14659488
Empirical studies of information visualization: a meta-analysis
A meta-analysis is conducted on a set of empirical studies of information visualization. To be included in the meta-analysis, a study must meet a set of selection criteria. The meta-analysis synthesizes significant levels and effect sizes, tests the heterogeneity of findings from individual studies included and tests the linear trends over a range of information visualization features with ascending visual-spatial complexity. Recommendations for future experimental studies of information visualizations are included.
206109439
How did university departments interweave the Web: A study of connectivity and underlying factors
This paper presents two studies of the use of the WWW in Scottish universities and American land-grant universities. First, we investigated the relationship between the organisational profile of a university department in Scotland and its structural connectivity on the WWW. A Spearman rank order correlation analysis revealed a number of strong correlation relationships between structural connectivity measures and the organisational profile based on research assessment exercise ratings, teaching quality assessments, student‐staff ratios and funding levels. Linkage patterns from 13 Scottish academic sites to commercial sites in Britain and America highlighted the impact of culture and the appropriateness of information technologies on the acceptance of the WWW. The second study is a content survey of WWW-based education activities in American land-grant universities to investigate successful applications of these enabling techniques in education. The two studies together highlighted cultural, political and technological interactions in the use of the WWW. q 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved
46129433
Behavioural Patterns of Collaborative Writing with Hypertext - A State Transition Approach
This study investigates behavioural patterns of collaborative writing with a hypertext system by using a state-transition approach. State-transition models are empirically developed for capturing the dynamic nature of collaborative writing. Users were frequently engaged in tasks such as exploration, organization, and editing, whereas the use of collaborative support functions was transient in nature. The study shows that state-transition analysis is an important approach to task analysis, requirements engineering, and human-computer interaction studies. This study has produced some valuable experiences and lessons for researchers and practitioners in collaborative writing.
45076304
Spatial Semantic Virtual Worlds: The Structural Duality and Beyond
15424500
Semantically modified diffusion limited aggregation for visualizing large-scale networks
Diffusion-limited aggregation (DLA) is a model of fractal growth. Computer models can simulate the fast aggregation of millions of particles. We propose a modified version of DLA, called semantically modified DLA (SM-DLA), for visualizing large-scale networks. SM-DLA introduces similarity measures between particles so that instead of attaching to the nearest particle in the aggregation, a new particle is stochastically directed to attach to particles that are similar to it. The results of our initial experiment with a co-citation network using SM-DLA are encouraging, suggesting that the algorithm has the potential as an alternative paradigm for visualizing large-scale networks. Further studies in this direction are recommended.
468820
Tracing knowledge diffusion
Knowledge diffusion is the adaptation of knowledge in a broad range of scientific and engineering research and development. Tracing knowledge diffusion between science and technology is a challenging issue due to the complexity of identifying emerging patterns in a diverse range of possible processes. In this article, we describe an approach that combines complex network theory, network visualization, and patent citation analysis in order to improve the means for the study of knowledge diffusion. In particular, we analyze patent citations in the field of tissue engineering. We emphasize that this is the beginning of a longer-term endeavor that aims to develop and deploy effective, progressive, and explanatory visualization techniques for us to capture the dynamics of the evolution of patent citation networks. The work has practical implications on resource allocation, strategic planning, and science policy.
13521805
A Systematic Approach to Model-Guided Empirical Search for Memory Hierarchy Optimization
The goal of this work is a systematic approach to compiler optimization for simultaneously optimizing across multiple levels of the memory hierarchy. Our approach combines compiler models and heuristics with guided empirical search to take advantage of their complementary strengths. The models and heuristics limit the search to a small number of candidate implementations, and the empirical results provide accurate feedback information to the compiler. In previous work, we propose a compiler algorithm for deriving a set of parameterized solutions, followed by a model-guided empirical search to determine the best integer parameter values and select the best overall solution. This paper focuses on formalizing the process of deriving parameter values, which is a multi-variable optimization problem, and considers the role of AI search techniques in deriving a systematic framework for the search.
704070
Model-Guided Empirical Optimization for Multimedia Extension Architectures: A Case Study
Compiler technology for multimedia extensions must effectively utilize not only the SIMD compute engines but also the various levels of the memory hierarchy: superword registers, multi-level caches and TLB. In this paper, we describe a compiler that combines optimization across all levels of the memory hierarchy with automatic generation of SIMD code for multimedia extensions. At the high-level, model-guided empirical optimization is used to transform code to optimize for all levels of the memory hierarchy. This compiler interacts with a backend compiler exploiting superword-level parallelism that takes sequential code as input and produces SIMD code. This paper discusses how we have combined these technologies into a single framework. Through a case study with matrix multiply, we observe performance results that outperform the hand-tuned Intel MKL library, and achieve performance that is within 4% of the ATLAS self-tuning library with architectural defaults and more than 4X faster than the native Intel compiler.
45162382
Efficient priority-first search maximum-likelihood soft-decision decoding of linear block codes
The authors present a novel and efficient maximum-likelihood soft-decision decoding algorithm for linear block codes. The approach used here converts the decoding problem into a search problem through a graph that is a trellis for an equivalent code of the transmitted code. A generalized Dijkstra's algorithm, which uses a priority-first search strategy, is employed to search through this graph. This search is guided by an evaluation function f defined to take advantage of the information provided by the received vector and the inherent properties of the transmitted code. This function f is used to reduce drastically the search space and to make the decoding efforts of this decoding algorithm adaptable to the noise level. For example, for most real channels of the 35 000 samples tried, simulation results for the (128,64) binary extended BCH code show that the proposed decoding algorithm is fifteen orders of magnitude more efficient in time and in space than that proposed by Wolf (1978). Simulation results for the (104, 52) binary extended quadratic residue code are also given. >
7360354
Fast performance-driven optimization for buffered clock trees based on Lagrangian relaxation
Delay, power, skew, area, and sensitivity are the most important concerns in current clock-tree design. We present in this paper an algorithm for simultaneously optimizing the above objectives by sizing wires and buffers in clock trees. Our algorithm, based on Lagrangian relaxation method, can optimally minimize delay, power, and area simultaneously with very low skew and sensitivity. With linear storage overall and linear runtime per iteration, our algorithm is extremely economical, fast, and accurate; for example, our algorithm can solve a 6201-wire-segment clock-free problem using about 1-minute runtime and 1.3-MB memory and still achieve pico-second precision on an IBM RS/6000 workstation.
20073710
On a class of Hamiltonian laceable 3-regular graphs
Abstract Using the concept of brick-products, Alspach and Zhang showed in Alspach and Zhang (1989) that all cubic Cayley graphs over dihedral groups are Hamiltonian. It is also conjectured that all brick-products C(2n, m, r) are Hamiltonian laceable, in the sense that any two vertices at odd distance apart can be joined by a Hamiltonian path. In this paper, we shall study the Hamiltonian laceability of brick-products C(2n, m, r) with only one cycle (i.e. m = 1). To be more specific, we shall provide a technique with which we can show that when the chord length r is 3, 5, 7 or 9, the corresponding brick-products are Hamiltonian laceable. Let s = gcd((r + 1)/2, n) and t = gcd((r − 1)/2, n). We then show that the brick-product C(2n, 1, r) is Hamiltonian laceable if (i) st is even; (ii) s is odd and rs  r + 1 + 3s (mod 4n); or (iii) t is odd and rt  r − 1 − 3t (mod 4n). In general, when n is sufficiently large, say n ⩾ r2 − r + 1, then the brick-product is also Hamiltonian laceable.