Methods for evaluating volunteers’ contributions in a deforestation detection citizen science project

Today, due to the availability of free remote sensing data, efficient algorithms for image classification and increased connectivity and computing power, together with international policy initiatives, such as the United Nations Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (UN-REDD), more and more countries are investing in their own national forest monitoring schemes. However, tropical forests remain under threat worldwide. Recently, a citizen science project that enables citizens around the globe to be involved in forest monitoring tasks has been proposed, called “ForestWatchers” (www.forestwatchers.net). Its main goal is to allow volunteers (many of them with no scientific training) around the globe, with their own smartphones, tablets and notebooks, review satellite images of forested regions and confirm whether automatic assignments of forested and deforested regions are correct. Inspected images are then sent to a central database where the results are integrated to generate up-to-date deforestation maps. This approach offers a low-cost way to both strengthen the scientific infrastructure and engage members of the public in science. Here, we describe the methods developed within the scope of the ForestWatchers project to assess the volunteers’ performance. These tools have been evaluated with data of two of the project’s preliminary tasks. The first, called “BestTile”, asks volunteers to select which of several images of the same area has the least cloud cover, while in the second, called “Deforestation”, volunteers draw polygons on satellite images delimiting areas they believe have been deforested. The results from more than 500 volunteers show that using simple statistical tests, it is possible to achieve a triple goal: to increase the overall efficiency of the data collecting tasks by reducing the required number of volunteers per task, to identify malicious behavior and outliers, and to motivate volunteers to continue their contributions.     

基于FDI算法在软件测试实践中的应用

软件测试对于软件系统的性能以及功能都有很重要的意义,是保证软件可靠运行的关键.在软件测试的实践应用中,对于软件故障定位时,提出了基于谓词统计故障定位的算法,也就是FDI频率差异积分算法.在软件测试实践中采用基于FDI频率差异积分算法,可以很好地监控软件程序,测试软件的覆盖率以及执行时间等内存占用情况,并找到软件的故障瓶颈,以便采取更好的方法改进软件性能.探讨了实践中基于FDI频率差异积分算法在软件测试内的应用.     

Reachability determination in acyclic Petri nets by cell enumeration approach

Reachability is one of the most important behavioral properties of Petri nets. We propose in this paper a novel approach for solving the fundamental equation in the reachability analysis of acyclic Petri nets, which has been known to be NP-complete. More specifically, by adopting a revised version of the cell enumeration method for an arrangement of hyperplanes in discrete geometry, we develop an efficient solution scheme to identify firing count vector solution(s) to the fundamental equation on a bounded integer set, with a complexity bound of O((nu)^n−m), where n is the number of transitions, m is the number of places and u is the upper bound of the number of firings for all individual transitions.     

Univariate marginal distribution algorithm dynamics for a class of parametric functions with unitation constraints

In this paper, we introduce a mathematical model for analyzing the dynamics of the univariate marginal distribution algorithm (UMDA) for a class of parametric functions with isolated global optima. We prove a number of results that are used to model the evolution of UMDA probability distributions for this class of functions. We show that a theoretical analysis can assess the effect of the function parameters on the convergence and rate of convergence of UMDA. We also introduce for the first time a long string limit analysis of UMDA. Finally, we relate the results to ongoing research on the application of the estimation of distribution algorithms for problems with unitation constraints.     

Approximate steady-state analysis of large Markov models based on the structure of their decision diagram encoding

We propose a new approximate numerical algorithm for the steady-state solution of general structured ergodic Markov models. The approximation uses a state-space encoding based on multiway decision diagrams and a transition rate encoding based on a new class of edge-valued decision diagrams. The new method retains the favorable properties of a previously proposed Kronecker-based approximation, while eliminating the need for a Kronecker-consistent model decomposition. Removing this restriction allows for a greater utilization of event locality, which facilitates the generation of both the state-space and the transition rate matrix, thus extends the applicability of this algorithm to larger and more complex models.     

Impacts of essential elements of management on IT application maturity — A perspective from firms in China

This paper explores the impacts of essential elements of management on IT application maturity (ITAM). A game theoretical model is established to show that a firm's IT application maturity should match with its essential elements of management. In order to further validate the analytical result, a data set with 137 firms was collected via a survey instrument. Using reliability and factor analysis on the dataset, a four-dimension measurement construct of IT application maturity is proposed together with a three-dimension measurement construct of essential elements of management. Empirical analysis is then conducted to address research questions on the impacts of essential elements of management on IT application maturity. It is found that while a firm's strategic cooperation capability has no significant effect on IT application maturity, its internal coordination capability positively influences all four dimensions of IT application maturity. For the firm's execution capability, although it shows no significant effect on the overall IT application maturity, it does positively affect the technology and man-machine synergy dimensions of IT application maturity. The findings of this study offer practical guidance for organizations to better align their IT application maturity with essential elements of management.     

On the use of energy minimization for CA based analysis in elasticity

There has been recent interest in exploring alternative computational models for structural analysis that are better suited for a design environment requiring repetitive analysis. The need for such models is brought about by significant increases in computer processing speeds, realized primarily through parallel processing. To take full advantage of such parallel machines, however, the computational approach itself must be revisited from a totally different perspective; parallelization of inherently serial paradigms is subject to limitations introduced by a requirement of information coordination. The cellular automata (CA) model of decentralized computations provides one such approach which is ideally tailored for parallel computers. The proposed paper examines the applicability of the cellular automata model in problems of 2-D elasticity. The focus of the paper is in the use of a genetic algorithm based optimization process to derive the rules for local interaction required in evolving the cellular automata. Received August 28, 2000     

常用内排序算法的分析与比较

该文在对常用内排序算法基本思想分析的基础上,从算法的稳定性;算法在最好情况下、最坏情况下的交换次数和移动次数;算法的时间复杂度等方面进行了详细的比较分析。     

电信计费分析数据仓库系统的设计与实现

该文主要研究如何用数据仓库及其技术解决电信计费分析的实际问题。     

Web日志挖掘与上网行为习惯分析

本文以某校校园网Web日志挖掘为例,首先阐述如何进行Web挖掘,其次运用该理论分析该校Web日志得到用户上网行为习惯,并给出合理化建议,最后引出进一步探索的方向,为以后工作奠定基础。本文采用的挖掘方法具有通用性和实用性,对于类似时序序列趋势分析都可参考本文。