ppxscal/embedding_network huggingface dataset:
Security and usability: the gap in real-world online banking
Authors: Mohammad Mannan, P. C. van Oorschot
Venue: Proceedings of the 2007 Workshop on New Security Paradigms (2008)

Online banking is one of the most sensitive tasks performed by general Internet users. Most traditional banks now offer online banking services, and strongly encourage customers to do online banking with 'peace of mind.' Although banks heavily advertise an apparent '100% online security guarantee,' typically the fine print makes this conditional on users fulfilling certain security requirements. We examine some of these requirements as set by major Canadian banks, in terms of security and usability. We opened personal checking accounts at the five largest Canadian banks, and one online-only bank. We found that many security requirements are too difficult for regular users to follow, and believe that some marketing-related messages about safety and security actually mislead users. We are also interested in what kind of computer systems people really use for online banking, and whether users satisfy common online banking requirements. Our survey of 123 technically advanced users from a university environment strongly supports our view of an emerging gap between banks' expectations (or at least what their written customer policy agreements imply) and users' actions related to security requirements of online banking. Our participants, being more security-aware than the general population, arguably makes our results best-case regarding what can be expected from regular users. Yet most participants failed to satisfy common security requirements, implying most online banking customers do not (or cannot) follow banks' stated end-user security requirements and guidelines. The survey also sheds light on the security settings of systems used for sensitive online transactions. This work is intended to spur a discussion on real-world system security and user responsibilities, in a scenario where everyday users are heavily encouraged to perform critical tasks over the Internet, despite the continuing absence of appropriate tools to do so.
Convex and star-shaped sets associated with multivariate stable distributions, I: Moments and densities
Authors: Ilya Molchanov
Venue: Journal of Multivariate Analysis (2009)

It is known that each symmetric stable distribution in R^d is related to a norm on R^d that makes R^d embeddable in L"p([0,1]). In the case of a multivariate Cauchy distribution the unit ball in this norm is the polar set to a convex set in R^d called a zonoid. This work interprets symmetric stable laws using convex or star-shaped sets and exploits recent advances in convex geometry in order to come up with new probabilistic results for multivariate symmetric stable distributions. In particular, it provides expressions for moments of the Euclidean norm of a stable vector, mixed moments and various integrals of the density function. It is shown how to use geometric inequalities in order to bound important parameters of stable laws. Furthermore, covariation, regression and orthogonality concepts for stable laws acquire geometric interpretations.
A Local Normal-Based Region Term for Active Contours
Authors: Julien Mille, Laurent D. Cohen
Venue: Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Energy Minimization Methods in Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (2009)

Global region-based active contours, like the Chan-Vese model, often make strong assumptions on the intensity distributions of the searched object and background, preventing their use in natural images. We introduce a more flexible local region energy achieving a trade-off between local features of gradient-like terms and global region features. Relying on the theory of parallel curves, we define our region term using constant length lines normal to the contour. Mathematical derivations are performed on an explicit curve, leading to a form allowing efficient implementation on a parametric snake. However, we provide implementations on both explicit and implicit contours.
Benefits of global software development: exploring the unexplored
Authors: Eoin Ó Conchúir, Helena Holmström Olsson, Pär J. Ågerfalk, Brian Fitzgerald
Venue: Software Process: Improvement and Practice (2009)

Organizations are increasingly moving to the global software development (GSD) model because of significant benefits that can accrue. However, GSD is fraught with challenges arising from geographical, temporal and socio-cultural distances. The emphasis in the literature to date has typically been on how to overcome the challenges associated with GSD. While a number of GSD benefits have been widely referred to in the literature, there are also a number of less obvious benefits that can be inferred as potentially accruing from GSD. In this article, we identify the various benefits of GSD, labeling them as &lsquo;referred&rsquo; and &lsquo;inferred&rsquo;, respectively. We provide a categorization in terms of (a) organizational, (b) team and (c) process-task. While the &lsquo;referred&rsquo; benefits most often apply at the organizational level (e.g. cost savings, access to large multi-skilled workforces, reduced time to market and proximity to customer), the &lsquo;inferred&rsquo; benefits apply to a greater extent at team and process-task level (e.g. task modularization, team autonomy, improved documentation and clearly defined processes). In the decision of whether or not to globalize software development activities, a categorization including both &lsquo;referred&rsquo; and &lsquo;inferred&rsquo; benefits will be helpful in providing a synthesis of all potential benefits associated with GSD. Copyright &copy; 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Development of iterative real-time scheduler to planner feedback
Authors: Charles B. McVey, Ella M. Atkins, Edmund H. Durfee, Kang G. Shin
Venue: Proceedings of the Fifteenth international joint conference on Artifical intelligence - Volume 2 (1997)

Planning for real-time applications involves decisions not only about what actions to take in what states to progress toward achieving goals (the traditional decision problem faced by AI planning systems), but also about how to realize those actions within hard real-time deadlines given the inherent limitations of an execution platform. Determining how to arrange actions in a sequence such that timely execution is guaranteed within constraints is a manifestation of the scheduling problem. All cases of the scheduling problem in any domain of nontrivial complexity are difficult to solve (NP-Hard). To more efficiently solve the real-time plan scheduling problem, we propose and analyze an iterative feedback/constraint relaxation method in which a scheduler and planner iteratively interact to efficiently develop a well-utilized schedule which includes as many planned actions as possible. This method has been successfully implemented within the Cooperative Intelligent Real-time Control Architecture (CIRCA).
A GPU Laplacian solver for diffusion curves and Poisson image editing
Authors: Stefan Jeschke, David Cline, Peter Wonka
Venue: ACM SIGGRAPH Asia 2009 papers (2009)

We present a new Laplacian solver for minimal surfaces---surfaces having a mean curvature of zero everywhere except at some fixed (Dirichlet) boundary conditions. Our solution has two main contributions: First, we provide a robust rasterization technique to transform continuous boundary values (diffusion curves) to a discrete domain. Second, we define a variable stencil size diffusion solver that solves the minimal surface problem. We prove that the solver converges to the right solution, and demonstrate that it is at least as fast as commonly proposed multigrid solvers, but much simpler to implement. It also works for arbitrary image resolutions, as well as 8 bit data. We show examples of robust diffusion curve rendering where our curve rasterization and diffusion solver eliminate the strobing artifacts present in previous methods. We also show results for real-time seamless cloning and stitching of large image panoramas.
The Study on Reliability and Validity of Index System of Risk Evaluation on Technological Innovation of Small & Medium Enterprises
Authors: Zhi-qiang Ma, Tao Hong
Venue: Proceedings of the 2009 First International Workshop on Database Technology and Applications (2009)

Our country's Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs) have been one of important pillars of national economy as a result of the rapid development of SMEs. As for SMEs, technological innovation is the only way to enhance their core competitiveness and establish competitive advantage in the market. This paper constructs the index system of risk evaluation on technological innovation of SMEs through Delphi Method, which is based on the current study. Then several SMEs in Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region are evaluated by this index system, and this paper analyzes the reliability and validity of index system through the structural equation modeling (SEM). The analysis of the reliability and validity is used to be proved that the index system constructed has characteristics of high reliability and validity.
A Retrospective Review of Social Networks
Authors: Petros Xanthopoulos, Ashwin Arulselvan, Vladimir Boginski, Panos Pardalos
Venue: Proceedings of the 2009 International Conference on Advances in Social Network Analysis and Mining (2009)

Social network analysis deals with the interactions between individuals by considering them as nodes of a network (graph) whereas their relations are mapped as net-work edges. Study of such structures lies on the intersection of two different areas of research: sociology and graph theory. In this paper we give an overview of the mathematical concepts used for studying these networks as well as the major methodologies employed for the study of them. Most prominent applications and dominant research trends of the field are also discussed.
Distributed Intelligence and Scaffolding in Support of Cognitive Health
Authors: Stefan P. Carmien, Randal A. Koene
Venue: Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Universal Access in Human-Computer Interaction. Addressing Diversity. Part I: Held as Part of HCI International 2009 (2009)

Computers have dramatically changed the social landscape and living practices in the 21st century. Most of those changes have empowered typically abled adults, while it is only in the last few years that platforms and frameworks have been developed to extend support to those with diminished cognitive capacity. In this paper we discuses the use of scaffolding and distributed intelligence in assistive technology design. Four examples are presented, in domains from education to cognitive orthotics. We discuss the technology of such applications and the problems that technology designers must be aware of. Finally, we specify how these support frameworks fit into overall efforts toward a culture that supports cognitive health.
Dynamic scheduling of maintenance tasks in the petroleum industry: A reinforcement approach
Authors: N. Aissani, B. Beldjilali, D. Trentesaux
Venue: Engineering Applications of Artificial Intelligence (2009)

Petroleum industry production systems are highly automatized. Maintenance of such systems is vital, not only to maintain production efficiency but also to insure minimal safety levels. Maintenance task scheduling is difficult since some tasks are already identified because they must be done repeatedly, and other tasks need to be identified dynamically. In this paper, we present a multi-agent approach for the dynamic maintenance task scheduling for a petroleum industry production system. Agents simultaneously insure effective maintenance scheduling and the continuous improvement of the solution quality by means of reinforcement learning, using the SARSA algorithm. Reinforcement learning allows the agents to adapt, learning the best behaviors for their various roles without reducing the performance or reactivity. To demonstrate the innovation of our approach, we include a computer simulation of our model and the results of experimentation applying our model to an Algerian petroleum refinery.
Automatic small blend recognition from B-rep models for analysis
Authors: Jiping Li, Gang Tong, Dianbo Shi, Meng Geng, Huawei Zhu, Ichiro Hagiwara
Venue: Engineering with Computers (2009)

The recognition and suppression of small features from B-rep models play an important role in effectively generating the qualified mesh for analysis. This paper presents a new algorithm for recognizing small blends automatically for the purpose of mesh generation. The algorithm first transforms the input B-rep model into an aggregation of faces. Then, each face is judged to be a blend or not based on matching conditions. At last, the blends with larger physical sizes than a threshold value are excluded. The innovations lie in the recognition conditions and the unique calculating procedure of the blend physical size. Several examples are given to demonstrate the validity and applicability of the algorithm.
Energy Saving Analysis Using Pulse Width Modulation Techniques Controlling Electromagnetic Clutch in EPS System
Authors: Jian Wu, Qiang Li, De-yu Song, Li-kang Yang, Feng Cheng, Xiao-juan Liang
Venue: Proceedings of the 2009 Asia-Pacific Conference on Information Processing - Volume 01 (2009)

This paper deals with energy-saving advantage in a electric power steering system. Currently, electric power steering systems are commonly used for mini-sized vehicles, and reduction of electric energy of the electromagnetic clutch under non-steering condition is important for energy-savings of the EPS system to improve fuel economy. This paper describes a newly designed method using pulse width modulation techniques controlling the electromagnetic clutch and its experimental results. The electromagnetic clutch has lower energy loss with the advantage of changing with the assist characteristic in the electric power steering system. In addition, relationships between the motor current and electromagnetic clutch current in the system are analyzed for the basis of the electromagnetic clutch model, which accurately predicts the electromagnetic clutch transmitting torque through the motor to the steering rack.
Fisheries Ecosystem Management Based on Optimization Algorithm
Authors: Lin Sun, Hongjun Xiao, Dequan Yang, Shouju Li
Venue: Proceedings of the 2009 International Conference on Environmental Science and Information Application Technology - Volume 03 (2009)

The pressure on marine renewable resources has rapidly increased over past decades. The resulting scarcity has led to a variety of different control and surveillance instruments. The dynamics of fish stocks are an important consideration in determining appropriate fishery management policy. Equally crucial are the dynamics of fishing effort. A variety of growth curves have been applied to model both unpredated, intraspecific population dynamics and more general biological growth. Fishing effort dynamics are determined by the difference in profits and opportunity costs. Several management alternatives are evaluated at equilibrium. Performance variables such as equilibrium catch, social profits, consumer surplus, social benefits, direct fishery employment and income of individual crew are used in the evaluation.
A Prototype to Validate ErgoCoIn: A Web Site Ergonomic Inspection Technique
Authors: Marcelo Morandini, Walter Abreu Cybis, Dominique L. Scapin
Venue: Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction. Part I: New Trends (2009)

This paper presents current actions, results and perspectives concerning the development of the ErgoCoIn approach, which allows non expert inspectors to conduct ergonomic inspections of e-commerce web sites. An environment supporting inspections based on this approach was designed and a tool is being developed in order to accomplish its validation plan. Besides this validation, the actions to be undertaken will allow us to analyze the task of applying checklists and specify an inspection support environment especially fitted for that. This is of great importance as this environment is intended to be an open web service supporting ergonomic inspections of web sites from different domains. A wiki environment for this tool development is also being proposed.
A DFO technique to calibrate queueing models
Authors: T. Begin, B. Baynat, F. Sourd, A. Brandwajn
Venue: Computers and Operations Research (2010)

A crucial step in the modeling of a system is to determine the values of the parameters to use in the model. In this paper we assume that we have a set of measurements collected from an operational system, and that an appropriate model of the system (e.g., based on queueing theory) has been developed. Not infrequently proper values for certain parameters of this model may be difficult to estimate from available data (because the corresponding parameters have unclear physical meaning or because they cannot be directly obtained from available measurements, etc.). Hence, we need a technique to determine the missing parameter values, i.e., to calibrate the model. As an alternative to unscalable ''brute force'' technique, we propose to view model calibration as a non-linear optimization problem with constraints. The resulting method is conceptually simple and easy to implement. Our contribution is twofold. First, we propose improved definitions of the ''objective function'' to quantify the ''distance'' between performance indices produced by the model and the values obtained from measurements. Second, we develop a customized derivative-free optimization (DFO) technique whose original feature is the ability to allow temporary constraint violations. This technique allows us to solve this optimization problem accurately, thereby providing the ''right'' parameter values. We illustrate our method using two simple real-life case studies.
Using evolution strategies to solve DEC-POMDP problems
Authors: Bar&#x0131;&#x015f; Eker, H. Levent Ak&#x0131;n
Venue: Soft Computing - A Fusion of Foundations, Methodologies and Applications (2009)

Decentralized partially observable Markov decision process (DEC-POMDP) is an approach to model multi-robot decision making problems under uncertainty. Since it is NEXP-complete there is no efficient exact algorithm to solve these problems and in spite of the attention it has taken recently, so far only a few approximate solutions that can solve small problems have been proposed. In this study, we offer a novel approximate solution algorithm for DEC-POMDP problems using evolution strategies, and a novel approach to approximately calculate the fitness of the chromosomes which correspond to the expected reward. We also propose a new problem which is a more complex, modified version of the grid meeting problem and solve it. Our results show that our algorithm is scalable and we can solve problems that have more states than the problems attempted in previous studies.
Integration of CAD and boundary element analysis through subdivision methods
Authors: L. Wang
Venue: Computers and Industrial Engineering (2009)

Subdivision methods have been mainly used in computer graphics. This paper extends their applications to mechanical design and boundary element analysis (BEA), and fulfills the seamless integration of CAD and BEA in the model and representation. Traditionally, geometric design and BEA are treated as separate modules requiring different representations and models, which include continuous parametric models and discrete models. Due to the incompatibility of the involved representations and models, the post-processing in geometric design or the pre-processing in BEA is essential. The transition from geometric design to BEA requires substantial effort and errors are inevitably introduced during the transition. In this paper, a framework of realizing the integration of CAD and BEA was first presented based on subdivision methods. A common model or a unified representation for geometric design and BEA was created with subdivision surfaces. For general 3D structures, automatic mesh generation for geometric design and BEA was fulfilled through subdivision methods. The seamless integration improves the accuracy of numerical analysis and shortens the cycle of geometric design and BEA.
The Principle and Analysis of Flying Projectile Coordinate Measure in Multi-screen Target
Authors: Hanshan Li, Zhiyong Lei
Venue: Proceedings of the 2009 International Conference on Measuring Technology and Mechatronics Automation - Volume 01 (2009)

Photoelectric Detection Target (PDT) is applied in the outside to detect the projectile information when the flying projectile passing through. Its performance is affected by many factors, for example, the intensity of nature light, the field of detecting view, and the sensitivity of the sensor. Two novel methods are presented in this paper. The performance of the long rectangular photo detector with high response and low noise is analyzed and it be used to expand the field of detecting view. The controllable rectangle slit is designed and its width is controlled by programming. This measure can change the incident light energy and make the output voltage of the PDT keep in 1.2v-1.6v in most case. While the incident light energy is very low, the width of the slit is adjusted to the biggest. The experiment results in shooting range prove that the improved measures in the PDT are accurate and it can work more 500Lx stably.
Engineering of syntactic features for shallow semantic parsing
Authors: Alessandro Moschitti, Bonaventura Coppola, Daniele Pighin, Roberto Basili
Venue: Proceedings of the ACL Workshop on Feature Engineering for Machine Learning in Natural Language Processing (2005)

Recent natural language learning research has shown that structural kernels can be effectively used to induce accurate models of linguistic phenomena. In this paper, we show that the above properties hold on a novel task related to predicate argument classification. A tree kernel for selecting the subtrees which encodes argument structures is applied. Experiments with Support Vector Machines on large data sets (i.e. the PropBank collection) show that such kernel improves the recognition of argument boundaries.
A Logical Interpretation of the λ-Calculus into the η-Calculus, Preserving Spine Reduction and Types
Authors: Steffen van Bakel, Maria Grazia Vigliotti
Venue: Proceedings of the 20th International Conference on Concurrency Theory (2009)

We define a new, output-based encoding of the λ-calculus into the asynchronous &eta;-calculus --- enriched with pairing --- that has its origin in mathematical logic, and show that this encoding respects one-step spine-reduction up to substitution, and that normal substitution is respected up to similarity. We will also show that it fully encodes lazy reduction of closed terms, in that term-substitution as well as each reduction step are modelled up to similarity. We then define a notion of type assignment for the &eta;-calculus that uses the type constructor →, and show that all Curry-assignable types are preserved by the encoding.
Analysis and Optimization of Cryptographically Generated Addresses
Authors: Joppe W. Bos, Onur Özen, Jean-Pierre Hubaux
Venue: Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Information Security (2009)

The need for nodes to be able to generate their own address and verify those from others, without relying on a global trusted authority, is a well-known problem in networking. One popular technique for solving this problem is to use self-certifying addresses that are widely used and standardized; a prime example is cryptographically generated addresses (CGA). We re-investigate the attack models that can occur in practice and analyze the security of CGA-like schemes. As a result, an alternative protocol to CGA, called CGA++, is presented. This protocol eliminates several attacks applicable to CGA and increases the overall security. In many ways, CGA++ offers a nice alternative to CGA and can be used notably for future developments of the Internet Protocol version 6.