ppxscal/embedding_network huggingface dataset:
Crafting the initial user experience to achieve community goals
Authors: Sara Drenner, Shilad Sen, Loren Terveen
Venue: Proceedings of the 2008 ACM conference on Recommender systems (2008)

Recommender systems try to address the "new user problem" by quickly and painlessly learning user preferences so that users can begin receiving recommendations as soon as possible. We take an expanded perspective on the new user experience, seeing it as an opportunity to elicit valuable contributions to the community and shape subsequent user behavior. We conducted a field experiment in MovieLens where we imposed additional work on new users: not only did they have to rate movies, they also had to enter varying numbers of tags. While requiring more work led to fewer users completing the entry process, the benefits were significant: the remaining users produced a large volume of tags initially, and continued to enter tags at a much higher rate than a control group. Further, their rating behavior was not depressed. Our results suggest that careful design of the initial user experience can lead to significant benefits for an online community.
Watch Out! A Framework for Evaluating Steering Behaviors
Authors: Shawn Singh, Mishali Naik, Mubbasir Kapadia, Petros Faloutsos, Glenn Reinman
Venue: Motion in Games: First International Workshop, MIG 2008, Utrecht, The Netherlands, June 14-17, 2008. Revised Papers (2008)

Interactive virtual worlds feature dynamic characters that must navigate through a variety of landscapes populated with various obstacles and other agents. The process of navigating to a desired lo- cation within a dynamic environment is the problem of steering. While there are many approaches to steering, to our knowledge there is no standard way of evaluating and comparing the quality of such solutions. To address this, we propose a diverse set of benchmarks and a flexi- ble method of evaluation that can be used to compare different steering algorithms. We discuss the challenges and criteria for objectively eval- uating steering behaviors and describe the metrics and scoring method used in our benchmark evaluation. We hope that, with constructive feed- back from the community, our framework will eventually evolve into a standard and comprehensive approach to debug, compare and provide an overall assessment of the effectiveness of steering algorithms.
Flexible recommendations over rich data
Authors: Georgia Koutrika, Robert Ikeda, Benjamin Bercovitz, Hector Garcia-Molina
Venue: Proceedings of the 2008 ACM conference on Recommender systems (2008)

CourseRank is a course planning tool aimed at helping students at Stanford. Recommendations comprise an integral part of it. However, implementing existing recommendation methods leads to fixed recommendations that cannot adapt to each particular student's changing requirements and do not help exploit the full extent of the available learning opportunities at the university. In this paper, we describe the concept of a flexible recommendation workflow, i.e., a high-level description of a parameterized process for computing recommendations. The input parameters of a flexible recommendation process comprise the "knobs" that control the final output and hence generate flexible recommendations. We describe how flexible recommendations can be expressed over a relational database and we present our prototype system that allows defining and executing different, fully-parameterized, recommendation workflows over relational data. Finally, we describe a user interface in CourseRank that allows students customize recommendations.
Functional coherence in domain interaction networks
Authors: Jayesh Pandey, Mehmet Koyutürk, Shankar Subramaniam, Ananth Grama
Venue: Bioinformatics (2008)

Motivation: Extracting functional information from protein–protein interactions (PPI) poses significant challenges arising from the noisy, incomplete, generic and static nature of data obtained from high-throughput screening. Typical proteins are composed of multiple domains, often regarded as their primary functional and structural units. Motivated by these considerations, domain–domain interactions (DDI) for network-based analyses have received significant recent attention. This article performs a formal comparative investigation of the relationship between functional coherence and topological proximity in PPI and DDI networks. Our investigation provides the necessary basis for continued and focused investigation of DDIs as abstractions for functional characterization and modularization of networks. Results: We investigate the problem of assessing the functional coherence of two biomolecules (or segments thereof) in a formal framework. We establish essential attributes of admissible measures of functional coherence, and demonstrate that existing, well-accepted measures are ill-suited to comparative analyses involving different entities (i.e. domains versus proteins). We propose a statistically motivated functional similarity measure that takes into account functional specificity as well as the distribution of functional attributes across entity groups to assess functional similarity in a statistically meaningful and biologically interpretable manner. Results on diverse data, including high-throughput and computationally predicted PPIs, as well as structural and computationally inferred DDIs for different organisms show that: (i) the relationship between functional similarity and network proximity is captured in a much more (biologically) intuitive manner by our measure, compared to existing measures and (ii) network proximity and functional similarity are significantly more correlated in DDI networks than in PPI networks, and that structurally determined DDIs provide better functional relevance as compared to computationally inferred DDIs. Contact: jpandey@cs.purdue.edu
QNoC asynchronous router
Authors: Rostislav (Reuven) Dobkin, Ran Ginosar, Avinoam Kolodny
Venue: Integration, the VLSI Journal (2009)

An asynchronous router for quality-of-service Networks on Chip (QNoC) is presented. It combines multiple service levels (SL) with multiple equal-priority virtual channels (VC) within each SL. VCs are assigned dynamically per packet in each router. The router employs fast arbitration schemes to minimize latency. Analytical expressions for a generic NoC router performance, area and power are derived, showing linear dependence on the number of buffers and flit width. The analytical results agree with QNoC router simulation results. The QNoC router architecture and specific asynchronous circuits are presented. When simulated on a 0.18@mm process, the router throughput ranges from 1.8 to 20Gbps for flits 8-128 bits wide.
Panoptes
Authors: William M. Farmer, Orlin G. Grigorov
Venue: Electronic Notes in Theoretical Computer Science (ENTCS) (2009)

Proof assistants aid the user in proving mathematical theorems by taking care of low-level reasoning details. Their user interfaces often present proof information as text, which becomes increasingly difficult to comprehend as it grows in size. Panoptes is a software tool that enables users to explore graphical representations of the formal proofs produced by the imps Interactive Mathematical Proof System. Panoptes automatically displays an imps deduction graph as a visual graph that can be easily manipulated by the user. Its facilities include target zooming, floating information boxes, node relabeling, and proper substructure collapsing.
Effect of retroflex sounds on the recognition of Hindi voiced and unvoiced stops
Authors: Amita Dev
Venue: AI Society (2008)

As development of the speech recognition system entirely depends upon the spoken language used for its development, and the very fact that speech technology is highly language dependent and reverse engineering is not possible, there is an utmost need to develop such systems for Indian languages. In this paper we present the implementation of a time delay neural network system (TDNN) in a modular fashion by exploiting the hidden structure of previously phonetic subcategory network for recognition of Hindi consonants. For the present study we have selected all the Hindi phonemes for srecognition. A vocabulary of 207 Hindi words was designed for the task-specific environment and used as a database. For the recognition of phoneme, a three-layered network was constructed and the network was trained using the back propagation learning algorithm. Experiments were conducted to categorize the Hindi voiced, unvoiced stops, semi vowels, vowels, nasals and fricatives. A close observation of confusion matrix of Hindi stops revealed maximum confusion of retroflex stops with their non-retroflex counterparts.
Minimum energy probabilistic reliable data delivery in wireless sensor networks
Authors: Junhua Zhu, Brahim Bensaou
Venue: Proceedings of the 11th international symposium on Modeling, analysis and simulation of wireless and mobile systems (2008)

Many sensor network applications only require probabilistic data delivery, as they can tolerate some missing data samples. For example, in environmental monitoring, missing temperature, pressure and humidity level samples can often be inferred by spatial and/or temporal interpolations. In this paper we propose and study an adaptive p-persistent CSMA-based media access control protocol that supports end-to-end probabilistic reliability for sensor networks on a hop-by-hop basis. In an effort to reduce the probability of packet collisions, first we tune the carrier sensing range of the nodes; then given an end-to-end reliability requirement, we determine the optimal allocation of per-hop reliability requirements on each route to minimize the expected total number of transmissions needed; finally, our adaptive p-persistent CSMA protocol tunes its link persistence probability to further reduce the expected total number of transmissions, and thereby minimizes the energy consumption in the network. We formulate this latter problem as a constrained optimization problem, and then derive an algorithm to adapt the link persistence probabilities using the Lagrangian dual decomposition method.
Computational advertising and recommender systems
Authors: Andrei Z. Broder
Venue: Proceedings of the 2008 ACM conference on Recommender systems (2008)

Computational advertising is an emerging scientific discipline, at the intersection of large scale search and text analysis, information retrieval, statistical modeling, machine learning, optimization, and microeconomics. The central challenge of computational advertising is to find the "best match" between a given user in a given context and a suitable advertisement. The context could be a user entering a query in a search engine ("sponsored search"), a user reading a web page ("content match" and "display ads"), a user conversing on a cell phone ("mobile advertising"), and so on. The information about the user can vary from scarily detailed to practically nil. The number of potential advertisements might be in the billions. Thus, depending on the definition of "best match" this challenge leads to a variety of massive optimization and search problems, with complicated constraints. The main part of this talk will give an introduction to computational advertising and present some illustrative research. In the second part we will discuss connections to recommender systems and present a couple of open problems of potential interest to both communities.
Computational aspects of continuous---discrete extended Kalman-filtering
Authors: Thomas Mazzoni
Venue: Computational Statistics (2008)

This paper elaborates how the time update of the continuous---discrete extended Kalman-filter (EKF) can be computed in the most efficient way. The specific structure of the EKF-moment differential equations leads to a hybrid integration algorithm, featuring a new Taylor---Heun-approximation of the nonlinear vector field and a modified Gauss---Legendre-scheme, generating positive semidefinite solutions for the state error covariance. Furthermore, the order of consistency and stability behavior of the outlined procedure is investigated. The results are incorporated into an algorithm with adaptive controlled step size, assuring a fixed numerical precision with minimal computational effort.
A Multi-functional Entertaining and Educational Robot
Authors: Chyi-Yeu Lin, Chang-Kuo Tseng, Po-Chia Jo
Venue: Journal of Intelligent and Robotic Systems (2008)

This paper presents a multi-functional autonomous intelligent robot, DOC-1, which has actions exclusively driven by artificial intelligence programs. The mechanism of this robot was designed to fulfill tasks defined by various functions such as gripping character cubes and teacups, playing the Gobang board game, and rotating and stacking character cubes. Further emphasis was placed on load lifting capability, weight reduction, energy conservation, and performance reliability. The serial port of a minicomputer is used as the communication interface between the software and electromechanical components. A custom-made chip serves as the control kernel that controls the motions of servo motors that move the arms and head of the robot, two DC motors which drive the wheels, and also a number of lights. With the integrated artificial intelligence software and the robot control system, this intelligent robot DOC-1 can perform a number of autonomous functions that make it interactive with human beings.
A tabu search approach to an urban transport problem in northern Spain
Authors: Joaquín Pacheco, Ada Alvarez, Silvia Casado, José Luis González-Velarde
Venue: Computers and Operations Research (2009)

In this work we analyze an urban transport problem that the City Council of Burgos, a city in northern Spain, has posed to the authors. Given a fleet of buses and drivers, the problem consists in designing routes and assigning buses to the routes such that the service level is optimized. The optimality of the service level is measured in terms of the waiting time at the bus stops and the duration of the trip. Thus, the problem comprises two decision levels (route design and bus assignment) and differs from other urban transport models found in the literature. In order to solve the problem, we propose two algorithms: one with a local search strategy and another with a tabu search strategy. In both cases, the solutions of the two decision levels are modified in alternating steps. The proposed algorithms obtained significantly better results than the tools currently applied by the transport authorities. In addition, the solutions obtained are very robust with respect to variations on demand, as shown by the experiments.
Wide area data replication for scientific collaborations
Authors: Ann Chervenak, Robert Schuler, Carl Kesselman, Scott Koranda, Brian Moe
Venue: International Journal of High Performance Computing and Networking (2008)

Scientific applications require sophisticated data management capabilities. We present the Data Replication Service (DRS), one of a planned set of higher-level data management services for scientific collaborations in Grid environments. The capabilities of the DRS are based on the publication capability of the Lightweight Data Replicator (LDR) system developed for the LIGO Scientific Collaboration. We describe LIGO publication requirements and LDR functionality. We also describe the design and implementation of the DRS in the Globus Toolkit Version 4.0 environment and present performance results.
Synchronized network emulation: matching prototypes with complex simulations
Authors: Elias Weingärtner, Florian Schmidt, Tobias Heer, Klaus Wehrle
Venue: ACM SIGMETRICS Performance Evaluation Review (2008)

Network emulation, in which real systems interact with a network simulation, is a common evaluation method in computer networking research. Until now, the simulation in charge of representing the network has been required to be real-time capable, as otherwise a time drift between the simulation and the real network devices may occur and corrupt the results. In this paper, we present our work on synchronized network emulation. By adding a central synchronization entity and by virtualizing real systems for means of control, we can build-up network emulations which contain both unmodified x86 systems and network simulations of any complexity.
Developing the Method of Server Controlled Outcomes Management and Variance Analysis
Authors: Kazuyuki Matsumoto, Tetsuya Tanioka, Kyoko Osaka, Ai Kawamura, Syu-ichi Ueno, Fuji Ren, Yoichiro Takasaka, Alan Barnard, Rozzano C. Locsin, Mitsuko Omori
Venue: Electronic Notes in Theoretical Computer Science (ENTCS) (2009)

This paper is to describe a way to develop the Psychoms process for mental health patient management and variance analysis system has been developed using artificial intelligence. Although it is agreed that there is a need for clinical pathway variance analysis, methods for creating a system are less well defined. The procedure and systematic process described aims to improve patients' quality of life through consistent and timely care. Ultimately, its potential influence is to assist in the improvement of quality health care services. This paper illustrates a method of outcomes management and variance analysis as the prospective development of future research.
Monitoring the ionosphere activity from GPS data
Authors: S. Boutiouta, A. H. Belbachir
Venue: International Journal of Remote Sensing (2007)

The network of GPS permanent stations does not cover all world regions; for example, parts of North Africa and other regions in Asia and southern America are not covered. The work presented here proposes a method for monitoring the activity of the ionosphere, in particular the Total Electron Content (TEC), by using GPS measurement data obtained by a permanent station from the IGS (International GPS Geodynamics Service) network for a region which has no GPS permanent stations, but which is not far (1000-2000 km) from a permanent station. The temporal evolution of the TEC obtained by our method during the considered period globally follows the magnetic variation index Ap, particularly for values of Ap representing the geomagnetic storm state, where the TEC perturbations are maximal. The method has been applied in the region of Oran city in Algeria for the month of January 2004.
A Design of Automatic Visualizations for Divide-and-Conquer Algorithms
Authors: J. Ángel Velázquez-Iturbide, Antonio Pérez-Carrasco, Jaime Urquiza-Fuentes
Venue: Electronic Notes in Theoretical Computer Science (ENTCS) (2009)

The paper addresses the design of program visualizations adequate to represent divide-and-conquer algorithms. Firstly, we present the results of several surveys performed on the visualization of divide-and-conquer algorithms in the literature. Secondly, we make a proposal for three complementary, coordinated views of these algorithms. In summary, they are based an animation of the activation tree, an animation of the data structure, and a sequence of visualizations of the substructures, respectively.
Fractals Visualization and J, 3rd edition
Authors: Clifford A. Reiter
Venue:  (2007)

Fractals is a hands-on introduction to the visualization of mathematical objects, algorithms and data. The book gives a self-contained introduction to J as raster and object graphics are introduced. Fractal times series illustrate techniques for dealing with one-dimensional data. Studies of iterated function systems and chaotic attractors offer experience with visualizing two dimensional phenomena while investigating fractals and symmetry. Finite automata and fast Fourier transforms are used for playful things like the game of life and serious topics such as image processing. Similar techniques are used for studying classical complex dynamics illustrated by the Mandelbrot set and Julia sets. The mathematics of three dimensional projection is discussed and visualization of three dimensional data is the focus of scenes created by rendering J created objects with raytracers and OpenGL.
Decision problem for shuffled genes
Authors: Ion Petre, Vladimir Rogojin
Venue: Information and Computation (2008)

We consider a permutation-based model for the gene assembly process in ciliates. We give a procedure to decide whether a given micronuclear molecule may be assembled by using only simple dlad operations. We solve the problem based on a notion of dependency graph.
Critique graphs for catalogue navigation
Authors: Tarik Hadzic, Barry O'Sullivan
Venue: Proceedings of the 2008 ACM conference on Recommender systems (2008)

Critique-based conversational recommender systems are becoming common place, facilitating richer dialogues with the user than pure content-based or collaborative approaches. Most implementations of these systems combine similarity-based reasoning with constraints to enable users express preferences as critiques of products. Critiques are simple statements like "I like this product, but would prefer one that is less expensive". In this paper we exploit the fact that the repertoire of critiques available to the user is usually known ahead of interaction time to construct a critique graph representation of a catalogue. The critique graph provides a formal basis for reasoning about the set of products that can be reached using critiques from a given product. We introduce the concepts of product cover, support sets of products and catalogue cover. The latter is defined as a set of products from which all products in a catalogue can be reached using a specified best-case maximum number of critiques. We show that for the catalogues we considered, catalogue covers are typically small. We show that the sizes and distributions of product covers and support sets can be used to inform us of the structure of a catalogue and the challenges it would present for interactive navigation. We also propose the notion of a minimum catalogue cover as a set of "entry products" that ensure that all products in the catalogue can be reached by critiquing.
Synthesis of heterogeneous pipelined multiprocessor systems using ILP: jpeg case study
Authors: Haris Javaid, Sri Parameswaran
Venue: Proceedings of the 6th IEEE/ACM/IFIP international conference on Hardware/Software codesign and system synthesis (2008)

Streaming applications can be implemented with a pipeline of processors. Each processor in the pipeline can be an application Specific Instruction Set Processor (ASIP) with the result being a heterogeneous pipelined MPSoC system. Since ASIPs can be of differing configurations, finding the optimal set of configurations for a multiprocessor architecture is a difficult problem. In this paper, we obtain an optimal system design for a set of processors which execute a multimedia application. The variables in the system are the presence or absence of different additional instructions and differing cache configurations for each of the processors. The problem is formulated as a 0-1 Integer Linear Programming (ILP) problem. To reduce the complexity of the ILP formulation, inferior ASIP configurations are efficiently pruned so that the solution could be reached quickly. Given a system runtime constraint, the proposed methodology finds a design with minimal area. We integrated this design methodology into a commercial design flow, and performed a case study upon the JPEG encoding application. We obtained 15 optimal designs subject to 15 different runtime constraints, each in less than 100 seconds from more than 4.2 x 1013 design points.