PA-Tree: A Parametric Indexing Scheme for Spatio-temporal Trajectories

Abstract. Many new applications involving moving objects require the collec-tion and querying of trajectory data, so efficient indexing methods are needed to support complex spatio-temporal queries on such data. Current work in this domain has used MBRs to approximate trajectories, which fail to capture some basic properties of trajectories, including smoothness and lack of internal area. This mismatch leads to poor pruning when such indices are used. In this work, we revisit the issue of using parametric space indexing for historical trajectory data. We approximate a sequence of movement functions with single continuous polynomial. Since trajectories tend to be smooth, our approximations work well and yield much finer approximation quality than MBRs. We present the PA-tree, a parametric index that uses this new approximation method. Experiments show that PA-tree construction costs are orders of magnitude lower than that of com-peting methods. Further, for spatio-temporal range queries, MBR-based methods require 20%–60 % more I/O than PA-trees with clustered indicies, and 300%– 400 % more I/O than PA-trees with non-clustered indicies.

Relevance feedback for content-based image retrieval: what can three mouse clicks achieve?

We introduce a novel relevance feedback method for content-based image retrieval and demonstrate its effectiveness using a subset of the Corel Gallery photograph collection and five low-level colour descriptors. Relevance information is translated into updated, analytically computed descriptor weights and a new query representation, and thus the system combines movement in both query and weight space. To assess the effectiveness of relevance feedback, we first determine the weight set that is optimal on average for a range of possible queries. The resulting multiple-descriptor retrieval model yields significant performance gains over all the single-descriptor models and provides the benchmark against which we measure the additional improvement through relevance feed-back. We model a number of scenarios of user-system interaction that differ with respect to the precise type and the extent of relevance feedback. In all scenarios, relevance feedback leads to a significant improvement of retrieval performance suggesting that feedback-induced performance gain is a robust phenomenon. Based on a comparison of the different scenarios, we identify optimal interaction models that yield high performance gains at a low operational cost for the user. To support the proposed relevant feedback technique we developed a novel presentation paradigm that allows relevance to be treated as a continuous variable

A Case-Based Framework for Collaborative Semantic Search in Knowledge Sifter

Abstract. This paper addresses the role of case-based reasoning in semantic search, and in particular, as it applies to Knowledge Sifter, an agent-based ontology-driven search system based on Web services. The Knowledge Sifter architecture is extended to include a case-based methodology for collaborative semantic search, including case creation, indexing and retrieval services. A collaborative filtering methodology is presented that uses stored cases as a way to improve user query specification, refinement and processing

On-Line Discovery of Dense Areas in Spatio-Temporal Databases

Abstract — Moving object databases have received considerable attention recently. Previous work has concentrated mainly on modeling and indexing problems, as well as query selectivity estimation. Here we introduce a novel problem, that of addressing density-based queries in the spatio-temporal domain. For example: “Find all regions that will contain more than 500 objects, ten minutes from now”. The user may also be interested in finding the time period (interval) that the query answer remains valid. We formally define a new class of density-based queries and give approximate, on-line techniques that answer them efficiently. Typically the threshold above which a region is considered to be dense is part of the query. The difficulty of the problem lies in the fact that the spatial and temporal predicates are not specified by the query. The techniques we introduce find all candidate dense regions at any time in the future. To make them more scalable we subdivide the spatial universe using a grid and limit queries within a pre-specified time horizon. Finally, we validate our approaches with a thorough experimental evaluation. I

Influence of the sealer and a plug in coronal leakage after post space preparation Influência do cimento obturador e de um "plug" na infiltração coronária após preparo para pino

The subject of this paper was to conduct an in vitro study of the coronal leakage after root canal filling and post space preparation. One hundred single-rooted human teeth had their crowns removed and the canals prepared and filled by the lateral condensation technique with gutta-percha points and the sealers CRCS and Endofill (a Grossman cement). After post space preparation, the remainder of the filling was protected or not with 1mm of a plug of the following materials: Coltosol, Super Bonder (cyanoacrylate-ester), CRCS and Endofill. After 24 hours in saline, the specimens were immersed in a 2% methylene blue solution in a vacuum environment for 24 hours. The teeth were then sectioned longitudinally, leakage was evaluated linearly and the obtained data were submitted to the Kruskal-Wallis test. The results with the two sealers studied were similar between themselves and worse (p<0.01) than the groups with a protector plug. The statistical analysis ordered the experimental groups from the best to the worst in the following way: a - Endofill-Super Bonder, CRCS-Super Bonder, CRCS-CRCS; b - Endofill-Endofill; c - Endofill-Coltosol, CRCS-Coltosol; d - Endofill, CRCS.<br>O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar "in vitro" a infiltração marginal coronária após obturação de canal e preparo para pino, empregando-se ou não um "plug" protetor. Cem dentes humanos unirradiculares extraídos tiveram suas coroas removidas, e os canais preparados biomecanicamente e obturados pela técnica da condensação lateral com cones de guta-percha e os cimentos CRCS e Endofill. Após preparo para pino, os remanescentes das obturações foram ou não protegidos por 1 mm de um "plug" dos seguintes materiais: Coltosol, Super Bonder, CRCS e Endofill. Após permanecerem 24 horas em soro fisiológico, os espécimes foram imersos em solução de azul de metileno a 2%, em ambiente com vácuo, por 24 horas. Os dentes foram então seccionados longitudinalmente, as infiltrações marginais mensuradas linearmente, e os dados obtidos submetidos à análise de variância e teste de Kruskal-Wallis. Os resultados com os 2 cimentos estudados foram semelhantes entre si e piores (ñ<0,01) do que os grupos com "plugs" protetores. A análise estatística ordenou os grupos experimentais do melhor para o pior da seguinte maneira: a- Endofill-Super Bonder, CRCS-Super Bonder, CRCS-CRCS; b- Endofill-Endofill; c- Endofill-Coltosol, CRCS-Coltosol; d- Endofill, CRCS