the cluster formation. The main feature of DMAC is that in a weighted network (in which two or more nodes cannot have the same weight), nodes have to choose the clusterheads taking into account only the node weight, i.e. the mobility when a node weight is the inverse of its speed. In our approach many nodes may have the same speed and hence the same weight. We assume that nodes have no identities and the number of nodes, say n, is the only known parameter of the network. After the randomized clustering, we show that the initialization problem can be solved in a multi-hop ad hoc wireless network of n stations in O(k (1/2)log (1/2) k)+D (b) -1+O(log (max (P (i) )+log (2)max (P (i) )) broadcast rounds with high probability, where k is the number of clusters, D (b) is the blocking diameter and max (P (i) ), 1a parts per thousand currency signia parts per thousand currency signk, is the maximum number of nodes in a cluster. Thus the initialization protocol presented here uses less broadcast rounds than the one in Ravelemanana (IEEE Trans. Parallel Distributed Syst. 18(1):17-28 2007).

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


Improved algorithm for a generalized on-line scheduling problem on identical machines This paper considers the problem of on-line scheduling a list of independent jobs in which each job has an arbitrary release time on m parallel identical machines. In this problem, jobs arrive in form of order before its release time and decisions have to be made whenever an order is placed and the orders arrive according to any sequence. A heuristic algorithm, NMLS, better than MLS is given for any m?2. The competitive ratio is improved from 2.93920 to 2.78436.

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


Channel condition self-clocked packet scheduling scheme for wireless networks Since mobile hosts suffer from burst and location-dependent channel errors in wireless networks, packet fair queueing algorithm in wireline networks cannot be applied directly to wireless networks. Generally, a fair scheduler in a wireless network retains the virtual time of flow when the flow encounters channel errors. This results to the flow having higher priority when it exits from errors, and the system can compensate the lost service for the flow. This causes the lagging flows to capture the shared channel and affects the queueing delay of flows perceiving a clean channel. In this paper, we present a channel condition self-clocked packet scheduling scheme. This algorithm can address the problem and achieve the following goals: (1) steady delay and jitter for flows perceiving an error-free environment, (2) delay and throughput guarantees in an error-free environment, (3) short-term fairness among flows perceiving an error-free environment, and (4) long-term fairness for error system. Our algorithm is based on start-time fair queueing, and the virtual time of flows is reset to contend for forwarding its packet the next time when errors happen for the flow.

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


On the diameter and girth of zero-divisor graphs of posets In this paper, we deal with zero-divisor graphs of posets. We prove that the diameter of such a graph is either 1, 2 or 3 while its girth is either 3, 4 or ? ? . We also characterize zero-divisor graphs of posets in terms of their diameter and girth.

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

zero-divisor graph of a poset
connected graph


Quantitative comparison of Taylor flow simulations based on sharp-interface and diffuse-interface models A pressure-driven flow of elongated bullet-shaped bubbles in a narrow channel is known as Taylor flow or bubble-train flow. This process is of relevance in various applications of chemical engineering. In this paper, we describe a typical simplified experimental setting, with surface tension, density and viscosity as prescribed input parameters. We compare a sharp-interface model based on a moving grid aligned with the bubble boundary (ALE coordinates) and a diffuse-interface model where the bubble shape is implicitly given by a phase-field function. Four independent implementations based on the two modeling approaches are introduced and described briefly. Besides the simulation of the bubble shapes, we compare some resulting quantities such as pressure difference and film widths within the implementations and to existing analytical and experimental results. The simulations were conducted in 2D and 3D (rotationally symmetric). Good accordance of the results indicate the applicability and the usability of all approaches. Differences between the models and their implementations are visible but in no contradiction to theoretical results. Copyright (c) 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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

free surface flow
multiphase flow
finite element method
taylor bubbles
arbitrary lagrangian eulerian method
phase field


The timing of online lecture slide availability and its effect on attendance, participation, and exam performance The use of PowerPoint slides has become an almost ubiquitous practice in university classrooms, however little research has examined whether the timing of lecture slide availability to students (either before or after lecture) affects classroom behaviour or exam performance. Using a 2 (slide availability condition) x 2 (course type) between-subjects design, the present study examined lecture slide availability differences in attendance, participation, and exam performance in two courses - Research Methods and Cognitive Development - taught in both the Fall and Winter semesters. For each type of course, lecture slides were made available on the course website before lecture in one semester and after lecture in the other semester. Course material was held constant across semesters. Results showed that mean attendance was higher when slides were available before lecture, but only for the type of course that did not include attendance points as part of students' final grades. For students who participated in class, participation was more frequent when slides were available before lecture. No significant difference in exam performance was found between lecture slide availability conditions, however. These findings suggest that making lecture slides available to students before lecture may lead to better overall attendance and participation, but exam performance is determined by more than just whether or not students have lecture slides available for their note-taking. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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

improving classroom teaching
teaching/learning strategies
post-secondary education
pedagogical issues


Optimal drug scheduling for HIV therapy efficiency improvement The purpose of the paper is to use numerical analysis and optimisation tools developed for applied mechanic research to suggest improved therapies to try and cure HIV infection. The evolution of the infection is modelled by an ordinary differential equation system which includes both immune response and multi-drug effects. For a fixed time, one looks for a two-drug treatment strategy based on Pontryagins minimum principle. Basically, the method applied in this paper can be considered as an optimal control one, where drug dose effects are regarded as control inputs. The quadratic objective function considered takes into account three contributions: the viral load, the transient evolution of infection and the percentage of efficiency of drug used. Simulations are carried out using an indirect optimisation method. At each step the differential system is solved using RungeKutta scheme. The effectiveness of drug is assumed to be fully controlled by drug dose level. Results based on an high drug dose strength ratio hypothesis highlight that a progressive reduction of reverse transcriptase inhibitor drug dose on the one hand along with, on the other hand, a progressive increase of protease inhibitor one is needed for optimality in common cases. The possibility of improving scheduled interrupted treatment which has lacked benefits and moreover has appeared to be harmful in clinical trials so far, is then examined.

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


Prediction of glass transition temperatures of OLED materials using topological indices The QSPR study was performed between topological indices and glass transition temperatures (T(g)s) of organic light-emitting diode materials based on a diverse set of 80 compounds. A five-parameter correlation with the squared correlation coefficient R-2 = 0.9304 and an average absolute error of 7.7 K was obtained through step-wise multi-linear regression analysis with leave-one-out cross-validation. The new model proposed is predictive and requires only topological indices in the calculations and has the advantage of the relative ease in calculating the descriptors, which makes it easier to apply. The predicted results of the new model are comparable to those of the existing equation by using the Comprehensives Descriptors for Structural and Statistical Analysis approach.

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

glass transition temperature
topological index


Using Load Transformations for the Specification of Arrival Processes in Simulation and Analysis In this paper the innovative approach of load transformation is used to derive valid load models for secondary loads in computer networks, as they can be observed at lower-layer interfaces of protocol stacks. We apply the technique of load transformation onto a load represented by batch Markovian arrival process (BMAP) models and choose as concrete load transformation the practically relevant token bucket mechanism, which is widely used in current networks. We are able to determine closed-form analytical solutions to describe the transformed load. Investigations by means of simulations of the quality of our analytical models reflecting token-bucket-based load transformations underline the high level of accuracy and validity of the predicted secondary load. We also present a tool implementing different transformation functionalities which can be used for the specification of arrival processes for simulative and analytic performance evaluation.

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

workload modeling
simulation tools
markov models


reliable end-user communication under a changing packet network protocol We present the first end-user protocol, guaranteeing the delivery of messages, that automatically adapts to any new packet format that is obtained by applying a short, efficient function to packets from an earlier protocol.

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


A mechanism for solving conflicts in ambient intelligent environments Ambient Intelligence scenarios describe situations in which multitude of devices and agents live together. In this kind of scenarios is frequent to see the appearance of conflicts when modifying the state of a device as for example a lamp. Those problems are not as much of sharing of resources as of conflict of orders coming from different agents. This coexistence must deal also with the desire of privacy of the different users over their personal information such as where they are, what their preferences are or to whom this information should be available. When facing incompatible orders over the state of a device it turns necessary to make a decision. In this paper we propose a centralised mechanism based on prioritized FIFO queues to decide the order in which the control of a device is granted. The priority of the commands is calculated following a policy that considers issues such as the commander's role, command's type, context's state and commander-context and commander-resource relations. Finally we propose a set of particular policies for those resources that do not adjust to the general policy. In addition we present a model pretending to integrate privacy through limiting and protecting contextual information.

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


Integrated Importance Measure of Component States Based on Loss of System Performance This paper mainly focuses on the integrated importance measure (IIM) of component states based on loss of system performance. To describe the impact of each component state, we first introduce the performance function of the multi-state system. Then, we present the definition of IIM of component states. We demonstrate its corresponding physical meaning, and then analyze the relationships between IIM and Griffith importance, Wu importance, and Natvig importance. Secondly, we present the evaluation method of IIM for multi-state systems. Thirdly, the characteristics of IIM of component states are discussed. Finally, we demonstrate a numerical example, and an application to an offshore oil and gas production system for IIM to verify the proposed method. The results show that 1) the IIM of component states concerns not only the probability distributions and transition intensities of the states of the object component, but also the change in the system performance under the change of the state distribution of the object component; and 2) IIM can be used to identify the key state of a component that affects the system performance most.

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

component state
integrated importance measure
system performance


differential privacy for location pattern mining One main concern for individuals to participate in the data collection of personal location history records is the disclosure of their location and related information when a user queries for statistical or pattern mining results derived from these records. In this paper, we investigate how the privacy goal that the inclusion of one's location history in a statistical database with location pattern mining capabilities does not substantially increase one's privacy risk. In particular, we propose a differentially private pattern mining algorithm for interesting geographic location discovery using a region quadtree spatial decomposition to preprocess the location points followed by applying a density-based clustering algorithm. A differentially private region quadtree is used for both de-noising the spatial domain and identifying the likely geographic regions containing the interesting locations. Then, a differential privacy mechanism is applied to the algorithm outputs, namely: the interesting regions and their corresponding stay point counts. The quadtree spatial decomposition enables one to obtain a localized reduced sensitivity to achieve the differential privacy goal and accurate outputs. Experimental results on synthetic datasets are used to show the feasibility of the proposed privacy preserving location pattern mining algorithm.

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

gps trajectory
mining interesting locations
density-based clustering


The Effect of Induction Motor Modeling in the Context of Voltage Sensitive: Combined Loads and Reactive Power Generation, on Electric Networks Steady State Analysis This paper presents the steady state induction motor modeling, since these devices have significant impact on the voltage stability of Electric Power Systems. This work is carried out in the context of voltage dependence of both: combined loads and reactive power generation. In studies of induction motor voltage stability, the modeling and electrical parameters of this device is as important as the stiffness of electrical system itself. Besides, the synchronous generator considers voltage reactive power limits due to maximum armature current, maximum and minimum field current as well as under excitation limiters. In this development, the analysis tool is the Jacobian Matrix Minimum Singular Value (MSV) of the load flow formulation and its associated left and right Singular Vectors. This induction motor model is included in an ordinary load flow program and results from studies of a 9 bus system, are presented.

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

power flow
active and reactive power
voltage dependency


on translating a set of rectangles Given a collection of disjoint objects in the plane, we are interested in translating them by a common vector. If we have a primitive for translating one object at a time, then the order in which the objects can individually be translated is often geometrically constrained. In this paper we study the nature of these constraints and exhibit optimal algorithms for finding valid motion ordering for several different classes of objects. These algorithms find use in computer display applications.

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

applications order use object paper motion

vectorization optimality computation collect timing algorithm constraint class


Two-stage multiple kernel learning for supervised dimensionality reduction A novel approach for non-linear supervised dimensionality reduction is proposed. The proposed method uses kernel discriminant analysis method with new kernels. A multiple kernel learning (MKL) paradigm produces the new kernel function. Proper criteria for supervised dimensionality reduction are optimized in the MKL part. The proposed method is successfully evaluated using many real-world datasets.

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

supervised dimensionality reduction
multiple kernel learning

objection recognition
handwritten digit recognition
pattern recognition


On the description of localization and failure phenomena by the boundary element method The application of the boundary element formulation for non-linear structural problems involving localization and failure phenomena is discussed in this paper. In order to overcome the well-known mesh dependency observed for local continua, a non-local damage model is used. An implicit boundary element formulation is proposed and the underlying consistent tangent operator defined. The formulation is based on the classical displacement and strain integral representations and allows the description of snap-back phenomena. Numerical examples are provided to illustrate its capabilities.

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

boundary element
nonlocal damage
localization


Simulated annealing for the optimization of batch distillation processes Batch distillation processes are widely used in the chemical industry. In this work, we consider the optimization of such processes by simulated annealing. Although this method is stochastically in nature, it has two well-known advantages: it can be readily connected to highly sophisticated simulation codes and it converges towards a global optimum. According to the characteristics of batch distillation operation we propose to use a two-step computation approach. A feasible strategy (admissible control) will be searched for in the first step and it will be optimized in the second step. The approach has been applied to a model of a pilot batch distillation plant. These results show the potential of the method for developing optimal operation strategies for batch chemical processes; (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

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


Using interpretive structural modeling and fuzzy analytical process to identify and prioritize the interactive barriers of e-commerce implementation The main purpose of this study is to present a novel and useful application of a specific analytical technique to indicate the interactions and calculate the ranking of the barriers of electronic commerce (EC) in the Iran Khodro industrial group, a leading Iranian automotive company, using the combination of two techniques: interpretive structural modeling (ISM) and the fuzzy analytical network process (FANP). Based on an in-depth review of the relevant literature and interviews with managers and experts from the company, thirteen barriers and challenges to the implementation of e-commerce were determined and categorized into four main factors: technical, organizational, individual, and environmental. In the following step, the ISM technique is applied to construct a structural graph and identify inherent interactions among these barriers. The FANP is then used to quantify the relationships and weigh the significance of these barriers. The results obtained from the proposed model reveal that a lack of awareness regarding the benefits and nature of electronic commerce is the most important barrier to the implementation of e-commerce. This type of modeling approach can be extremely valuable for companies that wish to focus their efforts and resources on removing the most important barriers and challenges toward the successful implementation of EC.

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

electronic commerce (ec)
interpretive structural modeling (ism)
fuzzy analytical network process (fanp)


Efficient global penetration depth computation for articulated models ? Novelty: The first global PD approach for high-DOF articulated models. Generality: Handling hybrid joints and links represented using polygonal models. Conservativeness: Guaranteeing that the configuration realizing PD is penetration free. Efficiency: Taking about 0.033 ms per runtime PD query in our experiments.

O O B I 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

configuration space
support vector machine


A thermal study of an encapsulated electrical transformer A thermal study of a 45 KVA-prototype encapsulated transformer is described. Casting resin systems were used as insulating systems for encapsulated electric transformers. Normal transformer operation is at full load and, thus the conductor and insulating system become hot owing to current circulation through the winding. To determine the various temperature distributions throughout the transformer, the thermal properties of the insulating system and boundary conditions must be known, so that hot spots are located via numerical modelling and maximum permissible temperatures are not attained. Results presented herein include thermal conductivity, thermal diffusivity, and specific heat capacity. Thermal conductivity was obtained experimentally by means of the line-source technique at various temperatures, between room temperature and 155C which is the thermal limit of class F insulators. The thermal diffusivity was obtained by parameter estimation by fitting an approximate analytical model to the temperature-time data of the thermal conductivity experiment. Specific heat capacity was obtained from the definition of thermal diffusivity and the insulating-system density. In order to improve the electrical performance of the transformer criteria, a numerical simulation of the different dielectric structures was made using computer program. The boundary conditions for the thermal simulation stage were also determined experimentally from temperature test runs. Finally, in order to obtain data for thermal design, a numerical simulation of the high tension winding was carried out. The thermal simulation stage was performed at different current densities in the conductor with and without electrostatic shields to determine the temperature field and maximum attainable temperatures. Maximum transformer temperature were found to be 1520C below its thermal limit and a correlation of maximum temperature as function of circulating current was developed for design.

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

electric transformer
temperature distribution


(2,1)-Total labelling of trees with sparse vertices of maximum degree The (2, 1)-total labelling number lambda(t)(2) (G) of a graph G is the width of the smallest range of integers that suffices to label the vertices and the edges of G Such that no two adjacent vertices, or two adjacent edges, have the same label and the difference between the labels of a vertex and its incident edges is at least 2. Let T be a tree with maximum degree Delta >= 4. Let D(Delta)(T) denote the set of integers k for which there exist two distinct vertices of maximum degree of distance at k in T. It was known that Delta + 1 = 3, there exist infinitely many trees T with Delta >= 4 and k is not an element of D(Delta)(T) such that lambda(t)(2)(T) = Delta + 2. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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

(2,1)-total labelling
combinatorial problems


Per-user automatic gain control for an uplink CDMA receiver A per-user AGC technique is proposed to combat the signal level variation of an individual user in a DS-CDMA receiver. A simple signal model for a Rake receiver is derived, and the potential cause of the signal variation in the Rake receiver output is discussed. The adaptive scheme is also compared with a conventional fixed quantization scheme in simulations.

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Proactive load balancing with admission control for heterogeneous overlay networks The next generation wireless networks will be the coexistence of heterogeneous wireless technologies. Balancing the traffic load among different networks can effectively utilize the overall radio resources in the system. In this paper, we propose an efficient load balancing scheme for the heterogeneous overlay systems, which is applied in the call admission control process. If the available network(s) cannot provide enough resource for the request call without degrading the quality-of-service (QoS) obtained by the ongoing calls, the system will perform load balancing operations first by initiating vertical handoffs among networks in order to create more rooms for the request call. The load balancing algorithm is to minimize the variance between the network utilizations of the entire system, which can be formulated as a quadratic binary programming problem. Simulation results show that the proposed scheme can admit more calls into the system compared with the other three reference schemes and then improve the overall throughput. Meanwhile, the scheme can keep the networks working in effective states and provide a better QoS support for users. Copyright (c) 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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CHARACTERIZATION OF HORIZONTAL GAS-LIQUID TWO-PHASE FLOW USING MARKOV MODEL-BASED COMPLEX NETWORK Horizontal gas-liquid two-phase flow widely exists in many physical systems and chemical engineering processes. Compared with vertical upward gas-liquid two-phase flow, investigations on dynamic behavior underlying horizontal gas-liquid flows are quite limited. Complex network provides a powerful framework for time series analysis of complex dynamical systems. We use a network generation method based on Markov transition probability to infer directed weighted complex networks from signals measured from horizontal gas-liquid two-phase flow experiment and find that the networks corresponding to different flow patterns exhibit different network structure. To investigate the dynamic characteristics of horizontal gas-liquid flows, we construct a number of complex networks under different flow conditions, and explore the network indices for each constructed network. In addition, we investigate the sample entropy of different flow patterns. Our results suggest that the network statistic can well represent the complexity in the transition among different flow patterns and further allows characterizing the interface fluctuation behavior in horizontal gas-liquid two-phase flow.

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time series analysis
complex network
experiment

horizontal gas-liquid flows
complex fluids


Structure-Aware Hair Capture Existing hair capture systems fail to produce strands that reflect the structures of real-world hairstyles. We introduce a system that reconstructs coherent and plausible wisps aware of the underlying hair structures from a set of still images without any special lighting. Our system first discovers locally coherent wisp structures in the reconstructed point cloud and the 3D orientation field, and then uses a novel graph data structure to reason about both the connectivity and directions of the local wisp structures in a global optimization. The wisps are then completed and used to synthesize hair strands which are robust against occlusion and missing data and plausible for animation and simulation. We show reconstruction results for a variety of complex hairstyles including curly, wispy, and messy hair.

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hair reconstruction
hair modeling
multi-view stereo


investigating factors influencing trust in video-mediated communication Videoconferencing systems are increasingly used for a variety of tasks. Many of these tasks demand reliable, high quality communication support. Trust plays an important role in interpersonal communication, sometimes even as an enabler for effective communication. We present findings of an experimental study with 64 participants investigating the influence of task type and the amount of visual information available to the participants on trust and related factors. Significant effects were found for task type, view restrictions, satisfaction and social presence.

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Representing concerns in source code A software modification task often addresses several concerns. A concern is anything a stakeholder may want to consider as a conceptual unit, including features, nonfunctional requirements, and design idioms. In many cases, the source code implementing a concern is not encapsulated in a single programming language module, and is instead scattered and tangled throughout a system. Inadequate separation of concerns increases the difficulty of evolving software in a correct and cost-effective manner. To make it easier to modify concerns that are not well modularized, we propose an approach in which the implementation of concerns is documented in artifacts, called concern graphs. Concern graphs are abstract models that describe which parts of the source code are relevant to different concerns. We present a formal model for concern graphs and the tool support we developed to enable software developers to create and use concern graphs during software evolution tasks. We report on five empirical studies, providing evidence that concern graphs support views and operations that facilitate the task of modifying the code implementing scattered concerns, are cost-effective to create and use, and robust enough to be used with different versions of a software system.

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separation of concerns
software evolution

algorithms
documentation
experimentation
human factors
languages
concern modeling
aspect-oriented software development
java


The fuzzy associative memory of max-min fuzzy neural network with threshold In this paper, we introduce the max-min fuzzy neural network with threshold which generalizes the fuzzy neural network models in [1,4-6, 8, 10] and show that the storage capacity of the two-layer max-min fuzzy neural network is identical with one of the max-min fuzzy neural network with hidden layers. For given fuzzy pattern pairs (X-l, Y-l),...,(X-p, Y-p), we obtain an equivalent condition which the family of given fuzzy pattern pairs can be stored in the fuzzy neural network. Finally, we give a example to demonstrate our conclusions. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

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