a random walk approach to sampling hidden databases A large part of the data on the World Wide Web is hidden behind form-like interfaces. These interfaces interact with a hidden back-end database to provide answers to user queries. Generating a uniform random sample of this hidden database by using only the publicly available interface gives us access to the underlying data distribution. In this paper, we propose a random walk scheme over the query space provided by the interface to sample such databases. We discuss variants where the query space is visualized as a fixed and random ordering of attributes. We also propose techniques to further improve the sample quality by using a probabilistic rejection based approach. We conduct extensive experiments to illustrate the accuracy and efficiency of our techniques.

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


Using Maximum Energy Cluster Head for Routing in Wireless Sensor Networks In recent years, there has been a growing interest in wireless sensor networks. One of the major issues in wireless sensor network is developing an energy-efficient routing protocol. Since the sensor nodes have limited available power, energy conservation is a critical issue in wireless sensor networks for node availability and network life. Most of the existing routing protocols for sensor networks don't turn off the radio frequency completely, which will increase the energy consumption. LEACH (Low-Energy Adaptive Clustering Hierarchy) is a clustering-based protocol that non-cluster-head nodes will turn off their RF completely until their pre-allocated time slot. However, LEACH has a drawback that the cluster is not evenly distributed due to its randomized rotation of local cluster-head. In this paper, we propose a MECH (Maximum Energy Cluster Head) routing protocol. It has self-configuration and hierarchical tree routing properties. MECH improves LEACH in several aspects. MECH constructs cluster based on radio range and the number of the cluster members. The members in a cluster in the networks are distributed more equally through our cluster constructing. We also propose a hierarchical tree method that reduces the distances of routing path from cluster-heads to the base station. Simulation results show that MECH outperforms LEACH in several respects.

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

wireless sensor networks
routing protocols
clustering


Robust localized image watermarking based on invariant regions The robustness of the localized watermarking methods mainly depends on the robustness of the feature locating the watermark. Based on the mean luminance of the disk, a rotation and scale invariant feature extraction algorithm is proposed. A theoretical verification of the rotation and scale invariance of extracted feature points in the continuous image is further performed. The extracted feature points are used to construct rotation and scale invariant circular regions, where the watermark is embedded after affine normalization. Experimental results show that the constructed regions fit the watermarking applications much better than those in previous feature-based watermarking schemes from the aspect of robustness against common attacks including filtering, JPEG compression, cropping, rotation and scaling, and the proposed localized image watermarking scheme has better robustness than previous feature-based watermarking schemes against common signal process and geometrical attacks while maintaining imperceptibility.

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

watermarking
rotation and scale invariant feature

geometrical attack
content-based synchronization


Joint segmentation of multivariate time series with hidden process regression for human activity recognition We present a novel way for automatic human activity recognition from acceleration data. It is based on a well-established statistical latent data model. It works in an entirely unsupervised way and does not require feature extraction preprocessing. It is assessed on a real-world automatic human activity recognition problem.

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

human activity recognition
acceleration data
hidden process regression

times series segmentation
unsupervised learning
expectationmaximization algorithm


Revealing halogen bonding interactions with anomeric systems: An ab initio quantum chemical studies The role of anomeric effect on halogen bonding has been examined. Tetrahydro-1,3-oxazine and FBr, BrCl and BrI have been considered in this study. The axial oxygen lone pair is more available for the interaction with halogen atom. The role of substituents attached with the halogen atoms has also been evaluated.

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

interhalogen compounds
postharteefock ab initio methods
energy decomposition analysis


Relationship between GF(2(m)) Montgomery and shifted polynomial basis multiplication algorithms Applying the matrix-vector product idea of the Mastrovito multiplier to the GF(2(m)) Montgomery multiplication algorithm, we present a new parallel multiplier for irreducible trinomials. This multiplier and the corresponding shifted polynomial basis (SPB) multiplier have the same circuit structure for the same set of parameters. Furthermore, by establishing isomorphisms between the Montgomery and the SPB constructions of GF(2(m)), we show that the Montgomery algorithm can be used to perform the SPB multiplication without any changes and vice versa.

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

finite field
montgomery multiplication algorithm
shifted polynomial basis
irreducible trinomial


An operator allocation optimization model for balancing control of the hybrid assembly lines using Pareto utility discrete differential evolution algorithm This paper investigates the operator allocation problems (OAP) with jobs sharing and operator revisiting for balance control of a complicated hybrid assembly line which appears in the apparel sewing manufacturing system. Multiple objectives and constraints for the problem are formulated. The utility function is employed to deal with the difficulty of combining several conflicting and incommensurable objectives into one overall measure. An optimization model combining the Pareto utility discrete differential evolution (PUDDE) algorithm and the embedded discrete event simulation (DES) model is proposed to solve the OAPs. The PUDDE algorithm is an improved discrete differential evolution approach used with the Pareto utility selection strategy, which extends the real-value differential evolution to handle the discrete-value vector by introducing two modified operators, namely the subtraction and addition operators. During the optimization process, the embedded DES model is used to evaluate the performance objectives by analyzing the dynamic behaviors of the hybrid assembly lines, which tackles the problem of having no closed-form mathematical expressions for the evaluation of performance objectives owing to the existence of jobs sharing and operator revisiting. Extensive experiments are conducted to validate the proposed optimization model. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed PUDDE-based optimization model can effectively solve the OAPs for the hybrid assembly lines with the consideration of jobs sharing and operator revisiting. It was also found that the proposed PUDDE algorithm evidently outperforms the general differential evolution algorithm. Compared with the collected industrial results, the solution generated by the proposed optimization model has much better performance objectives for the hybrid assembly lines.

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

optimization
utility function
balance control

pareto utility discrete differential evolution (pudde)


Immune genetic algorithm-based adaptive evidential model for estimating unmeasured parameter: Estimating levels of coal powder filling in ball mill ? To estimate the unmeasured parameter from experts and running data, in this paper, a novel method named immune genetic algorithm-based adaptive evidential classification rule (IGA-EC) was proposed. The IGA-EC model was realized by two strategies: (1) a new parametric distance metric was applied instead of Euclidean distance to enhance the robust adaptive ability of the traditional evidence-theoretic classification rule; and (2) the powerful evolutionary algorithm immune genetic algorithm was used to parallel search the global optimal solutions of the parameters involved in the proposed model. To validate IGA-EC model, some experiments were conducted based on some popular data sets, and the experimental results show that the proposed method was powerful with respect to the accuracy. Finally, the IGA-EC model was used to estimate the unmeasured parameter level of coal powder filling in the ball mill in power plant. From the analysis of the estimating results, it suggests that the proposed method was applicable for estimating the level of coal powder, and the proposed method can also be applied for estimating other unmeasured parameters in industry.

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

immune genetic algorithm
unmeasured parameter
estimating
ball mill
level of coal powder


Improved constructions of mixed state quantum automata Quantum finite automata with mixed states are proved to be super-exponentially more concise rather than quantum finite automata with pure states. It was proved earlier by A. Ambainis and R. Freivalds that quantum finite automata with pure states can have an exponentially smaller number of states than deterministic finite automata recognizing the same language. There was an unpublished "folk theorem" proving that quantum finite automata with mixed states are no more super-exponentially more concise than deterministic finite automata. It was not known whether the super-exponential advantage of quantum automata is really achievable. We prove that there is an infinite sequence of distinct integers n, languages L(n), and quantum finite automata with mixed states with 5n states recognizing language L(n) with probability 3/4, while any deterministic finite automaton recognizing L(n) needs at least e(0(n1nn)) states. Unfortunately, the alphabet for these languages grows with n. In order to prove a similar result for languages in a fixed alphabet we consider a counterpart of Hamming codes for permutations of finite sets, i.e. sets of permutations such that any two distinct permutations in the set have Hamming distance at least d. The difficulty arises from the fact that in the traditional Hamming codes for binary strings, positions in the string are independent while positions in a permutation are not independent. For instance, any two permutations of the same set either coincide or their Hamming distance is at least 2. The main combinatorial problem still remains open. (C) 2009 Published by Elsevier B.V.

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


On exploiting classification taxonomies in recommender systems Massive taxonomies for product classification are currently gaining popularity among e-commerce systems for diverse domains. For instance, Amazon.com maintains an entire plethora of hand-crafted taxonomies classifying books, movies, apparel and various other types of consumer goods. We use such taxonomic background knowledge for the computation of personalized recommendations, exploiting relationships between super-concepts and sub-concepts during profile generation. Empirical analysis, both offline and online, demonstrates our proposal's superiority over existing approaches when user information is sparse and implicit ratings prevail. Besides addressing the sparsity issue, we use parts of our taxonomy-based recommender framework for balancing and diversifying personalized recommendation lists in order to reflect the user's complete spectrum of interests. Though being detrimental to average accuracy, we show that our method improves user satisfaction with recommendation lists, in particular for lists generated using the common item-based collaborative filtering algorithm. We evaluate our method using book recommendation data, including offline analysis on 361,349 ratings and an online study involving more than 2,100 subjects.

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


Real options analysis of the timing of IS investment decisions Many information systems (IS) investments belong to a class of capital budgeting problem where there is an option: the investment may be made straight away or delayed for some period. A real options analysis could allow decision-makers to add value to these investment decisions by providing a framework that explicitly recognises uncertainty. This paper uses options pricing theory to determine the optimal timing of IS investments and to explore the effect of different investment review cycles. The findings provide support for the common industry practice of demanding short payback periods for IS investments.

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


Corporate ergonomics programme at Scottish & Newcastle Partly as a result of impending EU Legislation in 1992 (six pack) an Ergonomics Adviser was employed by the Occupational Health & Safety Services within Scottish & Newcastle to assist with the ergonomic considerations inherent within these Regulations. Although employed initially to address the manual handling issues within the beer delivery operations, the role of the Ergonomist has evolved to provide support and advice in many of the corporate programs aimed at improving employee health and safety. This paper describes three such programs; namely those of manual handling, display screen equipment and occupational stress. Detailed cost-benefit analysis information, highlighting a 1.3 Million (stg) reduction in associated costs, is described in relation to the first of these programs. The latter two programs have not yet been in situ for a suitable duration to enable such cost-benefit analyses.

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

manual handling
display screen equipment
occupational stress


affinity propagation enhanced by estimation of distribution algorithms Tumor classification based on gene expression data can be applied to set appropriate medical treatment according to the specific tumor characteristics. In this paper we propose the use of estimation of distribution algorithms (EDAs) to enhance the performance of affinity propagation (AP) in classification problems. AP is an efficient clustering algorithm based on message-passing methods and which automatically identifies exemplars of each cluster. We introduce an EDA-based procedure to compute the preferences used by the AP algorithm. Our results show that AP performance can be notably improved by using the introduced approach. Furthermore, we present evidence that classification of new data is improved by employing previously identified exemplars with only minor decrease in classification accuracy.

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

estimation of distribution algorithms
classification
clustering


Host Selection through Collective Decision In this article, we present a collective decision-making framework inspired by biological swarms and capable of supporting the emergence of a consensus within a population of agents in the absence of environment-mediated communication (stigmergy). Instead, amplification is the result of the variation of a confidence index, stored in individual memory and providing each agent with a statistical estimate of the current popularity of its preferred choice within the whole population. We explore the fundamental properties of our framework using a combination of analytical and numerical methods. We then use Monte Carlo simulation to investigate its applicability to host selection in the presence of multiple alternatives, a problem found in application migration scenarios. The advantages of self-organization and the use of statistically predictive methods in this context are also discussed.

O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 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
design
experimentation
agent-based systems
collective decision-making


BER Analysis and Compensation for the Effects of Polynomial HPA Non-linearity in MIMO OFDM Systems Over Fading Channel The nonlinearities caused by the High Power Amplifier (HPA) has a crucial effect on the performance of Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) with Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) systems. In this paper, we investigate the performance of Vertical Bell Laboratories Layered Space-Time (VBLAST) MIMO OFDM systems in the presence of non HPA which is modeled as a NL polynomial model. Specifically, we present a theoretical analysis of NL distortion effects in VBLAST MIMO OFDM systems in terms of error probability and system capacity. Therefore, we propose a nonlinear distortion compensator based on Neural Network (NN) accompanied with Minimum Mean Square Error receiver which corrects this nonlinearity. In the fact, the correction is done at the transmitter after HPA and at the receiver level after OFDM demodulation in frequency and time domain. Also, we present the structure of the NN adapted to both the predistortion and frequency domain. Simulation results show the comparison between the theoretical and simulated of nonlinear distortion effects in MIMO-OFDM transmission systems, as well as the performance of different methods of compensation proposed.

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


Mapping research collaborations in the business and management field in Malaysia, 19802010 This paper examines research collaborations in the field of business and management in Malaysia, a fast-developing economy in Southeast Asia. The country aims to become a developed nation by the year 2020, guided by its well-charted Wawasan 2020 or Vision 2020 program. Research and development are important agenda items within this program. Rarely, however, have studies investigated the research collaborations of researchers based in Malaysia from the network perspective. After a manual author disambiguation process, we examined the network of 285 business and management researchers at the individual, institutional, and international levels. Author collaborations per paper almost doubled between 2001 and 2010 compared to the period 19801990. The popularity of researchers and the strength and diversity of their ties with other researchers had significant effects on their research performance. Furthermore, geographical proximity still mattered in intra-national collaborations. Malaysian institutions more often collaborated intra-institutionally or with foreign partners than with other institutions within Malaysia. The countrys five research universities are among the top-most productive of all institutions in Malaysia. Malaysias top international partners are all developed countries, including the US, Australia, Japan, the UK, and Canada. Surprisingly, Malaysia has had relatively little collaboration with ASEAN nations, of which it is a prominent member and which has an important agenda of educational cooperation within its member states. Internationally co-authored articles have been cited almost three times more than locally co-authored articles. Based on these results, we suggest an effective co-authorship strategy.

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

research collaboration
co-authorship networks
co-authorship strategy


Looking for the impact of peer review: does count of funding acknowledgements really predict research impact? A small number of studies have sought to establish that research papers with more funding acknowledgements achieve higher impact and have claimed that such a link exists because research supported by more funding bodies undergoes more peer review. In this paper, a test of this link is made using recently available data from the Web of Science, a source of bibliographic data that now includes funding acknowledgements. The analysis uses 3,596 papers from a single year, 2009, and a single journal, the Journal of Biological Chemistry. Analysis of this data using OLS regression and two ranks tests reveals the link between count of funding acknowledgements and high impact papers to be statistically significant, but weak. It is concluded that count of funding acknowledgements should not be considered a reliable indicator of research impact at this level. Relatedly, indicators based on assumptions that may hold true at one level of analysis may not be appropriate at other levels.

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

funding acknowledgements
peer review
indicators
regression


site level noise removal for search engines The currently booming search engine industry has determined many online organizations to attempt to artificially increase their ranking in order to attract more visitors to their web sites. At the same time, the growth of the web has also inherently generated several navigational hyperlink structures that have a negative impact on the importance measures employed by current search engines. In this paper we propose and evaluate algorithms for identifying all these noisy links on the web graph, may them be spam or simple relationships between real world entities represented by sites, replication of content, etc. Unlike prior work, we target a different type of noisy link structures, residing at the site level, instead of the page level. We thus investigate and annihilate site level mutual reinforcement relationships, abnormal support coming from one site towards another, as well as complex link alliances between web sites. Our experiments with the link database of the TodoBR search engine show a very strong increase in the quality of the output rankings after having applied our techniques.

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

order
quality
replication
web
links
paper
hyperlink
spam
online
relationships
search engine
support
noise
database
ranking

measurement
paging
experience
timing
evaluation
linking
web graph
noise reduction
organization
contention
link analysis
industrial
web site
complexity
algorithm
pagerank


Merging on the BSP model The design of complex parallel algorithms relies heavily on a set of primitive operations. In this work, we examine the problem of merging two sorted sequences in an architecture independent setting. We derive parallel algorithms that can be used on a variety of parallel machines and whose performance can be reliably predicted if these algorithms are analyzed under the bulk-synchronous parallel (BSP) model. While our algorithms are fairly simple themselves, description of their performance in terms of the BSP parameters is somewhat complicated. The main reward for quantifying these complications, is that it enables parallel software to be written once and for all that can be migrated efficiently among a variety of parallel platforms. The optimal merging algorithm presented in this work achieves asymptotically optimal parallel efficiency compared to any optimal sequential merging algorithm.

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

merging
architecture independent
parallel algorithms


Hybrid metaheuristics in combinatorial optimization: A survey Research in metaheuristics for combinatorial optimization problems has lately experienced a noteworthy shift towards the hybridization of metaheuristics with other techniques for optimization. At the same time, the focus of research has changed from being rather algorithm-oriented to being more problem-oriented. Nowadays the focus is on solving the problem at hand in the best way possible, rather than promoting a certain metaheuristic. This has led to an enormously fruitful cross-fertilization of different areas of optimization. This cross-fertilization is documented by a multitude of powerful hybrid algorithms that were obtained by combining components from several different optimization techniques. Hereby, hybridization is not restricted to the combination of different metaheuristics but includes, for example, the combination of exact algorithms and metaheuristics. In this work we provide a survey of some of the most important lines of hybridization. The literature review is accompanied by the presentation of illustrative examples.

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

hybrid metaheuristics
combinatorial optimization

mathematical programming
constraint programming
local search


Unifying views of tail-biting trellis constructions for linear block codes In this paper, we present new ways of describing and constructing linear tail-biting trellises for block codes. We extend the well-known Bahl-Cocke-Jelinek-Raviv (BCJR) construction for conventional trellises to tail-biting trellises. The BCJR-like labeling scheme yields a simple specification for the tail-biting trellis for the dual code, with the dual trellis having the same state-complexity profile as that of the primal code. Finally, we show that the algebraic specification of Forney for state spaces of conventional trellises has a natural extension to tail-biting trellises.

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

displacement matrix
duality
linear trellises
nonmergeable trellises
tail-biting trellises


Application of mapping theory to boundary integral formulation of 3D dynamic crack problems The boundary integral equations (BIEs) method is applied for dynamic analysis of an infinite solid with a plane crack of general front shape. The bijective mapping of the crack area into a circular domain is used to derive a new form of the BIEs. In the transforming process the behavior of both the displacement and stress fields in the vicinity of the crack front are considered exactly. The discrete analogues of these equations are constructed in the time and frequency domains. The influence of varying curvature of the crack front on stress intensity factors is studied for elliptic and limaon of Pascal-shaped cracks subjected to the normal Heaviside step and time-harmonic loading.

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

boundary integral equations
mapping theory

time-domain
frequency domain
3d infinite solid
elliptic crack
limaon of pascal-shaped crack
dynamic stress intensity factor


Special issue on foundations, advanced topics and industrial perspectives of multi-agent systems This paper introduces the Special Issue of the Journal of Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems on Foundations, Advanced Topics and Industrial Perspectives of Multi-Agent Systems. This special issue collects four articles dealing with some of the main issues that arose during the three Technical Forum Group meetings held in 2004 and 2005, which were organised and sponsored by the European FP6 Coordination Action AgentLink III.

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

multi-agent systems
eu project
mas meta-model
mas applications
autonomic communication


Finite element implementation for computer-aided education of structural mechanics: Mohr's circle and its practical use This article introduces a computer program for computer-aided education about Mohr's circle and its practical use. The instructional tool has been implemented as part of a finite element analysis program, VisualFEA. The proposed approach to teaching and learning Mohr's circle is distinguished from previous work by its association with practical analysis models. The Mohr's circle is displayed and operated on the basis of stress data obtained from finite element analysis whereas arbitrarily assumed numerical values are used in other programs. The analysis can be extended to elasto-plastic models with various yield criteria. Thus, the program can be regarded not only as an instructional module for studying Mohr's circle itself, but also as a training tool for exercising its practical application. This article describes the characteristics of the program's educational features and suggests important points for teaching and learning Mohr's circle and related subjects using VisualFEA. 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Comput Appl Eng Educ 22:494508, 2014; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/cae; DOI 10.1002/cae.10.1002/cae.20575

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

mohr's circle
stress transformation
elasto-plastic analysis
failure envelope


Bidirectional 60 GHz RoF System With Two Millimeter-Wave Signals Generated by a Novel Generation Scheme A two millimeter-wave signal generation scheme for a bidirectional 60 GHz radio-over-fiber system is theoretically analyzed and numerically verified. Three dual-electrical Mach-Zehnder modulators (MZMs) and two optical inter-leavers (OILs) are employed, and MZM1, MZM2, and MZM3 are biased at the minimum, maximum, and minimum transmission points, respectively. The two OILs and a fiber Bragg grating are used to separate the subcarriers after transmission. In the scheme, a tunable laser serves as the optical source, and two 60 GHz millimeter-wave signals with modulating data are generated to transmit diversity, and a remote local oscillator is also generated. The analytical models for transmission through a dispersive medium are confirmed by simulations. It is found that chromatic dispersion has little impact on the bit error rate performance when a narrow-linewidth laser and a noise management technique are employed.

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

fiber optic communication
fiber optic links and subsystems
generation of millimeter-wave signals
modulation


Combining Local Scoring and Global Aggregation to Rank Entities for Deep Web Queries With the rapid growth of Web databases, it is necessary to extract and integrate large-scale data available in Deep Web automatically. But current Web search engines conduct page-level ranking, which are becoming inadequate for entity-oriented vertical search. In this paper, we present an entity-level ranking mechanism called LG-ERM for Deep Web queries based on local scoring and global aggregation. Unlike traditional approaches, LG-ERM considers more rank influencing factors including the uncertainty of entity extraction, the style information of the entities and the importance of the Web sources, as well as the entity relationship. By combining local scoring and global aggregation in ranking, the query result can be more accurate and effective to meet users' needs. The experiments demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the key techniques of LG-ERM.

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

deep web
local scoring
global aggregation


Software Protection Combined with Tamper-Proof Device Establishment of a practical software protection method is a major issue in software distribution. There are several approaches to the issue; however, no practical, secure method for mobile phone applications has been proposed. In this paper, we propose a new software protection scheme combined with a tamper-proof device (TPD) in order to achieve computational security against illegal analysis and copying of the target program. Our scheme achieves a reasonable level of security for encoding the data and variables in a program. The program on a mobile phone deals only with encoded data that is difficult to compromise, and the TPD plays a role of decoding execution results. We implemented the proposed scheme on a 30 mobile phone and a user identification module (UIM). An analysis and copying of the protected program impose exponential computation complexities under our attack model.

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

copy protection
tamper-proof device
quantitative security analysis


A neural model of selective attention and object segmentation in the visual scene: An approach based on partial synchronization and star-like architecture of connections A brain-inspired computational system is presented that allows sequential selection and processing of objects from a visual scene. The system is comprised of three modules. The selective attention module is designed as a network of spiking neurons of the Hodgkin-Huxley type with star-like connections between the central unit and peripheral elements. The attention focus is represented by those peripheral neurons that generate spikes synchronously with the central neuron while the activity of other peripheral neurons is suppressed. Such dynamics corresponds to the partial synchronization mode. It is shown that peripheral neurons with higher firing rates are preferentially drawn into partial synchronization. We show that local excitatory connections facilitate synchronization, while local inhibitory connections help distinguishing between two groups of peripheral neurons with similar intrinsic frequencies. The module automatically scans a Visual scene and sequentially selects regions of interest for detailed processing and object segmentation. The contour extraction module implements standard image processing algorithms for contour extraction. The module computes raw contours of objects accompanied by noise and some spurious inclusions. At the next stage, the object segmentation module designed as a network of phase oscillators is used for precise determination of object boundaries and noise suppression. This module has a star-like architecture of connections. The segmented object is represented by a group of peripheral oscillators working in the regime of partial synchronization with the central oscillator. The functioning of each module is illustrated by an example of processing of the visual scene taken from a visual stream of a robot camera. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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

selective visual attention
oscillatory neural network


statistical timing analysis for intra-die process variations with spatial correlations Process variations have become a critical issue in performanceverification of high-performance designs. We present a new, statisticaltiming analysis method that accounts for inter- and intra-dieprocess variations and their spatial correlations. Since statisticaltiming analysis has an exponential run time complexity, we proposea method whereby a statistical bound on the probability distributionfunction of the exact circuit delay is computed with linear run time.First, we develop a model for representing inter- and intra-die variationsand their spatial correlations. Using this model, we thenshow how gate delays and arrival times can be represented as a sumof components, such that the correlation information betweenarrival times and gate delays is preserved. We then show howarrival times are propagated and merged in the circuit to obtain anarrival time distribution that is an upper bound on the distributionof the exact circuit delay. We prove the correctness of the bound andalso show how the bound can be improved by propagating multiplearrival times. The proposed algorithms were implemented andtested on a set of benchmark circuits under several process variationscenarios. The results were compared with Monte Carlo simulationand show an accuracy of 3.32\% on average over all test cases.

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

benchmark
monte carlo
analysis
delay
correlation
probability
timing
model
time complexity
spatial
method
accuracy
test
correctness
process
circuits

time analysis
statistics
design
high-performance
account
informal
component
analysis method
variation
distributed
algorithm
critic
process -variation


WEC-C: a distributed, deterministic catchment model - theory, formulation and testing WEC-C is a distributed. deterministic, catchment-scale water flow and solute transport model containing a number of innovations not present in comparable models. For example, it allows for the imposition of catchment topological changes resulting from land uses such as surface mining. In addition. it features preferential vertical flow in the vadose zone modelled using a dual continuum approach. Numerically, it differs from many existing models in that it employs a direct linkage between the vertical and lateral solvers of its split-solver scheme and., due to its use of explicit solvers, is stable regardless of the form of the soil moisture characteristic curves. The WEC-C model framework is a rectangular grid of uniform cell size in the lateral plane combined with a system of soil layers, of variable thickness, in the vertical direction. Within this structure. the governing equations for flow and transport are discretised and solved. All parameters are defined locally in each computational cell so that all available data on catchment variability can be incorporated directly into the model. This paper describes the formulation of WEC-C, which is based on operator splitting with first-order accurate solvers for both the vertical and lateral flow and transport models. WEC-C was subjected to four stringent. synthetic tests designed to evaluate its accuracy by comparison with available analytical and numerical solutions. These showed that there were scale issues associated with the model, and that induced numeric dispersion of solutes could be significant. Nonetheless, it is suggested that WEC-C is still useful as a distributed catchment model. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

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

catchment water balance
distributed model
hydrological processes
dual-continuum profile
split operator


System on Chips optimization using ABV and automatic generation of SystemC codes In complex System on Chips (SoCs), system level platforms are built around a set of IPs including processor cores, memories and dedicated hardware (FPGA, ASIC). The better for modeling is using a single system level language during implementation. However, as IPs are in different languages, there is a need to several adaptations and conversion processes, hence making the platforms un-optimized. In this paper we fit the optimization problems by enhancing performances of SystemC SoC platforms according to a treble: productivity, simulation speed and improved verification. We enabled the two first using ST Microelectronics mature techniques and the third with a novel assertion-based verification that we proposed in this paper. As experimentation we used realistic IPs from ST Microelectronics and ARM in order to build the SoC platforms. Among these IPs, some are modeled in VHDL, some other are in Verilog and the rest are in SystemC.

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


'how may i help you'-spoken queries for technical assistance Spoken dialog systems, including interactive assistants, have emerged as a viable option for presenting technical communication. Thus has contributed to interests in improving the effectiveness and design of such systems through natural language. Traditional methods of natural language processing include parts-of-speech tagging, syntactic parsing, and statistical models. This paper introduces a new conversational question answering methodology, Answer First (A1) that bypasses traditional methods and removes the need for preprocessing of queries.

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

technical communication
natural language processing


A Collaborative Training Algorithm for Distributed Learning In this paper, an algorithm is developed for collaboratively training networks of kernel-linear least-squares regression estimators. The algorithm is shown to distributively solve a relaxation of the classical centralized least-squares regression problem. A statistical analysis shows that the generalization error afforded agents by the collaborative training algorithm can be bounded in terms of the relationship between the network topology and the representational capacity of the relevant reproducing kernel Hilbert space. Numerical experiments suggest that the algorithm is effective at reducing noise. The algorithm is relevant to the problem of distributed learning in wireless sensor networks by virtue of its exploitation of local communication. Several new questions for statistical learning theory are proposed.

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

distributed learning
learning
sensor networks

collaboration
empirical risk minimization
kernel methods
nonparametric


An Extended Path Following Algorithm for Graph-Matching Problem The path following algorithm was proposed recently to approximately solve the matching problems on undirected graph models and exhibited a state-of-the-art performance on matching accuracy. In this paper, we extend the path following algorithm to the matching problems on directed graph models by proposing a concave relaxation for the problem. Based on the concave and convex relaxations, a series of objective functions are constructed, and the Frank-Wolfe algorithm is then utilized to minimize them. Several experiments on synthetic and real data witness the validity of the extended path following algorithm.

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

concave relaxation
directed graph
path following algorithm


RNS sign detector based on Chinese remainder theorem II (CRT II) In this paper, we introduce a new algorithm for sign detection in a residue number system, which can be applied to any number of moduli set. This technique is faster than most competitive published works, based on MRC or CRT. The CRT requires large modulo M and is therefore costly to implement. The mix radix conversion (MRC) is a sequential process which causes long delay. The proposed algorithm is based on CRT II. No big modulo M = Pi(i=1)(n) p(i) operations are needed for the CRT II. The modulo multipliers in the CRT II are bounded by size rootM. The new sign detector uses less hardware than previous techniques. Using the new moduli set (2, 2(n) - 1,2(n) + 2(n-1) - 1, 2(n+1) + 2(n) - 1), the implementation of a sign detector is further simplified. (C) 2003. Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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

algorithm
chinese remainder theorem
sign detector
residue number system


When too heavy is just fine: Creating trustworthy e-health advisors In using weight and diet advisors, people compare embodied agents with their actual selves and with the person they want to be: someone with an ideal weight; their ideal selves. In a laboratory and an online experiment, we scrutinized the effects of similarity with and idealness of an embodied agent feature on user involvement with, distance towards, and intentions to use the e-health advisor. The advisor's body size was either similar or dissimilar to the user's actual body size, and had an, according to the user, ideal (slender) or non-ideal (heavier) shape. Results indicated that the factor perceived idealness was more important than similarity for explaining involvement with, distance towards, and intentions to use the embodied agent, but in an unexpected way. Users regarded the heavier, non-ideal, e-health advisors as more trustworthy, which explained the larger part of the variance in the level of involvement, distance, and intentions to use a health advisor. Sometimes, it seems better to forget the stereotypical preference and design embodied agents that are not ideal.

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

humancomputer interaction
ideal similarity
perception of ethics
empirical study


intelligent drawing correction using place vocabulary constraints Diagrams used in many domains often require continual redrawing. Diagram drawing programs often aid redrawing by applying secondary corrections that change visual elements to maintain preexisting relationships. These corrections, though useful, can operate in unintuitive ways and cause disfluencies. We describe an implemented prototype system that improves corrections based on place vocabularies (domain-specific spatial relation sets). Place vocabulary constraints (PVCs) translate high-level place vocabularies into low-level geometric constraints by reversing pre-existing recognition rules. By making corrections congruent with a domain vocabulary, PVCs may provide more intuitive drawing corrections.

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

diagrammatic reasoning
qualitative spatial representation


Essential cycle calculation method for irregular array redistribution In many parallel programs, run-time array redistribution is usually required to enhance data locality and reduce remote memory access on the distributed memory multicomputers. In general, array distribution can be classified into regular distribution and irregular distribution according to the distribution fashion. Many methods for performing regular array redistribution have been presented in the literature. However, for the heterogeneous computation environment, irregular array redistributions can be used to adjust data assignment at run-time. In this paper, an Essential Cycle Calculation method for unequal block sizes array redistribution is presented. In the ECC method; a processor first computes the source/destination processor/data sets of array elements in the first essential cycle of the local array it owns. From the source/destination processor/data sets of array elements in the first essential cycle, we can construct packing/unpacking pattern tables. Since each essential cycle has the same communication pattern, based on the packing/unpacking pattern tables, a processor can pack/unpack array elements efficiently. To evaluate the performance of the ECC method, we have implemented this method on an IBM SP2 parallel machine and compare it with the Sequence method. The cost models for these methods are also presented. The experimental results show that the ECC method greatly outperforms the Sequence method for all test samples.

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

array redistribution
essential cycle calculation method
ecc
distributed memory multicomputers


Some aspects of load-rate sensitivity in visco-elastic microplane material model The paper describes localization of deformation in a bar under tensile loading The material of the bar is considered as non-linear viscous elastic and the bar consists of two symmetric halves. It is assumed that the model represents behavior of the quasi-brittle viscous material under uniaxial tension with different loading rates. Besides that, the bar could represent uniaxial stress-strain law on a single plane of a microplane material model. Non-linear material property is taken from the microplane material model and it is coupled with the viscous damper producing non-linear Maxwell material model Mathematically, the problem is described with a system of two partial differential equations with a non-linear algebraic constraint In order to obtain solution, the system of differential algebraic equations is transformed into a system of three partial differential equations. System is subjected to loadings of different rate and it is shown that localization occurs only for high loading rates. Mathematically, in such a case two solutions are possible: one without the localization (unstable) and one with the localization (stable one) Furthermore, mass is added to the bar and in that case the problem is described with a system of four differential equations It is demonstrated that for high enough loading rates, it is the added mass that dominates the response, in contrast to the viscous and elastic material parameters that dominated in the case without mass. This is demonstrated by several numerical examples.

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

softening material
dynamic loading
bifurcation


Unmixing of Hyperspectral Images using Bayesian Non-negative Matrix Factorization with Volume Prior Hyperspectral imaging can be used in assessing the quality of foods by decomposing the image into constituents such as protein, starch, and water. Observed data can be considered a mixture of underlying characteristic spectra (endmembers), and estimating the constituents and their abundances requires efficient algorithms for spectral unmixing. We present a Bayesian spectral unmixing algorithm employing a volume constraint and propose an inference procedure based on Gibbs sampling. We evaluate the method on synthetic and real hyperspectral data of wheat kernels. Results show that our method perform as good or better than existing volume constrained methods. Further, our method gives credible intervals for the endmembers and abundances, which allows us to asses the confidence of the results.

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

bayesian source separation
hyperspectral image analysis
volume regularization


The dynamics of AdaBoost: Cyclic behavior and convergence of margins In order to study the convergence properties of the AdaBoost algorithm, we reduce AdaBoost to a nonlinear iterated map and study the evolution of its weight vectors. This dynamical systems approach allows us to understand AdaBoost's convergence properties completely in certain cases; for these cases we find stable cycles, allowing us to explicitly solve for AdaBoost's output. Using this unusual technique, we are able to show that AdaBoost does not always converge to a maximum margin combined classifier, answering an open question. In addition, we show that "nonoptimal" AdaBoost ( where the weak learning algorithm does not necessarily choose the best weak classifier at each iteration) may fail to converge to a maximum margin classifier, even if "optimal" AdaBoost produces a maximum margin. Also, we show that if AdaBoost cycles, it cycles among "support vectors", i.e., examples that achieve the same smallest margin.

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


FUZZY EXTREME LEARNING MACHINE FOR A CLASS OF FUZZY INFERENCE SYSTEMS Recently an Online Sequential Fuzzy Extreme Learning (OS-Fuzzy-ELM) algorithm has been developed by Rong et al. for the RBF-like fuzzy neural systems where a fuzzy inference system is equivalent to a RBF network under some conditions. In the paper the learning ability of the batch version of OS-Fuzzy-ELM, called as Fuzzy-ELM is further evaluated to train a class of fuzzy inference systems which can not be represented by the RBF networks. The equivalence between the output of the fuzzy system and that of a generalized Single-Hidden Layer Feedforward Network as presented in Huang et al. is shown first, which is then used to prove the validity of the Fuzzy-ELM algorithm. In Fuzzy-ELM, the parameters of the fuzzy membership functions are randomly assigned and then the corresponding consequent parameters are determined analytically. Besides an input variable selection method based on the correlation measure is proposed to select the relevant inputs as the inputs of the fuzzy system. This can avoid the exponential increase of number of fuzzy rules with the increase of dimension of input variables while maintaining the testing performance and reducing the computation burden. Performance comparison of Fuzzy-ELM with other existing algorithms is presented using some real-world regression benchmark problems. The results show that the proposed Fuzzy-ELM produces similar or better accuracies with a significantly lower training time.

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

single-hidden layer feedforward network
extreme learning machine (elm)


a web design framework for improved accessibility for people with disabilities (wdfad) Information and Communication Technology (ICT) such as the World Wide Web (WWW) has increasingly become embedded in everyday life and is progressively becoming indispensable for public, business, personal efficiency or even improvement of livelihoods [1]. Web users including People with Disabilities (PWDs) can conveniently undertake a number of tasks that would otherwise be difficult or impossible. But many Web applications such as e-learning, e-commerce and e-government are not accessible to PWDs including the blind. Through Web accessibility guidelines, Web developers can develop Web applications that are accessible to PWDs. However, majority of the available accessibility guidelines are difficult to integrate into existing developer workflows and rarely offer specific suggestions that are developer oriented. In this paper, we propose a Web Design Framework for Improved Accessibility for People with Disabilities (WDFAD). The WDFAD provides precise guidelines on how to develop Web applications that are accessible to PWDs particularly the blind. These are packaged according to the three components of Web applications namely; content, navigation and user interface. Using constructs of the Non Functional Requirements (NFR) Framework, Web accessibility design objectives are represented as primary goals and sub goals. The primary goals represent the high level accessibility design objectives, while the sub goals represent the requirements that need to be met in the Web development process in order to meet each primary goal. WDFAD also illustrates the overlaps between the process of meeting each primary goal. This unveils the optimal ways of achieving Web accessibility during Web design. The precise nature of WDFAD and its packaging according to the main components of Web applications makes Web accessibility requirements potentially easier to understand and apply by Web developers. Web Developers prefer precise and familiar tools due to their busy work life and daily interface and expression in formal instructions. In addition, the global versus local classification of Web accessibility requirements in WDFAD modularizes the web accessibility guidelines hence making them easier to understand, apply and update.

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

web accessibility
requirements
people with disabilities
web design framework
blind


Genetic local search for multi-objective combinatorial optimization The paper presents a new genetic local search (GLS) algorithm for multi-objective combinatorial optimization (MOCO). The goal of the algorithm is to generate in a short time a set of approximately efficient solutions that will allow the decision maker to choose a good compromise solution. In each iteration, the algorithm draws at random a utility function and constructs a temporary population composed of a number of best solutions among the prior generated solutions. Then, a pair of solutions selected at random from the temporary population is recombined. Local search procedure is applied to each offspring. Results of the presented experiment indicate that the algorithm outperforms other multi-objective methods based on GLS and a Pareto ranking-based multi-objective genetic algorithm (GA) on travelling salesperson problem (TSP).

B I I O O O O O O O O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 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 use of ICA in multiplicative noise When a linear mixture of independent sources is contaminated by multiplicative noise, the problems of blind source separation and feature extraction are highly complex. Specifically, the approach followed by the independent component analysis does not produce proper results. This is because the output of a linear transformation of the noisy data cannot be independent. However, the statistic of this output possesses a special structure that can be used to obtain the original mixture. In this paper, this statistical structure is studied and a general approach to solving the problem is stated, studying how the strategies followed by the standard ICA methods can be adapted in this case. To illustrate the analysis, the results of two different methods that follow the general approach are presented, where the improvement with respect the standard ICA method is clear.

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

independent components analysis (ica)
coherent images


Limit analysis solutions for three dimensional undrained slopes This paper uses numerical finite element upper and lower bound limit analysis to produce stability charts for three dimensional (3D) homogeneous and inhomogeneous undrained slopes. Although the conventional limit equilibrium method (LEM) is used more often in practice for evaluating slope stability, the accuracy of the method is often questioned due to the underlying assumptions that it makes. Using the limit theorems can not only provide a simple and useful way of analysing the stability of slopes, but also avoid the shortcomings and arbitrary assumptions under pinning the LEM. The rigorous limit analysis results in this paper were found to bracket the slope stability number to within 9% or better and therefore can be used to benchmark for solutions from other methods. In addition, it was found that using a two dimensional (2D) analysis to analyse a 3D problem will lead to a significant difference in the factors of safety depending on the slope geometries. This is of particular relevance to any back analyses of slope failure as it will lead to an unsafe estimation of material strengths.

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

safety factor
stability chart
cohesive clay
landslide


Aggregation of bioinformatics data using Semantic Web technology The integration of disparate biomedical data continues to be a challenge for drug discovery efforts. Semantic Web technologies provide the capability to more easily aggregate data and thus can be utilized to improve the efficiency of drug discovery. We describe an implementation of a Semantic Web infrastructure that utilizes the scalable Oracle Resource Description Framework (RDF) Data Model as the repository and Seamark Navigator for browsing and searching the data. The paper presents a use case that identifies gene biomarkers of interest and uses the Semantic Web infrastructure to annotate the data.

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

data aggregation
faceted browsing
oracle rdf data model


Existence of positive solutions for nonlinear fractional functional differential equation In this paper, the existence of positive solutions for the nonlinear Caputo fractional functional differential equation in the form {D(0+)(q)y(t) + r(t)f(y(t)) = 0, for all t is an element of (0, 1), q is an element of {n - 1, n], y((i))(0) = 0, 0 <= i <= n - 3, alpha y((n-2))(t) - beta y((n-1))(t) = eta(t), t is an element of [-tau, 0], gamma y((n-2))(t) - delta y((n-1))(t) = xi(t), t is an element of [1, 1 + a], is studied. By constructing a special cone and using Krasnosel'skii's fixed point theorem, various results on the existence of at least one or two positive solutions to the fractional functional differential equation are established. The main results improve and generalize the existing results. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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

caputo derivative
boundary value problem


Visualization of low Reynolds boundary-driven cavity flows in thin liquid shells Classic examples of low-Reynolds recirculating cavity flows are typically generated from lid-driven boundary motion at a solidfluid interface, or alternatively may result from shear flow over cavity openings. Here, we are interested in an original family of boundary-driven cavity flows occurring, in contrast to classic setups, at fluidfluid interfaces. Particle image velocimetry (PIV) is used to investigate the structure of internal convective flows observed in thin liquid shells. Under the specific configuration investigated, the soap bubbles liquid shell is in fact in motion and exhibits sporadic local bursts. These bursts induce transient flow motion within the cavity of order Re ? O(1). The combination of PIV and proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) is used to extract dominant flow structures present within bubble cavities. Next, we show that thermally induced Marangoni flows in the liquid shell can lead to forced, (quasi) steady-state, internal recirculating flows. The present findings illustrate a novel example of low-Reynolds boundary-driven cavity flows.

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

cavity flow
low reynolds number
marangoni flow


Searching and on-line recognition of star-shaped polygons We study the problem of on-line searching for a target inside a polygon. In particular, we propose a strategy for finding a target of unknown location in a star-shaped polygon with a competitive ratio of 11.52. We also provide a lower bound of 9 for the competitive ratio of searching in a star-shaped polygon which is close to the upper bound. A similar task is the on-line recognition of a star-shaped polygon P. Here, the robot travels on a path that allows it to decide whether P is star-shaped or not. We present a strategy with a competitive ratio of 28.85 and give a lower bound of root82 for this problem. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science (USA). 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 B I O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 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

on-line searching
algorithmic foundations of robotics
motion planning
star-shaped polygons


On network bandwidth allocation policies and feedback control algorithms for packet networks This paper summarizes our experience on the design of network bandwidth allocation policies and distributed rate calculation algorithms for packet-switched networks. In particular, we discuss two rate allocation policies: the generalized maxmin (GMM) and the weight-proportional maxmin (WPMM) policies, both of which generalize the classical maxmin rate allocation policy. For the design of distributed algorithms to achieve these two rate allocation policies, we focus on rate-based distributed flow control where special control packets are employed to achieve the information exchange between a source and the network. We categorize two broad classes of distributed rate calculation algorithms in the literature using live algorithms as illustrations. To give insight, we compare the design tradeoffs between these two classes of algorithms in terms of performance objectives and implementation complexities. Furthermore, we discuss important extensions within each class of algorithms.

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

minimum rate
peak rate
congestion and flow control
explicit rate
atm
available bit rate
packet network


The partitioncombination method for recognition of handwritten characters? The partitioncombination method is a universal strategy for studying all sciences. This paper introduces such a strategy to handwritten character recognition, which is developed from our previous study. Let a pattern be split into sub-patterns, or called parts, bases, roots, etc. The easier part recognition is first carried out, then recognition of the entire pattern can be completed by integrating the results of part recognition. In this paper, the computational formulas for evaluating the recognition rates of parts and their combinations are derived, and a number of fascinating results have been reported. Many new combinations of parts have been found, leading to better recognition in practical applications. Numerical experiments have also been conducted using 89 patterns of the most frequently used alphanumeric handprints, leading to the discovery of several interesting aspects related to character recognition. Furthermore, human behavior in handwriting may be discovered based on the computational data obtained from the new algorithms.

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

character models
model discrimination
ocr handprint recognition
classification
regional decomposition method
part combination


encryption-based protection for interactive user/computer communication This paper develops a virtual connection model, complete with intruder, for interactive terminal-host communication and presents a set of protection goals that characterize the security that can be provided for a physically unsecured connection. Fundamental requirements for protocols that achieve these goals and the role of encryption in the design of such protocols are examined. Functional and security constraints on positioning of protection protocols in a communication system and the impact of positioning on the design of secure operating systems are discussed.

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

requirements communication role encryption protection goals functional design secure paper model connection

interaction
terminals
computation
operating system
communication systems
constraint
virtualization
user
completeness
posit


Generalized filtering algorithms for infeasibility analysis We present generalized filtering algorithms for debugging linear, mixed integer and nonlinear infeasible programs. Given a set of constraints that are infeasible or inconsistent, we give algorithms to identify a minimal subset of these constraints that are inconsistent. The algorithms combine existing filtering algorithms with a binary-search based divide-and-conquer approach to improve search speed. We give computational results to show the speed of the algorithms on various problem types.

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

infeasible systems
irreducibly inconsisent systems
binary search
nonlinear optimization


A generalized-constraint neural network model: Associating partially known relationships for nonlinear regressions In an attempt to enhance the neural network technique so that it can evolve from a "black box" tool into a semi-analytical one, we propose a novel modeling approach of imposing "generalized constraints" on a standard neural network. We redefine approximation problems by use of a new formalization with the aim of embedding prior knowledge explicitly into the model to the maximum extent. A generalized-constraint neural network (GCNN) model has therefore been developed, which basically consists of two submodels. One is constructed by the standard neural network technique to approximate the unknown part of the target function. The other is formed from partially known relationships to impose generalized constraints on the whole model. Three issues arising after combination of the two submodels are discussed: (a) the better approximation provided by the GCNN model compared with a standard neural network, (b) the identifiability of parameters in the partially known relationships, and (c) the discrepancy in the approximation due to removable singularities in the target function. Numerical studies of three benchmark problems show important findings that have not previously been reported in the literature. Significant benefits were observed from using the GCNN model in comparison with a standard neural network. (c) 2009 Elsevier Inc. 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 B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

nonlinear approximation
parameter identifiability


A solution procedure for a pattern sequencing problem as part of a one-dimensional cutting stock problem in the steel industry To cut reinforcing bars for concrete buildings, machines are used which have compartments to store the cut orders until the requirement is met. Number and size of these compartments restrict kind and processing sequence of possible cutting patterns. In this paper we present the so-called Sequencing algorithm that tackles the problem of finding a processing sequence for the cutting patterns starting from an integer solution of the cutting stock problem and using an interpretation of relations between orders in patterns as a graph. Computational results are reported.

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

cutting stock problem
pattern sequencing


Social and collaborative aspects of interaction with a service robot To an increasing extent, robots are being designed to become a part of the lives of ordinary people. This calls for new models of the interaction between humans and robots, taking advantage of human social and communicative skills. Furthermore, humanrobot relationships must be understood in the context of use of robots, and based on empirical studies of humans and robots in real settings. This paper discusses social aspects of interaction with a service robot, departing from our experiences of designing a fetch-and-carry robot for motion-impaired users in an office environment. We present the motivations behind the design of the Cero robot, especially its communication paradigm. Finally, we discuss experiences from a recent usage study, and research issues emerging from this work. A conclusion is that addressing only the primary user in service robotics is unsatisfactory, and that the focus should be on the setting, activities and social interactions of the group of people where the robot is to be used.

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

service robots
humanrobot interaction
social robots
speech interfaces


Design of allpass variable fractional delay filter with signed powers-of-two coefficients A new procedure is proposed to reduce the computational complexity for the design of discrete allpass variable fractional delay filters. A new exact penalty function method is developed for the design problem. Design examples show that the proposed method is highly effective.

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


On encoding of position information in inter-vehicle communications This paper discusses encoding of vehicular position information using predictive algorithms in inter-vehicle communications (IVC) from the viewpoints of source coding and noisy channels. Two vehicular driving models are assumed; one is the 15-mode as a suburban rapid transit driving pattern, the other is called calming mode as a street-driving pattern. Three types of schemes are compared; a pulse code modulation (PCM) scheme, a predictive coding (PC) scheme, and the variable interval prediction (VIP) scheme that is proposed here. This paper assumes that precise position information is got from a positioning system, and that all the transmitters and receivers have common predictors. Performance comparisons of the three types of schemes are carried out both of noiseless and noisy channels. Results show that the VIP scheme is superior to any other scheme.

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

predictive algorithms
position information
source coding


PARETO ENVELOPES IN SIMPLE POLYGONS For a set T or n points in a metric space (X, d), a point y epsilon X is dominated by a point x epsilon X if d(x,t) <= d(y,t) for all t epsilon T and there exists t' epsilon T such that d(x,t') < d(y,t'). The set of non-dominated points of X is called the Pareto envelope of T. H. Kuhn (1973) established that in Euclidean spaces, the Pareto envelopes and the convex hulls coincide. Chalmet et al. (1981) characterized the Pareto envelopes in the rectilinear plane (R-2, d(1)) and constructed them in O(n log n) time. In this note, we investigate the Pareto envelopes of point-sets in simple polygons P endowed with geodesic d(2)- or d(1)-metrics (i.e., Euclidean and Manhattan metrics). We show that Kuhn's characterization extends to Pareto envelopes in simple polygons with d(2)-metric, while that of Chalmet et al. extends to simple rectilinear polygons with d(1)-metric. These characterizations provide efficient algorithms for construction of these Pareto envelopes.

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

dominance
geodesic l(1)- and l(2)-distance
simple polygon
algorithm


Dynamic integration of biological data sources using the data concierge The ever-changing landscape of large-scale network environments and innovative biology technologies require dynamic mechanisms to rapidly integrate previously unknown bioinformatics sources at runtime. However, existing integration technologies lack sufficient flexibility to adapt to these changes, because the techniques used for integration are static, and sensitive to new or changing bioinformatics source implementations and evolutionary biologist requirements.

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

middleware
data integration
ontology
state machine


eliminating false data dependences using the omega test Array data dependence analysis methods currently in use generate false dependences that can prevent useful program transformations. These false dependences arise because the questions asked are conservative approximations to the questions we really should be asking. Unfortunately, the questions we really should be asking go beyond integer programming and require decision procedures for a sublcass of Presburger formulas. In this paper, we describe how to extend the Omega test so that it can answer these queries and allow us to eliminate these false data dependences. We have implemented the techniques described here and believe they are suitable for use in production compilers.

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

use
decision procedures
test
data dependence
data
queries
paper
integer programming

product
dependencies
analysis method
compilation
program transformation


E-mail characteristics, work performance and distress The purpose of the study is to examine how e-mail affects work performance. E-mail communication studies have aroused both praise and query regarding the suitability, appropriateness and effectiveness of electronic messages in information management. Less is known about the effects of e-mail on work performance. We consider (1) which e-mail features affect work performance; (2) whether these features are differentially associated with positive (work effectiveness) or negative (stress and distress) side-effects; and (3) whether individual- and organizational-level characteristics are associated with positive and/or negative work performance. Using a secondary level analysis based on the Pew and American Life sample we show that extent, content, and increased volume of e-mail are (a) more frequently reported by managers than by non-managers (b) age, gender, marital status and education can become a critical issue (c) the amount of e-mail received and sent is positively related to work performance. These findings suggest that assessing the costs and benefits of electronic communication should cover individual features as well as e-mail-related features to assess their impact on work performance.

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

e-mail characteristics
e-mail effects
work stress
work distress
employees


Hiding in plain sight: criminal network analysis The United States is faced with an increasingly complex criminal enterprise. Advances in technology, communications, transport, and economies enable a highly adaptive criminal element to hide in plain site. These advances provide criminal organizations with the same global boundaries and opportunities as legitimate organizations. As boundaries expand the data to be analyzed by law enforcement mounts at a geometrically astounding rate. In response, the nature of law enforcement intelligence analysis must evolve to cope with both the amount and complexity of the data. This requires new and adaptive methods of analysis. Researchers have found that the principles of network analysis can be applied to the analysis of terrorist and criminal organizations. This paper examines the combination of measures historically employed by intelligence analysts and network analysis software and methodologies to quantitatively and qualitatively examine criminal organizations.

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

criminal network analysis
law enforcement

social network analysis
dynamic network analysis
ora
hidtasis


Cryptography and cryptographic protocols We survey the paradigms, approaches and techniques used to conceptualize, define and provide solutions to natural cryptographic problems. We start by presenting some of the central tools (e.g., computational difficulty, pseudorandomness, and zero-knowledge proofs), and next turn to the treatment of encryption and signature schemes. We conclude with an extensive treatment of secure cryptographic protocols both when executed in a stand-alone manner and when many sessions of various protocols are concurrently executed and controlled by an adversary. The survey is intended for researchers in distributed computing, and assumes no prior familiarity with cryptography.

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 B


fast tracking of near-duplicate keyframes in broadcast domain with transitivity propagation The identification of near-duplicate keyframe (NDK) pairs is a useful task for a variety of applications such as news story threading and content-based video search. In this paper, we propose a novel approach for the discovery and tracking of NDK pairs and threads in the broadcast domain. The detection of NDKs in a large data set is a challenging task due to the fact that when the data set increases linearly, the computational cost increases in a quadratic speed, and so does the number of false alarms. This paper explores the symmetric and transitive nature of near-duplicate for the effective detection and fast tracking of NDK pairs based upon the matching of local keypoints in frames. In the detection phase, we propose a robust measure, namely pattern entropy (PE), to measure the coherency of symmetric keypoint matching across the space of two keyframes. This measure is shown to be effective in discovering the NDK identity of a frame. In the tracking phase, the NDK pairs and threads are rapidly propagated and linked with sitivity without the need of detection. This step ends up a significant boost in speed efficiency. We evaluate proposed approach against a month of the 2004 broadcast videos. The experimental results indicate our approach outperforms other techniques in terms of recall and precision with a large margin. In addition, by considering the transitivity and the underlying distribution of NDK pairs along time span, a speed up of 3 to 5 times is achieved when keeping the performance close enough to the optimal one obtained by exhaustive evaluation.

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

keypoint matching
pattern entropy
transitivity propagation

keyframe tracking
near-duplicate detection


Detection of moving objects with a moving camera using non-panoramic background model This paper presents a fast and reliable method for moving object detection with moving cameras (including pantiltzoom and hand-held cameras). Instead of building large panoramic background model as conventional approaches, we construct a small-size background model, whose size is the same as input frame, to decrease computation time and memory storage without loss of detection performance. The small-size background model is built by the proposed single spatio-temporal distributed Gaussian model and this can solve false detection results arising from registration error and background adaptation problem in moving background. More than the proposed background model based on spatial and temporal information, several pre- and post-processing methods are adopted and organized systematically to enhance the detection performances. We evaluate the proposed method with several video sequences under difficult conditions, such as illumination change, large zoom variation, and fast camera movement, and present outperforming detection results of our algorithm with fast computation time.

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

moving objects detection
non-panoramic background
background modeling
spatio-temporal gaussian model


A new approach to aflatoxin detection in chili pepper by machine vision Aflatoxins are the toxic metabolites of Aspergillus molds, especially by Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus. They have been studied extensively because of being associated with various chronic and acute diseases especially immunosuppression and cancer. Aflatoxin occurrence is influenced by certain environmental conditions such as drought seasons and agronomic practices. Chili pepper may also be contaminated by aflatoxins during harvesting, production and storage. Aflatoxin detection based on chemical methods is fairly accurate. However, they are time consuming, expensive and destructive. We use hyperspectral imaging as an alternative for detection of such contaminants in a rapid and nondestructive manner. In order to classify aflatoxin contaminated chili peppers from uncontaminated ones, a compact machine vision system based on hyperspectral imaging and machine learning is proposed. In this study, both UV and Halogen excitations are used. Energy values of individual spectral bands and also difference images of consecutive spectral bands were utilized as feature vectors. Another set of features were extracted from those features by applying quantization on the histogram of the images. Significant features were selected based on proposed method of hierarchical bottleneck backward elimination (HBBE), Guyons SVM-RFE, classical Fisher discrimination power and Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Multi layer perceptrons (MLPs) and linear discriminant analysis (LDA) were used as the classifiers. It was observed that with the proposed features and selection methods, robust and higher classification performance was achieved with fewer numbers of spectral bands enabling the design of simpler machine vision systems.

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

machine vision
aflatoxin detection
hyperspectral imaging

food safety
feature extraction
feature subset selection