ppxscal/embedding_network huggingface dataset:
Affective feedback: an investigation into the role of emotions in the information seeking process
Authors: Ioannis Arapakis
Venue: Proceedings of the 31st annual international ACM SIGIR conference on Research and development in information retrieval (2008)

User feedback is considered to be a critical element in the information seeking process. An important aspect of the feedback cycle is relevance assessment that has progressively become a popular practice in web searching activities and interactive information retrieval (IR). The value of relevance assessment lies in the disambiguation of the user's information need, which is achieved by applying various feedback techniques. Such techniques vary from explicit to implicit and help determine the relevance of the retrieved documents. The former type of feedback is usually obtained through the explicit and intended indication of documents as relevant (positive feedback) or irrelevant (negative feedback). Explicit feedback is a robust method for improving a system's overall retrieval performance and producing better query reformulations [1], at the expense of users' cognitive resources. On the other hand, implicit feedback techniques tend to collect information on search behavior in a more intelligent and unobtrusive manner. By doing so, they disengage the users from the cognitive burden of document rating and relevance judgments. Information-seeking activities such as reading time, saving, printing, selecting and referencing have been all treated as indicators of relevance, despite the lack of sufficient evidence to support their effectiveness [2]. Besides their apparent differences, both categories of feedback techniques determine document relevance with respect to the cognitive and situational levels of the interactive dialogue that occurs between the user and the retrieval system [5]. However, this approach does not account for the dynamic interplay and adaptation that takes place between the different dialogue levels, but most importantly it does not consider the affective dimension of interaction. Users interact with intentions, motivations and feelings apart from real-life problems and information objects, which are all critical aspects of cognition and decision-making [3][4]. By evaluating users' affective response towards an information object (e.g. a document), prior and post to their exposure to it, a more accurate understanding of the object's properties and degree of relevance to the current information need may be facilitated. Furthermore, systems that can detect and respond accordingly to user emotions could potentially improve the naturalness of human-computer interaction and progressively optimize their retrieval strategy. The current study investigates the role of emotions in the information seeking process, as the latter are communicated through multi-modal interaction, and reconsiders relevance feedback with respect to what occurs on the affective level of interaction as well.
Reliable Metal-Fill Monitoring System Using Wireless Sensor Networks
Authors: Phaneeth K. R. Junga, Mohamed Abdelrahman, Clayton Thurmer, Wael A. Deabes
Venue: Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Information Technology: New Generations (2008)

Among the wide range of wireless sensor networks (WSN)applications, some require reliable data communications such that data packets can be delivered to the destination without any losses. This paper is focused on one such application, namely a metal-fill monitoring system for the lost foam casting process implemented using capacitive sensors and Wireless Sensor Networks. The problem of packet losses associated with wireless transmission of data using WSN with emphasis on the foundry environment has been explored and a method of delayed retransmission has been tested for offline monitoring. The delayed retransmission technique can be used in applications where the completeness of the data collected is more critical than the time taken to collect it. The entire system from sensing to data transmission provides a flexible and cost effective method to monitor the metal fill process. Another technique that is more suitable for online applications is also briefly presented.
Compact samples for data dissemination
Authors: Tova Milo, Assaf Sagi, Elad Verbin
Venue: Journal of Computer and System Sciences (2008)

We consider data dissemination in a peer-to-peer network, where each user wishes to obtain some subset of the available information objects. In most of the modern algorithms for such data dissemination, the users periodically obtain samples of peer IDs (possibly with some summary of their content). They then use the samples for connecting to other peers and downloading data pieces from them. For a set O of information objects, we call a sample of peers, containing at least k possible providers for each object o@?O, a k-sample. In order to balance the load, the k-samples should be fair, in the sense that for every object, its providers should appear in the sample with equal probability. Also, since most algorithms send fresh samples frequently, the size of the k-samples should be as small as possible, to minimize communication overhead. We describe in this paper two novel techniques for generating fair and small k-samples in a P2P setting. The first is based on a particular usage of uniform sampling and has the advantage that it allows to build on standard P2P uniform sampling tools. The second is based on non-uniform sampling and requires more particular care, but is guaranteed to generate the smallest possible fair k-sample. The two algorithms exploit available dependencies between information objects to reduce the sample size, and are proved, both theoretically and experimentally, to be extremely effective.
A roadmap of nature-inspired systems research and development
Authors: Enda Ridge, Edward Curry
Venue: Multiagent and Grid Systems (2007)

Nature-inspired algorithms such as genetic algorithms, particle swarm optimisation and ant colony algorithms have successfully solved computer science problems of search and optimisation. The initial implementations of these techniques focused on static problems solved on single machines. These have been extended by adding parallelisation capabilities in the vein of distributed computing with a centralised master/slave approach. However, the natural systems on which nature-inspired algorithms are based possess many additional characteristics that are of potential benefit within computing environments. In this paper, we discuss the benefits of nature-inspired techniques within modern and emerging computing environments. Software entities within these environments execute and interact in a fashion that is parallel, asynchronous, and decentralised. Given that the natural environment is in itself parallel, asynchronous and decentralised, nature-inspired techniques are an excellent fit for computing environments that exhibit these characteristics. Future research challenges for nature-inspired techniques within emerging computing environments are also discussed.
Eavesdropping games: a graph-theoretic approach to privacy in distributed systems
Authors: M. Franklin, Z. Galil
Venue: Proceedings of the 1993 IEEE 34th Annual Foundations of Computer Science (1993)

We initiate a graph-theoretic approach to study the (information-theoretic) maintenance of privacy in distributed environments in the presence of a bounded number of mobile eavesdroppers ("bugs"). For two fundamental privacy problems-secure message transmission and distributed database maintenance-we assume an adversary is "playing eavesdropping games," coordinating the movement of the bugs among the sites to learn the current memory contents. We consider various mobility settings (adversaries), motivated by the capabilities (strength) of the bugging technologies (e.g., how fast can a bug be reassigned). We combinatorially characterize and compare privacy maintenance problems, determine their feasibility (under numerous bug models), suggest protocols for the feasible cases, and analyze their computational complexity.
Fast communication: Image smoothing and sharpening based on nonlinear diffusion equation
Authors: Dai Fang, Zheng Nanning, Xue Jianru
Venue: Signal Processing (2008)

For the sake of the smoothing image and sharpening the edge features of the image, a nonlinear diffusion model for image smoothing and sharpening is proposed in this paper. The model consists of two terms. One is smoothing and preserving edge term, the other is sharpening term. The role of the smoothing and preserving edge term is to smooth the flat regions of the image, not smooth or less smooth the edge of image. The sharpening term can enhance the edge of the image. Smoothing diffusion coefficient and sharpening diffusion coefficient control the degree of smoothing and sharpening. The diffusion coefficients are functions of gradient magnitude and dynamic threshold of image, where the dynamic threshold function is driven by a Poisson equation. The experimental results show that the smoothing and sharpening model has better properties than the smoothing and preserving edge model or the sharpening model, and is more suitable for extracting the features of the image.
New Tunneling Capabilities for BGP/MPLS IP VPN in GNU/Linux
Authors: Jose Oscar Fajardo, Jon Ander Picó, Alejandro Muñoz
Venue: Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Networking (2008)

In this paper we present an implementation and validation tests that allow a GNU/Linux node act as a PE router in a BGP/MPLS IP VPN architecture. Precisely, this implementation supports all the mandatory capabilities defined in RFC 4364 with regard to the data forwarding plane, such as VRFs to separate the traffic from different VPNs, MPLS to manage the VPN routes at PE nodes and MPLS tunnels for the communication between PEs. Moreover, this basic implementation is extended to support the operation defined in RFC 4797, which allows other kinds of tunnel technologies to be used between PE nodes. We provide configuration examples for both cases, and finally complete the study with the addition of IPsec options to the PE-PE GRE tunnel communication.
Organizational software piracy: an empirical assessment
Authors: Alok Mishra, Ibrahim Akman, Ali Yazici
Venue: Behaviour & Information Technology (2007)

Application of Information Technology (IT) has had a significant impact on all aspects of business. Due to technology, the ease with which software can be pirated is increasing and is leading to increased concern for copyright protection. This paper reviews and discusses software piracy issues from a global perspective and reports the findings of a survey concerning the impact of sectors like government, private and academic in Turkey. Although software piracy has long been attracting the interest of academics, no quantitative research has ever been realized in this field in the country. Elsewhere also, most of the software piracy-related studies are from individuals' perspectives and are limited to students, academics, cost, and attitudes. Very few have reported findings related to IT professionals and organizations. The survey was conducted among IT managers of large-scale organizations from different sectors such as the government, private and academic community. Based on the survey of 162 IT managers, the results indicated that sectors have significant impact on software piracy to some extent.
A scalable call admission control algorithm
Authors: Zafar Ali, Waseem Sheikh, Edwin K. P. Chong, Arif Ghafoor
Venue: IEEE/ACM Transactions on Networking (TON) (2008)

In this paper, we propose a scalable algorithm for connection admission control (CAC). The algorithm applies to a Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) ATM switch with a FIFO buffer. The switch carries data from statistically independent variable bit rate (VBR) sources that asynchronously alternate between ON and OFF states with exponentially distributed periods. The sources may be heterogeneous both in terms of their statistical characteristics (peak cell rate, sustained cell rate, and burst size attributes) as well as their Quality of Service (QoS) requirements. The performance of the proposed CAC scheme is evaluated using known performance bounds and simulation results. For the purpose of comparison, we also present scalability analyses for some of the previously proposed CAC schemes. Our results show that the proposed CAC scheme consistently performs better and operates the link close to the highest possible utilization level. Furthermore, the scheme scales well with increasing amount of resources (link capacity and buffer size) and accommodates intelligently the mix of traffic offered by sources of diversed burstiness characteristics.
VC Theory of Large Margin Multi-Category Classifiers
Authors: Yann Guermeur
Venue: The Journal of Machine Learning Research (2007)

In the context of discriminant analysis, Vapnik's statistical learning theory has mainly been developed in three directions: the computation of dichotomies with binary-valued functions, the computation of dichotomies with real-valued functions, and the computation of polytomies with functions taking their values in finite sets, typically the set of categories itself. The case of classes of vector-valued functions used to compute polytomies has seldom been considered independently, which is unsatisfactory, for three main reasons. First, this case encompasses the other ones. Second, it cannot be treated appropriately through a naïve extension of the results devoted to the computation of dichotomies. Third, most of the classification problems met in practice involve multiple categories. In this paper, a VC theory of large margin multi-category classifiers is introduced. Central in this theory are generalized VC dimensions called the γ-Ψ-dimensions. First, a uniform convergence bound on the risk of the classifiers of interest is derived. The capacity measure involved in this bound is a covering number. This covering number can be upper bounded in terms of the γ-Ψ-dimensions thanks to generalizations of Sauer's lemma, as is illustrated in the specific case of the scale-sensitive Natarajan dimension. A bound on this latter dimension is then computed for the class of functions on which multi-class SVMs are based. This makes it possible to apply the structural risk minimization inductive principle to those machines.
Efficient Sequence Alignment with Side-Constraints by Cluster Tree Elimination
Authors: Sebastian Will, Anke Busch, Rolf Backofen
Venue: Constraints (2008)

Aligning DNA and protein sequences is a core technique in molecular biology. Often, it is desirable to include partial prior knowledge and conditions in an alignment. Going beyond prior work, we aim at the integration of such side constraints in free combination into alignment algorithms. The most common and successful technique for efficient alignment algorithms is dynamic programming (DP). However, a weakness of DP is that one cannot include additional constraints without specifically tailoring a new DP algorithm. Here, we discuss a declarative approach that is based on constraint techniques and show how it can be extended by formulating additional knowledge as constraints. We take special care to obtain the efficiency of DP for sequence alignment. This is achieved by careful modeling and applying proper solving strategies. Finally, we apply our method to the scanning for RNA motifs in large sequences. This case study demonstrates how the new approach can be used in real biological problems. A prototypic implementation of the method is available at http://www.bioinf.uni-freiburg.de/Software/CTE-Alignment .
Enhancing Mobile Learning Delivery through Exploration of the Learner Experience
Authors: Mohamed Ally, Karen Stauffer
Venue: Proceedings of the Fifth IEEE International Conference on Wireless, Mobile, and Ubiquitous Technology in Education (2008)

M-Learning research at the School of Computing and Information Systems (SCIS) at Athabasca University has been directed at improving mobile device access to distance learning materials through improved device detection, use of mobile device style sheets, and alternate files and graphics that are tailored to smaller screens. However, there is a greater significance placed in determining how learners perceive these enhancements to online learning. During this study, students were directed to access their regular online course materials using their mobile devices, then asked to complete a survey regarding their perception of this experience. This paper discusses the results from this study.
eigenPulse: Robust human identification from cardiovascular function
Authors: John M. Irvine, Steven A. Israel, W. Todd Scruggs, William J. Worek
Venue: Pattern Recognition (2008)

This paper presents eigenPulse, a new method for human identification from cardiovascular function. Traditional biometric techniques, e.g. face and fingerprint, have used eigen analysis to exploit databases with tens of thousands of entries. One drawback of traditional biometrics is that the credentials, for example, fingerprints, can be forged making the systems less secure. Previous research [S.A. Israel, J.M. Irvine, A. Cheng, M.D. Wiederhold, B.K. Wiederhold, ECG to identify individuals, Pattern Recognition 38(1) (2005) 138-142] demonstrated the viability of using cardiovascular function for human identification. By nature, cardiovascular function is a measure of liveness and less susceptible to forgery. However, the classification techniques presented in earlier work performed poorly over non-standard electrocardiogram (ECG) traces, raising questions about the percentage of the population that can be enrolled. This paper combines the traditional biometrics' use of eigen analysis and previous analysis of cardiovascular function to yield a more robust approach. The eigenPulse processing had a near 100% enrollment rate, with a corresponding higher overall performance.
Program analysis as constraint solving
Authors: Sumit Gulwani, Saurabh Srivastava, Ramarathnam Venkatesan
Venue: ACM SIGPLAN Notices (2008)

A constraint-based approach to invariant generation in programs translates a program into constraints that are solved using off-the-shelf constraint solvers to yield desired program invariants. In this paper we show how the constraint-based approach can be used to model a wide spectrum of program analyses in an expressive domain containing disjunctions and conjunctions of linear inequalities. In particular, we show how to model the problem of context-sensitive interprocedural program verification. We also present the first constraint-based approach to weakest precondition and strongest postcondition inference. The constraints we generate are boolean combinations of quadratic inequalities over integer variables. We reduce these constraints to SAT formulae using bitvector modeling and use off-the-shelf SAT solvers to solve them. Furthermore, we present interesting applications of the above analyses, namely bounds analysis and generation of most-general counter-examples for both safety and termination properties. We also present encouraging preliminary experimental results demonstrating the feasibility of our technique on a variety of challenging examples.
WeightedWord Recognition
Authors: Éric Laugerotte, Djelloul Ziadi
Venue: Fundamenta Informaticae (2008)

In this paper, we introduce the notion of Thompson weighted automaton. We show that an &micro;-free automaton constructed from the Thompson weighted automaton for a regular weighted expression E can be computed in quadratic time on the size of E. Moreover the coefficient of a word u in the noncommutative formal series associated to E, can be computed in time O(|u| &times; |E|).
Perception of direction changes in animated data visualization
Authors: Tatiana Tekušová, Jörn Kohlhammer, Slawomir J. Skwarek, Galina V. Paramei
Venue: Proceedings of the 5th symposium on Applied perception in graphics and visualization (2008)

This study was inspired by the task of revealing similarity in the development of financial indicators. We use a simplified analogy of animated scatterplots for time-dependent financial data and focus on perceptual aspects of animated data visualization. We are interested in the parameters of item coherent motion that affect detection of direction change in an item subset. The motion velocity and the angular difference in the subset motion were varied consistently. The rate of correct responses and reaction times (RTs) served as performance measures. Our results provide guidance for designing motion-based information visualization tools.
Parallel Loopback Test of Mixed-Signal Circuits
Authors: Joonsung Park, Hongjoong Shin, Jacob A. Abraham
Venue: Proceedings of the 26th IEEE VLSI Test Symposium (2008)

Parallel testing of mixed-signal circuits has been considered a difficult task due to the limited resources in generating and analyzing multiple analog signals. A number of methods have been proposed to perform parallel testing of mixed-signal circuits using built-in test circuitry; however, these techniques are vulnerable to fault masking issues which may degrade the test accuracy. This paper presents an efficient parallel test algorithm for mixed-signal circuits based on a loopback test method. Multiple DUTs (Devices Under Test) are loopbacked externally on a loadboard which is loaded with a simple analog adder and an RMS detector. The performance parameters of each DUT are calculated separately from the composite responses, while removing the effect of fault masking. Parallelism is increased by sharing common test equipment and a DUT loadboard among the multiple DUTs. The mathematical theory and simulation results are presented to validate our algorithm.
A Theoretical Systems Biology Analysis Suggests Gene-Environment Interaction Effects are Common at the Most Basic Levels of Biological Organization
Authors: Joseph L. McClay, Edwin J. C. G. van den Oord
Venue: Proceedings of the 2008 International Conference on BioMedical Engineering and Informatics - Volume 01 (2008)

There is much current interest in how biological systems respond to environmental changes. In this article, we address this question from a theoretical systems biology perspective. Specifically, we examine linear enzyme pathways, including all processes from transcription to enzyme action, and incorporating biologically-realistic negative feedback in the form of competitive inhibition. We investigated how steady state biomarker concentrations changed in response to variable rates of precursor material inflow across genetically variable systems, with alleles conferring different expression rates. We observed a non-equivalence of response across these systems, implying a gene-environment interaction. Furthermore, we observed that total variance in populations of systems increased dramatically in response to increased precursor material influx. These results imply that gene-environment interaction effects are likely to occur at the most basic levels of biological organization, even in the presence of negative feedback.