Modelling and performance analysis of multi-hop ad hoc networks Mobile ad hoc networks are becoming very attractive and useful in many kinds of communication and networking applications. Due to the advantage of numerical analysis, analytical modelling formalisms, such as stochastic Petri nets, queuing networks and stochastic process algebra have been widely used for performance analysis of communication systems. To the best of our knowledge, there is no previous analytical study that analyses the performance of multi-hop ad hoc networks, where mobile nodes move according to a random mobility model in terms of the end-to-end delay and throughput. This work presents a novel analytical framework developed using stochastic reward nets for modelling and analysis of multi-hop ad hoc networks, based on the IEEE 802.11 DCF MAC protocol, where mobile nodes move according to the random waypoint mobility model. The proposed framework is used to analyse the performance of multi-hop ad hoc networks as a function of network parameters such as the transmission range, carrier sensing range, interference range, number of nodes, network area size, packet size, and packet generation rate. The proposed framework is organized into several models to break up the complexity of modelling the complete network, and make it easier to analyse each model as required. The framework is based on the idea of decomposition and fixed point iteration of stochastic reward nets. The proposed models are validated using extensive simulations.

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

mobile ad hoc networks
random waypoint mobility
stochastic reward nets
modelling
performance analysis


Hyperspectral band selection for detecting different blueberry fruit maturity stages Outdoor hyperspectral images of blueberry bushes were taken and analyzed. Hyperspectral image was shown to be able to separate fruit stages and background. PWCD, HDR and NG measure were used for band selection. Selected bands performed well in classifying fruit stages and background.

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

hyperspectral imagery
kullbackleibler divergence
precision agriculture
yield mapping


full body interaction for serious games in motor rehabilitation Serious games and especially their use in healthcare applications are an active and rapidly growing area of research. A key aspect of games in rehabilitation is 3D input. In this paper we present our implementation of a full body motion capture (MoCap) system, which, together with a biosignal acquisition device, has been integrated in a game engine. Furthermore, a workflow has been established that enables the use of acquired skeletal data for serious games in a medical environment. Finally, a serious game has been implemented, targeting rehabilitation of patients with chronic pain of the lower back and neck, a group that has previously been neglected by serious games. The focus of this work is on the full body MoCap system and its integration with biosignal devices and the game engine. A short overview of the application and prelimiary results are provided.

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

motor rehabilitation
serious games
motion capture


an interactive visualization of refactorings retrieved from software archives We perform knowledge discovery in software archives in order to detect refactorings on the level of classes and methods. Our REFVIS prototype finds these refactorings in CVS repositories and relates them to transactions. Additionally, REFVIS relates movements of methods to the class inheritance hierarchy of the analyzed project. REFVIS creates visualizations that show these refactorings in two different layouts and uses color-coding to distinguish between different kinds of refactorings. Moreover, our visualizations are interactive as they can be zoomed, scrolled and filtered; mouse-over-tooltips allow to examine details of the particular refactoring on demand.

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


Molecular live cell bioimaging in stem cell research Functional heterogeneity within stem and progenitor cells has been shown to influence cell fate decisions. Similarly, intracellular signaling activated by external stimuli is highly heterogeneous and its spatiotemporal activity is linked to future cell behavior. To quantify these heterogeneous states and link them to future cell fates, it is important to observe cell populations continuously with single cell resolution. Live cell imaging in combination with fluorescent biosensors for signaling activity serves as a powerful tool to study cellular and molecular heterogeneity and the long-term biological effects of signaling. Here, we describe these methodologies, their advantages over classical approaches, and we illustrate how they could be applied to improve our understanding of the importance of heterogeneous cellular and molecular responses to external signaling cues.

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

cytokines
m-csf
lineage choice
time lapse


Abstract interpretation of resolution-based semantics We extend the abstract interpretation point of view on context-free grammars by Cousot and Cousot to resolution-based logic programs and proof systems. Starting from a transition-based small-step operational semantics Of PROLOG programs (akin to the Warren Machine), we consider maximal finite derivations for the transition system from most general goals. This semantics is abstracted by instantiation to terms and furthermore to ground terms, following the so-called c- and s-semantics approach. Orthogonally, these sets of derivations can be abstracted to SLD-trees, call patterns and models, as well as interpreters providing effective implementations (such as PROLOG). These semantics can be presented in bottom-up fixpoint form. This abstract interpretation-based construction leads to classical bottom-up semantics (such as the s-semantics of computed answers, the c-semantics of correct answers of Keith Clark, and the minimal-model semantics of logical consequences of Maarten van Emden and Robert Kowalski). The approach is general and can be applied to infinite and top-down semantics in a straightforward way. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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

bottom-up semantics
herbrand semantics
logic programming
s-semantics


An argumentation framework for description logic ontology reasoning and management This paper presents an argumentation framework for reasoning and management in (inconsistent or incoherent) description logic ontologies which contain conflicts. First, a new argumentation framework obtained by combining Besnard and Hunters framework with binary argumentation is introduced to frame the inner relation over axioms in an ontology. A dialogue mechanism, based on this framework, is then presented to derive meaningful consequences from inconsistent ontologies. Three novel operators are developed to repair those axioms or assertions which cause inconsistency or incoherency of ontologies by using this framework. Within this framework, an inconsistency is neither directly assigned a contradictory value nor roughly removed but further analyzed and evaluated. Because of this, reasoning within it satisfies some important logical properties such as consistency-preserving and justifiability. Moreover, it provides an alternative scenario for maintaining consistency and coherency of ontologies with giving consideration to both semantics and syntax. Thus the repaired results by using the proposed framework not only keep the closer semantics but also preserve the syntactic structure of original ontologies.

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

ontology
description logic
argumentation

handling inconsistency
ontology management
paraconsistent reasoning


A spatial temporal decision framework for adaptation to sea level rise There is a strong link between decision making and environmental stresses. Two dilemmas confront decision makers: how and when to adapt to sea level rise, due to complexities of environmental systems and the changing nature of the decision making process. This process is inherently complex and often involves many stakeholders with conflicting views. Considering the complexity and dynamic nature of coastal systems, this paper introduces a Spatial Temporal Decision framework to assess coastal vulnerability, and the adaptation alternatives to SLR. The STD is based upon a combination of: System Dynamics modelling; Geographical Information Systems modelling; and multicriteria analyses of stakeholders' views using the Analytical Hierarchy Process. For case study analyses, the City of the Gold Coast located in Southeast Queensland, Australia has been selected. The results of the vulnerability assessment indicate that, at the end of a 100 year simulation period, approximately 6% of the landscape in the study area will be gradually inundated over time, with 0.5 cm rise per year. However, the percentage of the vulnerable area leapt to about 34% for Scenario 2, and 56% for Scenario 3, which represent 1 cm and 1.5 cm rise per year. Using the information obtained from vulnerability assessments, three stakeholder groups (Politicians, Experts and Residents) were consulted to determine the goal, criteria and adaptation alternatives for the multicriteria analyses. Analyses of survey data reveal that across the three stakeholder groups, Effectiveness and Sustainability are the criteria of highest priority. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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

decision making
sea level rise
vulnerability
adaptation


On improving test quality of scan-based BIST In this paper, we explore two techniques, under the existing scan-based built-in self-test (BIST) architectures, for improving the test quality with practically no additional overhead. The proposed technique are an almost-full-scan BIST strategy and a general scan-based BIST test application scheme. We first demonstrate that under the scan-based BIST architecture, full scan may not result in the highest fault coverage (FC) and unscanning a small number of scan flip-flops may increase the BIST FC. We then present an algorithm for identifying those not-to-be-scanned flip-flops. We further show that the proposed general scan-based BIST test application scheme could also result in higher BIST FC and only requires a minor modification to the BIST controller. Experiments have been conducted using an industrial tool, psb2, on benchmark circuits to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed techniques and algorithms. The results have demonstrated that both techniques are able to maximize the FC and reduce the test application time without additional test hardware comparing to the conventional scan-based BIST architectures.

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


the impact of the interaction between vehicular topology & traffic prioritization of broadcast protocols in vanets Safety and other on-demand applications will propel VANETs into reality in the near future. These applications create a compelling need to prioritize data traffic, so that safety and emergency, low-latency messages can be delivered in a timely fashion. The vehicular environment is one of the unique characteristics that sets VANETs apart from other ad hoc network. Therefore performance of protocols designed for VANETs cannot be tested similar to other networks. An often ignored aspect is the interaction of the vehicular topology with the prioritized data in the network. Certain elements of the vehicular topology, influence mobility and hence network connectivity which in turn affects its performance. This paper illustrates the impact that vehicular elements exhibit on prioritized data of broadcast protocols thus resulting in manipulation of network performance.

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

vehicular environment
vanets
broadcast protocols


Higher-order finite element modeling of rotational induction heating of nonferromagnetic cylindrical billets Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to present a methodology of high-precision finite element modeling of induction heating of rotating nonferromagnetic cylindrical billets in static magnetic field produced by appropriately arranged permanent magnets. Design/methodology/approach - The mathematical model consisting of two partial differential equations describing the distribution of the magnetic and temperature fields are solved by a fully adaptive higher-order finite element method in the monolithic formulation and selected results are validated experimentally. Findings - The method of solution realized by own code is very fast, robust and exhibits much more powerful features when compared with classical low-order numerical methods implemented in existing commercial codes. Research limitations/implications - For sufficiently long arrangements the method provides good results even for 2D model. The principal limitation consists in problems with determining correct boundary conditions for the temperature field (generalized coefficient of convective heat transfer as a function of the temperature and revolutions). Practical implications - The methodology can successfully be used for design of devices for induction heating of cylindrical nonmagnetic bodies by rotation and determination of their operation parameters. Originality/value - The paper is a presentation of the fully adaptive higher-order finite element and its utilization for a monolithic numerical solution of a relatively complicated coupled problem.

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

rotational induction heating
permanent magnets
monolithic formulation
temperature field


RDSR-V. Reliable Dynamic Source Routing for video-streaming over mobile ad hoc networks Mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) are infrastructureless networks formed by wireless mobile devices with limited battery life. In MANETs for civilian applications, the network nodes may not belong to a single authority and they may not have a common goal. These MANETs are particularly vulnerable to selfish behavior, as some nodes may prefer saving resources to forward data. There are a few generic reputation-based systems for MANETs which could be used to enforce cooperation among nodes. However, we envision that the system performance can be highly improved by using cross-layer techniques that take into account the specific characteristics of each particular service. In this article, we propose a distributed and easy-to-implement routing mechanism based on reputation for the provision of MPEG-2 video-streaming services over MANETs. The main novelty that we introduce regarding the existent literature is that our proposal is service aware, that is to say, we consider the video-streaming service characteristics to develop a cross-layer design with the routing protocol. In addition, we do not introduce extra signaling overhead to monitor reputation because we use the standard video-streaming end-to-end signaling. Finally, simulation results show that our proposal clearly outperforms both standard Dynamic Source Routing (DSR) and OCEAN (a generic reputation-based mechanism).

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


Nonlinear magnetohydrodynamics simulation using high-order finite elements ? A conforming representation composed of 2D finite elements and finite Fourier series is applied to 3D nonlinear non-ideal magnetohydrodynamics using a semi-implicit time-advance. The self-adjoint semi-implicit operator and variational approach to spatial discretization are synergistic and enable simulation in the extremely stiff conditions found in high temperature plasmas without sacrificing the geometric flexibility needed for modeling laboratory experiments. Growth rates for resistive tearing modes with experimentally relevant Lundquist number are computed accurately with time-steps that are large with respect to the global Alfvn time and moderate spatial resolution when the finite elements have basis functions of polynomial degree (p) two or larger. An error diffusion method controls the generation of magnetic divergence error. Convergence studies show that this approach is effective for continuous basis functions with p?2, where the number of test functions for the divergence control terms is less than the number of degrees of freedom in the expansion for vector fields. Anisotropic thermal conduction at realistic ratios of parallel to perpendicular conductivity (??/??) is computed accurately with p?3 without mesh alignment. A simulation of tearing-mode evolution for a shaped toroidal tokamak equilibrium demonstrates the effectiveness of the algorithm in nonlinear conditions, and its results are used to verify the accuracy of the numerical anisotropic thermal conduction in 3D magnetic topologies.

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


Experiences on enhancing data collection in large networks ? We improve and validate TICP [C. Barakat, M. Malli, N. Nonaka, TICP: Transport Information Collection Protocol, Annals of Telecommunications 61 (12) (2006) 167192], our TCP-friendly reliable transport protocol to collect information from a large number of Internet entities. A collector machine sends probes to a set of information sources that reply by sending back their reports. TICP adapts the sending rate of probes in a way similar to TCP for the purpose of avoiding network congestion and keeps requesting reports until they are well received. In a first part of this work, we add to TICP a mechanism to cluster information sources in order to smooth the variation of network conditions during the collection session and to ensure an efficient handling of congestion at network bottlenecks. Simulations in ns-2 and PlanetLab experiments prove the outperformance of TICP over non-adaptive solutions and the interest of the clustering mechanism in shortening the duration of the collection session and in decreasing the ratio of lost packets. In a second part, we adapt TICP to collect several packets of information from each data source. By the means of simulations, we compare the performance obtained by TICP to that obtained when using parallel short-lived TCP connections. Our main observation is that TICP yields shorter collection sessions due to its inherent multiplexing capability and that it avoids parallel Slow Start phases. Finally, in a last part, we study the impact of delegating collection to some proxy collectors. We explain our method for delegation and we show by simulations that for a judicious choice of proxy collectors, one can decrease considerably the collection session duration.

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

transport protocol
information collection
clustering
several packets
delegation


multiple receiver strategies for minimizing packet loss in dense sensor networks A typical wireless sensor network consists of many small sensors that collect instrument data around their locations and forward it to a central location for data processing. These networks can be deployed to monitor livestock and agricultural assets, products in a store, patients in a hospital, and so on. In many cases sensors have to be densely deployed, and collisions or overhead due to collision avoidance will considerably degrade the system performance below an application's required levels. With the decreasing cost of radio devices the obvious solution to this problem is the use of multiple receivers on different radio channels. However, we show that if receivers can be placed in different locations then increasing the number of receivers on a single channel will increase the rate of the capture effect and decrease collision losses, while also increasing the fairness of the transmitters' radio links. Not only can this single channel approach be more effective than using multiple channels, it is also required for some techniques, such as localization, where each receiver must be able to detect a transmission from any transmitter. We also show that the optimal choice between these two solutions is influenced by the radio attenuation rate and the number of receivers in the 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 B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O


Local shape blending using coherent weighted regions We present a novel local shape blending method that maps a sparse configuration of facial markers captured from an actor onto target models. The advantage of local shape blending methods is that, given a small set of key shapes for each local region, their combination can generate various facial expressions. However, they have the common problem that they use the pre-determined (fixed) regions and compute the combination of local key shapes for each region independently of each other. So, they have a risk of breaking natural correlations between the regions. We present a stochastic method of computing the regions and the blending weight vectors simultaneously. To do so, we formulate local shape blending as a problem of finding an optimal distribution of blending weight vectors of all control points in MAP-MRF framework.

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


The psi-cube: a bus-based cube-type clustering network for high-performance on-chip systems This paper proposes a bus-based cube-type network, called psi-cube, that alleviates the two problems, long wires and a limited number of I/O pins, against the on-chip systems through a small diameter and dynamic clusters, respectively. The 2"-node psi-cube is organized on the sets of node-partitions produced with an extended n-bit Hamming code psi(n, k) [M. Takesue, W-Cubes: recursive bused fat-hypercubes for multilevel snoopy caches, in: Proceedings of the International Symposium on Parallel Architectures, Algorithms, and Networks, IEEE CS Press, 1999, pp. 62-67] if we connect the nodes in each partition to the bus owned by the leader of the partition. Owing to the routing between the leaders separated by the distance of 1-3, the diameter equals [n/2] if n not equal 2(p) - 1 or [n/2] otherwise. The maximum bus length is O(2(p-1)) or O(2(k-1)) when the psi-cube is mapped onto an array. We dynamically produce separate sets of clusters for different off-chip targets such as memory blocks, so the traffic to the leaders of clusters is much smaller than in static clusters fixed in hardware. From simulation results, the psi-cube outperforms over the mesh if the bus delay is less than 4 times the mesh link's, and the dynamic clusters increase the psi-cube bandwidth by over 60%. (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 B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 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 O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O


A new routing protocol in Nested NEMO NEMO (Network Mobility) is the extension of MIPv6, supporting a network segment or subnet to move and attach to arbitrary points in the routing infrastructure. And nested Mobile Network is prevalent in NEMO environment. But the current framework lacks of efficient mechanism for communication between different mobile networks in the same foreign link. Aiming at this problem, we propose a new basic routing protocol for Nested NEMO in this paper. Also, this protocol can give efficient support to some route optimization algorithms for nested NEMO. Furthermore, we give an extended routing protocol, which can realize local route optimization in the foreign link. We discuss the fixed scenario including mobile network and mobile node in our protocol, too. Evaluation results show that our approach is simple and effective to support communication and route optimization mechanisms in Nested NEMO environment.

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


Portfolio Selection: A Review This paper reviews portfolio selection models and provides perspective on some open issues. It starts with a review of the classic Markowitz mean-variance framework. It then presents the intertemporal portfolio choice approach developed by Merton and the fundamental notion of dynamic hedging. Martingale methods and resulting portfolio formulas are also reviewed. Their usefulness for economic insights and numerical implementations is illustrated. Areas of future research are outlined.

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

mean-variance model
diffusion models
complete markets
monte carlo simulation
malliavin derivative
bond numeraire


A stable virtual backbone for wireless MANETS Due to the highly dynamicity and absence of a fixed infrastructure in wireless mobile ad hoc networks (MANET), formation of a stable virtual backbone through which all the network hosts are connected is of great importance. In this paper, a learning automata-based distributed algorithm is proposed for constructing the most stable virtual backbone of the MANET. To do so, the backbone formation problem is first modeled by the stochastic version of the bounded diameter minimum spanning tree (BDMST) problem. Then, the network backbone is constructed by solving the stochastic BDMST problem for the network topology graph. Several simulation experiments are conducted to investigate the efficiency of the proposed backbone formation protocol. The obtained results are compared with those of the best existing methods. Numerical results show the superiority of the proposed method over the others in terms of backbone lifetime, end-to-end delay, backbone size, packet delivery ratio, and control message overhead.

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


Internet-based information systems use in organizations: an information studies perspective Abstract.This case study investigates various ways in which different internet-based information systems (IS) are used by organizational participants. Borrowing theoretical insights on information behaviour accumulated over 50years of information studies research, a conceptual framework is presented to help understand and assess the social and organizational impacts of internet-based IS. The framework describes the use of internet-based IS as a dynamic cycle of information needsseekinguse activity situated in the context of a firm's information environment. Research questions pertain to the process of how individuals in organizations seek and use information from internet-based IS to satisfy information needs. In terms of information needs, this involves understanding the problem situations that lead participants to use internet-based IS, as well as the characteristics of those problems beyond subject matter. With respect to information seeking, this involves analysing how information from internet-based systems is displayed and formatted to signal their potential usefulness. In terms of information use, this involves how information obtained from internet-based systems is used in practice to resolve or redefine problems. Both quantitative and qualitative research methods are used. Data collection involves web tracking to identify significant episodes of internet-based IS activity, as well as one-on-one interviews to explore the context behind these episodes. Results suggest that it is possible and valuable to identify scenarios of internet-based IS use dominant in an organizational work setting. Doing so can help to identify ways to improve the situated use of internet-based IS that ameliorate the information needsseekinguse cycle in firms.

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

information needs
information seeking
information use
information environment


Re-designing primary care: Implementation of patient-aligned care teams Primary care is the foundation of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care, but transformation efforts are necessary to meet the needs of Veterans and provide patient-centered care (PCC). The need to transform the VA from a problem/disease-based provider-driven system to a patient-centered, patient-driven health care system. Our project objective was to describe the implementation of the Patient-Aligned Care Team (PACT) model in the current Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care environment and to identify barriers and facilitators to implementing a new model of care that could apply more broadly to the implementation of large-scale changes in other large integrated health care systems. We sought to learn through in-depth interviews with leaders and key informants at several stages of the PACT process, including planning, implementing, modifying where needed, and maintenance. The PACT model offers PCC that is managed with high quality, safety, and effectiveness; provides optimal access; and integrates the Veterans voice to respect their preferences, needs, and values toward achieving optimal health and well-being. This transformation in VA provides insight into the barriers and facilitators to implementing large-scale change in an integrated health care system. Implementation of a new model of care across a large integrated health care system requires continuous and highly visible engagement from leadership and staff, distribution of resources across initiatives, and alignment of program goals and performance measures, these lessons.

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

patient centered care
primary care redesign
quality improvement
implementation research


Novel cluster validity index for FCM algorithm How to determine an appropriate number Of Clusters is very important when implementing a specific clustering algorithm, like c-means, fuzzy c-means (FCM). In the literature, most cluster validity indices are originated from partition or geometrical property of the data set. In this paper, the authors developed a novel cluster validity index for FCM, based on the optimality test of FCM. Unlike the previous cluster validity indices, this novel cluster validity index is inherent in FCM itself. Comparison experiments show that the stability index can be used as cluster validity index for the fuzzy c-means.

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


Some remarks on fuzzy differential equations via differential inclusions In this paper we discuss the formulation and procedure for solving fuzzy differential equations via differential inclusions. We give several examples showing the correct and incorrect procedure for solving fuzzy differential equations. We show the connection between fuzzy differential equations and fuzzy differential inclusions. Finally, we give some remarks on numerical algorithms for solving fuzzy differential equations via differential inclusions. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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

fuzzy differential equations
fuzzy differential inclusions
differential inclusions


New Berkeley paradox in the theory of limits Purpose - The paper's aim is to reveal the return of the Berkeley paradox of the eighteenth century. Design/methodology/approach - This is a conceptual discussion. Findings - Since, long time ago, the common belief has been that the establishment and development of the theory of limits had provided an explanation for the Berkeley paradox. However, when the authors revisit some of the age-old problems using the thinking logic of allowing both the concepts of potential and actual infinities, they find surprisingly that the shadow of the Berkeley paradox does not truly disappear in the foundation of mathematical analysis. Originality/value - Show the incompleteness of the theory of limits, which is not the same as what has been believed in the history of mathematics.

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


multi-agent abductive reasoning with confidentiality In the context of multi-agent hypothetical reasoning, agents typically have partial knowledge about their environments, and the union of such knowledge is still incomplete to represent the whole world. Thus, given a global query they need to collaborate with each other to make correct inferences and hypothesis, whilst maintaining global constraints. There are many real world applications in which the confidentiality of agent knowledge is of primary concern, and hence the agents may not share or communicate all their information during the collaboration. This extra constraint gives a new challenge to multi-agent reasoning. This paper shows how this dichotomy between "open communication" in collaborative reasoning and protection of confidentiality can be accommodated, by extending a general-purpose distributed abductive logic programming system for multi-agent hypothetical reasoning with confidentiality. Specifically, the system computes consistent conditional answers for a query over a set of distributed normal logic programs with possibly unbound domains and arithmetic constraints, preserving the private information within the logic programs.

O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 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 representation
distributed problem solving
reasoning (multi-agent)


Aggregative and stochastic model of main path identification: a case study on graphene This paper suggests a new method to search main path, as a knowledge trajectory, in the citation network. To enhance the performance and remedy the problems suggested by other researchers for main path analysis (Hummon and Doreian, Social Networks 11(1): 3963, 1989), we applied two techniques, the aggregative approach and the stochastic approach. The first technique is used to offer improvement of link count methods, such as SPC, SPLC, SPNP, and NPPC, which have a potential problem of making a mistaken picture since they calculate link weights based on a individual topology of a citation link; the other technique, the second-order Markov chains, is used for path dependent search to improve the Hummon and Doreians priority first search method. The case study on graphene that tested the performance of our new method showed promising results, assuring us that our new method can be an improved alternative of main path analysis. Our methods beneficial effects are summed up in eight aspects: (1) path dependent search, (2) basic research search rather than applied research, (3) path merge and split, (4) multiple main paths, (5) backward search for knowledge origin identification, (6) robustness for indiscriminately selected citations, (7) availability in an acyclic network, (8) completely automated search.

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

second-order markov chains
markov model
historiography
quantitative method
60j20
d83


Adaptive exponential synchronization of delayed CohenGrossberg neural networks with discontinuous activations This paper treats of the exponential synchronization issue of delayed CohenGrossberg neural networks with discontinuous activations. By utilizing Lyapunov stability theory, an adaptive controller is designed such that the response system can be exponentially synchronized with a drive system. Our synchronization criteria are easily verified and the obtained results are also applicable to neural networks with continuous activations since they are a special case of neural networks with discontinuous activations. Results of this paper improve a few previous known results. Finally, numerical simulations are given to verify the effectiveness of the theoretical results.

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

neural networks
exponential synchronization
adaptive controller
lyapunov stability theory


Railway driver advice systems: Evaluation of methods, tools and systems This paper assesses solution alternatives for railway driver advice systems. To do so a two stage assessment procedure is adopted. First, a wide range of existing systems is identified, using a basis of scientific literature and input from a field survey. Next, the reviewed systems are evaluated using a set of criteria, like: distribution of intelligence, processing unit integration, driver interface, positioning system and communication requirements. The above provides a clear structure for the assessment of DAS, aiming to identify which systems should be investigated in more detail as potential components of real-world deployment. The results highlight major differences in the way that intelligence and processing capabilities are distributed between the control center and the train. They also highlight different approaches to the integration of driver interface, train positioning systems and communication technologies that facilitate the exchange of information between the track and the train. The decision to embark on one of the various approaches depends not only on algorithmic issues but also on human factors considerations, the limits of technology and the costs of upgrading it. Practical aspects such as technical and spatial characteristics of the drivers cabin, context and format of the advisory information are also of importance.

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

driver advice system
railway driver-machine interaction


Framsticks An original software implementation of a physical world inhabited with artificial creatures is discussed. A creature is built of sticks, which play roles of affector, control and effector units. A structure of every creature is recurrently described by creature's genotype The creatures either spontaneously evolve or they are selected directly Originality of fundamental ideas related to creation and evolution of artificial creatures, accuracy of physical simulation of creature interactions with environment, user friendly interface and great potential for graphical representation of the results of evolution make the software a unique product on the market of artificial life goodies.

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


Optimal IDS Sensor Placement and Alert Prioritization Using Attack Graphs We optimally place intrusion detection system (IDS) sensors and prioritize IDS alerts using attack graph analysis. We begin by predicting all possible ways of penetrating a network to reach critical assets. The set of all such paths through the network constitutes an attack graph, which we aggregate according to underlying network regularities, reducing the complexity of analysis. We then place IDS sensors to cover the attack graph, using the fewest number of sensors. This minimizes the cost of sensors, including effort of deploying, configuring, and maintaining them, while maintaining complete coverage of potential attack paths. The sensor-placement problem we pose is an instance of the NP-hard minimum set cover problem. We solve this problem through an efficient greedy algorithm, which works well in practice. Once sensors are deployed and alerts are raised, our predictive attack graph allows us to prioritize alerts based on attack graph distance to critical assets.

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

attack graphs
intrusion detection
sensor placement


A classification-based rendering method for point models We present a classification-based high quality rendering method for large scenes with point-based models. Each model is represented by a uniformly sized point hierarchy. All the points at the same resolution in the hierarchy share the same splat radius, and the splat radius ratio between any two neighboring resolutions are the same. We use this data structure to minimize the number of rendering points with no compromise in the image quality. Compared to the standard OpenGL point primitive, it is quite expensive to rasterize the perspectively correct splat projection even when using the advanced features of modern GPUs. We propose a classification-based rendering algorithm to reduce the number of points rendered by the complicated splatting. The potentially visible points are collected and classified into two types: a pixel point, whose image projection size is within one pixel; and a multi-pixel splat, whose image projection size is larger than one pixel. Only the multi-pixel splats are rendered by a perspectively correct splatting algorithm. The point classification is integrated with the hardware accelerated rendering. By adopting the uniformly sized point hierarchy and the classification-based rendering, we can achieve effective rendering of large scenes.

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

point-based graphics
point-based rendering
classification-based rendering
uniformly sized point model


An integrated approach for validating unsaturated soil parameters in seepage analyses Soilwater characteristic curves (SWCCs) and soil permeability functions (SPFs) for a silty sand were validated based on soil suction and soil water content measurements in calibration box and constant-head seepage tests. Transient seepage analyses using finite element method (FEM) were performed to examine the accuracy of the derived SWCCs and SPFs, with a special focus on the wetting front propagation. Results show that the proposed new integrated system consisting of experimental and analytical techniques works well, in the sense that the soil moisture responses at specific depths of soil mimic those measured in constant-head seepage tests.

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

soilwater characteristic curve
soil permeability function
finite element analysis
constant-head infiltration
wetting-front propagation
matric suction


On Comparison of the Estimators of the Hurst Index of the Solutions of Stochastic Differential Equations Driven by the Fractional Brownian Motion This paper presents a study of the Hurst index estimation in the case of fractional Ornstein-Uhlenbeck and geometric Brownian motion models. The performance of the estimators is studied both with respect to the value of the Hurst index and the length of sample paths.

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

fractional brownian motion
hurst index
geometric brownian motion


Flooding management using hybrid model predictive control: application to the Spanish Ebro River In this paper, the problem of flooding management using hybrid model predictive control is presented and applied to the Ebro River in Spain. The Ebro River presents flooding episodes in the city of Zaragoza during spring when snow melts in the Pyrenees. To avoid flooding in populated areas, some land outside the city is prepared for flooding. This paper presents a control approach to determine and fix the level of flooding in pre-established zones by controlling side gates that determine the water input to the land to be flooded. Finally, several scenarios are used to validate the performance of the proposed approach.

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

rivers
simulation
tele-control systems
water systems


An examination of the forces that generate a style The concept of style has long been central to both historical analysis and pedagogical discourse in architecture. Most often these discussions focus on the nature of signature physical features, but notions expressed in this article would contend that several aspects of the design process are just as significant in defining a style as the replication of features. Aspects emerging in the personal design process include operations of cognitive mechanisms, utilization of repeated procedures, personal preference for certain images, and manipulation of certain seasoned design knowledge. Employment of these factors and procedures in a design process is actually the driving force that generates recognizable features to be manifest in a style.

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

protocol analysis
design cognition
design processes
information processing
science of design


Several multi-criteria programming methods for classification In this paper, we propose a general optimization-based model for classification. Then we show that some well-known optimization based methods for classification. which were developed by Shi et al. [Data mining in credit card portfolio management: a multiple criteria decision making approac. In: Koksalan M, Zionts S,editors. Multiple criteria decision making, in the new millenium. Berlin : Springer: 2001. p. 427-36] and Freed and G I over [A linear programming approach tot tic discriminant problem. Decision Sciences 1981: 12: 68-79: Simple but powerful goal programming models for discriminant problems. European Journal of Operational Research 1981: 7: 44-60]. are special cases of our model. Moreover. three new models, MCQP (multi-criteria indefinite quadratic programming). MCCQP (multi-criteria concave quadratic programming) and MCVQP (multi-criteria convex programming), are developed based on the general model. We also propose algorithms for MCQP and MCCQP respectively. Then we apply these models to three real-life problems: credit card accounts, VIP mail-box and social endowment insurance classification. Extensive experiments are done to compare the efficiency of these methods. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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

nonlinear programming
multiple-criteria decision making


Development of a transient large strain contact method for biological heart valve simulations A new 2D method to implement transient contact using Comsol Multiphysics (finite element analysis software that enables multiphysics simulations) is described, which is based on Hertzian contact. This method is compared to the existing (default) contact method that does not enable real transient simulations, but instead performs steady-state solutions where time is a constant. The two types of contact modelling have been applied to simple 2D biological heart valve models, undergoing strains in the region of 10% under 20kPa pressure (applied over 0.3s). Both the methods predicted comparable stress patterns, locations of peak stresses, deformations and directions of principal stress. The default contact method predicted slightly greater contact stresses, but spreads over a shorter surface length than the new contact method. The default contact method is useful for contact systems with little transient dependency, due to ease of use. However, where transient conditions are important the new contact method is preferred.

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

contact modelling
finite element analysis
heart valve
hertzian contact
large strain


Hint-based cache design for reducing miss penalty in HBS packet classification algorithm In this paper, we implement some notable hierarchical or decision-tree-based packet classification algorithms such as extended grid of tries (EGT), hierarchical intelligent cuttings (HiCuts), HyperCuts, and hierarchical binary search (HBS) on an IXP2400 network processor. By using all six of the available processing microengines (MEs), we find that none of these existing packet classification algorithms achieve the line speed of OC-48 provided by IXP2400. To improve the search speed of these packet classification algorithms, we propose the use of software cache designs to take advantage of the temporal locality of the packets because IXP network processors have no built-in caches for fast path processing in MEs. Furthermore, we propose hint-based cache designs to reduce the search duration of the packet classification data structure when cache misses occur. Both the header and prefix caches are studied. Although the proposed cache schemes are designed for all the dimension-by-dimension packet classification schemes, they are, nonetheless, the most suitable for HBS. Our performance simulations show that the HBS enhanced with the proposed cache schemes performs the best in terms of classification speed and number of memory accesses when the memory requirement is in the same range as those of HiCuts and HyperCuts. Based on the experiments with all the high and low locality packet traces, five MEs are sufficient for the proposed rule cache with hints to achieve the line speed of OC-48 provided by IXP2400.

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

packet classification
cache
network processor


Field and current flow analysis of the buried feeding line of the innovative electric transport concept STREAM STREAM is the acronym of a new concept of mass transit system designed and developed by Ansaldo Trasporti Sp.A. to provide an efficient solution to rubber-tyred transportation problems in urban areas. One of STREAMs most distinctive feature is the power supply system, which uses a magnetic lift contact line embedded in the road surface to deliver traction power and to provide operating and control information. In this paper the field and the current flow analyses of this buried jeeding track are presented and discussed. Analyses are aimed at determining the highest values of accessible voltages on the ground under different environmental and operating conditions. Results provided by a numerical simulation of the 3D model representing the feeding track allow us to identify the most critical conditions and to verify the safety and reliability of the system.

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

electrical machines
finite element simulation


Modeling detailed design knowledge with the extended structure-behavior-function model Detailed design is often a time-consuming and experience-dependent engineering process, where various detailed design knowledge can be reused. This paper proposes a formal approach for modeling detailed design knowledge for effective reuse. An extended structure-behavior-function model is developed for representing the structural, behavioral, and functional information in various life cycle periods of a detailed design. Based on the extended structure-behavior-function model, an issue-and solution-based approach is then developed to model the detailed knowledge of a mechanical design. The proposed approach is implemented in a detailed design knowledge modeling system, with a fixture design knowledge modeling as a brief example.

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

detailed design knowledge
mechanical design

design rationale
structure-behavior-function
tacit knowledge


Time-optimal control of disturbance-rejection tracking systems for discrete-time time-delayed systems by state feedback In this paper, we solve the disturbance-rejection and tracking problem for linear multivariable discrete-time systems with time-delayed controlled inputs. A set of necessary and sufficient conditions under which the proposed problem is controllable is defined. Also, the nilpotency properties of such systems is established and used as the basis of a comprehensive design procedure. This general procedure is illustrated by designing a time-optimal disturbance rejection tracking system for a stirred-tank with time-delayed control inputs. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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

disturbance-rejection
time-optimal
discrete-time systems
control systems


A posteriori optimisation of the forming pressure in superplastic forming processes by the finite element method In order to optimise the superplastic forming processes, it is necessary to control the strain-rate induced in the material by the pressure gas. This control ensures high material deformability. In this paper, to determine the optimum pressuretime profile in superplastic forming processes, the authors will show an original technique based on finite element method. The proposed technique was tested with reference to the superplastic forming of a thin circular plate clamped in a rigid die and formed by a pressure differential. The experimental activity was carried out using a Pb/Sn-based metallic alloy. Final results of the finite element modelling agree with the experimental ones.

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

superplastic forming
finite element
optimum pressuretime profile


Explore and repair graphs with black holes using mobile entities ? ?? In this paper, we study the problem of mobile entities that synchronously have to explore and repair a graph with faulty nodes, usually called black-holes, that destroy any entering entity. We consider the scenario where the destruction of an entity by means of a black-hole also affects all the entities within a fixed range r (in terms of number of edges), while the black-hole disappears. Clearly, if there are b black-holes in the graph, then k?b k ? b entities are necessary to remove all of them from that graph. We ask for the minimum number of synchronous steps needed to make safe all the graph. The results of this paper are both theoretical and experimental, and can be summarized as follows. From the theoretical point of view, first we show that the problem is NP-hard even for b=k=1 b = k = 1 . Then, we provide a general lower bound holding when r?0 r ? 0 and a higher one for the case of r>0 r > 0 . We then consider the case of r?1 r ? 1 . We propose an optimal solution holding when k is unbounded, that is, an infinite number of robots is available. Then, we provide three different exploration strategies, named snake, scout, and parallel-scout, respectively, for the case of bounded k, that is, the number of robots is fixed a priori. The three strategies are then analyzed according to the time complexity with respect to the lower bound. From the experimental point of view, we implemented the three strategies and tested them on different scenarios with the aim of assessing their practical performance. The experiments confirm the theoretical analysis and show that parallel-scout is always by far the best exploration strategy in practice.

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

mobile entities
time complexity
experiments


Sundance: High-level software for PDE-constrained optimization Sundance is a package in the Trilinos suite designed to provide high-level components for the development of high-performance PDE simulators with built-in capabilities for PDE-constrained optimization. We review the implications of PDE-constrained optimization on simulator design requirements, then survey the architecture of the Sundance problem specification components. These components allow immediate extension of a forward simulator for use in an optimization context. We show examples of the use of these components to develop full-space and reduced-space codes for linear and nonlinear PDE-constrained inverse problems.

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

pde-constrained optimization
finite elements


Annotation and verification of sense pools in OntoNotes The paper describes the OntoNotes, a multilingual (English, Chinese and Arabic) corpus with large-scale semantic annotations, including predicate-argument structure, word senses, ontology linking, and coreference. The underlying semantic model of OntoNotes involves word senses that are grouped into so-called sense pools, i.e., sets of near-synonymous senses of words. Such information is useful for many applications, including query expansion for information retrieval (IR) systems, (near-)duplicate detection for text summarization systems, and alternative word selection for writing support systems. Although a sense pool provides a set of near-synonymous senses of words, there is still no knowledge about whether two words in a pool are interchangeable in practical use. Therefore, this paper devises an unsupervised algorithm that incorporates Google n-grams and a statistical test to determine whether a word in a pool can be substituted by other words in the same pool. The n-gram features are used to measure the degree of context mismatch for a substitution. The statistical test is then applied to determine whether the substitution is adequate based on the degree of mismatch. The proposed method is compared with a supervised method, namely Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA). Experimental results show that the proposed unsupervised method can achieve comparable performance with the supervised method.

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

lexical semantics
corpus annotation
lexical substitution


Modeling and characterization of deep trench isolation structures In this paper, we present a simple equivalent electrical circuit model and sidewall interface characterization results for a deep trench isolation structure. The trench structures used in the study consisted of n-silicon/undoped trench/n-silicon. The trenches were filled with undoped polycrystalline silicon and the trench sidewall was lined with thermal oxide and a deposited silicon nitride. The capacitancevoltage characteristics across the trench were measured and compared against the model predictions. The circuit model includes the effect of the space-charge region and recombinationgeneration currents in the undoped polycrystalline silicon trench fill material. The Terman method was used to extract the silicon/oxide sidewall interface density and the mid gap value was found to be less than 10?10#/cm2-eV.

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

high voltage isolation
trench modeling
trench sidewall interface


Relating reflex gain modulation in posture control to underlying neural network properties using a neuromusculoskeletal model During posture control, reflexive feedback allows humans to efficiently compensate for unpredictable mechanical disturbances. Although reflexes are involuntary, humans can adapt their reflexive settings to the characteristics of the disturbances. Reflex modulation is commonly studied by determining reflex gains: a set of parameters that quantify the contributions of Ia, Ib and II afferents to mechanical joint behavior. Many mechanisms, like presynaptic inhibition and fusimotor drive, can account for reflex gain modulations. The goal of this study was to investigate the effects of underlying neural and sensory mechanisms on mechanical joint behavior. A neuromusculoskeletal model was built, in which a pair of muscles actuated a limb, while being controlled by a model of 2,298 spiking neurons in six pairs of spinal populations. Identical to experiments, the endpoint of the limb was disturbed with force perturbations. System identification was used to quantify the control behavior with reflex gains. A sensitivity analysis was then performed on the neuromusculoskeletal model, determining the influence of the neural, sensory and synaptic parameters on the joint dynamics. The results showed that the lumped reflex gains positively correlate to their most direct neural substrates: the velocity gain with Ia afferent velocity feedback, the positional gain with muscle stretch over II afferents and the force feedback gain with Ib afferent feedback. However, position feedback and force feedback gains show strong interactions with other neural and sensory properties. These results give important insights in the effects of neural properties on joint dynamics and in the identifiability of reflex gains in experiments.

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

reflexes
afferent feedback
reflex gains
sensitivity analysis
system identification


Snow avalanche hazard modelling of large areas using shallow water numerical methods and GIS Snow avalanches threaten settlements and roads in steep mountainous areas. Hazard mitigation strategies apply numerical models in combination with GIS-based methods to determine run out distances and pressure maps of snow avalanches in three-dimensional terrain. The snow avalanche modelling system is usually applied to study single avalanche tracks. In this paper we investigate the application of a numerical modelling system for large area hazard analysis. We begin by briefly presenting the depth-averaged equations governing avalanche flow. Then, we describe the statistical and GIS-based methods that are applied to define the initial fracture depths and release areas for snow avalanche modelling. We discuss the calibration of the avalanche model friction coefficients for extreme avalanches in function of altitude, avalanche size and topography. Seven test sites with areas between 100 and 350km2, that are well distributed over the different snow climates and elevation ranges of Switzerland, were used to calibrate the model by comparing the simulation results with historic avalanche events and existing avalanche hazard maps. We then show how the avalanche modelling system was applied over the mountainous region of Switzerland (25,000km2) to delineate forests with protective function against avalanches.

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

natural hazards
avalanche hazard assessment
finite difference modelling
large area protection forest assessment


Code reordering on limited branch offset Since the 1980's code reordering has gained popularity as an important way to improve the spatial locality of programs. While the effect of the processor's microarchitecture and memory hierarchy on this optimization technique has been investigated, little research has focused on the impact of the instruction set. In this paper, we analyze the effect of limited branch offset of the MIPS-like instruction set [Hwu et al. 2004, 2005] on code reordering, explore two simple methods to handle the exceeded branches, and propose the bidirectional code layout (BCL) algorithm to reduce the number of branches exceeding the offset limit. The BCL algorithm sorts the chains according to the position of related chains, avoids cache conflict misses deliberately and lays out the code bidirectionally. It strikes a balance among the distance of related blocks, the instruction cache miss rate, the memory size required, and the control flow transfer. Experimental results show that BCL can effectively reduce exceeded branches by 50.1%, on average, with up to 100% for some programs. Except for some programs with little spatial locality, the BCL algorithm can achieve the performance, as the case with no branch offset limitation.

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

algorithms
godson processor
link-time optimization


Object models in multiscale intrinsic coordinates via m-reps Object descriptions used for 3D segmentation by deformable models and for statistical characterization of 3D object classes benefit from having intrinsic correspondences over deformation of the objects or multiple instances in the same object class. These correspondences apply over a variety of spatial scale levels and consequently lead to efficient segmentation and probability distributions of geometry that are trainable with an achievable number of training instances. This paper describes a figural coordinate system provided by m-reps models and shows how such coordinates not only provide the required positional correspondences, but also are intuitive and provide orientational and metric correspondences. Examples are given for the segmentation of kidneys from CT and for the statistical characterization of schizophrenia and control classes of cerebral ventricles and of hippocampus pairs.

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 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

intrinsic coordinates
figural coordinate system


Incremental scenario modeling using hierarchical object-oriented Petri Net Scenario-based modeling is emerging as a key technology in software development because scenarios are easy to describe and understand, naturally describing the real world, and highly used in several development phases. Scenario-Based Software Modeling (SBSM) represents scenarios with a formal method, and then integrates each scenario into a global one excluding redundant, incomplete, and inconsistent elements. An issue which is not yet proposed a clear solution in SBSM is the handling of different abstraction levels. In the existing proposals, this problem is hidden with an implicit assumption that all such scenarios have the same abstraction levels, which we believe to be unrealistic. In our research, we propose a Hierarchical Object-Oriented Petri Net (HOONet) as a method to specify the scenarios, and also suggest a method to integrate scenarios including different abstraction levels as well as redundancy, incompleteness, and inconsistency. Coordinating abstraction levels of scenarios can be achieved by considering scenario models as state-based transition models and verifying the transition models with respect to behavioral equivalence. In order to show the effectiveness of our suggestion, overall processes of SBSM using HOONet are explained with a practical example.

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

hierarchical abstraction
formal methods
object-oriented
incremental modeling


Numerical simulation of stochastic road process using white noise filtration To carry out the dynamic response prediction of a vehicle subjected to excitation from a stochastic road in a time domain, it is necessary to simulate time series of road irregularities. Based on the frequency domain model, power spectral density (PSD) function of roads, this study focuses on regenerating the time domain model of roads by using a white noise filtration method, especially on the temporally and spatially correlative bilateral track model by taking the coherence between the road tracks into consideration. As a typical time series of road irregularity, the resulting model was theoretically discussed and numerically simulated. A numerical example showed that the method was highly efficient and accurate, even when very long sequences were simulated. Finally, several conclusions were drawn.

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

road irregularities
time domain model
white noise filtration
numerical simulation


CLIPS-OWL: A framework for providing object-oriented extensional ontology queries in a production rule engine In this paper, we define a framework, namely CLIPS-OWL for enabling the CLIPS production rule engine to represent the extensional results of DL reasoning on OWL ontologies in the form of Object-Oriented (OO) models. The purpose of this transformation is to allow CLIPS to use these OO models as static query models that are able to answer extensional ontology queries directly by the RETE reasoning engine during the development of custom CLIPS production rule programs, without interfacing at runtime the external DL reasoner. In that way, any CLIPS-based application may enhance its functionality by incorporating ontological knowledge without modifying the architecture of the CLIPS rule engine. CLIPS-OWL has been implemented using the Pellet DL reasoner and the CLIPS Object-Oriented Language (COOL). (C) 2011 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 B O O O O O O O O O O O O B B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 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


Effect of a risk factor in convoy merging manoeuvres considering uncertainty in travelling times Cooperative guiding, and especially in convoys, for automated, non-contaminating transport units is a line of research for sustainable urban transport. In this paper we propose a strategy for facilitating the merging manoeuvre between independent units travelling in a transport scenario (usually a city) and a convoy following a pre-defined peripheral trajectory in the same scenario. The proposal consists of an inexpensive computational cost algorithm, which is able to calculate the optimal merging point and the efficient route to reach it. An optimal merging node is the one on the periphery which minimises the merging time. In addition to the complexity of the problem is the uncertainty associated to travelling times, as is habitual in a real urban setting. Sources of uncertainty include weather conditions, the effect of the zone (proximity to centres of social services or cultural interest), the day and time on traffic density, etc. All this justifies the variability in the time taken by any vehicle moving along a section in the transport scenario. In order to delimit the randomness inherent to the problem, the authors incorporate a novel risk factor parameter, which conditions the solution. This risk factor limits the probability of a convoy reaching the merging node before the pursuer (failed merging manoeuvre). The possibility of having the travelling experiences from any unit moving in the transport scenario means that the statistics (mean and variance) associated to the expected travelling times can be updated dynamically. This task is executed in a remote centre which communicates with all the units in the transport scenario. This dynamic updating means that the objectives (optimal merging node and efficient routing) can be re-evaluated, and makes it possible to adapt to the changing conditions of the transport scenario, each time the pursuing unit reaches an intermediate node. In order to validate the algorithm described in this paper and evaluate the effect of the aforementioned novel risk factor, we have tested them on a simulated transport scenario using Player/Stage. The results and conclusions are also shown.

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

convoy merging manoeuvre
timing uncertainty
robust and adaptive routing
heuristic estimation
efficient and optimal routing
dynamic programming


Differential FEC and ARQ for radio link protocols To bring TCP-based services to the mobile devices in a cellular network, it is necessary that TCP be extended over the wireless link. However, the performance of TCP severely degrades in a wireless medium. Hence, radio link protocols (RLPs) are used as an interface between TCP and the physical medium. RLPs fragment TCP segments into frames and use robust error correcting codes and fast retransmission schemes to shield the channel related losses from TCP, thus preventing TCP throughput degradation. In this paper, we show the limitations of the existing RLPs, which do not differentiate the frames generated from the same TCP segment. We claim that if selective frames are made more robust to transmission failures, then the performance of RLP and, hence, TCP can be improved. We identify such decisive frames and categorize them as crucial and noncrucial. Our claim is based on the fact that initial frames can afford a few trials of retransmissions, whereas the later ones cannot. We treat the frames differentially with respect to forward error correcting (FEC) coding and automatic repeat request (ARQ) schemes. We consider specific cases of FEC and ARQ strategies and show the qualitative difference in the performance of the RLP through analysis and simulations. The gain in the performance is more prominent when both FEC and ARQ (hybrid-ARQ) are used. The increase in TCP throughput with the proposed RLP is also demonstrated.

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

radio link protocols
retransmissions
arq
tcp throughput


on the constant-depth complexity of k-clique We prove a lower bound of ?(n k/4 ) on the size of constant-depth circuits solving the k-clique problem on n-vertex graphs (for every constant k). This improves a lower bound of ?(n k/89d 2 ) due to Beame where d is the circuit depth. Our lower bound has the advantage that it does not depend on the constant d in the exponent of n, thus breaking the mold of the traditional size-depth tradeoff. Our k-clique lower bound derives from a stronger result of independent interest. Suppose f n :0,1 n/2 ? {0,1} is a sequence of functions computed by constant-depth circuits of size O(n t ). Let G be an Erdos-Renyi random graph with vertex set {1,...,n} and independent edge probabilities n -? where ? ? 1/2t-1. Let A be a uniform random k-element subset of {1,...,n} (where k is any constant independent of n) and let K A denote the clique supported on A. We prove that f n (G) = f n (G ? K A ) asymptotically almost surely. These results resolve a long-standing open question in finite model theory (going back at least to Immerman in 1982). The m-variable fragment of first-order logic , denoted by FO m , consists of the first-order sentences which involve at most m variables. Our results imply that the bounded variable hierarchy FO 1 ? FO 2 ? ... ? FO m ? ... is strict in terms of expressive power on finite ordered graphs. It was previously unknown that FO 3 is less expressive than full first-order logic on finite ordered graphs.

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

first-order logic
k-clique
ac0
constant-depth circuits
circuit complexity


Generalized number systems in Euclidean spaces The concept of number systems in higher-dimensional Euclidean spaces as well as in number fields are introduced and treated. The paper is mainly a survey of known results. If Z(k) denotes the ring of integer vectorials in Euclidean space R(k) then we study the subgroup L = MZ(k), where M is a k x k matrix with integer entries. A digit set is defined with the help of residue classes (mod L) A(j) (j = 0,..., t - 1), where t = \det M\. The analogous of q-additive and q-multiplicative functions over the ring of Gaussian integers are also given. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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


RGFGA: An efficient representation and crossover for grouping genetic algorithms There is substantial research into genetic algorithms that are used to group large numbers of objects into mutually exclusive subsets based upon some fitness function. However, nearly all methods involve degeneracy to some degree. We introduce a new representation for grouping genetic algorithms, the restricted growth function genetic algorithm, that effectively removes all degeneracy, resulting in a more efficient search. A new crossover operator is also described that exploits a measure of similarity between chromosomes in a population. Using several synthetic datasets, we compare the performance of our representation and crossover with another well known state-of-the-art GA method, a strawman optimisation method and a well-established statistical clustering algorithm, with encouraging results.

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

restricted growth functions
hill climbing
multivariate time series
bin packing


From pixels to scene graphs in introductory computer graphics courses The field of computer graphics is expanding and evolving rapidly. Past computer graphics courses addressed low-level topics such as line drawing algorithms (Computers and Graphics 2000;24(1):151155) while the graphics industry has moved toward scene graph representations of three-dimensional scenes. This discrepancy has moved some educators to suggest graphics courses exclude 2D topics for concentration on 3D. This paper suggests that such a switch is unnecessary and provides a course outline blending old and new topics to provide breadth and relevancy without abandoning the basics.

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

k.3.2 computer and information science education


Exact traveling wave solutions of the Boussinesq-Burgers equation The extended homogeneous balance method is used to construct exact traveling wave solutions of the Boussinesq-Burgers equation, in which the homogeneous balance method is applied to solve the Riccati equation and the reduced nonlinear ordinary differential equation. Many exact traveling wave solutions of the Boussinesq-Burgers equation are successfully obtained. (c) 2008 Ltd. All rights reserved.

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

homogeneous balance method
riccati equation

travelling wave solutions
boussinesq-burgers equation


A fuzzy-Bayesian model for supplier selection The selection supplier problem has received a lot of attention from academics in recent years. Several models were developed in the literature, combining consolidated operations research and artificial intelligence methods and techniques. However, the tools presented in the literature neglected learning and adaptation, since this decision making process is approached as a static one rather than a highly dynamic process. Delays, lack of capacity, quality related issues are common examples of dynamic aspects that have a direct impact on long-term relationships with suppliers. This paper presents a novel method based on the integration of influence diagram and fuzzy logic to rank and evaluate suppliers. The model was developed to support managers in exploring the strengths and weaknesses of each alternative, to assist the setting of priorities between conflicting criteria, to study the sensitivity of the behavior of alternatives to changes in underlying decision situations, and finally to identify a preferred course of action. To be effective, the computational implementation of the method was embedded into an information system that includes several functionalities such as supply chain simulation and suppliers databases. A case study in the biodiesel supply chain illustrates the effectiveness of the developed method.

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


estimation of distribution algorithm based on archimedean copulas Both Estimation of Distribution Algorithms (EDAs) and Copula Theory are hot topics in different research domains. The key of EDAs is modeling and sampling the probability distribution function which need much time in the available algorithms. Moreover, the modeled probability distribution function can not reflect the correct relationship between variables of the optimization target. Copula Theory provides a correlation between univariable marginal distribution functions and the joint probability distribution function. Therefore, Copula Theory could be used in EDAs. Because Archimedean copulas possess many nice properties, an EDA based on Archimedean copulas is presented in this paper. The experimental results show the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.

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 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 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


An intelligent system for sorting pistachio nut varieties An intelligent pistachio nut sorting system combining acoustic emissions analysis, Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Multilayer Feedforward Neural Network (MFNN) classifier was developed and tested. To evaluate the performance of the system 3200 pistachio nuts from four native Iranian pistachio nut varieties were used. Each variety was consisted of 400 split-shells and 400 closed-shells nut. The nuts were randomly selected, slide down a chute, inclined 60 above the horizontal, on which nuts slide down to impact a steel plate and their acoustic signals were recorded from the impact. Sound signals in the time-domain are saved for subsequent analysis. The method is based on feature generation by Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), feature reduction by PCA and classification by MFNN. Features such as amplitude, phase and power spectrum of sound signals are computed via a 1024-point FFT. By using PCA more than 98% reduction in the dimension of feature vector is achieved. To find the optimal MFNN classifier, various topologies each having different number of neurons in the hidden layer were designed and evaluated. The best MFNN model had a 40124 structure, that is, a network having one hidden layer with 40 neurons at its input, 12 neurons in the hidden layer and 4 neurons (pistachio varieties) in the output layer. The selection of the optimal model was based on the examination of mean square error, correlation coefficient and correct separation rate (CSR). The CSR or total weighted average in system accuracy for the 40124 structure was 97.5%, that is, only 2.5% of nuts were misclassified.

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

pistachio nut
classification
sorting
neural network
principal component analysis
fast fourier transform


The influence of crystallinity on the resistive switching behavior of TiO2 The resistive switching characteristics of Pt/TiO2/Al devices were investigated. Amorphous and rutile TiO2 samples were prepared and electrically characterized. The amorphous sample was sputtered at room temperature. The rutile phase of the TiO2 was prepared by sputtering at elevated temperatures of 500C. Without an electroforming process, the amorphous sample showed bipolar resistive switching in low current mode. Switchable rectifying effects have been demonstrated in this mode. After applying the electroforming process on the rutile or amorphous device both samples exhibited a bipolar switching in high current mode. Amorphous titanium oxide showed low and high current mode bipolar switching in one device.

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

tio2
resistive switching
rutile
amorphous


Masking Property Based Residual Acoustic Echo Cancellation for Hands-Free Communication in Automobile Environment A residual acoustic echo cancellation method that employs the masking property is proposed to enhance the speech quality of hands-free communication devices in an automobile environment. The conventional masking property is employed for speech enhancement using the masking threshold of the desired clean speech signal. In this Letter. either the near-end speech or residual noise is selected as the desired signal according to the double-talk detector. Then, the residual echo signal is masked by the desired signal (masker). Experiments confirm the effectiveness of the proposed method by deriving the echo return loss enhancement and by examining speech waveforms and spectrograms.

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

acoustic echo cancellation system
masking effect
perceptual filter