ppxscal/embedding_network huggingface dataset:
Approximation and Hardness Results for Label Cut and Related Problems
Authors: Peng Zhang, Jin-Yi Cai, Linqing Tang, Wenbo Zhao
Venue: Proceedings of the 6th Annual Conference on Theory and Applications of Models of Computation (2009)

We investigate a natural combinatorial optimization problem called the Label Cut problem. Given an input graph G with a source s and a sink t, the edges of G are classified into different categories, represented by a set of labels. The labels may also have weights. We want to pick a subset of labels of minimum cardinality (or minimum total weight), such that the removal of all edges with these labels disconnects s and t. We give the first non-trivial approximation and hardness results for the Label Cut problem. Firstly, we present an $O(\sqrt{m})$-approximation algorithm for the Label Cut problem, where m is the number of edges in the input graph. Secondly, we show that it is NP-hard to approximate Label Cut within $2^{\log ^{1 - 1/\log\log^c n} n}$ for any constant c < 1/2, where n is the input length of the problem. Thirdly, our techniques can be applied to other previously considered optimization problems. In particular we show that the Minimum Label Path problem has the same approximation hardness as that of Label Cut, simultaneously improving and unifying two known hardness results for this problem which were previously the best (but incomparable due to different complexity assumptions).
Dealing with dynamic changes in time critical decision-making for MOUT simulations
Authors: Shang-Ping Ting Suiping Zhou
Venue: Computer Animation and Virtual Worlds (2009)

Generating realistic behaviors for the non-player characters (also known as bots) is an important task for Military Operations on Urban Terrain (MOUT) simulations. Most of the current bots reasoning models are based on complete rational analysis of all alternatives. However, such models may not be adequate in time critical and uncertain situations. In such situations, due to time constraints and incomplete information, humans rely mainly on experience rather than some structured analysis of the given situation to make decisions. In our previous work, we have developed SNAP, a time critical decision-making framework which aims to imitate human decision-making processes for MOUT simulations. A major limitation that we found about SNAP is its difficulty in dealing with dynamic changes in MOUT simulations. In this paper, we propose to address this problem by incorporating a novel feature of expectations into SNAP. The effectiveness of this new feature is assessed with Twilight City, a virtual environment for MOUT simulations. Experimental results show that our expectation model works well in dealing with dynamic changes in MOUT. Copyright &copy; 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Generating realistic behaviors for the non-player characters (also known as bots) is an important task for Military Operations on Urban Terrain (MOUT) simulations. In such situations, due to time constraints and incomplete information, humans rely mainly on experience rather than some structured analysis of the given situation to make decisions. To address this issue, we had incorporated expectations in SNAP, a time critical decision-making framework which aims to imitate human decision-making processes for MOUT simulations.
Analysis of copper ion filaments and retention of dual-layered devices for resistance random access memory applications
Authors: Jaesik Yoon, Joonmyoung Lee, Hyejung Choi, Ju-Bong Park, Dong-jun Seong, Wootae Lee, Chunhum Cho, Seonghyun Kim, Hyunsang Hwang
Venue: Microelectronic Engineering (2009)

For improvement of switching uniformity, we propose a dual-layer structure with different resistance values in each layer. During the forming process, a current path is created in a high-resistance region which localizes filament formation in ultra-thin low resistance regions. The localized filament, whose existence is confirmed by conductive atomic force microscopy (CAFM), dramatically improves switching uniformity. In addition, pulse switching is demonstrated by application of alternating voltages of +/-2V for 1@ms. Analysis of Cu ion retention provides considerable insight into the resistance memory. A dual-layer oxide with excellent device performance and yield shows good promise for future non-volatile memory applications.
Why lawyers are nice (or nasty): a game-theoretical argumentation exercise
Authors: Giovanni Sartor, Michel Rudnianski, Antonino Rotolo, Régis Riveret, Eunate Mayor
Venue: Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Law (2009)

This contribution introduces a novel approach to study legal interactions, legal professions, and legal institutions, by combining argumentation, game theory and evolution. We consider a population of lawyers, having different postures, who engage in adversarial argumentation with other lawyers, obtaining outcomes according the existing context and their chosen strategies. We examine the resulting games and analyse the evolution of the population.
Herding dynamical weights to learn
Authors: Max Welling
Venue: Proceedings of the 26th Annual International Conference on Machine Learning (2009)

A new "herding" algorithm is proposed which directly converts observed moments into a sequence of pseudo-samples. The pseudo-samples respect the moment constraints and may be used to estimate (unobserved) quantities of interest. The procedure allows us to sidestep the usual approach of first learning a joint model (which is intractable) and then sampling from that model (which can easily get stuck in a local mode). Moreover, the algorithm is fully deterministic, avoiding random number generation) and does not need expensive operations such as exponentiation.
Behavioral analysis of fast flux service networks
Authors: Alper Caglayan, Mike Toothaker, Dan Drapaeau, Dustin Burke, Gerry Eaton
Venue: Proceedings of the 5th Annual Workshop on Cyber Security and Information Intelligence Research: Cyber Security and Information Intelligence Challenges and Strategies (2009)

Here we present a behavioral analysis of fast flux service networks (FFSNs) using our database of FFSNs collected over a period of 9 months. FFSNs exploit a network of compromised machines (zombies) for illegal activities such as spam campaigns, phishing scams and malware delivery using DNS record manipulation techniques. In this paper, we use our fast flux domain and IP database collected using our real-time fast flux network detection algorithm to analyze the behavior of fast flux networks [1]. Our results show that such networks share common lifecycle characteristics, and form clusters based on size, growth and type of malicious behavior.
Audience selection for on-line brand advertising: privacy-friendly social network targeting
Authors: Foster Provost, Brian Dalessandro, Rod Hook, Xiaohan Zhang, Alan Murray
Venue: Proceedings of the 15th ACM SIGKDD international conference on Knowledge discovery and data mining (2009)

This paper describes and evaluates privacy-friendly methods for extracting quasi-social networks from browser behavior on user-generated content sites, for the purpose of finding good audiences for brand advertising (as opposed to click maximizing, for example). Targeting social-network neighbors resonates well with advertisers, and on-line browsing behavior data counterintuitively can allow the identification of good audiences anonymously. Besides being one of the first papers to our knowledge on data mining for on-line brand advertising, this paper makes several important contributions. We introduce a framework for evaluating brand audiences, in analogy to predictive-modeling holdout evaluation. We introduce methods for extracting quasi-social networks from data on visitations to social networking pages, without collecting any information on the identities of the browsers or the content of the social-network pages. We introduce measures of brand proximity in the network, and show that audiences with high brand proximity indeed show substantially higher brand affinity. Finally, we provide evidence that the quasi-social network embeds a true social network, which along with results from social theory offers one explanation for the increase in brand affinity of the selected audiences.
Haptic conviction widgets
Authors: Gerry Chu, Tomer Moscovich, Ravin Balakrishnan
Venue: Proceedings of Graphics Interface 2009 (2009)

We introduce a haptic mousewheel as a platform for design exploration of haptic conviction widgets. Conviction is how strongly one wants to do something, or how strongly one desires a parameter to be as it is. Using the haptic mousewheel, the widgets allow users to communicate conviction using force, where greater conviction requires greater force. These widgets include buttons that take varying amounts of force to click, a trash can that requires overcoming force to delete files, an instant message client that requires more force to communicate a stronger emotion, and widgets that allow parameters to be locked using force.
Proceedings of the 3rd international workshop on Virtualization technologies in distributed computing
Venue: Virtualization Technology in Distributed Computing (2009)

It is our great pleasure to welcome you to VTDC-09 -- the Third International Workshop on Virtualization Technologies in Distributed Computing. Virtualization continues to play an increasingly important role in distributed computing systems - within data centers, across Grid federations, and providing the basis for the Infrastructure-as-a-Service model that is at the core of Cloud computing. As in its previous offerings, the VTDC workshop continues its tradition of highlighting cutting-edge research in this field and providing a forum for discussion involving academia, industry, and research labs. Our committee of experts in the field selected papers that make up a strong technical program, with papers representing a spectrum of projects from Europe, Asia and the USA. We look forward to a productive day of technical sessions and interactions among the VTDC attendees, and hope that our attendees will also enjoy the ICAC conference and the countless activities and sights that the beautiful city of Barcelona has to offer. Bienvenido!
Feasibility and Infeasibility in Optimization: Algorithms and Computational Methods, 1st edition
Authors: John W. Chinneck
Venue:  (2007)

Constrained optimization models are core tools in business, science, government, and the military with applications including airline scheduling, control of petroleum refining operations, investment decisions, and many others. Constrained optimization models have grown immensely in scale and complexity in recent years as inexpensive computing power has become widely available. Models now frequently have many complicated interacting constraints, giving rise to a host of issues related to feasibility and infeasibility. For example, it is sometimes difficult to find any feasible point at all for a large model, or even to accurately determine if one exists, e.g. for nonlinear models. If the model is feasible, how quickly can a solution be found? If the model is infeasible, how can the cause be isolated and diagnosed? Can a repair to restore feasibility be carried out automatically? Researchers have developed numerous algorithms and computational methods in recent years to address such issues, with a number of surprising spin-off applications in fields such as artificial intelligence and computational biology. Over the same time period, related approaches and techniques relating to feasibility and infeasibility of constrained problems have arisen in the constraint programming community. Feasibility and Infeasibility in Optimization is a timely expository book that summarizes the state of the art in both classical and recent algorithms related to feasibility and infeasibility in optimization, with a focus on practical methods. All model forms are covered, including linear, nonlinear, and mixed-integer programs. Connections to related work in constraint programming are shown. Part I of the book addresses algorithms for seeking feasibility quickly, including new methods for the difficult cases of nonlinear and mixed-integer programs. Part II provides algorithms for analyzing infeasibility by isolating minimal infeasible (or maximum feasible) subsets of constraints, or by finding the best repair for the infeasibility. Infeasibility analysis algorithms have arisen primarily over the last two decades, and the book covers these in depth and detail. Part III describes applications in numerous areas outside of direct infeasibility analysis such as finding decision trees for data classification, analyzing protein folding, radiation treatment planning, automated test assembly, etc. A main goal of the book is to impart an understanding of the methods so that practitioners can make immediate use of existing algorithms and software, and so that researchers can extend the state of the art and find new applications. The book is of interest to researchers, students, and practitioners across the applied sciences who are working on optimization problems. The ACM Portal is published by the Association for Computing Machinery. Copyright © 2010 ACM, Inc. Terms of Usage Privacy Policy Code of Ethics Contact Us Useful downloads: Adobe Acrobat QuickTime Windows Media Player Real Player
Calendrical Calculations, 3rd edition
Authors: Nachum Dershowitz, Edward M. Reingold
Venue:  (2007)

A valuable resource for working programmers, as well as a fount of useful algorithmic tools for computer scientists, this new edition of the popular calendars book expands the treatment of the previous edition to new calendar variants: generic cyclical calendars and astronomical lunar calendars as well as the Korean, Vietnamese, Aztec, and Tibetan calendars. The authors frame the calendars of the world in a completely algorithmic form, allowing easy conversion among these calendars and the determination of secular and religious holidays. LISP code for all the algorithms are available on the Web.
Adaptive Reorientation of Cardiac Myofibers: Comparison of Left Ventricular Shear in Model and Experiment
Authors: Wilco Kroon, Tammo Delhaas, Peter Bovendeerd, Theo Arts
Venue: Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Functional Imaging and Modeling of the Heart (2009)

Mechanical load plays an important role in cardiac growth and remodeling. In a previous mathematical model study the hypothesis was tested that fiber cross-fiber shear acts as a stimulus for remodeling of the pattern of myofiber orientations [7]. It was found that reorientation in response to fiber cross-fiber shear yielded realistic longitudinal and transmural components of myofiber orientation. In this study, we investigated whether circumferential-radial shear, as determined experimentally with magnetic resonance tagging, can be reproduced in the model as well. Our results show that after myofiber reorientation differences in circumferential-radial shear between model and experiment were reduced significantly. However, a complete match could not be obtained through shear-induced myofiber reorientation alone.
Derivation of Knowledge Structures for Distributed Learning Objects
Authors: Luca Stefanutti, Dietrich Albert, Cord Hockemeyer
Venue: Proceeding of the 2005 conference on Towards the Learning Grid: Advances in Human Learning Services (2005)

Knowledge space theory [1--3] offers a rigorous and efficient formal framework for the construction, validation, and application of e-assessment and e-learning adaptive systems. This theory is the basis for some existing e-learning and e-assessment adaptive systems in the U.S. and in Europe. Such systems are based on a fixed and local domain of knowledge, where fixed means that the domain does not change in time, and local refers to the fact that the items are stored and available locally. In this paper we present some theoretical notes on the efficient construction and application of knowledge spaces for knowledge domains that are both dynamic and distributed in space. This goes in the direction of an exploitation of new technologies like the GRID for building the next generation of learning environments.
Scanning Negatives and Slides: Digitizing Your Photographic Archives, 2nd edition
Authors: Sascha Steinhoff
Venue:  (2009)

Many photographers have either moved into digital photography exclusively or use both analog and digital media in their work. In either case, there is sure to be an archive of slides and negatives that cannot be directly integrated into the new digital workflow, nor can it be archived in a digital format. Increasingly, photographers are trying to bridge this gap with the use of high-performance film scanners. In this 2nd edition, you will learn how to achieve the best possible digital image from a negative or a slide, and how to build a workflow to make this process efficient, repeatable, and reliable. The author uses Nikon's film scanners, but all steps can easily be accomplished while using a different scanner. The most common software tools for scanning (SilverFast, VueScan, NikonScan) are not only covered extensively in the book, but are also provided on a DVD, which also contains other useful tools for image editing, as well as numerous sample scans.
Decentralization, Autonomy, and Participation in Multi-User/Agent Environments
Authors: Julita Vassileva
Venue: Proceeding of the 2007 conference on Supporting Learning Flow through Integrative Technologies (2007)

This talk will discuss the main features of social computing (Web 2.0) applications and the resulting tendencies in the design of social learning environments. The main features of Web 2.0 applications are the decentralization of resources, repositories, and control; the autonomy of learners, contributors (authors), and learning organizations; and the need for active participation --the necessary “glue” to make it all work. The power of social computing applications depends on the number of users and active contributors. In a large scale open environment, the autonomy of learners and authors/course developers is a given and nobody can force anyone to use a particular system. Ease of use, power, and respect for the user autonomy are important features in attracting learners and developers of educational software or learning materials. The need for autonomy powers a move towards service-oriented or agent-based architectures with clear protocols and languages for interaction between services or agents. Such architectures allow for redundancy and dynamic connection of new functionality or people. The question about ensuring shared meaning is very important. Dictatorial approaches, however, are unlikely to work in an open environment with autonomous participants. To be viable, a standard has to be simple, usable, rich and easily extensible. User modeling focus shifts from centralized servers to a libraries of decentralized processes carried out by individual agents or services in context, for the purpose at hand and expressed as policies that can be edited by users. Along with modeling learner features relevant to the domain of interest (e.g. knowledge, experience, affective features), modeling trust and reputation becomes very important to allow appropriate selection of services, and protect the integrity and privacy of user data. Instructional planning focus shifts to the design of incentive mechanisms to stimulate participation. Various such mechanisms have proved successful in attracting participation of desired type --social comparison, visualizing interpersonal relationships, immediate rewards after desirable actions, and even introducing a virtual currency. I will illustrate all these tendencies with research I have done with my students and colleagues at the University of Saskatchewan.
Coupled evolutionary shape optimization and reverse engineering in rapid product design and prototyping
Authors: Damir Vučina, Željan Lozina, Igor Pehnec
Venue: Proceedings of the 10th WSEAS international conference on evolutionary computing (2009)

Product development in highly competitive times frequently implies very short time-to-market deadlines and product designs that need to deliver high performance at low investment and operation costs. These conflicting objectives can sometimes be accomplished by starting from existing designs and optimizing for better performance defined by some set of excellence criteria. This paper develops a systematic procedure that starts by using a 3D scan of the existing design, defines an efficient shape parameterization for the part of the object that shall be redesigned, and develops an evolutionary shape optimization model. This is accompanied by developing a numerical workflow to handle this demanding process and an implementation that provides solutions in reasonable computer time. The workflow is developed based on existing specialized applications for geometric modeling, numerical analysis, finite-element simulations, and optimization, and therefore makes a rather heterogeneous system. It uses and runs different applications on the 'as-needed' basis and provides for corresponding synchronization and data mining. The procedure is in this paper applied to the optimum design of 2D airfoils for wind-turbine blades.
Aspects regarding the length of typical trails in a web site
Authors: Nicoleta David
Venue: Proceedings of the 10th WSEAS international conference on Mathematical methods, computational techniques and intelligent systems (2008)

Web usage mining is defined as the application of data mining techniques to discover user web navigation patterns in web log data. The navigation patterns offer an insight about the behavior of the users during the navigation on a web site. In this paper we define the typical trails in a web site and we give an estimation of the length of the typical trails using the Asymptotic Equipartition Property.
Model Driven Engineering and Ontology Development, 2nd edition
Authors: Dragan Gasevic, Dragan Djuric, Vladan Devedzic
Venue:  (2009)

Defining a formal domain ontology is generally considered a useful, not to say necessary step in almost every software project. This is because software deals with ideas rather than with self-evident physical artefacts. However, this development step is hardly ever done, as ontologies rely on well-defined and semantically powerful AI concepts such as description logics or rule-based systems, and most software engineers are largely unfamiliar with these. Gaevic and his co-authors try to fill this gap by covering the subject of MDA application for ontology development on the Semantic Web. Part I of their book describes existing technologies, tools, and standards like XML, RDF, OWL, MDA, and UML. Part II presents the first detailed description of OMGs new ODM (Ontology Definition Metamodel) initiative, a specification which is expected to be in the form of an OMG language like UML. Finally, Part III is dedicated to applications and practical aspects of developing ontologies using MDA-based languages. The book is supported by a website showing many ontologies, UML and other MDA-based models, and the transformations between them. "The book is equally suited to those who merely want to be informed of the relevant technological landscape, to practitioners dealing with concrete problems, and to researchers seeking pointers to potentially fruitful areas of research. The writing is technical yet clear and accessible, illustrated throughout with useful and easily digestible examples." from the Foreword by Bran Selic, IBM Rational Software, Canada. "I do not know another book that offers such a high quality insight into UML and ontologies." Steffen Staab, U Koblenz, Germany