1,721,113 research outputs found
Counting the Solutions to a Query (Invited Talk)
No full textIn this talk, we consider the problem of counting the solutions to a query. Our first motivating scenario is the use of regular expressions to extract paths from a graph database. More specifically, given a graph database D, a regular expression r and a natural number n, consider the problem of counting the number of paths p in D such that p conforms to r and the length of p is n. This problem is known to be hard, namely #P-complete. In this talk, we show that this problem admits a fully polynomial-time randomized approximation scheme (FPRAS). Remarkably, the key idea to prove this result is to show that the fundamental problem #NFA admits an FPRAS, where #NFA is the problem of counting the number of strings of length n accepted by a non-deterministic finite automaton (NFA). While this problem is known to be #P-complete and, more precisely, SpanL-complete, it was open whether this problem admits an FPRAS. In this work, we solve this open problem and obtain as a welcome corollary that every function in SpanL admits an FPRAS.
As a second motivating scenario, we consider the widely used class of conjunctive queries over relational databases. More specifically, for every class C of conjunctive queries with bounded treewidth, we introduce the first FPRAS for counting the answers to a query in C. In fact, our FPRAS is more general, and also applies to conjunctive queries with bounded hypertree width, as well as unions of such queries. As for the case of graph databases, the key ingredient in our proof is the resolution of a fundamental counting problem from automata theory. Specifically, we show that the problem #TA admits an FPRAS, where #TA is the problem of counting the number of trees of size n accepted by a tree automaton (TA).
This talk is based on the results presented in [Marcelo Arenas et al., 2021; Marcelo Arenas et al., 2021]
Descriptive Complexity for Counting Complexity Classes
No full textDescriptive Complexity has been very successful in characterizing complexity
classes of decision problems in terms of the properties definable in some
logics. However, descriptive complexity for counting complexity classes, such
as FP and #P, has not been systematically studied, and it is not as developed
as its decision counterpart. In this paper, we propose a framework based on
Weighted Logics to address this issue. Specifically, by focusing on the natural
numbers we obtain a logic called Quantitative Second Order Logics (QSO), and
show how some of its fragments can be used to capture fundamental counting
complexity classes such as FP, #P and FPSPACE, among others. We also use QSO to
define a hierarchy inside #P, identifying counting complexity classes with good
closure and approximation properties, and which admit natural complete
problems. Finally, we add recursion to QSO, and show how this extension
naturally captures lower counting complexity classes such as #L
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
A Verified Algebra for Linked Data
No full textA foundation is investigated for the application of loosely structured data on the Web. This area is often referred to as Linked Data, due to the use of URIs in data to establish links. This work focuses on emerging W3C standards which specify query languages for Linked Data. The approach is to provide an abstract syntax to capture Linked Data structures and queries, which are then internalised in a process calculus. An operational semantics for the calculus specifies how queries, data and processes interact. A labelled transition system is shown to be sound with respect to the operational semantics. Bisimulation over the labelled transition system is used to verify an algebra over queries. The derived algebra is a contribution to the application domain. For instance, the algebra may be used to rewrite a query to optimise its distribution across a cluster of servers. The framework used to provide the operational semantics is powerful enough to model related calculi for the Web
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Get PDFWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Get PDFWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
Title, Table of Contents, Preface, ICDT 2015 Test of Time Award, Organization, External Reviewers, List of Authors
No full textTitle, Table of Contents, Preface, ICDT 2015 Test of Time Award, Organization, External Reviewers, List of Author
- …
