9764286
Time to Leave the Trees: From Syntactic to Conceptual Querying of XML
Current XML query languages operate on XML instances only but ignore valuable conceptual level information that is "buried" inside complex XML Schema documents. For example, XPath queries are evaluated against XML documents based on element names (tags) and their syntactic nesting structure, ignoring the element types and other conceptual level information that is declared in separate XML schemas. We propose an extension to XML query languages for conceptual querying of XML, based on an underlying abstract model of XML Schema (MXS). We show that this approach offers the user new and often more adequate high-level query capabilities beyond the traditional purely syntactic approach of querying XML trees.
8323337
Modeling Functional Data Sources as Relations
In this paper we present a model of functional access to data that, we argue, is suitable for modeling a class of data repositories characterized by functional access, such as web sites. We discuss the problem of modeling such data sources as a set of relations, of determining whether a given query expressed on these relations can be translated into a combination of functions defined by the data sources, and of finding an optimal plan to do so.
14666453
An Interpolated Volume Data Model
Publisher Summary This chapter explores the basic functionality of the volume data model. It considers examples from biology and volumes of measurement from quantum physics. The data model is similar in the two cases, but the operations that are commonly used are quite different. In the second case, for instance, one is often interested in conditions on the behavior of local differential operators, such as zero-flow surfaces, while in the biological case one has a mix of value conditions and geometric condition. With these two application fields, this chapter highlights the generality and flexibility of the model. The system is based on a commercial database, augmented with specialized functions to manipulate the volume data model. The chapter demonstrates various operations specifying queries both using a graphical user interface and entering them directly in structured query language (SQL) augmented with the volume algebra operations.
2635468
A System for Managing Alternate Models in Model-Based Mediation
In [1,3], we have described the problem of model-based mediation (MBM) as an extension of the global-as-view paradigm of information integration. The need for this extension arises in many application domains where the information sources to be integrated not only differ in their export formats, data models, and query capabilities, but have widely different schema with very little overlap in attributes. In scientific applications, the information sources come from different subdisciplines, and despite their poorly overlapping schema, can be integrated because they capture different aspects of the same scientific objects or phenomena, and can be conceptually integrated due to scientific reasons. In the MBM paradigm, a “mediation engineer” consults with domain experts to explicitly model the “glue knowledge” using a set of facts and rules at the mediator. Integrated views are defined in MBM on top of the exported schemas from the information sources together with the glue knowledge source that ties them together. We have successfully applied the MBM technique to develop the KIND mediator or Neuroscience information sources [1]-[4]. To accomplish this, sources in the MBM framework export their conceptual models (CMs), consisting of the logical schema, domain constraints, and object contexts, i.e., formulas that relate their conceptual schema with the global domain knowledge maintained at the mediator. Thus model-based mediation has a hybrid approach to information integration - on the one hand at the mediator integrated views are defined over source CMs and the Knowledge Map using a global-as-view approach; on the other hand, object-contexts of the source are defined as local-as-view.
9743987
Complex Visual Activity Recognition Using a Temporally Ordered Database
We propose using a temporally ordered database for complex visual activity recognition. We use a temporal precedence relation together with the assumption of fixed bounded temporal uncertainty of occurrence time of an atomic activity and comparatively large temporal extent of the complex activity. Under these conditions we identify the temporal structure of complex activities as a semiorder and design a database that has semiorder as its data model. A query algebra is then defined for this data model.
28954888
Modeling shape and topology of 3D images of biological specimens
This paper presents an efficient way of representing the geometry and topology of 3D images of biological specimens derived from electron microscopy. A vector quantization algorithm is used in order to select a reduced set of interior points that best approximates the probability density function of the original volumetric data. Object's geometry and topology are obtained from the point set by the use of the alpha shapes theory.
5958805
Selective and authentic third-party distribution of XML documents
Third-party architectures for data publishing over the Internet today are receiving growing attention, due to their scalability properties and to the ability of efficiently managing large number of subjects and great amount of data. In a third-party architecture, there is a distinction between the Owner and the Publisher of information. The Owner is the producer of information, whereas Publishers are responsible for managing (a portion of) the Owner information and for answering subject queries. A relevant issue in this architecture is how the Owner can ensure a secure and selective publishing of its data, even if the data are managed by a third-party, which can prune some of the nodes of the original document on the basis of subject queries and access control policies. An approach can be that of requiring the Publisher to be trusted with regard to the considered security properties. However, the serious drawback of this solution is that large Web-based systems cannot be easily verified to be secure and can be easily penetrated. For these reasons, we propose an alternative approach, based on the use of digital signature techniques, which does not require the Publisher to be trusted. The security properties we consider are authenticity and completeness of a query response, where completeness is intended with regard to the access control policies stated by the information Owner. In particular, we show that, by embedding in the query response one digital signature generated by the Owner and some hash values, a subject is able to locally verify the authenticity of a query response. Moreover, we present an approach that, for a wide range of queries, allows a subject to verify the completeness of query results.
5331854
On the Scalable Computation of Large Sets of Integrals
We consider efficient strategies for the parallel and distributed computation of large sets of multivariate integrals. These arise in many applications such as computational chemistry, high energy physics and finite element problems. We use a hierarchical architecture which is highly scalable and allows parallelization not only at the domain level but also at the integral level. We present experimental results on a family of parametrized integrals and show that our approach leads to an efficient scalable load balanced algorithm. The methods are easily applicable to other areas where a large number of problems need to be solved efficiently on a parallel and distributed system.
24549782
Adaptive Fault Tolerant Hospital Resource Scheduling
In a distributed hospital system, different hospitals should collaborate among themselves for sharing their resources to provide better and faster service to the patients. We address the distributed hospital resource scheduling problem and apply the Generalized Partial Global Planning (GPGP) approach used for multiagent systems for the same. An adaptive coordination mechanism based on the contract net protocol is proposed to support inter-hospital collaboration. We have performed simulation studies and the experimental results show that our coordination mechanism performs better than commonly used schemes. Fault handling mechanisms are presented so that the system continues to provide service even in the presence of faults. The proposed approach is applicable in contexts other than the distributed hospital system as well.
17006088
An Efficient MAP Classifier for Sensornets
The classification phase is computationally intensive and frequently recurs in tracking applications in sensor networks. Most related work uses traditional signal processing classifiers, such as Maximum A Posterior (MAP) classifier. Naive formulations of MAP are not feasible for resource constraint sensornet nodes. In this paper, we study computationally efficient methods for classification. We propose to use one-sided Jacobi iterations for eigen value decomposition of the covariance matrices, the inverse of which are needed in MAP classifier. We show that this technique greatly simplifies the execution of MAP classifier and makes it a feasible and efficient choice for sensornet applications.
14070074
Stream processing of XPath queries with predicates
We consider the problem of evaluating large numbers of XPath filters, each with many predicates, on a stream of XML documents. The solution we propose is to lazily construct a single deterministic pushdown automata, called the XPush Machine from the given XPath fllters. We describe a number of optimization techniques to make the lazy XPush machine more efficient, both in terms of space and time. The combination of these optimizations results in high, sustained throughput. For example, if the total number of atomic predicates in the filters is up to 200000, then the throughput is at least 0.5 MB/sec: it increases to 4.5 MB/sec when each fllter contains a single predicate.