ppxscal/embedding_network huggingface dataset:
Do LEGO® Mindstorms® motivate students in CS1?
Authors: William Isaac McWhorter, Brian C. O'Connor
Venue: ACM SIGCSE Bulletin (2009)

The purpose of the research study described in this paper was to investigate the effectiveness of using LEGO Mindstorms robotic activities to influence student motivation in an introductory university computer programming course. Various aspects relating to student motivation were measured using the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire. Tests revealed no statistically significant differences between groups in relation to intrinsic goal orientation, task value, control of learning beliefs, self-efficacy, and test anxiety at the alpha = .05 level. The experiment did detect a statistically significant difference between groups in relation to extrinsic goal orientation. The LEGO group, however, showed a larger decrease in levels of extrinsic goal orientation, suggesting they were less motivated in learning the material for rewards such as grades. While this is not necessarily a bad thing, ideally a decline in extrinsic goal orientation would be accompanied by a statistically significant increase in intrinsic goal orientation suggesting students were instead motivated because they were interested in the content of the material. This was not the case in this study. Despite the lack of positive quantitative results, responses to student follow-up questions suggest that at least some of the students enjoyed the LEGO Mindstorms activities. A discussion of possible factors influencing these results is provided.
A Deterministic Algorithm for Identifying Direct Superclasses in Java
Authors: Hans Langmaack, Andrzej Salwicki, Marek Warpechowski
Venue: Fundamenta Informaticae (2008)

In an earlier article [5] we analyzed the problem of determining direct superclasses in Java and Java-like languages. We gave a specification of the problem showing that it closely reflects the requirements of [2]. We presented a non-deterministic algorithm and proved its correctness and completeness. This paper presents a deterministic algorithm which elaborates direct superclasses. The new algorithm is better for it presents all details of implementation and its cost seems lower than the cost of the non-deterministic algorithm. Another advantage of the proposed algorithm is error recovery. Should the algorithm report an error it continues its job and possibly reports more errors in one pass.
Thermal optimization in multi-granularity multi-core floorplanning
Authors: Michael B. Healy, Hsien-Hsin S. Lee, Gabriel H. Loh, Sung Kyu Lim
Venue: Proceedings of the 2009 Asia and South Pacific Design Automation Conference (2009)

Multi-core microarchitectures require a careful balance between many competing objectives to achieve the highest possible performance. Integrated Early Analysis is the consideration of all of these factors at an early stage. Toward this goal, this work presents the first adaptive multi-granularity multi-core microarchitecture-level floorplanner that simultaneously optimizes temperature and performance, and considers memory bus length. We include simultaneous optimization at both the module-level and the core/cache-bank level. Related experiments show that our methodology is effective for optimizing multi-core architectures.
A mixed cellular method of matrix multiplication
Authors: L. D. Jelfimova
Venue: Cybernetics and Systems Analysis (2009)

A mixed cellular method of matrix multiplication is proposed that combines the Strassen method with a fast cellular method of matrix multiplication. The interaction of these methods makes it possible to decrease the multiplicative and additive complexities of well-known matrix multiplication algorithms by 25%. Estimates of computational complexity of cellular analogues of the mentioned algorithms are given.
The quantum query complexity of the determinant
Authors: Sebastian Dörn, Thomas Thierauf
Venue: Information Processing Letters (2009)

In this paper we give tight quantum query complexity bounds of some important linear algebra problems. We prove @Q(n^2) quantum query bounds for verify the determinant, rank, matrix inverse and the matrix power problem.
A type system for data-flow integrity on Windows Vista
Authors: Avik Chaudhuri, Prasad Naldurg, Sriram Rajamani
Venue: ACM SIGPLAN Notices (2009)

The Windows Vista operating system implements an interesting model of multi-level integrity. We observe that in this model, trusted code must participate in any information-flow attack. Thus, it is possible to eliminate such attacks by statically restricting trusted code. We formalize this model by designing a type system that can efficiently enforce data-flow integrity on Windows Vista. Typechecking guarantees that objects whose contents are statically trusted never contain untrusted values, regardless of what untrusted code runs in the environment. Some of Windows Vista's runtime access checks are necessary for soundness; others are redundant and can be optimized away.
Exploring Knowledge Flow in Software Project Development
Authors: Olivier Gendreau, Pierre N. Robillard
Venue: Proceedings of the 2009 International Conference on Information, Process, and Knowledge Management (2009)

The intent of this paper is to provide a better understanding of the knowledge flow in software project development. The model presented identifies five knowledge sources linked to five basic cognitive factors. The knowledge flow model is applied on a software project developed by a team of undergraduate students enrolled in a capstone project during the 2008 winter semester at Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal. Five cognitive factors – acquisition, crystallization, realization, synchronization, and validation – are present throughout a collaborative project. The relative effort expended in each of the cognitive factors varies significantly during a project’s development. This study presents a new knowledge based perspective for evaluating and measuring software engineering processes.
Constrained multi-degree reduction of Bézier surfaces using Jacobi polynomials
Authors: Lian Zhou, Guo-Jin Wang
Venue: Computer Aided Geometric Design (2009)

In this paper, we profoundly research on a new approximation algorithm for multi-degree reduction of tensor product Bezier surfaces with the condition of corners or boundaries constraints, in the norm L"2 by orthogonality and expressions form of Jacobi polynomials. Without the constraints of corners or boundaries interpolation, it has the following three advantages. Firstly, the control points of the degree-reduced surface can be represented by an explicit expression of a matrix form, i.e., the control points of the degree-reduced surface are decided by both the control net of the original surface and some precalculated matrices stored in the database, which makes the computation easy and quick. Secondly, the approximate error of the degree reduction can be estimated in advance so that we can check if it is within the given tolerance in order to avoid useless degree reduction. Thirdly, the precision of the algorithm is optimal. Under the constraints of corners or boundaries interpolation, the degree-reduced surface still has the first advantage. Furthermore, the original surface and the degree-reduced surface maintain the corners continuity of any order @a(>=0) in the two parametric directions respectively. At the same time, the two adjacent degree-reduced surfaces maintain the boundaries continuity of order 0. In particular, this algorithm is capable of meeting the need for multi-degree-reducing each patch of such a surface which is piecewise continuous, or formed by combining some sub-surfaces when the error of degree-reducing the original surface is beyond the given tolerance, so that the resulting piecewise approximating surfaces are globally C^0. Finally, numerical examples and theoretical comparisons suggest that our method not only possesses more powerful properties, but also is more precise and simpler comparing with any other old methods.
Accuracy of classical conservation laws for Hamiltonian PDEs under Runge&#x2013;Kutta discretizations
Authors: Jialin Hong, Shanshan Jiang, Chun Li
Venue: Numerische Mathematik (2009)

We investigate conservative properties of Runge&#x2013;Kutta methods for Hamiltonian partial differential equations. It is shown that multi-symplecitic Runge&#x2013;Kutta methods preserve precisely the norm square conservation law. Based on the study of accuracy of Runge&#x2013;Kutta methods applied to ordinary and partial differential equations, we present some results on the numerical accuracy of conservation laws of energy and momentum for Hamiltonian PDEs under Runge&#x2013;Kutta discretizations.
With a little help from my friends: examining the impact of social annotations in sensemaking tasks
Authors: Les Nelson, Christoph Held, Peter Pirolli, Lichan Hong, Diane Schiano, Ed H. Chi
Venue: Proceedings of the 27th international conference on Human factors in computing systems (2009)

In prior work we reported on the design of a social annotation system, SparTag.us, for use in sensemaking activities such as work-group reading and report writing. Previous studies of note-taking systems have demonstrated behavioral differences in social annotation practices, but are not clear in the actual performance gains provided by social features. This paper presents a laboratory study aimed at evaluating the learning effect of social features in SparTag.us. We found significant learning gains, and consider implications for design and for understanding the underlying mechanisms in play when people use social annotation systems.
Understanding social interactions in complex work: a video ethnography
Authors: Trudi Farrington-Darby, John R. Wilson
Venue: Cognition, Technology and Work (2009)

Rail network control is a function which depends upon the expertise of controllers for successful performance, and this expertise is situated in social skills and interactions as much as technical knowledge. A work analysis framework has been established which gets around some of the difficulties found in using cognitive work analysis, and allows structured investigation at the environment, domain, activity, scenario and expertise levels. Within this major research programme a video ethnography study was carried out to explore the work and work systems of the rail controllers in more detail, with specific reference to social interactions. Discussion centres around the strategies, communications, social relationships, learning and development and inter-team differences that were identified in the video ethnography.
A Hybrid Collision Resolution Protocol for Passive RFID Tag Identification
Authors: Yan Xin-qing, Yin Zhou-ping, Xiong You-lun
Venue: International Journal of Distributed Sensor Networks (2009)

Wireless communication channel collision of RFID system is a key issue that affects the pervasive application of the system, especially for passive RFID system due to the constrained communication ability and energy supply of tags. The collision resolution protocols suggested can be categorized into deterministic tree based protocols and probabilistic frame slot ALOHA based protocols. A hybrid protocol, which combines the query tree protocol and dynamic framed slotted ALOHA protocol, is presented here. In this protocol, at the beginning of each identification frame, the reader broadcasts a query command message which contains a suffix string and integer to indicate a frame size used in this frame to all tags in its vicinity, and every tag whose data match the specified suffix string randomly selects a slot in the frame to transmit its data to the reader. After each round, based on the different occupying situation of slots, the reader re-estimates the number of tags in its range, and according to the identification accuracy required, decides whether to split the group of tags to be identified into sub-groups or not, and adjust the suffix string and select a suitable frame size for the command messages of the following frames. Through this repeated identification and division process, the RFID tags can be identified within a number of frames. Some key factors that influence the efficiency of the identification are also discussed based on binomial distribution model. Three methods for the tag population estimation are examined and their accuracies are compared, and the optimum frame size for the identification of different number of tags is given in consideration of the throughput and efficiency. To verify the performance of the hybrid protocol, a numeric simulation is performed, in which 100 groups of SGTIN-96 encoded tags are generated randomly. Simulation shows that this hybrid protocol outperforms other frame slot ALOHA based collision resolution protocols, especially when there are a large number of RFID tags to be identified. The overall throughput of the hybrid protocol is kept around 34.8% when there are more than 40 tags, near the theoretical maximum value 36.8%. A linear relationship between the number of tags and the total frames and slots required is also observed in the numeric simulation.
Reading English News on the Internet: A Guide to Connectors, Verbs, Expressions, and Vocabulary for the ESL Student
Authors: David Petersen
Venue:  (2007)

This ESL guide to "media English" covers nearly 200 connectors, phrasal verbs, idiomatic verb phrases, and everday expressions. There are tips on reading news, sports, and finance articles online, and students can test themselves with mini-quizzes and a final exam.
On b-colorings in regular graphs
Authors: Mostafa Blidia, Frédéric Maffray, Zoham Zemir
Venue: Discrete Applied Mathematics (2009)

A b-coloring is a coloring of the vertices of a graph such that each color class contains a vertex that has a neighbor in all other color classes. El-Sahili and Kouider have conjectured that every d-regular graph with girth at least 5 has a b-coloring with d+1 colors. We show that the Petersen graph infirms this conjecture, and we propose a new formulation of this question and give a positive answer for small degree.
A Two-Grid Approximation of an Interface Problem for the Nonlinear Poisson-Boltzmann Equation
Authors: Miglena N. Koleva, Lubin G. Vulkov
Venue: Numerical Analysis and Its Applications: 4th International Conference, NAA 2008, Lozenetz, Bulgaria, June 16-20, 2008. Revised Selected Papers (2009)

We present a robust and efficient numerical method for solution of an interface problem for a generalization of the Poisson-Boltzmann equation, arising in molecular biophysics. The differential problem is solved by FEM (finite element method) technique on two (coarse and fine) subspaces. The solution of the nonlinear system of algebraic equations on the fine mesh is reduced to the solution on two small (one linear and one nonlinear) systems on the coarse grid and a large linear one on the fine grid. It is shown, both theoretically and numerically, that the coarse space can be extremely coarse and still achieve asymptotically optimal approximation.
A generic multi-dimensional feature extraction method using multiobjective genetic programming
Authors: Yang Zhang, Peter I. Rockett
Venue: Evolutionary Computation (2009)

In this paper, we present a generic feature extraction method for pattern classification using multiobjective genetic programming. This not only evolves the (near-)optimal set of mappings from a pattern space to a multi-dimensional decision space, but also simultaneously optimizes the dimensionality of that decision space. The presented framework evolves vector-to-vector feature extractors that maximize class separability. We demonstrate the efficacy of our approach by making statistically-founded comparisons with a wide variety of established classifier paradigms over a range of datasets and find that for most of the pairwise comparisons, our evolutionary method delivers statistically smaller misclassification errors. At very worst, our method displays no statistical difference in a few pairwise comparisons with established classifier/dataset combinations; crucially, none of the misclassification results produced by our method is worse than any comparator classifier. Although principally focused on feature extraction, feature selection is also performed as an implicit side effect; we show that both feature extraction and selection are important to the success of our technique. The presented method has the practical consequence of obviating the need to exhaustively evaluate a large family of conventional classifiers when faced with a new pattern recognition problem in order to attain a good classification accuracy.
A new method to improve accuracy of leakage current estimation for transistors with non-rectangular gates due to sub-wavelength lithography effects
Authors: Kuen-Yu Tsai, Meng-Fu You, Yi-Chang Lu, Philip C. W. Ng
Venue: Proceedings of the 2008 IEEE/ACM International Conference on Computer-Aided Design (2008)

Non-ideal pattern transfer from drawn circuit layout to manufactured nanometer transistors can severely affect electrical characteristics such as drive current, leakage current, and threshold voltage. Obtaining accurate electrical models of non-rectangular transistors due to sub-wavelength lithography effects is indispensable for DFM-aware nanometer IC design. In this paper, TCAD device simulations are utilized to quantify the accuracy of a standard equivalent gate length extraction approach for non-rectangular transistors. It is verified that threshold voltage and current density are non-uniform along the channel width due to narrow-width related edge effects, leading to significant inaccuracy in the sub-threshold region. A new EGL extraction method utilizing location-dependent weighting factors and convex parameter extraction techniques is proposed to account for the current density non-uniformity. Preliminary results verified by TCAD simulations indicate that the accuracy of leakage current estimation for non-rectangular transistors can be significantly improved. The method is readily applicable to calibration with real silicon data.
Deductive Inference for the Interiors and Exteriors of Horn Theories
Authors: Kazuhisa Makino, Hirotaka Ono
Venue: Proceedings of the 19th International Symposium on Algorithms and Computation (2008)

In this paper, we investigate the deductive inference for the interiors and exteriors of Horn knowledge bases, where the interiors and exteriors were introduced by Makino and Ibaraki [11] to study stability properties of knowledge bases. We present a linear time algorithm for the deduction for the interiors and show that it is co-NP-complete for the deduction for the exteriors. Under model-based representation, we show that the deduction problem for interiors is NP-complete while the one for exteriors is co-NP-complete. As for Horn envelopes of the exteriors, we show that it is linearly solvable under model-based representation, while it is co-NP-complete under formula-based representation. We also discuss the polynomially solvable cases for all the intractable problems.
A Scalable QoS-Based Routing Mechanism for Supporting Multimedia Applications
Authors: Luis Henrique Maciel Kosmalski Costa, Otto Carlos Muniz Bandeira Duarte
Venue: Proceedings of the 1999 IEEE International Conference on Multimedia Computing and Systems - Volume 02 (1999)

This paper proposes a scalable algorithm for Quality of Service (QoS) based routing. This type of routing is one of the main components for supporting new multimedia applications in the Internet. The algorithm takes into account the available bandwidth, the transmission delay and the packet loss probability for each link in route computation. This three-metric algorithm is as complex as a two-metric algorithm and provides a better characterization of application requirements. The mechanism was implemented using a network simulator and the results obtained are 25% better than the classical approach.
Atomicity and provenance support for pipelined scientific workflows
Authors: Liqiang Wang, Shiyong Lu, Xubo Fei, Artem Chebotko, H. Victoria Bryant, Jeffrey L. Ram
Venue: Future Generation Computer Systems (2009)

Today many significant scientific discoveries are achieved through complex and distributed scientific computations that are structured and represented as scientific workflows. Although atomicity is a well studied topic in transaction processing and business workflows, such an important capability needs to be revisited in a scientific workflow environment. Firstly, the semantics of atomicity needs to be defined in a dataflow-oriented scientific workflow model, particularly for pipelined execution of hierarchical scientific workflows. Secondly, in a scientific workflow environment, atomic regions are specified or inferred dynamically as needed and are committed implicitly, which are in contrast to a priori well-defined transaction boundaries and explicit commits in transaction processing and business workflows. Finally, although atomicity and provenance are related to each other, their interactions and relationships have never been explored in the literature. In this paper, we propose: (i) an architecture for scientific workflow management systems that supports both provenance and atomicity; (ii) a dataflow-oriented atomicity model that supports the notions of commit and abort; and (iii) a dataflow-oriented provenance model that supports querying and visualizing provenance.
Appleseed: Ex Machina
Authors: Yusaku Toyoshima
Venue: ACM SIGGRAPH ASIA 2008 computer animation festival (2008)

"Appleseed: Ex Machina," a full 3D CGI film, premiered in Japan in October, 2007. The DVD was released by Warner Home Video in March 2008. It is the fourth full 3D CGI production from Digital Frontier, Inc.
Self-* through self-learning: Overload control for distributed web systems
Authors: Novella Bartolini, Giancarlo Bongiovanni, Simone Silvestri
Venue: Computer Networks: The International Journal of Computer and Telecommunications Networking (2009)

Overload control is a challenging problem for web-based applications, which are often prone to unexpected surges of traffic. Existing solutions are still far from guaranteeing the necessary responsiveness under rapidly changing operative conditions. We contribute an original self-* overload control (SOC) algorithm that self-configures a dynamic constraint on the rate of incoming new sessions in order to guarantee the fulfillment of the quality requirements specified in a service level agreement (SLA). Our algorithm is based on a measurement activity that makes the system capable of self-learning and self-configuring even in the case of rapidly changing traffic scenarios, dynamic resource provisioning or server faults. Unlike other approaches, our proposal does not require any prior information about the incoming traffic, or any manual configuration of key parameters. We ran extensive simulations under a wide range of operating conditions. The experiments show how the proposed system self-protects from overload, meeting SLA requirements even under intense workload variations. Moreover, it rapidly adapts to unexpected changes in available capacity, as in the case of faults or voluntary architectural adjustments. Performance comparisons with other previously proposed approaches show that our algorithm has better performance and more stable behavior.