Representation does matter

In Machine Learning the main problem is that of learning a ‘description’ of a class (possibly an infinite set) from a finite num- ber of positive and negative training examples. For real world problems, however, one must distinguish between the actual instance of the class to be learned and the numeric or symbolic encoding of the instances of the same class. The question here is whether different encodings (or representations) of the instances of a real-world class can actually affect the performance of the learning algorithm. In artificial neural networks (ANNs), for example, it is required that the classes are always encoded as vectors over some field (usually the set of reals). In this paper it is argued that the representation of the class instances plays a very important role in machine learning since it has bearing on two very important issues — the structural completeness of the training set and also the inductive bias of the learning algorithm.peer-reviewe

Adaptive jukebox : a context-sensitive playlist generator

Nowadays, a lot of users own large collections of music MP3 files. Manually organising such collections into playlists is a tedious task. On the other hand random playlist generation may not always provide the user with an enjoyable experience. Automatic playlist generation is a relatively new field in computer science that address this issue, developing algorithms that can automatically create playlists to suit the user’s preferences. This paper presents our work in this field, where we suggest that playlist generators should be more context-sensitive. We also present Adaptive Jukebox, a context-sensitive, zero-input playlist generator that recommends and plays songs from the user’s personal MP3 collection. Initial experiments suggest that our system is more accurate than both a random generator and a system that does not take context into account.peer-reviewe

Automatic clustering of news reports

The automatic clustering of news reports from various web-based news sites into clusters according to the event they cover serves not only to facilitate browsing of news reports by a users but may also serve as an initial stage in other complex systems such as Multi-Document Summarization systems or Document Fusion systems. In contrast to the usual scenarios of document clustering whereby the document collections are static or quasi-static, news sites are continuously updated with re- ports concerning new events. Here, we present a News Report Clustering system which is able to receive a stream of news reports which it clusters on the fly according to the event they cover. New clusters are automat- ically created as necessary for news reports which are covering ‘new’, previously unreported events. We compare the results of our system to the results produced by a standard K-Means clustering system, and we show that our system performs significantly better than the standard K- Means system even though the K-Means system was supplied with the correct number of clusters that should be produced. In fact, our clustering system obtained an average of 11.95% better recall, 28.68% better precision and 0.89% less fallout than the standard K-Means clustering system.peer-reviewe

HeDLa : a strongly typed, component-based embedded hardware description language

Over the past years, various techniques for the embedding of hardware description languages within general purpose languages have been developed and explored. In particular, numerous HDLs embedded in strongly typed functional languages have been developed and used for different applications. A common trait of most of these languages is that they treat hardware components as functions or relations between the inputs and outputs of the circuit. The alternative view, of viewing the circuits as components which can be instantiated, composed and transformed has been a relatively less well explored area in this context. In this paper we present HeDLa, a component-based hardware description language embedded in Haskell, and show how features such as strong-typing and higher-order functions enable us to design and compose circuits in a safer and more abstract fashion. Furthermore, the component-based approach allows access to circuit structure directly, enabling us to reason about non-functional aspects of the component, such as placement, area and power consumption more easily. Finally, we discuss some initial experiments in multi-level simulation of circuits which enable testing and more effective simulation of large circuits.peer-reviewe

An online educational portal for teachers and students in a subject department

Teachers are against duplication of efforts and dislike the sideway clerical duties that use up their resources for doing the proper job — enriching their knowledge and giving pastoral care for their students. The duty of marking attendance, entering marks and subsequently producing a global grade is an important link in the chain of school ad- ministration and hence a necessary evil. Today we are in an era enriched by useful technologies and tools that can help in the learning environment. In this paper, an already-existing open-source e-learning software platform is used and manipulated to accommodate the exigencies and specific needs of running a subject department at a post-secondary level in Malta.peer-reviewe

An e-Commerce framework for wearable devices

The main drawback of pervasive computing is the lack of infrastructure on which ubiquitous applications should be deployed on. The deployment of the resources required by pervasive computing require expensive hardware. These considerable disadvantages led to the area of wearable computing. In this poster we briefly describe our work in the area of wearable computing, were we apply some major concepts of ubiquitous commerce to achieve a generic e-commerce framework that can be used by any wearable device.peer-reviewe

Semantic eBroker

The world of e-commerce presents ample opportunity to fully utilise the capability of intelligent Agents. The highly dynamic, fast- moving and information-rich environment can often be overwhelming for the human participant. Agents can intelligently assist users by mimicking human behaviour and adapting themselves to their client’s specification. This thesis presents an e-commerce framework that would introduce negotiation techniques which allows sellers and buyers to trade using Case Base Reasoning techniques as well as being proactive in remembering users’ requests and autonomously monitoring vendor sites for new items that might match the users’ needs and preferences. It observes the users whilst shopping and learns their preferences with respect to various features that characterise shopping items.peer-reviewe

Transactional CSP processes

Long-lived transactions (LLTs) are transactions intended to be executed over an extended period of time ranging from seconds to days. A long-lived transaction is normally organized as a series of activities, with each activity being a discrete transactional unit of work that releases transactional locks upon its execution. The long-lived transaction commits if all its activities complete successfully. Unless an activity requires the result of a previously committed activity, there is no constraint which specifies that the various activities belonging to a long lived transaction should execute sequentially. In this paper we present a solution that combines long-lived transactions and CSP such that in- dependent activities execute in parallel to achieve flexibility and better performance for long-lived transactions. We introduce two composition constructs SEQ LLT and PAR LLT. Very much as the occam CSP-based constructs, SEQ and PAR, allow processes to be executed sequentially or concurrently, the proposed SEQ LLT and PAR LLT constructs can be used to specify the sequential or concurrent execution of transactions. Transactional CSP Processes is a framework that makes use of these composition constructs, providing an API through which the application developer can define long-lived transactions. Concurrency and transaction handling are managed by the framework transparently from the application developer.peer-reviewe

Kanban scheduling system

Nowadays manufacturing plants have adopted a demand- driven production control system also known as just-in-time production (JIT). This greatly reduces inventory costs because the buffers between the processes act as a blocking mechanism to indicate when production should stop and when eventually it can continue. One implementation of a JIT system is the Kanban system. Manufacturing in a JIT fashion, we face the challenge of flexibility to respond to changes in the customers’ demands, while at the same time remaining cost-effective. This work at- tempts to introduce automation to the process of Kanban scheduling in a manufacturing plant environment with a multi-level part type. The proposed solution is a Memetic Algorithm (MA) which tries to optimize schedules such that they meet the deadlines of customer orders without causing buffer overflows, while at the same time keeping setup time to a minimum and placing free periods sensibly if these occur. The evaluation shows that this was achieved and the MA gave better results than the manual system currently in use.peer-reviewe

Flexible learning systems : an insight into personalised learning systems

Web services are defined as accessible software programs ex- posed through an Internet interface description which enhances client to server requests and are not only easily invoked and consumed but they provide interoperability for applications through Service-Oriented Architectures. The Semantic Web, Web services and Web technologies, have so far been mostly utilised in business models and processes throughout industry. This research paper proposes to show how these emergent technologies are also being exploited for E-learning environments. Such a service applies in fact not only to businesses and the work-place but also to academic settings. The ability to make a provision for flexible, personalised and adaptable services is heavily dependent on Web technologies which need to be moulded into rich, dynamic and active environments based on individual user needs and requirements. The paper aims to highlight ongoing projects in this area offering a brief description of their findings and achievements as well as identify future trends in the areas of flexible learning systems.peer-reviewe