ppxscal/embedding_network huggingface dataset:
Physics-based elastic registration using non-radial basis functions and including landmark localization uncertainties
Authors: Stefan Wörz, Karl Rohr
Venue: Computer Vision and Image Understanding (2008)

We introduce a new approximation approach for landmark-based elastic image registration using Gaussian elastic body splines (GEBS). We formulate an extended energy functional related to the Navier equation under Gaussian forces which allows to individually weight the landmarks according to their localization uncertainties. These uncertainties are characterized either by scalar weights or by weight matrices representing isotropic or anisotropic errors. Since the approach is based on a physical deformation model, cross-effects in elastic deformations can be taken into account. Moreover, with Gaussian forces we have a free parameter to control the locality of the transformation for improved registration of local geometric image differences. We demonstrate the applicability of our scheme based on analytic experiments, 3D CT images from the Truth Cube experiment, as well as 2D MR images of the brain. From the experiments it turned out that the new approximating GEBS approach achieves more accurate registration results in comparison to previously proposed interpolating GEBS as well as interpolating and approximating TPS.
Industrial policy, technology advances and industry development: evidence from the chinese software industry
Authors: Tarun Khanna, Felix Oberholzer-Gee, H.T. Kung
Venue:  (2008)

The idea that government should steer economic development by strategically picking and managing certain industries is controversial but appealing to many developing countries that are eager to upgrade their industries. I investigate the impact of activist industrial policy on the development of the industry it targets by studying the case of the Chinese software industry. To keep the problem tractable, I focus on the government sponsored science and technology (S T) programs that recruit all organizations in the software industry, regardless of the ownership type and profit orientation, to develop cutting edge technology. I evaluate the effectiveness of these programs in terms of the performance of the affiliated software development efforts, the building of collaboration networks among the software producers, and finally the strategic responses of these organizations to program participation. From the data archive of China's Ministry of Science and Technology, I gather a unique dataset of 3437 software development projects which were completed between 2000 and 2004. I supplement the dataset with substantial follow-ups, including semantic analysis of the project description texts and an expert panel survey. I employ a propensity score matching method to benchmark the program-affiliated projects with those started by software producers themselves. As a result, this study offers the first large-scale systematic analysis of the Chinese software industry. I find that the Chinese government's activist industrial policy to promote the country's software industry&mdash;in particular, the various government sponsored S T programs&mdash;has a modest negative effect on the performance of the software development efforts. Government initiated projects are 4% to 14% less likely to get adopted than projects initiated by software producers. When the program affiliated projects are carried out by the State Owned Enterprises (SOEs), it takes six to seven months longer for the projects to be completed. On the other hand, the government sponsored S T programs are shown to be instrumental in generating momentum for endogenous growth in terms of building collaboration networks among software producers. These programs are 4.7% more likely to induce inter-organizational collaboration events than market forces. Finally, the general institutional environment matters. The more liberal and market economy oriented, the more likely that software producers will start their own projects instead of getting involved in the central government sponsored S T programs. Relaxing financial constraints for entrepreneurs in the non-state sector improves the likelihood of community integration. In particular, universities and research institutes are more likely to venture with partners from the business world and pursue their own research agendas.
Self-organization of Bio-inspired Integrated Circuits
Authors: André Stauffer, Joël Rossier
Venue: Proceedings of the 8th international conference on Evolvable Systems: From Biology to Hardware (2008)

Self-organizing circuits are able to grow, to self-replicate, and to self-repair. These properties are implemented in hardware thanks to configuration, cloning and cicatrization mechanisms. They are realized by the control layer of the POEtic tissue, a data and signals cellular automata based circuit. Specified as a data-flow processor, the application and routing layers of the circuit compose a timer as an application example.
On the Relationship between Hybrid Probabilistic Logic Programs and Stochastic Satisfiability
Authors: Emad Saad
Venue: Proceedings of the 2nd international conference on Scalable Uncertainty Management (2008)

In this paper we study the relationship between Stochastic Satisfiability (SSAT) [20,12] and Extended Hybrid Probabilistic Logic Programs (EHPP) with probabilistic answer set semantics [22]. We show that any instance of SSAT can be modularly translated into an EHPP program with probabilistic answer set semantics. In addition, we prove that there is no modular mapping from EHPP to SSAT. This shows that EHPP is more expressive than SSAT from the knowledge representation point of view. Moreover, we present that the translation in the other way around from a program in EHPP to SSAT is more involved. We show that not every program in EHPP can be translated into an SSAT instance, rather a restricted class of EHPP can be translated into SSAT.
Technostress under different organizational environments: An empirical investigation
Authors: Kanliang Wang, Qin Shu, Qiang Tu
Venue: Computers in Human Behavior (2008)

Today's pervasive information and communications technologies (ICTs) enable us to get connected almost anywhere at anytime. ICTs such as the Internet, the advanced wireless technologies and mobile communications networks are becoming increasingly indispensable in many aspects of business and everyday life. But to keep up with the fast advancing pace of the new ICTs, employees have to constantly renew their technical skills as well as enduring pressure from a more complex system and higher expectations for productivity. This often leads to ICT related technostress experienced by employees in many organizations. Studies have found technostress to have significant negative impact on employee productivity. Based on large-scale survey responses Chinese employees, this paper investigates the effects of different organizational environment settings on employee technostress levels. The results show that employees from more centralized companies often perceive more technostress. In addition, in organizations that are both highly centralized and highly innovative, the overall technostress level is the highest. On the other hand, in organizations with low centralization and low innovation, technostress is the lowest. This research will provide a foundation for organizations to understand and alleviate technostress, thus improving employee performance.
Some digraphs arising from number theory and remarks on the zero-divisor graph of the ring Zn
Authors: Joanna Skowronek-Kaziów
Venue: Information Processing Letters (2008)

In the first part of the paper we investigate a digraph @C(n) whose set of vertices is the set H={0,1,...,n-1} and for which there is a directed edge from a@?H to b@?H if a^3=b(modn). We specify two subdigraphs @C"1(n) and @C"2(n) of @C(n). Let @C"1(n) be induced by the vertices which are coprime to n and @C"2(n) be induced by the set of vertices which are not coprime with n. The conditions for regularity and semiregularity of these subdigraphs are presented. The digraph @C(n) has an interesting structure for some special n. It is shown that every component of the digraph @C(n) is a cycle if and only if 3 does not divide the Euler totient function @f(n) and n is square-free. It is proved that @C"1(2^k) contains only cycles and @C"2(2^k) is a tree with the root in 0. Besides @C"1(3^k) contains two ternary trees with roots in 1 and 3^k-1 and @C"2(3^k) is a tree with the root in 0. All digraphs with 3 components are described. In the second part we consider the zero-divisor graph G(Z"n) of the ring Z"n. Its maximum degree and the clique number are calculated.
Block spin density matrix of the inhomogeneous AKLT model
Authors: Ying Xu, Hosho Katsura, Takaaki Hirano, Vladimir E. Korepin
Venue: Quantum Information Processing (2008)

We study the inhomogeneous generalization of a 1-dimensional AKLT spin chain model. Spins at each lattice site could be different. Under certain conditions, the ground state of this AKLT model is unique and is described by the Valence-Bond-Solid (VBS) state. We calculate the density matrix of a contiguous block of bulk spins in this ground state. The density matrix is independent of spins outside the block. It is diagonalized and shown to be a projector onto a subspace. We prove that for large block the density matrix behaves as the identity in the subspace. The von Neumann entropy coincides with Renyi entropy and is equal to the saturated value.
Computing by Observing: A Brief Survey
Authors: Matteo Cavaliere
Venue: Proceedings of the 4th conference on Computability in Europe: Logic and Theory of Algorithms (2008)

This paper is a brief survey of a computational paradigm called computing by observing that stresses the role of an observer in computation. The idea of the paradigm is that a computing device can be obtained by combining a basic system and an observer that transforms the trajectories of the basic system into a readable output. The paradigm has been applied in several areas: natural computing (DNA computing and membrane computing), automata and formal language theory. In general, it has been shown that simple basic systems observed by simple observers can produce that which only much more complex systems can produce.
Sample Sufficiency and Number of Modes to Retain in Statistical Shape Modelling
Authors: Lin Mei, Michael Figl, Daniel Rueckert, Ara Darzi, Philip Edwards
Venue: Proceedings of the 11th international conference on Medical Image Computing and Computer-Assisted Intervention - Part I (2008)

Statistical shape modelling is a popular technique in medical imaging, but the issue of sample size sufficiency is not generally considered. Also the number of principal modes retained is often chosen simply to cover a percentage of the total variance. We show that these simple rules are unreliable. We propose a new method that uses bootstrap replication and a t-test comparison with noise to decide whether each mode direction has stabilised. We establish mode correspondence by minimising the distance between the space spanned by the replicates and their mean. By retaining only stable modes, our method distinguishes real anatomical variation from modes dominated by random noise. This provides a lower stopping rule when the sample is small and converges as the sample size increases. We use this convergence to determine sample sufficiency. For validation we use synthetic datasets of the left ventricle generated with a known number of structural modes and added noise. Our stopping rule detected the correct number of modes to retain where other methods failed. The methods were also tested on real 2D (22 points) and 3D (500 points) face data, retaining 24 and 70 modes with sample sufficiency being reached at approximately 50 and 150 samples respectively. For a 3D database of the left ventricle (527 points), 319 samples are not sufficient, but at this level we can retain around 55 stable modes. Our method provides a principled foundation for appropriate selection of the number of modes to retain and determination of sample size sufficiency for statistical shape modelling.
Video Content Adaptation Based on SVC and Associated RTP Packet Loss Detection and Signaling
Authors: Daniele Renzi, Peter Amon, Stefano Battista
Venue: Proceedings of the 2008 Ninth International Workshop on Image Analysis for Multimedia Interactive Services (2008)

The development of Scalable Video Coding (SVC) has been directed to serve a wide range of terminals over heterogeneous networks with the same encoded bit stream. SVC provides an elegant solution to adapt the video content, as it allows terminal and/or gateways accessing only a sub-part of the stream, without affecting the semantics of the source video signal. This paper describes adaptation mechanisms based on SVC, focusing on the implementation in the context of the IST project ENTHRONE. A particular emphasis is placed on adaptation techniques based on SVC NAL unit header extension, and on innovative RTP packet loss handling mechanisms, specifically conceived to handle losses in scenarios where SVC to SVC and SVC to H.264/AVC adaptation is performed and layered multicast cannot be used.
Stability and bifurcation analysis for a model of a nonlinear coupled pitch-roll ship
Authors: Liangqiang Zhou, Fangqi Chen
Venue: Mathematics and Computers in Simulation (2008)

Using a combination of analytical and numerical methods, the paper studies the stability and bifurcations for a model of a nonlinear coupled pitch-roll ship. The model represents a two-degree-of-freedom system with quadratic coupling subjected to a modulated sinusoidal excitation. Three types of critical points for the bifurcation response equations near the combination resonance in the presence of internal resonance are considered. These points are characterized by a double zero and two negative eigenvalues, a double zero and a pair of purely imaginary eigenvalues, and two pairs of purely imaginary eigenvalues, respectively. For each case, the stability regions for the initial equilibrium solution and the critical bifurcation curves are obtained. The amplitude response curves with respect to detuning/damping parameters for critical bifurcation parameters are obtained for the first two types, and detailed analyses of the eigenvalues of the linearized system for each parametric region are given. For the third type, with the aid of normal form theory, the explicit expressions of the critical bifurcation curves leading to incipient and secondary bifurcations are obtained. Bifurcations leading to 2D, 3D tori and their stability conditions are also investigated. Some new dynamical behaviors are presented for this system.
Enhancing Effectiveness of Density-Based Outlier Mining
Authors: Hui Cao, Gangquan Si, Wenzhi Zhu, Yanbin Zhang
Venue: Proceedings of the 2008 International Symposiums on Information Processing (2008)

Outlier mining is an important work of data mining and a density-similarity-neighbor based outlier factor (DSNOF) algorithm is proposed to indicate the degree of outlier-ness of an object. The proposed algorithm calculates the densities of an object and its neighbors and constructs the similar density series(SDS) in the neighborhood of the object. Based on the SDS, the proposed algorithm computes the average series cost(ASC) of the object and the DSNOF of the object can be obtained according to the ASC of the object and those of the neighbors of the object. The experiments are performed on the synthetic and the real datasets. The experiments results verify that the proposed algorithm not only can detect outlier more effectively and but also do not increase the time and the space complexities.
Approximate bidding algorithms for a distributed combinatorial auction
Authors: Benito Mendoza, José M. Vidal
Venue: Proceedings of the 7th international joint conference on Autonomous agents and multiagent systems - Volume 3 (2008)

Distributed allocation and multiagent coordination problems can be solved through combinatorial auctions (CAs). However, most of the existing winner determination algorithms (WDAs) for CAs are centralized. The PAUSE auction is one of a few efforts to release the auctioneer from having to do all the work. The PAUSEBID bidding algorithm[6] generates myopically-optimal bids for agents in a PAUSE auction but its running time is exponential on the number of bids. We present new approximate bidding algorithms that not only run in linear time but also increase the utility of the bidders as result of small decrement in revenue.
A PTAS for the Sparsest Spanners Problem on Apex-Minor-Free Graphs
Authors: Feodor F. Dragan, Fedor V. Fomin, Petr A. Golovach
Venue: Proceedings of the 33rd international symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (2008)

A t-spanner of a graph G is a spanning subgraph S in which the distance between every pair of vertices is at most t times their distance in G. The sparsest t -spanner problem asks to find, for a given graph G and an integer t, a t-spanner of G with the minimum number of edges. On general n-vertex graphs, the problem is known to be NP-hard for all t ¿ 2, and, even more, it is NP-hard to approximate it with ratio O(logn) for every t ¿ 2. For t ¿ 5, the problem remains NP-hard for planar graphs, and up to now the approximability status of the problem on planar graphs considered to be open. In this note, we resolve this open issue by showing that the sparsest t -spanner problem admits a polynomial time approximation scheme (PTAS) for every t ¿ 1. Actually, our results hold for a much wider class of graphs, namely, on the class of apex-minor-free graphs which contains the classes of planar and bounded genus graphs.
The Eden System: A Technical Review
Authors: G. T. Almes
Venue: IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering (1985)

The Eden project is a five year experiment in designing, building, and using an "integrated distributed" computing system. We are attempting to combine the benefits of integration and distribution by supporting an object based style of programming on top of a node machine/local network hardware base. Our experimental hypothesis is that such an architecture will provide an environment conducive to building distributed applications.
The Effects of Local Randomness in the Adversarial Queueing Model
Authors: Yann Lorion, Maik Weinard
Venue: Proceedings of the 16th annual European symposium on Algorithms (2008)

We study the effect of randomness in the adversarial queueing model. All proofs of instability for deterministic queueing strategies exploit a finespun strategy of insertions by an adversary. If the local queueing decisions in the network are subject to randomness, it is far from obvious, that an adversary can still trick the network into instability. We show that uniform queueing is unstable even against an oblivious adversary. Consequently, randomizing the queueing decisions made to operate a network is not in itself a suitable fix for poor network performances due to packet pileups.
A New Approach of Blind Channel Identification in Frequency Domain
Authors: Chen Caiyun, Li Ronghua
Venue: Proceedings of the 4th international symposium on Neural Networks: Advances in Neural Networks, Part III (2007)

This paper develops a new blind channel identification method in frequency domain. Oversampled signal has the property of spectral redundancy in frequency domain which is corresponding to the cyclostationarity property in time domain. This method exploits the cyclostationarity of oversampled signals to identify possibly non-minimum phase FIR channels. Unlike many existing methods, this method doesn't need EVD or SVD of correlation matrix. Several polynomials are constructed and zeros of channels are identified through seeking for common zeros of those polynomials. It is in the similar spirit of Tong's frequency approach, but this new algorithm is much simpler and computationally more efficient. A sufficient and necessary condition for channel identification is also provided in this paper. This condition is quite similar to Tong's time domain theory but it is derived from a novel point of view.
Analyzing Argumentative Structures in Procedural Texts
Authors: Lionel Fontan, Patrick Saint-Dizier
Venue: Proceedings of the 6th international conference on Advances in Natural Language Processing (2008)

In this short paper, we present the explicative structure as found in procedural texts. We focus in particular on arguments, and show how warnings, a type of arguments, can be extracted.
Q-Peer: A Decentralized QoS Registry Architecture for Web Services
Authors: Fei Li, Fangchun Yang, Kai Shuang, Sen Su
Venue: Proceedings of the 5th international conference on Service-Oriented Computing (2007)

QoS (Quality of Service) is the key factor to differentiate web services with same functionality. Users can evaluate and select services based on their quality information. Traditionally, run-time QoS of web services is collected and stored in centralized QoS registry, which may have scalability and performance problem. More importantly, centralized registry can not operate across business boundaries to support global scale application of web services. In this paper, we propose a P2P (Peer-to-Peer) QoS registry architecture for web services, named Q-Peer. The architecture is a Napster-like P2P system, where query of QoS is naturally achieved by getting QoS storage address from service registry. Q-Peer employs object replication mechanism to keep load-balance of the whole system. We present two types of replication schemes and conduct comparison study. A prototype of Q-Peer has been implemented and tested on Planet-lab. Experimental results show that Q-Peer can automatically balance load among peers in different circumstances, so the system has good performance and scalability.
Unsupervised Image Categorization Using Constrained Entropy-Regularized Likelihood Learning with Pairwise Constraints
Authors: Zhiwu Lu, Xiaoqing Lu, Zhiyuan Ye
Venue: Proceedings of the 4th international symposium on Neural Networks: Advances in Neural Networks (2007)

We usually identify the categories in image databases using some clustering algorithms based on the visual features extracted from images. Due to the well-known gap between the semantic features (e.g., categories) and the visual features, the results of unsupervised image categorization may be quite disappointing. Of course, it can be improved by adding some extra semantic information. Pairwise constraints between some images are easy to provide, even when we have little prior knowledge about the image categories in a database. A semi-supervised learning algorithm is then proposed for unsupervised image categorization based on Gaussian mixture model through incorporating such semantic information into the entropy-regularized likelihood (ERL) learning, which can automatically detect the number of image categories in the database. The experiments further show that this algorithm can lead to some promising results when applied to image categorization.
Measuring Plant Root Growth
Authors: Matthias Mühlich, Daniel Truhn, Kerstin Nagel, Achim Walter, Hanno Scharr, Til Aach
Venue: Proceedings of the 30th DAGM symposium on Pattern Recognition (2008)

Plants represent a significant part of our natural environment and their detailed study becomes more and more interesting (also economically) because of their importance for mankind as a source of food and/or energy. One of the most characteristic biological processes in plant life is their growth; it serves as a good indicator for the compatibility of a plant with varying environmental conditions. For the analysis of such influences, measuring the growth of plant roots is a widely used technique.Unfortunately, traditional schemes of measuring roots with a ruler or scanner are extremely time-consuming, hardly reproducible, and do not allow to follow growth over time. Image analysis can provide a solution. In this paper, we describe a complete image analysis system, from imaging issues to the extraction of various biological features for a subsequent statistical analysis.This opens a variety of new possibilities for biologists, including many economical applications in the study of agricultural crops.