Personalized Course Navigation Based on Grey Relational Analysis

Web personalization has quickly changed from a value-added facility to a service required in presenting large quantities of information because individual users of the Internet have various needs and preferences in seeking information. This paper presents a novel personalized recommendation system with online preference analysis in a distance learning environment called Coursebot. Users can both browse and search for course materials by using the interface of Coursebot. Moreover, the proposed system includes appropriate course materials ranked according to a users interests. In this work, an analysis measure is proposed to combine typical grey relational analysis and implicit rating, and thus a users interests are calculated from the content of documents and the users browsing behavior. This algorithms low computational complexity and ease of adding knowledge support online personalized analysis. In addition, the user profiles are dynamically revised to provide efficiently personalized information that reflects a users interests after each page is visited.     

On characterizations of recursively enumerable languages

Summary Geffert has shown that earch recursively enumerable languageL over can be expressed in the formL{h(x) ^–1 g(x)x in ⁺} ^* where is an alphabet andg, h is a pair of morphisms. Our purpose is to give a simple proof for Geffert's result and then sharpen it into the form where both of the morphisms are nonerasing. In our method we modify constructions used in a representation of recursively enumerable languages in terms of equality sets and in a characterization of simple transducers in terms of morphisms. As direct consequences, we get the undecidability of the Post correspondence problem and various representations ofL. For instance,L =(L ₀) ^* whereL ₀ is a minimal linear language and is the Dyck reductiona, A.     

Logical Comparison of Inconsistent Perspectives using Scoring Functions

The language for describing inconsistency is underdeveloped. If a database (a set of formulae) is inconsistent, there is usually no qualification of that inconsistency. Yet, it would seem useful to be able to say how inconsistent a database is, or to say whether one database is more inconsistent than another database. In this paper, we provide a more general characterization of inconsistency in terms of a scoring function for each database . A scoring function S is from the power set of into the natural numbers defined so that S() gives the number of minimally inconsistent subsets of that would be eliminated if the subset was removed from . This characterization offers an expressive and succinct means for articulating, in general terms, the nature of inconsistency in a set of formulae. We then compare databases using their scoring functions. This gives an intuitive ordering relation over databases that we can describe as more inconsistent than. These techniques are potentially useful in a wide range of problems including monitoring progress in negotiations between a number of participants, and in comparing heterogeneous sources of information.     

On structured perturbations for two classes of linear infinite-dimensional systems

This paper considers two classes of infinite-dimensional systems described by an abstract differential equationx (t) = (A + BC)x(t),x(0) =x ₀, on a Hilbert space, whereA, B, C are linear, possibly unbounded operators and is an unknown, linear, bounded perturbation. The two classes of systems are defined in terms of properties imposed on the triple (A, B, C). It is proved that for every the perturbed system (A + EF, B, C) inherits all the properties of the unperturbed system {A, B, C}) if (A, E, F) and {A, B, F} are in the same class.     

A New Metric for Grey-Scale Image Comparison

Error measures can be used to numerically assess the differences between two images. Much work has been done on binary error measures, but little on objective metrics for grey-scale images. In our discussion here we introduce a new grey-scale measure, ^g, aiming to improve upon the most common grey-scale error measure, the root-mean-square error. Our new measure is an extension of the authors' recently developed binary error measure, ^b, not only in structure, but also having both a theoretical and intuitive basis. We consider the similarities between ^b and ^g when tested in practice on binary images, and present results comparing ^g to the root-mean-squared error and the Sobolev norm for various binary and grey-scale images. There are no previous examples where the last of these measures, the Sobolev norm, has been implemented for this purpose.     

Unification in partially commutative semigroups

Unification algorithms have been constructed for semigroups and commutative semigroups. This paper considers the intermediate case of partially commutative semigroups. We introduce classesN and of such semigroups and justify their use. We present an equation-solving algorithm for any member of the classN. This algorithm is relative to having an algorithm to determine all non-negative solutions of a certain class of diophantine equations of degree 2 which we call -equations. The difficulties arising when attempting to solve equations in members of the class are discussed, and we present arguments that strongly suggest that unification in these semigroups is undecidable.     

Design sensitivity analysis and optimization of nonlinear dynamic response for a motorcycle driving on a half-sine bump road

This paper analyses the design sensitivity of a suspension system with material and geometric nonlinearities for a motorcycle structure. The main procedures include nonlinear structural analysis, formulation of the problem with nonlinear dynamic response, design sensitivity analysis, and optimization. The incremental finite element method is used in structural analysis. The stiffness and damping parameters of the suspension system are considered as design variables. The maximum amplitude of nonlinear transient response at the seat is taken as the objective function during the optimization simulation. A more realistic finite element model for the motorcycle structure with elasto-damping elements of different material models is presented. A comparison is made of the optimum designs with and without geometric nonlinear response and is discussed.Nomenclature A amplitude of the excitation function - a ₀,a ₁ time integration constants for the Newmark method - ^t+t C _s secant viscous damping matrix at timet+t - ^t C _T tangent viscous damping matrix at timet - C linear part of ^t C _T - D _i ⁰ initial value of thei-th design variable - D _i instanenous value of thei-th design variables - ^t+t F^(t–1) total internal force vector at the end of iteration (i–1) and timet+t - ^t+t F _(NL) ^(i–1) nonlinear part of ^t+t F^(i–1) - f frequency of the excitation function - ^t+t K _s secant stiffness matrix at timet+t - ^t K _T tangent stiffness matrix at timet - K linear part of ^t K _T - effective stiffness matrix at timet - L distance between the wheel centres - M constant mass matrix - m _T number of solution time steps - NC number of constraint equations - Q nonlinear dynamic equilibrium equation of the structural system - ^t+t R external applied load vector at timet+t - t _e active time interval for the excitation function - ^t U displacement vector of the finite element assemblage at timet - velocity of the finite element assemblage at timet - ^t Ü acceleration vector of the finite element assemblage at timet - ^t+t U ⁽ⁱ⁾ displacement vector of the finite element assemblage at the end of iterationi and timet+t - velocity vector of the finite element assemblage at the end of iterationi and timet+t - ^t+t Ü⁽ⁱ⁾ acceleration vector of the finite element assemblage at the end of iterationi and timet+t - U ⁽ⁱ⁾ vector of displacement increments from the end of iteration (i–1) to the end of iterationi at timet+t - V driving speed of motorcycle - x vector of design variable - () quantities of variation - ₀ objective function - _i i-th constraint equation     

Property preserving abstractions for the verification of concurrent systems

We study property preserving transformations for reactive systems. The main idea is the use of simulations parameterized by Galois connections (, ), relating the lattices of properties of two systems. We propose and study a notion of preservation of properties expressed by formulas of a logic, by a function mapping sets of states of a systemS into sets of states of a systemS'. We give results on the preservation of properties expressed in sublanguages of the branching time -calculus when two systemsS andS' are related via (, )-simulations. They can be used to verify a property for a system by verifying the same property on a simpler system which is an abstraction of it. We show also under which conditions abstraction of concurrent systems can be computed from the abstraction of their components. This allows a compositional application of the proposed verification method.This is a revised version of the papers [2] and [16]; the results are fully developed in [28].This work was partially supported by ESPRIT Basic Research Action REACT.Verimag is a joint laboratory of CNRS, Institut National Polytechnique de Grenoble, Université J. Fourier and Verilog SA associated with IMAG.     

Shape optimization of elasto-plastic bodies under plane strains: Sensitivity analysis and numerical implementation

Optimal shape design problems for an elastic body made from physically nonlinear material are presented. Sensitivity analysis is done by differentiating the discrete equations of equilibrium. Numerical examples are included.Notation U ^ad set of admissible continuous design parameters - U _h ^ad set of admissible discrete design parameters - function fromU _h ^ad defining shape of body - _h function fromU _h ^ad defining approximated shape of body - vector of nodal values of _h - { _n} sequence of functions tending to - () domain defined by - K bulk modulus - shear modulus - penalty parameter for contact condition - V() space of virtual displacements in() - V _h(_h) finite element approximation ofV() - J cost functional - J _h discretized cost functional - J algebraic form ofJ _h - (u) stress tensor - e(u) strain tensor - K stiffness matrix - f force vector - b(q) term arising from nonlinear boundary conditions - q vector of nodal degrees of freedom - p vector of adjoint state variables - J Jacobian of isoparametric mapping - |J| determinant ofJ - N vector of shape function values on parent element - L matrix of shape function derivatives on parent element - G matrix of Cartesian derivatives of shape functions - X matrix of nodal coordinates of element - D matrix of elastic coefficients - B strain-displacement matrix - _P part of boundary where tractions are prescribed - _u part of boundary where displacements are prescribed - variable part of boundary - strain invariant     

Complexity classes and theories of finite models

LetL ^* be accepted in timef(n) by a nondeterministic Turing machine. Then there is a monadic existential second-order sentence in the language of + such that for everyx^*,xL if and only if a certain structureU _x ^f of cardinalityf(|x|) satisfies . It follows that ifL is accepted in nondeterministic timen ^d, d a natural number, then there is a sentence whose relational symbols ared-ary or less, whose finite spectrum isL. This research was partially supported by NSF Grants MCS78-01832 and MCS-8002695.     

On improving the accuracy of the Hough transform

The subject of this paper is very high precision parameter estimation using the Hough transform. We identify various problems that adversely affect the accuracy of the Hough transform and propose a new, high accuracy method that consists of smoothing the Hough arrayH(, ) prior to finding its peak location and interpolating about this peak to find a final sub-bucket peak. We also investigate the effect of the quantizations and ofH(, ) on the final accuracy. We consider in detail the case of finding the parameters of a straight line. Using extensive simulation and a number of experiments on calibrated targets, we compare the accuracy of the method with results from the standard Hough transform method of taking the quantized peak coordinates, with results from taking the centroid about the peak, and with results from least squares fitting. The largest set of simulations cover a range of line lengths and Gaussian zero-mean noise distributions. This noise model is ideally suited to the least squares method, and yet the results from the method compare favorably. Compared to the centroid or to standard Hough estimates, the results are significantly better—for the standard Hough estimates by a factor of 3 to 10. In addition, the simulations show that as and are increased (i.e., made coarser), the sub-bucket interpolation maintains a high level of accuracy. Experiments using real images are also described, and in these the new method has errors smaller by a factor of 3 or more compared to the standard Hough estimates.     

Neuro-fuzzy approach for development of new neuron model

The training time of ANN depends on size of ANN (i.e. number of hidden layers and number of neurons in each layer), size of training data, their normalization range and type of mapping of training patterns (like X–Y, X–Y, X–Y and X–Y), error functions and learning algorithms. The efforts have been done in past to reduce training time of ANN by selection of an optimal network and modification in learning algorithms. In this paper, an attempt has been made to develop a new neuron model using neuro-fuzzy approach to overcome the problems of ANN incorporating the features of fuzzy systems at a neuron level. Fuzzifying the neuron structure, which incorporates the features of simple neuron as well as high order neuron, has used this synergetic approach.     

Designing broadcasting algorithms in the postal model for message-passing systems

In many distributed-memory parallel computers and high-speed communication networks, the exact structure of the underlying communication network may be ignored. These systems assume that the network creates a complete communication graph between the processors, in which passing messages is associated with communication latencies. In this paper we explore the impact of communication latencies on the design of broadcasting algorithms for fully connected message-passing systems. For this purpose, we introduce thepostal model that incorporates a communication latency parameter 1. This parameter measures the inverse of the ratio between the time it takes an originator of a message to send the message and the time that passes until the recipient of the message receives it. We present an optimal algorithm for broadcasting one message in systems withn processors and communication latency , the running time of which is (( logn)/log( + 1)). For broadcastingm 1 messages, we first examine several generalizations of the algorithm for broadcasting one message and then analyze a family of broadcasting algorithms based on degree-d trees. All the algorithms described in this paper are practical event-driven algorithms that preserve the order of messages.     

An Experimental Analysis of Simple, Distributed Vertex Coloring Algorithms

We perform an extensive experimental evaluation of very simple, distributed, randomized algorithms for ( + 1) and so-called Brooks–Vizing vertex colorings, i.e., colorings using considerably fewer than colors (here denotes the maximum degree of the graph). We consider variants of algorithms known from the literature, boosting them with a distributed independent set computation. Our study clearly determines the relative performance of the algorithms with respect to the number of communication rounds and the number of colors. The results are confirmed by all the experiments and instance families. The empirical evidence shows that some algorithms use very few rounds and are rather effective, thus being amenable to be used in practice.     

Convergence of MUSCL Relaxing Schemes to the Relaxed Schemes for Conservation Laws with Stiff Source Terms

We consider the convergence and stability property of MUSCL relaxing schemes applied to conservation laws with stiff source terms. The maximum principle for the numerical schemes will be established. It will be also shown that the MUSCL relaxing schemes are uniformly l ¹- and TV-stable in the sense that they are bounded by a constant independent of the relaxation parameter , the Lipschitz constant of the stiff source term and the time step t. The Lipschitz constant of the l ¹ continuity in time for the MUSCL relaxing schemes is shown to be independent of and t. The convergence of the relaxing schemes to the corresponding MUSCL relaxed schemes is then established.     

Unextendible Product Bases and Locally Unconvertible Bound Entangled States

Mutual convertibility of bound entangled states under local quantum operations and classical communication (LOCC) is studied. We focus on states associated with unextendible product bases (UPB) in a system of three qubits. A complete classification of such UPBs is suggested. We prove that for any pair of UPBs S and T the associated bound entangled states _S and _T cannot be converted to each other by LOCC, unless S and T coincide up to local unitaries. More specifically, there exists a finite precision (S,T) > 0 such that for any LOCC protocol mapping _S into a probabilistic ensemble (p, ), the fidelity between _T and any possible final state satisfies F(_T, ) = 1 - (S,T).PACS: 03.65.Bz; 03.67.-a; 89.70+c.     

Classical and Quantum Complexity of the Sturm–Liouville Eigenvalue Problem

We study the approximation of the smallest eigenvalue of a Sturm–Liouville problem in the classical and quantum settings. We consider a univariate Sturm–Liouville eigenvalue problem with a nonnegative function q from the class C² ([0,1]) and study the minimal number n() of function evaluations or queries that are necessary to compute an -approximation of the smallest eigenvalue. We prove that n()=(^–1/2) in the (deterministic) worst case setting, and n()=(^–2/5) in the randomized setting. The quantum setting offers a polynomial speedup with bit queries and an exponential speedup with power queries. Bit queries are similar to the oracle calls used in Grovers algorithm appropriately extended to real valued functions. Power queries are used for a number of problems including phase estimation. They are obtained by considering the propagator of the discretized system at a number of different time moments. They allow us to use powers of the unitary matrix exp((1/2) iM), where M is an n× n matrix obtained from the standard discretization of the Sturm–Liouville differential operator. The quantum implementation of power queries by a number of elementary quantum gates that is polylog in n is an open issue. In particular, we show how to compute an -approximation with probability (3/4) using n()=(^–1/3) bit queries. For power queries, we use the phase estimation algorithm as a basic tool and present the algorithm that solves the problem using n()=(log ^–1) power queries, log ^2–1 quantum operations, and (3/2) log ^–1 quantum bits. We also prove that the minimal number of qubits needed for this problem (regardless of the kind of queries used) is at least roughly (1/2) log ^–1. The lower bound on the number of quantum queries is proven in Bessen (in preparation). We derive a formula that relates the Sturm–Liouville eigenvalue problem to a weighted integration problem. Many computational problems may be recast as this weighted integration problem, which allows us to solve them with a polylog number of power queries. Examples include Grovers search, the approximation of the Boolean mean, NP-complete problems, and many multivariate integration problems. In this paper we only provide the relationship formula. The implications are covered in a forthcoming paper (in preparation).PACS: 03.67.Lx, 02.60.-x.     

On the valuedness of finite transducers

Summary We investigate the valuedness of finite transducers in connection with their inner structure. We show: The valuedness of a finite-valued nondeterministic generalized sequential machine (NGSM) M with n states and output alphabet is at most the maximum of (1-1/#) · (2 ^k ₁ · k ₃ ) ⁿ · n ⁿ ·# ^{n 3 ·k} ₄ / ³ and 1/#·(2 ^k ₂ ·k ₃ ·(1+k ₄ )) ⁿ ·n ⁿ where k ₁6.25 and k ₂11.89 are constants and k ₃1 and k ₄0 are local structural parameters of M. There are two simple criteria which characterize the infinite valuedness of an NGSM. By these criteria, it is decidable in polynomial time whether or not an NGSM is infinite-valued. In both cases, # > 1 and # = 1, the above upper bound for the valuedness is almost optimal. By reduction, all results can be easily generalized to normalized finite transducers.     

Extremal Relations between Additive Loss Functions and the Kolmogorov Complexity

Conditions are presented under which the maximum of the Kolmogorov complexity (algorithmic entropy) K(₁... _N ) is attained, given the cost f( _i ) of a message ₁... _N . Various extremal relations between the message cost and the Kolmogorov complexity are also considered; in particular, the minimization problem for the function f( _i ) – K(₁... _N ) is studied. Here, is a parameter, called the temperature by analogy with thermodynamics. We also study domains of small variation of this function.     

Modelling Asynchrony with a Synchronous Model

The I/O automaton paradigm of Lynch and Tuttle models asynchrony through an interleaving parallel composition. The recognition that such interleaving models in fact can be viewed as special cases of synchronous parallel composition has been very limited. Let be any set of finite-state I/O automata drawing actions from a fixed finite set containing a subset . In this article we establish a translation T : to a class of -automata closed under a synchronous parallel composition, for which T is monotonic with respect to implementation relative to , and linear with respect to composition. Thus, for A¹, ..., A, B¹, ..., B and A = A¹ ... A, B = B¹ ... B, if is the set of actions common to both A and B, then A implements B (in the sense of I/O automata) if and only if the -automaton language containment (T(A¹) ... T(A)) (T(B¹) ... T(B)) obtains, where denotes the interleaving parallel composition on and denotes the synchronous parallel composition on . For the class , we use the L-process model of -automata. This result enables one to verify systems specified by I/O automata through model-checkers such as COSPAN or SMV, that operate on models with synchronous parallel composition. The translation technique generalizes to other interleaving models, although in each case, the translation map must match the specific model.