Membership problems for data dependencies in relational expressions

In relational databases, a query can be formulated in terms of a relational algebra expression using projection, selection, restriction, cross product and union. In this paper, we consider a problem, called the membership problem, of determining whether a given dependency d is valid in a given relational expression E over a given database scheme R that is, whether every instance of the view scheme defined by E satisfies d (assuming that the underlying constraints in R are always satisfied).Consider the case where each relation scheme in R is associated with functional dependencies (FDs) as constraints, and d is an FD. Then the complement of the membership problem is NP-complete. However, if E contains no union, then the membership problem can be solved in polynomial time. Furthermore, if E contains neither a union nor a projection, then we can construct in polynomial time a cover for valid FDs in E, that is, a set of FDs which implies every valid FD in E.Consider the case where each relation scheme in R is associated with multivalued dependencies (MVDs) as well as FDs, and d is an FD or an MVD. Even if E consists of selections and cross products only, the membership problem is NP-hard. However, if E contains no union, and each relation scheme name in R occurs in E at most once, then the membership problem can be solved in polynomial time. As a corollary of this result, it can be determined in polynomial time whether a given FD or MVD is valid in $\text{R}{}_1\text{???R}{}_{\mathrm{s}}$, where R₁,…,R_s are relation schemes with FDs and MVDs, and $\text{R}{}_{\mathrm{i}}\text{?R}{}_{\mathrm{j}}$ is the natural join of R_i and R_j.     

An analysis of multivalued and join dependencies based on the entity-relationship approach

In this paper, we show that multivalued dependencies and join dependencies are not very viable for certain cases of relational database design; they are sometimes difficult to be identified; they are relation sensitive; and we are unable to talk about these types of dependencies without referring to some specific relation. We also show that the entity-relationship approach can be used for relational database design without any of the above mentioned undesirable properties of multivalued dependencies and join dependencies.     

Deciding implication for functional dependencies in complex-value databases

Modern applications increasingly require the storage of data beyond relational structure. The challenge of providing well-founded data models that can handle complex objects such as lists, sets, multisets, unions and references has not been met yet in a completely satisfactory way. The success of such data models will greatly depend on the existence of automated database design techniques that generalise achievements from relational databases. In this paper, we study the implication problem of functional dependencies (FDs) in the presence of records, sets, multisets and lists. Database schemata are defined as nested attributes, database instances as nested relations and FDs are defined in terms of subattributes of the database schema. The expressiveness of FDs deviates fundamentally from previous approaches in different data models including the nested relational data model and XML.     

Parallel generation of permutations on systolic arrays

We present a systolic algorithm to generate all the n! permutations of n given items. The computational model used is a linear systolic array consisting of n identical PEs. This algorithm requires n! time steps to solve this problem. Since any PE is identical and executes the same program, it is suitable for VLSI implementation. The correctness of the algorithm is proved. We also consider the ranking and unranking functions of permutations in this parallel algorithm     

On the implication problem for cardinality constraints and functional dependencies

In database design, integrity constraints are used to express database semantics. They specify the way by that the elements of a database are associated to each other. The implication problem asks whether a given set of constraints entails further constraints. In this paper, we study the finite implication problem for cardinality constraints. Our main result is a complete characterization of closed sets of cardinality constraints. Similar results are obtained for constraint sets containing cardinality constraints, but also key and functional dependencies. Moreover, we construct Armstrong databases for these constraint sets, which are of special interest for example-based deduction in database design.     

On interpreting and inferring propositional formulas of data dependencies in a relational database

This paper concerns generally the satisfaction and the inference problem involving functional and/or multivalued dependencies in a relational database. In particular, two independent aids in solving an inference problem, concerning the logical counterparts of functional as well as multivalued dependencies, are introduced. The first aid is provided by establishing a pair of complementary inequivalence and equivalence theorems between the propositional formula corresponding to the difference, U-X, in set theory and the propositional formula not(X) where U is a relation scheme and X is a subset of U. By applying these theorems, correctness of solving an inference problem is assured. The second aid is the application of a Venn diagram for simplifying a propositional formula involving conjunctions, differences, etc., for solving an inference problem. A guideline for constructing simplified Venn diagrams is also given and discussed.     

Asymptotic properties of keys and functional dependencies in random databases

Practical database applications give the impression that sets of constraints are rather small and that large sets are unusual and are caused by bad design decisions. Theoretical investigations, however, show that minimal constraint sets are potentially very large. Their size can be estimated to be exponential in terms of the number of attributes. The gap between observation in practice and theory results in the rejection of theoretical results. However, practice is related to average cases and is not related to worst cases.

The theory used until now considered the worst-case complexity. This paper aims to develop a theory for the average-case complexity. Several probabilistic models and asymptotics of corresponding probabilities are investigated for random databases formed by independent random tuples with a common discrete distribution. Poisson approximations are studied for the distributions of some characteristics for such databases where the number of tuples is sufficiently large. We intend to prove that the exponential complexity of key sets and sets of functional dependencies is rather unusual and almost all minimal keys in a relation have a length which depends mainly on the size of the relation.     

基于近邻传播聚类和TANE算法的高校数据中函数依赖的发现

针对高校实际数据质量检测过程中数据集存在缺失值以及发现的函数依赖个数较少且不准确的问题,提出了一种结合近邻传播（AP）聚类算法和TANE算法的高校函数依赖发现方法（APTANE）。首先,对数据集中的中文字段进行列剖析,将中文字段值用对应的数值来表示;其次,使用AP聚类算法对数据集中的缺失值进行填补;最后,使用TANE算法从处理好的数据集中自动发现出满足非平凡、最小要求的函数依赖。实验结果表明,在使用AP聚类算法对真实的高校数据集进行修复之后,相比于直接使用函数依赖自动发现算法,发现的函数依赖个数增加到了80个,经过缺失值填补后所发现的函数依赖在表示字段间关联关系时也更加准确,减少了领域专家的工作量,提升了高校数据所拥有数据的质量。     

Empirical evidence for the usefulness of Armstrong relations in the acquisition of meaningful functional dependencies

Armstrong relations satisfy precisely those data dependencies that are implied by a given set of data dependencies. A common perception is that Armstrong relations are useful in the acquisition of data semantics, in particular since errors during the requirements elicitation have the most expensive consequences.     

On single-walk parallelization of the job shop problem solving algorithms

New parallel objective function determination methods for the job shop scheduling problem are proposed in this paper, considering makespan and the sum of jobs execution times criteria, however, the methods proposed can be applied also to another popular objective functions such as jobs tardiness or flow time. Parallel Random Access Machine (PRAM) model is applied for the theoretical analysis of algorithm efficiency. The methods need a fine-grained parallelization, therefore the approach proposed is especially devoted to parallel computing systems with fast shared memory (e.g. GPGPU, General-Purpose computing on Graphics Processing Units).     

Axiomatisations of functional dependencies in the presence of records,lists, sets and multisets

We investigate functional dependencies in databases that support complex values such as records, lists, sets and multisets. Therefore, an abstract algebraic framework is proposed that classifies data models according to the underlying types they support. This allows to emphasise the impact of the data types rather than the specifics of a particular data model.     

On the complexity of finding bounds for projection cardinalities in relational databases

We address the problem of deriving lower and upper bounds for the cardinality of the projections of a database relation, given a set of functional dependencies on the relation schema and measures of the cardinalities of the attributes in the schema. It is shown that deciding whether a given number is the least upper bound of a projection cardinality is an NP-complete problem, whereas determining whether the greatest lower bound and the least upper bound coincide can be easily solved in linear time.     

Erratum to “Axiomatisations of functional dependencies in the presence of records, lists, sets and multisets”

This note corrects two errors that occurred during the typesetting of our paper “Axiomatisations of functional dependencies in the presence of records, lists, sets and multisets”, which appeared in Hartmann et al. [Axiomatisations of functional dependencies in the presence of records, lists, sets and multisets, Theoret. Comput. Sci. 353(2) (2006) 167–196].     

Parallel Newton-Krylov-Schwarz algorithms for the three-dimensional Poisson-Boltzmann equation in numerical simulation of colloidal particle interactions

We investigate fully parallel Newton-Krylov-Schwarz (NKS) algorithms for solving the large sparse nonlinear systems of equations arising from the finite element discretization of the three-dimensional Poisson-Boltzmann equation (PBE), which is often used to describe the colloidal phenomena of an electric double layer around charged objects in colloidal and interfacial science. The NKS algorithm employs an inexact Newton method with backtracking (INB) as the nonlinear solver in conjunction with a Krylov subspace method as the linear solver for the corresponding Jacobian system. An overlapping Schwarz method as a preconditioner to accelerate the convergence of the linear solver. Two test cases including two isolated charged particles and two colloidal particles in a cylindrical pore are used as benchmark problems to validate the correctness of our parallel NKS-based PBE solver. In addition, a truly three-dimensional case, which models the interaction between two charged spherical particles within a rough charged micro-capillary, is simulated to demonstrate the applicability of our PBE solver to handle a problem with complex geometry. Finally, based on the result obtained from a PC cluster of parallel machines, we show numerically that NKS is quite suitable for the numerical simulation of interaction between colloidal particles, since NKS is robust in the sense that INB is able to converge within a small number of iterations regardless of the geometry, the mesh size, the number of processors. With help of an additive preconditioned Krylov subspace method NKS achieves parallel efficiency of 71% or better on up to a hundred processors for a 3D problem with 5 million unknowns.     

Parallel algorithms for the iterative solution of sparse least-squares problems

In this paper, we are concerned with a generalized Gauss-Seidel approach to sparse linear least-squares problems. Two algorithms, related to those given by Schechter (1959), for the solution of linear systems are presented and their parallel implementation is discussed. In these procedures, which can be viewed as an alternative ordering of the variables in the SOR methods, the variables are divided into nondisjoint groups. Numerical results, obtained on CRAY X-MP/48, are presented and discussed.     

Parallel and serial heuristics for the minimum set cover problem

We present a theoretical analysis and an experimental evaluation of four serial heuristics and four parallel heuristics for the minimum set cover problem. The serial heuristics trade off run time with the quality of the solution. The parallel heuristics are derived from one of the serial heuristics. These heuristics show considerable speedup when the number of processors is increased. The quality of the solution computed by the heuristics does not degrade with an increase in the number of processors.Research of both authors was supported by NSF Grant No. MIP-8807540.     

Parallelisation of genetic algorithms for the 2-page crossing number problem

Genetic algorithms (GAs) have been applied to solve the 2-page crossing number problem successfully, but since they work with one global population, the search time and space are limited. Parallelisation provides an attractive prospect to improve the efficiency and solution quality of GAs. This paper investigates the complexity of parallel genetic algorithms (PGAs) based on two evaluation measures: computation time to communication time and population size to chromosome size. Moreover, the paper unifies the framework of PGA models with the function PGA (subpopulation size, cluster size, migration period, topology), and explores the performance of PGAs for the 2-page crossing number problem.