This article describes the use of personalized short text messages (SMS) to reduce snacking. First, we describe the development and validation ( N = 215) of a questionnaire to measure individual susceptibility to different social influence strategies. To evaluate the external validity of this Susceptibility to Persuasion Scale (STPS) we set up a two week text-messaging intervention that used text messages implementing social influence strategies as prompts to reduce snacking behavior. In this experiment ( N = 73) we show that messages that are personalized (tailored) to the individual based on their scores on the STPS, lead to a higher decrease in snacking consumption than randomized messages or messages that are not tailored (contra-tailored) to the individual. We discuss the importance of this finding for the design of persuasive systems and detail how designers can use tailoring at the level of social influence strategies to increase the effects of their persuasive technologies.

A large number of videos are captured and shared by the audience from musical concerts. However, such recordings are typically perceived as boring mainly because of their limited view, poor visual quality and incomplete coverage. It is our objective to enrich the viewing experience of these recordings by exploiting the abundance of content from multiple sources. In this paper, we propose a novel \Virtual Director system that automatically combines the most desirable segments from different recordings resulting in a single video stream, called mashup. We start by eliciting requirements from focus groups, interviewing professional video editors and consulting film grammar literature. We design a formal model for automatic mashup generation based on maximizing the degree of fulfillment of the requirements. Various audio-visual content analysis techniques are used to determine how well the requirements are satisfied by a recording. To validate the system, we compare our mashups with two other mashups: manually created by a professional video editor and machine generated by random segment selection. The mashups are evaluated in terms of visual quality, content diversity and pleasantness by 40 subjects. The results show that our mashups and the manual mashups are perceived as comparable, while both of them are significantly higher than the random mashups in all three terms.

As technologies in the area of storage, connectivity and displays are rapidly evolving and business development is pointing to the direction of the experience economy, the vision of Ambient Intelligence is positioning the human needs central to technology development. Equipped with a special research instrument called HomeLab, scenarios of Ambient Intelligence are implemented and tested. As two examples of bringing real user experiences through display technology into the digital home, research on creating the feeling of immersion and the feeling of being connected, are discussed. Results from this work indicate that visual displays can indeed be used beyond simple information rendering but can actually play an important role in creating user experiences.

We present a two-stage solution approach to the multidimensional periodic scheduling (MPS) problem. This problem originates from the design of high-throughput digital-signal-processor systems, where highly parallel execution of loops is of utmost importance. We introduce the concept of multidimensional periodic operations in order to cope with problems originating from loop hierarchies and explicit timing requirements. In the first stage of the approach, we assign periods to the multidimensional periodic operations such that storage costs are minimized. This is done by means of branch-and-bound, based on a linear programming and constraint-generation technique. In the second stage, we assign start times to the operations and determine on which processing units (PUs) they are executed. This is done by means of an iterative approach. The two major subproblems of MPS concerning checking data dependency constraints and PU constraints are solved by means of an all-integer integer-linear-programming technique. This technique is used as a subroutine in the above two stages. The effectiveness and efficiency of the approach are good, which is illustrated by means of some practical examples.

Article Period assignment in multidimensional periodic scheduling Share on Authors: Wim F. J. Verhaegh Philips Research Laboratories, Prof. Holstlaan 4, 5656 AA Eindhoven, The Netherlands Philips Research Laboratories, Prof. Holstlaan 4, 5656 AA Eindhoven, The NetherlandsView Profile , Emile H. L. Aarts Philips Research Laboratories, Prof. Holstlaan 4, 5656 AA Eindhoven, The Netherlands, and Eindhoven University of Technology, P.O. Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands Philips Research Laboratories, Prof. Holstlaan 4, 5656 AA Eindhoven, The Netherlands, and Eindhoven University of Technology, P.O. Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The NetherlandsView Profile , Paul C. N. van Gorp Eindhoven University of Technology, P.O. Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands Eindhoven University of Technology, P.O. Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The NetherlandsView Profile Authors Info & Claims ICCAD '98: Proceedings of the 1998 IEEE/ACM international conference on Computer-aided designNovember 1998 Pages 585–592https://doi.org/10.1145/288548.289090Published:01 November 1998 2citation134DownloadsMetricsTotal Citations2Total Downloads134Last 12 Months0Last 6 weeks0 Get Citation AlertsNew Citation Alert added!This alert has been successfully added and will be sent to:You will be notified whenever a record that you have chosen has been cited.To manage your alert preferences, click on the button below.Manage my AlertsNew Citation Alert!Please log in to your account Save to BinderSave to BinderCreate a New BinderNameCancelCreateExport CitationPublisher SiteGet Access

This paper addresses the problem of online signature verification based on hidden Markov models (HMM). We use a novel type of digitizer tablet and pay special attention to the use of pen-tilt. We investigate the verification reliability based on different forgery types. We compare the discriminative value of the different features based on a linear discriminant analysis (LDA) and show that pen-tilt is important. On the basis of home-improved, over-the-shoulder and professional forgeries, we show that the amount of dynamic information available to an imposter is important and that forgeries based on paper copies are easier to detect. The results obtained with a database of almost 5000 signatures of 51 persons with highly skilled forgeries include equal-error rates between 1% and 1.9%.

We consider the problem of nonpreemptively scheduling periodic tasks on a minimum number of identical processors, assuming that some slack is allowed in the time between successive executions of a periodic task. We prove that the problem is NP-hard in the strong sense. Necessary and sufficient conditions are derived for scheduling two periodic tasks on a single processor, and for combining two periodic tasks into one larger task. Based on these results, we propose an approximation algorithm.

This paper addresses the problem of constructing a scan chain such that (1) the area overhead is minimal for latch-based designs, and (2) the number of pipeline scan shifts is minimal. We present an efficient heuristic algorithm to construct near-optimal scan chains. On the theoretical side, we show that part (1) of the problem can be solved in polynomial time, and that part (2) is NP-hard, thus precisely pinpointing the source of complexity and justifying our heuristic approach. Experimental results on three industrial asynchronous IC designs show (1) less than 0.1% extra scan latches for level-sensitive scan design, and (2) scan shift reductions up to 86% over traditional scan schemes.

We consider the problem of nonpreemptively scheduling periodic tasks on a minimum number of processors, assuming that the tasks have to be executed strictly periodically. We show that the problem is NP-complete in the strong sense, even in the case of a single processor, but that it is solvable in polynomial time if the periods and execution times are divisible. The latter condition generalizes the situation in which all periods and execution times are powers of 2. We also propose an approximation algorithm, which is based on successively assigning tasks to processors according to some priority rule.

We survey solution methods for the job shop scheduling problem with an emphasis on local search. Both deterministic and randomized local search methods as well as the proposed neighborhoods are discussed. We compare the computational performance of the various methods in terms of their effectiveness and efficiency on a standard set of problem instances.

We discuss the complexity of a number of high-level synthesis problems that can be viewed as generalizations of the classical retiming problem introduced by Leiserson and Saxe. The generalizations are concerned with additional degrees of freedom resulting from timefolding and multiplexing. The central problem is the design of multicycle and multifunctional processing units. This problem consists of two subproblems known as operator assignment and retiming. In this paper, we are primarily concerned with the construction of appropriate models and their complexity analysis. We show that both operator assignment and retiming are NP-hard in the presence of multiplexing or timefolding. We present a novel proof of the result obtained by Leiserson and Saxe, which states that retiming without multiplexing or timefolding can be solved in polynomial time.

This paper discusses improved force-directed scheduling and its application in the design of high-throughput DSP systems, such as real-time video VLSL circuits. We present a mathematical justification of the technique of force-directed scheduling, introduced by Paulin and Knight (1989), and we show how the algorithm can be used to find cost-effective time assignments and resource allocations, allowing trade-offs between processing units and memories. Furthermore, we present modifications that improve the effectiveness and the efficiency of the algorithm. The significance of the improvements is illustrated by an empirical performance analysis based on a number of problem instances.>

We present a computational performance analysis of local search algorithms for job shop scheduling. The algorithms under Investigation are Iterative improvement, simulated annealing, threshold accepting, and genetic local search. Our study shows that simulated annealing performs best in the sense that it finds better solutions than the other algorithms within the same amount of running time. Compared to more tailored algorithms, simulated annealing still finds the best results but only under the assumption that running time is of no concern. Compared to tabu search, simulated annealing is outperformed especially with respect to running times. INFORMS Journal on Computing, ISSN 1091-9856, was published as ORSA Journal on Computing from 1989 to 1995 under ISSN 0899-1499.

Force-directed scheduling is a technique which schedules operations under time constraints in order to achieve schedules with a minimum number of resources. The worst case time complexity of the algorithm is cubic in the number of operations. This is due to the computation of the changes in the distribution functions needed for the force calculations. An incremental way to compute the changes in the distribution functions, based on gradual time-frame reduction, is presented. This reduces the time complexity of the algorithm to quadratic in the number of operations, without any loss in effectiveness or generality of the algorithm. Implementations show a substantial CPU-time reduction of force-directed scheduling, which is illustrated by means of some industrially relevant examples.>

Functions executed by a multifunctional processing unit (PU) correspond to clusters of operations in the specification, which are represented as signal flow graphs (SFGs). Because of high-throughput demands, the operations of each SFG are executed in parallel. Since operations for only one of the SFGs are executed at a given time, operations belonging to different SFGs can be executed on the same operator. Here, the most important part of the mapping of several SFGs onto one PU, which is the assignment of the SFGs operations to the PU's operators, given a number of allocated operators, is considered. The problem is to find an operator assignment that minimizes the silicon area that is occupied by the PU's interconnection consisting of multiplexers and wires. An approach based on local search algorithms such as iterative improvement and simulated annealing is presented. Although these algorithms are known to be generally applicable, it is shown that detailed knowledge of the operator assignment problem is required to obtain good results within acceptable CPU time limits for large problem instances.>

We study the capabilities of two-layered perceptrons for classifying exactly a given subset. Both necessary and sufficient conditions are derived for subsets to be exactly classifiable with two-layered perceptrons that use the hard-limiting response function. The necessary conditions can be viewed as generalizations of the linear-separability condition of one-layered perceptrons and confirm the conjecture that the capabilities of two-layered perceptrons are more limited than those of three-layered perceptrons. The sufficient conditions show that the capabilities of two-layered perceptrons extend beyond the exact classification of convex subsets. Furthermore, we present an algorithmic approach to the problem of verifying the sufficiency condition for a given subset.

The authors discuss the problem of mapping algorithms for real-time processing of digital video signals onto a fixed configuration of identical programmable video signal processors. Due to the periodic nature of the algorithms and the small periods that are involved, successive executions of the algorithm have to be interleaved in time. The resulting scheduling problem is mathematically modeled and examined. The authors present a novel solution approach that is based on a divide-and-conquer strategy using phase assignment as the central part. This approach has been implemented and it gives good results for industrially significant video applications. Specifically, the proposed approach has been implemented in only 1300 lines of C and has been applied to a number of problem instances, whose signal flow graphs originate from industrially relevant algorithms, including contour enhancement and progressive scan, noise reduction, 4:3 to 16:9 screen format conversion, and a very elaborate progressive scan algorithm.>

The architecture and programming aspects of a programmable video signal processor are discussed.The processor is an integrated circuit that has a modular architecture with a number of programmable, pipelined processing elements.Networks of these processors can be programmed conveniently with the aid of dedicated programming tools.In this paper the emphasis is on the scheduling of video algorithms and the micro code generation for a network of video signal processors.Due to the periodic nature of the video algorithms and the small periods that are involved, successive executions of the video algorithm have to be interleaved in time.We present a novel solution approach to the scheduling problem using phase assignment as the central part.Results of this approach are presented for industrially significant video applications.

We investigate the network complexity of multilayered perceptrons for solving exactly a given problem. We limit our study to the class of combinatorial optimization problems. It is shown how these problems can be reformulated as binary classification problems and how they can be solved by multilayered perceptrons.

A method for designing easily testable PLA's with low overhead is presented. The method is based on a reduction of product lines and the addition of a small number of inputs. The required additional hardware is calculated using a statistical cooling algorithm. The presented design-for-testability method guarantees a 100 percent fault coverage with respect to multiple stuck-at faults and multiple missing/extra crosspoint faults.

PHIPLA, a new algorithm for logic minimization, is presented. The algorithm sets out to find optimal sum-of-products representations for a set of Boolean functions, thus contributing to area minimization of the Programmable Logic Array corresponding to the set of functions.