A Precise and Practical IP Traceback Technique Based on Packet Marking and Logging Tracing malicious packets back to their source is important to defend the Internet against Denial of Service (DoS) intrusion. IP traceback is just the technique to realize the goal, it reconstructs IP packets traversed path in the Internet to determine their origins. There are two major kinds of IP traceback techniques, which have been proposed as packet marking and packet logging. In packet marking, it incurs little overhead, but requires a large number of packets to get the complete path. In packet logging, it requires plenty of storage space to record packet digests information, but has the capability to trace even a single packet. Therefore, it is a new idea to draw on both advantages to get the intrusion source. HIT (Hybrid IP Traceback) is a representative hybrid IP traceback approach, but it has some vulnerabilities. It may return incorrect path in the traceback process, and its storage overhead remains high. In this paper, we propose a precise IP traceback approach with low storage overhead, which improves accuracy and practicality greatly. In the end, the feasibility and effectiveness are evaluated by mathematical analysis and simulations.

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

ip traceback
packet marking
packet logging

cyber security
denial of service (dos) intrusion
hybrid ip traceback


an investigation of the use of a wiki to support knowledge exchange in public health This paper describes the use of a wiki to foster joint learning among a group of non-profit, community-based organizations involved with improving public health in London. The goal of the wiki was to encourage the growth of a community of practice-clear patterns of mutual engagement, joint enterprise and an emergent and shared repertoire of action-among these organizations. Participants reported that they failed to contribute to the wiki largely for economic reasons, issues of identity, and a lack of group norms. A critical factor in its failure, however, was the lack of its integration into existing work practices and project governance.

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

wikis
evaluation
digital communities
communities of practice


A Systematic Review of Simulation Studies Investigating Emergency Department Overcrowding The problem of emergency department (ED) overcrowding has reached crisis proportions in the last decade. In 2005, the National Academy of Engineering and the Institute of Medicine reported on the important role of simulation as a systems analysis tool that can have an impact on care processes at the care-team, organizational, and environmental levels. Simulation has been widely used to understand causes of ED overcrowding and to test interventions to alleviate its effects. In this paper, we present a systematic review of ED simulation literature from 1970 to 2006 from healthcare, systems engineering, operations research and computer science publication venues. The goals of this review are to highlight the contributions of these simulation studies to our understanding of ED overcrowding and to discuss how simulation can be better used as a tool to address this problem. We found that simulation studies provide important insights into ED overcrowding but they also had major limitations that must be addressed.

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

emergency department
overcrowding
simulation

emergency department simulations
literature review


The unscented filter as an alternative to the EKF for nonlinear state estimation: a simulation case study The Kalman filter has been widely used for estimation and tracking of linear systems since its formulation in 1960 due to its simplicity and robustness. In many chemical engineering applications the extended Kalman filter (EKF) is often used to deal with certain classes of nonlinear systems. In spite of that, designing an EKF for highly nonlinear processes is not a trivial task, particularly those involving highly exothermic reactions. In this work we compared the performance of a new technique, the unscented filter, with that of the extended Kalman filter. The unscented filter produced better results without performing potentially ill-conditioned numerical calculations and linearly approximating the evolution of the state vector covariance. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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

simulation
nonlinear state estimation
extended kalman filter
unscented filter

nonlinear dynamics
mathematical modeling


Intelligent Cooperative Control Architecture: A Framework for Performance Improvement Using Safe Learning Planning for multi-agent systems such as task assignment for teams of limited-fuel unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is challenging due to uncertainties in the assumed models and the very large size of the planning space. Researchers have developed fast cooperative planners based on simple models (e.g., linear and deterministic dynamics), yet inaccuracies in assumed models will impact the resulting performance. Learning techniques are capable of adapting the model and providing better policies asymptotically compared to cooperative planners, yet they often violate the safety conditions of the system due to their exploratory nature. Moreover they frequently require an impractically large number of interactions to perform well. This paper introduces the intelligent Cooperative Control Architecture (iCCA) as a framework for combining cooperative planners and reinforcement learning techniques. iCCA improves the policy of the cooperative planner, while reduces the risk and sample complexity of the learner. Empirical results in gridworld and task assignment for fuel-limited UAV domains with problem sizes up to 9 billion state-action pairs verify the advantage of iCCA over pure learning and planning strategies.

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

mdps
cooperative planning
risk management


Predicting daily streamflow using rainfall forecasts, a simple loss module and unit hydrographs: Two Brazilian catchments The performance of a simple, spatially-lumped, rainfallstreamflow model is compared with that of a more complex, spatially-distributed model. In terms of two model-fit statistics it is shown that for two catchments in Brazil (about 30,000km2 and 34,000km2) with different flow regimes, the simpler catchment models, which are unit hydrograph-based and require only rainfall, streamflow and air temperature data for calibration, perform about as well as more complex catchment models that require additional information from satellite images and digitized maps of elevation, land-use and soils. Simple catchment models are applied in forecasting mode, using daily rainfall forecasts from a regional weather forecasting model. The value of the rainfall forecasts, relative to the case where rainfall is known, is assessed for both catchments. The results are discussed in the context of on-going work to compare different modelling approaches for many other Brazilian catchments, and to apply improved forecasting algorithms based on the simple modelling approach to the same, and other, catchments.

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

rainfall forecasts
unit hydrographs
brazil

streamflow forecasts
hydropower
river paran


Self-consistent description of radial space-charge confinement in DC column plasmas A new method for the self-consistent description of radial space-charge confinement and the corresponding nonlocal kinetics of plasma components in the cylindrical de column plasma is presented. The method comprises the solution of the space-dependent kinetic equation of the electron component, the fluid equations of ions and excited neutral particles and Poisson's equation. The nonlinearly coupled equations are solved self-consistently applying a nonlinear optimization technique, which is used to optimize a polynomial representation of the radial space-charge potential. The applicability of several optimization methods and their suitability concerning the convergence and accuracy are discussed. Examples of the self-consistent description are presented. (C) 2001 Academic Press.

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

dc column plasma
electron kinetics
poisson's equation
function minimization


Ants with three primary colors for track initiation Inspired from various colors of ants in organized insect communities, we propose a novel ant system with a subtractive color mixing model of three primary colors for jointly estimating the number of tracks to be initiated and their individual tracks in the multi-sensor multi-target system. Firstly, each ant is assumed to deposit only one type of colored pheromones all the time, namely, cyan, magenta, or yellow, and ants decision depends on the colored pheromone similarity comparison with candidates to be visited. Then a mixture optimization function on a three-dimensional parameter space is proposed to exploit best solutions by the following ants, which results in a group of nearly cyan, magenta, or yellow tracks of interest. Finally, a new track initiation evaluation metric, i.e., Optimal Sub-Pattern Assignment (OSPA) distance, is introduced for the unknown number of tracks. Simulation results indicate favorable performance both in clutter-free and cluttered environment.

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


Active learning with misclassification sampling based on committee Active learning is an important approach to reduce data-collection costs for inductive learning problems by sampling only the most informative instances for labeling. We focus here on the sampling criterion for how to select these most informative instances. Three contributions are made in this paper. First, in contrast to the leading sampling strategy of halving the volume of version space, we present the sampling strategy of reducing the volume of version space by more than half with the assumption of target function being chosen from nonuniform distribution over version space. Second, we propose the idea of sampling the instances that would be most possibly misclassified. Third, we develop a sampling method named CBMPMS (Committee Based Most Possible Misclassification Sampling) which samples the instances that have the largest probability to be misclassified by the current classifier. Comparing the proposed CBMPMS method with the existing active learning methods, when the classifiers achieve the same accuracy, the former method will sample fewer times than the latter ones. The experiments show that the proposed method outperforms the traditional sampling methods on most selected datasets.

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

active learning
misclassification sampling
committee


Multifidelity importance sampling Multifidelity importance sampling (MFIS) combines, instead of replaces, a high- fidelity model with a surrogate model. Biasing distribution is derived with surrogate model and estimate with high-fidelity model. The MFIS estimator is unbiased, even in the absence of error bounds and error estimators for the surrogate model.

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

monte carlo method
surrogate modeling
multifidelity methods


A NEW MALMQUIST PRODUCTIVITY INDEX BASED ON SEMI-DISCRETIONARY VARIABLES WITH AN APPLICATION TO COMMERCIAL BANKS OF CHINA The Malmquist productivity index studies productivity change, that is, the technical progress or regress together with the efficiency changes over time. In a nonparametric framework, the index can be estimated by data envelopment analysis (DEA). In this paper, first all inputs are divided into three groups, namely, discretionary variables, nondiscretionary variables, and semi-discretionary variables, and then a mixed integer linear model is proposed to deal with semi-discretionary variables. The proposed models consider not only the properties of semi-discretionary inputs, but also the relationship between them and other inputs. By introducing such a relationship and the preferences of decision-makers (DMs), the models aid DMs in generating efficiency scores and finding proper benchmarking points. Finally, the Malmquist productivity index combining the proposed model is computed and illustrated by an empirical application to the evaluation of 17 branches of Bank of China in Anhui Province. The results show a slight decrease in productivity during the year 2007/2008, and the productivity change positively during 2008/2009 due largely to efficiency increase.

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 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 B 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 B O

data envelopment analysis (dea)
semi-discretionary variables


Temperature distribution in deep tissue phantom during laser irradiation at 1,064 nm measured by thermocouples and thermal imaging technique Moxibustion generates heat stimulation which expands blood vessels and promotes blood circulation. Furthermore, moxibustion provokes the release of diffuse noxious inhibitory controls (DNIC) to treat and prevent diseases. However, inherent drawbacks, such as pain, burn scars, smoke and bad smells, limit its use. A novel noncontact-type laser therapy device having effect similar to that of commercial moxibustion is being developed using a 1,064-nm infrared (IR) diode-pumped solid state (DPSS) laser. The therapy device allows direct interaction of laser light with the skin rendering temperature distribution both on the skin surface and deep under the skin. We devised a sample holder containing a tissue phantom to measure the three-dimensional temperature distribution with thermocouples inserted deep inside the phantom. Agar gel of 2.5% concentration was used as the tissue phantom in our experiments. Our results revealed that the maximum temperature occurred far below the surface of the tissue phantom, which was heated by laser irradiation at 1,064 nm. This occurrence was also confirmed by a thermal imaging method. In contrast, temperature gradually decreased through the depth of the tissue phantom heated with commercial moxibustion. Simple analytical models were constructed to explain the underlying heat-transfer mechanisms involved in moxibustion and laser irradiation.

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

moxibustion
laser irradiation
tissue phantom
agar gel
sample holder
temperature distribution


a hybrid prefetch policy for the retrieval of link-associated information on vehicular networks This paper proposes and measures the performance of a hybrid prefetch scheme for the gateway cache in the vehicular telematics network. Aiming at improving response time and instant reply ratio, the proposed scheme combines the advantage of LRU and FAR to best exploit temporal and spatial locality. For the advanced path recommendation service, links are categorized into two groups, namely, one referenced during the given interval, and the other not referenced. Each group orders the links according to the distance from the gateway, finalizing the prefetch order. Simulation results, based on the real-life trajectory data obtained from a real-time tracking system, show that the hybrid prefetch can improve instant reply ratio by up to 5.3\% and response time by up to 12.5\%, compared with FAR in spite of low link-level hit ratio.

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

vehicular telematics network
gateway cache
response time

route information retrieval
hybrid data fetch


Numerical simulation of train-bridge interactive dynamics In this paper, the space model for train carriages is developed and introduced in dynamic analysis of train-bridge interaction. The rail irregularities described by the power spectral density functions are generated by inverse Fourier transformation. The equations of motion of train-bridge systems are derived and reduced to simulate the dynamic responses of bridges under moving trains. The Newmark's beta integration method is adopted to serve the non-linear coupling equations. Numerical examples show that the method of this paper has high accuracy in simulating train-bridge interactive dynamics, (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

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

interactive dynamics
numerical simulation


The decomposition and composition of endomorphism of the fuzzy power set (F(X),boolean OR, boolean AND, c) In [Liu, 1989], a generalized fuzzifying method was given by a homomorph of a latticee. In [Liu, 1994] we have given a portrayal of an endomorphism of a lattice (F(X),boolean OR,boolean AND) on the extension for the Zadeh's function, so to a certain extent the reasonableness about the extension of the Zadeh's function was limited, from this we know that the study about homomorphism of various algebraic structures of F(X) not only is an important part in fuzzy algebra but also has important meaning in fuzzifying. Besides the (F(X),boolean OR,boolean AND,c) which is an extension of the ordinary power set, is a soft Boolean algebra, therefore the study of its endomorphism should be a very obvious problem, but as of now no such work appears in the literature. In this paper we give the decomposition and composition theorem of endomorphism (F(X),boolean OR,boolean AND,c), such that the portrayal of endomorphism is completed. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

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


From a Federated to an Integrated Automotive Architecture This paper describes an integrated system architecture for automotive electronic systems based on multicore systems-on-chips (SoCs). We integrate functions from different suppliers into a few powerful electronic control units using a dedicated core for each function. This work is fueled by technological opportunities resulting from recent advances in the semiconductor industry and the challenges of providing dependable automotive electronic systems at competitive costs. The presented architecture introduces infrastructure IP cores to overcome key challenges in moving to automotive multicore SoCs: a time-triggered network-on-a-chip with fault isolation for the interconnection of functional IP cores, a diagnostic IP core for error detection and state recovery, a gateway IP core for interfacing legacy systems, and an IP core for reconfiguration. This paper also outlines the migration from today's federated architectures to the proposed integrated architecture using an exemplary automotive E/E system.

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

computer architecture
fault tolerance
real-time systems
road vehicle electronics


Analysis of applied forces and electromyography of back and shoulders muscles when performing a simulated hand scaling task Hand scaling is a physically demanding task responsible for numerous overexertion injuries in underground mining. Scaling requires the miner to use a long pry bar to remove loose rock, reducing the likelihood of rock fall injuries. The experiments described in this article simulated rib scaling (scaling a mine wall) from an elevated bucket to examine force generation and electromyographic responses using two types of scaling bars (steel and fiberglass-reinforced aluminum) at five target heights ranging from floor level to 176cm. Ten male and six female subjects were tested in separate experiments. Peak and average force applied at the scaling bar tip and normalized electromyography (EMG) of the left and right pairs of the deltoid and erectores spinae muscles were obtained. Work height significantly affected peak prying force during scaling activities with highest force capacity at the lower levels. Bar type did not affect force generation. However, use of the lighter fiberglass bar required significantly more muscle activity to achieve the same force. Results of these studies suggest that miners scale points on the rock face that are below their knees, and reposition the bucket as often as necessary to do so.

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


POD-based reduced-order models with deforming grids Proper orthogonal decomposition based reduced order modeling (POD/ROM) is examined with deforming grids. POD/ROM is a technique that operates in an index-space for computations, not typically accounting for grid dynamics. Two model problems are presented to demonstrate the method of accounting for the effects of grid deformation on POD/ROM. The analytical solution of flow about an oscillating cylinder and potential flow over an oscillating panel. The accuracy and robustness of POD/ROM on deforming grids are compared to that of rigid grid POD/ROM. Deforming grid POD/ROMs are found to require more modes than rigid grid POD/ROMs for similar accuracy levels. In addition, for deforming grids, POD/ROMs are less accurate when the grid deformation is significantly altered from the deformations seen in the POD/ROM development. To address these issues, a new technique is developed that compares the relative grid motion between the POD/ROM creation and execution. The technique determines the current relative grid deformation and selects the best POD/ROM from those available. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

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

proper orthogonal decomposition
reduced order modeling
deforming grid


On the assessment and evaluation of voice hoarseness This article presents a non-invasive speech processing method for the assessment and evaluation of voice hoarseness. A technique based on time-scale analysis of the voice signal is used to decompose the signal into a suitable number of high-frequency details and extract the high-frequency bands of the signal. A discriminating measure, which measures the roll-off in power in the high-frequency bands of the signal, with respect to the decomposition index, is developed. The measure reflects the presence and degree of severity of hoarseness in the analyzed voice signals. The discriminating measure is supported by frequency-domain and time-series analyses of the high-frequency bands of normal and hoarse voice signals to provide a visual aid to the clinician or therapist. A database of sustained long vowels of normal and hoarse voices is created and used to assess the presence and degree of severity of hoarseness. The results obtained by the proposed method are compared to results obtained by perturbation analysis.

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

speech pathology
speech analysis
time-scale and time-series analysis


Approximate Nearest Neighbour Field based Optic Disk Detection Approximate Nearest Neighbour Field maps are commonly used by computer vision and graphics community to deal with problems like image completion, retargetting, denoising, etc. In this paper, we extend the scope of usage of ANNF maps to medical image analysis, more specifically to optic disk detection in retinal images. In the analysis of retinal images, optic disk detection plays an important role since it simplifies the segmentation of optic disk and other retinal structures. The proposed approach uses FeatureMatch, an ANNF algorithm, to find the correspondence between a chosen optic disk reference image and any given query image. This correspondence provides a distribution of patches in the query image that are closest to patches in the reference image. The likelihood map obtained from the distribution of patches in query image is used for optic disk detection. The proposed approach is evaluated on five publicly available DIARETDB0, DIARETDB1, DRIVE, STARE and MESSIDOR databases, with total of 1540 images. We show, experimentally, that our proposed approach achieves an average detection accuracy of 99% and an average computation time of 0.2s per image.

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

approximate nearest neighbour field
featurematch
optic disk detection


A centrality-based topology control protocol for wireless mesh networks Nodes in wireless multi-hop networks establish links with their neighbors, which are used for data transmission. In general, in this kind of networks every node has the possibility of acting as a router, forwarding the received packets when they are not the final destination of the carried data. Due to the routing protocol procedures, when the network is quite dense the overload added by the routing management messages can be very high. To reduce the effects of this overload a topology control mechanism can be used, which can be implemented using different techniques. One of these techniques consists of enabling or disabling the routing functionality in every node. Many advantages result from selecting just a subset of nodes for routing tasks: reduction of collisions, protocol overhead, interference and energy consumption, better network organization and scalability. In this paper, a new protocol for topology control in wireless mesh networks is proposed. The protocol is based on the centrality metrics developed by social network analysts. Our target network is a wireless mesh network created by user hand-held devices. For this kind of networks, we aim to construct a connected dominating set that includes the most central nodes. The resulting performance using the three most common centrality measures (degree, closeness and betweenness) is evaluated. As we are working with dynamic and decentralized networks, a distributed implementation is also proposed and evaluated. Some simulations have been carried out to analyze the benefits of the proposed mechanism when reactive or proactive routing protocols are used. The results confirm that the use of the topology control contributes to a better network performance.

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

topology control
wireless mesh networks
centrality metrics
connected dominating set


Proteus: an efficient runtime reconfigurable distributed shared memory system This paper describes Proteus, a distributed shared memory (DSM) system which supports runtime node reconfiguration. Proteus allows users to change the node set during the execution of a DSM program. The capability of node addition allows users to further shorten the execution time of their DSM programs by dynamically adding newly available nodes to the system. Furthermore, competition for resources between system users and computer owners can be avoided by dynamically deleting nodes from the system. To make the system adapt to the node configuration efficiently, Proteus employs several techniques, including adaptive workload redistribution, affinity page movement, and forced update. Proteus supports both sequential consistency and release consistency. It provides an object-oriented parallel programming environment. This paper describes the design and implementation of node reconfiguration in Proteus, and presents the performance of the system. Experimental results indicate that Proteus can further improve the performance of the tested programs by taking advantage of node reconfiguration. Our results further demonstrate that the techniques employed in Proteus minimize communication and overhead.

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

distributed shared memory
workload redistribution
page movement


Fault-tolerant timestamp-based two-phase commit protocol for RESTful services Service-oriented architecture provides interoperability and weak coupling features for software development. Representational state transfer (REST) is an architectural style that has attracted attention in the SOA domain as it allows the development of Web services based on original principles of the World Wide Web. Unlike Web service specifications, which are based on Simple Object Access Protocol and Web Services Description Language, REST does not provide official standards to address non-functional requirements of services, such as security, reliability, and transaction control. The timestamp-based two-phase commit protocol for RESTful service (TS2PC4RS) algorithm specifies concurrency control of RESTful services during a transaction. An extension of the TS2PC4RS specifies the concurrency control of the Web services considering the update operation to meet some business rules. However, neither algorithm addresses transaction control when failures occur. In long-term transactions, failures can occur and compromise the success of Web service applications. Two common failures traditionally considered in the analysis of protocols are host and connection failures. The aim of this paper is to address fault tolerance for TS2PC4RS and its extension. A fault-tolerant protocol based on timeout and log records is proposed. The fault-tolerant protocol provides support for the host and connection failures that may occur during a transaction execution. The fault-tolerant mechanisms are used to meet the application domain business rules that guide the behavior of RESTful services. We describe the protocol using scenarios when failures occur. Copyright 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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

fault tolerance
reliability
concurrency control
rest
transaction
web services
architectural style


Approximate Bayesian multibody tracking Visual tracking of multiple targets is a challenging problem, especially when efficiency is an issue. Occlusions, if not properly handled, are a major source of failure. Solutions supporting principled occlusion reasoning have been proposed but are yet unpractical for online applications. This paper presents a new solution which effectively manages the trade-off between reliable modeling and computational efficiency. The Hybrid Joint-Separable (HJS) filter is derived from a joint Bayesian formulation of the problem, and shown to be efficient while optimal in terms of compact belief representation. Computational efficiency is achieved by employing a Markov random field approximation to joint dynamics and an incremental algorithm for posterior update with an appearance likelihood that implements a physically-based model of the occlusion process. A particle filter implementation is proposed which achieves accurate tracking during partial occlusions, while in cases of complete occlusion, tracking hypotheses are bound to estimated occlusion volumes. Experiments show that the proposed algorithm is efficient, robust, and able to resolve long-term occlusions between targets with identical appearance.

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

computer vision
approximate inference
bayes filter


On the computation of steady Hopper flows II: von Mises materials in various geometries Similarity solutions are constructed for the flow of granular materials through hoppers. Unlike previous work, the present approach applies to nonaxisymmetric containers. The model involves ten unknowns (stresses, velocity, and plasticity function) determined by nine nonlinear first order partial differential equations together with a quadratic algebraic constraint (yield condition). A pseudospectral discretization is applied; the resulting problem is solved with a trust region method. The important role of the hopper geometry on the flow is illustrated by several numerical experiments of industrial relevance. (C) 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 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 approaches to solve the shortest path problem with forbidden paths In this paper, the shortest path problem with forbidden paths is addressed. The problem under consideration is formulated as a particular instance of the resource-constrained shortest path problem. Different versions of a dynamic programming-based solution approach are defined and implemented. The proposed algorithms can be viewed as an extension of the node selection approach proposed by Desrochers in 1988. An extensive computational test is carried out on a meaningful number of random instances with the purpose of assessing the behaviour of the developed solution approaches. A comparison with the state-of-the-art method proposed to address the problem under study is also made. The computational results are very encouraging and highlight that the proposed algorithms are very efficient.

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

shortest path problem
forbidden paths
dynamic programming


On the stability of dynamic diffusion load balancing We consider the problem of dynamic load balancing in arbitrary (connected) networks on n nodes. Our load generation model is such that during each round, n tasks are generated on arbitrary nodes, and then (possibly after some balancing) one task is deleted from every non-empty node. Notice that this model fully saturates the resources of the network in the sense that we generate just as many new tasks per round as the network is able to delete. We show that even in this situation the system is stable, in that the total load remains bounded (as a function of n alone) over time. Our proof only requires that the underlying '' communication '' graph be connected. (It of course also works if we generate less than n new tasks per round, but the major contribution of this paper is the fully saturated case.) We further show that the upper bound we obtain is asymptotically tight (up to a moderate multiplicative constant) by demonstrating a corresponding lower bound on the system load for the particular example of a linear array (or path). We also show some simple negative results (i.e., instability) for work-stealing based diffusion-type algorithms in this setting.

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


To the construction of spatial distribution of electron concentration over Kazakhstan, using the IRI model corrected by ionospheric data Using the IRI model, corrected by ionospheric data measured in Almaty, the N(h)-profiles in Karaganda and Novo-Kazalinsk are estimated. Comparison with available experimental data shows that the precision of profile reconstruction is about 10%. (C) 2004 Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of IMACS.

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

spatial distribution
electron concentration

ionosphere
linear regression equation
radio communication systems


concurrency control in groupware systems Groupware systems are computer-based systems that support two or more users engaged in a common task, and that provide an interface to a shared environment. These systems frequently require fine-granularity sharing of data and fast response times. This paper distinguishes real-time groupware systems from other multi-user systems and discusses their concurrency control requirements. An algorithm for concurrency control in real-time groupware systems is then presented. The advantages of this algorithm are its simplicity of use and its responsiveness: users can operate directly on the data without obtaining locks. The algorithm must know some semantics of the operations. However the algorithm's overall structure is independent of the semantic information, allowing the algorithm to be adapted to many situations. An example application of the algorithm to group text editing is given, along with a sketch of its proof of correctness in this particular case. We note that the behavior desired in many of these systems is non-serializable.

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

requirements
task
use
concurrency control
case
response
group
paper
groupware
sharing
structure
systems
users
semantic
behavior
correctness
text
data
support
algorithm

applications
examples
computation
response time
interfaces
real-time
informal
situated
multi user
environments
edit
sketching
operability


Quality and Leniency in Online Collaborative Rating Systems The emerging trend of social information processing has resulted in Web users' increased reliance on user-generated content contributed by others for information searching and decision making. Rating scores, a form of user-generated content contributed by reviewers in online rating systems, allow users to leverage others' opinions in the evaluation of objects. In this article, we focus on the problem of summarizing the rating scores given to an object into an overall score that reflects the object's quality. We observe that the existing approaches for summarizing scores largely ignores the effect of reviewers exercising different standards in assigning scores. Instead of treating all reviewers as equals, our approach models the leniency of reviewers, which refers to the tendency of a reviewer to assign higher scores than other coreviewers. Our approach is underlined by two insights: (1) The leniency of a reviewer depends not only on how the reviewer rates objects, but also on how other reviewers rate those objects and (2) The leniency of a reviewer and the quality of rated objects are mutually dependent. We develop the leniency-aware quality, or LQ model, which solves leniency and quality simultaneously. We introduce both an exact and a ranked solution to the model. Experiments on real-life and synthetic datasets show that LQ is more effective than comparable approaches. LQ is also shown to perform consistently better under different parameter settings.

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

algorithms
experimentation
human factors
link analysis
social network mining


Exploring the online bidders repurchase intention: a cost and benefit perspective The success of online auctions is founded on bidders enjoying shopping benefits and on creating bidders loyalty. This study investigates the importance of bidders repurchase intention along with the corresponding cost and benefit aspects. Therefore, this study integrates transaction cost economics and expectancy confirmation theory to understand the determinants of bidders repurchase intention in online auctions. We collected data from a survey questionnaire, and a total of 594 valid questionnaires were analyzed. Partial least squares structural equation modeling was used to assess the relationships of the research model. The findings show that satisfaction has a significant influence on bidders repurchase intention, while transaction cost is negatively associated with repurchase intention. Bidders satisfaction is determined by confirmation and by the e-service quality of both auctioneers and sellers. Moreover, an auctioneers asset specificity and product uncertainty are positively associated with the bidders perceived transaction cost. The interaction frequency between bidder and seller is negatively associated with the bidders transaction costs. The research results provide a novel approach to understanding bidders benefit and cost dimensions in online auction marketplaces. Our findings could guide online auctioneers and sellers in enhancing their offerings.

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

online auction marketplace
transaction cost economics (tce)
expectancy confirmation theory (ect)


A volume of fluid based method for fluid flows with phase change This paper presents a numerical method directed towards the simulation of flows with mass transfer due to changes of phase. We use a volume of fluid (VOF) based interface tracking method in conjunction with a mass transfer model and a model for surface tension. The bulk fluids are viscous, conducting, and incompressible. A one-dimensional test problem is developed with the feature that a thin thermal layer propagates with the moving phase interface. This test problem isolates the ability of a method to accurately calculate the thermal layers responsible for driving the mass transfer in boiling flows. The numerical method is tested on this problem and then is used in simulations of horizontal film boiling. (C) 2000 Academic Press.

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


Air traffic knowledge management policy A new air traffic knowledge management system is vitally important for the safety and efficiency of future air travel. It can be accomplished by developing a new-generation integrated operational decision support for pilots and controllers. At present the knowledge for decision making is only available when the latter parties share it and negotiate it in real-time. A new policy is required with a new management system and an automated planning of conflict-free air spacetime allocation accomplished by an agent-based architecture of a global network of integrated operational decision support systems for airports, airlines and air traffic control. This aims at acquiring and monitoring a flow of air spacetime knowledge-and-data structures of conflict-free and optimised flights given the available resources, and ensuring their long-term efficiency by an agent-based planning of flight-plan alterations off-line before signs of air spacetime conflicts can develop in real-time. The Agents managing parallel knowledge acquisition and reasoning processes allocate air spacetime resources according to the technical capabilities of aircraft in response to flight-plan clearance requests. They ensure decision support for efficient flights and use of air spacetime, and conflict-free planning for air traffic management.

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

decision support
knowledge management
knowledge acquisition and reasoning


A COMPARISON OF DECISION TREE CLASSIFIERS FOR AUTOMATIC DIAGNOSIS OF SPEECH RECOGNITION ERRORS Present speech recognition systems are becoming more complex due to technology advances, optimizations and special requirements such as small computation and memory footprints. Proper handling of system failures can be seen as a kind of fault diagnosis. Motivated by the success of decision tree diagnosis in other scientific fields and by their successful application in speech recognition in the last decade, we contribute to the topic mainly in terms of comparison of different types of decision trees. Five styles are examined: CART (testing three different splitting criteria), C4.5, and then Minimum Message Length (MML), strict MML and Bayesian styles decision trees. We apply these techniques to data of computer speech recognition fed by intrinsically variable speech. We conclude that for this task, CART technique outperforms C4.5 in terms of better classification for ASR failures.

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

decision trees
classification
fault diagnosis
speech recognition


Redundancy analysis and a distributed self-organization protocol for fault-tolerant wireless sensor networks Sensor nodes in a distributed sensor network can fail due to a variety of reasons, e.g., harsh environmental conditions, sabotage, battery failure, and component wear-out. Since many wireless sensor networks are intended to operate in an unattended manner after deployment, failing nodes cannot be replaced or repaired during field operation. Therefore, by designing the network to be fault-tolerant, we can ensure that a wireless sensor network can perform its surveillance and tracking tasks even when some nodes in the network jail. In this paper, we describe a fault-tolerant self-organization scheme that designates a set of backup nodes to replace failed nodes and maintain a backbone for coverage and communication. The proposed scheme does not require a centralized server for monitoring node failures and for designating backup nodes to replace failed nodes. It operates in a fully distributed manner and it requires only localized communication. This scheme has been implemented on top of an energy-efficient self-organization technique for sensor networks. The proposed fault-tolerance-node selection procedure can tolerate a large number of node failures using only localized communication, without losing either sensing coverage or communication connectivity.

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

connected dominating set
fault tolerance
network organization
topology control


an identity-based key infrastructure suitable for messaging and its application to e-mail Identity-based encryption (IBE) systems are relatively recently proposed; yet they are highly popular for messaging applications since they offer new features such as certificateless infrastructure and anonymous communication. However, recent studies also reveal that the infrastructure needed for IBE systems may be as complicated as the conventional public key cryptosytems and not sufficient research has been conducted in relevant issues concerning the infrastructure. In this paper, we intended to propose an IBE infrastructure for messaging applications. The proposed infrastructure requires one registration authority and at least one public key generator and they secret share the master secret key. In addition, the PKG also shares the same master secret with each user in the system in a different way. Therefore, the PKG will never be able to learn the private keys of users under non-collusion assumption. Users can also select meaningful pseudonyms and communicate anonymously using them with other users in the system. We discuss different aspects of the proposed infrastructure such as security, key revocation, uniqueness of the identities, and non-repudiation that constitute the main drawbacks of other IBE schemes. We demonstrate that our infrastructure solves many of these drawbacks under certain assumptions. We also provide some implementation results to show the feasibility of the proposed infrastructure.

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

elliptic curve cryptography
identity based encryption


Rcpp: Seamless R and C plus plus Integration The Rcpp package simplifies integrating C++ code with R. It provides a consistent C++ class hierarchy that maps various types of R objects (vectors, matrices, functions, environments, ...) to dedicated C++ classes. Object interchange between R and C++ is managed by simple, flexible and extensible concepts which include broad support for C++ Standard Template Library idioms. C++ code can both be compiled, linked and loaded on the fly, or added via packages. Flexible error and exception code handling is provided. Rcpp substantially lowers the barrier for programmers wanting to combine C++ code with R.

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


Image copyright protection with forward error correction A copyright protection method for digital image with 1/T rate forward error correction (FEC) is proposed in this paper. In this method, the original image is lossless and the watermark is robust to malicious attacks including geometric attacks such as scaling, rotation, cropping, print-photocopy-scan, and scaling-cropping attacks and nongeometric attacks such as low-pass filtering, sharpening, JPEG compression attacks. The watermark logo is fused with noise bits to improve the security, and later XORed with the feature value of the image by 1/T rate FEC. During extraction, the watermark bits are determined by majority voting, and the extraction procedure needs neither the original image nor the watermark logo. Experimental results show that not only the image is lossless but also the proposed method can effectively resist the common malicious attacks. Since the proposed method is based on spatial domain and there is no need to do frequency transform, the embedding and extraction performances are quite improved. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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

copyright protection
forward error correction
geometric attacks
nongeometric attacks


Book Piracy in Nigeria: Issues and Strategies Book piracy is an illegal and illegitimate reproduction of other people's intellectual property for economic reasons without prior consent or authorization. This paper examines the intricate dimension of book piracy in the Nigerian Publishing Industry. It notes the dangers the trend portends to qualitative education and scholarship in general. The paper identifies the different forms of book piracy as: local reproduction of fast moving titles using newsprint or poor textured paper, abuse of publication rights, hi-tech reproduction overseas, circumventing the e-book version, illegal reprography, unauthorized excessive production by printers, and translation without permission. Some of the causes of book piracy are poverty, book scarcity, ignorance of the copyright laws by the public and the uncooperative attitude of some countries in endorsing international treaties on intellectual property rights. The paper recommends the following as panacea to stemming the tide of the menace: cost reduction strategies, national book policy and commissioning of local authorship, awareness and enforcement of copyright laws, revitalization of libraries, sanctions on countries showing complacency towards piracy, special algorithms to detect illegal downloads, security printing devices and moral suasion.

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

piracy
publishing industry
reprography
publication rights
nigeria


SPICE models for flicker noise in p-MOSFETs in the saturation region The number fluctuation theory based on the McWhorter's charge-trapping model and the bulk mobility fluctuation theory based on Hooge's hypothesis are the two major existing theories to explain the origins of the flicker noise, which is the dominant low-frequency noise source in silicon metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs). We have done the flicker noise measurements and SPICE simulations for both long-channel (5 mum) and short-channel (1.2 mum and 0.6 mum) p-type channel metal-oxide-semiconductor (PMOS) transistors. HSPICE [device model: level 3, level 46 (BSIM 3v2) and level 47 (BSIM 3v3); noise model: NLEV = 0 and NLEV = 2 and 3] and PSPICE [device model: level 3, level 6 (BSIM 3v2) and level 7 (BSIM 3v3); noise model: NLEV = 0 and NLEV = 2 and 3] were used fur the simulations. Our measurement results suggest that in the saturation region, for long-channel PMOS transistors, the nicker noise is due to the bulk effect and it follows the mobility fluctuation theory while for short-channel ones, it is due to the surface state effect and the number fluctuation theory applies. Our simulation results showed that For both HSPICE and PSPICE, level 3 and NLEV = 0 are the appropriate models for the simulations of long-channel PMOS transistor nicker noise; HSPICE with level 47 or 49 and NLEV = 2 and 3 and PSPICE with level 6 and NLEV = 2 and 3 are applied for the short-channel PMOS devices. The simulation results are consistent with the measurements.

B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 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 wavelet-based estimating depth of anesthesia In this paper, an efficient method for quantifying the depth of anesthesia using underlying content of electroencephalogram (EEG) signal is presented. This method could be as an alternative instead of other clinical criteria such as pain reflex, auditory evoked potential, bispectral index scale (BIS) or amount of burst suppression. The proposed method is based on analysis of a single-channel EEG signal of patients during anesthesia, using wavelet transform. In order to use wavelet information, entropy is selected as the statistical tool. The obtained results suggest our method called Wavelet Coefficient Energy Entropy (WCEE) as a quantitative index for depth of anesthesia. To validate the introduced index, WCEE is applied to EEG signals of 22 people during the surgery and their determined indices are compared to BIS index, which is now a reference in anesthesia monitoring. The comparison results reveal a high correlation between WCEE index and BIS index during different anesthesia states. Moreover, WCEE values could precisely classify different anesthesia states with less computational burden than BIS index.

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

electroencephalogram (eeg)
electrocardiogram artifacts
bispectral index scale (bis)
wavelet transform (wt)


The intersection of two ruled surfaces ? This article presents an efficient and robust algorithm that computes the intersection curve of two ruled surfaces. The surface intersection problem is reformulated as a zero-set finding problem for a bivariate function, which is also equivalent to the construction of an implicit curve in the plane. Each connected component of the surface intersection curve corresponds to a connected component in the zero-set, and vice versa, except for some singular points, redundant solutions, and degenerate cases. We also present algorithms that detect all these singular points, redundant solutions, and degenerate cases.

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

ruled surface
line geometry
variable elimination
bivariate functions
zero-set finding
adaptive b-spline subdivision


Near-Collision Attacks on MD4: Applied to MD4-Based Protocols The most widely used hash functions from MD4 family have been broken, which lead to a public competition on designing new hash functions held by NIST. This paper focuses on one concept called near-collision resistance: computationally difficult to find a pair of messages with hash values differing in only few bits, which new hash functions should satisfy. In this paper, we will give a model of near-collisions on MD4, and apply it to attack protocols including HMAC/NMAC-MD4 and MD4(Password parallel to Challenge). Our new outer-key recovery attacks on HMAC/NMAC-MD4 has a complexity of 2(72) online queries and 2(77) MD4 computations, while previous result was 2(88) online queries and 2(95) MD4 computations. Our attack on MD4(Password parallel to Challenge) can recover 16 password characters with a complexity of 2(37) online queries and 22, MD4 computations, which is the first approach to attack such protocols. key words: near-collision, MD4, HMAC/NMAC, challenge and response, Hash(Password parallel to Challenge)

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

near-collision
hmac/nmac
hash(fassword parallel to challenge)


A phase compensation technique without capacitors for the CMOS circuit with a very low impedance terminal A lower impedance terminal is necessary for an input terminal of current-mode circuits and an output terminal of voltage-mode circuits to reduce an error and distortion in analog signal processing. Thus. the CMOS circuit with a very low impedance terminal (VLIT circuit) is a useful analog building block to achieve the above purpose. The very low impedance terminal in the VLIT circuit is performed by a shunt-series feedback configuration. However. the feedback generates a problem of instability and/or oscillation at the same time. The problem can be removed by a phase compensation capacitor as known well, but the capacitor is not desirable for integrated circuits due to its large area. This paper proposes a new phase compensation technique For the VLIT circuit. The proposed technique does not need any capacitors to obtain a sufficient phase margin, and instead gives us the appropriate transistor sizes (Width and length of the gate). As a result, the VLIT circuit has an enough phase margin and operates stably.

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

analog signal processing
phase compensation
low impedance


Visual tracking and learning using speeded up robust features A speeded up robust features (SURF) based optical flow algorithm is presented for visual tracking in real scenarios. SURF construct invariant features to correspond the blobs of interest across frames. Meanwhile, new feature-based optical flow algorithm is used to compute the warp matrix of a region centered on SURF key points. Furthermore, on-line visual learning for long-term tracking is performed using incremental object subspace method, which includes the correct update of the sample mean and appearance model. The proposed SURF based tracking and learning method contributes measurably to improving overall tracking performance. Experimental work demonstrates that the proposed strategy improves the performance of the classical optical flow algorithms in complicated real scenarios.

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


STEP-LENGTH BIOFEEDBACK DEVICE FOR WALK REHABILITATION A biofeedback gait training system for step length is proposed, adapted to the correction of spatial walking asymmetries by means of a simple, quick and reliable method for daily clinical use. The system is composed of a walkway and a gait analysis device (locometer) measuring the main temporal and distance factors of gait. The step length is imposed on the subject by lighted targets appearing on the walkway, alternately on the right and left side; the subject is asked to place a swinging foot on the lighted target. Feedback to the subject is supplied by direct visual information (the subject looking at the movement and the position of the foot with respect to the lighted target) and an acoustic signal delivered in real time when the length step error is greater than an allowed value. The method is validated on a population of hemiparetic patients who have suffered from a stroke and who have been reeducated with traditional rehabilitation methods. The patients were divided into two groups; one group following a gait training with biofeedback (BFB group) and one group following a gait training without biofeedback (reference group). Preliminary results are presented, showing a significant beneficial effect of the biofeedback method in increasing the step length of paretic limbs and in correcting step-length asymmetry.

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

biofeed buzzer sound
hemiparesis and rehabilitation
walking factors


Quantitative

structure-activity

relationship

studies

of

TIBO

derivatives

using

support

vector

machines

A

quantitative

structure-activity

relationship

(QSAR)

study

is

suggested

for

the

prediction

of

anti-HIV

activity

of

tetrahydroimidazo[4,5,1-jk][1,4]benzodiazepinone

(TIBO)

derivatives.

The

model

was

produced

by

using

the

support

vector

machine

(SVM)

technique

to

develop

quantitative

relationships

between

the

anti-HIV

activity

and

ten

molecular

descriptors

of

TIBO

derivatives.

The

performance

and

predictive

capability

of

the

SVM

method

were

investigated

and

compared

with

other

techniques

such

as

artificial

neural

networks

and

multiple

linear

regression.

The

results

obtained

indicate

that

the

SVM

model

with

the

kernel

radial

basis

function

can

be

successfully

used

to

predict

the

anti-HIV

activity

of

TIBO

derivatives

with

only

ten

molecular

descriptors

that

can

be

calculated

directly

from

only

molecular

structure.

The

contribution

of

each

descriptor

to

the

structure-activity

relationships

was

evaluated.

Hydrophobicity

of

the

molecule

was

thus

found

to

take

the

most

relevant

part

in

the

molecular

description.

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


Visually specifying compliance rules and explaining their violations for business processes A business process is a set of steps designed to be executed in a certain order to achieve a business value. Such processes are often driven by and documented using process models. Nowadays, process models are also applied to drive process execution. Thus, correctness of business process models is a must. Much of the work has been devoted to check general, domain-independent correctness criteria, such as soundness. However, business processes must also adhere to and show compliance with various regulations and constraints, the so-called compliance requirements. These are domain-dependent requirements. In many situations, verifying compliance on a model level is of great value, since violations can be resolved in an early stage prior to execution. However, this calls for using formal verification techniques, e.g., model checking, that are too complex for business experts to apply. In this paper, we utilize a visual language. BPMN-Q to express compliance requirements visually in a way similar to that used by business experts to build process models. Still, using a pattern based approach, each BPMN-Qgraph has a formal temporal logic expression in computational tree logic (CTL). Moreover, the user is able to express constraints, i.e., compliance rules, regarding control flow and data flow aspects. In order to provide valuable feedback to a user in case of violations, we depend on temporal logic querying approaches as well as BPMN-Q to visually highlight paths in a process model whose execution causes violations. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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

business process modeling
compliance checking
visual modeling
anti-patterns


FUZZY EXPERT SYSTEM BASED ON ROUGH SETS AND ITS APPLICATION TO MEDICAL DIAGNOSIS We propose a new method of reducing information systems by considering the classification given by experts, and a method of constructing a fuzzy expert system is described by introducing fuzzy intervals represented as fuzzification of attribute values. As an example, a fuzzy expert system for medical diagnosis is built using fuzzy inference rules. There are 367 fuzzy if-then rules constructed by the lower approximations which show consistency of the given data and the classification given by experts.

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

rough sets
classification
fuzzy inference


The role of trust in the transition from traditional to electronic B2B relationships in agri-food chains E-business adoption rates in the agri-food sector are rather low, despite the fact that technical barriers have been mostly overcome during the last years and a large number of sophisticated offers are available. However, concerns about trust seem to impede the development of electronic relationships in the agri-food chains as trust is of particular importance in any exchange of agri-food products along the value chain. Drawing on existing research, characteristics and dimensions of trust are initially identified both in traditional and in electronic B2B relationships and a typology of trust is proposed. The aim of the paper is to provide an overview of the implementation and use of trust elements that e-commerce offers dedicated to agri-food sector. This assessment will show the current situation and discuss gaps for further improvement with the objective to facilitate the uptake of e-commerce in agri-food chains.

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

trust typology
electronic trust
agri-food chains


automating the generation of interactive interfaces The key to the effectiveness of any CAD system is the effectiveness of its human interface. Designers need an interface that is easily mastered, consistent across the variety of tools within the system, and adaptable. In an effort to provide this type of interface, the authors and others within the MCC CAD Program have built a software platform that isolates the input/output functions used by each CAD tool from the software of the tool itself. This platform includes a grammar-driven front end which supports 'modeless' input and standardized subsystems for graphical input and output. Use of this platform is supported by a suite of utilities that simplify the effort required of the CAD tool developer in specifying a user interface.

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

software
generation
use
platform
input
developer
tool
user interface
interfaces
isolates
human interface
tools

interaction adapt systems author standardization graphics consistency utility effect grammar


Competitive intelligence process and tools for intelligence analysis Purpose - The purpose of this survey research is twofold. First, to study and report the process that is commonly used to create and maintain a competitive intelligence (CI) program in organizations. And second, to provide an analysis of several emergent text mining, web mining and visualization-based CI tools, which are specific to collection and analysis of intelligence. Design/methodology/approach - A range of recently published research literature on CI processes, applications, tools and technologies to collect and analyze competitive information within organizations is reviewed to explore their current state, issues and challenges learned from their practice. Findings - The paper provides executive decision makers and strategic managers a better understanding of what methods are available and appropriate to the decisions they must make and the steps involved in CI undertaking. Originality/value - The findings of this research provide the managers of CI programs a context for understanding which tools and techniques are better suited to their specific types of problems; and help them develop and evaluate a usable set of tools and best practices to apply to their industry.

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

data collection
data analysis
competitive strategy


accuracy driven performance macromodeling of feasible regions during synthesis of analog circuits We propose an accuracy driven synthesis methodology for analog circuits. The proposed approach relies on macro-models for performance estimation and is thus orders of magnitude faster than simulation based synthesis techniques. Unlike existing macro-model based approaches, which use static models, our approach dynamically improves the accuracy of the model during synthesis to ensure true convergence. Our method is based on identifying and accurately modeling those regions in the design space where feasible designs lie. The identified feasible regions and their corresponding models are used in conjunction with an initially generated global model for performance estimation. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed approach is able to synthesize designs using the enhanced performance models quickly, yet accurately.

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

circuit sizing
analog synthesis
performance modeling


A Content-based Dynamic Load-Balancing Algorithm for Heterogeneous Web Server Cluster According to the different requests of Web and the heterogeneity of Web server, the paper presents a content-based load-balancing algorithm. The mechanism of this algorithm is that a corresponding request is allocated to the server with the lowest load according to the degree of effects on the server and a combination of load state of server. Besides, apply a method of random distributing base-probability to assign each request to an appropriate server in terms of their weight. All the parameters that will be used in the algorithm can be acquired by simulated test. Experimental results suggest that this algorithm can balance the load of web server clusters effectively, make full use of the existing source of software and hardware, highly improve the server's performance, and even make the best use of the web server.

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


Analysis and design of a high efficiency bidirectional DC-DC converter for battery and ultracapacitor applications This paper presents a high efficiency non-isolated bidirectional converter which can be employed as an interface circuit between ultracapacitors or batteries and DC bus voltage. All semiconductor devices in the proposed converter are soft switched while the control circuit remains PWM. So, the energy conversion through the converter is highly efficient. The proposed converter acts as a zero-voltage transition (ZVT) buck to charge an ultracapacitor or battery and acts as a ZVT boost to discharge an ultracapacitor or battery. The performance of the proposed converter with respect to abrupt load and operating mode change is shown through computer simulation results. The results confirm the aforementioned advantages and features of the proposed converter. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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

dc-dc converter
soft switching
ultracapacitor (uc)


Least-squares fuzzy regression with fuzzy random variables Let (X) over tilde, (Y) over tilde be two convex fuzzy random variables on R-n. Using a suitable metric we prove that the conditional expectation E((Y) over tilde\(X) over tilde) is the best approximation of (Y) over tilde by measurable functions of (X) over tilde. This generalizes the analogous and well known property for real random variables. A further topic is the approximation of (Y) over tilde by a linear function of (X) over tilde. In special cases and by use of Hukuhara's difference between fuzzy sets, we obtain formulas which are analogous to the classical structure. Contrary to the classical fact, however, the conditional expectation of Gaussian fuzzy random variables in general does not coincide with the linear regression function. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

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

fuzzy random variables
conditional expectation
fuzzy regression

gaussian fuzzy random variables
hukuhara's difference of two fuzzy sets


Annotation Based Query Answer over Inconsistent Database In this paper, we introduce a concept of Annotation Based Query Answer, and a method for its computation, which can answer queries on relational databases that may violate a set of functional dependencies. In this approach, inconsistency is viewed as a property of data and described with annotations. To be more precise, every piece of data in a relation can have zero or more annotations with it and annotations are propagated along with queries from the source to the output. With annotations, inconsistent data in both input tables and query answers can be marked out but preserved, instead of being filtered in most previous work. Thus this approach can avoid information loss, a vital and common deficiency of most previous work in this area. To calculate query answers on an annotated database, we propose an algorithm to annotate the input tables, and redefine the five basic relational algebra operations (selection, projection, join, union and difference) so that annotations can be correctly propagated as the valid set of functional dependency changes during query processing. We also prove the soundness and completeness of the whole annotation computing system. Finally, we implement a prototype of our system, and give some performance experiments, which demonstrate that our approach is reasonable in running time, and excellent in information preserving.

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

uncertain data
data quality
consistent query answer
integrity constraints
data cleaning


Stimulus-evoked synchronization in neuronal models It is known that stimulus-evoked synchronization among neurons occurs in widely separated cortical regions. In this paper we test that how common, random but not deterministic inputs can synchronize groups of neurons with their parameters inside physiologically plausible regions. When a common, random input is presented, we find that a group of neuronsof integrate-and-fire or HodgkinHuxley modelsare capable of rapidly synchronizing their firing. Interestingly the optimal average synchronization time occurs when the efferent spikes have a high coefficient of variation of interspike intervals (greater than 0.5).

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


Hierarchical approaches to understanding consciousness There has been much discussion on what a scientific theory of consciousness would look like, and even whether such a theory is possible. Some common misunderstandings of the nature of theories (e.g.,in the physical sciences) have confused the discussion of theories concerning consciousness. Theories in the physical sciences establish hierarchies of descriptions that relate high-level descriptions of macro-level phenomena to detailed-level descriptions at a micro level. Detailed descriptions are usually more accurate but information-dense and therefore often beyond human comprehensibility (unless limited to tiny segments of a macro-level phenomenon). High-level descriptions are usually much less information-dense but more approximate. The ability to map between levels of description, and in particular the understanding of when a shift from a higher-level to a more detailed description is needed to achieve a desired degree of accuracy, is fundamental to an effective theory in any field. The form of such a theory of consciousness is sketched, and the limitations of some alternative approaches described.

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

cognitive architectures
complex systems
modules
scientific theories


Sensor network security for pervasive e-health Ubiquitous 24/7 health monitoring systems based on wireless medical sensors are going to play a key role for pervasive e-health applications. These systems allow care givers to early detect and act on signs of patients' clinical deterioration improving quality of care in a reliable unobtrusive and cost effectiveway. Ensuring the privacy and security of the exchanged information is challenging in pervasive e-health environments due to the resource constraints of tiny wireless medical sensors and operational requirements such as user mobility, strict latency needs, or the multitude of parties involved in the system. This paper describes a comprehensive and practical security framework for these pervasive health monitoring systems. We distinguish three layers addressing the specific security needs at the patient area network, medical sensor network, and back-end levels. Thereby our architecture accommodates the healthcare institution-centric approach predominant today while making provisions for the more patient-centric vision of pervasive e-health environments. The tailored security mechanisms for each individual layer as well as their interworking are presented and evaluated in detail. The analysis shows that our proposed security framework allows the deployment of wireless medical sensor networks in a very efficient way. Copyright (C) 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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

medical sensor network
patient area network
security


XVCL: a mechanism for handling variants in software product lines Software reuse focused on product lines has emerged as one of the promising ways to increase software productivity and quality. XVCL (XML-based Variant Configuration Language) is a variability mechanism that we developed for handling variants in software product lines. We apply XVCL to develop product line assets (including the domain model, product line architecture and generic components) as a set of x-frames that are capable of accommodating both commonality and variability in a domain. Specific systems, members of a product line, can be constructed by adapting and composing x-frames. In this paper, we illustrate our approach using examples from our product line project on the Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) domain. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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

variability mechanism
xvcl
software product lines


The evolution of cluster network structure and firm growth: a study of industrial software clusters Since the cluster began to receive attention as a critical environmental factor in geographical economics, it has provided a major research methodology across multiple disciplines from industrial organization, strategic management, regional innovation system, and Triple Helix to virtual clusters. Network structure analysis (NSA) offers a common framework to observe clusters that have been studied separately from the viewpoint of industrial organization and strategic management. Industrial structure analysis, is based on the externality of a network and the resource-based view, focused on the inherent network capacity, have been combined with the study of structural changes through cluster NSA, to create a new direction for the growth of industry and individual firms. This study aims to analyze the correlation between the networking of structural change and a firms performance by selecting a software industrial cluster as a representative case for the knowledge industry. We examine the network structural positions of each node during the cluster evolution process. This empirical study has significance for establishing a firms growth strategy as well as supporting the policy about clusters, through outlining the dynamic evolution process of the networking activities in a knowledge industry cluster.

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


Voronoi diagrams of algebraic distance fields We design and implement an efficient and certified algorithm for the computation of Vorono diagrams (VDs) constrained to a given domain. Our framework is general and applicable to any VD-type where the distance field is given explicitly or implicitly by a polynomial, notably the anisotropic VD or VDs of non-punctual sites. We use the Bernstein form of polynomials and DeCasteljaus algorithm to subdivide the initial domain and isolate bisector, or domains that contain a Vorono vertex. The efficiency of our algorithm is due to a filtering process, based on bounding the field over the subdivided domains. This allows to exclude functions (thus sites) that do not contribute locally to the lower envelope of the lifted diagram. The output is a polygonal description of each Vorono cell, within any user-defined precision, isotopic to the exact VD. Correctness of the result is implied by the certified approximations of bisector branches, which are computed by existing methods for handling algebraic curves. First experiments with our C++ implementation, based on double precision arithmetic, demonstrate the adaptability of the algorithm.

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

vorono diagram
subdivision algorithm
bisector curve
anisotropic diagram


salient event-detection in video surveillance scenarios Surveillance video data is accumulating at a staggering rate, making its manual handling impossible. Therefore, automatic tools for analysis and processing of such data are highly needed. In most video surveillance scenarios the most interesting parts of the recorded data are those where an unusual event takes place. The rest of the data, which is actually representing the greatest part, relates to usual or normal activities that are of no real value to the security task and thus its viewing, storage and processing are pure waste of resources. Therefore, automatically finding the exact spot in a surveillance video sequence where an interesting event occurred is of great importance financially and to take timely actions. In this project we investigate the detection of remarkable events in video surveillance scenarios. We look into how to distinguish events in surveillance scenarios, and further what is a remarkable event. We specifically focus our attention on the event of object dropping in public places such as airports and train stations. We try to answer some of the following questions: Is it possible to create a system for modeling salient events in surveillance scenarios? How does one determine what stands out as a remarkable event? How to distinguish between less remarkable events and more remarkable event taking place?

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

analysis object detection video salient event surveillance


A locking-free stabilized kinematic EFG model for plane strain limit analysis An element free Galerkin (EFG) based formulation for limit analysis of rigid-perfectly plastic plane strain problems is presented. In the paper it is demonstrated that volumetric locking and instability problems can be avoided by using a stabilized conforming nodal integration scheme. Furthermore, the stabilized EFG method described allows stable and accurate solutions to be obtained with minimal computational effort. The discrete kinematic formulation is cast in the form of a second-order cone problem, allowing efficient interior-point solvers to be used to obtain solutions. Finally, the performance of the stabilized EFG method is illustrated by considering several numerical examples.

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

limit analysis
volumetric locking
nodal integration

meshless methods
strain smoothing
second order cone programming