31867607
Reconfigurable Web Wrapper Agents
Web wrapper agents exploit online Web data sources, facilitating information integration and reuse. With the DeepSpot Agent Toolbox, users can automate virtually all types of Web browsing sessions simply by browsing the target Web sites.
12151320
Mining Periodic Patterns in Sequence Data
Periodic pattern mining is the problem that regards temporal regularity. There are many emerging applications in periodic pattern mining, including web usage recommendation, weather prediction, computer networks and biological data. In this paper, we propose a Progressive Timelist-Based Verification (PTV) method to the mining of periodic patterns from a sequence of event sets. The parameter min_rep, is employed to specify the minimum number of repetitions required for a valid segment of non-disrupted pattern occurrences. We also describe a partitioning approach to handle extra large/long data sequence. The experiments demonstrate good performance and scalability with large frequent patterns.
6352215
Reconfigurable Web wrapper agents for biological information integration
A variety of biological data is transferred and exchanged in overwhelming volumes on the World Wide Web. How to rapidly capture, utilize, and integrate the information on the Internet to discover valuable biological knowledge is one of the most critical issues in bioinformatics. Many information integration systems have been proposed for integrating biological data. These systems usually rely on an intermediate software layer called wrappers to access connected information sources. Wrapper construction for Web data sources is often specially hand coded to accommodate the differences between each Web site. However, programming a Web wrapper requires substantial programming skill, and is time-consuming and hard to maintain. In this article we provide a solution for rapidly building software agents that can serve as Web wrappers for biological information integration. We define an eXtensible Markup Language (XML)-based language called Web Navigation Description Language (WNDL), to model a Web-browsing session. A WNDL script describes how to locate the data, extract the data, and combine the data. By executing different WNDL scripts, we can automate virtually all types of Web-browsing sessions. We also describe IEPAD (Information Extraction Based on Pattern Discovery), a data extractor based on pattern discovery techniques. IEPAD allows our software agents to automatically discover the extraction rules to extract the contents of a structurally formatted Web page. With a programming-by-example authoring tool, a user can generate a complete Web wrapper agent by browsing the target Web sites. We built a variety of biological applications to demonstrate the feasibility of our approach.
14995712
Applying Pattern Mining to Web Information Extraction
Information extraction (IE) from semi-structured Web documents is a critical issue for information integration systems on the Internet. Previous work in wrapper induction aim to solve this problem by applying machine learning to automatically generate extractors. For example, WIEN, Stalker, Softmealy, etc. However, this approach still requires human intervention to provide training examples. In this paper, we propose a novel idea to IE, by repeated pattern mining and multiple pattern alignment. The discovery of repeated patterns are realized through a data structure call PAT tree. In addition, incomplete patterns are further revised by pattern alignment to comprehend all pattern instances. This new track to IE involves no human effort and content-dependent heuristics. Experimental results show that the constructed extraction rules can achieves 97 percent extraction over fourteen popular search engines.
5203884
Reconfigurable Web Wrapper Agents for Web Information Integration
This paper provides a solution for rapidly building software agents that can serve as Web wrappers for biological information integration. We define an XML-based language called WNDL, which provides a representation of a Web browsing session. A WNDL script describes how to locate the data, extract the data and combine the data. By executing different WNDL scripts, user can automate virtually all types of Web browsing sessions. We also describe IEPAD, a data extractor based on pattern discovery techniques. IEPAD allows our software agents to automatically discover the extraction rules to extract the contents of a structurally formatted Web page without the need to label a Web page to train a wrapper. With a programmingby-example authoring tool, a user can generate a complete Web wrapper agent by browsing the target Web sites. We have built a variety of applications to demonstrate the feasibility of our approach.
30575380
Modeling a real-time multitasking system in a timed PQ net
A system is described that integrates timed Petri nets and queueing networks to model complex, real-time systems. It includes a graphical modeling tool, called TPQN, a textual specification language, called TPQL, and a simulator, called TPQS. TPQN's capabilities are illustrated by a performance analysis of a real-time, multitasking scheduler that had been previously implemented on top of SunOS on a Sun-3 workstation. A simulation package has been developed for TPQN that allows the behavior of various complicated systems under a designated queueing network topology to be studied before the system is implemented.<<ETX>>
17968637
Robust localization of multiple events in sensor networks
Localization of events is a canonical problem for sensor networks, especially for applications such as intrusion detection or neighborhood monitoring. We employ a general sensor model which models various types of sensor nodes. However, traditional triangulation method will be unsolvable when the sensor nodes are positioned on a line. To overcome such ill-conditioned cases, we can use MAP or MMSE methods to estimate event locations. Moreover, to locate multiple simultaneous events and overcome the ill-conditioned case when the sensor nodes are collinear, we need to solve a system of nonlinear equations. We propose a novel method which solves this system of nonlinear equations and multiple-event locations can be found. Experiments and error analysis of the method demonstrate the performance of our methods
15614662
Towards increasing web application productivity
In this paper we present and discuss a template/meta-data based partial code generation system supporting web application development. Seamlessly incorporating the recent top-notch technologies, the framework maximally exploits the capabilities of the underlying implementation technologies. Our approach primarily benefits the framework and code developers. In addition, the complete separation of data model, navigation model, and presentation model reflects on a more general conceptual process that would decouple the technique and methodology from its underlying technology choices. The decoupling between the generated code and the code that is necessarily added later on through other development pathways than the generator deals with the incremental changes and adaptations of the models in the face of an operational system, therefore further enhances the extensibility, maintainability, and reusability of the generated applications.
26211788
Mockup-driven fast-prototyping methodology for Web requirements engineering
Web application development differs from the development of traditional software in several significant ways; therefore requirements engineering for Web applications entails new demands accordingly. This paper proposes an extreme Web requirements engineering - mockup-driven fast-prototyping methodology to help elicit and finalize system requirements, as well as facilitate adjustment to quickly changing user requirements typical to Web applications. Supporting the inclusion of customer feedback early in the development process, this strategy minimizes the risk of wasting valuable development efforts because of ambiguous or incomplete specifications. Real-life experiences of the use of the methodology in industry are reported as examples.
667132
Supporting the partitioning of distributed systems with Function-Class Decomposition
Function-Class Decomposition is a hybrid method that integrates structured analysis with an object oriented approach to decompose a system. The task of class identification is performed in parallel to the decomposition of the system into a hierarchy of functional modules. This hierarchy provides the infrastructure for a systematic approach to partitioning components for distribution and for evaluating key attributes of the resulting architecture. Complexity is reduced by the fact that partitioning decisions are made along the boundaries of previously identified groupings. Early evaluation of the resulting component distribution is also a key factor in mitigating the risks associated with developing distributed applications.