On relational possibilistic clustering

This paper initially describes the relational counterpart of possibilistic c-means (PCM) algorithm, called relational PCM (or RPCM). RPCM is then improved to better handle arbitrary dissimilarity data. First, a re-scaling of the PCM membership function is proposed in order to obtain zero membership values when the distance to prototype equals the maximum value allowed in bounded dissimilarity measures. Second, a heuristic method of reference distance initialisation is provided which diminishes the known PCM tendency of producing coincident clusters. Finally, RPCM improved with our initialisation strategy is tested on both synthetic and real data sets with satisfactory results.     

Importance-driven focus of attention

This paper introduces a concept for automatic focusing on features within a volumetric data set. The user selects a focus, i.e., object of interest, from a set of pre-defined features. Our system automatically determines the most expressive view on this feature. A characteristic viewpoint is estimated by a novel information-theoretic framework which is based on the mutual information measure. Viewpoints change smoothly by switching the focus from one feature to another one. This mechanism is controlled by changes in the importance distribution among features in the volume. The highest importance is assigned to the feature in focus. Apart from viewpoint selection, the focusing mechanism also steers visual emphasis by assigning a visually more prominent representation. To allow a clear view on features that are normally occluded by other parts of the volume, the focusing for example incorporates cut-away views.     

Informational aesthetics measures.

The Birkhoff aesthetic measure of an object is the ratio between order and complexity. Informational aesthetics describes the interpretation of this measure from an information-theoretic perspective. From these ideas, the authors define a set of ratios based on information theory and Kolmogorov complexity that can help to quantify the aesthetic experience.     

Revisiting state space exploration of timed coloured petri net models to optimize manufacturing system’s performance

Due to constant fluctuations in market demands, nowadays scheduling of flexible manufacturing systems is taking great importance to improve competitiveness. Coloured Petri Nets (CPN) is a high level modelling formalism which have been widely used to model and verify systems, allowing representing not only the system’s dynamic behaviour but also the information flow. One approach that focuses in performance optimization of industrial systems is the one that uses the CPN formalism extended with time features (Timed Coloured Petri Nets) and explores all the possible states of the model (state space) looking for states of particular interest under industrial scope. Unfortunately, using the time extension, the state space becomes awkward for most industrial problems, reason why there is a recognized need of approaches that could tackle optimization problems such as the scheduling of manufacturing activities without simplifying any important aspect of the real system. In this paper a timed state space approach for properties verification and systems optimization is presented together with new algorithms in order to get better results when time is used as a cost function for optimizing the makespan of manufacturing systems. A benchmarking example of a job-shop is modelled in CPN formalism to illustrate the improvements that can be achieved with the proposed implementations.     

Solving constraint satisfaction problems with SAT modulo theories

Due to significant advances in SAT technology in the last years, its use for solving constraint satisfaction problems has been gaining wide acceptance. Solvers for satisfiability modulo theories (SMT) generalize SAT solving by adding the ability to handle arithmetic and other theories. Although there are results pointing out the adequacy of SMT solvers for solving CSPs, there are no available tools to extensively explore such adequacy. For this reason, in this paper we introduce a tool for translating FLATZINC (MINIZINC intermediate code) instances of CSPs to the standard SMT-LIB language. We provide extensive performance comparisons between state-of-the-art SMT solvers and most of the available FLATZINC solvers on standard FLATZINC problems. The obtained results suggest that state-of-the-art SMT solvers can be effectively used to solve CSPs.     

Composite Material Behavior Using a Homogenization Double Scale Method

In this paper, we present a two-scale numerical method in which structures made up of composite materials are simulated. The method proposed lies within the context of homogenization theory and assumes the periodicity of the internal structure of the material. The problem is divided into two scales of different orders of magnitude: A macroscopic scale in which the body and structure of the composite material is simulated, and a microscopic scale in which an elemental volume called a “cell” simulates the material. In this work, the homogenized strain tensor is related to the transformation of the periodicity vectors. The problem of composite materials is posed as a coupled, two-scale problem, in which the constitutive equation of the composite material becomes the solution of the boundary-value problem in the cell domain. Solving various examples found in the bibliography on this subject demonstrates the validity of the method.     

A Taxonomy of Recommender Agents on the Internet

Recently, Artificial Intelligence techniques have proved useful inhelping users to handle the large amount of information on the Internet.The idea of personalized search engines, intelligent software agents,and recommender systems has been widely accepted among users who requireassistance in searching, sorting, classifying, filtering and sharingthis vast quantity of information. In this paper, we present astate-of-the-art taxonomy of intelligent recommender agents on theInternet. We have analyzed 37 different systems and their references andhave sorted them into a list of 8 basic dimensions. These dimensions arethen used to establish a taxonomy under which the systems analyzed areclassified. Finally, we conclude this paper with a cross-dimensionalanalysis with the aim of providing a starting point for researchers toconstruct their own recommender system.     

Characteristics of a common bean landrace (Phaseolus vulgaris L) of great culinary value and selection of a commercial inbred line

The Ganxet bean is a landrace that is greatly appreciated in northeast Spain. For commercial purposes a pure line selection process was undertaken in this landrace. Simultaneously, the Ganxet bean was compared with standard controls for nutritional traits. Seven inbred lines, representative of the variability within the Ganxet germplasm, were studied per se and compared with bean varieties White Kidney, Navy, Faba Asturiana and Tolosa. The Ganxet germplasm was found to contain more protein, less total dietary fibre, more digestible dietary fibre, a higher proportion of seedcoat, more glucose and less starch than the controls. Study of the agronomic, commercial, nutritional and gastronomic aspects of the Ganxet inbred lines showed sufficient variability to allow two inbred lines representative of Ganxet germplasm to be chosen for commercialisation. © 1999 Society of Chemical Industry     

Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone-Induced Metabolic Remodelling Enhances Growth of Gilthead Sea-Bream (Sparus aurata): Insights from Stable Isotopes Composition and Proteomics

Growth hormone and insulin-like growth factors (GH/IGF axis) regulate somatic growth in mammals and fish, although their action on metabolism is not fully understood in the latter. An intraperitoneal injection of extended-release recombinant bovine growth hormone (rbGH, Posilac^®) was used in gilthead sea bream fingerlings and juveniles to analyse the metabolic response of liver and red and white muscles by enzymatic, isotopic and proteomic analyses. GH-induced lipolysis and glycogenolysis were reflected in liver composition, and metabolic and redox enzymes reported higher lipid use and lower protein oxidation. In white and red muscle reserves, rBGH increased glycogen while reducing lipid. The isotopic analysis of muscles showed a decrease in the recycling of proteins and a greater recycling of lipids and glycogen in the rBGH groups, which favoured a protein sparing effect. The protein synthesis capacity (RNA/protein) of white muscle increased, while cytochrome-c-oxidase (COX) protein expression decreased in rBGH group. Proteomic analysis of white muscle revealed only downregulation of 8 proteins, related to carbohydrate metabolic processes. The global results corroborated that GH acted by saving dietary proteins for muscle growth mainly by promoting the use of lipids as energy in the muscles of the gilthead sea bream. There was a fuel switch from carbohydrates to lipids with compensatory changes in antioxidant pathways that overall resulted in enhanced somatic growth.