ppxscal/embedding_network huggingface dataset:
Watermarking in conjugate ordered dither block truncation coding images
Authors: Jing-Ming Guo, Min-Feng Wu, Yong-Chuen Kang
Venue: Signal Processing (2009)

In this work, a novel method based on block truncation coding (BTC) and halftoning technique is proposed for embedding watermarks into compressed images. BTC is a simple and efficient image compression technique. However, it yields images of unacceptable quality and significant blocking effects are seen when the block size used increases. A modified technique known as order dither block truncation coding (ODBTC) is proposed to solve the above problems while maintaining the same compression capability. In addition, ODBTC can also be used to embed a watermark into the compressed image. This technique incorporates void-and-cluster method with BTC and ordered dithering to carry out watermarking. Experimental results have indicated that the resulting image quality is better and the algorithm less complex as than traditional BTC. Many forms of attacks are also carried out and confirm the robustness of the proposed methods.
Exploring a technological hermeneutic: understanding the interpretation of computer-mediated messaging systems
Authors: Elizabeth D. Mynatt
Venue:  (2008)

Empirical evidence suggests that individuals can hold different interpretations of a technology. In this research, I explore the question of where these different interpretations come from. What influences an individual&rsquo;s interpretation of a technology? And what is the nature of these interpretations? I explore these questions through studies of computer-mediated messaging systems, including instant messaging, photo-enhanced instant messaging, multimedia messaging (cameraphones), and mobile messaging (BlackBerries). In this research, I draw from philosophical hermeneutics, a domain of study examining the nature of interpretation, and present a technological hermeneutic, a descriptive theory of how individuals interpret technology&mdash;how they come to understand the meaning of technology in their own lives. This theory offers insight into the myriad resources individuals draw from when constructing an interpretation of technology, including their own experiences with related technologies as well as their interactions with others&rsquo; use and understanding of the technology. This theory also offers insight into the nature of the interpretive process. Interpretations are dynamic and evolving; individuals continually draw from new experiences, reengaging and reinterpreting technology. Interpretations are also hybrid and synthesized; individuals draw from multiple resources in an active process of interpretive bricolage.
A visual language for representing and explaining strategies in game theory
Authors: Martin Erwig, Eric Walkingshaw
Venue: Proceedings of the 2008 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing (2008)

We present a visual language for strategies in game theory, which has potential applications in economics, social sciences, and in general science education. This language facilitates explanations of strategies by visually representing the interaction of players’ strategies with game execution. We have utilized the cognitive dimensions framework in the design phase and recognized the need for a new cognitive dimension of “traceability” that considers how well a language can represent the execution of a program. We consider how traceability interacts with other cognitive dimensions and demonstrate its use in analyzing existing languages. We conclude that the design of a visual representation for execution traces should be an integral part of the design of visual languages because understanding a program is often tightly coupled to its execution.
Research experiences for undergraduates: autonomic computing research at FIU
Authors: Masoud Milani, S. Masoud Sadjadi, Raju Rangaswami, Peter J. Clarke, Tao Li
Venue: The Fifth Richard Tapia Celebration of Diversity in Computing Conference: Intellect, Initiatives, Insight, and Innovations (2009)

According to Computing Research Association, during each year between 2003 and 2007, fewer than 3% of the US's Ph.D.s graduates in computer science and computer engineering were Hispanic or African American and fewer than 20% were women. Such an under-representation precludes the benefits of diversity in computer sciences research and industry and consequently compromises the competitiveness of the US economy. It is therefore imperative that undergraduate institutions introduce students from these groups to research at an early stage of their academic careers and to provide them with the tools necessary for success in graduate school. The School of Computing and Information Sciences (SCIS) at Florida International University (FIU) has been working to strengthen the pipeline of underrepresented students to graduate work in computer science by hosting an NSF sponsored Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) site for the past three years. Our REU site has hosted 30 undergraduate students, 23 of them were underrepresented including 8 females, 16 Hispanics, and 4 African Americans, who published 13 technical papers. Six of the ten students who have already graduated, have started their graduate studies.
Modelling the dynamics of multiagent Q-learning with &epsilon;-greedy exploration
Authors: Eduardo Rodrigues Gomes, Ryszard Kowalczyk
Venue: Proceedings of The 8th International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems - Volume 2 (2009)

We present a framework to model the dynamics of Multiagent Q-learning with &epsilon;-greedy exploration. The applicability of the framework is tested through experiments in typical games selected from the literature.
Evaluation methods for topic models
Authors: Hanna M. Wallach, Iain Murray, Ruslan Salakhutdinov, David Mimno
Venue: Proceedings of the 26th Annual International Conference on Machine Learning (2009)

A natural evaluation metric for statistical topic models is the probability of held-out documents given a trained model. While exact computation of this probability is intractable, several estimators for this probability have been used in the topic modeling literature, including the harmonic mean method and empirical likelihood method. In this paper, we demonstrate experimentally that commonly-used methods are unlikely to accurately estimate the probability of held-out documents, and propose two alternative methods that are both accurate and efficient.
Behavioral modeling and simulation of underwater channel
Authors: Nejah Nasri, Laurent Andrieux, Abdennaceur Kachouri, Mounir Samet
Venue: WSEAS TRANSACTIONS on COMMUNICATIONS (2009)

The Ocean is a dynamic and complex environment; it is a very complicated transmission channel that can change rapidly with the environmental conditions. Hence, to avoid failure of underwater monitoring missions, it's crucial to predict the behavior of underwater acoustic channel. In this paper, several fundamental key aspects of underwater acoustic channel are investigated. A model characterizing the underwater acoustic channel is introduced, and how underwater channel can be simulated is discussed. In addition, this paper describes a methodology for top-down design, modeling, and simulation of underwater channel using hardware description language VHDL-AMS. The following analysis may provide precious guidelines for the design of underwater communication systems.
An iterated Radau method for time-dependent PDEs
Authors: S. Perez-Rodriguez, S. Gonzalez-Pinto, B. P. Sommeijer
Venue: Journal of Computational and Applied Mathematics (2009)

This paper is concerned with the time integration of semi-discretized, multi-dimensional PDEs of advection-diffusion-reaction type. To cope with the stiffness of these ODEs, an implicit method has been selected, viz., the two-stage, third-order Radau IIA method. The main topic of this paper is the efficient solution of the resulting implicit relations. First, a modified Newton process has been transformed into an iteration process in which the 2 stages are decoupled and, moreover, can exploit the same LU-factorization of the iteration matrix. Next, we apply a so-called Approximate Matrix Factorization (AMF) technique to solve the linear systems in each Newton iteration. This AMF approach is very efficient since it reduces the 'multi-dimensional' system to a series of 'one-dimensional' systems. The total amount of linear algebra work involved is reduced enormously by this approach. The idea of applying AMF to two-dimensional problems is quite old and goes back to Peaceman and Rachford in the early fifties. The situation in three space dimensions is less favourable and will be analyzed here in more detail, both theoretically and experimentally. Furthermore, we analyze a variant in which the AMF-technique has been used to really solve ('until convergence') the underlying Radau IIA method so that we can rely on its excellent stability and accuracy characteristics. Finally, the method has been tested on several examples. Also, a comparison has been made with the existing codes VODPK and IMEXRKC, and the efficiency (CPU time versus accuracy) is shown to be at least competitive with the efficiency of these solvers.
A Scientific Perspective on the Hard Problem of Consciousness
Authors: Alexei V. Samsonovich, Giorgio A. Ascoli, Harold Morowitz, M. Layne Kalbfleisch
Venue: Proceeding of the 2008 conference on Artificial General Intelligence 2008: Proceedings of the First AGI Conference (2008)

The Hard Problem of consciousness, widely known as formulated by David Chalmers in the introduction to his book [1] (1996, p. xiii), can be articulated as follows. Our attribution of first-person experience to people based on observations and physical measurements is arbitrary and subjective. In principle, their actual experiences could be different, or not present, or present in only 50% of all cases, etc., with no consequences for any physical measurement. Therefore, the two questions: “How does a physical object, e.g., a brain, look to a researcher” and “How does it feel itself”, are not reducible to each other and must have separate answers. On the other hand, because subjective experience is not a topic of modern natural science, arguing about its lack of understanding within the present scientific framework is difficult. In this work we explain how subjective experience can be properly introduced into natural science, and the Hard Problem can be resolved, in exact analogy with the previous developments of science. The steps include the following. (1) Accept as an axiom that there are irreducible subjective experiences, which are directly observable by the subject via experiences of experiences. (2) Develop an empirical science of subjective experiences based on experiments, logic and parsimony, starting with a new metric system (one candidate for which is a semantic cognitive map: [2]) introduced together with related measuring techniques and a common language: agreed-upon labels to communicate results. (3) Connect the science of experiences with the traditional empirical science by establishing neural correlates of experiences. As we show, step (3) cannot be done before steps (1) and (2). We anticipate that our approach can be used to authenticate subjective experience (i.e., consciousness) in future artificial general intelligence systems, based on the established correlates.
Quantum algorithm for multiple alignment of amino acid sequences
Authors: Satoshi Iriyama, Masanori Ohya
Venue: Proceedings of the 10th WSEAS international conference on Mathematics and computers in biology and chemistry (2009)

The alignment of genome sequences or amino acid sequences is one of fundamental operations for the study of life. Usual computational complexity for the multiple alignment of N sequences with common length L by dynamic programming is O(LN). This alignment is considered as one of the NP problems, so that it is desirable to find a nice algorithm of the multiple alignment. Thus in this paper we propose the quantum algorithm for the multiple alignment based on the works [7, 14] in which the NP complete problem was shown to be the P problem by means of quantum algorithm and chaos informarion dynamics.
The Evaluation of an Intelligent Teacher Advisor for Web Distance Environments
Authors: Essam Kosba, Vania Dimitrova, Roger Boyle
Venue: Proceeding of the 2005 conference on Artificial Intelligence in Education: Supporting Learning through Intelligent and Socially Informed Technology (2005)

There is a lack of automatic features to help instructors to effectively manage distance courses delivered with Web Course Management Systems (WCMS). We have developed a system named TADV (Teacher ADVisor) that uses student tracking data to build fuzzy student, group, and class models to generate advice that highlights important situations to instructors and recommends feedback to be sent to students. This paper presents an evaluative study which shows that TADV provides practical and effective advice valued by both teachers and students. The instructors became more knowledgeable about what was happening in the distance class and were able to send regular feedback to the students. There was improvement in the students' overall satisfaction and their link with instructors.
Cycling degradation in TANOS stack
Authors: G. Ghidini, C. Scozzari, N. Galbiati, A. Modelli, E. Camerlenghi, M. Alessandri, A. Del Vitto, G. Albini, A. Grossi, T. Ghilardi, P. Tessariol
Venue: Microelectronic Engineering (2009)

The aim of this work is to investigate the physical mechanisms behind TANOS (TaN/Alumina/Nitride/Oxide/Silicon) cycling degradation. A comparison of the degradation induced in the TANOS stack by unipolar or bipolar stress has allowed the separation the different degradation contributions. A comparison with standard floating gate (FG) stack has also been carried out to confirm these degradation mechanisms. Finally, different stack configurations are reported, showing the key factors affecting the degradation and giving trends for improving cycling degradation.
Visual Realism Enhances Realistic Response in an Immersive Virtual Environment
Authors: Mel Slater, Pankaj Khanna, Jesper Mortensen, Insu Yu
Venue: IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications (2009)

Does greater visual realism induce greater participant presence in immersive virtual environments (VE)? Presence refers to how realistically participants respond to the environment as well as their subjective sense of being in the place depicted by the VE. Thirty-three people were exposed for three minutes to a virtual environment depicting a precipice using a head-tracked head-mounted display system. Seventeen of them saw the environment rendered with real-time recursive ray tracing (RT) that included shadows and reflections of their virtual body, and the remainder experienced the same environment rendered with ray casting (RC), which did not include shadows and reflections. Participants completed a presence questionnaire immediately after their experience, and physiological responses (skin conductance and electrocardiogram) were recorded throughout. Results show that subjective presence was higher for the RT environment than for the RC one and that higher stress was induced in the RT environment compared to the RC one.
Scheduling on-demand broadcast with timing constraints
Authors: Qiu Fang, Susan V. Vrbsky, Ming Lei, Richard Borie
Venue: Journal of Parallel and Distributed Computing (2009)

In a distributed system, broadcasting is an efficient way to dispense data in certain highly dynamic environments. While there are several well-known on-line broadcast scheduling strategies that minimize wait time, there has been little research that considers on-demand broadcasting with timing constraints. One application which could benefit from a strategy for on-demand broadcast with timing constraints is a real-time database system. Scheduling strategies are needed in real-time databases that identify which data item to broadcast next in order to minimize missed deadlines. The scheduling decisions required in a real-time broadcast system allow the system to be modeled as a Markov Decision Process (MDP). In this paper, we analyze the MDP model and determine that finding an optimal solution is a hard problem in PSPACE. We propose a scheduling approach, called Aggregated Critical Requests (ACR), which is based on the MDP formulation and present two algorithms based on this approach. ACR is designed for timely delivery of data to clients in order to maximize the reward by minimizing the deadlines missed. Results from trace-driven experiments indicate the ACR approach provides a flexible strategy that can outperform existing strategies under a variety of factors.
Multi-agent Service Deployment in Telecommunication Networks
Authors: Kresimir Jurasovic, Mario Kusek, Gordan Jezic
Venue: Proceedings of the Third KES International Symposium on Agent and Multi-Agent Systems: Technologies and Applications (2009)

In this paper an agent based framework for service deployment in telecommunication networks is presented. The framework is intended to improve the process of service deployment in next generation telecommunication networks. This process has been complicated with the introduction of new actors and the migration of service infrastructure from the telecommunication provider to the third-party value added providers. The paper describes the issues related to service deployment, model of a service that is to be deployed on the infrastructure of a provider and agents the framework is comprised of.
Design of multimedia surveillance systems
Authors: G. S. V. S. Sivaram, Mohan S. Kankanhalli, K. R. Ramakrishnan
Venue: ACM Transactions on Multimedia Computing, Communications, and Applications (TOMCCAP) (2009)

This article addresses the problem of how to select the optimal combination of sensors and how to determine their optimal placement in a surveillance region in order to meet the given performance requirements at a minimal cost for a multimedia surveillance system. We propose to solve this problem by obtaining a performance vector, with its elements representing the performances of subtasks, for a given input combination of sensors and their placement. Then we show that the optimal sensor selection problem can be converted into the form of Integer Linear Programming problem (ILP) by using a linear model for computing the optimal performance vector corresponding to a sensor combination. Optimal performance vector corresponding to a sensor combination refers to the performance vector corresponding to the optimal placement of a sensor combination. To demonstrate the utility of our technique, we design and build a surveillance system consisting of PTZ (Pan-Tilt-Zoom) cameras and active motion sensors for capturing faces. Finally, we show experimentally that optimal placement of sensors based on the design maximizes the system performance.
Research on Coordination Model of Multiplexed System Based on DEA
Authors: Zhengping He, Hongtao Zhou, Wei Zeng, Yushuo Chen, Qi Fei
Venue: Proceedings of the 6th International Symposium on Neural Networks on Advances in Neural Networks (2009)

First, based on the viewpoint of system theory, this paper explained the coordination and its degree's concept and connotation. Then it introduced the performance of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) method and the membership concept of fuzzy mathematics degree, which established the coordination degree evaluation model of multiplexed system, appraised the running status and the tendency of the coordination among the multiplexed system's essential factors and subsystems. Finally we took an empirical analysis with this model into Chinese Guangxi's multiplexed system which concludes economy, education and Science Technical between 1994 and 2006. The result indicated: this multiplexed system's static coordination degree changed in a big way, and the dynamic coordination degree swings nearby 0.92, the multiplexed system development is at a basic coordinated condition.
Kernel methods in steganalysis
Authors: Jessica Fridrich
Venue:  (2008)

Steganography is the art of covert communication. Its goal is achieved by hiding secret messages into innocuous objects such as digital images, audio files, etc. As any other technology, steganography can be used for malicious purpose. The need to detect steganographic objects give rise to steganalysis, a complementary task to steganography. The main focus of this dissertation is on steganalysis of JPEG images, as the JPEG image format is nowadays the most frequently used image format. In the first part of the dissertation, a detector recognizing six popular steganographic algorithms is presented. This detector is novel in many ways. First, it not only detects the presence of a secret message, but also assigns the image to a class according to the algorithm used to embed the message. Second, it detects stego content in single-compressed as well as in double-compressed JPEG images. Third, it offers superior accuracy in comparison to prior art. The detector is based on feature extraction and supervised training of two banks of multi-classifiers implemented by Support Vector Machines. The first bank targeted to single-compressed images contains a separate multi-classifier trained for each JPEG quality factor from a certain range. Another bank of multi-classifiers is trained for double-compressed images for the same range of primary quality factors. Multi-classifier banks are preceded by a pre-classifier detecting double-compression and estimating the primary quantization table. The second part of the dissertation presents a method for benchmarking security of steganographic algorithms. We argue that a good benchmark should be dependent only on the model chosen to represent cover and stego objects (feature set). While the KL divergence would be a preferable measure, because it is a fundamental quantity, there are practical difficulties in computing it. Therefore a Maximum Mean Discrepancy (MMD) is proposed as a measure of steganographic security, because it is well understood theoretically, and is numerically stable even in high-dimensional spaces.
An alternative inference for Qualitative Choice Logic
Authors: Salem Benferhat, Daniel Le Berre, Karima Sedki
Venue: Proceeding of the 2006 conference on ECAI 2006: 17th European Conference on Artificial Intelligence August 29 -- September 1, 2006, Riva del Garda, Italy (2006)

Qualitative Choice Logic adds to classical propositional logic a new connective, called ordered disjunction, used to express preferences between alternatives. We present an alternative inference relation for the QCL language that overcomes some QCL limitations.