The degree distribution of the generalized duplication model We study and generalize the duplication model of Pastor-Satorras et al. [Evolving protein interaction networks through gene duplication, J. Theor. Biol. 222 (2003) 199-210]. This model generates a graph by iteratively "duplicating" a randomly chosen node as follows: we start at to with a fixed graph G(t(0)) of size t(0). At each step t > t(0) a new node upsilon(t) is added. The node upsilon(t) selects an existing node it from V(G(t - 1)) = {upsilon(1), ..., upsilon(t-1)} uniformly at random (uar). The node upsilon(t) then connects to each neighbor of the node it in G(t - 1) independently with probability p. Additionally, upsilon(t) connects uar to every node of V(G(t - 1)) independently with probability r/t, and parallel edges are merged. Unlike other copy-based models, the degree of the node upsilon(t) in this model is not fixed in advance; rather it depends strongly on the degree of the original node u it selected. Our main contributions are as follows: we show that (1) the duplication model of Pastor-Satorras et al. does not generate a truncated power-law degree distribution as stated in Pastor-Satorras et al. [Evolving protein interaction networks through gene duplication, J. Theor. Biol. 222 (2003) 199-210]. (2) The special case where r = 0 does not give a power-law degree distribution as stated in Chung et al. [Duplication models for biological networks, J. Comput. Biol. 10 (2003) 677-687]. (3) We generalize the Pastor-Satorras et al. duplication process to ensure (if required) that the minimum degree of all vertices is positive. We prove that this generalized model has a power-law degree distribution. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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

random graph generation
power law
computational proteomics


Considerations for implementing an institutional repository at a business school in India Various surveys are being conducted to rank business schools in India. They give importance to parameters like placements, brand value and intellectual capital. Intellectual capital of a business school is the sum of its human capital, structural capital and customer capital. The structural capital consists of the published scholarly material of its faculty and students. Use of technologies like institutional repositories for capturing the structural component of the intellectual capital and enabling knowledge sharing in Academic Institutions especially in developing countries like India are emerging. This paper explores creation of a pilot institutional repository at the Icfai Business School, Ahmedabad and discusses a survey conducted to ascertain different considerations for implementing an institutional repository, the current status and future scope.

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

institutional repository
business school
intellectual capital


Introduction to robust, reliable, and high-speed power-line communication systems Power-line communication (PLC) systems have been assumed as the systems of low speed and low reliability. The low qualities of the systems, however, are not inherent of PLC but the result of inadequate design strategy of the systems. The systems with proper considerations of the characteristics of power-line as a communication medium achieve reliable highspeed data transmission in power-lines. In fact. the activities on the standard iz at ion of high-speed PLC systems have recently started in many countries, and variety of high-speed PLC systems are being to be purchased off-the-shelf. Following this trend of PLC, this manuscript first describes the features of power-line for communications and then explains technical issues on the design of PLC systems of the next generations as the infrastructure of information-communication technology age.

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

power-line communications (plc)
high-speed
cyclo-stationary channel
ofdm
cdma


Simultaneous self-organization of place and direction selectivity in a neural model of self-localization We present a novel approach to the problem of generating internal representations that are predictive for future stimulations of an autonomous agent. In our network laterally propagated activities provide expectancy biases for subsequent activations. Activations are driven by inputs from sensors for own actions and the environment. During learning sensory input connections are adapted by Hebbian learning. From simulating a robot in different mazes we show that the units develop place fields which resemble cells in the hippocampus of rats. This implies that a precise representation of space has emerged from ambiguous sensory cues and without explicit path integration.

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

autonomous agents
self-localization
hidden markov model


Offline text-independent writer identification using codebook and efficient code extraction methods ? Two new codebook based methods for writer identification are proposed. The introduced code extraction methods are very efficient. Optimal parameter values for English and Farsi handwritings are determined. The method is compared with the existing methods comprehensively. The proposed method outperforms existing methods for Farsi and English languages.

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

handwritten documents
farsi handwriting
english handwriting


The impact of the service discipline on delay asymptotics This paper surveys the M/G/1 queue with regularly varying service requirement distribution. It studies the effect of the service discipline on the tail behavior of the waiting-time and/or sojourn-time distribution, demonstrating that different disciplines lead to quite different tail behavior. The orientation of the paper is methodological: We outline four different methods for determining tail behavior, illustrating them for service disciplines like FCFS, Processor Sharing and LCFS.

O O O O B I O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 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 versatile strategy for achieving the second-order advantage when applying different artificial neural networks to non-linear second-order data: Unfolded principal component analysis/residual bilinearization Second-order instrumental signals showing a non-linear behaviour with respect to analyte concentration can still be adequately, processed in order to achieve the important second-order advantage. The combination of unfolded principal component analysis with residual bilinearization, followed by application of a variety of neural network models, allows one to obtain the second-order advantage. While principal component analysis models the training data, residual bilinearization models the contribution of the potential interferents which may be present in the test samples. Neural networks Such as multilayer perceptron, radial basis functions and support vector machines, are all able to model the non-linear relationship between analyte concentrations and sample principal component scores. Three different experimental systems have been analyzed, all requiring the second-order advantage: 1) pH-UV absorbance matrices for the determination of two active principles in pharmaceutical preparations, 2) fluorescence excitation-emission matrices for the determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and 3) UV-induced fluorescence excitation-emission matrices for the determination of amoxicillin in the presence of salicylate. In all cases, reasonably accurate predictions can be made with the proposed techniques, which cannot be reached using traditional methods for processing second-order data. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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

residual bilinearization
radial basis functions
support vector machines

second-order advantage
multilayer perceptron networks


Load-balancing on swapped or OTIS networks Existing local iterative algorithms for load-balancing are ill-suited to many large-scale interconnection networks. The main reasons are complicated Laplace spectrum computations and flow scheduling strategies. Many large-scale networks are modular and/or hierarchically structured, a prime example being the class of swapped or OTIS networks that have received much attention in recent years. We propose a new local scheme, called DED-X, for load-balancing on homogeneous and heterogeneous swapped/OTIS networks. Our scheme needs spectral information only for the much smaller basis or factor graph, which is of size O(n) O ( n ) rather than O(n2) O ( n 2 ) , and it schedules load flow on intragroup and intergroup links separately. We justify the improvements offered by DED-X schemes over traditional X schemes analytically and verify the advantages of our approach, in terms of efficiency and stability, via simulation.

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

optical transpose interconnect system (otis) network


A hierarchical multiple kernel support vector machine for customer churn prediction using longitudinal behavioral data The availability of abundant data posts a challenge to integrate static customer data and longitudinal behavioral data to improve performance in customer churn prediction. Usually, longitudinal behavioral data are transformed into static data before being included in a prediction model. In this study, a framework with ensemble techniques is presented for customer churn prediction directly using longitudinal behavioral data. A novel approach called the hierarchical multiple kernel support vector machine (H-MK-SVM) is formulated. A three phase training algorithm for the H-MK-SVM is developed, implemented and tested. The H-MK-SVM constructs a classification function by estimating the coefficients of both static and longitudinal behavioral variables in the training process without transformation of the longitudinal behavioral data. The training process of the H-MK-SVM is also a feature selection and time subsequence selection process because the sparse non-zero coefficients correspond to the variables selected. Computational experiments using three real-world databases were conducted. Computational results using multiple criteria measuring performance show that the H-MK-SVM directly using longitudinal behavioral data performs better than currently available classifiers.

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

customer churn prediction
support vector machine

data mining
customer relationship management
multiple kernel learning


M/G/1 queue with deterministic reneging times We consider a single-server queue with a deterministic reneging time motivated by the timeout mechanism used in application servers in distributed computing environments. We have employed a Volterra integral equation to study the M/G/1 queue with reneging using level crossing analysis. An analytical solution is given for the M/H-2/1 queue with deterministic reneging times and a numerical approach is presented for the more general M/G/1 queue. The numerical approach is verified via simulation and the results reveal that predictions are highly accurate with errors that are in general below 0.5%. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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

reneging
level crossing
volterra integral equation
timeout mechanism


A novel approach to neuro-fuzzy classification A new model for neuro-fuzzy (NF) classification systems is proposed. The motivation is to utilize the feature-wise degree of belonging of patterns to all classes that are obtained through a fuzzification process. A fuzzification process generates a membership matrix having total number of elements equal to the product of the number of features and classes present in the data set. These matrix elements are the input to neural networks. The effectiveness of the proposed model is established with four benchmark data sets (completely labeled) and two remote sensing images (partially labeled). Different performance measures such as misclassification, classification accuracy and kappa index of agreement for completely labeled data sets, and ? ? index of homogeneity and DaviesBouldin (DB) index of compactness for remotely sensed images are used for quantitative analysis of results. All these measures supported the superiority of the proposed NF classification model. The proposed model learns well even with a lower percentage of training data that makes the system fast.

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

pattern classification
fuzzy logic
neuro-fuzzy


Diffusion Dynamics of Network Technologies With Bounded Rational Users: Aspiration-Based Learning Recently, economic models have been proposed to study adoption dynamics of entrant and incumbent technologies motivated by the need for new network architectures to complement the current Internet. We propose new models of adoption dynamics of entrant and incumbent technologies among bounded rational users who choose a satisfying strategy rather than an optimal strategy based on aspiration-based learning. Two models of adoption dynamics are proposed according to the characteristics of aspiration level. The impacts of switching cost, the benefit from entrant and incumbent technologies, and the initial aspiration level on the adoption dynamics are investigated.

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

bounded rationality
evolutionary game theory
technology adoption
technology diffusion dynamics


Determinants of mutual fund underperformance: A Bayesian stochastic frontier approach The purpose of this paper is to identify ex ante fund statistics that can be related to future performance of European equity funds. In an efficient market setting, actively managed portfolios cannot outperform a passive benchmark strategy. However, purely by chance, some funds outperform their benchmark ex post, making the identification of performance determinants a difficult task. To alleviate this problem, we decompose the return deviation from its expected return into a noise component and an efficiency term, which is 100% if the fund exhibits no underperformance. The decomposition is based on the Bayesian frontier approach. We find evidence that fund efficiency is positively related to fund size and historical performance, the latter being solely due to the poorly performing funds. We fail to find a link between fund age and performance.

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

finance
investment analysis
mutual funds


The core of design thinking and its application In the last few years, Design Thinking has gained popularity it is now seen as an exciting new paradigm for dealing with problems in sectors as far a field as IT, Business, Education and Medicine. This potential success challenges the design research community to provide unambiguous answers to two key questions: What is the core of Design Thinking? and What could it bring to practitioners and organisations in other fields?. We sketch a partial answer by considering the fundamental reasoning pattern behind design, and then looking at the core design practices of framing and frame creation. The paper ends with an exploration of the way in which these core design practices can be adopted for organisational problem solving and innovation.

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


Automatic Evaluation of Trainee Nurses' Patient Transfer Skills Using Multiple Kinect Sensors To help student nurses learn to transfer patients from a bed to a wheelchair, this paper proposes a system for automatic skill evaluation in nurses' training for this task. Multiple Kinect sensors were employed, in conjunction with colored markers attached to the trainee's and patient's clothing and to the wheelchair, in order to measure both participants' postures as they interacted closely during the transfer and to assess the correctness of the trainee's movements and use of equipment. The measurement method involved identifying body joints, and features of the wheelchair, via the colors of the attached markers and calculating their 3D positions by combining color and depth data from two sensors. We first developed an automatic segmentation method to convert a continuous recording of the patient transfer process into discrete steps, by extracting from the raw sensor data the defining features of the movements of both participants during each stage of the transfer. Next, a checklist of 20 evaluation items was defined in order to evaluate the trainee nurses' skills in performing the patient transfer. The items were divided into two types, and two corresponding methods were proposed for classifying trainee performance as correct or incorrect. One method was based on whether the participants' relevant body parts were positioned in a predefined spatial range that was considered 'correct' in terms of safety and efficacy (e.g., feet placed appropriately for balance). The second method was based on quantitative indexes and thresholds for parameters describing the participants' postures and movements, as determined by a Bayesian minimum-error method. A prototype system was constructed and experiments were performed to assess the proposed approach. The evaluation of nurses' patient transfer skills was performed successfully and automatically. The automatic evaluation results were compared with evaluation by human teachers and achieved an accuracy exceeding 80%.

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

automatic skill evaluation
patient transfer

multiperson interaction
nursing skills
kinect sensor systems


Image filtering in single-photon emission computed tomography: principles and applications Among the factors contributing to optimal image quality in single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), image filtering is an important, though mostly subjectively applied, image-processing parameter. We have aimed at giving an overview of current available SPECT filtering options. Current SPECT applications are discussed and practical guidelines to choose optimal filter parameters for a given situation are provided. It is shown that Hann and Butterworth filters allow accurate approximations to most filter types. The authors support the use of limited filter types in an attempt to standardise image-processing approaches, which may lead to better diagnostic compatibility and interpretation of interdepartmental results.

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


Credit scoring by feature-weighted support vector machines Recent finance and debt crises have made credit risk management one of the most important issues in financial research. Reliable credit scoring models are crucial for financial agencies to evaluate credit applications and have been widely studied in the field of machine learning and statistics. In this paper, a novel feature-weighted support vector machine (SVM) credit scoring model is presented for credit risk assessment, in which an F-score is adopted for feature importance ranking. Considering the mutual interaction among modeling features, random forest is further introduced for relative feature importance measurement. These two feature-weighted versions of SVM are tested against the traditional SVM on two real-world datasets and the research results reveal the validity of the proposed method.

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

support vector machine (svm)
feature weight


DG-FINFET-BASED SRAM CONFIGURATIONS FOR INCREASED SEU IMMUNITY In this paper, we propose a new circuit level hardening techniques that can decrease the sensitivity of Static Random Access Memory (SRAM) cells to radiation induced Single Event Upsets (SEUs). Five different types of 32nm double gate (DG)-FinFET-based SRAM cells are analyzed. Proposed SRAM cell outperforms over the unhardened SRAM when exposed to radiation. This is primarily due to the modification of the source potential used to reduce the effect of SEU without affecting normal operation. Static Noise Margin (SNM), Read Noise Margin (RNM), Write Noise Margin (WNM) and Power Delay Product (PDP) are the performance metrics computed for each type of SRAM cell. Effect of back gate voltage and back gate oxide thickness variation on device characteristic show detrimental effects on radiation hardened capabilities of a device. Benchmarking is done against DICE latch and it is found that as compared to DICE latch proposed DG-FinFET SRAM has low transistor count, less area, low recovery time and fault tolerance to internal as well as external nodes.

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

degradation
radiation effects
simulation


On the role of interpretability in fuzzy data mining Data Mining, a central step in the border overall process of Knowledge Discovery from Databases, concerns with discovering useful properties, called patterns, from data. Understandability is an essential - yet rarely tackled - feature that makes resulting patterns accessible by end users. In this paper we argue that the adoption of Fuzzy Logic for Data Mining can improve understandability of derived patterns. Indeed, Fuzzy Logic is able to represent concepts in a "human-centric" way. Hence, Data Mining methods based on Fuzzy Logic for Data Mining is not enough to achieve understandability. This paper describes and comments a number of isseus that need to be addressed to provide for understandable patterns. A careful consideration of all issues may end up in a systemic methodology to discover comprehensible knowledge from data.

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


Building linked ontologies with high precision using subclass mapping discovery The creation of links between schemas of published datasets is a key part of the Linked Open Data (LOD) paradigm. The ability to discover these links "on the go" requires that ontology matching techniques achieve good precision and recall within acceptable execution times. In this paper, we add similarity-based and mediator-based ontology matching methods to the Agreementmaker ontology matching system, which aim to efficiently discover high precision subclass mappings between LOD ontologies. Similarity-based matching methods discover subclass mappings by extrapolating them from a set of high quality equivalence mappings and from the interpretation of compound concept names. Mediator-based matching methods discover subclass mappings by comparing polysemic lexical annotations of ontology concepts and by considering external web ontologies. Experiments show that when compared with a leading LOD approach, Agreementmaker achieves considerably higher precision and F-measure, at the cost of a slight decrease in recall.

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


precision-at-ten considered redundant Information retrieval systems are compared using evaluation metrics, with researchers commonly reporting results for simple metrics such as precision-at-10 or reciprocal rank together with more complex ones such as average precision or discounted cumulative gain. In this paper, we demonstrate that complex metrics are as good as or better than simple metrics at predicting the performance of the simple metrics on other topics. Therefore, reporting of results from simple metrics alongside complex ones is redundant.

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


Parameter identification of the STICS crop model, using an accelerated formal MCMC approach An MH-MCMC algorithm is for the first time coupled with the STICS soil-crop model. The DREAM algorithm appears suited to identify parameters of the STICS model. The proposed CV-likelihood function offers similar results to the WLS error model. An appropriate representation of measurement errors decreases simulation quality. A suited error model allows to converge on physically based parameters values.

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


Michell structures formed on surfaces of revolution The paper formulates the Michell-like problems for surface gridworks. Particular attention is devoted to the problem of designing the lightest fully stressed gridworks formed on surfaces of revolution. In the examples considered, the gridworks are subjected to torsion. Proof is given that the circular meridian is a minimizer of the weight (or volume) functional of a shell subjected to torsion, thus justifying the original Michell conjecture according to which just the spherical twisting shell is the lightest. The proof is based on the methods of the classical variational calculus and thus can be viewed as elementary. This result is confirmed by a direct comparison of the exact formulae for the weight of a spherical Michell shell with the exact formulae for the weights of optimal conical and cylindrical shells with the same fixed boundaries.

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


Sea vessel type selection via an integrated VAHP-ANP methodology for high-speed public transportation in Bosphorus The transportation planning phases are generally examined in three groups, according to their contents, constant and variable factors, time dimensions, financial costs and decision-making levels: Strategic, tactical and operational levels. Network design and development, terminal capacity and location determination, marketplace selection and vessel fleet and working-power planning are problems of strategic level planning. We are interested in sea vessel type selection to efficient vessel fleet planning in this study. This paper deals with issues related to the selection of right sea vessel type for short and medium distances in Bosphorus and proposes an integrated methodology for this process. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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


Partial scan design based on circuit state information and functional analysis Partial scan design is divided into two stages: 1) critical cycle breaking and 2) partial scan flip-flop selection with respect to conflict resolution. A multiple phase partial scan design method is introduced by combining circuit state information and conflict analysis. Critical cycles are broken using a combination of valid circuit state information and conflict analysis. It is quite cost-effective to obtain circuit state information via logic simulation, therefore, circuit state information is iteratively updated after a given number of partial scan flip-flops have been selected. The valid-state-based testability measure may become ineffective to select scan flip-flops when cycles remaining in the circuit are not so influential to testability. The method turns to the conflict resolution process using an intensive conflict-analysis-based testability measure conflict. Sufficient experimental results are presented.

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

partial scan design
conflict
testability measure

valid state
invalid state
testability improvement potential


retrieval based interactive cartoon synthesis via unsupervised bi-distance metric learning Cartoons play important roles in many areas, but it requires a lot of labor to produce new cartoon clips. In this paper, we propose a gesture recognition method for cartoon character images with two applications, namely content-based cartoon image retrieval and cartoon clip synthesis. We first define Edge Features (EF) and Motion Direction Features (MDF) for cartoon character images. The features are classified into two different groups, namely intra-features and inter-features . An Unsupervised Bi-Distance Metric Learning (UBDML) algorithm is proposed to recognize the gestures of cartoon character images. Different from the previous research efforts on distance metric learning, UBDML learns the optimal distance metric from the heterogeneous distance metrics derived from intra-features and inter-features. Content-based cartoon character image retrieval and cartoon clip synthesis can be carried out based on the distance metric learned by UBDML. Experiments show that the cartoon character image retrieval has a high precision and that the cartoon clip synthesis can be carried out efficiently.

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

cartoon clip synthesis
cartoon image
image retrieval


Generalized multi-valued contraction mappings In this paper, the famous Nadler's fixed point theorem [S.B. Nadler Jr., Multi-valued contraction mappings, Pacific J. Math. 30 (1969) 475-487] is extended to the case of generalized multi-valued mappings.

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

hausdorff metric
multi-valued contraction
nadler's fixed point theorem


The adequacy of languages for representing interaction mechanisms This paper presents criteria for the adequacy of languages to represent interaction mechanisms. It then uses these criteria to analyse the adequacy of UML. We focus on the interaction mechanisms provided by Web Services technology and by CORBA for request/response, callback, polling and (multicast) message passing. We argue that the criteria for adequacy of a design language are that the language should: (1) be expressive enough to represent the mechanisms; (2) be easy to use when expressing them; (3) be platform independent in the sense that it does not force implementation decisions for a mechanism; and (4) behave corresponding to the mechanisms that it represents. We show that these criteria follow logically from the use of a design language in the design process. For UML we evaluate the first three criteria in a qualitative manner. To evaluate the fourth criteria, we present Coloured Petri Nets that capture the behaviour of both the mechanisms precisely and the UML constructs that represent them. Subsequently, we check the correspondence of their behaviour.

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

design concept
communication patterns
middleware


Topology optimization of pressure-actuated compliant mechanisms Topology optimization of a compliant mechanism under pressure input is presented by treating void regions with incompressible hydrostatic fluid. Since an input force is not imposed on one point, existing problem formulations such as attaching a spring on the node under the input force or constraining the input displacement are not valid for the present problem. Instead, to obtain the structural stiffness of a compliant mechanism, the mean compliance by the input pressure is considered. To deal with incompressibility, as an alternative to the mixed displacementpressure formulation, displacement-based nonconforming finite elements are employed for both two- and three-dimensional problems. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is verified by designing grippers and stretchers.

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

topology optimization
pressure
compliant mechanism

incompressible material
nonconforming finite element


Register swapping schemes for low power execution For embedded systems, the power dissipation on buses has become an essential issue in recent years. Many real-time embedded processors, such as DSP processors, adopt the Harvard architecture in which the data and instruction buses are separated to avoid processing-speed degradation. The power dissipation on an instruction bus can be reduced if the switching activities between consecutive instructions on that bus are reduced. Two efficient algorithms, the greedy method and the dynamic programming based method, are proposed to swap commutative source register fields of adjacent instructions. The switching activities on the instruction bus are therefore reduced, without affecting the execution results. Experimental results show that the proposed schemes result in a reduction of as much as 21.43% in the switching activities of consecutive source register fields between commutative blocks. In addition, the proposed schemes can be conveniently integrated with other encoding schemes to further improve the power dissipation on an instruction bus.

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

instruction bus
low power
dynamic programming


Coupling and cohesion metrics for knowledge-based systems using frames and rules Software systems and in particular also knowledge-based systems (KBS) become increasingly large and complex. In response to this challenge, software engineering has a long tradition of advocating modularity. This has also heavily influenced object-oriented development. For measuring certain important aspects of modularity, coupling and cohesion metrics have been developed. Metrics have also attracted considerable attention for object-oriented development. For KBS development, however, no such metrics are available yet. This article presents the core of the first metrics suite for KBS development, its coupling and cohesion metrics. These metrics measure modularity in terms of the relations induced between slots of frames through their common references in rules. We show the soundness of these metrics according to theory and report on their usefulness in practice. As a consequence, we propose using our metrics in order to improve KBS development, and developing other important metrics and assessing their theoretical soundness along these lines.

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

design
measurement
knowledge-based systems


Entanglement and its role in Shor's algorithm Entanglement has been termed a critical resource for quantum information processing and is thought to be the reason that certain quantum algorithms, such as Shor's factoring algorithm, can achieve exponentially better performance than their classical counterparts. The nature of this resource is still not fully understood: here we use numerical simulation to investigate how entanglement between register qubits varies as Shor's algorithm is run on a quantum computer. The shifting patterns in the entanglement are found to relate to the choice of basis for the quantum Fourier transform.

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


Efficient controlling of parsing-stack operation for LR parsers This paper presents a new method of LR parsing based on the distinction of stack states and non-stack states. Non-stack states are states, which do not need to be pushed into the LR parsing stack, and stack states are states to be pushed into it. By using some properties based on the stack-controlling LR parser defined here, the parsing speed and the size of parsing tables can be remarkably improved and their improvement includes the traditional method eliminating unit productions. By empirical observations for a variety of programming languages, the efficiency is verified. Extending it to the generalized LR parsers for natural language is also discussed.

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


Support vector interval regression networks for interval regression analysis In this paper, the support vector interval regression networks (SVIRNs) are proposed for the interval regression analysis. The SVIRNs consist of two radial basis function networks. One network identifies the upper side of data interval, and the other network identifies the lower side of data intervals. Because the support vector regression (SVR) approach is equivalent to solving a linear constrained quadratic programming problem, the number of hidden nodes and the initial values of adjustable parameters can be easily obtained. Since the selection of a parameter e in the SVR approach may seriously affect the modeling performance, a two-step approach is proposed to properly select the epsilon value. After the SVR approach with the selected e, an initial structure of SVIRNs can be obtained. Besides, outliers will not significantly affect the upper and lower bound interval obtained through the proposed two-step approach. Consequently, a traditional back-propagation (BP) learning algorithm can be used to adjust the initial structure networks of SVIRNs under training data sets without or with outliers. Due to the better initial structure of SVIRNs are obtained by the SVR approach, the convergence rate of SVIRNs is faster than the conventional networks with BP learning algorithms or with robust BP learning algorithms for interval regression analysis. Four examples are provided to show the validity and applicability of the proposed SVIRNs. (C) 2002 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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


Iterative Expansion and Color Coding: An Improved Algorithm for 3D-Matching The research in the parameterized 3D-MATCHING problem has yielded a number of new algorithmic techniques and an impressive list of improved algorithms. In this article, a new deterministic algorithm for the problem is developed that integrates and improves a number of known techniques, including greedy localization, dynamic programming, and color coding. The new algorithm, which either constructs a matching of k triples in a given triple set or correctly reports that no such a matching exists, runs in time O*(2.80(3k)), improving a long list of previous algorithms for the problem.

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

dynamic programming matching
parameterized algorithms


Constructing evolutionary trees from rooted triples In this paper, we propose a new heuristic algorithm for the maximum consensus tree of rooted triples. By means of the experimental results, we show that the algorithm is better than the three previous heuristics and runs in a reasonable amount of time. Furthermore, using the algorithm, it is possible to achieve a trade-off between the running time and the quality of the solution. We also investigate the computational complexity of the maximum compatible set problem. We show that it is NP-hard to find the maximum vertex set compatible with given rooted triples.

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

computational biology
evolutionary tree
np-hard


Single-layer obstacle-aware routing for substrate interconnections Routability-driven constrained Delaunay triangulation can be firstly constructed. An efficient flow-based approach is proposed for single-layer obstacle-aware routing. The experimental results show that our proposed flow-based approach is efficient.

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

substrate routing
single-layer routing
obstacle
maximum flow


Unified Direct Visual Tracking of Rigid and Deformable Surfaces Under Generic Illumination Changes in Grayscale and Color Images The fundamental task of visual tracking is considered in this work as an incremental direct image registration problem. Direct methods refer to those that exploit the pixel intensities without resorting to image features. We propose new transformation models and optimization methods for directly and robustly registering images (including color ones) of rigid and deformable objects, all in a unified manner. We also show that widely adopted models are in fact particular cases of the proposed ones. Indeed, the proposed general models combine various classes of image warps and ensure robustness to generic lighting changes. Finally, the proposed optimization method together with the exploitation of all possible image information allow the algorithm to achieve high levels of accuracy. Extensive experiments are reported to demonstrate that visual tracking can indeed be highly accurate and robust despite deforming objects and severe illumination changes.

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

visual tracking
image registration
direct methods
lighting changes

nonlinear optimization
nonrigid objects
robust techniques
robotics


Automatic calibration a hydrological model using a masterslave swarms shuffling evolution algorithm based on self-adaptive particle swarm optimization Parameter estimation for hydrological models is a challenging task, which has received significant attention by the scientific community. This paper presents a masterslave swarms shuffling evolution algorithm based on self-adaptive particle swarm optimization (MSSE-SPSO), which combines a particle swarm optimization with self-adaptive, hierarchical and multi-swarms shuffling evolution strategies. By comparison with particle swarm optimization (PSO) and a masterslave swarms shuffling evolution algorithm based on particle swarm optimization (MSSE-PSO), MSSE-SPSO is also applied to identify HIMS hydrological model to demonstrate the feasibility of calibrating hydrological model. The results show that MSSE-SPSO remarkably improves the calculation accuracy and is an effective approach to calibrate hydrological model.

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

hims hydrological model
particle swarm optimization
masterslave swarms shuffling evolution


Cryptanalysis of simple three-party key exchange protocol (S-3PAKE) Password-authenticated key exchange (PAKE) protocols allow parties to share secret keys in an authentic manner based on an easily memorizable password. Recently, Lu and Cao proposed a three-party password-authenticated key exchange protocol, so called S-3PAKE, based on ideas of the Abdalla and Pointcheval two-party SPAKE extended to three parties. S-3PAKE can be seen to have a structure alternative to that of another three-party PAKE protocol (3PAKE) by Abdalla and Pointcheval. Furthermore, a simple improvement to S-3PAKE was proposed very recently by Chung and Ku to resist the kind of attacks that applied to earlier versions of 3PAKE. In this paper, we show that S-3PAKE falls to unknown key-share attacks by any other client, and undetectable online dictionary attacks by any adversary. The latter attack equally applies to the recently improved S-3PAKE. Indeed, the provable security approach should be taken when designing PAKEs; and furthermore our results highlight that extra cautions still be exercised when defining models and constructing proofs in this direction. (c) 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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

cryptanalysis
attacks
provable security
undetectable online dictionary

password-authenticated key exchange
three-party
unknown key-share


Exploiting global rarity, local contrast and central bias for salient region learning We build a saliency model combining global rarity, local contrast and central bias. We use the region information towards highlighting the whole object. We take a neural network based learning approach to combine the three factors. Our model outperforms 11 representative models to detect salient objects. Our model also well predicts eye fixations compared with eight classic models.

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

global rarity
local contrast
central bias
salient region
learning


memory system characterization of commercial workloads Commercial applications such as databases and Web servers constitute the largest and fastest-growing segment of the market for multiprocessor servers. Ongoing innovations in disk subsystems, along with the ever increasing gap between processor and memory speeds, have elevated memory system design as the critical performance factor for such workloads. However, most current server designs have been optimized to perform well on scientific and engineering workloads, potentially leading to design decisions that are non-ideal for commercial applications. The above problem is exacerbated by the lack of information on the performance requirements of commercial workloads, the lack of available applications for widespread study, and the fact that most representative applications are too large and complex to serve as suitable benchmarks for evaluating trade-offs in the design of processors and servers.This paper presents a detailed performance study of three important classes of commercial workloads: online transaction processing (OLTP), decision support systems (DSS), and Web index search. We use the Oracle commercial database engine for our OLTP and DSS workloads, and the AltaVista search engine for our Web index search workload. This study characterizes the memory system behavior of these workloads through a large number of architectural experiments on Alpha multiprocessors augmented with full system simulations to determine the impact of architectural trends. We also identify a set of simplifications that make these workloads more amenable to monitoring and simulation without affecting representative memory system behavior. We observe that systems optimized for OLTP versus DSS and index search workloads may lead to diverging designs, specifically in the size and speed requirements for off-chip caches.

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

requirements
applications
use
simulation
market
characterization
engine
oracle
web
memory system
design
performance
paper
online
search
processor
systems
factor
workload
size
behavior
caches
transaction
multiprocessor
database
server

innovating
web server
decision support system
benchmark
experience
informal
indexing
search engine
architecture
process
memorialized
segmentation
complexity
monitor
critic
class


Handling state and output constraints in MPC using time-dependent weights A popular method for handling state and output constraints in a model predictive control (MPC) algorithm is to use 'soft constraints', in which penalty terms are added directly to the objective function. Improved closed loop performance can be obtained for plants with nonminimum phase zeros by modifying the MPC formulation to include suitably-designed time-dependent weights on the penalty terms associated with the state and output constraints. When the penalty terms are written in terms of the 'worst-case' l(infinity)-norm, incorporating the appropriate time dependence into the weights provides much better closed loop performance. The approach is illustrated using two multivariable plants with nonminimum phase transmission zeros, where the time-dependent weights cause the open loop predictions to coincide with closed loop predictions, which results in a reduction of output constraint violations.

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


Synchrony with shunting inhibition in a feedforward inhibitory network Recent experiments have shown that GABAA receptor mediated inhibition in adult hippocampus is shunting rather than hyperpolarizing. Simulation studies of realistic interneuron networks with strong shunting inhibition have been demonstrated to exhibit robust gamma band (2080 Hz) synchrony in the presence of heterogeneity in the intrinsic firing rates of individual neurons in the network. In order to begin to understand how shunting can contribute to network synchrony in the presence of heterogeneity, we develop a general theoretical framework using spike time response curves (STRCs) to study patterns of synchrony in a simple network of two unidirectionally coupled interneurons (UCI network) interacting through a shunting synapse in the presence of heterogeneity. We derive an approximate discrete map to analyze the dynamics of synchronous states in the UCI network by taking into account the nonlinear contributions of the higher order STRC terms. We show how the approximate discrete map can be used to successfully predict the domain of synchronous 1:1 phase locked state in the UCI network. The discrete map also allows us to determine the conditions under which the two interneurons can exhibit in-phase synchrony. We conclude by demonstrating how the information from the study of the discrete map for the dynamics of the UCI network can give us valuable insight into the degree of synchrony in a largerfeed-forward network of heterogeneous interneurons.

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

spike time response curve
arnold tongue
feed forward network


Stability of linear multistep methods for delay integro-differential equations ? This paper is concerned with the numerical solution of delay integro-differential equations. The adaptation of linear multistep methods is considered. The emphasis is on the linear stability of numerical methods. It is shown that every A-stable, strongly 0-stable linear multistep method of Pouzet type can preserve the delay-independent stability of the underlying linear systems. In addition, some delay-dependent stability conditions for the stability of numerical methods are also given.

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

delay integro-differential equations
linear multistep methods of pouzet type
asymptotic stability


local search heuristic for k-median and facility location problems In this paper, we analyze local search heuristics for the k -median and facility location problems. We define the {\em locality gap\/} of a local search procedure as the maximum ratio of a locally optimum solution (obtained using this procedure) to the global optimum. For k -median, we show that local search with swaps has a locality gap of exactly 5. When we permit p facilities to be swapped simultaneously then the locality gap of the local search procedure is exactly 3+2/p . This is the first analysis of local search for k -median that provides a bounded performance guarantee with only k medians. This also improves the previous known 4 approximation for this problem. For Uncapacitated facility location, we show that local search, which permits adding, dropping and swapping a facility, has a locality gap of exactly 3. This improves the 5 bound of Korupolu et al. We also consider a capacitated facility location problem where each facilitym has a capacity and we are allowed to open multiple copies of a facility. For this problem we introduce a new operation which opens one or more copies of a facility and drops zero or more facilities. We prove that local search which permits this new operation has a locality gap between 3 and 4. instances where it is not necessary to satisfy every demand. Our algorithms provide the optimum total profit, while stretching the definition of locality by a constant and violating the required demands by a constant. We prove that without this stretch, the problem becomes NP-Hard to approximate. facility location, we show that local search, which permits adding, dropping and swapping a facility, has a locality gap of exactly 3. This improves the 5 bound of Korupolu et al. We also consider a capacitated facility location problem where each facilitym has a capacity and we are allowed to open multiple copies of a facility. For this problem we introduce a new operation which opens one or more copies of a facility and drops zero or more facilities. We prove that local search which permits this new operation has a locality gap between 3 and 4.

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

local search
facility location
heuristics
paper
analysis
approximation
locality
definition
performance
global


Discrete Wirtinger-Type Inequalities for Gauging the Power of Sinusoids Buried in Noise Two discrete-time Wirtinger-type inequalities relating the power of it finite-length signal to that of its circularly-convolved version are developed. The usual boundary conditions that accompany the existing Wirtinger-type inequalities are relaxed in the proposed inequalities and the equalizing sinusoidal signal is free to have all arbitrary phase angle. A measure of this sinusoidal signal's power, when corrupted with additive noise, is proposed. The application of the proposed measure, calculated as a ratio, in the evaluation of the power of a sinusoid of arbitrary phase with the angular frequency (pi)/(N), where N is the signal length. is thoroughly studied and analyzed under additive noise of arbitrary statistical characteristic. The ratio can be used to gauge the power of sinusoids of frequency (pi)/(N) with a small amount of computation by referring to a ratio-versus-SNR curve and using it to make an estimation of the noise-corrupted sinusoid's SNR. The case of additive white noise is also analyzed. A sample permutation scheme followed by sign modulation is proposed for enlarging the class of target sinusoids to those with frequencies (M pi)/(N) where M and N are mutually prime positive integers. Tandem application of the proposed scheme and ratio offers a simple method to gauge the power of sinusoids buried in noise. The generalization of the inequalities to convolution kernels of higher orders its well as the simplification of the proposed inequalities have also been studied.

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

discrete wirtinger inequalities
fan-taussky-todd inequalities
spectrum analysis
maximally flat filters
circular convolution
signal-to-noise ratio


Design evaluation of information appliances using augmented reality-based tangible interaction In this paper, we propose an approach to tangible augmented reality (AR) based design evaluation of information appliances, which not only exploits the use of tangible objects without hardwired connections to provide better visual immersion and support more tangible interaction, but also facilitates the adoption of a simple and low cost AR environment setup to improve user experience and performance. To enhance the visual immersion, we develop a solution for resolving hand occlusion in which skin color information is exploited with the use of the tangible objects to detect the hand regions properly. To improve the tangible interaction with the sense of touch, we introduce the use of product- and fixture-type objects, which provides the feelings of holding the product in his or her hands and touching buttons with his or her index fingertip in the AR setup. To improve user experience and performance in view of hardware configuration, we devise to adopt a simple and cost-effective AR setup that properly meets guidelines such as viewing size and distance, working posture, viewpoint matching, and camera movement. From experimental results, we found that the AR setup is good to improve the user experience and performance in design evaluation of handheld information appliances. We also found that the tangible interaction combined with the hand occlusion solver in the AR setup is very useful to improve tangible interaction and immersive visualization of virtual products while making the user experience the shapes and functions of the products well and comfortably. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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

information appliances
design evaluation
augmented reality

hand occlusion resolving
tangible user interaction
simple and cost-effective setup


Design and analysis of optimal controller for fuzzy systems with input constraint In this paper, we present a design method of the optimal and robust controller subject to the constraint on control inputs for continuous-time Takagi-Sugeno (TS) fuzzy systems. In order to establish this design method, we consider an optimal and robust control problem for nonlinear dynamic systems. For this problem, we present an analytic way which can provide the optimal controller for nonlinear dynamic systems by the dynamic programming approach and the inverse optimal approach. Moreover, we analyze the robustness property of the proposed optimal controller with respect to a class of input uncertainties by the passivity approach. Then, based on the theoretical results presented in this paper, we formulate the design problem of the optimal and robust. controller with input constraint for continuous-time TS fuzzy systems as the semidefinite programming, problem, and find the controller by solving it. The usefulness of the proposed approach is illustrated by considering the three-axis attitude stabilization problem of rigid spacecraft.

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

optimal and robust control
passivity approach
semidefinite programming problem

spacecraft attitude control
takagi-sugeno (ts) fuzzy system


Solid model reconstruction from engineering paper drawings using genetic algorithms The wide applications of CAD/CAM technologies have promoted the development and application of many advanced technologies, such as digital manufacturing, rapid prototyping, enterprise resources planning, computer integrated manufacturing, concurrent engineering, virtual reality, and mass customization. These advanced technologies all need to be supported by three-dimensional (3D) solid models of products. Most enterprises, however, still organize their production using 2D paper drawings, which makes difficulties for the application of these advanced technologies. It is needed to convert engineering paper drawings into 3D solid models for applications. Based on holo-extraction of information from paper drawings, this paper develops a systematic 3D reconstruction method, which simulates an experienced human designer's thinking mode in transforming inaccurate outlines with inaccurate projection relationships in 2D drawings into 3D image, with the aid of Genetic Algorithms. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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

solid model reconstruction
genetic algorithms

engineering drawing
networks of single closed regions


Routing with a clue We suggest a new simple forwarding technique to speed up IP destination address lookup. The technique is a natural extension of IP, requires 5 bits in the IP header (IPv4, 7 in IPv6), and performs IP lookup nearly as fast as IP/Tag switching but with a smaller memory requirement and a much simpler protocol. The basic idea is that each router adds a "clue" to each packet, telling its downstream router where it ended the IP lookup. Since the forwarding tables of neighboring routers are similar, the clue either directly determines the best prefix match for the downstream router, or provides the downstream router with a good point to start its IP lookup. The new scheme thus prevents repeated computations and distributes the lookup process across the routers along the packet path. Each router starts the lookup computation at the point its upstream neighbor has finished. Furthermore, the new scheme is easily assimilated into heterogeneous IP networks, does not require routers coordination, and requires no setup time. Even a flow of one packet enjoys the benefits of the scheme without any additional overhead. The speedup we achieve is about 10 times faster than current standard techniques. In a sense, this paper shows that the current routers employed in the Internet are clue-less; namely, it is possible to speed up the IP lookup by an order of magnitude without any major changes to the existing protocols.

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

best matching prefix
ip forwarding
ip routing
mpls


A nonlinear, data-driven model applied in the design process of disc-spring valve systems used in hydraulic dampers This paper proposes an analytical tool that supports the design process of a disc-spring valve system used in hydraulic dampers. Such a valve is representative of a broader family of valve systems used in many industrial applications. The tool will speed up the valve-system design process. The paper considers a valve system that combines a number of circular metal plates, referred to further in the paper as 'a stack of plates'. The proposed analytical tool obtains a key design characteristic of a valve, the flow rate, and the corresponding maximum stress level in the stack of plates as a function of pressure load. The stress level enables the ranking of valve settings in terms of durability. The calculation process is based on the response of a nonlinear, data-driven model that approximates the a priori simulated cases to cover the complete range of input design parameters, namely the number of plates, their thickness and their diameter. The cases are produced by a first-principle model using a Finite Element (FE) approach. The model was calibrated based on experimental results to provide accurate results in the entire range of input parameters. The advantage of the analytical tool is its ability to immediately provide the pressure-stress-flow characteristic of a valve instead of repeating time-consuming calculations for each new setting of input parameters. The objectives of the paper are as follows: to (a) adapt the model to a three-plate stack by applying large strain theory, (b) select and rank the Artificial Neural Networks used in order to approximate simulation data, and (c) demonstrate validation and application results obtained with the Approximation Tool.

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

hydraulic damper
disc valve
neural network
fuzzy inference system
finite elements model


A geometric approach for the theory and applications of 3D projective invariants A central task of computer vision is to automatically recognize objects in real-world scenes. The parameters defining image and object spaces can vary due to lighting conditions, camera calibration and viewing position. It is therefore desirable to look for geometric properties of the object which remain invariant under such changes in the observation parameters. The study of such geometric invariance is a field of active research. This paper presents the theory and computation of projective invariants formed from points and lines using the geometric algebra framework. This work shows that geometric algebra is a very elegant language for expressing projective invariants using n views. The paper compares projective invariants involving two and three cameras using simulated and real images. Illustrations of the application of such projective invariants in visual guided grasping, camera self-localization and reconstruction of shape and motion complement the experimental part.

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

clifford (geometric) algebra
projective geometry
3d projective invariants
visual guided robotics


Output tracking and disturbance rejection of linear differential inclusion systems The globally tracking problem of linear differential inclusion systems with disturbances is studied in this article. By using the Hamilton-Caylay Theorem, an operator is constructed such that tracking problem is converted into a standard stabilisation problem. A control law is designed such that the output signal of the closed-loop system tracks some reference signal and rejects the disturbances. A second-order LDI system is used to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed design technique.

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

linear differential inclusion
tracking
disturbance rejection


Comparison between cellular automata and linear feedback shift registers based pseudo-random number generators A detailed comparison between pseudo-random number generators (PRNGs) based on cellular automata (CA) and linear feedback shift registers (LFSRs) is presented in this paper. Various statistical tests have been applied in order to reveal the advantages and disadvantages of both approaches. Both LFSRs and hybrid additive cellular automata (HACA) produce satisfactory PRNGs. HACA operate at higher speeds than LFSRs with the same characteristic polynomials. Regarding the silicon area, direct comparisons between the two approaches cannot be made since it depends on the PRNG length. However, the inherent modularity of HACA reduces the silicon area occupied by them and, when long feedback paths are used, the silicon area occupied by LFSRs increases.

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


Counting the Faces of Randomly-Projected Hypercubes and Orthants, with Applications Let A be an n x N real-valued matrix with n delta and k(n)/(n) -> rho as n -> infinity. If each matrix A(n,Nn) has its columns in general position, then fk(AI(N))/f(k)(I(N)) tends to zero or one depending on whether rho > min(0, 2 - delta(-1)) or rho min(0, 2 - delta(-1)) or rho < min(0, 2 - delta(-1)). We make a variety of contrasts to related work on projections of the simplex and/or cross-polytope. These geometric face-counting results have implications for signal processing, information theory, inverse problems, and optimization. Indeed, face counting is related to conditions for uniqueness of solutions of underdetermined systems of linear equations. Below, let A be a fixed n x N matrix, n < N, with columns in general position.

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

unique solution of underdetermined systems of linear equations


Adaptive spatio-temporal denoising of fluoroscopic X-ray sequences Lowering the cumulative radiation dose to a patient undergoing fluoroscopic examination requires efficient denoising algorithms. We propose a method, which extensively utilizes temporal dimension in order to maximize denoising efficiency. A set of subsequent images is processed and two estimates of denoised images are calculated. One is based on a special implementation of an adaptive edge preserving wavelet transform, while the other is based on the statistical method intersection of confidence intervals (ICI) rule. Wavelet transform is thought to produce high quality denoised images and ICI estimate can be used to further improve denoising performance about object edges. The estimates are fused to produce the final denoised image. We show that the proposed method performs very well and do not suffer from blurring in clinically important parts of images. As a result, its application could allow for significant lowering of the fluoroscope single frame dose.

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

spatio-temporal denoising
fluoroscopic sequences
x-ray images
wavelets
adaptive denoising


Artificial compressibility method revisited: Asymptotic numerical method for incompressible Navier-Stokes equations The artificial compressibility method for the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations is revived as a high order accurate numerical method (fourth order in space and second order in time). Similar to the lattice Boltzmann method, the mesh spacing is linked to the Mach number. An accuracy higher than that of the lattice Boltzmann method is achieved by exploiting the asymptotic behavior of the solution of the artificial compressibility equations for small Mach numbers and the simple lattice structure. An easy method for accelerating the decay of acoustic waves, which deteriorate the quality of the numerical solution, and a simple cure for the checkerboard instability are proposed. The high performance of the scheme is demonstrated not only for the periodic boundary condition but also for the Dirichlet-type boundary condition. (C) 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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

artificial compressibility method
lattice boltzmann

incompressible navier-stokes equations
asymptotic analysis
acoustic wave


Delay modeling and statistical design of pipelined circuit under process variation Under inter-die and intra-die parameter variations, the delay of a pipelined circuit follows a statistical distribution. This paper presents analytical models to estimate yield for a pipelined design based on delay distributions of individual pipe stages. Using the proposed models, it is shown that a change in logic depth and an imbalance between stage yields can improve the design yield and the area of a pipeline a circuit. A novel statistical methodology is developed to enhance yield of a pipelined circuit under an area constraint. Based on the concept of area borrowing, the results show that incorporating a proper imbalance among stage areas in a four-stage pipeline improves design yield up to 15.4% for the same area (and reduces area up to 8.4% under a yield constraint) compared with a balanced design.

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

gate-level sizing
pipeline design
statistical delay variation
yield enhancement


Self-testing without the generator bottleneck Suppose P is a program designed to compute a function f defined on a group G. The task of self-testing P, that is, testing if P computes f correctly on most inputs, usually involves testing explicitly if P computes f correctly on every generator of G. In the case of multivariate functions, the number of generators, and hence the number of such tests, becomes prohibitively large. We refer to this problem as the generator bottleneck. We develop a technique that can be used to overcome the generator bottleneck for functions that have a certain nice structure, specifically if the relationship between the values of the function on the set of generators is easily checkable. Using our technique, we build the first efficient self-testers for many linear, multilinear, and some nonlinear functions. This includes the FFT, and various polynomial functions. All of the self-testers we present make only O(1) calls to the program that is being tested. As a consequence of our techniques, we also obtain efficient program result-checkers for all these problems.

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


An independent H-TCP implementation under FreeBSD 7.0: Description and observed behaviour A key requirement for IETF recognition of new TCP algorithms is having an independent, interoperable implementation. This paper describes our BSD-licensed implementation of H-TCP within FreeBSD 7.0, publicly available as a dynamically loadable kernel module. Based on our implementation experience we provide a summary description of the H-TCP algorithm to assist other groups build further interoperable implementations. Using data from our live testbed we demonstrate that our version exhibits expected H-TCP behavior, and describe a number of implementation-specific issues that influence H-TCP's dynamic behavior. Finally, we illustrate the actual collateral impact on path latency of using H-TCP instead of NewReno. In particular we illustrate how, compared to NewReno, H-TCP's cwnd growth strategy can cause faster fluctuations in queue sizes at, yet lower median latency through, congestion points. We believe these insights will prove valuable predictors of H-TCP's potential impact if deployed in consumer end-hosts in addition to specialist, high-performance network environments.

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

experimentation
validation
measurement
performance
h-tcp
congestion control


an adaptive gateway discovery for mobile ad hoc networks One of the main aspects that affect the performance of hybrid ad hoc networks is the discovery and selection of Internet gateways. Similar to conventional ad hoc route discovery, this procedure could be accomplished employing three different strategies: proactive, reactive and hybrid. In the proactive gateway discovery, the gateway periodically generates Modified Router Advertisement (MRA) messages. The election of the time between two consecutive MRAs (T) may greatly impact on the network performance (a low T could lead to unnecessary control packets meanwhile a high T could induce nodes keep invalid routes to external hosts). The optimum value of T depends on the network conditions as the load, the node density or the node mobility. In order to dynamically adjust the T interval, in this work we present a new adaptive scheme which is supported by a control system based on a genetic algorithm. The simulation results show that the proposed algorithm is able to decrease the network congestion and achieve lower end-to-end delay.

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

genetic algorithm
proactive gateway discovery


a reference architecture for event processing Reference architectures predefine a common frame of reference, which can be customised to obtain architectures for specific applications in a domain. Based on a general reference model, providing a common language and semantics to explain the important concepts of Event Processing (EP), we define a general reference architecture which models the abstract architectural elements of an Event Processing-based system independent of the technologies, protocols, and products that might be used to implement it.

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

domain-specific architectures
system architectures
complex event processing


A low complexity fingerprint verification algorithm with reduced hardware resources A low complexity fingerprint verification scheme with ultra-compact hardware resources requirement is presented in the paper. Firstly, the fingerprint image is captured and performed noise canceling by a binary low-pass filter. Secondly, the displacement of the fingerprint pattern is estimated by means of directional image matching, and then circular profile features of the fingerprint are extracted for verification matching. Finally, the proposed method is implemented in an 8-bits microcontroller run at 25MHz, equipped only with 12 Kbytes program code memory and 35 Kbytes data memory. It is very favorable for prototyping the low-cost fingerprint verification SoC (System-On-Chip).

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


Generating cancelable fingerprint templates Biometrics-based authentication systems offer obvious usability advantages over traditional password and token-based authentication schemes. However, biometrics raises several privacy concerns. A biometric is permanently associated with a user and cannot be changed. Hence, if a biometric identifier is compromised, it is lost forever and possibly for every application where the biometric is used. Moreover, if the same biometric is used in multiple applications, a user can potentially be tracked from one application to the next by cross-matching biometric databases. In this paper, we demonstrate several methods to generate multiple cancelable identifiers from fingerprint images to overcome these problems. In essence, a user can be given as many biometric identifiers as needed by issuing a new transformation "key." The identifiers can be cancelled and replaced when compromised. We empirically compare the performance of several algorithms such as Cartesian, polar, and surface folding transformations of the minutiae positions. It is demonstrated through multiple experiments that we can achieve revocability and prevent cross-matching of biometric databases. It is also shown that the transforms are noninvertible by demonstrating that it is computationally as hard to recover the original biometric identifier from a transformed version as by randomly guessing. Based on these empirical results and a theoretical analysis we conclude that feature-level cancelable biometric construction is practicable in large biometric deployments.

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

fingerprint identification
image registration
cancelable biometrics
security


ENUMERATION AND DECIDABLE PROPERTIES OF AUTOMATIC SEQUENCES We show that various aspects of k-automatic sequences-such as having an unbordered factor of length n-are both decidable and effectively enumerable. As a consequence it follows that many related sequences are either k-automatic or k-regular. These include many sequences previously studied in the literature, such as the recurrence function, the appearance function, and the repetitivity index. We also give some new characterizations of the class of k-regular sequences. Many results extend to other sequences defined in terms of Pisot numeration systems.

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

enumeration
appearance function
recurrence

k-automatic sequence
k-regular sequence
decidability
automata
unbordered word
subword complexity


Classifying efficient alternatives in SMAA using cross confidence factors Stochastic multicriteria acceptability analysis (SMAA) is a family of methods for aiding multicriteria group decision making. These methods are based on exploring the weight space in order to describe the preferences that make each alternative the most preferred one. The main results of the analysis are rank acceptability indices, central weight vectors and confidence factors for different alternatives. The rank acceptability indices describe the variety of different preferences resulting in a certain rank for an alternative; the central weight vectors represent the typical preferences favouring each alternative; and the confidence factors measure whether the criteria data are sufficiently accurate for making an informed decision. In some cases, when the problem involves a large number of efficient alternatives, the analysis may fail to discriminate between them. This situation is revealed by low confidence factors. In this paper we develop cross confidence factors, which are based on computing confidence factors for alternatives using each others central weight vectors. The cross confidence factors can be used for classifying efficient alternatives into sets of similar and competing alternatives. These sets are related to the concept of reference sets in Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), but generalized for stochastic models. Forming these sets is useful when trying to identify one or more most preferred alternatives, or suitable compromise alternatives. The reference sets can also be used for evaluating whether criteria need to be measured more accurately, and at which alternatives the measurements should be focused. This may cause considerable savings in measurement costs. We demonstrate the use of the cross confidence factors and reference sets using a real-life example.

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

stochastic multicriteria acceptability analysis

multicriteria decision support
cross confidence factor
helsinki harbor


Second order Runge-Kutta methods for Stratonovich stochastic differential equations The weak approximation of the solution of a system of Stratonovich stochastic differential equations with a m-dimensional Wiener process is studied. Therefore, a new class of stochastic Runge-Kutta methods is introduced. As the main novelty, the number of stages does not depend on the dimension m of the driving Wiener process which reduces the computational effort significantly. The colored rooted tree analysis due to the author is applied to determine order conditions for the new stochastic Runge-Kutta methods assuring convergence with order two in the weak sense. Further, some coefficients for second order stochastic Runge-Kutta schemes are calculated explicitly.

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

colored rooted tree analysis
weak approximation

stochastic runge-kutta method
stochastic differential equation
numerical method


A feedback neural network for solving convex quadratic bi-level programming problems In this paper, a feedback neural network model is proposed for solving a class of convex quadratic bi-level programming problems based on the idea of successive approximation. Differing from existing neural network models, the proposed neural network has the least number of state variables and simple structure. Based on Lyapunov theories, we prove that the equilibrium point sequence of the feedback neural network can approximately converge to an optimal solution of the convex quadratic bi-level problem under certain conditions, and the corresponding sequence of the function value approximately converges to the optimal value of the convex quadratic bi-level problem. Simulation experiments on three numerical examples and a portfolio selection problem are provided to show the efficiency and performance of the proposed neural network approach.

O B I 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 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

convex quadratic bi-level programming
asymptotic stability
approximate optimal solution


Neural networks and simple models for the fault diagnosis of naval turbochargers The present work deals with the development of simple finite element (FE) models of a turbocharger (rotor, foundation and hydrodynamic bearings) combined with neural networks and identification methods and vibration data obtained from real machines towards the automatic fault diagnosis. The development of this system is based on four sequential steps: the first is the development of simple but realistic FE models based on dynamic simulations of the complete system. The second step is the monitoring of the real turbocharger. The third step is the accurate modelling of the foundations and the excitation from the main engine, which will be done using a robust optimisation method. In the fourth step all the possible faults of the machine are identified using the artificial neural networks (ANN). In this way we can take advantage of the ANN learning capability for the real time diagnosis of potential faults. The application of the proposed system to a real naval turbocharger with vibration data obtained on working conditions show some promising results. (C) 2000 IMACS/Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

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

finite element models
condition monitoring
vibrations