Fuzzy Hough transform and an MLP with fuzzy input output for character recognition A neuro-fuzzy system for character recognition using a fuzzy Hough transform technique is presented in this paper. For each character pattern, membership values are determined for a number of fuzzy sets defined on the standard Hough transform accumulator cells. These basic fuzzy sets are combined by t-norms to synthesize additional fuzzy sets whose heights form an n-dimensional feature vector for the pattern. A 3n-dimensional fuzzy linguistic vector is generated from the n-dimensional feature vector by defining three linguistic fuzzy sets, namely, weak, moderate and strong. The linguistic set membership functions are derived from the Butterworth polynomials and are similar to the gain functions of low-pass, band-pass and high-pass filters, respectively. A multilayer perceptron (MLP) is trained with the fuzzy linguistic vectors by the back propagation of errors. The MLP outputs represent fuzzy sets denoting similarity of an input feature vector to a number of character pattern classes. Recognition accuracy of the system is more than 98%, (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

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

fuzzy hough transform
multilayer perceptron
character recognition


Control of a nonlinear liquid level system using a new artificial neural network based reinforcement learning approach A neural network based reinforcement learning control strategy has been proposed. Neural network and reinforcement learning paradigms are synergistically combined. The proposed strategies are tested on two benchmark nonlinear control problem. Simulation results indicate good performance on nonlinear regulation problems.

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

reinforcement learning
nonlinear control


A Bayesian approach for stochastic white matter tractography White matter fiber bundles in the human brain can be located by tracing the local water diffusion in diffusion weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) images. In this paper, a novel Bayesian modeling approach for white matter tractography is presented. The uncertainty associated with estimated white matter fiber paths is investigated, and a method for calculating the probability of a connection between two areas in the brain is introduced. The main merits of the presented methodology are its simple implementation and its ability to handle noise in a theoretically justified way. Theory for estimating global connectivity is also presented, as well as a theorem that facilitates the estimation of the parameters in a constrained tensor model of the local water diffusion profile.

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

diffusion tensor-magnetic resonance imaging (dt-mri)


Comparison of algorithms for frequency domain coupled device and circuit simulation This paper examines three algorithmic approaches for the frequency-domain harmonic-balance method in a coupled device and circuit simulator. These are the nonquasi-static, quasi-static, and modified Volterra series approaches. A detailed qualitative and quantitative comparison between these approaches is provided in terms of accuracy and the computational resources required.

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

coupled simulation
harmonic-balance method
mixed-level simulation
steady-state analysis


Inter-cell Interference Modeling in LTE Systems Traditionally, inter-cell interference in wireless cellular systems has been modeled as a zero-mean random variable with variance equal to the average power of the interference. While this model is appropriate for code division multiple access-type systems, in orthogonal frequency division multiple access-based systems, such as long term evolution (LTE), it does not hold anymore. This paper considers the problem of interference modeling for the downlink of LTE systems. It is shown, through analytical and numerical studies, that the interference can be deemed as a gaussian random variate with random variance (i.e., the variance depends on the strength of the interference itself), thus implying that it is actually a non-gaussian random variate.

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

long term evolution (lte)
inter-cell interference modeling
ofdma
systemvue


a comparative test of web accessibility evaluation methods Accessibility auditors have to choose a method when evaluating accessibility: expert review (a.k.a. conformance testing), user testing, subjective evaluations, barrier walkthrough are some possibilities. However, little is known to date about their relative strengths and weaknesses. Furthermore, what happened for usability evaluation methods is likely to repeat for accessibility: that there is uncertainty about not only pros and cons of methods, but also about criteria to be used to compare them and metrics to measure these criteria. After a quick review and description of methods, the paper illustrates a comparative test of two web accessibility evaluation methods: conformance testing and barrier walkthrough. The comparison aims at determining merits of barrier walkthrough, using conformance testing as a control condition. A comparison framework is outlined, followed by the description of a laboratory experiment with 12 subjects (novice accessibility evaluators), and its results. Significant differences were found in terms of correctness, one of the several metrics used to compare the methods. Reliability also appears to be different.

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

accessibility evaluation method
quality assessment


Fuzzy inference to supplier evaluation and selection based on quality index: a flexible approach Supplier evaluation and selection are very important issues in todays highly competitive global business environment. Many studies have inferred that high quality has a positive, direct impact upon increasing profitability, through lowering operating costs and improving market share; therefore, quality is regarded as the most important factor for supplier evaluation and selection among various criteria. Among various quality control and assurance activities, process capability index C pk is the most widely used index in making managerial decisions as it provides bounds on the process yield for normally distributed processes. However, existing methods for assessing process performance, which were constructed by statistical inference may unfortunately lead to fine results, because uncertainties exist in most real-world applications. Thus, this study adopts fuzzy inference to deal with testing of C pk. A brief score is obtained for assessing a suppliers process instead of a severe evaluation. Moreover, this study extends the proposed approach to conduct the supplier selection problem, which can significantly avoid ambiguous results. Finally, a real example is examined to illustrate the applicability of the proposed approach.

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

quality control
supplier evaluation
supplier selection


The spectral response of Buxus sempervirens to different types of environmental stress A laboratory experiment The European Mediterranean regions are expected to encounter drier summer conditions and warmer temperatures for the winter of +2C and of +5C for the summer in the next six decennia. As a result the natural vegetation will face harsher conditions due to lower water availability, longer summer droughts and higher temperatures resulting in plant stress conditions. To monitor vegetation conditions like stress and leaf area index dynamics in our study area in Mediterranean France we use earth observation techniques like imaging spectroscopy. To assist image analysis interpretation we carried out a laboratory experiment to investigate the spectral and visible response of Buxus sempervirens, a common Mediterranean species, to five different types of stress: drought, drought-and-heat, light deprivation, total saturation and chlorine poisoning. For 52days plants were subjected to stress. We collected data on the visible and spectral signs, and calculated thirteen vegetation indices. The plants response time to different stress types varied from 10 to 32days. Spectroscopic techniques revealed plant stress up to 15days earlier than visual inspection. Visible signs of stress of the plants included curling and shrinking of the leaves, de-colouring of the leaves, leaves becoming breakable, opening up of the plants canopy and sagging of the branches. Spectral signs of stress occurred first in the water absorption bands at 1450 and 1940nm, followed by reduced absorption in the visible wavelengths, and next by reduced reflectance in near infrared. Light deprivation did not result in any stress signs, while drought, drought and heat and chlorine poisoning resulted in significant stress. The spectral response did not show differences for different stress types. Analysis of the vegetation indices identified the Carter-2 (R695/R760), the RedGreen Index (R690/R550) and the Vogelman-2 (R734?R747)/(R715+R726) as the best performing ones to identify stress. The lab experiment shows that spectroscopic techniques are useful to detect stress status of plants and in an earlier stage than visible signs of stress become apparent, but that spectroscopy does not reveal the type of plant stress.

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

plant stress experiments
spectral plant stress indices
peyne area


There is More to IXPs than Meets the Eye Internet eXchange Points (IXPs) are generally considered to be the successors of the four Network Access Points (NAPs) that were mandated as part of the decommissioning of the National Science Foundation Network (NSFNET) in 1994/95 to facilitate the transition from the NSFNET to the "public Internet" as we know it today. While this popular view does not tell the whole story behind the early beginnings of IXPs, what is true is that since around 1994, the number of operational IXPs worldwide has grown to more than 300 (as of May 2013(1)), with the largest IXPs handling daily traffic volumes comparable to those carried by the largest Tier-1 ISPs. However, IXPs have never really attracted much attention from the networking research community. At first glance, this lack of interest seems understandable as IXPs have apparently little to do with current "hot" topic areas such as data centers and cloud services or Software Defined Networking (SDN) and mobile communication. However, we argue in this article that, in fact, IXPs are all about data centers and cloud services and even SDN and mobile communication and should be of great interest to networking researchers interested in understanding the current and future Internet ecosystem. To this end, we survey the existing but largely fragmented sources of publicly available information about IXPs to describe their basic technical and operational aspects and highlight the critical differences among the various IXPs in the different regions of the world, especially in Europe and North America. More importantly, we illustrate the important role that IXPs play in today's Internet ecosystem and discuss how IXP-driven innovation in Europe is shaping and redefining the Internet marketplace, not only in Europe but increasingly so around the world.

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

performance
reliability
economics
internet exchange point
peering
content delivery


Enabling international adoption of LOINC through translation Interoperable health information exchange depends on adoption of terminology standards, but international use of such standards can be challenging because of language differences between local concept names and the standard terminology. To address this important barrier, we describe the evolution of an efficient process for constructing translations of LOINC terms names, the foreign language functions in RELMA, and the current state of translations in LOINC. We also present the development of the Italian translation to illustrate how translation is enabling adoption in international contexts. We built a tool that finds the unique list of LOINC Parts that make up a given set of LOINC terms. This list enables translation of smaller pieces like the core component hepatitis c virus separately from all the suffixes that could appear with it, such Ab.IgG, DNA, and RNA. We built another tool that generates a translation of a full LOINC name from all of these atomic pieces. As of version 2.36 (June 2011), LOINC terms have been translated into nine languages from 15 linguistic variants other than its native English. The five largest linguistic variants have all used the Part-based translation mechanism. However, even with efficient tools and processes, translation of standard terminology is a complex undertaking. Two of the prominent linguistic challenges that translators have faced include: the approach to handling acronyms and abbreviations, and the differences in linguistic syntax (e.g. word order) between languages. LOINCs open and customizable approach has enabled many different groups to create translations that met their needs and matched their resources. Distributing the standard and its many language translations at no cost worldwide accelerates LOINC adoption globally, and is an important enabler of interoperable health information exchange.

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

clinical laboratory information systems/standards


Theoretical model and application of multilevel modeling in the research of social system Purpose - To identify the typical multilevel issues in social science, as well as illustrate the theoretical basis, hierarchical models and empirical exemplars of multilevel paradigm. Design/methodology/approach - Hierarchical and multilevel data are extremely common in social systems, but multilevel analysis is constrained by statistical techniques. With the development of social system theory and empirical methods such as hierarchical structure modeling and latent growth modeling, multilevel paradigm can be used to analyze multilevel data. So it is necessary to identify typical multilevel phenomena in social science and discuss multilevel modeling techniques. Findings - This paper identifies four typical multilevel phenomena in social system study: hierarchical and clustered sampling, collective construct research, longitudinal repeated measures, and event history analysis. Hierarchical structure modeling and latent growth modeling are effective multilevel analysis techniques in social science because of their advantages in the integration of social system research. Research limitations/implications - The quality and availability of multilevel data are the main limitations regarding which model will be applied. Practical implications - The paper can aid the provision of effective multilevel models to social workers. Originality/value - This paper provides information on application of multilevel modeling in social science.

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


Active noise control system via multi-agent credit assignment Multi-Agent systems have proved powerful in various sciences and engineering problems. This paper proposes a novel Multi-Agent Active Noise Control (ANC) formulation via the credit assignment approach. The introduced ANC removes multitonal acoustic noises in the environment invoking reinforcement learning techniques. In some multi-agent systems, for the training of all agents, only one reward is available. It is clear that this reward does not belong to one particular agent. The assignment of this reward to the agents is a problem which is known as Multi-Agent Credit Assignment (MCA). In this research, each agent is responsible for reducing the noise power of one single harmonic, while only the total noise power of the signals is known. Therefore, it is required to assign a power contribution to each single harmonic. To resolve this problem, at first, the Knowledge Evaluation Based Critic Assignment (KEBCA) idea with proper modification is used and then a new method is introduced for this special problem. Simulation results show good improvement in the system performance by switching the single agent into the multi-agent system.

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

knowledge evaluation based critic assignment (kebca)


Anatomy and empirical evaluation of an adaptive Web-based information filtering system A case study in adaptive information filtering systems for the Web is presented. The described system comprises two main modules, named HUMOS and WIFS. HUMOS is a user modeling system based on stereotypes. It builds and maintains long term models of individual Internet users, representing their information needs. The user model is structured as a frame containing informative words, enhanced with semantic networks. The proposed machine learning approach for the user modeling process is based on the use of an artificial neural network for stereotype assignments. WIFS is a content-based information filtering module, capable of selecting html/text documents on computer science collected from the Web according to the interests of the user. It has been created for the very purpose of the structure of the user model utilized by HUMOS. Currently, this system acts as an adaptive interface to the Web search engine ALTA VISTA(TM). An empirical evaluation of the system has been made in experimental settings. The experiments focused on the evaluation, by means of a non-parametric statistics approach, of the added value in terms of system performance given by the user modeling component; it also focused on the evaluation of the usability and user acceptance of the system. The results of the experiments are satisfactory and support the choice of a user model-based approach to information filtering on the Web.

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

artificial neural networks
case-based reasoning
empirical methods


Cryptanalysis of Chu's DCT based watermarking scheme In 2003, Chu proposed an oblivious watermarking algorithm by modifying the CKLS scheme proposed by Cox, Kilian, Leighton, and Shamoon in 1997, known as the CKLS scheme. In this correspondence, we report that the modification presented by Chu is susceptible to a suitably modified attack devised by Das and Maitra in 2004. In fact, the experimental results show that Chu's scheme is even weaker than the CKLS scheme in terms of our attack.

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

digital watermarking
single copy attacks
subsampling


Registration of non-uniform density 3D laser scans for mapping with micro aerial vehicles We present a mapping system for non-uniform density 3D point clouds acquired by MAVs. To compensate for the different densities, we approximate the underlying surface. The extracted surface information is used to efficiently align the point clouds. We use the same surface-based error metric in a multi-edge pose graph optimization. We demonstrate 3D mapping with MAVs and superior performance to a single-edge system.

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

mapping
registration
micro aerial vehicles

approximate surface reconstruction
generalized-icp


Anticipation based on constraint processing in a multi-agent context Anticipation is a general concept used and applied in various domains. Many studies in the field of artificial intelligence have investigated the capacity for anticipation. In this article, we focus on the use of anticipation in multi-agent coordination, particularly preventive anticipation which consists of anticipating undesirable future situations in order to avoid them. We propose to use constraint processing to formalize preventive anticipation in the context of multi-agent coordination. The resulting algorithm allows any action that may induce an undesirable future state to be detected upstream of any multi-agent coordination process. Our proposed method is instantiated in a road traffic simulation tool. For the specific question of simulating traffic at road junctions, our results show that taking anticipation into account allows globally realistic behaviors to be reproduced without provoking gridlock between the simulated vehicles.

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


On existence of reporter strands in DNA-based graph structures Through self-assembly of branched junction molecules many different DNA structures (graphs) can be assembled. We show that every multigraph can be assembled by DNA such that there is a single strand that traces each edge in the graph at least once. This strand corresponds to a boundary component of a two-dimensional orientable surface that has the given graph as a deformation retract. This boundary component traverses every edge at least once, and it defines a circular path in the graph that "preserves the graph structure" and traverses each edge. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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

graph structures by dna
dna graphs
thickened graphs
boundary components


Memory-efficient enumeration of constrained spanning trees Dozens of optimization problems involving constrained spanning trees have been proven to be NP-hard. Ln practice, this implies that they can only be solved by exhaustive search. We show that many corresponding enumeration problems, i.e., the systematic listing of all instances of a class of constrained trees, are solved efficiently in the following sense: their state spaces exhibit a sufficiently rich structure to enable a reverse search depth-first traversal that needs neither a stack nor markers. We present and implement algorithms for various classes of "fat" and "skinny" trees. (C) 1999 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

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

enumeration
exhaustive search
optimization
algorithms
spanning trees

combinatorics output-sensitive graphs constraints


An educational framework for creating VR application through groupwork Virtual reality (VR) application creation is a comprehensive development process that requires a variety of skills: not only hardware and software knowledge but also aesthetic design and storytelling abilities. A groupwork-based project is a suitable approach for creating a VR application because the group members can utilize their full powers and knowledge of their special fields through collaboration. Students learn best when they are actively involved in a process, such as in group discussion and field work. Such groupwork projects are also effective in improving their collaboration skills. This paper introduces an educational framework for creating VR applications through groupwork, and highlights the advantages of this framework.

O O O 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 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


Quantification of Total Plasma Cell-Free DNA in Ovarian Cancer Using Real-Time PCR Our objective was to compare the levels of total circulating plasma cell-free DNA (CfDNA) using real-time PCR in patients with late-stage ovarian cancer with those in unaffected controls. Following IRB consent, DNA was extracted from archived frozen plasma of 19 patients with primary ovarian carcinoma and 12 age-matched controls using Qiagen DNA Isolation Kits. Quantification of total CfDNA was performed using real-time PCR with the TaqMan Assay for GAPDH, ?-actin and ?-globin and the number of genome equivalents (GE/mL) were determined from a standard curve. CfDNA levels of these loci were compared between the groups with Student's t-test, with P < 0.05 being statistically significant. The mean age of the patients was 61.6 years (9.6) and of the controls was 54 years (12.2). All patients had high-grade, advanced stage (III or IV) serous ovarian carcinomas. Preoperative CA-125 levels ranged from 43 to 15,626 IU/mL (mean 2487.2 3686 IU/mL). Total CfDNA in ovarian cancer was higher among patients with ovarian cancer as compared to controls at all three loc

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


A Heuristic Algorithm for Core Selection in Multicast Routing With the development of network multimedia technology, more and more real-time multimedia applications need to transmit information using multicast. The basis of multicast data transmission is to construct a multicast tree. The main problem concerning the construction of a shared multicast tree is selection of a root of the shared tree or the core point. In this paper, we propose a heuristic algorithm for core selection in multicast routing. The proposed algorithm selects core point by considering both delay and inter-destination delay variation. The simulation results show that the proposed algorithm performs better than the existing algorithms in terms of delay variation subject to the end-to-end delay bound. The mathematical time complexity and the execution time of the proposed algorithm are comparable to those of the existing algorithms.

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

qos routing
delay-variation
end-to-end delay


Multidisciplinary design optimisation of a recurve bow based on applications of the autogenetic design theory and distributed computing The focus of this paper is to present a method of multidisciplinary design optimisation based on the autogenetic design theory (ADT) that provides methods, which are partially implemented in the optimisation software described here. The main thesis of the ADT is that biological evolution and the process of developing products are mainly similar, i.e. procedures from biological evolution can be transferred into product development. In order to fulfil requirements and boundary conditions of any kind (that may change at any time), both biological evolution and product development look for appropriate solution possibilities in a certain area, and try to optimise those that are actually promising by varying parameters and combinations of these solutions. As the time necessary for multidisciplinary design optimisations is a critical aspect in product development, ways to distribute the optimisation process with the effective use of unused calculating capacity, can reduce the optimisation time drastically. Finally, a practical example shows how ADT methods and distributed optimising are applied to improve a product.

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

autogenetic design theory
product development
distributed computing

product optimisation
genetic algorithms
process automation


IDENTIFICATION OF STRATEGIC INFORMATION-SYSTEMS OPPORTUNITIES - APPLYING AND COMPARING 2 METHODOLOGIES Much has been said about opportunities for the strategic use of information technology by organizations aiming to gain a competitive advantage. However, not much is known about the actual process by which opportunities for the use of strategic information systems are identified. While various planning methodologies have been proposed, there is at present a paucity of information on empirical results obtained from applying them, and on their effectiveness, efficiency, and specificity. This article presents the results of a field experiment aimed at applying and comparing two well-known methodologies for identifying information systems opportunties from a competitive advantage perspective-Porter's value chain and Wiseman's strategic thrusts methodology. An instrument was prepared to operationalize each methodology, which was then applied in two matched sets of 10 medium-sized enterprises. Both methodologies were found to be effective in generating a significant number of ideas for information systems worthy of implementation. Similarities and differences are analyzed and discussed in terms of the number, estimated implementation costs and duration, managerial level, and decision to implement the applications identified by the two methodologies. These applications are also classified from the perspective of both Porter's and Wiseman's framework. The results seem to indicate that while there is an overall similarity between the two methodologies, there are certain differences that show the more outward orientation of the strategic thrusts framework and its greater attractiveness for organizations in unstable environments.

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

planning methodologies
strategic information systems
competitive advantage

interorganizational systems
electronic data interchange


fault tolerance evaluation and schedulability analysis The use of real-time systems can differ from their initial design and requirements. New missions may take place in a more agressive environment and cause faults that are not managed by the initial fault tolerance mechanisms. Before attributing a new mission it is interesting to know the limits of a real-time system in order to avoid a new validation process. In this paper we intend to evaluate the fault resilience. We deal with the fault tolerant scheduling analysis under pseudo-periodic faults and fault bursts . We provide methods to compute the features of temporal fault distribution that maximize the Worst Case Response Time of tasks. Thus we are able to evaluate the maximum fault resilience of a task. We also provide the maximum fault resilience of the real-time system.

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

real-time scheduling
pseudo-periodic fault
fault burst


Multi-contrast unbiased MRI atlas of a Parkinsons disease population Parkinsons disease (PD) is the second leading neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimers disease. In PD research and its surgical treatment, such as deep brain stimulation (DBS), anatomical structural identification and references for spatial normalization are essential, and human brain atlases/templates are proven highly instrumental. However, two shortcomings affect current templates used for PD. First, many templates are derived from a single healthy subject that is not sufficiently representative of the PD-population anatomy. This may result in suboptimal surgical plans for DBS surgery and biased analysis for morphological studies. Second, commonly used mono-contrast templates lack sufficient image contrast for some subcortical structures (i.e., subthalamic nucleus) and biochemical information (i.e., iron content), a valuable feature in current PD research.

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

multi-echo flash
unbiased brain atlas
multi-contrast
susceptibility-weighted imaging


On the complexity of computing with zero-dimensional triangular sets We study the complexity of some fundamental operations for triangular sets in dimension zero. Using Las Vegas algorithms, we prove that one can perform such operations as change of order, equiprojectable decomposition, or quasi-inverse computation with a cost that is essentially that of modular composition. Over an abstract field, this leads to a subquadratic cost (with respect to the degree of the underlying algebraic set). Over a finite field, in a boolean RAM model, we obtain a quasi-linear running time using Kedlaya and Umans' algorithm for modular composition. Conversely, we also show how to reduce the problem of modular composition to change of order for triangular sets, so that all these problems are essentially equivalent. Our algorithms are implemented in Maple; we present some experimental results. (C) 2012 Published by Elsevier B.V.

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

triangular sets
modular composition
change of order
equiprojectable decomposition


Optimal design of Fourier estimator in the presence of microstructure noise The Fourier estimator of Malliavin and Mancino depends on both sample size and a so-called cutting frequency. The latter controls the number of Fourier coefficients to be included, and it also determines how the Fourier estimator responds to market microstructure noise. By examining the finite sample properties of the Fourier estimator, an easy-to-implement procedure is developed for the optimal cutting frequency which minimizes the mean squared error in the presence of the microstructure noise, along with a modified Whittle likelihood approach for the estimation of the signal-to-noise ratio.

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

discrete fourier transform
quadratic variation
periodogram
spectral density


Image preprocessing with a parallel optoelectronic processor ? We use a parallel optoelectronic processor for image preprocessing. We extend the processor to improve its parallelism and to make it more compact. We adapt several preprocessing operators for the processor. We write a compiler and simulator for evaluating the presented algorithms.

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

parallel image processing
parallel optical processing
high-performance computing
parallel processing


Entanglement in the XY spin chain with nonuniform external magnetic fields We study the entanglement in the three-site Heisenberg XY model with nonuniform external magnetic fields and obtain analytic expressions for the measures of entanglement in the system with both the periodic and the open boundary conditions. We show that both the ground state and the excited states of the system possess remarkable entanglement properties and the entanglement clearly depends on the magnitude of external fields. We obtain the pairwise thermal entanglement of the system. We also discuss the boundary effects on the entanglement.

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


In-formation on the prairie: Signs, patterns, systems and prairie dogs The concept of information is clearly foundational to the information disciplines but lacking in a clear conceptual foundation. In this paper we propose that the concept is clearly overloaded and suggest that a new vocabulary is needed to enhance our powers of understanding and explanation. We argue that information is better situated at the intersection of signs, patterns and systems, which involves the enactment of forma (the substance of a sign), informa (the content of a sign) and performa (the use of signs in coordinated action). Within this perspective information is considered an accomplishment not only of humans but also of animals. This leads us to use a well-documented case from the animal kingdom, that of communication amongst Gunnison prairie dogs, to both ground and expand upon significant elements from our conceptual framework. This we believe helps shed new light on what the juxtaposition of information with behaviour actually means.

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


Influenza immunizations in the elderly: A continuous quality improvement project As part of the continuous quality improvement program at The Toronto Hospital's Department of Family & Community Medicine (TTH-DFCM), it was considered necessary to examine the structures, processes and outcomes of influenza immunization for the elderly. Objective: The study sought to (a) document the current influenza immunization process; (b) quantify influenza immunization rates for elderly patients during two consecutive immunization seasons (1996 and 1997), and compare these rates across physician teams, attending staff vs. residents, patient gender, and patient age groups; (c) compare influenza immunization rates with other centers; and (d) identify barriers and propose solutions to improve influenza immunization rates in the elderly. Design: Evaluation Formative Research. Setting: A computerized roster of 15,000 patients at The Toronto Hospital, Department of Family and Community Medicine, a University of Toronto academic teaching center. Participants: Active patients age 65 years and over. Dependent variable: Influenza immunization. Independent variables: Physician Teams, Physician status, Patient gender, and Patient age group. Results: Immunization rates of attendees increased from 75.4% to 78.7%; over 3% increase from 1996 to 1997. Major subgroups which benefited from increased immunization rates were patients in the Blue team, patients age 70-74 years, and female patients. Conclusion: This study presents a rigorous examination of the components of the influenza immunization program, and demonstrates improved immunization rates over a two-year period. Suggestions for future action have been identified. The study design can also serve as a model for future clinical quality improvement projects.

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

influenza
immunization
elderly
quality improvement


Size Constrained Distance Clustering: Separation Properties and Some Complexity Results In this paper we study the complexity of some size constrained clustering problems with norm L-p. We obtain the following results: (i) A separation property for the constrained 2-clustering problem. This implies that the optimal solutions in the 1-dimensional case verify the so-called "String Property"; (ii) The NP-hardness of the constrained 2-clustering problem for every norm L-p (p > 1); (iii) A polynomial time algorithm for the constrained 2-clustering problem in dimension 1 for every norm L-p with integer p. We also give evidence that this result cannot be extended to norm L-p with rational non-integer p; (iv) The NP-hardness of the constrained clustering problem in dimension 1 for every norm L-p (p >= 1).

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


Multicolor routing in the undirected hypercube An undirected routing problem is a pair (G,R) where G is an undirected graph and R is an undirected multigraph such that V(G)=V(R) . A solution to an undirected routing problem (G,R) is a collection P of undirected paths of G (possibly containing multiple occurrences of the same path) such that edges of R are in one-to-one correspondence with the paths of P , with the path corresponding to edge {u,v} connecting u and v . We say that a collection of paths P is k -colorable if each path of P can be colored by one of the k colors so that the paths of the same color are edge-disjoint (each edge of G appears at most once in the paths of each single color). In the circuit-switched routing context, and in optical network applications in particular, it is desirable to find a solution to a routing problem that is colorable with as few colors as possible. Let denote the n -dimensional hypercube, for arbitrary n?1 . We show that a routing problem always admits a 4d -colorable solution where d is the maximum vertex degree of R . This improves over the 16?d/2? -color result which is implicit in the previous work of Aumann and Rabani [SODA95, pp. 567576]. Since, for any positive d , there is a multigraph R of degree d such that any solution to requires at least d colors, our result is tight up to a factor of four. In fact, when d=1 , it is tight up to a factor of two, since there is a graph of degree one (the antipodal matching) that requires two colors.

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

edge-disjoint paths
algorithm
circuit-switched network


Methods for the reduction of odometry errors in over-constrained mobile robots This paper presents an analysis of odometry errors in over-constrained mobile robots, that is, vehicles that have more independent motors than degrees of freedom. Examples of over-constrained vehicles are the various 6-wheeled Mars Rovers like Rocky-7, Rocky-8, or Fido. Based on our analysis we developed two novel measures aimed at reducing odometry errors. We also developed a novel method that serves as a framework for the implementation of the two new measures, as well as for other, conventional error reducing measures. One of the two new measures, called "Fewest Pulses Measure," makes use of the observation that most terrain irregularities, as well as wheel slip, result in an erroneous overcount of encoder pulses. The second new measure, called "Cross-coupled Control Measure," optimizes the motor control algorithm of the robot to reduce synchronization errors that would otherwise result in wheel slip with conventional controllers. The novel method that serves as a framework for other measures is based on so-called "Expert Rules." In this paper we formulate three expert rules aimed at reducing dead-reckoning errors. Two of these expert rules are related to the foregoing discussion on error reducing measures. The third expert rule adds a gyroscope to the system and we re-examine the effectiveness of the odometry error-reducing measures in the context of this addition. In the work described in this paper we modified a Pioneer AT skid-steer platform by providing it with four independent drive motors and encoders. We implemented our error-reducing measures and the expert rule method on this over-constrained platform and present experimental results.

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

odometry
expert rules
pioneer at
overconstrained
encoders

mobile robot
error correction
cross-coupled control


Castelnuovo-Mumford regularity of projective monomial varieties of codimension two Let K be an algebraically closed field, and let V subset of P(K)(n+1) be a projective monomial variety of codimension two with n >= 2, i.e., a projective toric variety of codimension two whose homogeneous coordinate ring is a simplicial semigroup ring. We give an explicit formula for the Castel nuovo-Mumford regularity of V, reg(V), in terms of the reduced Grobner basis of I(V) with respect to the reverse lexicographic order. As a consequence, we show that reg (V) <= deg V - 1, where deg V is the degree of V, and characterize when equality holds. (c) 2006 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 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 B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

projective toric variety
semigroup ring
grobner basis

castelnuovo-mumford regularity
simplicial affine semigroup
monomial ideal of nested type


New global optima results for the Kauffman N K model: handling dependency The Kauffman NK model has been used in theoretical biology, physics and business organizations to model complex systems with interacting components. This paper presents new global optima results for the NK model by developing tools for handling dependency in the cases where K grows with N; this generalizes the previous work that focused on the analysis of the (independent) case K=N-1. A dependency graph is defined and studied to handle dependencies among underlying random variables in the NK model. Order statistics (with dependencies) and the expected value of the global optima, E-N,E- K, are bounded using equitable coloring of the dependency graph. These bounds convert the problem of bounding order statistics of dependent random variables into that of independent random variables while incorporating quantitative information about the mutual dependencies between the underlying random variables. An alternative upper bound on E-N,E- K using direct arguments is also proposed. A detailed analysis of E-N,E- K for K close to N (K=N-alpha and K=beta N, alpha is an element of Z(+),beta is an element of (0,1)) is given for underlying uniform and normal distributions. Finally, for bounded underlying distributions, the global optima is shown to be concentrated around its mean E-N,E- K.

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

nk model
order statistics
dependency graph

stochastic combinatorial optimization
equitable coloring of graphs
concentration of measure


Parallel performance modeling of irregular applications in cell-centered finite volume methods over unstructured tetrahedral meshes Multicore and GPU code optimization for finite volume computation. Numerical experiments investigating performance relative to irregularity. Detailed performance modeling based on CPU and GPU architecture. Generalized performance model for identifying bottlenecks in irregular applications.

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

nvidia k20 gpu
finite volume method
unstructured tetrahedral mesh
cuda programming
openmp


On the oriented chromatic number of Halin graphs An oriented k-coloring of an oriented graph G is a mapping c: V(G) {1, 2, ... k) such that (i) if xy is an element of E(G) their c(x) not equal c(y) and (ii) if xy.zi is an element of E(G) then c(x) = c(t) double right arrow c(y) not equal c(z). The oriented chromatic number (chi) over bar (G) of an oriented graph G is defined as the smallest k such that G admits an oriented k-coloring. We prove in this paper that every Hahn graph has oriented chromatic number at most 9. improving a previous bound proposed by Vignal. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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

graph coloring
oriented graph coloring
graph homomorphism
combinatorial problems


Adaptive fuzzy vector control for a doubly-fed induction motor This paper presents a new adaptive fuzzy vector controller (AFVC) to handle the torque and speed tracking problem of a doubly-fed induction motor (DFIM) as an alternative to classical PI based vector control method generally used for its simplicity. However, the control performance of DFIM is still influenced by the variations of the parameters, the external load disturbances and perturbations in practical applications. Then, it is difficult to achieve high control performances of DFIM by using conventional PI-type control techniques. The proposed AFVC scheme uses adaptive fuzzy systems to reasonably approximate the uncertain dynamics appearing in the DFIM, relaxing thereby the usual modeling requirement about the DFIM dynamics. Of fundamental interest, it is shown that all the closed-loop signals are bounded and the tracking errors exponentially converge to a residual set. Probing simulation results are given to emphasize the effectiveness of the proposed AFVC system with respect to the usual feedback linearization based vector control (FLVC) 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 B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

doubly-fed induction machine
torque tracking
adaptive fuzzy control
backstepping approach


modeling user submission strategies on production grids Production-grid users experience many system faults as well as high and variable latencies due to the scale, complexity and sharing of such infrastructures. To improve performance, they adopt different submission strategies, that are potentially aggressive for the infrastructure. This work studies the impact of three different strategies. It is based on a probabilistic modeling of these strategies which are evaluated according to their performance, measured as the reduction of the latency expectation, and the infrastructure overhead, measured as the additional number of submitted jobs. A strategy cost criterion is then derived. Experiments are performed using real workload traces collected from the EGEE production infrastructure. Under these conditions, a good balance between high performance and low overhead can be found.

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

grid computing
submission strategy
modelisation


Global uniform asymptotical stability of a class of nonlinear cascaded systems with application to a nonholonomic wheeled mobile robot In this article, we consider the stability analysis problem for a class of nonlinear cascaded systems by using homogeneous properties. Assume that the driving subsystem and the driven subsystem are both homogeneous and locally uniformly asymptotically stable. If the cascaded term satisfies a given inequality, then the cascaded system is globally uniformly asymptotically stable. Furthermore, in the case that both degrees of homogeneity are negative, the cascaded system is globally uniformly finite-time stable. Compared with the existing methods, the conditions given in this article are much easier to verify. These stability results are applied to the global tracking control problem of a nonholonomic wheeled mobile robot. Simulation results are provided to show the effectiveness of the methods.

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

cascaded system
asymptotical stability
wheeled mobile robot
tracking control

homogeneous system
finite-time stability


Study on Concurrent Measurements of Velocity and Density Distributions for High-Speed CO2 Flow Velocity and density distributions of a high-speed and initial CO2 jet flow have been analyzed concurrently by a developed three-dimensional digital speckle tomography and a particle image velocimetry (PIV). Two high-speed cameras have been used for the tomography and one for the PIV since a shape of a nozzle for the jet flow is bilaterally symmetric and Hie starting flow is fast and unsteady. The speckle movements between 110 flow and CO2 jet flow have been obtained by a cross-correlation tracking method so that those distances can be transferred to deflection angles of laser rays for density gradients. The three-dimensional density fields for the high-speed CO2 jet flow have been reconstructed from the deflection angles by the real-time tomography method, and the two-dimensional velocity fields have been calculated by the PIV method concurrently and instantaneously.

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

flow visualization
digital speckle system
particle image velocimetry (piv)
carbon dioxide (co2)


the logic negotiation model Successful negotiators prepare by determining their position along five dimensions: Legitimacy, Options, Goals, Independence, and Commitment, (LOGIC). We introduce a negotiation model based on these dimensions and on two primitive concepts: intimacy (degree of closeness) and balance (degree of fairness). The intimacy is a pair of matrices that evaluate both an agent's contribution to the relationship and its opponent's contribution each from an information view and from a utilitarian view across the five LOGIC dimensions. The balance is the difference between these matrices. A relationship strategy maintains a target intimacy for each relationship that an agent would like the relationship to move towards in future. The negotiation strategy maintains a set of Options that are in-line with the current intimacy level, and then tactics wrap the Options in argumentation with the aim of attaining a successful deal and manipulating the successive negotiation balances towards the target intimacy.

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


DETECTION OF HEAT FLUX FAILURES IN BUILDING USING A SOFT COMPUTING DIAGNOSTIC SYSTEM The detection of insulation failures in buildings could potentially conserve energy supplies and improve future designs. Improvements to thermal insulation in buildings include the development of models to assess fabric gain -heat flux through exterior walls in the building- and heating processes. Thermal insulation standards are now contractual obligations in new buildings, and the energy efficiency of buildings constructed prior to these regulations has yet to be determined. The main assumption is that it will be based on heat flux and conductivity measurement. Diagnostic systems to detect thermal insulation failures should recognize anomalous situations in a building that relate to insulation, heating and ventilation. This highly relevant issue in the construction sector today is approached through a novel intelligent procedure that can be programmed according to local building and heating system regulations and the specific features of a given climate zone. It is based on the following phases. Firstly, the dynamic thermal performance of different variables is specifically modeled. Secondly, an exploratory projection pursuit method called Cooperative Maximum-Likelihood Hebbian Learning extracts the relevant features. Finally, a supervised neural model and identification techniques constitute the model for the diagnosis of thermal insulation failures in building due to the heat flux through exterior walls, using relevant features of the data set. The reliability of the proposed method is validated with real datasets from several Spanish cities in winter time.

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

computational intelligence
identification systems
artificial neural networks
non-linear systems
energetic efficiency


Estimation of linear transformation by analyzing the periodicity of interpolation The proposed method estimates the linear transformation of an investigated image. The second derivatives for row and column directions exploit the periodicities. Both the magnitude and phase information of the derived signals are analyzed.

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

image forensics
linear transformation detection
resampling detection


A simple numerical solution to the Ward-Tordai equation for the adsorption of non-ionic surfactants A simple numerical scheme for solving the equation of Ward and Tordai (1946) for the diffusion-controlled adsorption of non-ionic surfactants to interfaces is proposed and pseudo-code, as well as C++ source code, is provided. The scheme utilises the trapezium rule of numerical integration and the accuracy and robustness of the method is enhanced by the bisection method of root-finding. The scheme is efficient and flexible in that it can be used with any adsorption isotherm and is readily modified for solving the problem of adsorption onto a convex interface. This scheme is not suggested for the adsorption onto a concave interface and the confusions that have previously arisen in relation to this problem are discussed. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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

diffusion-controlled adsorption
non-ionic surfactants
dynamic surface tension


Uncertainty quantification of MEMS using a data-dependent adaptive stochastic collocation method This paper presents a unified framework for uncertainty quantification (UQ) in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). The goal is to model uncertainties in the input parameters of micromechanical devices and to quantify their effect on the final performance of the device. We consider different electromechanical actuators that operate using a combination of electrostatic and electrothermal modes of actuation, for which high-fidelity numerical models have been developed. We use a data-driven framework to generate stochastic models based on experimentally observed uncertainties in geometric and material parameters. Since we are primarily interested in quantifying the statistics of the output parameters of interest, we develop an adaptive refinement strategy to efficiently propagate the uncertainty through the device model, in order to obtain quantities like the mean and the variance of the stochastic solution with minimal computational effort. We demonstrate the efficacy of this framework by performing UQ in some examples of electrostatic and electrothermomechanical microactuators. We also validate the method by comparing our results with experimentally determined uncertainties in an electrostatic microswitch. We show how our framework results in the accurate computation of uncertainties in micromechanical systems with lower computational effort.

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

uncertainty quantification
stochastic collocation

hybrid electrothermomechanical (etm) actuation


On the potential applications of a 3D random finite element model for the simulation of shot peening Shot peening is a cold-working process that is used mainly to improve the fatigue life of metallic components. Experimental investigation of the mechanisms involved in shot peening is very expensive and complicated. Therefore, the Finite Element (FE) method has been recognized as an effective mean for characterizing the shot peening process and several types of FE models have been developed to evaluate the effects of shot peening parameters. However, in most of the existing FE models, the shot peening sequence and impact location were defined a priori. It is therefore the purpose of this study to consider the random property of the shot peening process. A novel 3D FE model with multiple randomly distributed shots was developed combining a Matlab program with the ANSYS preprocessor. The explicit solver LS-DYNA has been used to simulate the dynamic impingement process. Several potential applications of this novel model such as: the quantitative relationship of the peening intensity, coverage and roughness with respect to the number of shots have been presented. Moreover, simulations with multiple oblique impacts have been carried out in order to compare with results from normal impingements. Our work shows that such a computing strategy can help understanding and predicting the shot peening results better than conventional FE simulations.

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

shot peening intensity
surface coverage
surface roughness


The plausibility of computing the h-index of scholarly productivity and impact using reference-enhanced databases Purpose - This paper aims to provide a general overview, to be followed by a series of papers focusing on the analysis of pros and cons of the three largest, cited-reference-enhanced, multidisciplinary databases (Google Scholar, Scopus, and Web of Science) for determining the h-index. Design/methodology/approach - The paper focuses on the analysis of pros and cons of the three largest, cited-reference-enhanced, multidisciplinary databases (Google Scholar, Scopus and Web of Science). Findings - The h-index, developed by Jorge E. Hirsch to quantify the scientific output of researchers, has immediately received well-deserved attention in academia. The theoretical part of his idea was widely embraced, and even enhanced, by several researchers. Many of them also recommended derivative metrics based on Hirsch's idea to compensate for potential distortion factors, such as high self-citation rates. The practical aspects of determining the h-index also need scrutiny, because some content and software characteristics of reference-enhanced databases can strongly influence the h-index values. Originality/value - The paper focuses on the analysis of pros and cons of the three largest, cited-reference-enhanced, multidisciplinary databases.

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


Complexity bounds on general hard-core predicates A Boolean function b is a hard-core predicate for a one-way function S if b is polynomial-time computable but b(x) is difficult to predict from lf(x). A general one-way function. A seminal result of Goldreich and Levin asserts that the family of parity functions is a general family of hard-core predicates. We show that no general family of hard-core predicates can consist of functions with O(n(1-epsilon)) average sensitivity for any epsilon > 0. As a result, such families cannot consist of functions in AC(0), monotone functions, functions computed by generalized threshold gates, or symmetric d-threshold functions, for d = O(n(1/2-epsilon)) and epsilon > 0.

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

cryptography
one-way function
hard-core predicate
pseudorandom generator


Dynamic behaviors and soliton solutions of the modified ZakharovKuznetsov equation in the electrical transmission line The modified ZakharovKuznetsov (mZK) equation in the electrical transmission line is investigated in this paper. Different expressions on the parameters in the mZK equation are given. By means of the Hirota method, bilinear forms and soliton solutions of the mZK equation are obtained. Linear-stability analysis yields the instability condition for such soliton solutions. We find that the soliton amplitude becomes larger when the inductance L L and capacitance C0 C 0 decrease. Phase-plane analysis is conducted on the mZK equation for the properties at equilibrium points. Then, we investigate the perturbed mZK equation, which can be proposed when the external periodic force is considered. Both the weak and developed chaotic motions are observed. Our results indicate that the two chaotic motions can be manipulated with certain relation between the absolute values of nonlinear terms and the perturbed one. We also find that the chaotic motions can be weakened with the absolute values of L L and C0 C 0 decreased.

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

electrical transmission line
modified zakharovkuznetsov equation
chaotic motions

soliton propagation
symbolic computation


An Efficient and Secure Self-Healing Scheme for LKH With the growing interest in converging fixed and mobile networks (FMC), mobile applications will require more and more resources from both the network and the mobile device. In such context, multicasting is essential because it lowers bandwidth consumption by simultaneously reaching a group of multiple recipients. Securing multicast flows has been extensively studied in the past, but none of the existing solutions were meant to handle the constraints imposed by mobile scenarios, in particular the high packet-loss rate. The need for a low overhead self-healing rekeying mechanism that is scalable, reliable and suitable for mobile environments has never been more urgent than with the arrival of FMC in 4G networks. This paper presents two self-healing recovery schemes based on the dual directional hash chains (DDHC) for the logical key hierarchy (LKH) rekeying protocol. This enables a member that has missed up to m consecutive key updates to recover the missing decryption keys without asking the group controller key server (GCKS) for retransmission. Conducted simulations show considerable improvements in the ratio of decrypted messages and in the rekey message overhead in high packet loss environments.

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

logical key hierarchy
dual directional hash chains
group controller key server
mobile applications
high packet loss

secure multicast
group rekeying protocol
group key management
multicast recovery scheme
secure group communications


any-time probabilistic switching model using bayesian networks Modeling and estimation of switching activities remain to be important problems in low-power design and fault analysis. A probabilistic Bayesian Network based switching model can explicitly model all spatio-temporal dependency relationships in a combinational circuit, resulting in zero-error estimates. However, the space-time requirements of exact estimation schemes, based on this model, increase with circuit complexity [1, 2]. This paper explores a non-simulative, Importance Sampling based, probabilistic estimation strategy that scales well with circuit complexity. It has the any-time aspect of simulation and the input pattern independence of probabilistic models.

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


Using actor-network theory to understand the process of information systems curriculum innovation In this article I will note that Information Systems is a socio-technical discipline that is subject to rapid change and argue that changes in Information Systems curriculum can best be thought of as innovations and considered through the lens of innovation theory. In a socio-technical area like this where the contributions of both human actors (including academics, students and employers) and non-human actors (such as computers, programming languages and university infrastructure) must be taken into account, this article proposes the use of actor-network theory as a means of understanding more of the innovation process. The adoption of the programming language Visual Basic by an Australian university in the 1990s is used as an example of how actor-network theory can identify and explain some of the important issues in curriculum change.

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

information systems curriculum
programming languages
visual basic

actor-network theory
innovation translation
socio-technical systems


Seeds of Cross-Media Production We present an empirical study of an organization that has recently moved from traditional newspaper production towards cross-media production involving the integrated digital production of newspaper, television, radio and web-news. The paper focuses on the daily production rhythms of the media separately and of cross-media production. Since cross-media production is in the making, we study the instruments currently used for planning and coordination, and analyze them as seeds that will eventually make cross-media production happen. Time and timing are important in news production in general, and our analyses focus on the rhythm of the daily planning, coordination and production processes. Specifically, we analyze the temporal coordination of the activities in and around the Superdesk the current center of coordination of the news organization, and of the persons who work specifically with planning and coordination. We demonstrate how the production rhythms of the individual media collide with that of cross-media, and how product lifecycle rhythms add to the list of causes of problems that may jeopardize cross-media production. We propose to strengthen planning and overview support elements of the Superdesk, and the main new coordinator role of the organization. We point out how the media rhythms of newspaper in particular must be backgrounded. To achieve cross-media production, the starting point must be to strengthening and developing further the cross-media rhythms, rather than supplementing individual media rhythms.

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


Angular momentum guided motion concatenation In this paper, we propose a new Method to concatenate two dynamic full-body motions such as punches, kicks, and flips by using the angular momentum as a cue. Through the observation of real humans, We have identified two patterns of angular momentum that make the transition of such motions efficient. Based on these observations, we propose a new method to concatenate two full-body motions in a natural manner. Our method is useful for applications Where dynamic, full-body motions are required, such as 3D computer games and animations. Copyright (C) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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


Perspectives and challenges in nanoscale device modeling In this paper, we discuss the role of adequate modelling tools in the development of nanoelectronic technology and devices, including both down-the-roadmap Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (CMOS) technology and alternative nanodevices. Such tools can enable understanding of the relevant physical mechanisms on the one hand, and performance evaluation and optimization of device structures, on the other hand. Relevant examples are discussed, drawn by our recent activity, including ballistic strained-silicon Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field-Effect-Transistors (MOSFETs), stress-induced leakage currents, nanocrystal memories, and silicon nanowire transistors.

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

nanoelectronics
semiconductor device modelling
tcad
nanotechnology


A strictly conservative Cartesian cut-cell method for compressible viscous flows on adaptive grids A Cartesian cut-cell method which allows the solution of two- and three-dimensional viscous, compressible flow problems on arbitrarily refined graded meshes is presented. The finite-volume method uses cut cells at the boundaries rendering the method strictly conservative in terms of mass, momentum, and energy. For three-dimensional compressible flows, such a method has not been presented in the literature, yet. Since ghost cells can be arbitrarily positioned in space the proposed method is flexible in terms of shape and size of embedded boundaries. A key issue for Cartesian grid methods is the discretization at mesh interfaces and boundaries and the specification of boundary conditions. A linear least-squares method is used to reconstruct the cell center gradients in irregular regions of the mesh, which are used to formulate the surface flux. Expressions to impose boundary conditions and to compute the viscous terms on the boundary are derived. The overall discretization is shown to be second-order accurate in L1. The accuracy of the method and the quality of the solutions are demonstrated in several two- and three-dimensional test cases of steady and unsteady flows.

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

immersed boundary methods
cut-cell method
compressible navierstokes equations
finite-volume method


Improved fuzzy partitions for fuzzy regression models Fuzzy clustering algorithms like the popular fuzzy c-means algorithm (FCM) are frequently used to automatically divide up the data space into fuzzy granules. When the fuzzy clusters are used to derive membership functions for a fuzzy rule-based system, then the corresponding fuzzy sets should fulfill some requirements like boundedness of support or unimodality. Problems may also arise in the case, when the fuzzy partition induced by the clusters is intended as a basis for local function approximation. In this case; a local model (function) is assigned to each cluster. Taking the fuzziness of the partition into account, continuous transitions between the single local models can be obtained easily. However, unless the overlapping of the clusters is very small, the local models tend to mix and no local model is actually valid. By rewarding crisp membership degrees, we modify the objective function used in fuzzy clustering and obtain different membership functions that better suit these purposes. We show that the modification can be interpreted as standard FCM using distances to the Voronoi cell of the cluster rather than using distances to the cluster prototypes. In consequence, the resulting partitions of the modified algorithm are much closer to those of the crisp original methods. The membership functions can be generalized to a fuzzified minimum function. We give some bounds on the approximation quality of this fuzzification. We apply this modified fuzzy clustering approach to building fuzzy models of the Takagi-Sugeno (TS) type automatically from data. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.

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

fuzzy minimum function
k-means
voronoi diagram
takagi-sugeno model


art, engineering, and invention In this paper I describe my dissertation-in-progress, Art, Engineering, and Invention . This research draws upon a triad of practice, evidence, and theory to contribute to the understandings of how the practices of art and engineering can resolve into an interdisciplinary practice of creating innovative technological art and technological artifacts.

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

technological art
engineering
interdisciplinary practice


Minors in large almost-5-connected non-planar graphs It is shown that every sufficiently large almost-5-connected non-planar graph contains a minor isomorphic to an arbitrarily large graph from one of six families of graphs. The graphs in these families are also almost-5-connected, by which we mean that they are 4-connected and all 4-separations contain a small side.

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


sacrificing simplicity for convenience: where do you draw the line? The designers of (functional) programming languages are faced with two occasionally conflicting goals: programmer convenience and semantic simplicity. For example, it is convenient to treat I/O operations as primitive functions with side effects, but doing so destroys referential transparency. FL is a functional language that is designed to trade some of the semantic simplicity of a pure language for some of the convenience of a procedural language, by treating I/O operations as primitives with side effects, but by using a structuring technique that localizes the scope of those effects. In this way, surprisingly little of the semantic simplicity is lost, as can be seen by comparing the underlying algebraic laws of FL with those of its pure counterpart. FP. This paper describes that comparison and shows that, in fact, for programs involving I/O, the structures of the algebraic laws of the two languages are identical! It concludes by showing that this technique cannot be extended to allow assignment statements without incurring a massive loss in the expressiveness and simplicity of the underlying algebra.

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

semantic
transparency
goals
language
assignment
paper
algebra
programmer
functional programming

program
structure
examples
drawing
procedure
express
operability
comparisons
effect
functional languages


mining semantic distance between corpus terms In this paper, we face two problems in classical semantic similarity measures. Firstly, the context-dependency problem in knowledge-base measures since no one takes into account the context of the target domain. That is, a multisource context-dependent approach is presented. Secondly, the coverage problem with these measures since similarities can only be calculated between concepts included in a taxonomy. Moreover, "pure" corpus-based measures are still way from achieving performance reached by knowledge based measures. We present a more complex corpus-based approach using a taxonomy and data mining techniques in order to compute semantic distances between terms uncovered by the taxonomy. Experiments made show clearly the effectiveness of both proposed approaches.

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

knowledge acquisition
context dependency


Modeling of ionizing radiation effect on optoelectronic-integrated devices (OEIDs) The ionizing radiation effect on the static and dynamic behavior of an optoelectronic-integrated device composed of a hetrojunction phototransistor and light-emitting diode is studied theoretically. First, the device characteristics before irradiation are investigated based on the equivalent circuit of the constituent devices and the optical feedback inside the device. Second, the effect of neutron irradiation flux on transient behavior of this device is theoretically studied. It was noticed that, the neutron irradiation flux reduces the transient response in both the amplification and switching modes. Also, neutron irradiation flux increases the switching voltage of the device and decreases the output current, this means that the ON state device which exposed to this irradiation flux will turn to the OFF state because it will need higher value of switching voltage. Either increasing the amount of input light or the applied voltage is required to turn the device to the ON state again. This type of models can be exploited as optical amplifier, optical switching device and other applications.

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

optoelectronic integrated device (oeid)
optical functional device
optical amplification mode
optical switching mode


A security enhanced authentication and key distribution protocol for wireless networks Authentication and key distribution (AKD) protocols become more and more important in the design of wireless networks. Especially, the communication efficiency and security are the critical factors. In this paper, we first analyse the vulnerabilities of an AKD protocol for wireless networks under three types of attacks. Then, we propose an enhanced AKD protocol to overcome those vulnerabilities with the security functionality to prevent those malicious attacks. Security analysis and formal verification mainly using Automated Validation of Internet Security Protocols and Applications toolkit show that the proposed protocol is secure against those attacks. Copyright (c) 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Approximate local search in combinatorial optimization Local search algorithms for combinatorial optimization problems are generally of pseudopolynomial running time, and polynomial-time algorithms are not often known for finding locally optimal solutions for NP-hard optimization problems. We introduce the concept of epsilon-local optimality and show that, for every epsilon>0, an epsilon-local optimum can be identified in time polynomial in the problem size and 1/epsilon whenever the corresponding neighborhood can be searched in polynomial time. If the neighborhood can be searched in polynomial time for a delta-local optimum, a variation of our main algorithm produces a (delta+epsilon)-local optimum in time polynomial in the problem size and 1/epsilon. As a consequence, a combinatorial optimization problem has a fully polynomial-time approximation scheme if and only if the problem of determining a better neighbor in an exact neighborhood has a fully polynomial-time approximation scheme.

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

neighborhood search
approximation algorithms
computational complexity
0/1-integer programming


An automated signalized junction controller that learns strategies by temporal difference reinforcement learning This paper shows how temporal difference learning can be used to build a signalized junction controller that will learn its own strategies through experience. Simulation tests detailed here show that the learned strategies can have high performance. This work builds upon previous work where a neural network based junction controller that can learn strategies from a human expert was developed (Box and Waterson, 2012). In the simulations presented, vehicles are assumed to be broadcasting their position over WiFi giving the junction controller rich information. The vehicle's position data are pre-processed to describe a simplified state. The state-space is classified into regions associated with junction control decisions using a neural network. This classification is the strategy and is parametrized by the weights of the neural network. The weights can be learned either through supervised learning with a human trainer or reinforcement learning by temporal difference (TD). Tests on a model of an isolated T junction show an average delay of 14.12s and 14.36s respectively for the human trained and TD trained networks. Tests on a model of a pair of closely spaced junctions show 17.44s and 20.82s respectively. Both methods of training produced strategies that were approximately equivalent in their equitable treatment of vehicles, defined here as the variance over the journey time distributions.

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

neural network
reinforcement learning
temporal difference
control
junction


Non-linear finite element analysis of composite beams with interlayer slips This article presents a new non-linear finite element formulation for the analysis of two-layer composite plane beams with interlayer slips. The element is based on the corotational method. The main interest of this approach is that different linear elements can be automatically transformed to non-linear ones. To avoid curvature locking that may occur for low order element(s), a local linear formulation based on the exact stiffness matrix is used. Five numerical applications are presented in order to assess the performance of the formulation.

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

corotational method
composite beams
interlayer slips


The use of sensitivity analysis and genetic algorithms for the management of catalyst emissions from oil refineries Excessive catalyst emissions from Fluidized Catalytic Cracking Units (FCCU) during start-up situations are common, and have been deemed 'normal', with little research conducted on determining their causes. A MATLAB model found to predict trends in emission rates under normal conditions has been expanded to better represent the actual processes inside a FCCU. First and second order sensitivity analysis techniques are used to assess the interactions between various operational parameters, with a genetic algorithm used to optimize the operating conditions to minimize air emissions. These 'key' parameters may then be altered to help manage both normal and start-up emissions through operational changes. It was also found that significant scale-up issues arise with the use of the attrition models found in the literature. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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