ABSTRACT:
Instances of simple data types like strings or numbers can easily be compared and arranged on the basis of a lexical or numerical ordering system. Generic operations are available for the test of equality, greater-than- or less-than-relations can be generated and sometimes even similarity can be assessed. But how to handle multimedia data types such as music? Can we compare music at all? Despite many achievements in music information retrieval and besides low-level evaluation of spectral features we are not able to compare music in their entirety. Therefore we propose a semantic indexing method for musical documents that is based on a generic music description form and which delivers the foundation for comparison and partial ordering music.

ABSTRACT:
The broadband networks inhibit the capability to carry multiple types of traffic – voice, video and data, but these services need to be controlled according to the traffic contract negotiated at the time of the connection to maintain desired Quality of service. Such control techniques use traffic descriptors to evaluate its performance and effectiveness. In case of Variable Bit Rate (VBR) services, Peak Cell Rate (PCR) and its Cell Delay Variation Tolerance (CDVTPCR) are mandatory descriptors. In addition to these, ATM Forum proposed Sustainable Cell Rate (SCR) and its Cell delay variation tolerance (CDVTSCR). In this paper, we evaluated the impact of specific SCR and CDVTSCR values on the Usage Parameter Control (UPC) performance in case of measured MPEG traffic for improving the efficiency

ABSTRACT:
The increased use of audio applications capable of conveying enhanced spatial quality puts focus on how such a quality should be evaluated. Different approaches to evaluation of perceived quality are briefly discussed and a new technique is introduced. In a series of experiment, attributes were elicited from subjects, tested and subsequently used for derivation of evaluation scales that were feasible for subjective evaluation of the spatial quality of certain multichannel stimuli. The findings of these experiments led to the development of a novel method for evaluation of spatial audio in surround sound systems. Parts of the method were subsequently implemented in the OPAQUE software prototype designed to facilitate the elicitation process. The prototype was successfully tested in a pilot experiment. The experiments show that attribute scales derived from subjects’ personal constructs are functional for evaluation of perceived spatial audio quality. Finally, conclusions on the importance of spatial quality evaluation of new applications are made.

ABSTRACT:
This paper presents a new approach, capable of 3D image segmentation and objects’ surface reconstruction. The main advantages of the method are: large capture range; quick segmentation of a 3D scene/image to regions; multiple 3D objects reconstruction. The method uses centripetal force and penalty function to segment the entire 3D scene/image to regions containing a single 3D object. Each region is inscribed in a convex, smooth closed surface, which defines a centripetal force. Then the surface is evolved by the geometric heat differential equation toward the force’s direction. The penalty function is defined to stop evolvement of those surface patches, whose normal vectors encountered object’s surface. On the base of the theoretical model Forward Difference Algorithm was developed and coded by Mathematica. Stability convergence condition, truncation error and calculation complexity of the algorithm are determined. The obtained results, advantages and disadvantages of the method are discussed at the end of this paper.

ABSTRACT:
The correct design of complex hardware continues to challenge engineers. Bugs in a design that are not uncovered in early design stages can be extremely expensive. Simulation is a predominantly used tool to validate a design in industry. Formal verification overcomes the weakness of exhaustive simulation by applying mathematical methodologies to validate a design. The work described here focuses upon a technique that integrates the best characteristics of both simulation and formal verification methods to provide an effective design validation tool, referred as Integrated Design Validation (IDV). The novelty in this approach consists of three components, circuit complexity analysis, partitioning based on design hierarchy, and coverage analysis. The circuit complexity analyzer and partitioning decompose a large design into sub-components and feed sub-components to different verification and/or simulation tools based upon known existing strengths of modern verification and simulation tools. The coverage analysis unit computes the coverage of design validation and improves the coverage by further partitioning. Various simulation and verification tools comprising IDV are evaluated and an example is used to illustrate the overall validation process. The overall process successfully validates the example to a high coverage rate within a short time. The experimental result shows that our approach is a very promising design validation method.

ABSTRACT:
In companies, the historically developed IT systems are mostly application islands. They always produce good results if the system’s requirements and surroundings are not changed and as long as a system interface is not needed. With the ever increas-ing dynamic and globalization of the market, however, these IT islands are certain to collapse. Interoperability (IO) is the bid of the hour, assuming the integration of users, data, applications and processes. In the following, important IO enablers such as ETL, EAI, and SOA will be examined on the basis of practica-bility. It will be shown that especially SOA produces a surge of interoperability that could rightly be referred to as IT evolution.

ABSTRACT:
MaDViWorld is an object oriented software framework supporting the implementation of fully distributed virtual worlds on the Internet. While the World Wide Web proposes a document paradigm with HTTP servers containing documents consulted by users with the help of browser applications, MaDViWorld supports a much richer paradigm based on room servers hosting spaces populated by full-fedged objects, that avatar applications can activate, move and share transparently. Nevertheless, the dissemination of virtual worlds on the Internet suffers from two main weaknesses: (1) they are typically based on centralized architectures and do not scale well; and (2) they usually propose a rather closed software environment with limited extension and programming facilities. Within this context, the MaDViWorld project main goal is to provide its users with the appropriate software environment for creating all kinds of new collaborative objects and for sharing them transparently with others. The present paper illustrates this process with several examples from projects recently accomplished at the DIUF (Department of Informatics of the University of Fribourg, Switzerland) and shows how MaDViWorld provides the hooks for taking care of some of the most challenging distributed virtual world problems such as managing event propagation and securing access to ressources.

ABSTRACT:
Computed Tomography (CT) is generally accepted as the most sensitive way for lung cancer screening. Its high contrast resolution allows the detection of small nodules and, thus, lung cancer at a very early stage. In this paper, we propose a method for automating nodule detection from high-resolution 3D chest CT images. Our method focuses on the detection of both calcified (high-contrast) and noncalcified (low-contrast) granulomatous nodules less than 5mm in diameter, using a series of 3D filters including a filter for vessels and noise suppression, a filter for nodule enhancement, and a filter for false-positive elimination based on local skeletonization of suspicious nodule areas. We also present promising results of applying our method to various clinical chest CT datasets with over 90% detection rate.

ABSTRACT:
Modeling of economic and ecological impacts of genetically modified crops is a demanding task. We present some models made for the purpose of the ECOGEN project “Soil ecological and economic evaluation of genetically modified crops”. One of the goals of the project is to develop a computer-based decision support system for the assessment of economic and ecological impacts of using genetically modified crops, with special emphasis on soil biology and ecology. The decision support system is based on a rule-based model incorporating both economic and ecological criteria. In this paper we present an extension to previous results specifying further two sub-models assessing economic impacts of cropping systems at farm and regional level. Following a real option approach we show how both social and private costs and benefits, both at farm and regional level, can be classified in reversible and irreversible, and what irreversibility means for the size of the uncertainty associated to the adoption of agricultural innovations. All the qualitative models are developed using a qualitative multi-attribute modeling methodology, supported by the software tool DEXi.

ABSTRACT:
The supervised control of complex event-driven Discrete Event Systems (DESs) such as those present in manufacturing systems, or the communication processes involved therein, continue to pose a challenge to system designers. To a certain extent this complexity can be reduced by applying existing modular control approaches to large-scale DES design. These solutions divide the system into different sections in such a way that its overall behavior is given by a suitable arrangement of the different sections. However, if the system is reconfigured frequently, the overall plant models and control specifications computed earlier would no longer be valid. Thus a new controlled system will have to be computed. We propose a new methodology, for ensuring that the new controlled plant will meet any valid control specifications taken from the existing modules. Being built on the framework of Supervisory control theory, this method is guaranteed to work even as the system is being dynamically reconfigured.

ABSTRACT:
Traditional implementations of sound and music in interactive contexts have their limitations. One way to overcome these and to expand the possibilities of music is to handle the music in a parameterised form. To better understand the properties of the musical parameters resulting from parameterisation, two experiments were carried out. The first experiment investigated selected parameters’ capability to change the music; the second experiment examined how the parameters can contribute to express emotions. From these experiments, it is concluded that users without musical training perform differently from musicians on some of the parameters. There is also a clear association between the parameters and the expressed basic emotions. The paper is concluded with observations on how parameterisation might be used in interactive applications.

ABSTRACT:
The volume and complexity of Project Management (PM) raises many questions for managers. What exactly are we managing? People? Performance? Efficiency? Effectiveness? Cost? Time? At what levels do projects become challenging and worthy of significant management attention? Can some projects be left on auto-pilot? Must others be managed more aggressively? What metrics are useful in Project Management? How can they be integrated with normal performance metrics in the organization? How can metrics be built into assessment programs that work? How can projects be monitored, re-planned to stay within the original budget and schedule deadlines? How good is the PM software support? Do we really need PM software packages or it should be the integral part of the company’s information system (IS)? Where is the knowledge about company’s previous projects and performance? Are we able to establish company or even industry wide standards for project management? Can we (or should we) move from the PMBOK® guidelines and use other approaches? We discussing important questions in PM: software products, responsibilities for concurrently executing several projects (multi-projects) with multi objectives and multiple deadlines, introducing a need for initiation, design, execution, and control using a virtual project management and application of the organizational project maturity model.

ABSTRACT:
The fast evolving telecommunication world is permanently in search for faster and better communication links. On one hand, turbo codes are like a dream come true. Due to their amazing performance, they have become the reference in the word of error detecting and correcting codes. On the other hand, broadband transmission channels like optical fibres can meet the need for higher transmission velocity. In this paper therefore we will bring these two elements together and thus the performance of turbocodes on optical links will be studied. First the turbocode will be optimised throughout an individual analysis of each of its design parameters. Moreover it wil be shown that turbocodes have much better performance than the well known Reed-Solomon codes. Finally we will show that the 8Bit/10Bit code, which is required to comply with the Gigabit Ethernet standard, becomes superfluous when working with turbocodes. All tests were carried out on multimode graded-index glass fibres.

ABSTRACT:
Virtual organizations have often been identified with a strong ICT infrastructure, used to increase organizational flexibility. In these paper we argue that ICT is important, but not sufficient: organizational aspects (roles, rules, methods) are also critical. Flexibility can be achieved acting on organizational relations and making them looser. The risk must be avoided, however, that loose organizational relations decrease organizational controllability. We propose the Organizational Relational Model, developed by one of the authors in other papers, as a useful framework for organizational analysis and design in virtual settings. Two strategies for virtual organizing are proposed and described.