Application of unified methodical approach to online planning of target operation of satellite monitoring and communication systems

A unified methodical approach to online planning of target operation of satellite monitoring and communication systems is considered. Based on the general principles of formal representation of optimization problems of online planning for such systems and the methods and algorithms proposed for their solution, the generalized mathematical statement of the problem of online planning is presented, and the main stages of application of this methodical approach to its solution are unified; the approach is of practical interest both for monitoring and communication systems. The application of the methodical approach is demonstrated using the examples of planning the controlled process of target operation of multisatellite systems: for monitoring of fire-risky region by low-orbit satellites of the project China-Brazil Earth Remote Satellite (CBERS) and for speech transmission via mobile channels in low-orbit global systems of personal satellite communication of the projects “Koskon” and “Iridium”.     

Water resource quality monitoring using heterogeneous data and high-performance computations

This article presents the architecture of a system that is used for regional water resource quality monitoring of environmental parameters using heterogeneous data sources such as remote sensing data, model data, and data of in-situ observations. The system’s architecture and components are developed that are reusable and can be applied to solving various monitoring problems. The monitoring of the aquatic environment of the Dnieper estuary is selected as an example of such a problem. The distinctive features of this system consist of using a Grid approach to the distribution of complex computations and also the realization of computationally complicated computations on supercomputers of the SKIT family. Typical components of the monitoring system are presented, namely, those of data acquisition, data processing, modeling, and result representation. The development of the described monitoring system is partially supported by the UNTTs-NANU grant “Development of efficient Grid technologies of ecological monitoring on the basis of satellite data” (project No. 3872) and also joint INTAS-CNES-NSAU grant No. 06-1000024-9154 “Data Fusion Grid Infrastructure.” __________ Translated from Kibernetika i Sistemnyi Analiz, No. 4, pp. 179–188, July–August 2008.     

Prediction of compressive and tensile strength of Gaziantep basalts via neural networks and gene expression programming

In this paper, two soft computing approaches, which are known as artificial neural networks and Gene Expression Programming (GEP) are used in strength prediction of basalts which are collected from Gaziantep region in Turkey. The collected basalts samples are tested in the geotechnical engineering laboratory of the University of Gaziantep. The parameters, “ultrasound pulse velocity”, “water absorption”, “dry density”, “saturated density”, and “bulk density” which are experimentally determined based on the procedures given in ISRM (Rock characterisation testing and monitoring. Pergamon Press, Oxford, 1981) are used to predict “uniaxial compressive strength” and “tensile strength” of Gaziantep basalts. It is found out that neural networks are quite effective in comparison to GEP and classical regression analyses in predicting the strength of the basalts. The results obtained are also useful in characterizing the Gaziantep basalts for practical applications.     

ISO/IEC standardization of identity management and privacy technologies

To cover projects in the area of identity management, privacy, and biometrics ISO/IEC JTC 1/ SC 27 “IT Security techniques” in 2006 established Working Group 5 “Identity Management and Privacy Technologies”. This text describes the reasoning to have this Working Group within SC 27 and introduces WG 5 and its projects.     

Quantifiable data mining using ratio rules

Association Rule Mining algorithms operate on a data matrix (e.g., customers products) to derive association rules [AIS93b, SA96]. We propose a new paradigm, namely, Ratio Rules, which are quantifiable in that we can measure the “goodness” of a set of discovered rules. We also propose the “guessing error” as a measure of the “goodness”, that is, the root-mean-square error of the reconstructed values of the cells of the given matrix, when we pretend that they are unknown. Another contribution is a novel method to guess missing/hidden values from the Ratio Rules that our method derives. For example, if somebody bought $10 of milk and $3 of bread, our rules can “guess” the amount spent on butter. Thus, unlike association rules, Ratio Rules can perform a variety of important tasks such as forecasting, answering “what-if” scenarios, detecting outliers, and visualizing the data. Moreover, we show that we can compute Ratio Rules in a single pass over the data set with small memory requirements (a few small matrices), in contrast to association rule mining methods which require multiple passes and/or large memory. Experiments on several real data sets (e.g., basketball and baseball statistics, biological data) demonstrate that the proposed method: (a) leads to rules that make sense; (b) can find large itemsets in binary matrices, even in the presence of noise; and (c) consistently achieves a “guessing error” of up to 5 times less than using straightforward column averages. Received: March 15, 1999 / Accepted: November 1, 1999     

On the uni- and bimodality of a two-component Gaussian mixture

Several sufficient conditions are formulated for the uni- and bimodality of a mixture of two Gaussian distributions with equal variances σ² and different expectation values μ _i , i = 1, 2. An equation governing all the degenerate critical inflection points for the probability density f(x) of the mixture is derived by a statistical method. This equation describes the boundary of the uni- and bimodality domains of f(x). Nina Nikolaevna Aprausheva was born in 1940. Graduated from the Moscow State University (Department of Mechanics and Mathematics) in 1966. In 1982, defended the Cand. Sci. thesis “On the Application of Mixtures of Normal Distributions in Pattern Recognition.” Senior scientist at Dorodnicyn Computing Center, Russian Academy of Sciences. Scientific interests: mathematical statistics, computational mathematics, mathematical methods in pattern recognition, and decision theory (about 75 publications). Member of Association of Pattern Recognition and Association of. “Women in science and education.” N.N. Aprausheva’s publications have been awarded several prizes at the scientific publications contests in Computing Center of Russian Academy of Sciences. Stanislav Viktorovich Sorokin was born in 1947. Graduated from Moscow State University (Department of Computational Mathematics and Cybernetics) in 1971. Programmer at Dorodnicyn Computing Center, Russian Academy of Sciences. Scientific interests: computational mathematics, system programming, and pattern recognition (20 publications).     

SpaceGlue: linking spaces for adaptive service location

We describe a mechanism called SpaceGlue for adaptively locating services based on the preferences and locations of users in a distributed and dynamic network environment. In SpaceGlue, services are bound to physical locations, and a mobile user accesses local services depending on the current space he/she is visiting. SpaceGlue dynamically identifies the relationships between different spaces and links or “glues” spaces together depending on how previous users moved among them and used those services. Once spaces have been glued, users receive a recommendation of remote services (i.e., services provided in a remote space) reflecting the preferences of the crowd of users visiting the area. The strengths of bonds are implicitly evaluated by users and adjusted by the system on the basis of their evaluation. SpaceGlue is an alternative to existing schemes such as data mining and recommendation systems and it is suitable for distributed and dynamic environments. The bonding algorithm for SpaceGlue incrementally computes the relationships or “bonds” between different spaces in a distributed way. We implemented SpaceGlue using a distributed network application platform Ja-Net and evaluated it by simulation to show that it adaptively locates services reflecting trends in user preferences. By using “Mutual Information (MI)” and “F-measure” as measures to indicate the level of such trends and the accuracy of service recommendation, the simulation results showed that (1) in SpaceGlue, the F-measure increases depending on the level of MI (i.e., the more significant the trends, the greater the F-measure values), (2) SpaceGlue achives better precision and F-measure than “Flooding case (i.e., every service information is broadcast to everybody)” and “No glue case” by narrowing appropriate partners to send recommendations based on bonds, and (3) SpaceGlue achieves better F-measure with large number of spaces and users than other cases (i.e., “flooding” and “no glue”). Tomoko Itao is an alumna of NTT Network Innovation Laboratories     

Equivalence of regularizations in abstract problems with different classes of admissible controls

Conclusion Theorems 4.1, 4.2 and 6.1, 6.2 respectively admit a natural specialization for the problem of constructing the reachability region of the linear controlled system from Sec. 1. Informally, this specialization has the following form. If the vector functions b(·) and S(·) from Sec. 1 are “not too discontinuous” (admit a uniform approximation by piecewise-constant and right-continuous maps on [t₀, v_oD, then, given a common resource constraintc, the controlled analogues of reachability regions are identical for the class of controls with an integral constraint (on the total pulse) and the class of “pure pulse” shock controls, whereas the “ordinary” reachability regions corresponding to unperturbed conditions (see, e.g., they− constraint in (1.2)) may be different. This is illustrated by the examples of Sees. 1, 5. The regularized version of the problem of constructing the reachability region of a linear system is thus insensitive to a change of the class of admissible controls. The study was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (94-01-00350). Translated from Kibernetika i Sistemnyi Analiz, No. 3, pp. 3–17, May–June, 1998.     

Passive-state generation mechanisms and stabilization of dynamic systems

Conclusion In the models of passive-state formation considered above we have assumed for simplicity constant control parameters. In reality, the control parameters are functions of time, environmental factors, and the values of the “active” variables [7, 8]. These functions are “reasonably” constructed: under “bad” conditions the variables shift to a passive state, and when “good” conditions are restored, the variables switch back to active state. It is relevant to develop and analyze the corresponding model circuits. Here we can expect to observe even stronger stabilization effects in the behavior of complex systems. In conclusion, I would like to thank an anonymous referee for useful comments. The study is financed by the Russian Foundation of Basic Research. Translated from Kibernetika i Sistemnyi Analiz, No. 6, pp. 103–112, November–December, 1995.     

Habits make smartphone use more pervasive

Examining several sources of data on smartphone use, this paper presents evidence for the popular conjecture that mobile devices are “habit-forming.” The form of habits we identified is called a checking habit: brief, repetitive inspection of dynamic content quickly accessible on the device. We describe findings on kinds and frequencies of checking behaviors in three studies. We found that checking habits occasionally spur users to do other things with the device and may increase usage overall. Data from a controlled field experiment show that checking behaviors emerge and are reinforced by informational “rewards” that are very quickly accessible. Qualitative data suggest that although repetitive habitual use is frequent, it is experienced more as an annoyance than an addiction. We conclude that supporting habit-formation is an opportunity for making smartphones more “personal” and “pervasive.”     

Crypt-equivalent algebraic specifications

Summary Equivalence is a fundamental notion for the semantic analysis of algebraic specifications. In this paper the notion of “crypt-equivalence” is introduced and studied w.r.t. two “loose” approaches to the semantics of an algebraic specificationT: the class of all first-order models ofT and the class of all term-generated models ofT. Two specifications are called crypt-equivalent if for one specification there exists a predicate logic formula which implicitly defines an expansion (by new functions) of every model of that specification in such a way that the expansion (after forgetting unnecessary functions) is homologous to a model of the other specification, and if vice versa there exists another predicate logic formula with the same properties for the other specification. We speak of “first-order crypt-equivalence” if this holds for all first-order models, and of “inductive crypt-equivalence” if this holds for all term-generated models. Characterizations and structural properties of these notions are studied. In particular, it is shown that firstorder crypt-equivalence is equivalent to the existence of explicit definitions and that in case of “positive definability” two first-order crypt-equivalent specifications admit the same categories of models and homomorphisms. Similarly, two specifications which are inductively crypt-equivalent via sufficiently complete implicit definitions determine the same associated categories. Moreover, crypt-equivalence is compared with other notions of equivalence for algebraic specifications: in particular, it is shown that first-order cryptequivalence is strictly coarser than “abstract semantic equivalence” and that inductive crypt-equivalence is strictly finer than “inductive simulation equivalence” and “implementation equivalence”.     

Application of pattern recognition methods in electropuncture diagnostics for assessment of neuropsychic state

The logical and statistical methods of pattern recognition and data analysis are applied for studying the capability of electropuncture diagnostics for the estimation of the neuropsychic states (stress) of school children during an examination period. This work was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (the research program “Basic Sciences for Medicine”) and INTAS, project nos. 00-626 and 00-397.     

卫星遥感海冰监测技术在河北省近海海域的应用

卫星遥感技术已成为海冰监测的重要技术手段之一。介绍了应用EOS系列卫星、HY-1B卫星和HJ-1A/B卫星等遥感数据提取河北省近海海域海冰分布、海冰类型、海冰厚度等海冰信息的方法。重点研究了应用HJ-1A/B卫星遥感数据进行海冰分类,及根据海冰类型与厚度的对应关系估算海冰厚度的方法,并以2013年1月17日的卫星遥感数据为例,提取海冰信息,制作相关海冰专题产品。结果表明:利用多种卫星遥感数据进行海冰监测,既可相互补充又能提高监测效率和准确率,制作更精细化的海冰监测产品,为河北海洋管理部门制定防灾减灾措施提供重要依据。     

Process mining: a two-step approach to balance between underfitting and overfitting

Process mining includes the automated discovery of processes from event logs. Based on observed events (e.g., activities being executed or messages being exchanged) a process model is constructed. One of the essential problems in process mining is that one cannot assume to have seen all possible behavior. At best, one has seen a representative subset. Therefore, classical synthesis techniques are not suitable as they aim at finding a model that is able to exactly reproduce the log. Existing process mining techniques try to avoid such “overfitting” by generalizing the model to allow for more behavior. This generalization is often driven by the representation language and very crude assumptions about completeness. As a result, parts of the model are “overfitting” (allow only for what has actually been observed) while other parts may be “underfitting” (allow for much more behavior without strong support for it). None of the existing techniques enables the user to control the balance between “overfitting” and “underfitting”. To address this, we propose a two-step approach. First, using a configurable approach, a transition system is constructed. Then, using the “theory of regions”, the model is synthesized. The approach has been implemented in the context of ProM and overcomes many of the limitations of traditional approaches.     

An anytime revision operator for large and uncertain geographic data sets

 The environmental data are in general imprecise and uncertain, but they are located in space and therefore obey to spatial constraints. The “spatial analysis” is a (natural) reasoning process through which geographers take advantage of these constraints to reduce this uncertainty and to improve their beliefs. Trying to automate this process is a really hard problem. We propose here the design of a revision operator able to perform a spatial analysis in the context of one particular “application profile”: it identifies objects bearing a same variable bound through local constraints. The formal background, on which this operator is built, is a decision algorithm from Reiter [9]; then the heuristics, which help this algorithm to become tractable on a true scale application, are special patterns for clauses and “spatial confinement” of conflicts. This operator is “anytime”, because it uses “samples” and works on small (tractable) blocks, it reaggregates the partial revision results on larger blocks, thus we name it a “hierarchical block revision” operator. Finally we illustrate a particular application: a flooding propagation. Of course this is among possible approaches of “soft-computing” for geographic applications. On leave at: Centre de Recherche en Géomatique Pavillon Casault, Université Laval Québec, Qc, Canada – G1K 7P4 Université de Toulon et du Var, Avenue de l'Université, BP 132, 83957 La Garde Cedex, France This work is currently supported by the European Community under the IST-1999-14189 project.     

Detecting global predicates in distributed systems with clocks

Summary. This paper proposes a framework for detecting global state predicates in systems of processes with approximately-synchronized real-time clocks. Timestamps from these clocks are used to define two orderings on events: “definitely occurred before” and “possibly occurred before”. These orderings lead naturally to definitions of 3 distinct detection modalities, i.e., 3 meanings of “predicate held during a computation”, namely: (“ possibly held”), (“ definitely held”), and (“ definitely held in a specific global state”). This paper defines these modalities and gives efficient algorithms for detecting them. The algorithms are based on algorithms of Garg and Waldecker, Alagar and Venkatesan, Cooper and Marzullo, and Fromentin and Raynal. Complexity analysis shows that under reasonable assumptions, these real-time-clock-based detection algorithms are less expensive than detection algorithms based on Lamport's happened-before ordering. Sample applications are given to illustrate the benefits of this approach. Received: January 1999 / Accepted: November 1999     

Academician Andrey Mikaelian — the founder of waveguide ferrite technology

The full Member of Russian Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Engineering, Professor, laureate of Lenin prize, State prize of the Russian Federation, State prize of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic and Lomonosov prize, the chevalier of SPIE Gold Medal (the higher award of the International Society for Optical Engineering), A.S. Popov Gold Medal of the Russian Academy of Sciences-such was the incomplete list of regalia and awards of A.L. Mikaelian, the Chief scientist of JSC “Radio Engineering Corporation “Vega”.     

Elements of the information technology of cytological specimen analysis: Taxonomy and factor analysis

The automated software system “Black Square,” Version 1.2 is described. The system is intended for the automation of image processing, analysis, and recognition. It is an open system for generating new knowledge: objects, algorithms of image processing, recognition procedures originally not intended for image processing, and methods for solving applied problems. The system combines the features of information retrieval, reference, training, and computing systems. This work was partially supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, project nos. 03-07-90406, 05-04-49846, and 05-07-08000; by the INTAS grant no. 04-77-7067; by the Cooperative grant “Image Analysis and Synthesis: Theoretical Foundations and Prototypical Applications in Medical Imaging” within agreement between Italian National Research Council and Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS); by the grant of the RAS in the framework of the Program “Fundamental Science to Medicine.” An erratum to this article is available at .     

Numerical simulation of an electrical explosion of thin aluminum wires

Numerical simulation of an electrical explosion of a thin aluminum wire is carried out in the investigation of the dynamics of forming the core-corona structure and redistribution of current over a discharge channel. The parameters of the aluminum wire (l = 12 mm in length and d = 25 μm in diameter) and of the current pulse (I = 10 kA is the peak value and dI/dt ∼ 50 A/ns is the current rise rate) correspond to the data of the experiment, conducted in Lebedev Physics Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences (LPI RAS). Several series of the calculations in the framework of radiative magnetic hydrodynamics (RMHD), both with regard to radiation and not in regard to it, as well as the calculations from the “cold start,” with regard to the phase transitions and the possibility of implementation of metastable states, are carried out. The obtained results are compared with the experimental data.