AI Assistant Roblox

AI Assistant Roblox — independent reviews, comparisons, pricing and step-by-step guides on Aizhi.

  • Event store

    Event store

    An event store is a type of database optimized for storage of events. Conceptually, an event store records only the events affecting an entity, dossier, or policy, and the state of the entity at any point in its history can be reconstructed by replaying its contributing events in sequential order. Events (and their corresponding data) are the only "real" facts that should be stored in the database. All other objects can be derived from these events, meaning they are instantiated in memory by runtime code as needed (e.g. for showing in a user interface). In theory, any object that aggregates over recorded event data is not stored in the database. Instead these objects are built 'on the fly', by traversing the event history. When the aggregated object instance is no longer needed, it can simply be discarded (released from memory). == Example with insurance policies == For example, the event store concept of a database can be applied to insurance policies or pension dossiers. In these policies or dossiers the instantiation of each object that make up the dossier or policy (the person, partner(s), employments, etc.) can be derived and can be instantiated in memory based on the real world events. == Double timeline == A crucial part of an event store database is that each event has a double timeline: This enables event stores to correct errors of events that have been entered into the event store database before. The two dates are: Valid date is the date at which the event has become valid. Transaction date is the date at which the event is entered into the database. == Error correction == Another crucial part of an event store database is that events that are stored are not allowed to be changed. Once stored, also erroneous events are not changed anymore. The only way to change (or better: correct) these events is to instantiate a new event with the new values and using the double timeline. A correcting event would have the new values of the original event, with an event data of that corrected event, but a different transaction date. This mechanism ensures reproducibility at each moment in the time, even in the time period before the correction has taken place. It also allows to reproduce situations based on erroneous events (if required). == Advantages and disadvantages == One advantage of the event store concept is that handling the effects of back dated events (events that take effect before previous events and that may even invalidate them) is much easier. An event store will simplify the code in that rolling back erroneous situations and rolling up the new, correct situations is not needed anymore. Disadvantage may be that the code needs to re-instantiate all objects in memory based on the events each time a service call is received for a specific dossier or policy. == Compared to regular databases == In regular databases, handling backdated events to correct previous, erroneous events can be painful as it often results in rolling back all previous, erroneous transactions and objects and rolling up the new, correct transactions and objects. In an event store, only the new event (and its corresponding facts) are stored. The code will then redetermine the transactions and objects based on the new facts in memory.

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  • Document capture software

    Document capture software

    Document capture software refers to applications that provide the ability and feature set to automate the process of scanning paper documents or importing electronic documents, often for the purposes of feeding advanced document classification and data collection processes. Most scanning hardware, both scanners and copiers, provides the basic ability to scan to any number of image file formats, including: PDF, TIFF, JPG, BMP, etc. This basic functionality is augmented by document capture software, which can add efficiency and standardization to the process. == Typical features == Typical features of Document Capture Software include: Barcode recognition Patch Code recognition Separation Optical Character Recognition (OCR) Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) Quality Assurance Indexing Migration === Goal for implementation of a document capture solution === The goal for implementing a document capture solution is to reduce the amount of time spent scanning, separating, enhancing, organizing, classifying, normalizing, and collecting information from document collections, and to produce metadata along with an image/PDF file, and/or OCR text. This information is then migrated to a file share, FTP site, database, Document Management or Enterprise Content Management system. These systems often provide a search function, allowing search of the assets based on the produced metadata, and then viewed using document imaging software. == General document capture system solutions == === Integration with document management system === ECM (Enterprise Content management) and their DMS component (Document Management System) are being adopted by many organizations as a corporate document management system for all types of electronic files, e.g. MS word, PDF ... However, much of the information held by organisations is on paper and this needs to be integrated within the same document repository. By converting paper documents into digital format through scanning, organizations convert paper into image formats such as TIF, JPG, and PDF, and also extract valuable index information or business data from the document using OCR technology. Digital documents and associated metadata can easily be stored in the ECM in a variety of formats. The most popular of these formats is PDF which not only provides an accurate representation of the document but also allows all the OCR text in the document to be stored behind the PDF image. This format is known as PDF with hidden text or text-searchable PDF. This allows users to search for documents by using keywords in the metadata fields or by searching the content of PDF files across the repository. ==== Advantages of scanning documents into a ECM/DMS ==== Information held on paper is usually just as valuable to organisations as the electronic documents that are generated internally. Often this information represents a large proportion of the day to day correspondence with suppliers and customers. Having the ability to manage and share this information internally through a document management system such as SharePoint or a CMIS-compatible repository improves collaboration between departments or employees and also eliminates the risk of losing this information through disasters such as floods or fire. Organisations adopting an ECM/DMS often implement electronic workflow which allows the information held on paper to be included as part of an electronic business process and incorporated into a customer record file along with other associated office documents and emails. For business critical documents, such as purchase orders and supplier invoices, digitising documents helps speed up business transactions as well as reduce manual effort involved in keying data into business systems, such as CRM, ERP and Accounting. Scanned invoices can also be routed to managers for payment approval via email or an electronic workflow. == Electronic document capture == In the earlier implementations of Document Capture Software, the technology focused solely on the digitization and capture of information from paper documents. Document images were acquired from document scanners via TWAIN/ISIS drivers. Only image-based file formats like TIF, JPG, and BMP were typically compatible with these solutions. But in recent years, as the volume of electronically-created documents and the number of proprietary file formats continues to increase at exponential rates, the need for handling documents existing in electronic formats has grown. The relevant document capture products have adapted to function with non-image file formats with the end-goal of creating a unified processing workflow capable of handling all incoming documents The ability to import files from a variety of sources is one example of such adaptation. Importing documents from ECM/DMS software solutions, email servers, FTP, and EDI is now as much of a requirement of document capture software as is paper capture. The normalization of output files to text-based PDF format is now another critical factor in long-term archival of proprietary electronic file formats. Normalization expands access and usage of files to users throughout the enterprise, rather than only those that created the original electronic file.

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  • Berlekamp–Rabin algorithm

    Berlekamp–Rabin algorithm

    In number theory, Berlekamp's root finding algorithm, also called the Berlekamp–Rabin algorithm, is the probabilistic method of finding roots of polynomials over the field F p {\displaystyle \mathbb {F} _{p}} with p {\displaystyle p} elements. The method was discovered by Elwyn Berlekamp in 1970 as an auxiliary to the algorithm for polynomial factorization over finite fields. The algorithm was later modified by Rabin for arbitrary finite fields in 1979. The method was also independently discovered before Berlekamp by other researchers. == History == The method was proposed by Elwyn Berlekamp in his 1970 work on polynomial factorization over finite fields. His original work lacked a formal correctness proof and was later refined and modified for arbitrary finite fields by Michael Rabin. In 1986 René Peralta proposed a similar algorithm for finding square roots in F p {\displaystyle \mathbb {F} _{p}} . In 2000 Peralta's method was generalized for cubic equations. == Statement of problem == Let p {\displaystyle p} be an odd prime number. Consider the polynomial f ( x ) = a 0 + a 1 x + ⋯ + a n x n {\textstyle f(x)=a_{0}+a_{1}x+\cdots +a_{n}x^{n}} over the field F p ≃ Z / p Z {\displaystyle \mathbb {F} _{p}\simeq \mathbb {Z} /p\mathbb {Z} } of remainders modulo p {\displaystyle p} . The algorithm should find all λ {\displaystyle \lambda } in F p {\displaystyle \mathbb {F} _{p}} such that f ( λ ) = 0 {\textstyle f(\lambda )=0} in F p {\displaystyle \mathbb {F} _{p}} . == Algorithm == === Randomization === Let f ( x ) = ( x − λ 1 ) ( x − λ 2 ) ⋯ ( x − λ n ) {\textstyle f(x)=(x-\lambda _{1})(x-\lambda _{2})\cdots (x-\lambda _{n})} . Finding all roots of this polynomial is equivalent to finding its factorization into linear factors. To find such factorization it is sufficient to split the polynomial into any two non-trivial divisors and factorize them recursively. To do this, consider the polynomial f z ( x ) = f ( x − z ) = ( x − λ 1 − z ) ( x − λ 2 − z ) ⋯ ( x − λ n − z ) {\textstyle f_{z}(x)=f(x-z)=(x-\lambda _{1}-z)(x-\lambda _{2}-z)\cdots (x-\lambda _{n}-z)} where z {\displaystyle z} is some element of F p {\displaystyle \mathbb {F} _{p}} . If one can represent this polynomial as the product f z ( x ) = p 0 ( x ) p 1 ( x ) {\displaystyle f_{z}(x)=p_{0}(x)p_{1}(x)} then in terms of the initial polynomial it means that f ( x ) = p 0 ( x + z ) p 1 ( x + z ) {\displaystyle f(x)=p_{0}(x+z)p_{1}(x+z)} , which provides needed factorization of f ( x ) {\displaystyle f(x)} . === Classification of === F p {\displaystyle \mathbb {F} _{p}} elements Due to Euler's criterion, for every monomial ( x − λ ) {\displaystyle (x-\lambda )} exactly one of following properties holds: The monomial is equal to x {\displaystyle x} if λ = 0 {\displaystyle \lambda =0} , The monomial divides g 0 ( x ) = ( x ( p − 1 ) / 2 − 1 ) {\textstyle g_{0}(x)=(x^{(p-1)/2}-1)} if λ {\displaystyle \lambda } is quadratic residue modulo p {\displaystyle p} , The monomial divides g 1 ( x ) = ( x ( p − 1 ) / 2 + 1 ) {\textstyle g_{1}(x)=(x^{(p-1)/2}+1)} if λ {\displaystyle \lambda } is quadratic non-residual modulo p {\displaystyle p} . Thus if f z ( x ) {\displaystyle f_{z}(x)} is not divisible by x {\displaystyle x} , which may be checked separately, then f z ( x ) {\displaystyle f_{z}(x)} is equal to the product of greatest common divisors gcd ( f z ( x ) ; g 0 ( x ) ) {\displaystyle \gcd(f_{z}(x);g_{0}(x))} and gcd ( f z ( x ) ; g 1 ( x ) ) {\displaystyle \gcd(f_{z}(x);g_{1}(x))} . === Berlekamp's method === The property above leads to the following algorithm: Explicitly calculate coefficients of f z ( x ) = f ( x − z ) {\displaystyle f_{z}(x)=f(x-z)} , Calculate remainders of x , x 2 , x 2 2 , x 2 3 , x 2 4 , … , x 2 ⌊ log 2 ⁡ p ⌋ {\textstyle x,x^{2},x^{2^{2}},x^{2^{3}},x^{2^{4}},\ldots ,x^{2^{\lfloor \log _{2}p\rfloor }}} modulo f z ( x ) {\displaystyle f_{z}(x)} by squaring the current polynomial and taking remainder modulo f z ( x ) {\displaystyle f_{z}(x)} , Using exponentiation by squaring and polynomials calculated on the previous steps calculate the remainder of x ( p − 1 ) / 2 {\textstyle x^{(p-1)/2}} modulo f z ( x ) {\textstyle f_{z}(x)} , If x ( p − 1 ) / 2 ≢ ± 1 ( mod f z ( x ) ) {\textstyle x^{(p-1)/2}\not \equiv \pm 1{\pmod {f_{z}(x)}}} then gcd {\displaystyle \gcd } mentioned below provide a non-trivial factorization of f z ( x ) {\displaystyle f_{z}(x)} , Otherwise all roots of f z ( x ) {\displaystyle f_{z}(x)} are either residues or non-residues simultaneously and one has to choose another z {\displaystyle z} . If f ( x ) {\displaystyle f(x)} is divisible by some non-linear primitive polynomial g ( x ) {\displaystyle g(x)} over F p {\displaystyle \mathbb {F} _{p}} then when calculating gcd {\displaystyle \gcd } with g 0 ( x ) {\displaystyle g_{0}(x)} and g 1 ( x ) {\displaystyle g_{1}(x)} one will obtain a non-trivial factorization of f z ( x ) / g z ( x ) {\displaystyle f_{z}(x)/g_{z}(x)} , thus algorithm allows to find all roots of arbitrary polynomials over F p {\displaystyle \mathbb {F} _{p}} . === Modular square root === Consider equation x 2 ≡ a ( mod p ) {\textstyle x^{2}\equiv a{\pmod {p}}} having elements β {\displaystyle \beta } and − β {\displaystyle -\beta } as its roots. Solution of this equation is equivalent to factorization of polynomial f ( x ) = x 2 − a = ( x − β ) ( x + β ) {\textstyle f(x)=x^{2}-a=(x-\beta )(x+\beta )} over F p {\displaystyle \mathbb {F} _{p}} . In this particular case problem it is sufficient to calculate only gcd ( f z ( x ) ; g 0 ( x ) ) {\displaystyle \gcd(f_{z}(x);g_{0}(x))} . For this polynomial exactly one of the following properties will hold: GCD is equal to 1 {\displaystyle 1} which means that z + β {\displaystyle z+\beta } and z − β {\displaystyle z-\beta } are both quadratic non-residues, GCD is equal to f z ( x ) {\displaystyle f_{z}(x)} which means that both numbers are quadratic residues, GCD is equal to ( x − t ) {\displaystyle (x-t)} which means that exactly one of these numbers is quadratic residue. In the third case GCD is equal to either ( x − z − β ) {\displaystyle (x-z-\beta )} or ( x − z + β ) {\displaystyle (x-z+\beta )} . It allows to write the solution as β = ( t − z ) ( mod p ) {\textstyle \beta =(t-z){\pmod {p}}} . === Example === Assume we need to solve the equation x 2 ≡ 5 ( mod 11 ) {\textstyle x^{2}\equiv 5{\pmod {11}}} . For this we need to factorize f ( x ) = x 2 − 5 = ( x − β ) ( x + β ) {\displaystyle f(x)=x^{2}-5=(x-\beta )(x+\beta )} . Consider some possible values of z {\displaystyle z} : Let z = 3 {\displaystyle z=3} . Then f z ( x ) = ( x − 3 ) 2 − 5 = x 2 − 6 x + 4 {\displaystyle f_{z}(x)=(x-3)^{2}-5=x^{2}-6x+4} , thus gcd ( x 2 − 6 x + 4 ; x 5 − 1 ) = 1 {\displaystyle \gcd(x^{2}-6x+4;x^{5}-1)=1} . Both numbers 3 ± β {\displaystyle 3\pm \beta } are quadratic non-residues, so we need to take some other z {\displaystyle z} . Let z = 2 {\displaystyle z=2} . Then f z ( x ) = ( x − 2 ) 2 − 5 = x 2 − 4 x − 1 {\displaystyle f_{z}(x)=(x-2)^{2}-5=x^{2}-4x-1} , thus gcd ( x 2 − 4 x − 1 ; x 5 − 1 ) ≡ x − 9 ( mod 11 ) {\textstyle \gcd(x^{2}-4x-1;x^{5}-1)\equiv x-9{\pmod {11}}} . From this follows x − 9 = x − 2 − β {\textstyle x-9=x-2-\beta } , so β ≡ 7 ( mod 11 ) {\displaystyle \beta \equiv 7{\pmod {11}}} and − β ≡ − 7 ≡ 4 ( mod 11 ) {\textstyle -\beta \equiv -7\equiv 4{\pmod {11}}} . A manual check shows that, indeed, 7 2 ≡ 49 ≡ 5 ( mod 11 ) {\textstyle 7^{2}\equiv 49\equiv 5{\pmod {11}}} and 4 2 ≡ 16 ≡ 5 ( mod 11 ) {\textstyle 4^{2}\equiv 16\equiv 5{\pmod {11}}} . == Correctness proof == The algorithm finds factorization of f z ( x ) {\displaystyle f_{z}(x)} in all cases except for ones when all numbers z + λ 1 , z + λ 2 , … , z + λ n {\displaystyle z+\lambda _{1},z+\lambda _{2},\ldots ,z+\lambda _{n}} are quadratic residues or non-residues simultaneously. According to theory of cyclotomy, the probability of such an event for the case when λ 1 , … , λ n {\displaystyle \lambda _{1},\ldots ,\lambda _{n}} are all residues or non-residues simultaneously (that is, when z = 0 {\displaystyle z=0} would fail) may be estimated as 2 − k {\displaystyle 2^{-k}} where k {\displaystyle k} is the number of distinct values in λ 1 , … , λ n {\displaystyle \lambda _{1},\ldots ,\lambda _{n}} . In this way even for the worst case of k = 1 {\displaystyle k=1} and f ( x ) = ( x − λ ) n {\displaystyle f(x)=(x-\lambda )^{n}} , the probability of error may be estimated as 1 / 2 {\displaystyle 1/2} and for modular square root case error probability is at most 1 / 4 {\displaystyle 1/4} . == Complexity == Let a polynomial have degree n {\displaystyle n} . We derive the algorithm's complexity as follows: Due to the binomial theorem ( x − z ) k = ∑ i = 0 k ( k i ) ( − z ) k − i x i {\textstyle (x-z)^{k}=\sum \limits _{i=0}^{k}{\binom {k}{i}}(-z)^{k-i}x^{i}} , we may transition from f ( x ) {\displaystyle f(x)} to f ( x − z ) {\displaystyle f(x-z)} in O ( n 2 ) {\displaystyle O(n^{2})} time. Polynomial multiplication a

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  • Hybrid algorithm

    Hybrid algorithm

    A hybrid algorithm is an algorithm that combines two or more other algorithms that solve the same problem, either choosing one based on some characteristic of the data, or switching between them over the course of the algorithm. This is generally done to combine desired features of each, so that the overall algorithm is better than the individual components. "Hybrid algorithm" does not refer to simply combining multiple algorithms to solve a different problem – many algorithms can be considered as combinations of simpler pieces – but only to combining algorithms that solve the same problem, but differ in other characteristics, notably performance. == Examples == In computer science, hybrid algorithms are very common in optimized real-world implementations of recursive algorithms, particularly implementations of divide-and-conquer or decrease-and-conquer algorithms, where the size of the data decreases as one moves deeper in the recursion. In this case, one algorithm is used for the overall approach (on large data), but deep in the recursion, it switches to a different algorithm, which is more efficient on small data. A common example is in sorting algorithms, where the insertion sort, which is inefficient on large data, but very efficient on small data (say, five to ten elements), is used as the final step, after primarily applying another algorithm, such as merge sort or quicksort. Merge sort and quicksort are asymptotically optimal on large data, but the overhead becomes significant if applying them to small data, hence the use of a different algorithm at the end of the recursion. A highly optimized hybrid sorting algorithm is Timsort, which combines merge sort, insertion sort, together with additional logic (including binary search) in the merging logic. A general procedure for a simple hybrid recursive algorithm is short-circuiting the base case, also known as arm's-length recursion. In this case whether the next step will result in the base case is checked before the function call, avoiding an unnecessary function call. For example, in a tree, rather than recursing to a child node and then checking if it is null, checking null before recursing. This is useful for efficiency when the algorithm usually encounters the base case many times, as in many tree algorithms, but is otherwise considered poor style, particularly in academia, due to the added complexity. Another example of hybrid algorithms for performance reasons are introsort and introselect, which combine one algorithm for fast average performance, falling back on another algorithm to ensure (asymptotically) optimal worst-case performance. Introsort begins with a quicksort, but switches to a heap sort if quicksort is not progressing well; analogously introselect begins with quickselect, but switches to median of medians if quickselect is not progressing well. Centralized distributed algorithms can often be considered as hybrid algorithms, consisting of an individual algorithm (run on each distributed processor), and a combining algorithm (run on a centralized distributor) – these correspond respectively to running the entire algorithm on one processor, or running the entire computation on the distributor, combining trivial results (a one-element data set from each processor). A basic example of these algorithms are distribution sorts, particularly used for external sorting, which divide the data into separate subsets, sort the subsets, and then combine the subsets into totally sorted data; examples include bucket sort and flashsort. However, in general distributed algorithms need not be hybrid algorithms, as individual algorithms or combining or communication algorithms may be solving different problems. For example, in models such as MapReduce, the Map and Reduce step solve different problems, and are combined to solve a different, third problem.

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  • Autonomic networking

    Autonomic networking

    Autonomic networking follows the concept of Autonomic Computing, an initiative started by IBM in 2001. Its ultimate aim is to create self-managing networks to overcome the rapidly growing complexity of the Internet and other networks and to enable their further growth, far beyond the size of today. == Increasing size and complexity == The ever-growing management complexity of the Internet caused by its rapid growth is seen by some experts as a major problem that limits its usability in the future. What's more, increasingly popular smartphones, PDAs, networked audio and video equipment, and game consoles need to be interconnected. Pervasive Computing not only adds features, but also burdens existing networking infrastructure with more and more tasks that sooner or later will not be manageable by human intervention alone. Another important aspect is the price of manually controlling huge numbers of vitally important devices of current network infrastructures. == Autonomic nervous system == The autonomic nervous system (ANS) is the part of complex biological nervous systems that is not consciously controlled. It regulates bodily functions and the activity of specific organs. As proposed by IBM, future communication systems might be designed in a similar way to the ANS. == Components of autonomic networking == As autonomics conceptually derives from biological entities such as the human autonomic nervous system, each of the areas can be metaphorically related to functional and structural aspects of a living being. In the human body, the autonomic system facilitates and regulates a variety of functions including respiration, blood pressure and circulation, and emotive response. The autonomic nervous system is the interconnecting fabric that supports feedback loops between internal states and various sources by which internal and external conditions are monitored. === Autognostics === Autognostics includes a range of self-discovery, awareness, and analysis capabilities that provide the autonomic system with a view on high-level state. In metaphor, this represents the perceptual sub-systems that gather, analyze, and report on internal and external states and conditions – for example, this might be viewed as the eyes, visual cortex and perceptual organs of the system. Autognostics, or literally "self-knowledge", provides the autonomic system with a basis for response and validation. A rich autognostic capability may include many different "perceptual senses". For example, the human body gathers information via the usual five senses, the so-called sixth sense of proprioception (sense of body position and orientation), and through emotive states that represent the gross wellness of the body. As conditions and states change, they are detected by the sensory monitors and provide the basis for adaptation of related systems. Implicit in such a system are imbedded models of both internal and external environments such that relative value can be assigned to any perceived state - perceived physical threat (e.g. a snake) can result in rapid shallow breathing related to fight-flight response, a phylogenetically effective model of interaction with recognizable threats. In the case of autonomic networking, the state of the network may be defined by inputs from: individual network elements such as switches and network interfaces including specification and configuration historical records and current state traffic flows end-hosts application performance data logical diagrams and design specifications Most of these sources represent relatively raw and unprocessed views that have limited relevance. Post-processing and various forms of analysis must be applied to generate meaningful measurements and assessments against which current state can be derived. The autognostic system interoperates with: configuration management - to control network elements and interfaces policy management - to define performance objectives and constraints autodefense - to identify attacks and accommodate the impact of defensive responses === Configuration management === Configuration management is responsible for the interaction with network elements and interfaces. It includes an accounting capability with historical perspective that provides for the tracking of configurations over time, with respect to various circumstances. In the biological metaphor, these are the hands and, to some degree, the memory of the autonomic system. On a network, remediation and provisioning are applied via configuration setting of specific devices. Implementation affecting access and selective performance with respect to role and relationship are also applied. Almost all the "actions" that are currently taken by human engineers fall under this area. With only a few exceptions, interfaces are set by hand, or by extension of the hand, through automated scripts. Implicit in the configuration process is the maintenance of a dynamic population of devices under management, a historical record of changes and the directives which invoked change. Typical to many accounting functions, configuration management should be capable of operating on devices and then rolling back changes to recover previous configurations. Where change may lead to unrecoverable states, the sub-system should be able to qualify the consequences of changes prior to issuing them. As directives for change must originate from other sub-systems, the shared language for such directives must be abstracted from the details of the devices involved. The configuration management sub-system must be able to translate unambiguously between directives and hard actions or to be able to signal the need for further detail on a directive. An inferential capacity may be appropriate to support sufficient flexibility (i.e. configuration never takes place because there is no unique one-to-one mapping between directive and configuration settings). Where standards are not sufficient, a learning capacity may also be required to acquire new knowledge of devices and their configuration. Configuration management interoperates with all of the other sub-systems including: autognostics - receives direction for and validation of changes policy management - implements policy models through mapping to underlying resources security - applies access and authorization constraints for particular policy targets autodefense - receives direction for changes === Policy management === Policy management includes policy specification, deployment, reasoning over policies, updating and maintaining policies, and enforcement. Policy-based management is required for: constraining different kinds of behavior including security, privacy, resource access, and collaboration configuration management describing business processes and defining performance defining role and relationship, and establishing trust and reputation It provides the models of environment and behavior that represent effective interaction according to specific goals. In the human nervous system metaphor, these models are implicit in the evolutionary "design" of biological entities and specific to the goals of survival and procreation. Definition of what constitutes a policy is necessary to consider what is involved in managing it. A relatively flexible and abstract framework of values, relationships, roles, interactions, resources, and other components of the network environment is required. This sub-system extends far beyond the physical network to the applications in use and the processes and end-users that employ the network to achieve specific goals. It must express the relative values of various resources, outcomes, and processes and include a basis for assessing states and conditions. Unless embodied in some system outside the autonomic network or implicit to the specific policy implementation, the framework must also accommodate the definition of process, objectives and goals. Business process definitions and descriptions are then an integral part of the policy implementation. Further, as policy management represents the ultimate basis for the operation of the autonomic system, it must be able to report on its operation with respect to the details of its implementation. The policy management sub-system interoperates (at least) indirectly with all other sub-systems but primarily interacts with: autognostics - providing the definition of performance and accepting reports on conditions configuration management - providing constraints on device configuration security - providing definitions of roles, access and permissions === Autodefense === Autodefense represents a dynamic and adaptive mechanism that responds to malicious and intentional attacks on the network infrastructure, or use of the network infrastructure to attack IT resources. As defensive measures tend to impede the operation of IT, it is optimally capable of balancing performance objectives with typically over-riding threat management actions. In the

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  • Artificial intelligence in marketing

    Artificial intelligence in marketing

    Artificial intelligence marketing (AI marketing) is a form of marketing that uses artificial intelligence concepts and models such as machine learning, natural language processing, and computer vision to achieve marketing goals. The main difference between AI marketing and traditional forms of marketing reside in the reasoning, which is performed through a computer algorithm rather than a human. Each form of marketing has a different technique to the core of the marketing theory. Traditional marketing directly focuses on the needs of consumers; meanwhile some believe the shift AI may cause will lead marketing agencies to manage consumer needs instead. AI is used in various digital marketing spaces, such as content marketing, email marketing, online advertisement (in combination with machine learning), social media marketing, affiliate marketing, and beyond. == Historical development == AI in marketing has a long history, which goes all the way back to the 1980s. At this time, AI research was focusing on expert systems and robotics. Despite the initial research and the studies that were carried out, AI adoption remained limited. Research on it came to a stop for a while, until research was revived two decades later with the advancement in technology, the rise of big data, and a significant increase in computational power. Eventually, AI became very popular in the marketing world, and caught the eyes of many researchers as well as professionals. A large‐scale bibliometric study covering 1,580 peer‑reviewed papers published between 1982 and 2020 confirms that scholarly output on AI in marketing has surged since 2017, with Expert Systems with Applications emerging as the most prolific outlet. Prior to the application of artificial Intelligence in marketing, there was something called "collaborative filtering". This was used as early as 1998 by Amazon, and one of the first ways companies predicted consumer behavior, which enabled millions of recommendations to different customers. Personalized recommender systems are now widely used, for example to suggest music on Spotify, or TV shows on Netflix. A big milestone in AI marketing happened in 2014, when programmatic ad buying gained much greater popularity. Marketing consists of numerous manual tasks such as researching target markets, insertion orders, and managing high budgets as well as prices. In order to cut costs, and remove the need for these tedious tasks, many companies started to automate the marketing process with AI. In 2015, Google introduced RankBrain, a machine learning component of its search algorithm designed to interpret the intent behind user queries. RankBrain was followed by further AI-based search updates, including BERT in 2019, which improved the understanding of conversational queries, and the Multitask Unified Model (MUM) in 2021, which is multimodal and processes information across 75 languages. These advances shifted search engine optimization practice away from keyword matching toward content that satisfies user intent. Artificial intelligence is increasingly used in marketing to personalize user experiences and automate decision-making. For example, Netflix uses AI algorithms to recommend content based on viewing history, while Sephora employs chatbots to assist customers with product selection and availability. Programmatic advertising platforms like Google Ads leverage machine learning to optimize bidding strategies and target audiences more effectively. These applications demonstrate how AI enhances efficiency, engagement, and conversion rates across digital channels. === Artificial neural networks === An artificial neural network is a form of computer program modeled on the brain and nervous system of humans. Neural networks are composed of a series of interconnected processing neurons that function in unison to achieve certain outcomes. Using “human-like trial and error learning methods neural networks detect patterns existing within a data set ignoring data that is not significant while emphasizing the data which is most influential”. From a marketing perspective, neural networks are a form of software tool used to assist in decision making. Neural networks are effective in gathering and extracting information from large data sources and have the ability to identify cause and effect within tha data. These neural nets through the process of learning, identify relationships and connections between databases. Once knowledge has been accumulated, neural networks can be relied on to provide generalizations and can apply past knowledge and learning to a variety of situations. Neural networks help fulfill the role of marketing companies through effectively aiding in market segmentation and measurement of performance while reducing costs and improving accuracy. Due to their learning ability, flexibility, adaption, and knowledge discovery, neural networks offer many advantages over traditional models. Neural networks can be used to assist in pattern classification, forecasting and marketing analysis. == Tools and uses == Classification of customers can be facilitated through the neural network approach allowing companies to make informed marketing decisions. An example of this was employed by Spiegel Inc., a firm dealing in direct-mail operations that used neural networks to improve efficiencies. Using software developed by NeuralWare Inc., Spiegel identified the demographics of customers who had made a single purchase and those customers who had made repeat purchases. Neural networks where then able to identify the key patterns and consequently identify the customers that were most likely to repeat purchase. Understanding this information allowed Spiegel to streamline marketing efforts, and reduced costs. Sales forecasting “is the process of estimating future events with the goal of providing benchmarks for monitoring actual performance and reducing uncertainty". Artificial intelligence techniques have emerged to facilitate the process of forecasting through increasing accuracy in the areas of demand for products, distribution, employee turnover, performance measurement, and inventory control. An example of forecasting using neural networks is the Airline Marketing Assistant/Tactician; an application developed by BehabHeuristics which allows for the forecasting of passenger demand and consequent seat allocation through neural networks. This system has been used by National air Canada and USAir. Neural networks provide a useful alternative to traditional statistical models due to their reliability, time-saving characteristics and ability to recognize patterns from incomplete or noisy data. Examples of marketing analysis systems includes the Target Marketing System developed by Churchull Systems for Veratex Corporation. This support system scans a market database to identify dormant customers allowing management to make decisions regarding which key customers to target. When performing marketing analysis, neural networks can assist in the gathering and processing of information ranging from consumer demographics and credit history to the purchase patterns of consumers. Predictive analytics is a form of analytics involving the use of historical data and artificial intelligence algorithms to predict future trends and outcomes. It serves as a tool for anticipating and understanding user behavior based on patterns found in data. Predictive analytics uses artificial intelligence machine learning algorithms to recognize and predict patterns within data. Machine learning algorithms analyze the data, recognize patterns, and make predictions through continuous learning and adaptation. Predictive analytics is widely used across businesses and industries as a way to identify opportunities, avoid risks, and anticipate customer needs based on information derived from the analysis of user data. By analyzing historical customer data, artificial intelligence algorithms can deliver relevant and targeted marketing content. Recent systematic reviews show that generative large‑language models such as GPT‑3 and GPT‑4 are now routinely embedded in predictive‑analytics pipelines to mine unstructured market data and anticipate customer intent with greater precision. Personalization engines use artificial intelligence and machine learning to provide content or advertisements that are relevant to the user. User data is gathered, which then gets processed with machine learning, and patterns and trends among the users are identified. Users with shared characteristics or behaviors are then segmented into groups, and the personalization engine adjusts content and advertisements to match each segment's preferences. By processing a large amount of data, personalization engines are able to match users to advertisements and recommendations that align with their interests or preferences. Field evidence from consumer‑goods and electronics firms indicates that AI‑driven personalization can raise

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  • Chinese speech synthesis

    Chinese speech synthesis

    Chinese speech synthesis is the application of speech synthesis to the Chinese language (usually Standard Chinese). It poses additional difficulties due to Chinese characters frequently having different pronunciations in different contexts and the complex prosody, which is essential to convey the meaning of words, and sometimes the difficulty in obtaining agreement among native speakers concerning what the correct pronunciation is of certain phonemes. == Concatenation (Ekho and KeyTip) == Recordings can be concatenated in any desired combination, but the joins sound forced (as is usual for simple concatenation-based speech synthesis) and this can severely affect prosody; these synthesizers are also inflexible in terms of speed and expression. However, because these synthesizers do not rely on a corpus, there is no noticeable degradation in performance when they are given more unusual or awkward phrases. Ekho is an open source TTS which simply concatenates sampled syllables. It currently supports Cantonese, Mandarin, and experimentally Korean. Some of the Mandarin syllables have been pitched-normalised in Praat. A modified version of these is used in Gradint's "synthesis from partials". cjkware.com used to ship a product called KeyTip Putonghua Reader which worked similarly; it contained 120 Megabytes of sound recordings (GSM-compressed to 40 Megabytes in the evaluation version), comprising 10,000 multi-syllable dictionary words plus single-syllable recordings in 6 different prosodies (4 tones, neutral tone, and an extra third-tone recording for use at the end of a phrase). == Lightweight synthesizers (eSpeak and Yuet) == The lightweight open-source speech project eSpeak, which has its own approach to synthesis, has experimented with Mandarin and Cantonese. eSpeak was used by Google Translate from May 2010 until December 2010. The commercial product "Yuet" is also lightweight (it is intended to be suitable for resource-constrained environments like embedded systems); it was written from scratch in ANSI C starting from 2013. Yuet claims a built-in NLP model that does not require a separate dictionary; the speech synthesised by the engine claims clear word boundaries and emphasis on appropriate words. Communication with its author is required to obtain a copy. Both eSpeak and Yuet can synthesis speech for Cantonese and Mandarin from the same input text, and can output the corresponding romanisation (for Cantonese, Yuet uses Yale and eSpeak uses Jyutping; both use Pinyin for Mandarin). eSpeak does not concern itself with word boundaries when these don't change the question of which syllable should be spoken. == Corpus-based == A "corpus-based" approach can sound very natural in most cases but can err in dealing with unusual phrases if they can't be matched with the corpus. The synthesiser engine is typically very large (hundreds or even thousands of megabytes) due to the size of the corpus. === iFlyTek === Anhui USTC iFlyTek Co., Ltd (iFlyTek) published a W3C paper in which they adapted Speech Synthesis Markup Language to produce a mark-up language called Chinese Speech Synthesis Markup Language (CSSML) which can include additional markup to clarify the pronunciation of characters and to add some prosody information. The amount of data involved is not disclosed by iFlyTek but can be seen from the commercial products that iFlyTek have licensed their technology to; for example, Bider's SpeechPlus is a 1.3 Gigabyte download, 1.2 Gigabytes of which is used for the highly compressed data for a single Chinese voice. iFlyTek's synthesiser can also synthesise mixed Chinese and English text with the same voice (e.g. Chinese sentences containing some English words); they claim their English synthesis to be "average". The iFlyTek corpus appears to be heavily dependent on Chinese characters, and it is not possible to synthesize from pinyin alone. It is sometimes possible by means of CSSML to add pinyin to the characters to disambiguate between multiple possible pronunciations, but this does not always work. === NeoSpeech === There is an online interactive demonstration for NeoSpeech speech synthesis, which accepts Chinese characters and also pinyin if it's enclosed in their proprietary "VTML" markup. === Mac OS === Mac OS had Chinese speech synthesizers available up to version 9. This was removed in 10.0 and reinstated in 10.7 (Lion). === Historical corpus-based synthesizers (no longer available) === A corpus-based approach was taken by Tsinghua University in SinoSonic, with the Harbin dialect voice data taking 800 Megabytes. This was planned to be offered as a download but the link was never activated. Nowadays, only references to it can be found on Internet Archive. Bell Labs' approach, which was demonstrated online in 1997 but subsequently removed, was described in a monograph "Multilingual Text-to-Speech Synthesis: The Bell Labs Approach" (Springer, October 31, 1997, ISBN 978-0-7923-8027-6), and the former employee who was responsible for the project, Chilin Shih (who subsequently worked at the University of Illinois) put some notes about her methods on her website.

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  • Timeline of algorithms

    Timeline of algorithms

    The following timeline of algorithms outlines the development of algorithms (mainly "mathematical recipes") since their inception. == Antiquity == Before – writing about "recipes" (on cooking, rituals, agriculture and other themes) c. 1700–2000 BC – Egyptians develop earliest known algorithms for multiplying two numbers c. 1600 BC – Babylonians develop earliest known algorithms for factorization and finding square roots c. 300 BC – Euclid's algorithm c. 200 BC – the Sieve of Eratosthenes 263 AD – Gaussian elimination described by Liu Hui == Medieval Period == 628 – Chakravala method described by Brahmagupta c. 820 – Al-Khawarizmi described algorithms for solving linear equations and quadratic equations in his Algebra; the word algorithm comes from his name 825 – Al-Khawarizmi described the algorism, algorithms for using the Hindu–Arabic numeral system, in his treatise On the Calculation with Hindu Numerals, which was translated into Latin as Algoritmi de numero Indorum, where "Algoritmi", the translator's rendition of the author's name gave rise to the word algorithm (Latin algorithmus) with a meaning "calculation method" c. 850 – cryptanalysis and frequency analysis algorithms developed by Al-Kindi (Alkindus) in A Manuscript on Deciphering Cryptographic Messages, which contains algorithms on breaking encryptions and ciphers c. 1025 – Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen), was the first mathematician to derive the formula for the sum of the fourth powers, and in turn, he develops an algorithm for determining the general formula for the sum of any integral powers c. 1400 – Ahmad al-Qalqashandi gives a list of ciphers in his Subh al-a'sha which include both substitution and transposition, and for the first time, a cipher with multiple substitutions for each plaintext letter; he also gives an exposition on and worked example of cryptanalysis, including the use of tables of letter frequencies and sets of letters which can not occur together in one word == Before 1940 == 1540 – Lodovico Ferrari discovered a method to find the roots of a quartic polynomial 1545 – Gerolamo Cardano published Cardano's method for finding the roots of a cubic polynomial 1614 – John Napier develops method for performing calculations using logarithms 1671 – Newton–Raphson method developed by Isaac Newton 1690 – Newton–Raphson method independently developed by Joseph Raphson 1706 – John Machin develops a quickly converging inverse-tangent series for π and computes π to 100 decimal places 1768 – Leonhard Euler publishes his method for numerical integration of ordinary differential equations in problem 85 of Institutiones calculi integralis 1789 – Jurij Vega improves Machin's formula and computes π to 140 decimal places, 1805 – FFT-like algorithm known by Carl Friedrich Gauss 1842 – Ada Lovelace writes the first algorithm for a computing engine 1903 – A fast Fourier transform algorithm presented by Carle David Tolmé Runge 1918 - Soundex 1926 – Borůvka's algorithm 1926 – Primary decomposition algorithm presented by Grete Hermann 1927 – Hartree–Fock method developed for simulating a quantum many-body system in a stationary state. 1934 – Delaunay triangulation developed by Boris Delaunay 1936 – Turing machine, an abstract machine developed by Alan Turing, with others developed the modern notion of algorithm. == 1940s == 1942 – A fast Fourier transform algorithm developed by G.C. Danielson and Cornelius Lanczos 1945 – Merge sort developed by John von Neumann 1947 – Simplex algorithm developed by George Dantzig == 1950s == 1950 – Hamming codes developed by Richard Hamming 1952 – Huffman coding developed by David A. Huffman 1953 – Simulated annealing introduced by Nicholas Metropolis 1954 – Radix sort computer algorithm developed by Harold H. Seward 1964 – Box–Muller transform for fast generation of normally distributed numbers published by George Edward Pelham Box and Mervin Edgar Muller. Independently pre-discovered by Raymond E. A. C. Paley and Norbert Wiener in 1934. 1956 – Kruskal's algorithm developed by Joseph Kruskal 1956 – Ford–Fulkerson algorithm developed and published by R. Ford Jr. and D. R. Fulkerson 1957 – Prim's algorithm developed by Robert Prim 1957 – Bellman–Ford algorithm developed by Richard E. Bellman and L. R. Ford, Jr. 1959 – Dijkstra's algorithm developed by Edsger Dijkstra 1959 – Shell sort developed by Donald L. Shell 1959 – De Casteljau's algorithm developed by Paul de Casteljau 1959 – QR factorization algorithm developed independently by John G.F. Francis and Vera Kublanovskaya 1959 – Rabin–Scott powerset construction for converting NFA into DFA published by Michael O. Rabin and Dana Scott == 1960s == 1960 – Karatsuba multiplication 1961 – CRC (Cyclic redundancy check) invented by W. Wesley Peterson 1962 – AVL trees 1962 – Quicksort developed by C. A. R. Hoare 1962 – Bresenham's line algorithm developed by Jack E. Bresenham 1962 – Gale–Shapley 'stable-marriage' algorithm developed by David Gale and Lloyd Shapley 1964 – Heapsort developed by J. W. J. Williams 1964 – multigrid methods first proposed by R. P. Fedorenko 1965 – Cooley–Tukey algorithm rediscovered by James Cooley and John Tukey 1965 – Levenshtein distance developed by Vladimir Levenshtein 1965 – Cocke–Younger–Kasami (CYK) algorithm independently developed by Tadao Kasami 1965 – Buchberger's algorithm for computing Gröbner bases developed by Bruno Buchberger 1965 – LR parsers invented by Donald Knuth 1966 – Dantzig algorithm for shortest path in a graph with negative edges 1967 – Viterbi algorithm proposed by Andrew Viterbi 1967 – Cocke–Younger–Kasami (CYK) algorithm independently developed by Daniel H. Younger 1968 – A graph search algorithm described by Peter Hart, Nils Nilsson, and Bertram Raphael 1968 – Risch algorithm for indefinite integration developed by Robert Henry Risch 1969 – Strassen algorithm for matrix multiplication developed by Volker Strassen == 1970s == 1970 – Dinic's algorithm for computing maximum flow in a flow network by Yefim (Chaim) A. Dinitz 1970 – Knuth–Bendix completion algorithm developed by Donald Knuth and Peter B. Bendix 1970 – BFGS method of the quasi-Newton class 1970 – Needleman–Wunsch algorithm published by Saul B. Needleman and Christian D. Wunsch 1972 – Edmonds–Karp algorithm published by Jack Edmonds and Richard Karp, essentially identical to Dinic's algorithm from 1970 1972 – Graham scan developed by Ronald Graham 1972 – Red–black trees and B-trees discovered 1973 – RSA encryption algorithm discovered by Clifford Cocks 1973 – Jarvis march algorithm developed by R. A. Jarvis 1973 – Hopcroft–Karp algorithm developed by John Hopcroft and Richard Karp 1974 – Pollard's p − 1 algorithm developed by John Pollard 1974 – Quadtree developed by Raphael Finkel and J.L. Bentley 1975 – Genetic algorithms popularized by John Holland 1975 – Pollard's rho algorithm developed by John Pollard 1975 – Aho–Corasick string matching algorithm developed by Alfred V. Aho and Margaret J. Corasick 1975 – Cylindrical algebraic decomposition developed by George E. Collins 1976 – Salamin–Brent algorithm independently discovered by Eugene Salamin and Richard Brent 1976 – Knuth–Morris–Pratt algorithm developed by Donald Knuth and Vaughan Pratt and independently by J. H. Morris 1977 – Boyer–Moore string-search algorithm for searching the occurrence of a string into another string. 1977 – RSA encryption algorithm rediscovered by Ron Rivest, Adi Shamir, and Len Adleman 1977 – LZ77 algorithm developed by Abraham Lempel and Jacob Ziv 1977 – multigrid methods developed independently by Achi Brandt and Wolfgang Hackbusch 1978 – LZ78 algorithm developed from LZ77 by Abraham Lempel and Jacob Ziv 1978 – Bruun's algorithm proposed for powers of two by Georg Bruun 1979 – Khachiyan's ellipsoid method developed by Leonid Khachiyan 1979 – ID3 decision tree algorithm developed by Ross Quinlan == 1980s == 1980 – Brent's Algorithm for cycle detection Richard P. Brendt 1981 – Quadratic sieve developed by Carl Pomerance 1981 – Smith–Waterman algorithm developed by Temple F. Smith and Michael S. Waterman 1983 – Simulated annealing developed by S. Kirkpatrick, C. D. Gelatt and M. P. Vecchi 1983 – Classification and regression tree (CART) algorithm developed by Leo Breiman, et al. 1984 – LZW algorithm developed from LZ78 by Terry Welch 1984 – Karmarkar's interior-point algorithm developed by Narendra Karmarkar 1984 – ACORN PRNG discovered by Roy Wikramaratna and used privately 1985 – Simulated annealing independently developed by V. Cerny 1985 – Car–Parrinello molecular dynamics developed by Roberto Car and Michele Parrinello 1985 – Splay trees discovered by Sleator and Tarjan 1986 – Blum Blum Shub proposed by L. Blum, M. Blum, and M. Shub 1986 – Push relabel maximum flow algorithm by Andrew Goldberg and Robert Tarjan 1986 – Barnes–Hut tree method developed by Josh Barnes and Piet Hut for fast approximate simulation of n-body problems 1987 – Fast multipole method developed by Leslie Greengard and Vladimir

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  • Computer-aided lean management

    Computer-aided lean management

    Computer-aided lean management, in business management, is a methodology of developing and using software-controlled, lean systems integration. Its goal is to drive innovation towards cost and cycle-time savings. It attempts to create an efficient use of capital and resources through the development and use of one integrated system model to run a business's planning, engineering, design, maintenance, and operations. == Overview == Computer-Aided Lean Management (CALM) is a management philosophy that uses software to reduce risk and inefficiencies. CALM acts on uncertainties and business inefficiencies to increase profitability through the use of computational decision-making tools that enable opportunities for additional value creation. It is based on the application of software to enable continuous improvement through an Integrated System Model (ISM) of the business’s physical assets, business processes, and machine learning. This integration of software applications using lean principles was developed in the aerospace industry and has migrated to the energy industry. The creation of an ISM removes the barriers posed by the silos or stovepipes inherent in the departmentalization of most companies. Integration enables lean uses of information for the creation of actionable knowledge. CALM strives to create such a lean management approach to running the company through the rigors of software enforcement. From this software enforcement comes clear policy and procedures that are adhered to, activity-based costing, measurement of effectiveness, and the capability of using advanced algorithms for dramatic improvements in optimization of resources. CALM creates business capabilities through software to enable technology application, streamlining of processes, and a lean organizational structure. The methodology is based on a common sense approach for running a business, by measuring actions taken and using those measurements to design more efficient processes. == History == CALM was inspired by lean processes and techniques that were already dominant management technologies with a wide diversity of applications and successes. Motorola and General Electric had been known for the concepts of Six Sigma; Boeing had been managing mass (using modular and flexible assembly options), and Toyota combined elements of these methodologies to create the Toyota Production System. Boeing then took the Toyota model and added computer-aided enforcement of lean methodologies throughout the manufacturing process. One of the major sources for CALM's outgrowth was integrated definition (IDEF) modeling in aerospace manufacturing that was pioneered by the U.S. Air Force in the 1970s. IDEF is a methodology designed to model the end-to-end decisions, actions, and activities of an organization or system so that costs, performance, and cycle times can be optimized. IDEF methods have been adapted for wider use in automotive, aerospace, pharmaceuticals, and software development industries. IDEF methods serve as a starting point to understand lean management through semantic data modeling. The IDEF process begins by mapping the existing functions of an enterprise, creating a graphical model, or road map, that shows what controls each important function, who performs it, what resources are required for carrying it out, what it produces, how much it costs, and what relationships it has to other functions of the organization. IDEF simulations have been found to be efficient at streamlining and modernizing both companies and governmental agencies. Perhaps the best-developed evolution of the IDEF model beyond Toyota was at Boeing. Their project life-cycle process has grown into a rigorous software system that links people, tasks, tools, materials, and the environmental impact of any newly planned project, before any building is allowed to begin. Routinely, more than half of the time for any given project is spent building the precedence diagrams, or three-dimensional process maps, integrating with outside suppliers, and designing the implementation plan–all on the computer. Once real activity is initiated, an action tracker is used to monitor inputs and outputs versus the schedule and delivery metrics in real time throughout the organization. When the execution of a new airplane design begins, it is so well organized that it consistently cuts both costs and build time in half for each successive generation of airframe. Boeing created a complex lean management process called 'define and control airplane configuration/manufacturing resource management' (DCAC/MRM). The process was built with the help of the operations research and computer sciences departments of the University of Pittsburgh. The manufacture of the Boeing 777 was ultimately a success, and it became the precursor to succeeding generations of CALM at Boeing. The methodology of CALM has recently been applied to field orientated infrastructure based businesses with highly interdependent systems, such as electric utilities where a smart grid concept is being researched and developed. The management of infrastructure-based industries like oil, gas, electricity, water, transportation, and renewables requires massive investments in interdependent, physical infrastructure, as well as simultaneous attention to disparate market forces. In infrastructure businesses that manage field assets, uncertainty is the biggest impediment to profitability, rather than the maintenance of efficient supply chains or the management of factory assembly lines. These businesses are dominated by risk from uncertainties such as weather, market variations, transportation disruptions, government actions, logistic difficulties, geology, and asset reliability. CALM has been applied to deal with these types of infrastructure based challenges.

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  • Leiden algorithm

    Leiden algorithm

    The Leiden algorithm is a community detection algorithm developed by Traag et al at Leiden University. It was developed as a modification of the Louvain method. Like the Louvain method, the Leiden algorithm attempts to optimize modularity in extracting communities from networks; however, it addresses key issues present in the Louvain method, namely poorly connected communities and the resolution limit of modularity. == Improvement over Louvain method == Broadly, the Leiden algorithm uses the same two primary phases as the Louvain algorithm: a local node moving step (though, the method by which nodes are considered in Leiden is more efficient) and a graph aggregation step. However, to address the issues with poorly-connected communities and the merging of smaller communities into larger communities (the resolution limit of modularity), the Leiden algorithm employs an intermediate refinement phase in which communities may be split to guarantee that all communities are well-connected. Consider, for example, the following graph: Three communities are present in this graph (each color represents a community). Additionally, the center "bridge" node (represented with an extra circle) is a member of the community represented by blue nodes. Now consider the result of a node-moving step which merges the communities denoted by red and green nodes into a single community (as the two communities are highly connected): Notably, the center "bridge" node is now a member of the larger red community after node moving occurs (due to the greedy nature of the local node moving algorithm). In the Louvain method, such a merging would be followed immediately by the graph aggregation phase. However, this causes a disconnection between two different sections of the community represented by blue nodes. In the Leiden algorithm, the graph is instead refined: The Leiden algorithm's refinement step ensures that the center "bridge" node is kept in the blue community to ensure that it remains intact and connected, despite the potential improvement in modularity from adding the center "bridge" node to the red community. == Graph components == Before defining the Leiden algorithm, it will be helpful to define some of the components of a graph. === Vertices and edges === A graph is composed of vertices (nodes) and edges. Each edge is connected to two vertices, and each vertex may be connected to zero or more edges. Edges are typically represented by straight lines, while nodes are represented by circles or points. In set notation, let V {\displaystyle V} be the set of vertices, and E {\displaystyle E} be the set of edges: V := { v 1 , v 2 , … , v n } E := { e i j , e i k , … , e k l } {\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}V&:=\{v_{1},v_{2},\dots ,v_{n}\}\\E&:=\{e_{ij},e_{ik},\dots ,e_{kl}\}\end{aligned}}} where e i j {\displaystyle e_{ij}} is the directed edge from vertex v i {\displaystyle v_{i}} to vertex v j {\displaystyle v_{j}} . We can also write this as an ordered pair: e i j := ( v i , v j ) {\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}e_{ij}&:=(v_{i},v_{j})\end{aligned}}} === Community === A community is a unique set of nodes: C i ⊆ V C i ⋂ C j = ∅ ∀ i ≠ j {\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}C_{i}&\subseteq V\\C_{i}&\bigcap C_{j}=\emptyset ~\forall ~i\neq j\end{aligned}}} and the union of all communities must be the total set of vertices: V = ⋃ i = 1 C i {\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}V&=\bigcup _{i=1}C_{i}\end{aligned}}} === Partition === A partition is the set of all communities: P = { C 1 , C 2 , … , C n } {\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}{\mathcal {P}}&=\{C_{1},C_{2},\dots ,C_{n}\}\end{aligned}}} == Partition quality == How communities are partitioned is an integral part on the Leiden algorithm. How partitions are decided can depend on how their quality is measured. Additionally, many of these metrics contain parameters of their own that can change the outcome of their communities. === Modularity === Modularity is a highly used quality metric for assessing how well a set of communities partition a graph. The equation for this metric is defined for an adjacency matrix, A, as: Q = 1 2 m ∑ i j ( A i j − k i k j 2 m ) δ ( c i , c j ) {\displaystyle Q={\frac {1}{2m}}\sum _{ij}(A_{ij}-{\frac {k_{i}k_{j}}{2m}})\delta (c_{i},c_{j})} where: A i j {\displaystyle A_{ij}} represents the edge weight between nodes i {\displaystyle i} and j {\displaystyle j} ; see Adjacency matrix; k i {\displaystyle k_{i}} and k j {\displaystyle k_{j}} are the sum of the weights of the edges attached to nodes i {\displaystyle i} and j {\displaystyle j} , respectively; m {\displaystyle m} is the sum of all of the edge weights in the graph; c i {\displaystyle c_{i}} and c j {\displaystyle c_{j}} are the communities to which the nodes i {\displaystyle i} and j {\displaystyle j} belong; and δ {\displaystyle \delta } is Kronecker delta function: δ ( c i , c j ) = { 1 if c i and c j are the same community 0 otherwise {\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}\delta (c_{i},c_{j})&={\begin{cases}1&{\text{if }}c_{i}{\text{ and }}c_{j}{\text{ are the same community}}\\0&{\text{otherwise}}\end{cases}}\end{aligned}}} === Reichardt Bornholdt Potts Model (RB) === One of the most well used metrics for the Leiden algorithm is the Reichardt Bornholdt Potts Model (RB). This model is used by default in most mainstream Leiden algorithm libraries under the name RBConfigurationVertexPartition. This model introduces a resolution parameter γ {\displaystyle \gamma } and is highly similar to the equation for modularity. This model is defined by the following quality function for an adjacency matrix, A, as: Q = ∑ i j ( A i j − γ k i k j 2 m ) δ ( c i , c j ) {\displaystyle Q=\sum _{ij}(A_{ij}-\gamma {\frac {k_{i}k_{j}}{2m}})\delta (c_{i},c_{j})} where: γ {\displaystyle \gamma } represents a linear resolution parameter === Constant Potts Model (CPM) === Another metric similar to RB is the Constant Potts Model (CPM). This metric also relies on a resolution parameter γ {\displaystyle \gamma } The quality function is defined as: H = − ∑ i j ( A i j w i j − γ ) δ ( c i , c j ) {\displaystyle H=-\sum _{ij}(A_{ij}w_{ij}-\gamma )\delta (c_{i},c_{j})} === Understanding Potts Model resolution parameters/Resolution limit === Typically Potts models such as RB or CPM include a resolution parameter in their calculation. Potts models are introduced as a response to the resolution limit problem that is present in modularity maximization based community detection. The resolution limit problem is that, for some graphs, maximizing modularity may cause substructures of a graph to merge and become a single community and thus smaller structures are lost. These resolution parameters allow modularity adjacent methods to be modified to suit the requirements of the user applying the Leiden algorithm to account for small substructures at a certain granularity. The figure on the right illustrates why resolution can be a helpful parameter when using modularity based quality metrics. In the first graph, modularity only captures the large scale structures of the graph; however, in the second example, a more granular quality metric could potentially detect all substructures in a graph. == Algorithm == The Leiden algorithm starts with a graph of disorganized nodes (a) and sorts it by partitioning them to maximize modularity (the difference in quality between the generated partition and a hypothetical randomized partition of communities). The method it uses is similar to the Louvain algorithm, except that after moving each node it also considers that node's neighbors that are not already in the community it was placed in. This process results in our first partition (b), also referred to as P {\displaystyle {\mathcal {P}}} . Then the algorithm refines this partition by first placing each node into its own individual community and then moving them from one community to another to maximize modularity. It does this iteratively until each node has been visited and moved, and each community has been refined - this creates partition (c), which is the initial partition of P refined {\displaystyle {\mathcal {P}}_{\text{refined}}} . Then an aggregate network (d) is created by turning each community into a node. P refined {\displaystyle {\mathcal {P}}_{\text{refined}}} is used as the basis for the aggregate network while P {\displaystyle {\mathcal {P}}} is used to create its initial partition. Because we use the original partition P {\displaystyle {\mathcal {P}}} in this step, we must retain it so that it can be used in future iterations. These steps together form the first iteration of the algorithm. In subsequent iterations, the nodes of the aggregate network (which each represent a community) are once again placed into their own individual communities and then sorted according to modularity to form a new P refined {\displaystyle {\mathcal {P}}_{\text{refined}}} , forming (e) in the above graphic. In the case depicted by the graph, the nodes were already sorted optimally, so no change too

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  • BuildingSMART Data Dictionary

    BuildingSMART Data Dictionary

    buildingSMART Data Dictionary (bSDD) is a service provided by buildingSMART which offers free data dictionaries for the international standardization of construction planning. The structure of bSDD was defined by the Nonprofit organization Buildingsmart and is used to describe objects and their attributes in a BIM process. == Aim == The aim of bSDD is to enable architects and planners to exchange and share building data across different specialists and language boundaries and thus avoid misunderstandings caused by different interpretations of terms. The bSDD standard extends the more general IFC. Software developers can access and use the dictionaries. In May 2025 over 300 dictionaries are available, including IFC, extensions to it such as Airport Domain IFC extension module or classification systems like Uniclass. == Structure == The main structural parts of bSDD are: Dictionary: A dictionary is a collection of classes: Class: A class describes the various object types, such as Bag drop or Baggage conveyor in airport planning. A class contains properties: Property: A property describes a part of a class, e.g. color or weight. Related properties are organized in a group: GroupOfProperties: A group organizes related properties, e.g. environmental properties or electrical properties. == Creating and managing a directory == Every dictionary in bSDD must be published in the name of a registered organization. As soon as the content is activated, it receives an unchangeable URI. This means that the content remains permanently in bSDD and cannot be deleted - this ensures stable use of the dictionary. It is only possible to change the status to inactive if it is no longer to be used - however, the dictionary remains permanently.

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  • Evidence-based library and information practice

    Evidence-based library and information practice

    Evidence-based library and information practice (EBLIP) or evidence-based librarianship (EBL) is the use of evidence-based practices (EBP) in the field of library and information science (LIS). This means that all practical decisions made within LIS should 1) be based on research studies and 2) that these research studies are selected and interpreted according to some specific norms characteristic for EBP. Typically such norms disregard theoretical studies and qualitative studies and consider quantitative studies according to a narrow set of criteria of what counts as evidence. If such a narrow set of methodological criteria are not applied, it is better instead to speak of research based library and information practice. == Characteristics == Evidence-based practice in general has been characterised as a positivist approach; EBLIP is therefore also a positivist approach to LIS. As such, EBLIP is an approach in contrast to other approaches to LIS. The use of statistical approaches known as meta-analysis to conclude what evidence has been reported in the literature is one among other methods which is typical for the evidence-based approach. In 2002, Booth noted the three schools of EBILP had some commonalities, including the context of day-to-day decision-making, an emphasis on improving the quality of professional practice, a pragmatic focus on the 'best available evidence', incorporation of the user perspective, the acceptance of a broad range of quantitative and qualitative research designs, and access, either first-hand or second-hand, to the (process of) evidence-based practice and its products. He added one more, that EBILP is concerned with getting the best value for money. == The role of library and information science in EBP == Evidence-based practice in general is based on a very thorough search of the scientific literature and a very thorough selection and analysis of the retrieved literature. A close familiarity with database searching is needed, and library and information professionals have important roles to play in this respect. Therefore LIS professionals should be well suited to help professionals in other disciplines doing EBP. EBLIP is the application of this approach on LIS itself. It should be mentioned, however, that EBP started in medicine as evidence-based medicine (EBM) from which it spread to other fields. Only slowly and to a limited extent has EBP moved on to LIS. The EBLIP process can be applied to a variety of scenarios in LIS, including customer service, collection development, library management and information literacy instruction. In general, quantitative methods are used in LIS research. A 2010 study revealed five categories that capture the different ways library and information professionals experience evidence-based practice: Evidence-based practice is experienced as irrelevant; Evidence-based practice is experienced as learning from published research; Evidence-based practice is experienced as service improvement; Evidence-based practice is experienced as a way of being; Evidence-based practice is experienced as a weapon.

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  • Cloudlet

    Cloudlet

    A cloudlet is a mobility-enhanced small-scale cloud datacenter that is located at the edge of the Internet. The main purpose of the cloudlet is supporting resource-intensive and interactive mobile applications by providing powerful computing resources to mobile devices with lower latency. It is a new architectural element that extends today's cloud computing infrastructure. It represents the middle tier of a 3-tier hierarchy: mobile device - cloudlet - cloud. A cloudlet can be viewed as a data center in a box whose goal is to bring the cloud closer. The cloudlet term was first coined by M. Satyanarayanan, Victor Bahl, Ramón Cáceres, and Nigel Davies, and a prototype implementation is developed by Carnegie Mellon University as a research project. The concept of cloudlet is also known as follow me cloud, and mobile micro-cloud. == Motivation == Many mobile services split the application into a front-end client program and a back-end server program following the traditional client-server model. The front-end mobile application offloads its functionality to the back-end servers for various reasons such as speeding up processing. With the advent of cloud computing, the back-end server is typically hosted at the cloud datacenter. Though the use of a cloud datacenter offers various benefits such as scalability and elasticity, its consolidation and centralization lead to a large separation between a mobile device and its associated datacenter. End-to-end communication then involves many network hops and results in high latencies and low bandwidth. For the reasons of latency, some emerging mobile applications require cloud offload infrastructure to be close to the mobile device to achieve low response time. In the ideal case, it is just one wireless hop away. For example, the offload infrastructure could be located in a cellular base station or it could be LAN-connected to a set of Wi-Fi base stations. The individual elements of this offload infrastructure are referred to as cloudlets. == Applications == Cloudlets aim to support mobile applications that are both resource-intensive and interactive. Augmented reality applications that use head-tracked systems require end-to-end latencies of less than 16 ms. Cloud games with remote rendering also require low latencies and high bandwidth. Wearable cognitive assistance systems combine devices such as Google Glass with cloud-based processing to guide users through complex tasks. This futuristic genre of applications is characterized as “astonishingly transformative” by the report of the 2013 NSF Workshop on Future Directions in Wireless Networking. These applications use cloud resources in the critical path of real-time user interaction. Consequently, they cannot tolerate end-to-end operation latencies of more than a few tens of milliseconds. Apple Siri and Google Now which perform compute-intensive speech recognition in the cloud, are further examples in this emerging space. == Cloudlet vs Cloud == There is significant overlap in the requirements for cloud and cloudlet. At both levels, there is the need for: (a) strong isolation between untrusted user-level computations; (b) mechanisms for authentication, access control, and metering; (c) dynamic resource allocation for user-level computations; and, (d) the ability to support a very wide range of user-level computations, with minimal restrictions on their process structure, programming languages or operating systems. At a cloud datacenter, these requirements are met today using the virtual machine (VM) abstraction. For the same reasons they are used in cloud computing today, VMs are used as an abstraction for cloudlets. Meanwhile, there are a few but important differentiators between cloud and cloudlet. === Rapid provisioning === Different from cloud data centers that are optimized for launching existing VM images in their storage tier, cloudlets need to be much more agile in their provisioning. Their association with mobile devices is highly dynamic, with considerable churn due to user mobility. A user from far away may unexpectedly show up at a cloudlet (e.g., if he just got off an international flight) and try to use it for an application such as a personalized language translator. For that user, the provisioning delay before he is able to use the application impacts usability. === VM handoff across cloudlets === If a mobile device user moves away from the cloudlet he is currently using, the interactive response will degrade as the logical network distance increases. To address this effect of user mobility, the offloaded services on the first cloudlet need to be transferred to the second cloudlet maintaining end-to-end network quality. This resembles live migration in cloud computing but differs considerably in a sense that the VM handoff happens in Wide Area Network (WAN). == OpenStack++ == Since the cloudlet model requires reconfiguration or additional deployment of hardware/software, it is important to provide a systematic way to incentivise the deployment. However, it can face a classic bootstrapping problem. Cloudlets need practical applications to incentivize cloudlet deployment. However, developers cannot heavily rely on cloudlet infrastructure until it is widely deployed. To break this deadlock and bootstrap the cloudlet deployment, researchers at Carnegie Mellon University proposed OpenStack++ that extends OpenStack to leverage its open ecosystem. OpenStack++ provides a set of cloudlet-specific APIs as OpenStack extensions. == Commercial implementations and standardization effort == By 2015 cloudlet based applications were commercially available. In 2017 the National Institute of Standards and Technology published draft standards for fog computing in which cloudlets were defined as nodes on the fog architecture.

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  • Hall circles

    Hall circles

    Hall circles (also known as M-circles and N-circles) are a graphical tool in control theory used to obtain values of a closed-loop transfer function from the Nyquist plot (or the Nichols plot) of the associated open-loop transfer function. Hall circles have been introduced in control theory by Albert C. Hall in his thesis. == Construction == Consider a closed-loop linear control system with open-loop transfer function given by transfer function G ( s ) {\displaystyle G(s)} and with a unit gain in the feedback loop. The closed-loop transfer function is given by T ( s ) = G ( s ) 1 + G ( s ) {\textstyle T(s)={\frac {G(s)}{1+G(s)}}} . To check the stability of T(s), it is possible to use the Nyquist stability criterion with the Nyquist plot of the open-loop transfer function G(s). Note, however, that the Nyquist plot of G(s) does not give the actual values of T(s). To get this information from the G(s)-plane, Hall proposed to construct the locus of points in the G(s)-plane such that T(s) has constant magnitude and also the locus of points in the G(s)-plane such that T(s) has constant phase angle. Given a positive real value M representing a fixed magnitude, and denoting G(s) by z, the points satisfying M = | T ( s ) | = | G ( s ) | | 1 + G ( s ) | = | z | | 1 + z | {\displaystyle M=|T(s)|={\frac {|G(s)|}{|1+G(s)|}}={\frac {|z|}{|1+z|}}} are given by the points z in the G(s)-plane such that the ratio of the distance between z and 0 and the distance between z and -1 is equal to M. The points z satisfying this locus condition are circles of Apollonius, and this locus is known in the context of control systems as M-circles. Given a positive real value N representing a phase angle, the points satisfying N = arg ⁡ [ G ( s ) 1 + G ( s ) ] = arg ⁡ [ G ( s ) ] − arg ⁡ [ 1 + G ( s ) ] = arg ⁡ [ z ] − arg ⁡ [ 1 + z ] {\displaystyle N=\arg \left[{\frac {G(s)}{1+G(s)}}\right]=\arg[G(s)]-\arg[1+G(s)]=\arg[z]-\arg[1+z]} are given by the points z in the G(s)-plane such that the angle between -1 and z and the angle between 0 and z is constant. In other words, the angle opposed to the line segment between -1 and 0 must be constant. This implies that the points z satisfying this locus condition are arcs of circles, and this locus is known in the context of control systems as N-circles. == Usage == To use the Hall circles, a plot of M and N circles is done over the Nyquist plot of the open-loop transfer function. The points of the intersection between these graphics give the corresponding value of the closed-loop transfer function. Hall circles are also used with the Nichols plot and in this setting, are also known as Nichols chart. Rather than overlaying directly the Hall circles over the Nichols plot, the points of the circles are transferred to a new coordinate system where the ordinate is given by 20 log 10 ⁡ ( | G ( s ) | ) {\displaystyle 20\log _{10}(|G(s)|)} and the abscissa is given by arg ⁡ ( G ( s ) ) {\displaystyle \arg(G(s))} . The advantage of using Nichols chart is that adjusting the gain of the open loop transfer function directly reflects in up and down translation of the Nichols plot in the chart.

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  • EdgeRank

    EdgeRank

    EdgeRank is the name commonly given to the algorithm that Facebook uses to determine what articles should be displayed in a user's News Feed. As of 2011, Facebook has stopped using the EdgeRank system and uses a machine learning algorithm that, as of 2013, takes more than 100,000 factors into account. EdgeRank was developed and implemented by Serkan Piantino. == Formula and factors == In 2010, a simplified version of the EdgeRank algorithm was presented as: ∑ e d g e s e u e w e d e {\displaystyle \sum _{\mathrm {edges\,} e}u_{e}w_{e}d_{e}} where: u e {\displaystyle u_{e}} is user affinity. w e {\displaystyle w_{e}} is how the content is weighted. d e {\displaystyle d_{e}} is a time-based decay parameter. User Affinity: The User Affinity part of the algorithm in Facebook's EdgeRank looks at the relationship and proximity of the user and the content (post/status update). Content Weight: What action was taken by the user on the content. Time-Based Decay Parameter: New or old. Newer posts tend to hold a higher place than older posts. Some of the methods that Facebook uses to adjust the parameters are proprietary and not available to the public. A study has shown that it is possible to hypothesize a disadvantage of the "like" reaction and advantages of other interactions (e.g., the "haha" reaction or "comments") in content algorithmic ranking on Facebook. The "like" button can decrease the organic reach as a "brake effect of viral reach". The "haha" reaction, "comments" and the "love" reaction could achieve the highest increase in total organic reach. == Impact == EdgeRank and its successors have a broad impact on what users actually see out of what they ostensibly follow: for instance, the selection can produce a filter bubble (if users are exposed to updates which confirm their opinions etc.) or alter people's mood (if users are shown a disproportionate amount of positive or negative updates). As a result, for Facebook pages, the typical engagement rate is less than 1% (or less than 0.1% for the bigger ones), and organic reach 10% or less for most non-profits. As a consequence, for pages, it may be nearly impossible to reach any significant audience without paying to promote their content.

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