1955475
An Answer Fusion Model for Web-based Question Answering
Many question answering systems are now focusing on the research of question-based answer mining from the Web information or snippets returned by the search engine. However, their main goal is only to get the related answers instead of the correct answers because answers are inconsistent. An answer fusion model and method is proposed, which makes semantic analysis of the various answers to the same question returned by search engines or question answering systems and return the fused answer based on fusion rules and data quality. Experimental test in our QA system shows that the method is effective.
30505871
User Interest Detection on Web Pages for Building Personalized Information Agent
In this paper we propose a vision-based approach to detecting user’s interests on web pages. This approach first splits a web page into several blocks of topics according to visual cues and then analyzes the layout structure of the page based on these blocks. The user’s interests are detected according to his browsing behaviors on the blocks and the layout structure of the web page. A personalized information agent is also developed to automatically extract new content from those web pages according to the user’s interests. Our experiments show that our proposed approach to detecting user’s interests on web pages achieves satisfactory accuracy and the personalized information agent significantly saves user’s browsing time and improves user’s browsing experience.
7021428
An online composite graphics recognition approach based on matching of spatial relation graphs
A spatial relation graph (SRG) and its partial matching method are proposed for online composite graphics representation and recognition. The SRG-based approach emphasizes three characteristics of online graphics recognition: partial, structural, and independent of stroke order and stroke number. A constrained partial permutation strategy is also proposed to reduce the computational cost of matching two SRGs, which is originally an NP-complete problem as is graph isomorphism. Experimental results show that our proposed SRG-based approach is both efficient and effective for online composite graphics recognition in our sketch-based graphics input system - SmartSketchpad.
24959035
A Novel Constraint-Based Approach to Online Graphics Recognition
Online graphics recognition has become the key problem for pen-based user interface on small screen devices, such as PDA and Tablet PC. In this paper, a novel constraint-based approach to online graphics recognition is proposed. The key idea of our approach is that when the user is drawing a graphic object, the system can extract the constraints between primitives and basic shapes from the object and use these constraints to retrieve similar graphic objects from the database at run time. The user can then choose the standard object from the ranked list of results to replace his sketches before he finishes drawing all strokes of the object. For this purpose, we summarize three types of primitives and several types of basic shapes as the basic components of a graphic object. We also define a set of constraints between primitives and basic shapes to represent their structural relations. The algorithms for online constraint extraction and graphics recognition are also presented. Experimental results show that our approach is efficient for online graphics recognition and effective for improving the user’s productivity.
1735256
A Web-Based CAD System for Learning and Laboratory Purpose
A Web-based CAD system for learning and laboratory purpose is presented in this paper. The system serves as a three-in-one courseware: a pedagogical tool for teaching, an experimental tool for learning and a programming kit for laboratory. As a pedagogical tool, the system can help teachers interactively demonstrate the properties of curves and their associated equations with animations. The same tool can be used by students to play the animations themselves. As a programming kit, the same CAD system allows some CAD functions to be programmable for laboratory purpose. All activities are available on-line through a standard Web browser. A prototype is implemented and a user study is conducted for evaluation of the system. The result shows that the students like the system since it allows them to learn and practice the subject at home.
12595607
Sketch Recognition Based on Topological Spatial Relationship
In recognition of composite graphic objects, topological spatial relationships of their components play an important role. Although most researchers focus on binary topological relationships, they cannot carry all information of the internal structure of the compound objects. Therefore, we introduce the ternary relationship, which is a complement to the binary relationship, to describe composite graphic objects. Moreover, we provide a constrained partial permutation algorithm based on both the binary and ternary topological spatial relationships to recognize the sketchy objects input by users in an online manner. Experimental results show that this approach is both efficient and effective for online composite graphics recognition in our sketch-based graphics input system–SmartSketchpad.
23049563
A Framework for Multi-Agent Belief Revision, Part I: The Role of Ontology
In this paper, we identify that failure to cater for the various forms of heterogeneity is one of the major drawbacks of the previous research on multi-agent belief revision (MABR). Three major categories of heterogeneity, namely social, semantic and syntactic heterogeneity are clarified. Several issues posed by such heterogeneities are addressed in the context of BR. The use of ontology is proposed as a powerful tool to tackle the heterogeneity issues so as to achieve the necessary reliable communication find system interoperability required by MABR. The question of what kind of ontology would be suitable to support MABR in a heterogenous setting is answered in Part I. In its sequel, Part II, a general framework for MABR is presented based on a shared knowledge structure which serves as the theoretical basis for ontology design.
16581375
Visualizing the scientific world and its evolution
We propose an approach to visualizing the scientific world and its evolution by constructing minimum spanning trees (MSTs) and a two‐dimensional map of scientific journals using the database of the Science Citation Index (SCI) during 1994–2001. The structures of constructed MSTs are consistent with the sorting of SCI categories. The map of science is constructed based on our MST results. Such a map shows the relation among various knowledge clusters and their citation properties. The temporal evolution of the scientific world can also be delineated in the map. In particular, this map clearly shows a linear structure of the scientific world, which contains three major domains including physical sciences, life sciences, and medical sciences. The interaction of various knowledge fields can be clearly seen from this scientific world map. This approach can be applied to various levels of knowledge domains.
1862113
iWatcher: efficient architectural support for software debugging
Recent impressive performance improvements in computer architecture have not led to significant gains in ease of debugging. Software debugging often relies on inserting run-time software checks. In many cases, however, it is hard to find the root cause of a bug. Moreover, program execution typically slows down significantly, often by 10-100 times. To address this problem, this paper introduces the Intelligent Watcher (iWatcher), novel architectural support to monitor dynamic execution with minimal overhead, automatically, and flexibly. iWatcher associates program-specified monitoring functions with memory locations. When any such location is accessed, the monitoring function is automatically triggered with low overhead. To further reduce overhead and support rollback, iWatcher can leverage Thread-Level Speculation (TLS). To test iWatcher, we use applications with various bugs. Our results show that iWatcher detects many more software bugs than Valgrind, a well-known open-source bug detector. Moreover, iWatcher only induces a 4-80% execution overhead, which is orders of magnitude less than Valgrind. Even with 20% of the dynamic loads monitored in a program, iWatcher adds only 66-174% overhead. Finally, TLS is effective at reducing overheads for programs with substantial monitoring.
6564204
A robust method for shape-based 3D model retrieval
Proliferation of 3D models necessitates developing efficient methods for indexing or retrieving the models in a large database. Many previous methods for this purpose defined functions on concentric spheres as approximation of 3D geometry for spherical harmonic transform (SHT). In this paper, we point out that this is not robust as the surface of a model may shift between different shells under perturbation, and multi-layer of surfaces may exist in one shell, making the function definition ambiguous. To solve these problems, we propose a method to characterize 3D shape using delta functions. Then, spherical functions are defined by sampling in the frequency domain of the delta functions for SHT. By doing so, our method can support retrieval with controllable acuity, which benefits wider range of applications and facilitates customization to different users. Experiments have shown that our method is more robust than previous approaches.
11440085
A Mapping Methodology for Designing Software Task Pipelines for Embedded Signal Processing
In this paper, we present a methodology for mapping an Embedded Signal Processing (ESP) application onto HPC platforms such that the throughput performance is maximized. Previous approaches used a linear pipelined execution model which restrict the mapping choices. We show that the “optimal” solution obtained under that model can be improved, using the proposed execution model. Based on the new model, a three-step task mapping methodology is developed. The methodology is demonstrated by designing Software Task Pipelines for modern radar and sonar signal processing applications. Experimental results show improved performance using our approach over those obtained by previous approaches.