Abstract: This paper presents a flow-sensitive algorithm to compute interprocedural definition-use chains of dynamic pointer-linked data structures. The goal is to relate the statements that construct links of dynamic pointer-linked data structures (i.e. definitions) to the statements that might traverse the structures through the links (i.e. uses). Specifically, for each statement S that defines links of pointer-linked data structures, the algorithm finds the set of statements that traverse the links which are defined by S. This algorithm solves the definition-use chaining problem by performing backward iterative data flow analysis to compute the set of upward exposed uses at each statement. The results of this algorithm can be used to identify parallelism in programs even with cyclic pointer-linked data structures.

Abstract: The application of Needleman-Wunsch alignment techniques to biological sequences is complicated by two serious problems when the sequences are long: the running time, which scales as the product of the lengths of sequences, and the difficulty in obtaining suitable parameters that produce meaningful alignments The running time problem is often corrected by reducing the search space, using techniques such as banding, or chaining of high-scoring pairs The parameter problem is more difficult to fix, partly because the probabilistic model, which Needleman-Wunsch is equivalent to, does not capture a key feature of biological sequence alignments, namely the alternation of conserved blocks and seemingly unrelated nonconserved segments We present a solution to the problem of designing efficient search spaces for pair hidden Markov models that align biological sequences by taking advantage of their associated features Our approach leads to an optimization problem, for which we obtain a 2-approximation algorithm, and that is based on the construction of Manhattan networks, which are close relatives of Steiner trees We describe the underlying theory and show how our methods can be applied to alignment of DNA sequences in practice, successfully reducing the Viterbi algorithm search space of alignment PHMMs by three orders of magnitude

Abstract: Chaining is a linguistic mechanism that is concerned with the construction of texts, their textuality and their network of semantic relations. It is concerned with the practical investigation of the constituent units of a given text of any length. This means that we can carry out an in-depth textual analysis of the text at the level of all units of language – morpheme, word, sentence and paragraph levels. Chaining is also concerned with textual progression and processing. When projected onto Qur' anic discourse, chaining produces the Qur'anic text in an upside-down pyramid shape. Thus, there is more reason for the longest suras to be placed at the beginning and the shortest ones at the end. Looking at the upside-down pyramid text, we can appreciate why the Qur'anic message is concluded by monotheism (Q. 112) and divinity (Q. 114), while the wider top surface of the pyramid is the textual environment for lordship (Q. 1) and Islamic legal rulings (Q. 2, Q. 4, etc.), with numerous intervening leitmotifs that...

Abstract: There exist many different generalization error bounds for classification. Each of these bounds contains an improvement over the others for certain situations. Our goal is to combine these different improvements into a single bound. In particular we combine the PAC-Bayes approach introduced by McAllester [1], which is interesting for averaging classifiers, with the optimal union bound provided by the generic chaining technique developed by Fernique and Talagrand [2]. This combination is quite natural since the generic chaining is based on the notion of majorizing measures, which can be considered as priors on the set of classifiers, and such priors also arise in the PAC-bayesian setting.

Abstract: The fast development of internet technology has motivated the improvement of geographic information sharing and now, the advent of web services enable GIS functionality to be shared and consumed in a distributed computing environment. Web services are loosely-coupled functions that can be executed remotely by users on the internet regardless the platforms implemented. This concept supports the technical requirement in developing the Spatial Data Infrastructure; in which distributed information and functions supplied by the providers can be integrated and distributed to the users as services. Of these services, a new service can be potentially gained by means of combining several services to achieve a specific task. This paper will present the scenario in developing the SDI as service architecture and solving a geographical problem-oriented with a service chaining approach. Here, the scenarios of chaining for national disaster management and for incorporating commercial services in the daily activities will be discussed. To improve the possibility of requester in investigating of the chaining, the metadata of services should deal with semantic aspect of the service definition. The semantic aspect is the highest level of interoperability in resolving information integration. It deals with the meaning of resources and their metadata. The metadata of a service contains information about input and output of the service. Ontology then is used as a reference for the input and the output. In such setting, distributed components within the infrastructure will have the same interpretation about the input and the output. Thereby the chaining, which is pipelining the output of preceding service to the input of following service, can be better examined.

Abstract: A stochastic integer programming based constrained optimization technique enables optimal allocation of classrooms and instructors to requested classes associated with cancellation probabilities. An analytical tool allows optimization of overall operational revenue/profit under different planning scenarios involving chaining of various classes, prerequisite relationships, and inter-class spacing requirements. This system allows the description and input of a list of classes, their cancellation probabilities and the input of available classrooms and instructors for determining the most revenue-generating/profitable class schedule. The revenue/profit optimization model corresponds to a two-stage mixed integer program.

Abstract: This paper proposes a "chaining" based media content delivery algorithm which supports "VCR operations". The proposed algorithm explicitly balances the client-side requirements to support the VCR functionalities, while preserving the advantages of using the client playback device as a proxy video server, as specified in the original chaining algorithm. The paper also investigates the effect of supporting VCR operations on the performance of the proposed scheme and the impact these operations have on chaining. To this end, a study to assess the performance of the proposed algorithm, within this framework, is conducted. The results show that, for a small community of clients, increasing user activity, in terms of VCR operations performed during stream delivery, have detrimental effects on primary bandwidth reduction. Furthermore, the results show that a limited subset of VCR operations appears to boost the effectiveness of chaining. Introducing a full range of VCR functionalities, however, lead to a decrease in the amount of primary server bandwidth reduction, thereby indicating an apparent interplay between the number of clients viewing a video and the range of VCR operations supported.

Abstract: We propose a constraint-based approach for solving set partitioning problems. We show that an efficient, open and easily modifying model is obtained by using a constraint propagator that is: global, in the sense that it enforces consistency between local knowledge (such as variable domains) and global knowledge (such as the optimisation goal); and dynamic, in the sense that it propagates the decisions taken during the search process. This propagator derives new constraints based on the existing ones by efficiently chaining a set of propagation rules that we present here and demonstrate. This propagator can be used not only to prune efficiently the search space, but also to prove in certain cases that a given solution is optimal. This approach was tested with five crew duty scheduling problems supplied by two operators from the railway and bus domains. Results were compared with the ones obtained with an approach that is a good representative of the industrial state-of-the-art.

Abstract: Component based software development offers a promise of reducing the cost and the time to develop new software applications, but the cost of selecting components can limit these savings. Selecting components for critical applications (i.e., medicine, aviation, etc.) requires conducting more evaluations at the beginning of the development process. Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) components are frequently distributed without source code, and with limited documentation, making them more difficult to evaluate. International treaties prohibit reverse engineering to obtain the source code. Although much work has been spent on the overall selection process, very little work has been done in developing new tools for component evaluation. Automated Interface Probing (AIP) uses formal methods, execution-based testing methods and automated test-data generation techniques to evaluate components. A component is evaluated from a formal specification describing its public interface, how the component interacts with other components and any state behavior exhibited. Once a formal evaluation specification is available, the developer selects the type of automatic data generation technique used in the evaluation. Automatic data generation methods might include random data, black-box data, robustness data and interactive data generation methods such as a chaining approach. Some applications require components to have a specific collection of behaviors, as specified by an Extended Finite State Machine (EFSM). AIP uses a state-test expression to determine a component's current state. It is sometimes difficult to manually derive a state-test from a large EFSM. AIP addresses this problem with a heuristic to assist developers in deriving state-tests. This heuristic uses the observable outcome from distinguishable transitions to develop state-tests. To provide confidence in this research, two major experiments were conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the concepts. In the first experiment, 22 C standard library functions from four (4) different C/C++ compilers were evaluated using AIP. Of the 132 comparisons required to evaluate the 88 components, 102 differences were identified. For the second experiment, 10 EFSM specifications, ranging in size from 3 to 16 states, were evaluated using the state-test derivation heuristic. State-tests were automatically derived for 84% of the 82 states using the state-test derivation heuristic.

Abstract: We introduce Fine Grain Scheduling (FGS) as a post-processing step to circuits classically designed as a data-path controlled by a finite state machine (FSM). Such circuits may have timing errors, particularly if they are generated by High Level Synthesis (HLS) tools that make use of crude temporal estimates during scheduling. FGS reschedules the FSM to ensure correct execution at a requested frequency on the data-path.The proposed algorithm takes into account all the electrical constraints of the data-path, namely propagation times, set-up and hold times of memorization elements, and even delays due to the interconnects if the data-path is placed and routed. Like HLS algorithms, FGS supports multi-operators cells, multi-cycle operators and chaining. However, it also makes use of mutli-cycles chaining to allow the chaining of several operators over several cycles without intermediate memorizations.Experimentation of FGS on an MPEG2 Variable Length Decoder and a full MJPEG decoder has demonstrated that the approach is particularly well suited for the design of asynchronous coprocessors. Synchronous processors cannot be scheduled by FGS because the inputs and outputs dates are modified.

Abstract: As the Internet becomes a more popular distribution channel for multimedia, one inevitably encounters the problem of the amount of bandwidth required for quality multimedia presentations. Bandwidth may be controlled through various techniques such as compression, caching, or layered encoding of data. These techniques, however, may be unsuitable for applications with stringent quality of service requirements, as it may lead to severe degradations of the quality of the content being distributed. This article proposes a new version of a media content delivery algorithm, based on the “chaining” strategy, that supports “VCR operations.” The proposed algorithm explicitly balances the client-side requirements to support the VCR functionalities while preserving the advantages of using the client playback device as a proxy video server, as specified in the original chaining algorithm. The article also investigates the effect of supporting VCR operations on the performance of the proposed scheme and the impact thes...

Abstract: Use case modelling requires a constant balancing of the trade-offs between the complexity of the networks of use cases and the complexity of the contents of the use cases. We can reduce some complexity in the use case text at the expense of increased complexity at use case relationship level. Or, we can simplify use case relationships at the expense of increasingly complex use case text. Use case chaining is a technique for reducing the negative impact of complex use case networks. We can model with relatively large numbers of use cases and using simpler use case text, but we can reduce the network’s complexity whenever we need it. The technique allows teams to work with use cases in a more agile manner, without worrying about complexity trade-offs but neither sacrificing the quality of the model. The paper gives a number of examples where the technique may be applied, including requirements elicitation, elaboration, verification and project scheduling. Copyright Note This document resides online at http://www.aptprocess.com/whitepapers/ and has been authored by Huseyin Angay of Karabash Ltd. and the Appropriate Process Movement. It may be copied freely in part or in whole, with the restriction that anywhere using a copy of more than three paragraphs must include as reference the web address of its origin, as given above. Version 1.0 Page 1 of 26 Copyright 2003, Appropriate Process Group Effective Modelling with Use Case Chains

Abstract: For the last decade, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have provided planners and geo scientists with tools to analyse, maintain and present geo spatial information (information that is, in one way or the other, referenced to the earth surface). In the early days of GIS, its software systems were sold as monolithic systems. As the software became more mature, the systems were offered as modules containing a module with basic functionality and a variety of plug-in modules with extended functions. Main software producers came to realise that specific users who wanted to customise their systems needed a development environment with smaller system building blocks (components). Today, a product like ESRI’s ArcObjects provides the software elements to create an entire GIS. However these building blocks in themselves do not provide executable GIS analysis capabilities, they have to be assembled by a programmer. Unfortunately, these ‘GIS objects’ are of little use to the common GIS end-users whose interest is to apply certain common GIS processing functions to give solution to their geographic problems. GIS applications can be characterised by the wide variety of datasets (themes and data structure) and the often complex, but reusable operation-data chains. Many GIS applications, in particular in environments that require ad hoc queries, can greatly benefit from the use of interoperable components. To enable on demand component chaining we need data components and software components that are well defined and well described in terms of functionality, together with a user interface that facilitates the user-interpretation of these descriptions. Component-based applications have been around for some time, but their deployment in GIS is still in its infancy. This can be explained by the fact that GISs have to deal with complex (spatial) data types and software manufacturers tightly couple their functional parts with internal data structures. 2. Supporting data-operation connectivity, a multi-layer approach

Abstract: Previous algorithms to compute lexical chains suffer either from a lack of accuracy in word sense disambiguation (WSD) or from computational inefficiency. In this paper, we present a new linear-time algorithm for lexical chaining that adopts the assumption of one sense per discourse. Our results show an improvement over previous algorithms when evaluated on a WSD task.