Supporting development of context-aware applications using semantic space toolkit In order to facilitate rapid development of context-aware applications, there is a need for architectural support in the entire context processing flow. and improved programming abstractions that ease the prototyping. In this paper, a toolkit called Semantic Space, is proposed to support rapid prototyping of context-aware applications via a set of programming abstractions on context processing. The functionality encapsulated in the toolkit handles the common, time-consuming and low-level details in context acquisition, aggregation, storage and inference. Architectural design and implementation issues of the Semantic Space toolkit are discussed in detail. Finally, a case study on building a mobile situation aware phone is described to illustrate the validity of our approach and usability of the toolkit.

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

context-awareness
ontology-based context modeling
context middleware
context toolkit
mobile applications


Highway design software as support of a project-based learning course Traditionally, practical training of students in highway design has been based on solving geometric problems without using professional highway design software. In a degree of the Technical University of Madrid (UPM), teaching of this subject has been redesigned using a project-based learning approach. Along the course, the students make a complete project of a highway using professional software and procedures. The highway design software chosen includes a simulator that makes a virtual journey along the highway from the point of view of a driver traveling on it. A detailed description of the course program and the software used is provided. 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Comput Appl Eng Educ 20: 468473, 2012

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

engineering education
project-based learning
simulation
sight distances


Consumer-based decision aid that explains which to buy: Decision confirmation or overconfidence bias? Providing explanation to justify product recommendations is critical in the online purchase decision process. Bulk of the extant literature has focused on the provision of decision aids facilitating screening of product alternatives and presenting of filtered alternatives. In comparison, few studies are conducted to examine decision aids that support the assessment and evaluation of the presented product alternatives prior to actual purchase, i.e., explanation-featured decision aid. This article conceptualizes three implementations of explanation aid differed by the forms of explanation elaboration. Experimental results indicate that a more elaborated explanation aid could heighten a consumer's decision confidence leading to lesser cognitive effort expended and inferior product choice made.

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

decision aid
explanation
overconfidence bias


New results of convergence of Adomian's method New results about convergence of Adomian's method are Presented This method was developed by G. Adomian for solving non-linear Junctional equations of different kinds. New conditions for obtaining convergence of the decomposition series are given. In a similar way, the convergence of a regularisation method which can, for example be applied to Fredholm integral equations of the first kind, is proved.

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


Fine-Grain Feature Extraction from Malware's Scan Behavior Based on Spectrum Analysis Network monitoring systems that detect and analyze malicious activities as well as respond against them, are becoming increasingly important. As malwares, such as worms, viruses, and bots, can inflict significant damages on both infrastructure and end user, technologies for identifying such propagating malwares are in great demand. In the large-scale darknet monitoring operation, we can see that malwares have various kinds of scan patterns that involves choosing destination IP addresses. Since many of those oscillations seemed to have a natural periodicity, as if they were signal waveforms, we considered to apply a spectrum analysis methodology so as to extract a feature of malware. With a focus on such scan patterns, this paper proposes a novel concept of malware feature extraction and a distinct analysis method named "SPectrum Analysis for Distinction and Extraction of malware features (SPADE)". Through several evaluations using real scan traffic, we show that SPADE has the significant advantage of recognizing the similarities and dissimilarities between the same and different types of malwares.

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 B I O O O O O O O O O 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

malware correlation analysis
fourier transform


Chip-firing games on Eulerian digraphs and NP -hardness of computing the rank of a divisor on a graph Baker and Norine introduced a graph-theoretic analogue of the RiemannRoch theory. A central notion in this theory is the rank of a divisor. In this paper we prove that computing the rank of a divisor on a graph is NP -hard, even for simple graphs. The determination of the rank of a divisor can be translated to a question about a chip-firing game on the same underlying graph. We prove the NP -hardness of this question by relating chip-firing on directed and undirected graphs.

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

chip-firing game
computational complexity
eulerian graph


Embedding hamiltonian paths in k-ary n-cubes with conditional edge faults It is well known that the k-ary n-cube has been one of the most efficient interconnection networks for distributed-memory parallel systems. A k-ary n-cube is bipartite if and only if k is even. In this paper, we consider the faulty k-ary n-cube with even k >= 4 and n >= 2 such that each vertex of the k-ary n-cube is incident with at least two healthy edges. Based on this requirement, we prove that the k-ary n-cube contains a hamiltonian path joining every pair of vertices which are in different parts, even if it has up to 4n - 6 edge faults. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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

hamiltonian paths
conditional edge faults


Spurious responses suppression of parallel coupled-lines microstrip bandpass filters: Comparison and improvements of planar approaches In this paper, three methods to reject the first spurious harmonic in parallel-coupled microstrip filters are investigated. The authors proposed an extension of these approaches to also suppress the second unwanted passbands while keeping the initial passband practically unchanged. Then, two of these techniques are combined to achieve a wider upper stopband. Indeed, the sinusoidal perturbation technique is well combined with overcoupled end sections to reject the first three spurious passbands of an order three filter. A comparison of simulations and experimental results is made, with a discussion on each method efficiency and possible applications to higher order filters. (C) 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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

band-pass filters
parallel coupled microstrip lines
spurious-harmonic suppression
optimization


Data Synchronization With Timing: The Variable-Rate Case This paper extends the theory of data synchronization with timing for fixed-rat e codes, previously developed by the authors, to the variable-rate case. Given a source code, a class of sync-timing codes called variable-rate cascaded (VRC) codes is considered that "wrap around" the source code in such a way as to enable the decoder to not only resynchronize rapidly when the encoded bits are corrupted by insertion, deletion, or substitution errors, but also produce estimates of the time indices of the data symbols encoded by the source code. The estimates of the time indices are modulo-T reductions of the actual time indices, for some integer T called the timing span of the code. These sync-timing codes are analyzed on the basis of the maximum timing span achievable for a given coding rate R and permissible resynchronization delay D. It is shown that the timing span of VRC codes is upper-bounded by 2(D(1-R)+o(D)), and that this upper bound is achievable asymptotically in D. This exponential rate of growth of timing span with delay is the same as that found previously for certain fixed-rate sync-timing codes, e.g., (fixed-rate) cascaded codes.

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

cascaded codes
resynchronization delay
timing span

sync-timing codes
variable-rate cascaded (vrc) codes


Analysis of schema structures in the Linked Open Data graph based on unique subject URIs, pay-level domains, and vocabulary usage The Linked Open Data (LOD) graph represents a web-scale distributed knowledge graph interlinking information about entities across various domains. A core concept is the lack of pre-defined schema which actually allows for flexibly modelling data from all kinds of domains. However, Linked Data does exhibit schema information in a twofold way: by explicitly attaching RDF types to the entities and implicitly by using domain-specific properties to describe the entities. In this paper, we present and apply different techniques for investigating the schematic information encoded in the LOD graph at different levels of granularity. We investigate different information theoretic properties of so-called Unique Subject URIs (USUs) and measure the correlation between the properties and types that can be observed for USUs on a large-scale semantic graph data set. Our analysis provides insights into the information encoded in the different schema characteristics. Two major findings are that implicit schema information is far more discriminative and that applications involving schema information based on either types or properties alone will only capture between 63.5 and 88.1% of the schema information contained in the data. As the level of discrimination depends on how data providers model and publish their data, we have conducted in a second step an investigation based on pay-level domains (PLDs) as well as the semantic level of vocabularies. Overall, we observe that most data providers combine up to 10 vocabularies to model their data and that every fifth PLD uses a highly structured schema.

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


fundamental characteristics of queues with fluctuating load Systems whose arrival or service rates fluctuate over time are very common, but are still not well understood analytically. Stationary formulas are poor predictors of systems with fluctuating load. When the arrival and service processes fluctuate in a Markovian manner, computational methods, such as Matrix-analytic and spectral analysis, have been instrumental in the numerical evaluation of quantities like mean response time. However, such computational tools provide only limited insight into the functional behavior of the system with respect to its primitive input parameters: the arrival rates, service rates, and rate of fluctuation.For example, the shape of the function that maps rate of fluctuation to mean response time is not well understood, even for an M/M/1 system. Is this function increasing, decreasing, monotonic? How is its shape affected by the primitive input parameters? Is there a simple closed-form approximation for the shape of this curve? Turning to user experience: How is the performance experienced by a user arriving into a "high load" period different from that of a user arriving into a "low load" period, or simply a random user. Are there stochastic relations between these? In this paper, we provide the first answers to these fundamental questions.

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

mmpp
ross's conjecture
non-stationary arrivals/service
map
stochastic ordering


A fast SVM-based wrapper feature selection method driven by a fuzzy complementary criterion The selection of informative and non-redundant features has become a prominent step in pattern classification. However, despite the intensive research, it is still an open issue to identify valuable feature subsets, especially in highly dimensional feature spaces. This paper proposes a wrapper feature selection method, in the context of support vector machines (SVMs), named Wr-SVM-FuzCoC. Our method combines effectively the advantages of the wrapper and filter approaches, achieving three goals simultaneously: classification performance, dimensionality reduction, and computational efficiency. In the filter part, a forward feature search methodology is developed, driven by a fuzzy complementary criterion, whereby at each iteration a feature is selected that exhibits the maximum additional contribution in regard to the previously selected subset. The quality of single features or feature subsets is assessed via a fuzzy local evaluation criterion with respect to patterns. This is achieved by the so-called fuzzy partition vector (FPV), comprising the fuzzy membership grades of every pattern in their target classes. Derivation of the feature FPVs is accomplished by incorporating a fuzzy output kernel-based support vector machine. The proposed method is favorably compared with existing SVM-based wrapper methods, in terms of performance capability and computational speed. Experimental investigation is carried out using a diverse pool of real datasets, including moderate and high-dimensional feature spaces.

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

wrapper feature selection
computational efficiency
fuzzy complementary criterion

fuzzy sets
feature redundancy
fuzzy output support vector machines


supporting family engagement in weight management As obesity is increasing in many countries, helping people manage their weight has become an important issue. Medical research has shown that the family context may be important to promote lifestyle changes. Our work aims at designing a collaborative environment to engage a family in support of an individual needing to manage his or her weight. This paper presents the first step in our iterative design process which aimed at collecting information about the needs of overweight and obese people, and about the type of environment they would find useful for them and their family.

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


Sensitivity of foetal magnetocardiograms versus gestation week Foetal magnetocardiograms (FMCGs) were measured using a nine-channel SQUID system equipped with first-order gradiometers (60 mm baseline, 20 mm diameter). The system was installed in a magnetically shielded room in a hospital. The white noise level was less than 10 fT/root Hz, and FMCGs above 1 pT were detected. These results and the depth to the foetal heart were used to estimate the current dipole. The relationship between the current dipole (Q) and the gestation week (G) was calculated and the average performance was determined as Q = 18G - 295. By using the estimated foetal current dipole, the measurement limit (average value) between depth and gestation weeks was determined. When the depth from the pickup coil to the foetal heart is 50, 60, 70 and 80 mm, the first detectable gestation weeks of FMCGs above 1 pT measured by a first-order gradiometer with 60 mm baseline were determined at 21, 23, 26, and 30 weeks respectively, and the detectable gestation weeks in the case of a 30 mm baseline were determined at 22, 26 30 and 36 weeks respectively.

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

magnetocardiogram
fmcg
dipole estimation


Coordinated en-route web caching Web caching is an important technique for reducing Internet access latency, network traffic, and server load. This paper investigates cache management strategies for the en-route web caching environment, where caches are associated with routing nodes in the network. We propose a novel caching scheme that integrates both object placement and replacement policies and which makes caching decisions on all candidate sites in a coordinated fashion. In our scheme, cache status information along the routing path of a request is used in dynamically determining where to cache the requested object and what to replace if there is not enough space, The object placement problem is formulated as an optimization problem and the optimal locations to cache the object are obtained using a low-cost dynamic programming algorithm. Extensive simulation experiments have been performed to evaluate the proposed scheme in terms of a wide range of performance metrics. The results show that the proposed scheme significantly outperforms existing algorithms which consider either object placement or replacement at individual caches only.

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

web cache management
web object placement
transparent web cache
performance evaluation
world wide web


A decomposition of k-additive Choquet and k-maxitive Sugeno integrals Previous work has shown that the Choquet integral w.r.t. a symmetric k-order additive fuzzy measure is characterized as a weighted sum, with possibly negative weights, of k specific OWA operators, and that the Sugeno integral w.r.t. a symmetric le-order maxitive fuzzy measure is characterized as a weighted maximum of k order statistics. In this paper, these characterizations are extended to the general, non-symmetric case, thereby providing additional insight in the symmetric case. More specifically, a new general decomposition of the Choquet integral w.r.t. a k-order additive fuzzy measure and of the Sugeno integral w.r.t. a k-order maxitive fuzzy measure are established.

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

choquet integral
decomposition
fuzzy measure
sugeno integral

aggregation operator
k-order additivity
k-order maxitivity
(possibilistic) mobius transform


How language can help discrimination in the Neural Modelling Fields framework ? The relationship between thought and language and, in particular, the issue of whether and how language influences thought is still a matter of fierce debate. Here we consider a discrimination task scenario to study language acquisition in which an agent receives linguistic input from an external teacher, in addition to sensory stimuli from the objects that exemplify the overlapping categories that make up the environment. Sensory and linguistic input signals are fused using the Neural Modelling Fields (NMF) categorization algorithm. We find that the agent with language is capable of differentiating object features that it could not distinguish without language. In this sense, the linguistic stimuli prompt the agent to redefine and refine the discrimination capacity of its sensory channels.

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

acquisition of language
clustering algorithms
neural modeling fields


Using GHZ-State for Multiparty Quantum Secret Sharing Without Code Table We proposed two multiparty quantum secret sharing schemes based on n-particle Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger-states (GHZ states), which are transformed from Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen pairs by entanglement swapping. In our schemes, the dealer imposes messages by performing local unitary operations (I, sigma x, i sigma y, sigma z) on the n-particle GHZ state she holds, and the agents collaborate to deduce the dealer's messages by performing local unitary operations on their own qubit. The amount of dealer's secret message is positively related with the number of agents. The need of qubits is one-third less than the former schemes and, also, they can be reused for the next new round. The scheme (II) does not have to pre-share the code table, which increases the security without the risk of being stolen.

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

quantum communication
quantum cryptography
quantum entanglement
multiparty secret sharing


finding the smallest image of a set We describe an algorithm for finding a canonical image of a set of points under the action of a permutation group. Specifically if we order images by sorting them and ordering the resulting sequences lexicographically, we find the first image. This has applications to combinatorial and other search problems, allowing isomorphic results to be eliminated more efficiently.We give worst-case asymptotic running time estimates and practical results obtained with a GAP implementation.

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

algorithm
smallest image
permutation group


deep typechecking and refactoring Large software systems are typically composed of multiple layers, written in different languages and loosely coupled using a string-based interface. For example, in modern web-applications, a server written in Java communicates with a database back-end by passing in query strings. This widely prevalent approach is unsafe as the analyses developed for the individual layers are oblivious to the semantics of the dynamically constructed strings, making it impossible to statically reason about the correctness of the interaction. Further, even simple refactoring in such systems is daunting and error prone as the changes must also be applied to isolated string fragments scattered across the code base. We present techniques for deep typechecking and refactoring for systems that combine Java code with a database back-end using the Java Persistence API [10]. Deep typechecking ensures that the queries that are constructed dynamically are type safe and that the values returned from the queries are used safely by the program. Deep refactoring builds upon typechecking to allow programmers to safely and automatically propagate code refactorings through the query string fragments. Our algorithms are implemented in a tool called QUAIL. We present experiments evaluating the effectiveness of QUAIL on several benchmarks ranging from 3,369 to 82,907 lines of code.We show that QUAIL is able to verify that 84\% of query strings in our benchmarks are type safe. Finally, we show that QUAIL reduces the number of places in the code that a programmer must look at in order to perform a refactoring by several orders of magnitude.

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

jpa query analysis
cross language typechecking
cross language refactoring


Fuzzy random bottleneck spanning tree problems using possibility and necessity measures This paper investigates bottleneck spanning tree problems where each cost attached to the edge in a given graph is represented with a fuzzy random variable. The problem is to find the optimal spanning tree that maximizes a degree of possibility or necessity under some chance constraint. After transforming the problem into the deterministic equivalent one, we introduce the subproblem which has close relations to the deterministic problem. Utilizing fully the relations, we give a polynomial order algorithm for solving the deterministic problem.

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

fuzzy random variable
polynomial order algorithm

spanning tree problem
chance constrained programming
possibility measure
necessity measure


Improving the quality of stored potatoes using computer modelling Uniformity of air flow is a key factor affecting the quality of potatoes during storage. Stores with non-uniform air flows often suffer from condensation, consequent rotting and poor quality of the potatoes. A model, solved using computational fluid dynamics software (cfds-cfx4), was produced to identify modifications to air distribution systems that would improve the uniformity of the air flows. The model treats the potatoes as a porous resistance around the ducts and predicts the flows inside the air supply ducts. A commercial store which experienced condensation and rotting each year was modified on the basis of predictions from the model and both problems in the store were eliminated. The model is simple and cost effective enough to be used in commercial applications.

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

modelling
computational fluid dynamics
storage


Computing internally constrained motion of 3-D sensor data for motion interpretation Given 3-D sensor data of points slightly moving in space, we consider the problem of discerning whether or not translation, rotation, and scale change take place and to what extent. For this purpose, we propose a new method for fitting various motion models to 3-D sensor data. Based on the observation that subgroups of 3-D affinity are defined by imposing various internal constraints on the parameters, our method fits 3-D affinity with internal constraints using the scheme of EFNS, which, unlike conventional methods, dispenses with any particular parameterizations for particular motion models. Then, we apply our method to simulated stereo vision data for motion interpretation, using various model selection criteria. We also apply our method to the GPS geodetic data of the land deformation in northeast Japan, where a massive earthquake took place on 11 March 2011. It is expected that our proposed technique will be widely used for 3-D analysis involving hierarchical motion models in various domains including computer vision, robotic navigation, and geodetic science.

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

3-d affinity
3-d similarity
3-d rigid motion
geometric model selection
geodetic sensing


Expert system segmentation of face images Robust image analysis of photographs for personal documents has been an important open research problem for many years and the interest has been increased by introduction of electronic personal documents, which contain personal digital photographs. International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has defined a set of recommendations defining minimal quality requirements that personal photographs stored in electronic personal documents must satisfy. Some image quality requirements apply only to certain image regions so exact position and location of the image regions has to be known in advance. In this paper, we propose a new knowledge-based method for segmentation of color personal photographs into five regions: skin, hair, shoulders, background, and padding frame. Prior to application of our method, the input image has to be normalized so that both eyes of a person are at the predefined positions within the image. To the best of our knowledge, no method for analysis of personal document photographs has been published in the literature that performs such segmentation. The proposed method consists of two main steps: (i) mean-shift segmentation step; and (ii) region labeling step based on a rule-based expert system. The most important component of the system is a set of rules specifically developed to enable robust labeling of personal document image regions. Extensive experimental validation has been conducted on four image sets and has demonstrated the accuracy and robustness of the proposed method.

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

face image segmentation
knowledge-based segmentation
mean-shift segmentation


Symbolic Matching and Constraint Generation for Systematic Comparison of Analog Circuits This paper proposes an automated technique for systematically generating comparison data between two analog circuits. The comparison data presents the similar and distinguishing performance characteristics of the circuits with respect to DC-gain, bandwidth, common-mode rejection ratio, noise, and sensitivity. The comparison data is important for getting insight into the common and unique benefits of a circuit, selecting fitting circuit topologies for system design, and refining and optimizing circuit topologies. The technique utilizes matching of the topologies and symbolic expressions of the compared circuits to find the nodes with similar electric behavior. The impact on performance of the unmatched nodes is used to express the differentiating characteristics of the circuits. Experiments illustrate the technique for a pair of analog circuit designs.

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

constraint generation
systematic comparison


QoS for wireless sensor networks: Enabling service differentiation at the MAC sub-layer using CoSenS Providing service differentiation in wireless sensor networks while proposing simple and highly scalable solution is a challenging problem. We retain the use of CSMA/CA as access protocol because of its simplicity, versatility and good scalability properties. We developed CoSenS, a Collect then Send burst Scheme, on top of it to address its weaknesses while facilitating the implementation of scheduling policies. In this article, we propose a simple and scalable service differentiation solution; we implement fixed priority and earliest deadline first on top of CoSenS. The simulation analysis shows that our solution self-adapts to the traffic variation and greatly enhances end-to-end delay, reliability and deadline meet ratio for urgent traffic while not degrading best effort traffic compared to IEEE 802.15.4 original protocol and IEEE 802.15.4 implementing these scheduling policies. Additionally, CoSenS is implemented and tested on motes. The real experimentation results validated our simulation analysis. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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


A Probabilistic model-based approach to consistent white matter tract segmentation Since the invention of diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI), currently the only established method for studying white matter connectivity in a clinical environment, there has been a great deal of interest in the effects of various pathologies on the connectivity of the brain. As methods for ill vivo tractography have been developed, it has become possible to track and segment specific white matter structures of interest for particular study. However, the consistency and reproducibility of tractography-based segmentation remain limited, and attempts to improve them have thus far typically involved the imposition of strong constraints on the tract reconstruction process itself. In this work we take a different approach, developing a formal probabilistic model for the relationships between comparable tracts in different scans, and then using it to choose a tract, a posteriori, which best matches a predefined reference tract for the structure of interest. We demonstrate that this method is able to significantly improve segmentation consistency without directly constraining the tractography algorithm.

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

brain
diffusion
magnetic resonance imaging
model
probabilistic
tractography
segmentation
white matter


The synthesis of the rough set model for the better applicability of sagittal abdominal diameter in identifying high risk patients This paper aims to investigate possible application of the rough set approach to table-organized data in the medical domain, which reveals some relationships among sagittal abdominal diameter, anthropometric parameters and cardiovascular risk factors. When applied to table-organized data, the methodology based on the rough set theory is capable of producing decision rules in the form of IfThen rules. Such rules are suitable for inspection, examination and further analysis. By examination of the selected 30 decision rules, sagittal abdominal diameter could point out a group of obese and preobese patients with high content of visceral fat with different combination and composition of cardiovascular risk factors. These results suggest that sagittal abdominal diameter could be a clinically useful marker for identification of risk factors, combination and structure of total cardiovascular risk by applying different rules in obese and preobese persons.

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

cardiovascular risk factors
decision rules


High-level semantic image annotation based on hot Internet topics Images are complex multimedia data that contain rich semantic information. Currently, most of image annotation algorithms are only annotating the object semantics of images. There are still many challenges on high-level semantic image annotation. The major issues are the lack of effective modeling method for the high-level semantics of images and the lack of efficient dynamic update mechanism for the training set. To address these issues, we propose a high-level semantic annotation method based on hot Internet topics in this paper. There are two independent sub tasks in our method: dynamic update of the training set based on hot Internet topics and search-based image annotation. In the first sub task, we propose to model the abstract semantics of images based on three relationships: imagetoimage similarity relationship, topictotopic co-occurrence relationship, and imagetotopic relevance relationship. Through the complex graph clustering, the hot Internet topics are extracted for images with consistent visual and semantic contents. Then the dynamic update mechanism will update the original training set with the new topics and images. It avoids the huge computing cost in traditional update methods and does not need to re-calculate the whole mapping relationship between the semantic concepts and visual features. In the second sub task, given a query image, it first searches for similar candidates in the annotated training set via visual features. Then the hypergraph modeling and spectral clustering are exploited to filter out the images with irrelevant semantics. The keywords will be extracted for annotation from the remaining images according to an annotation probability. Extensive experiments have been conducted and the results demonstrate that our algorithm could achieve better annotation performance than the state-of-the-art algorithms. And the update mechanism could extend the training set efficiently so that the coverage of the semantics in the training set wouldnt be obsolete.

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

abstract semantics
complex graph
hypergraph
image annotation


using visual programming to extend the power of spreadsheet We describe a new means for representing computations in spreadsheets based on the visual, object-oriented data-flow language, Prograph, rather than textual arithmetic formulae. This mechanism is illustrated using various examples to show how common spreadsheet operation such as copying and extending formulae is more naturally represented. A formal syntax and semantics is presented. Suggestions are made for how this mechanism may be used to extend the range of applications of spreadsheets from the standard numerical calculations to areas such as symbolic computations and multimedia.

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

multimedia
applications
spreadsheet
power
visual programming
examples
language

standardization flow data visualization formalism semantic object-oriented


Stochastic parameter search for events With recent increase in affordability and accessibility of high-performance computing (HPC), the use of large stochastic models has become increasingly popular for its ability to accurately mimic the behavior of the represented biochemical system. One important application of such models is to predict parameter configurations that yield an event of scientific significance. Due to the high computational requirements of Monte Carlo simulations and dimensionality of parameter space, brute force search is computationally infeasible for most large models.

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

stochastic simulation
parameter estimation
rare event
optimization


PSpace reasoning for graded modal logics We present a PSPACE algorithm that decides satisfiability of the graded modal logic Gr(K-R)-a natural extension of propositional modal logic K-R by counting expressions-which plays an important role in the area of knowledge representation. The algorithm employs a tableaux approach and is the first known algorithm which meets the lower bound for the complexity of the problem. Thus, we exactly fix the complexity of the problem and refute an EXPTIME-hardness conjecture. We extend the results to the logic Gr(KR boolean AND -1), which augments Gr(K-R) with inverse relations and intersection of accessibility relations. This establishes a kind of 'theoretical benchmark' that all algorithmic approaches can be measured against.

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

'modal logic
graded modalities
description logic


In defense of the Desiderata A 1998 paper that delineated desirable characteristics, or desiderata for controlled medical terminologies attempted to summarize emerging consensus regarding structural issues of such terminologies. Among the Desiderata was a call for terminologies to be concept oriented. Since then, research has trended toward the extension of terminologies into ontologies. A paper by Smith, entitled From Concepts to Clinical Reality: An Essay on the Benchmarking of Biomedical Terminologies urges a realist approach that seeks terminologies composed of universals, rather than concepts. The current paper addresses issues raised by Smith and attempts to extend the Desiderata, not away from concepts, but towards recognition that concepts and universals must both be embraced and can coexist peaceably in controlled terminologies. To that end, additional Desiderata are defined that deal with the purpose, rather than the structure, of controlled medical terminologies.

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

controlled terminology
ontology
medical knowledge representation
philosophy


Tide: An effective and practical design for hierarchical-structured P2P model Being a new-style application mode, Peer-to-Peer (P2P) network in recent years has gained a lot of attentions. Wherein, effective topology design to enhance P2P performance is the hot topic in P2P researches currently. Although many approaches focuses routing, query and topology organization schemes using hierarchical P2P models, few of them tries to combine the merits of hierarchical and structured models. In this context, we propose a structured P2P model, named Tide, which is based on vertical hierarchy scheme to support the heterogeneity of network, guarantying that any node participating in topology holds unique ID in whole system. Tide also supports accurate key-matching query, which means each key for a data item is assigned to the live peer whose node identifier is "closest" to the key, and query for some data item is located to its holder accurately by the key. It provides uniform topology maintenance and management, optimizes hierarchical routing, and supports dynamic changes of subnets. In addition, we propose novel algorithms of consistent-topology construction and load balancing attaching to Tide to avoid its performance degradation. Analysis in theory and simulations show that Tide can provide effective routing, and holds better capabilities of topology match and load balance than existed hierarchical P2P models. Tide fits structure design for large scale P2P systems in heterogeneous environments. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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


Four-quadrant analog multiplier based on CMOS inverters In the article a new implementation of four-quadrant analog multiplier in CMOS technology is proposed. The circuit is based exclusively on CMOS inverters (or similar two-transistor blocks) and operates using quarter square technique. The outstanding feature of the circuit is an extreme suitability for low voltage operation and full compatibility with digital CMOS, since there are only two transistors stacked-up between supply rails. Thus the supplying voltage of this circuit class is the lowest possible one for any particular CMOS technology. The operation principle based on symbolic analysis with simple square model has been fully confirmed by simulations with BSIM3v3 models provided by different silicon foundries and verified experimentally using one of them.

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


The spherical capacitor: a vehicle to introduce numerical methods Numerical methods are frequently introduced to the undergraduate Electrical and Computer Engineering student in the first course in electromagnetic theory. In this note, we demonstrate that a spherical capacitor can be first solved analytically and then compared with an easily obtained numerical solution.

O B I O 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

spherical capacitor
electromagnetic theory


h-Degree as a basic measure in weighted networks We introduce the h-degree of a node as a basic indicator for weighted networks. The h-degree (dh) of a node is the number dh if this node has at least dh links with other nodes and the strength of each of these links is greater than or equal to dh. Based on the notion of h-degree other notions are developed such as h-centrality and h-centralization, leading to a new set of indicators characterizing nodes in a network.

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

h-degree
node strength
network analysis
informetric networks


Performance of 802.11 b/g in the interference limited regime Signal to interference plus noise ratio, SINR, is one of the main factors that affects the quality of wireless communication. While the impact of white Gaussian noise on a wireless channel is well understood, impact of interference remains one of the less explored areas. With the deployment of dense mesh networks, the interference will be a dominant factor that affects the transmission errors. This paper,explores the performance of 802.11 b/g when subject to interference. The findings are based on various controlled experiments in the laboratory setting. One finding of this work is that in contrast to communication over links where the noise is Gaussian, in 802.11 b/g, the probability of successfully transmitting a packet is dominated by the ability of the receiver to synchronize with the carrier. As a result, changing to a lower bit-rate with same synchronization scheme will not make the transmission more resilient to interference. Moreover, we found that the impact of interference is significant even if the interference is 10 dB below the strength of the noise. The significance of this result on bit-rate selection is briefly explored. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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

wireless mesh networks
bit-rate selection
wireless experimentation


National research assessment exercises: a comparison of peer review and bibliometrics rankings Development of bibliometric techniques has reached such a level as to suggest their integration or total substitution for classic peer review in the national research assessment exercises, as far as the hard sciences are concerned. In this work we compare rankings lists of universities captured by the first Italian evaluation exercise, through peer review, with the results of bibliometric simulations. The comparison shows the great differences between peer review and bibliometric rankings for excellence and productivity.

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

research assessment
bibliometrics
peer review


A fast fine-grained genetic algorithm for spectrum fitting: An application to X-ray spectra Often the result of the interaction of radiation with matter is represented by a spectrum. Regardless of the type of radiation used, a spectrum consists of peaks superimposed on a background. The important information is contained in the peak, so the derivation of the peaks parameters is fundamental. However, in most cases the fitting of the spectrum is an ill-posed problem, because of the presence of superimposed peaks. In this case the algorithms reported in the literature sometimes fail. For these reasons a genetic algorithm approach has been developed and is described here. Its novelty for this kind of application is represented by the use of a fine-grained strategy that makes it considerably faster than other implementations of this class of algorithms. Some results of its application to X-ray spectra are presented and discussed.

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

xrf
diffraction
ndt
uv
polyatomic molecules


Stochastic comparisons: A methodology for the performance evaluation of fixed and mobile networks We propose to use a mathematical method based on stochastic comparisons of Markov chains in order to derive performance indices bounds. The main objective is to find Markovian bounding models with reduced state spaces, which are easier to solve. We apply the methodology to performance evaluation of complex telecommunication systems modelled by large size Markov chains which cannot be solved by exact methods. This methodology can be applied for continuous- or discrete-time Markov chains. In the first study, we consider an MPLS switch represented by two stages of buffers. Various kinds of traffic with different QoS levels enter the first stage, and transit in the second stage. The goal is to compute packet loss rates in the second stage. In the other study, we define a CAC scheme in a mobile network which gives the priority to the handover over the new calls. Performance evaluation of the CAC scheme consists in the computation of the dropping handover and call blocking probabilities. For the two studies, systems are represented by large state Markov chains whose resolution is difficult. We propose to define intuitively bounding systems in order to compute performance measures bounds. Using stochastic comparisons methods, we prove that the new systems represent bounds for the exact ones. Different methods can be used. For the MPLS switch, we use the coupling equivalent to the sample-path ordering, allowing the comparison of the loss rates. In the case of the CAC scheme, we apply the increasing sets formalism used to define weaker orderings, enabling the comparison of the dropping handovers and blocking probabilities. We validate stochastic comparison method by presenting some numerical results illustrating the interest of the approach. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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

mobile networks
stochastic comparisons
markov chains


On rigid components and joint constraints in nonlinear dynamics of flexible multibody systems employing 3D geometrically exact beam model In this work, we discuss the finite element implementation of the internal constraints in a three-dimensional (3D) geometrically exact beam model which can be formulated as holonomic constraint relationships. Model problems chosen for a more detailed consideration include a general joint constraint between beams and the beam connected to a rigid component. Appropriate modifications of the standard form of the geometrically exact beam element arrays are carried out in order to impose explicitly these kinds of constraints into time-integration schemes for nonlinear dynamics. Consequently, only the minimum number of unknowns is retained for the global set of nonlinear equations to be solved, thus avoiding the use of the extra variables (the Lagrange multipliers) and the pertinent difficulties in integrating the system of differentialalgebraic equations. A number of numerical simulations considering dynamic analysis of multibody systems with rigidflexible components and joint constraints are presented in order to illustrate versatility of the proposed procedure.

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

flexible multibody
dynamics
constraints
beam


Inverted pattern approach to improve image quality of information hiding by LSB substitution Capacity and invisibility are two targets of the methods for information hiding. Because these two targets contradict each other, to hide large messages into the cover image and remain invisible is an interesting challenge. The simple least-significant-bit (LSB) substitution approach, which embeds secret messages into the LSB of pixels in cover images, usually embeds huge secret messages. After a large message is embedded, the quality of the stego-image will be significantly degraded. In this paper, a new LSB-based method, called the inverted pattern (IP) LSB substitution approach, is proposed to improve the quality of the stego-image. Each section of secret images is determined to be inverted or not inverted before it is embedded. The decisions are recorded by an IP for the purpose of extracting data and the pattern can be seen as a secret key or an extra data to be re-embedded. The experimental results show that our proposed method runs fast and has better results than that of previous works.

O O O O O O O O B I O B I O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O 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 B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 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 recovery for 3D Delaunay triangulation We minimize the number of locked points in the boundary recovery process. A LP technique is employed to ensure the success of Steiner point relocation. The proposed method produced better results than popular commercial software.

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

fully constrained delaunay triangulation


Building safe PaaS clouds: A survey on security in multitenant software platforms ? This paper surveys the risks brought by multitenancy in software platforms, along with the most prominent solutions proposed to address them. A multitenant platform hosts and executes software from several users (tenants). The platform must ensure that no malicious or faulty code from any tenant can interfere with the normal execution of other users code or with the platform itself. This security requirement is specially relevant in Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) clouds. PaaS clouds offer an execution environment based on some software platform. Unless PaaS systems are deemed as safe environments users will be reluctant to trust them to run any relevant application. This requires to take into account how multitenancy is handled by the software platform used as the basis of the PaaS offer. This survey focuses on two technologies that are or will be the platform-of-choice in many PaaS clouds: Java and .NET. We describe the security mechanisms they provide, study their limitations as multitenant platforms and analyze the research works that try to solve those limitations. We include in this analysis some standard container technologies (such as Enterprise Java Beans) that can be used to standardize the hosting environment of PaaS clouds. Also we include a brief discussion of Operating Systems (OSs) traditional security capacities and why OSs are unlikely to be chosen as the basis of PaaS offers. Finally, we describe some research initiatives that reinforce security by monitoring the execution of untrusted code, whose results can be of interest in multitenant systems.

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

security paas multitenancy container java


Operative assessment of predicted generalization errors on non-stationary distributions in data-intensive applications Data-intensive applications use empirical methods to extract consistent information from huge samples. When applied to classification tasks, their aim is to optimize accuracy on unseen data hence a reliable prediction of the generalization error is of paramount importance. Theoretical models, such as Statistical Learning Theory, and empirical estimations, such as cross-validation, can both fit data-mining classification domains very well, provided some crucial assumptions are verified in advance. In particular, the stationary distribution of the observed data is critical, although it is sometimes overlooked in practice. The paper formulates an operative criterion to verify the stationary assumption; the method applies to both theoretical and practical predictions of generalization errors. The analysis addresses the specific case of clustering-based classifiers; the K-Winner Machine (KWM) model is used as a reference for its known theoretical bounds; cross-validation provides an empirical counterpart for practical comparison. The criterion, based on efficient unsupervised clustering-based probability distribution estimation, is tested experimentally on a set of different, data-intensive applications, including: intrusion detection for computer-network security, optical character recognition, textmining and pedestrian detection. Experimental results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed approach to efficiently detect non stationarity.

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

data mining
non-stationary distribution
k-winner machine
clustering


ArticleRank: a PageRank-based alternative to numbers of citations for analysing citation networks Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to suggest an alternative to the widely used Times Cited criterion for analysing citation networks. The approach involves taking account of the natures of the papers that cite a given paper, so as to differentiate between papers that attract the same number of citations. Design/methodology/approach - ArticleRank is an algorithm that has been derived from Google's PageRank algorithm to measure the influence of journal articles. ArticleRank is applied to two datasets - a citation network based on an early paper on webometrics, and a self-citation network based on the 19 most cited papers in the Journal of Documentation - using citation data taken from the Web of Knowledge database. Findings - ArticleRank values provide a different ranking of a set of papers from that provided by the corresponding Times Cited values, and overcomes the inability of the latter to differentiate between papers with the same numbers of citations. The difference in rankings between Times Cited and ArticleRank is greatest for the most heavily cited articles in a dataset. Originality/value - This is a novel application of the PageRank algorithm.

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


affective scene generation A new technique for generating virtual environments is proposed, whereby the user describes the environment that they wish to create using adjectives. An entire scene is then procedurally generated, based on the mapping of these adjectives to the parameter space of the procedural models used. This mapping is determined through a pre-process, during which the user is presented with a number of scenes and asked to describe them using adjectives. With such a technique, the ability to create complex virtual environments is extended to users with little or no technical knowledge, and additionally provides a means for experienced users to quickly generate a large, complex environment which can then be modified by hand.

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

radial basis function networks
function approximation


On control laws for discrete linear repetitive processes with dynamic boundary conditions Repetitive processes are characterized by a series of sweeps, termed passes, through a set of dynamics defined over a finite duration known as the pass length. On each pass an output, termed the pass profile, is produced which acts as a forcing function on, and hence contributes to, the dynamics of the next pass profile. This can lead to oscillations in the sequence of pass profiles produced which increase in amplitude in the pass-to-pass direction and cannot be controlled by application of standard control laws. Here we give new results on the design of physically based control laws for so-called discrete linear repetitive processes which arise in applications areas such as iterative learning control.

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

linear repetitive processes
dynamic boundary conditions


Model of the nitrogen transformation cycle The purpose of this paper is to investigate a system of parabolic equations with discrete time delays describing a nitrogen transformation cycle in an aquatic environment, which consists of the four kinds of living organisms (phytoplankton and microorganisms), and four cases of dissolved organic and inorganic nutrients and detritus. When the delays are relatively small, our predictions are identical to the predictions given by the corresponding PDE. The system of parabolic equations is discretized by the finite difference method which yields a coupled system of nonlinear algebraic equations. Stability analysis of equilibria and some numerical examples are given. It is shown that Hopf bifurcation may occur. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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 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 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

nitrogen transformation cycle
stability analysis
hopf bifurcation

partial functional differential equations


Skew constacyclic codes over Galois rings We generalize the construction of linear codes via skew polynomial rings by using Galois rings instead of finite fields as coefficients. The resulting non commutative rings are no longer left and right Euclidean. Codes that are principal ideals in quotient rings of skew polynomial rings by a two sided ideals are studied. As an application, skew constacyclic self-dual codes over GR(4, 2) are constructed. Euclidean self-dual codes give self-dual Z(4)-codes. Hermitian self-dual codes yield 3-modular lattices and quasi-cyclic self-dual Z(4)-codes.

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 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

cyclic codes
self-dual codes
z(4)-codes
modular lattices


Fractional-Order Complementary Filters for Small Unmanned Aerial System Navigation Orientation estimation is very important for development of unmanned aerial systems (UASs), and is performed by combining data from several sources and sensors. Kalman filters are widely used for this task, however they typically assume linearity and Gaussian noise statistics. While these assumptions work well for high-quality, high-cost sensors, it does not work as well for low-cost, low-quality sensors. For low-cost sensors, complementary filters can be used since no assumptions are made with regards to linearity and noise statistics. In this article, the history and basics of complementary filters are included with examples, the concepts of filtering based on fractional-order calculus are applied to the complementary filter, and the efficacy of non-integer-order filtering on systems with non-Gaussian noise is explored with good success.

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

unmanned aerial vehicle
fractional-order calculus
fractional-order filtering
alpha-stable
non-gaussian
sensor fusion
vertical take-off and landing (vtol)


How influential is Brooks' law? A longitudinal citation context analysis of Frederick Brooks' The Mythical Man-Month Citation context analysis is used to demonstrate the diversity of concept symbols that a book-length publication can represent and the diffusion of influence of these concepts over time and across scholarly disciplines. A content analysis of 574 citation contexts from 497 journal articles citing an edition of Frederick P. Brooks, Jr's The Mythical Man-Month (MMM) over the period 1975-1999 showed that MMM represents a variety of different concepts and is cited in a wide range of subject areas. Over time, a high level of interest in MMM spread from software engineering and computer science to management and information systems, with different areas showing different patterns of focus on concepts within the work. 'Brooks' Law' (the 'mythical man-month' or 'adding more people to a late project makes it later'), accounted for less than 30% of the classified citation contexts. The findings contribute to our understanding of the diffusion of ideas in scholarly communication, and the diversity that can underlie the creation of a reference in a scholarly publication.

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

software engineering
citation context analysis
scholarly communication
diffusion of ideas
concept symbols

citation analysis
longitudinal citation analysis


using contour diagrams and jive to illustrate object-oriented semantics in the java programming language Organick, Forsythe, and Plummer extensively used contour diagrams to illustrate the semantics of procedural and functional programming languages. However, many of the benefits of contour diagrams can still be utilized in explaining the semantics of object-oriented languages and is evident in the software JIVE created by Gestwicki and Jayaraman. This paper illustrates the use of both contour diagrams and JIVE to help students understand passing objects via parameters, returning objects from methods, comparing objects, and using inheritance in the Java programming language. The results from a small informal survey are included. This paper is useful to those teaching Java in a first-year computer science sequence.

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


Analyzing Visibility Configurations Many algorithms, such as level of detail rendering and occlusion culling methods, make decisions based on the degree of visibility of an object, but do not analyze the distribution, or structure, of the visible and occluded regions across surfaces. We present an efficient method to classify different visibility configurations and show how this can be used on top of existing methods based on visibility determination. We adapt co-occurrence matrices for visibility analysis and generalize them to operate on clusters of triangular surfaces instead of pixels. We employ machine learning techniques to reliably classify the thus extracted feature vectors. Our method allows perceptually motivated level of detail methods for real-time rendering applications by detecting configurations with expected visual masking. We exemplify the versatility of our method with an analysis of area light visibility configurations in ray tracing and an area-to-area visibility analysis suitable for hierarchical radiosity refinement. Initial results demonstrate the robustness, simplicity, and performance of our method in synthetic scenes, as well as real applications.

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

real-time rendering
gpus
artificial intelligence


Formal verification of function blocks applied to IEC 61131-3 We use tabular expressions to formalize requirements of IEC 61131-3 function blocks. We use PVS to formalize structured text and FB diagram implementations in IEC 61131-3. We formally verify the consistency and correctness for all FBs in IEC 61131-3. Using our approach, numerous issues are found in IEC 61131-3 and solutions are suggested.

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

formal verification
function blocks
tabular expressions


An Analysis of Associated Dividends in the DBM Algorithm for Division by Constants Using Multiplication When a compiler encounters a fixed integer divisor, which is not a power of 2, it can calculate its inverse to be multiplied by the run-time integer dividends to obtain the quotients, using our very efficient, recently published [Cavagnino, D. and Werbrouck, A.E. (2008) Efficient algorithms for integer division by constants using multiplication. Comp. J., 51, 470-480] division by multiplication algorithms. Essentially our algorithms permit a complete partition of a defined number space into non-adverse and adverse divisors on the basis of whether a dividend associated with each divisor is, or is not, greater than the maximum dividend size. In this paper, we demonstrate useful relations between the dividends associated with all divisors and with their multiples by positive powers of 2 leading to rapid iterative algorithms for calculating full sets of associated dividends.

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

integer division
division by multiplication

multiplicative inverse
dividend distribution


Comparing constraint-based motion editing methods Tools for assisting with editing human motion have become one of the most active research areas in the field of computer animation. Not surprisingly, the area has demonstrated some stunning successes in both research and practice. This paper explores the range of constraint-based techniques used to alter motions while preserving specific spatial features. We examine a variety of methods, defining a taxonomy of these methods that is categorized by the mechanism employed to enforce temporal constraints. We pay particular attention to a less explored category of techniques that we term per-frame inverse kinematics plies filtering, and we show how these methods may provide an easier to implement while retaining the benefits of other approaches. (C) 2001 Academic Press.

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


Modeling tunneling-induced ground surface settlement development using a wavelet smooth relevance vector machine Accurate prediction of ground surface settlement is necessary for effectively controlling the settlement that develops during tunneling. Many models have been established for this purpose by extracting the relationship between the settlement and the factors that influence it. However, most of the models focused on the maximum ground surface settlement and do not involve dynamic and real-time predictions. This paper investigated how tunneling-induced ground surface settlement developed using a smooth relevance vector machine with a wavelet kernel (wsRVM). Various factors that affect this settlement, including geometrical, geological and shield operational parameters were considered. The model was applied to earth pressure balance (EPB) shield-driven tunnels. The results indicate that the prediction model performs well and that the distribution of the predictions can provide a measure of the prediction uncertainty. Unlike conventional methods that requireadditional efforts to determine relevant model parameters, the proposed method can optimize the parameters in the training process. The results of the parametric study conducted show that the model performance can be improved by the optimization and that the method can serve as a simple tool for practitioners to use in estimating ground surface settlement development during tunneling.

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

ground surface settlement development
smooth relevance vector machine
wavelet kernel
tunneling


Shape from incomplete silhouettes based on the reprojection error Traditional shape from silhouette methods compute the 3D shape as the intersection of the back-projected silhouettes in the 3D space, the so called visual hull. However, silhouettes that have been obtained with background subtraction techniques often present miss-detection errors (produced by false negatives or occlusions) which produce incomplete 3D shapes. Our approach deals with miss-detections, false alarms, and noise in the silhouettes. We recover the voxel occupancy which describes the 3D shape by minimizing an energy based on an approximation of the error between the shape 2D projections and the silhouettes. Two variants of the projection and as a result the energy as a function of the voxel occupancy are proposed. One of these variants outperforms the other. The energy also includes a sparsity measure, a regularization term, and takes into account the visibility of the voxels in each view in order to handle self-occlusions.

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 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

shape from silhouette
visual hull
background subtraction


Numerical simulations of 2D fractional subdiffusion problems The growing number of applications of fractional derivatives in various fields of science and engineering indicates that there is a significant demand for better mathematical algorithms for models with real objects and processes. Currently, most algorithms are designed for 1D problems due to the memory effect in fractional derivatives. In this work, the 2D fractional subdiffusion problems are solved by an algorithm that couples an adaptive time stepping and adaptive spatial basis selection approach. The proposed algorithm is also used to simulate a subdiffusion-convection equation.

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

fractional differential equations
kansas method
radial basis functions
collocation
adaptive greedy algorithm
geometric time grids


Vibrations and large postbuckling deflections of optimal pinned columns with elastic foundations The optimal distribution of material to maximize the critical load of columns has been studied extensively in the past, along with initial postbuckling behavior. Here, large postbuckling deflections are analyzed for optimal columns with pinned ends. Small vibrations of the optimal columns about postbuckled equilibrium shapes are also investigated. A shooting method is utilized to obtain numerical solutions. In some examples, an elastic foundation is attached to the column. The foundation includes the usual transverse resistance and an axial resisting force. The bifurcation is subcritical in some cases, and then the column is imperfection-sensitive. Results are compared to those for the corresponding uniform column with the same total volume.

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

optimal columns
elastic foundation
postbuckling


Feature selection in possibilistic modeling We present a feature selection strategy for possibilitic modeling. We examine feature importance within one class and for classes?s discrimination. resolving conflict between feature?s importance using possibility uncertainty degree. Proposed strategy is able to handle data imperfection and gives good performances. Proposed strategy gives better and reliable results on any data set.

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

shapley index
possibility theory
possibility distribution uncertainty
class representation
classes?s discrimination


Dictionary selection using partial matching This work concerns the search for text compressors that compress better than existing dictionary coders, but run faster than statistical coders. We describe a new method for text compression using multiple dictionaries, one for each context of preceeding characters, where the contexts have varying lengths. The context to be used is determined using an escape mechanism similar to that of prediction by partial matching (PPM) methods. We describe modifications of three popular dictionary coders along these lines and experiments evaluating their effectiveness using the text files in the Calgary corpus. Our results suggest that modifying LZ77, LZFG, and LZW along these lines yields improvements in compression of about 3%, 6%, and 15%, respectively.

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

dictionary compression
statistical compression
multiple dictionary compression


Back-propagating modes in elastic logging-while-drilling collars and their effect on PML stability The Perfectly Matched Layer (PML) approach is widely used to implement the absorbing boundary conditions for coupled multi-physics wave propagation problems. However, it has been recognized that the solution in the PML absorbing layer can become unstable in the presence of back-propagating modes. This paper analyzes the spectral location of those modes excited by monopole acoustic sources in logging-while-drilling cylindrical tools. To recover the stability of the solution for such aclass of problems involving the modeling of elastic cylindrical waveguides, we propose the implementation of artificial attenuation in the waveguide to dampen undesirable modes, thereby making their amplitude negligible in the PML absorbing layer due to the limited numerical accuracy and round-off errors.

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

perfectly matched layer
wave propagation

back-propagating mode
acoustic logging
borehole acoustics
coupled problems


The control of size and areal density of InAs self-assembled quantum dots in selective area molecular beam epitaxy on GaAs (001) surface The growth of InAs quantum dots (QDs) on GaAs (001) substrates by selective area molecular beam epitaxy (SA-MBE) with dielectric mask is investigated. The GaAs polycrystals on the mask, which is formed during growth due to low GaAs selectivity between dielectric mask and epitaxial region in MBE, strongly affect the distribution of InAs QDs on the neighbouring epitaxial regions. It is found that the GaAs polycrystalline regions strongly absorb indium during QD growth, confirmed by microscopic and optical studies. GaAs polycrystalline deposit can be reduced under low growth rate and high-temperature growth conditions. Almost no reduction in QD areal density is observed when there is minimal polycrystalline coverage of the mask.

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

molecular beam epitaxy
inas quantum dots


Adaptive control of robot manipulator using fuzzy compensator This paper presents two kinds of adaptive control schemes for robot manipulator which has the parametric uncertainties. In order to compensate these uncertainties, we use the FLS (fuzzy logic system) that has the capability to approximate any nonlinear function over the compact input space. In the proposed control schemes, we need not derive the linear formulation of robot dynamic equation and tune the parameters. We also suggest the robust adaptive control laws in all proposed schemes for decreasing the effect of approximation error. To reduce the number of fuzzy rules of the FLS, we consider the properties of robot dynamics and the decomposition of the uncertainty function. The proposed controllers are robust not only to the structured uncertainty such as payload parameter, but also to the unstructured one such as friction model and disturbance. The validity of the control scheme is shown by computer simulations of a two-link planar robot manipulator.

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

decomposition
robot dynamics
uncertainty

adaptive tracking control
fuzzy logic systems
fuzzy rule reduction


CT and MR imaging of contact lenses and intraocular lens implants To study the image of contact lenses and intraocular lens implants in vitro and in vivo by CT and MRI prospectively. Soft and rigid contact lenses can be seen in vitro in both methods but in vivo imaging was insensitive. Intraocular lens implants were detected in CT and MRI in vitro. In vivo, intra ocular lens implants were detected in all CT, but were harder to detect by the MRI.

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

intraocular lenses
computerized tomography
magnetic resonance imaging


Subsampling tests for the mean change point with heavy-tailed innovations The quest of the mean change point with innovations in the domain of attraction of a kappa-stable law appears to still be ongoing. We adopt the residual CUSUM of squares test (RCUSQ) and derive its null asymptotic distribution, which is dependent on stable index kappa. Then a residual-based subsampling is proposed to approximate the null distribution when stable index kappa is unknown. Consistency and the rate of convergence for the estimated change point are also obtained. We establish the asymptotic validity of this method and assess its performance both theoretically and numerically. (C) 2008 IMACS. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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


database engines on multicores, why parallelize when you can distribute? Multicore computers pose a substantial challenge to infrastructure software such as operating systems or databases. Such software typically evolves slower than the underlying hardware, and with multicore it faces structural limitations that can be solved only with radical architectural changes. In this paper we argue that, as has been suggested for operating systems, databases could treat multicore architectures as a distributed system rather than trying to hide the parallel nature of the hardware. We first analyze the limitations of database engines when running on multicores using MySQL and PostgreSQL as examples. We then show how to deploy several replicated engines within a single multicore machine to achieve better scalability and stability than a single database engine operating on all cores. The resulting system offers a low overhead alternative to having to redesign the database engine while providing significant performance gains for an important class of workloads.

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 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


MIGA, a software tool for nonlinear system modelling with modular neural networks This paper presents a software tool suitable for dynamic system modelling. The models generated by this tool are modular neural networks, see [1]. Each module behaves like a functional block and is connected to the other modules like in classical block diagrams. This tool allows the inclusion of a priori knowledge and, furthermore, to extract physical information from the models, once the system has learned. The modelling tool is capable of automatic model generation, parameter estimation and model validation.

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

dynamic system modelling
modular neural networks


Tool support for the Test Template Framework This paper describes tool support that has been implemented for the Test Template Framework (TTF). The TTF is a model-based testing (MBT) method that is especially well suited for unit testing from Z specifications. Although the TTF is a sound MBT method and it has been widely referenced since its first publication, attention in recent years has decayed. In fact, some have argued that generating abstract test cases following the TTF is a manual task requiring its users to perform complex predicate manipulations. This paper shows that these observations are dubious by describing Fastest, a tool that implements solutions for all these issues and, according to many experiments, produces abstract test cases for more than 80% of the satisfiable test specifications. Furthermore, it is claimed that Fastest fulfils the needs of the Z user community regarding MBT tools, which is supported with a range of case studies. Copyright (c) 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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

test template framework
fastest
tool support


an evaluation of sticky and force enhanced targets in multi target situations In this paper we explore the usage of "force fields" in order to facilitate the computer user during pointing tasks. The first study shows that pointing time can be reduced by enhancing a pointing target with an invisible force field that warps the screen cursor toward the target center. The application of force fields is further supported in that we show how performance of force enhanced pointing can be predicted by using Fitts' law and a force adjusted index of difficulty. In the second study, the force field technique is compared with the "sticky target" technique [20] in two realistic pointing situations which involve several closely placed targets. The results show that the force fields improve pointing performance and that the sticky target technique does not.

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

interaction improvement
cursor pointing
"sticky targets"
control-display ratio
"force fields"
fitts' law


Stochastic simulation of large grids using free and public domain software This paper proposes a tiled map procedure enabling sequential indicator simulation on grids consisting of several tens of millions of cells, without putting excessive memory requirements. Spatial continuity across map tiles is handled by conditioning adjacent tiles on their shared boundaries. Tiles across the area can be characterized by dissimilar models of spatial continuity (semi-variograms) thus relieving the requirement of a global stationarity decision. Additionally, the approach provides a simple mechanism for reseeding the pseudo random number generator. Implementation of the algorithm involved small modifications to a GSLIB program and Bash and awk scripting. The software was stable on several platforms, including 32-bit systems with a 4 Gb memory addressing limit. In an experiment we simulated 25 realizations of a 11,274 x 13,000 grid representing local uncertainty in the Dutch land cover at 25 m resolution. With the objective of mimicking the typical absence of well-distributed hard reference data, the simulations were only conditioned on local prior class probabilities and semi-variograms. Output was evaluated on the basis of reproduction of target levels of (1) cover type proportions, (2) overall class label accuracy and (3) spatially averaged local Shannon entropy. As expected, the realized statistics differed significantly from the target levels. However, the differences were consistent over the borders and the insides of map tiles. Thus, they did not result from the tiled map procedure but rather should be attributed to the used semi-conditional sequential indicator simulator. The current implementation can easily be adapted to accept other simulation algorithms. (C) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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