ppxscal/embedding_network huggingface dataset:
Marketing the virtual library
Authors: Kim Grohs, Caroline Reed, Nancy Allen
Venue: Building a virtual library (2003)

During the last decade, there have been significant changes in higher education, particularly in the emergence of distance education and the 24/7- access mantra (24 hours a day, seven days a week). This, in turn, has had a continuing impact upon efforts to reconceptualize what an academic library is and what it does. Not surprisingly, academic libraries face a number of critical issues, including increased costs of resources, expansion of traditional services, increased competition from other information vendors, and the impact of new technologies. Although these issues appear as threats, they are opportunities for libraries to design their own future (Denham, 1995).In the near future, academic libraries will remain a vital resource for faculty, students, and staff. While it is easy for academic libraries to become complacent about their status within a university since there is no competition on campus, successful marketing programs can enhance visibility, create understanding about the value of the library, and shape public perception of the scope of its resources and services (Gómez, 2001). This chapter will briefly look at marketing issues in academic libraries, how those issues were dealt with in marketing the Virtual Library, and where marketing for academic libraries may be going in the future as the physical and virtual worlds shift, meld, and merge.
A Unified Process Support Framework for Global Software Development
Authors: Jin Sa, Elena Maslova
Venue: Proceedings of the 26th International Computer Software and Applications Conference on Prolonging Software Life: Development and Redevelopment (2002)

There is an increasing trend in global software development, where different parts of a software product are being developed in different organisations. The process aspect of such a distributed development environment is particularly important in order to ensure communication and coordination between the teams in different organisations. However different organisations may use different notations in modelling their software development processes. This paper addresses the issue on how to integrate models defined using different notations. The paper presents the initial results from a prototype of a unified process support framework that allows teams to define their process models using different notations. Theframework integrates the models into a unified representation to facilitate communication andcoordination.
MPI solver for 3D elasticity problems
Authors: Ivan Lirkov
Venue: Mathematics and Computers in Simulation (2003)

The numerical solution of 3D linear elasticity equations is considered. The problem is described by a coupled system of second-order elliptic partial differential equations. This system is discretized by trilinear parallelepipedal finite elements.The preconditioned conjugate gradient iterative method is used for solving of the large-scale linear algebraic systems arising after the finite element method (FEM) discretization of the problem. Displacement decomposition technique is applied at the first step to construct a preconditioner using the decoupled block-diagonal part of the original matrix. Then circulant block-factorization is used for preconditioning of the obtained block-diagonal matrix. Both techniques, displacement decomposition and circulant block-factorization, are highly parallelizable.A parallel algorithm is invented for the proposed preconditioner. The theoretical analysis of the execution time shows that the algorithm is highly efficient for coarse-grain parallel computer systems.A portable MPI parallel FEM code is developed. Numerical tests for real-life engineering problems of the geomechanics in geosciences on a number of modern parallel computers are presented. The reported speed-up and parallel efficiency well illustrate the parallel features of the proposed method and its implementation.
Automated synthesis of large phase shifters for built-in self-test
Authors: Janusz Rajski, Nagesh Tamarapalli, Jerzy Tyszer
Venue: Proceedings of the 1998 IEEE International Test Conference (1998)

The paper introduces a new algorithm for the automatedsynthesis of phase shifters - circuits used to remove effectsof structural dependencies featured by two-dimensionaltest generators. The algorithms presented in the papersynthesize in a time-efficient manner very large and fastphase shifters for built-in self-test environment, with guaranteedminimal phaseshifts between scan chains, and verylow delay and area of virtually one 2-way XOR gate perchannel.
Complete and Rapid Regrasp Planning with Look-up Table
Authors: Kyoungrae Cho, Munsang Kim, Jae-Bok Song
Venue: Journal of Intelligent and Robotic Systems (2003)

A pick-and-place operation in a 3-dimensional environment is a basic operation for humans and multi-purpose manipulators. However, there may be a difficult problem for such manipulators. Especially, if the object cannot be moved with a single grasp, regrasping, which can be a time-consuming process, should be carried out. Regrasping, given initial and final poses of the target object, is a construction of sequential transition of object poses that are compatible with two poses in the point of grasp configuration. This paper presents a novel approach for solving the regrasp problem. The approach consists of a preprocessing and a planning stage. Preprocessing, which is done only once for a given robot, generates a look-up table which has information on kinematically feasible task space of the end-effector throughout the entire workspace. Then, using this table, the planning automatically determines a possible intermediate location, pose and regrasp sequence leading from the pick-up to put-down grasp. With a redundant robot, it is shown experimentally that the presented method is complete in the entire workspace and can be implemented in real-time applications due to rapid regrasp planning time. The regrasp planner was combined with an existing path.
Outside-In Strategic Modeling
Authors: David Matheson, James E. Matheson
Venue: Interfaces (1999)

The roots of good strategic decision making are in cultural and organizational norms and patterns. One principle, which we call the outside-instrategic perspective, is essential for excellent strategy. This perspective led a company to recognize that its current strategy was counterproductive and that it must make almost a 180-degree turn. While many companies start with themselves and project market shares, earnings, and so forth out into the environment, the outside-in strategic perspective reverses this to start with the environment and work inwards to the company. In this case, we used a framework that starts with consumer spending in various entertainment areas and divided revenues along a simple value chain of retailers, wholesalers, and producers. An in&#64258;uence-diagram-based model led to counter-intuitive insights about the most valuable segments.
Pricing and the News Vendor Problem: a Review with Extensions
Authors: Nicholas C. Petruzzi, Maqbool Dada
Venue: Operations Research (1999)

In the newsvendor problem, a decision maker facing random demand for a perishable product decides how much of it to stock for a single selling period. This simple problem with its intuitively appealing solution is a crucial building block of stochastic inventory theory, which comprises a vast literature focusing on operational efficiency. Typically in this literature, market parameters such as demand and selling price are exogenous. However, incorporating these factors into the mode l can provide an excellent vehicle for examining how operational problems interact with marketing issues to influence decision making at the firm level. In this paper we examine an extension of the newsvendor problem in which stocking quantity and selling price are set simultaneously. We provide a comprehensive review that synthesizes existing results for the single period problem and develop additional results to enrich the existing knowledge base. We also review and develop insight into a dynamic inventory extension of this problem, and motivate the applicability of such models.
Intelligent products: a step towards a more effective project delivery chain
Authors: Mikko Kärkkäinen, Jan Holmström, Kary Främling, Karlos Artto
Venue: Computers in Industry (2003)

International projects present really difficult logistics challenges. In international investment projects, a vast number of individualised deliveries has to be managed through a large supply network in a tight timeframe. This article investigates how the logistic challenges of international projects can be solved by utilising advanced web technologies and product identification. The paper presents a control system being built at Helsinki University of Technology, which is based on distributed programming, and wireless identification technologies. The aim of the system is to change the controlling mechanisms of project deliveries by giving the deliveries themselves the means with which to control their route. This enables the material flows in the project delivery chains to be controlled from the inside of the material flow itself.
Hostile_work_environment.com
Authors: Andrea Hoplight Tapia
Venue: Proceedings of the 2003 SIGMIS conference on Computer personnel research: Freedom in Philadelphia--leveraging differences and diversity in the IT workforce (2003)

In this paper I discuss the behaviors and efforts of the male employees of one small software development company, which was born and died during the gold rush mentality that captivated many start-ups during the Dot.Com Bubble. From evidence drawn from interviews, observations, self-reported organizational charts and time diaries, I argue that the organizational culture, created by the original and managerial employees of this company, made it nearly impossible for female employees to be hired. I also claim that once a few female employees were hired, the organizational culture made the work environment so hostile that it drove them to leave and seek alternative employment. I argue these points from both a social constructivist and an individual differences theoretical points of view. The conclusions that I draw from this case study are that the Dot Com Bubble did more to impede women from the IT workforce than to facilitate their entrance.
Repairing Misbehaving Mathematical Programming Models: Concepts and a Gams-Based Approach
Authors: Hemant K. Bhargava, Ramayya Krishnan, Patrick T. Harker, Bruce A. McCarl
Venue: Interfaces (1998)

Mathematical-programming formulations can yield faulty answers. Models can be unbounded, infeasible, or optimal with unrealistic answers. I develop techniques for screening mathematical-programming formulations for structural problems pre- and postsolution. The presolution approaches identify problems within single variables and constraints. The postsolution techniques may require model augmentation and relyon theory-based examination of primal and dual solutions. I demonstrate these approaches in the context of linear programming and have computerized them in association with GAMS. They are freely distributed through a web page.
Implicitization of Parametric Curves by Matrix Annihilation
Authors: Hulya Yalcin, Mustafa Unel, William Wolovich
Venue: International Journal of Computer Vision (2003)

Object recognition is a central problem in computer vision. When objects are defined by boundary curves, they can be represented either explicitly or implicitly. Implicit polynomial (IP) equations have long been known to offer certain advantages over more traditional parametric methods. However, the lack of general procedures for obtaining IP models of higher degree has prevented their general use in many practical applications. In most cases today, parametric equations are used to model curves and surfaces. One such parametric representation, elliptic Fourier Descriptors (EFD), has been widely used to represent 2D and 3D curves, as well as 3D surfaces. Although EFDs can represent nearly all curves, it is often convenient to have an implicit algebraic description F(x, y) &equals; 0, for several reasons. Algebraic curves and surfaces have proven very useful in many model-based applications. Various algebraic and geometric invariants obtained from these implicit models have been studied rather extensively, since implicit polynomials are well-suited to computer vision tasks, especially for single computation pose estimation, shape tracking, 3D surface estimation from multiple images and efficient geometric indexing into large pictorial databases. In this paper, we present a new non-symbolic implicitization technique called the matrix annihilation method, for converting parametric Fourier representations to algebraic (implicit polynomial) representations, thereby benefiting from the features of both.
Asymptotic expansions of the Lauricella hypergeometric function FD
Authors: Chelo Ferreira, José L. López
Venue: Journal of Computational and Applied Mathematics (2003)

The Lauricella hypergeometric function FDr(a, b1,...,br;c;x1,...,xr) with r ∈ N, is considered for large values of one variable: x1, or two variables: x1 and x2. An integral representation of this function is obtained in the form of a generalized Stieltjes transform. Distributional approach is applied to this integral to derive four asymptotic expansions of this function in increasing powers of the asymptotic variable(s) 1 - x1 or 1 - x1 and 1 - x2. For certain values of the parameters a, bi and c, two of these expansions also involve logarithmic terms in the asymptotic variable(s). For large x1, coefficients of these expansions are given in terms of the Lauricella hypergeometric function FDr-1(a, b2,...,br;c;x2,...,xr) and its derivative with respect to the parameter a, whereas for large x1 and x2 those coefficients are given in terms of FDr-2(a, b3,...,br;c;x3,...,xr) and its derivative. All the expansions are accompanied by error bounds for the remainder at any order of the approximation. Numerical experiments show that these bounds are considerably accurate.
Minimizing blossoms under symmetric linear constraints
Authors: R. Ait-Haddou, L. Biard, M. A. Slawinski
Venue: Computer Aided Geometric Design (2002)

In this paper, we show that there exists a close dependence between the control polygon of a polynomial and the minimum of its blossom under symmetric linear constraints. We consider a given minimization problem P, for which a unique solution will be a point γ on the Bézier curve. For the minimization function f, two sufficient conditions exist that ensure the uniqueness of the solution, namely, the concavity of the control polygon of the polynomial and the characteristics of the Polya frequency-control polygon where the minimum coincides with a critical point of the polynomial. The use of the blossoming theory provides us with a useful geometrical interpretation of the minimization problem. In addition, this minimization approach leads us to a new method of discovering inequalities about the elementary symmetric polynomials.
Optimizing the Fault-Tolerant Embedding of the Diagnostic Graph into the Toroidal Structures of Robust Computer Systems
Authors: N. G. Gryaznov, Yu. K. Dimitriev, V. A. Melent'ev
Venue: Automation and Remote Control (2003)

For the diagnostic circulant graph which enables diagnosability without repair in the case of multiple system failures, consideration was given to the methods of its embedding into the toroidal (working) structure of the robust parallel computer system. The arcs of the embedded diagnostic graph constitute composite interconnection channels between the nonadjacent tested module and the testing processing modules of the system. The problem of optimizing the embedding of the diagnostic graph into the structures of computer systems was stated in formal terms. Criteria for optimization and indices of structural robustness were described. Structural robustness of the diagnostic graph vs. multiplicity of failures in the working graph was studied. A method of designing the optimal diagnostic graph was proposed and illustrated by examples.
Computer-aided specification and verification of annotated object-oriented programs
Authors: F. S. de Boer, C. Pierik
Venue: Proceedings of the IFIP TC6/WG6.1 Fifth International Conference on Formal Methods for Open Object-Based Distributed Systems V (2002)

The main contribution of this paper consists of a description of a front-end tool which supports the computer-aided specification and verification of a class of flowcharts which capture the basic dynamics of object-oriented programs. The specific emphasis of our approach is on the automated verification of flowcharts annotated with assertions which allow one to specify properties directly in terms of the source code itself instead of some particular model of its semantics.
Hybrid genetic algorithm with exact techniques applied to TSP
Authors: Carlos Alberto Rossel Jahuira
Venue: Second international workshop on Intelligent systems design and application (2002)

This paper presents the hybridization of the Genetic Algorithm (GA) by using ideas enclosed in exact techniques, like the Branch and Bound (B&B), Minimal Spanning Tree and Backtracking Algorithms. It also has been used the Divide and Conquer principle. Two crossovers operators were proposed to propagate the good schema. These operators together with mutation and one method to generate the initial population are based on the algorithms mentioned above.This Hybrid GA was applied to the well-known combinatorial optimization problem Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP). In almost all cases, the optimal solution was found in few generations with quite a few individuals.The Hybrid GA was implemented in software by using Visual C++ 6.0 together with VTK library (tool for scientific visualization). VTK was used to build a visual environment which allows to see how is working the Hybrid GA.
A feature manager approach to the analysis of component-interactions
Authors: Lynne Blair, Trevor Jones, Stephan Reiff-Marganiec
Venue: Proceedings of the IFIP TC6/WG6.1 Fifth International Conference on Formal Methods for Open Object-Based Distributed Systems V (2002)

Feature interactions have been the subject of extensive research over recent years within the telecommunications industry. We consider one approach developed within this domain, a feature manager approach, which we claim, has wider-applicability. We analyse this-approach in a component-based context, showing how the technique can be used to manage interactions occurring between components. Through a component-based example, we introduce the various steps of the technique. In addressing performance issues, clearly significant for a run-time technique, we conclude that the results are promising and, with the benefit of an on-the-fly method, are scalable.
Validation and Evaluation of a Software Solution for Fault Tolerant Distributed Synchronization
Authors: Paolo Ballarini, S. Bernardi, Susanna Donatelli
Venue: Proceedings of the 2002 International Conference on Dependable Systems and Networks (2002)

This paper presents a case study on the combined use of different tools and techniques for the validation and evaluation, from the early stages of the design, of a fault tolerant software mechanism named distributed synchronization The mechanism has been specified using UML state charts and sequence diagrams. A number of Stochastic Well-formed Nets (SWN) models have been derived from the specifications: they have been composed using the tool algebra,and the resulting model has been model-checked using the PROD tool for temporal logic properties, thanks to a GreatSPN-to-PROD translator. The quantitative analysis has been performed using the SWN solvers of the Great-SPN tool.
Heuristic Methods for Centralized Control of One-Warehouse, N-Retailer Inventory Systems
Authors: Sven Axsāter, Johan Marklund, Edward A. Silver
Venue: Manufacturing Service Operations Management (2001)

This paper considers a periodic-review, two-echelon inventory system with one central warehouse and several retailers facing stochastic demand. The retailers replenish their stock from the warehouse, which in turn places orders at an outside supplier with infinite capacity. Transportation times and costs are constant. No ordering costs are considered, but warehouse replenishments must be multiples of a given batch quantity. The objective is to find policies that minimize holding and backorder costs. The standard approach to approximately solve this problem is to use a "balance" assumption, meaning that negative stock allocations to the retailers are possible. This approach may lead to considerable errors for problems with large differences between the retailers in terms of service requirements and demand characteristics. To handle such situations we suggest and evaluate two computationally tractable heuristics: the Virtual Assignment ordering rule for warehouse replenishments and the Two-step Allocation rule for allocating stock from the warehouse to the retailers. Numerical evidence shows that, especially when combining these heuristics, we obtain considerable improvements for many problems over the standard approach. Savings of up to 50% have been recorded.
Lower bounds for the total stopping time of 3x + 1 iterates
Authors: David Applegate, Jeffrey C. Lagarias
Venue: Mathematics of Computation (2003)

The total stopping time σ∞(n) of a positive integer n is the minimal number of iterates of the 3x + 1 function needed to reach the value 1, and is +∞ if no iterate of n reaches 1. It is shown that there are infinitely many positive integers n having a finite total stopping time σ∞(n) such that σ∞(n) < 6.14316 log n. The proof involves a search of 3x + 1 trees to depth 60, A heuristic argument suggests that for any constant γ > γBP ≈ 41.677647, a search of all 3x + 1 trees to sufficient depth could produce a proof that there are infinitely many n such that σ∞(n) < γ log n. It would require a very large computation to search 3x + 1 trees to a sufficient depth to produce a proof that the expected behavior of a "random" 3x + 1 iterate, which is γ = 2/log4/3 ≈ 6.95212, occurs infinitely often.
An evaluation of XML-RPC
Authors: Mark Allman
Venue: ACM SIGMETRICS Performance Evaluation Review (2003)

This paper explores the complexity and performance of the XML-RPC system for remote method invocation. We developed a program that can use either XML-RPC-based network communication or a hand-rolled version of networking code based on the java.net package. We first compare our two implementations using traditional object-oriented metrics. In addition, we conduct tests over a local network and the Internet to assess the performance of the two versions of the networking code using traditional internetworking metrics. We find that XML-RPC reduces the programming complexity of the software by roughly 50% (across various metrics). On the other hand, the hand-rolled java.net-based implementation offers up to an order of magnitude better network performance in some of our tests.