ppxscal/embedding_network huggingface dataset:
Voice art: a novel mode for creating visual art
Authors: Dharani Perera, R. T. Jim Eales, Kathy Blashki
Venue: Proceedings of the 20th Australasian Conference on Computer-Human Interaction: Designing for Habitus and Habitat (2008)

In this paper, we report on our investigation into people's ability to use the volume of their voice to create digital drawings. This is especially hopeful for artists with upper limb disabilities who show remarkable endurance, patience and determination to create art with whatever means available to them. We developed a prototype 'voice art' system to investigate the potential of this form of interaction. Our first experiment showed that varying the volume of the voice is both comfortable and intuitive. However, it was ascertained the instant usability of volume based control is better suited for target acquisition tasks as opposed to drawing tasks. Nevertheless, the results indicate the potential learnability of volume control for drawing. A second experiment investigated the long-term learnability of this form of interaction. The results show that drawing using voice volume control is a skill that can be developed with time. We believe that voice volume control has implications beyond assisting artists with upper limb disabilities. Such possible implications may be: an alternative mode of interaction for disabled people to perform tasks other than creating visual art; for people whose hands are busy elsewhere; and as a voice training system for people with speech impairments.
An Adaptive Framework for Biometric Systems
Authors: Sitalakshmi Venkatraman
Venue: Proceedings of the 2009 International Conference on Computer Engineering and Technology - Volume 02 (2009)

This paper provides guidelines to classify biometric systems based on the level of privacy and security risks associated with their transactions. The classification of biometric systems as Basic, Medium or Advanced details how the transactions make use of biometric information for one or more purposes, such as, authorisation, accountability and analysis of sensitive data. An adaptive framework proposed here considers this classification as the fundamental building block in providing a step-wise implementation procedure for implementing biometric systems. It is believed that by adopting such an adaptive framework, societies, businesses and government would be able to harness the benefits of biometrics. This would pave way for a significantly faster diffusion of biometric systems in many everyday life scenarios.
Convergent discretizations for the Nernst&#x2013;Planck&#x2013;Poisson system
Authors: Andreas Prohl, Markus Schmuck
Venue: Numerische Mathematik (2009)

We propose and compare two classes of convergent finite element based approximations of the nonstationary Nernst&#x2013;Planck&#x2013;Poisson equations, whose constructions are motivated from energy versus entropy decay properties for the limiting system. Solutions of both schemes converge to weak solutions of the limiting problem for discretization parameters tending to zero. Our main focus is to study qualitative properties for the different approaches at finite discretization scales, like conservation of mass, non-negativity, discrete maximum principle, decay of discrete energies, and entropies to study long-time asymptotics.
An adjustable personalization of search and delivery of learning objects to learners
Authors: Yevgen Biletskiy, Hamidreza Baghi, Igor Keleberda, Michael Fleming
Venue: Expert Systems with Applications: An International Journal (2009)

This paper describes a technical solution realizing an approach for personalized search of learning objects on the Web, which proposes a comparison of a learner (user) profile and learning object descriptions. This comparison is based not only on values of attributes of the learner profile and attributes of the learning object descriptions, but it also considers the importance of these attributes for the learner. In order to implement such a search we propose to develop ontological models of the learner and learning objects as well as approaches for determination and adjustment of the learner's preferences using corresponding ontologies. For this purpose we have selected criteria of estimation of suitability of learning objects to the learner profile and introduced coefficients of importance of these criteria, as well as a method for adjusting these coefficients.
On Bit Rate Reduction of Inter-Channel Communication for a Binaural Hearing Assistance System
Authors: Yoshifumi Chisaki, Ryouji Kawano, Tsuyoshi Usagawa
Venue: IEICE Transactions on Fundamentals of Electronics, Communications and Computer Sciences (2008)

A binaural hearing assistance system based on the frequency domain binaural model has been previously proposed. The system can enhance a signal coming from a specific direction. Since the system utilizes a binaural signal, an inter-channel communication between left and right subsystems is required. The bit rate reduction in inter-channel communication is essential for the detachment of the headset from the processing system. In this paper, the performance of a system which uses a differential pulse code modulation codec is examined and the relationship between the bit rate and sound quality is discussed.
Scanning the Horizon
Authors: David Alan Grier
Venue: Computer (2009)

In addition to reducing the time it took to pay for purchases, bar codes and scanners provided a system that would track inventory, reduce theft, and provide data to help merchants understand how their goods were purchased.
Setting SPI practices in Latin America: an exploratory case study in the justice area
Authors: Juan M. Luzuriaga, Rodolfo Martínez, Alejandra Cechich
Venue: Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Theory and Practice of Electronic Governance (2008)

Little is understood about which factors affect a software process improvement (SPI) initiative in a governmental organization and how the organization's environment determines these factors. This lack of understanding can inhibit SPI initiatives in organizations that find themselves too small for formal SPI models or standards. The main objective of our project is to investigate whether the recommendations of a Latin American SPI model -- Competi Soft -- would be useful for a middle-ranged governmental organization. In this paper, we introduce a case study, where customer satisfaction is improved. Our preliminary experience indicates that customer satisfaction might be significantly increased by incorporating supporting processes.
A simulation based system for analysis and design of production control systems
Authors: Corinne MacDonald, Eldon Gunn
Venue: Proceedings of the 40th Conference on Winter Simulation (2008)

We present aspects of a simulated based system for analyzing and designing production control systems. The core of the system is a simulation of a manufacturing system operating with the Production Authorization Card system. The simulation model is fast and flexible, making it attractive for generating large datasets for use in developing simulation metamodels of expected performance for a wide variety of production configurations. Details of the simulation system are provided, along with a discussion of the issues to be considered when using it to design production control systems.
A note on tariffication strategy cases in telecommunications
Authors: Gustav Cepciansky, Ladislav Schwartz
Venue: Netnomics (2008)

The tariff policy of a telecommunication operator has a strategic importance on achieving optimal revenues and a fundamental impact on its position in the competition with other operators on the liberalised telecommunication market. The payment for a connection through a telecommunication network may be determined by a rate for one call unit, by the duration of the call unit and their count during a call. An operator derives the rate and the duration of the call unit from a detailed analysis of large databases that contain statistical data on counts and duration of particular calls depending on the type of call. Usually only the operator knows these data files and keeps them confidential. In this note we show how it is possible to estimate revenues from telecommunication traffic only knowing a set of basic parameters.
Asynchronous group key distribution on top of the cc2420 security mechanisms for sensor networks
Authors: Morten Tranberg Hansen
Venue: Proceedings of the second ACM conference on Wireless network security (2009)

A sensor network is a network consisting of small, inexpensive, low-powered sensor nodes that communicate to complete a common task. Sensor nodes are characterized by having limited communication and computation capabilities, energy, and storage. They often are deployed in hostile environments creating a demand for encryption and authentication of the messages sent between them. Due to severe resource constraints on the sensor nodes, efficient key distribution schemes and secure communication protocols with low overhead are desired. In this paper we present an asynchronous group key distribution scheme with no time synchronization requirements. The scheme decreases the number of key updates by providing them on an as needed basis according to the amount of network traffic. We evaluate the CC2420 radio security mechanism and show how to use it as a basis to implement secure group communication using our proposed group key distribution scheme.
Changing System Interfaces Consistently: A New Refinement Strategy for CSP||B
Authors: Steve Schneider, Helen Treharne
Venue: Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Integrated Formal Methods (2009)

This paper introduces action refinement in the context of CSP||B. Our motivation to include this notion of refinement within the CSP||B framework is the desire to increase flexibility in the refinement process. We introduce the ability to change the events of a CSP process and the B machines when refining a system. Notions of refinement based on traces and on traces/divergences are introduced in which abstract events are refined by sequences of concrete events. A complementary notion of refinement between B machines is also introduced, yielding compositionality results for refinement of CSP||B controlled components. The paper also introduces a notion of I/O refinement into our action refinement framework.
Lloyds TSB General Insurance
Authors: Nikki Kefford-White
Venue: ACM SIGGRAPH ASIA 2008 computer animation festival (2008)

Lloyds TSB and Studio aka have been making a splash with the new 40-second spot for General Insurance. Forced from their home by terrible flooding, a family find refuge aboard the famous Lloyds train. We follow them on their journey past the swamped fields and swimming cows before they are submerged into the stunning underwater scene created by Marc Craste and his team. The ride ends as the family return to their house, dry, repaired, and revamped.
Workflow Global Computing with YML
Authors: Olivier Delannoy, FranceNahid Emad, Serge Petiton
Venue: Proceedings of the 7th IEEE/ACM International Conference on Grid Computing (2006)

In this paper we propose a framework dedicated to the development and the execution of parallel applications over large scale global computing platforms. A workflow programming environment will be introduced, based on a new workflow language YvetteML and a Human-GRID middleware interface called YML. This language allows description of different kind of components to be allocated to GRID resources. Depending of the different targeted resources, the components may be associated to computation, data migration or other resource controls. YML is designed to have several back-ends for different middleware, as a well-designed front end is developed independently of any dedicated middleware. In order to make the framework immediately useful, YML comes with pre-configured interfaces to some numerical routines and a numerical library for iterative linear algebra methods. We will present experimentations done on some large scale platforms using a peer to peer middleware with a numerical application case study.
Chebyshev approximation of functions by the sum of a polynomial and an expression with a nonlinear parameter and endpoint interpolation
Authors: V. V. Skopetskii, P. S. Malachivskii
Venue: Cybernetics and Systems Analysis (2009)

Sufficient existence conditions are established for the uniform Chebyshev (minimax) approximation of a function by the sum of a polynomial and an expression with a nonlinear parameter with the minimum absolute error and interpolation at the interval endpoints. An algorithm for determining the parameters of such an approximation using the Remez algorithm is proposed. The application of the iterative method to calculating the nonlinear parameter is substantiated.
Web Service Discovery and Client Goals
Authors: Eyhab Al-Masri, Qusay H. Mahmoud
Venue: Computer (2009)

Adding Web service quality attributes to queries can help define client goals and improve search results.
Parallel simulated annealing for solving the room assignment problem on shared and distributed memory platforms
Authors: Milena Lazarova
Venue: Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Computer Systems and Technologies and Workshop for PhD Students in Computing (2008)

The paper is aimed at investigating the efficiency and quality of solutions of parallel simulated annealing on shared memory and distributed memory computer platforms for solving the room assignment problem. The parallel computational model for shared memory system utilizes concurrent generation and evaluation of moves by OpenMP based multithreading. Asynchronous and synchronous moves generation based on combination of functional and data parallelism are utilized for parallel computations using message passing on a distributed memory platform. Parallelism profiling and scalability analyses both in respect of the size of the parallel platform and the problem workload are presented.
The development of software engineers: a view from a user
Authors: Walter P. Warner, Richard E. Nance
Venue: Proceedings of the June 7-10, 1982, national computer conference (1982)

Like many organizations, the Naval Surface Weapons Center (NSWC) has recognized a tremendous growth in the use of computing resources. How NSWC focused attention on the crucial role of software development technology and devised a plan for dealing with the scarcity of competent software development personnel is the subject of this paper. The necessary knowledge areas for software engineering are identified in discussing the academic requirements, and some conclusions arrived at during the deliberations are mentioned.
Welfare Undominated Groves Mechanisms
Authors: Krzysztof Apt, Vincent Conitzer, Mingyu Guo, Evangelos Markakis
Venue: Proceedings of the 4th International Workshop on Internet and Network Economics (2008)

A common objective in mechanism design is to choose the outcome (for example, allocation of resources) that maximizes the sum of the agents' valuations, without introducing incentives for agents to misreport their preferences. The class of Groves mechanisms achieves this; however, these mechanisms require the agents to make payments, thereby reducing the agents' total welfare.In this paper we introduce a measure for comparing two mechanisms with respect to the final welfare they generate. This measure induces a partial order on mechanisms and we study the question of finding minimal elements with respect to this partial order. In particular, we say a non-deficit Groves mechanism is welfare undominated if there exists no other non-deficit Groves mechanism that always has a smaller or equal sum of payments. We focus on two domains: (i) auctions with multiple identical units and unit-demand bidders, and (ii) mechanisms for public project problems. In the first domain we analytically characterize all welfare undominated Groves mechanisms that are anonymous and have linear payment functions, by showing that the family of optimal-in-expectation linear redistribution mechanisms, which were introduced in [6] and include the Bailey-Cavallo mechanism [1,2], coincides with the family of welfare undominated Groves mechanisms that are anonymous and linear in the setting we study. In the second domain we show that the classic VCG (Clarke) mechanism is welfare undominated for the class of public project problems with equal participation costs, but is not undominated for a more general class.
Symbolic hierarchical analysis in currency markets: An application to contagion in currency crises
Authors: Juan Gabriel Brida, David Matesanz Gómez, Wiston Adrián Risso
Venue: Expert Systems with Applications: An International Journal (2009)

In this paper we introduce a new method to describe dynamical patterns of the real exchange rate co-movements time series and to analyze contagion in currency crisis. The method combines the tools of symbolic time series analysis with the nearest neighbor single linkage clustering algorithm. Data symbolization allows us obtaining a metric distance between two different time series that is used to construct an ultrametric distance. By analyzing the data of various countries, we derive a hierarchical organization, constructing minimal-spanning and hierarchical trees. From these trees we detect different clusters of countries according to their proximity. We show that this methodology permits us to construct a structural and dynamic topology that is useful to study interdependence and contagion effects among financial time series.
Correlation-based content adaptation for mobile web browsing
Authors: Iqbal Mohomed, Adin Scannell, Nilton Bila, Jin Zhang, Eyal de Lara
Venue: Proceedings of the ACM/IFIP/USENIX 2007 International Conference on Middleware (2007)

The resource impoverished environment on mobile devices results in a poor experience for users browsing the World Wide Web. Proxy-based middleware that transform content on the fly to better suit the resource conditions on a user's device provide a promising solution to this problem. A key challenge in such systems is deciding how to adapt content, especially when the same content has multiple uses that have varying adaptation requirements. In this paper, we show that it is possible to provide fine grain adaptation of multi-purpose content by detecting correlations in the adaptation requirements of past users across multiple objects on a web site, and using this history to make adaptation predictions for users encountered subsequently. To evaluate our technique, we built prototype page layout and image fidelity adaptation systems, and used these to gather traces from users browsing multi-purpose web content in a laboratory setting. Our experimental results show that using correlations to make adaptation predictions can significantly reduce bandwidth consumption, browsing time, energy usage and user effort required to adapt content.
Stability of Multi-Valued Continuous Consensus11Preliminary Version, Some proofs are omitted from this version.
Authors: Lior Davidovitch, Shlomi Dolev, Sergio Rajsbaum
Venue: Electronic Notes in Theoretical Computer Science (ENTCS) (2009)

Multi-valued consensus functions defined from a vector of inputs (and possibly the previous output) to a single output are investigated. The consensus functions are designed to tolerate t faulty inputs. Two classes of multi-valued consensus functions are defined, the exact value and the range value, which require the output to be one of the non-faulty inputs or in the range of the non-faulty inputs, respectively. The instability of consensus functions is examined, counting the maximal number of output changes along a geodesic path of input changes, a path in which each input is changed at most once. Lower and upper bounds for the instability of multi-valued consensus functions are presented. A new technique for obtaining such lower bounds, using edgewise simplex subdivision is presented.
Research in data security: policies and projects
Authors: Robert F. Mathis, Stephen R. Crocker, Marvin Denicoff, Victor Mitchell, Frederick W. Weingarten, Edward Feustel, Lance J. Hoffman, David Hsiao, Rein Turn, William Wulf
Venue: Proceedings of the May 6-10, 1974, national computer conference and exposition (1974)

This session will begin with presentations and a panel discussion by representatives of various governmental agencies involved with research or funding of research in data security. They will present their views on the policies and goals of federally funded research in the area of data security and how this relates to privately funded research and development in this and related areas. They will also have the opportunity to point out new directions which should be pursued. There will be discussion on both the technological and social impact of such funding.
The influence of the corona current to the ground and the polarity effect of small air gaps
Authors: Athanasios Maglaras, Leandros Maglaras
Venue: Proceedings of the 6th conference on Applications of electrical engineering (2007)

The Corona Current in air gaps influences the values of the breakdown voltage of the air gaps greatly. This happens because the corona current changes the field distribution in the gap making it less inhomogeneous. Thus the value of the breakdown voltage increases and becomes bigger as the value of the corona current increases. A major result of this phenomenon is the appearance of the Polarity Effect. The Polarity Effect is a phenomenon occurring due to the alteration of the polarity of the applied voltage to the gaps. When the applied voltage is negative the value of the breakdown voltage is bigger and this happens because the corona current is considerably higher. A second important result of the Corona Current Effect is the inversion of the Ground Effect. The Ground Effect is the phenomenon that occurs due to the different way the gap is grounded and influences the distribution of the field in the gap, the corona onset voltage, as well as the breakdown voltage in small gaps. In longer air gaps, the Corona Effects become very intense and the influence of the Ground Effect to the breakdown voltage is overlapped. The principle of action-reaction is valid. "The corona current reacts against the action of the field to produce corona charges and makes the field less inhomogeneous"
An ordinal optimization theory-based algorithm for a class of simulation optimization problems and application
Authors: Shih-Cheng Horng, Shieh-Shing Lin
Venue: Expert Systems with Applications: An International Journal (2009)

In this paper, we have proposed an ordinal optimization theory-based two-stage algorithm to solve for a good enough solution of the stochastic simulation optimization problem with huge input-variable space @Q. In the first stage, we construct a crude but effective model for the considered problem based on an artificial neural network. This crude model will then be used as a fitness function evaluation tool in a genetic algorithm to select N excellent settings from @Q. In the second stage, starting from the selected N excellent settings we proceed with the existing goal softening searching procedures to search for a good enough solution of the considered problem. We applied the proposed algorithm to the reduction of overkills and retests in a wafer probe testing process, which is formulated as a stochastic simulation optimization problem that consists of a huge input-variable space formed by the vector of threshold values in the testing process. The vector of good enough threshold values obtained by the proposed algorithm is promising in the aspects of solution quality and computational efficiency. We have also justified the performance of the proposed algorithm in a wafer probe testing process based on the ordinal optimization theory.