Optimization of an integrated model for automatic reduction and expansion of long queries

A long query provides more useful hints for searching relevant documents, but it is likely to introduce noise which affects retrieval performance. In order to smooth such adverse effect, it is important to reduce noisy terms, introduce and boost additional relevant terms. This paper presents a comprehensive framework, called Aspect Hidden Markov Model (AHMM), which integrates query reduction and expansion, for retrieval with long queries. It optimizes the probability distribution of query terms by utilizing intra-query term dependencies as well as the relationships between query terms and words observed in relevance feedback documents. Empirical evaluation on three large-scale TREC collections demonstrates that our approach, which is automatic, achieves salient improvements over various strong baselines, and also reaches a comparable performance to a state of the art method based on user’s interactive query term reduction and expansion.

Reversible and blind database watermarking using difference expansion

There has been significant research in the field of database watermarking recently. However, there has not been sufficient attention given to the requirement of providing reversibility (the ability to revert back to original relation from watermarked relation) and blindness (not needing the original relation for detection purpose) at the same time. This model has several disadvantages over reversible and blind watermarking (requiring only the watermarked relation and secret key from which the watermark is detected and the original relation is restored) including the inability to identify the rightful owner in case of successful secondary watermarking, the inability to revert the relation to the original data set (required in high precision industries) and the requirement to store the unmarked relation at a secure secondary storage. To overcome these problems, we propose a watermarking scheme that is reversible as well as blind. We utilize difference expansion on integers to achieve reversibility. The major advantages provided by our scheme are reversibility to a high quality original data set, rightful owner identification, resistance against secondary watermarking attacks, and no need to store the original database at a secure secondary storage. We have implemented our scheme and results show the success rate is limited to 11% even when 48% tuples are modified.

Reversible and blind database watermarking using difference expansion

There has been significant research in the field of database watermarking recently. However, there has not been sufficient attention given to the requirement of providing reversibility (the ability to revert back to original relation from watermarked relation) and blindness (not needing the original relation for detection purpose) at the same time. This model has several disadvantages over reversible and blind watermarking (requiring only the watermarked relation and secret key from which the watermark is detected and the original relation is restored) including the inability to identify the rightful owner in case of successful secondary watermarking, the inability to revert the relation to the original data set (required in high precision industries) and the requirement to store the unmarked relation at a secure secondary storage. To overcome these problems, we propose a watermarking scheme that is reversible as well as blind. We utilize difference expansion on integers to achieve reversibility. The major advantages provided by our scheme are reversibility to a high quality original data set, rightful owner identification, resistance against secondary watermarking attacks, and no need to store the original database at a secure secondary storage. We have implemented our scheme and results show the success rate is limited to 11% even when 48% tuples are modified.

Remote sensing utility expansion through Earth Portal internet browser

A modular, graphic-oriented Internet browser has been developed to enable non-technical client access to a literal spinning world of information and remotely sensed. The Earth Portal (www.earthportal.net) uses the ManyOne browser (www.manyone.net) to provide engaging point and click views of the Earth fully tessellated with remotely sensed imagery and geospatial data. The ManyOne browser technology use Mozilla with embedded plugins to apply multiple 3-D graphics engines, e.g. ArcGlobe or GeoFusion, that directly link with the open-systems architecture of the geo-spatial infrastructure. This innovation allows for rendering of satellite imagery directly over the Earth's surface and requires no technical training by the web user. Effective use of this global distribution system for the remote sensing community requires a minimal compliance with protocols and standards that have been promoted by NSDI and other open-systems standards organizations.

The role of the market sub-system and the socio-technical sub-system in innovation and firm performance : a dynamic capabilities approach

Organizational learning has been studied as a key factor in firm performance and internationalization. Moving beyond the past emphasis on market learning, we develop a more complete explanation of learning, its relationship to innovation, and their joint effect on early internationalization. We theorize that, driven by the founders’ international vision, early internationalizing firms employ a dual subsystem of dynamic capabilities: a market subsystem consisting of market-focused learning capability and marketing capability, and a socio-technical subsystem comprised of network learning capability and internally focused learning capability. We argue that innovation mediates the proposed relationship between the dynamic capability structure and early internationalization. We conduct case studies to develop the conceptual framework and test it in a field survey of early internationalizing firms from Australia and the United States. Our findings indicate a complex interplay of capabilities driving innovation and early internationalization. We provide theoretical and practical implications and offer insights for future research.

Heat transfer measurements on the first experimental layer of the FIRE II reentry vehicle in expansion tubes

The present study focused on simulating a trajectory point towards the end of the first experimental heatshield of the FIRE II vehicle, at a total flight time of 1639.53s. Scale replicas were sized according to binary scaling and instrumented with thermocouples for testing in the X1 expansion tube, located at The University of Queensland. Correlation of flight to experimental data was achieved through the separation, and independent treatment of the heat modes. Preliminary investigation indicates that the absolute value of radiant surface flux is conserved between two binary scaled models, whereas convective heat transfer increases with the length scale. This difference in the scaling techniques result in the overall contribution of radiative heat transfer diminishing to less than 1% in expansion tubes from a flight value of approximately 9-17%. From empirical correlation's it has been shown that the St √Re number decreases, under special circumstances, in expansion tubes by the percentage radiation present on the flight vehicle. Results obtained in this study give a strong indication that the relative radiative heat transfer contribution in the expansion tube tests is less than that in flight, supporting the analysis that the absolute value remains constant with binary scaling.

Reversible and blind database watermarking using difference expansion

Database watermarking has received significant research attention in the current decade. Although, almost all watermarking models have been either irreversible (the original relation cannot be restored from the watermarked relation) and/or non-blind (requiring original relation to detect the watermark in watermarked relation). This model has several disadvantages over reversible and blind watermarking (requiring only watermarked relation and secret key from which the watermark is detected and original relation is restored) including inability to identify rightful owner in case of successful secondary watermarking, inability to revert the relation to original data set (required in high precision industries) and requirement to store unmarked relation at a secure secondary storage. To overcome these problems, we propose a watermarking scheme that is reversible as well as blind. We utilize difference expansion on integers to achieve reversibility. The major advantages provided by our scheme are reversibility to high quality original data set, rightful owner identification, resistance against secondary watermarking attacks, and no need to store original database at a secure secondary storage.

A securities market operator's use of the "please explain" price query and its impact on compliance

Market operators in New Zealand and Australia, such as the New Zealand Exchange (NZX) and the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), have the regulatory power in their listing rules to issue queries to their market participants to explain unusual fluctuations in trading price and/or volume in the market. The operator will issue a price query where it believes that the market has not been fully informed as to price relevant information. Responsive regulation theory has informed much of the regulatory debate in securities laws in the region. Price queries map onto the lower level of the enforcement pyramid envisaged by responsive regulation and are one strategy that a market operator can use in communicating its compliance expectations to its stakeholders. The issue of a price query may be a precursor to more severe enforcement activities. The aim of this study is to investigate whether increased use of price queries by the securities market operator in New Zealand corresponded with an increase in disclosure frequency by all participating companies. The study finds that an increased use of price queries did correspond with an increase in disclosure frequency. A possible explanation for this finding is that price queries are an effective means of appealing to the factors that motivate corporations, and the individuals who control them, to comply with the law and regulatory requirements. This finding will have implications for both the NZX and the ASX as well as for regulators and policy makers generally.

Assessing the property market impact of stigma removal : high voltage overhead transmission lines removal in Wellington, NZ

This thesis advances the understanding of the impact of stigma on property values. A case study in Wellington, New Zealand, enabled hedonic modelling and an empirical analysis to determine the impact of the stigma from the high voltage transmission line structure and how long the stigma remained after removal. The results reveal a substantial difference between the discount applied to individual properties while the structure is in place, as compared to the overall increase in neighbourhood value once the structure, which created the stigma, is removed.

Supply, demand, and equilibrium in the market for CRNAs

This study determined the current trends in supply, demand, and equilibrium (ie, the level of employment where supply equals demand) in the market for Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs). It also forecasts future needs for CRNAs given different possible scenarios. The impact of the current availability of CRNAs, projected retirements, and changes in the demand for surgeries are considered in relation to CRNAs needed for the future. The study used data from many sources to estimate models associated with the supply and demand for CRNAs and the relationship to relevant community and policy characteristics such as per capita income of the community and managed care. These models were used to forecast changes in surgeries and in the supply of CRNAs in the future. The supply of CRNAs has increased in recent years, stimulated by shortages of CRNAs and subsequent increases in the number of CRNAs trained. However, the increases have not offset the number of retiring CRNAs to maintain a constant age in the CRNA population. The average age will continue to increase for CRNAs in the near future despite increases in CRNAs trained. The supply of CRNAs in relation to surgeries will increase in the near future.

Effect of Coulomb blockade, gold resistance, and thermal expansion on the electrical resistance of ultrathin gold films

Controlling the electrical resistance of granular thin films is of great importance for many applications, yet a full understanding of electron transport in such films remains a major challenge. We have studied experimentally and by model calculations the temperature dependence of the electrical resistance of ultrathin gold films at temperatures between 2 K and 300 K. Using sputter deposition, the film morphology was varied from a discontinuous film of weakly coupled meandering islands to a continuous film of strongly coupled coalesced islands. In the weak-coupling regime, we compare the regular island array model, the cotunneling model, and the conduction percolation model with our experimental data. We show that the tunnel barriers and the Coulomb blockade energies are important at low temperatures and that the thermal expansion of the substrate and the island resistance affect the resistance at high temperatures. At low temperatures our experimental data show evidence for a transition from electron cotunneling to sequential tunneling but the data can also be interpreted in terms of conduction percolation. The resistivity and temperature coefficient of resistance of the meandering gold islands are found to resemble those of gold nanowires. We derive a simple expression for the temperature at which the resistance changes from non-metal-like behavior into metal-like behavior. In the case of strong island coupling, the total resistance is solely determined by the Ohmic island resistance.

Predicting stock market returns and volatility with investor sentiment : evidence from eight developed countries

We test the predictive ability of investor sentiment on the return and volatility at the aggregate market level in the U.S., four largest European countries and three Asia-Pacific countries. We find that in the U.S., France and Italy periods of high consumer confidence levels are followed by low market returns. In Japan both the level and the change in consumer confidence boost the market return in the next month. Further, shifts in sentiment significantly move conditional volatility in most of the countries, and in Italy such impacts lead to an increase in returns by 4.7% in the next month.

Strategic entry deterrence : does it constitute a misuse of market power?

A challenge for regulators and the courts has been establishing the boundary between behaviour is exclusionary and should be condemned under s 46 of the then Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth) (TPA), now s 46 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) (CCA), and behaviour that is not exclusionary and might even be pro-competitive. This boundary can be especially difficult to draw in the case of entry deterring strategies. Section 46(1) prohibits corporations with a substantial degree of market power from taking advantage of that market power for one of the statutorily proscribed purposes which include preventing the entry of a person into that or any other market. Section 45(2) separately prohibits corporations from making and giving effect to contracts arrangements and understandings that have the purpose, effect or likely effect of substantially lessening competition in a market. The latest case in which the ACCC has failed to satisfy the s 46 criteria is the decision of Greenwood J in ACCC v Cement Australia Pty Ltd [2013] FCA 909 (Cement Australia case). Final orders were published in a separate judgment, in ACCC v Cement Australia Pty Ltd [2014] FCA 148 (28 February 2014). The case concerned an entry deterring strategy, namely the pre-emptive buying of input factors in an upstream market to protect an incumbent with substantial market power in a downstream market and to prevent new entry in the downstream market. Greenwood J found that while Cement Australia Pty Ltd, formerly known as Queensland Cement Ltd (QCL), had substantial market power, its conduct in entering into the pre-emptive contracts was not a contravention of s 46, because Cement Australia had not “taken advantage” of its market power. However, since Cement Australia’s purpose in entering into the pre-emptive contracts was anti-competitive, they were held to contravene s 45(2) of the TPA. The purpose of this Note is to consider only the reasons for judgment in the Cement Australia case in relation to the “taking advantage” element. The judgment was handed down on 10 September 2013. The final hearing date was 15 July 2011, so it was long-awaited. At 714 pages, it is carefully drafted.