bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Evolution of the Genetic Code from the Viewpoint of the Genetic 8-Dimensional Yin-Yang-Algebra
Authors: Petoukhov Sergey , He Matthew
Published: May 2010

The set of known dialects of the genetic code is analyzed from the viewpoint of the genetic 8-dimensional Yin-Yang-algebra. This algebra was described in Chapter 7. The octet Yin-Yang-algebra is considered as the model of the genetic code. From the viewpoint of this algebraic model, for example, the sets of 20 amino acids and of 64 triplets consist of sub-sets of “male,” “female,” and “androgynous” molecules, and so forth. This algebra allows one to reveal hidden peculiarities of the structure and evolution of the genetic code and to propose the conception of “sexual” relationships among genetic molecules. The first results of the analysis of the genetic code systems from such an algebraic viewpoint speak about the close connection between evolution of the genetic code and this algebra. They include 7 phenomenological rules of evolution of the dialects of the genetic code. The evolution of the genetic code appears as the struggle between male and female beginnings. The hypothesis about new biophysical factor of “sexual” interactions among genetic molecules is proposed. The matrix forms of presentation of elements of the genetic octet Yin-Yang-algebra are connected with Hadamard matrices by means of the simple U-algorithm. Hadamard matrices play a significant role in the theory of quantum computers, in particular. It leads to new opportunities for the possible understanding of genetic code systems as quantum computer systems. Revealed algebraic properties of the genetic code allow one to put forward the problem of algebraization of bioinformatics on the basis of the algebras of the genetic code. The described investigations are connected with the question: what is life from the viewpoint of algebra?
Physiological Cycles and Their Algebraic Models in Matrix Genetics
Authors: Petoukhov Sergey , He Matthew
Published: May 2010

This chapter presents data about cyclic properties of the genetic code in its matrix forms of presentation. These cyclic properties concern cyclic changes of genetic Yin-Yang-matrices and their Yin-Yangalgebras (bipolar algebras) at many kinds of circular permutations of genetic elements in genetic matrices. These circular permutations lead to such reorganizations of the matrix form of presentation of the initial genetic Yin-Yang-algebra that arisen matrices serve as matrix forms of presentations of new Yin-Yang-algebras, as well. They are connected algorithmically with Hadamard matrices. New patterns and relations of symmetry are described. The discovered existence of a hierarchy of the cyclic changes of genetic Yin-Yang-algebras allows one to develop new algebraic models of cyclic processes in bioinformatics and in other related fields. These cycles of changes of the genetic 8-dimensional algebras and of their 8-dimensional numeric systems have many analogies with famous facts and doctrines of modern and ancient physiology, medicine, and so forth. This viewpoint proposes that the famous idea by Pythagoras (about organization of natural systems in accordance with harmony of numerical systems) should be combined with the idea of cyclic changes of Yin-Yang-numeric systems in considered cases. This second idea reminds of the ancient idea of cyclic changes in nature. From such algebraic-genetic viewpoint, the notion of biological time can be considered as a factor of coordinating these hierarchical ensembles of cyclic changes of the genetic multi-dimensional algebras.
A New Approach to Reducing Social Engineering Impact
Authors: Mostefaoui Ghita Kouadri , Brézillon Patrick
Published: May 2010

In recent years, the security research community has been very active in proposing different techniques and algorithms to face the proliferating security vulnerabilities. However, social engineering remains an alarming threat to the most secured networks. Security administrators are certainly aware of the gravity of the human factor, whatever is the strength of the technological measures. The human factor is still a difficult-to-surround notion and a difficult to quantify concept. It is rarely considered in the early stages of the development lifecycle of software, assuming traditional security considerations have been taken into account. In this chapter, we discuss the added-value of context as a way to deal with social engineering. Based on a case study describing a typical attack, we provide a first attempt to model this parameter.
Social Networking Site
Authors: Chan Tom S.
Published: May 2010

Social networking has become one of the most popular applications on the Internet since the burst of the dot-com bubble. Apart from being a haven for teenagers and online marketers, social networking sites are increasingly adopted by the corporate community. The trend makes viable many new business models and applications. The popularity of these sites has altered the way society interacts, but it also greatly heightened the threats of cyber crime. Safety and crime issues aside, the massive amount of user-generated content in these Web 2.0-enabled social networking sites are becoming fertile grounds for viruses. Furthermore, these sites pose great challenges on how to protect copyrighted works as they are havens for digital content sharing. Society must learn to balance the benefits of social networking with its drawbacks as the phenomenon is an inescapable global trend, expanding at the speed of light.
Embedding an Ecology Notion in the Social Production of Urban Space
Authors: Klaebe Helen , Adkins Barbara , Foth Marcus , Hearn Greg
Published: May 2010

This chapter defines, explores and Illustrates research at the intersection of people, place and technology in cities. First, we theorise the notion of ecology in the social production of space to continue our response to the quest of making sense of an environment characterised by different stakeholders and actors as well as technical, social and discursive elements that operate across dynamic time and space constraints. Second, we describe and rationalise our research approach, which is designed to illuminate the processes at play in the social production of space from three different perspectives. We illustrate the application of our model in a discussion of a case study of community networking and community engagement in an Australian urban renewal site. Three specific interventions that are loosely positioned at the exchange of each perspective are then discussed in detail, namely: Sharing Stories; Social Patchwork and History Lines; and City Flocks.
Social Networking Behind Student Lines in Japan
Authors: McCarty Steve
Published: May 2010

In a cross-cultural educational context of TEFL in Japan, the author sought to enhance the integrative motivation of students toward the target language community through a supplementary online dimension. The social networking site (SNS), Mixi, was selected because it is familiar to most college students in Japan. The Mixi Japanese language interface is illustrated in this chapter, describing functions possibly applicable to education. A YouTube video that introduces Mixi in English, made in authentic collaboration with students, is also referenced as a representative CALL 2.0 classroom activity. More importantly, joining Mixi presented an opportunity to go behind the lines into student territory. Teachers and students, whether foreign or Japanese, customarily maintain their social distance in terms of separate affiliations. Social networking with Japanese students further involves issues of online technological proficiency, biliteracy, and the necessity of an invitation. The author negotiated with three 2007-08 classes on networking through Mixi, with varying outcomes extending beyond the classroom and the school year. Metaphors of lines and perspectives including “technoscapes” (Appadurai, 1990) are proposed to interpret the results, but Japanese socioculture may be most salient to account for the particulars. Student attitudes are probed as to a possible ambivalence in valuing their free expression in Mixi versus the integrative motivation of social involvement with a teacher. One prediction was that results would differ as to whether or not a teacher was welcome in a student community depending on how students were approached for an invitation. Social networking is proposed as a Web 2.0 educational approach that is authentic, collaborative, and immersive in cutting through power hierarchies and positively blurring the distinction between the classroom and the real life of students and teachers, which nowadays includes a virtual dimension.
Activity Theory
Authors: Taxén Lars
Published: May 2010

In this chapter I will give an account of some ideas in the Russian Theory of Activity or Activity Theory (AT) that have influenced the Activity Domain Theory (ADT): activity, mediation, and meaning. The activity domain in ADT is a direct descendant from “activity” in AT, while “mediation” and “meaning” are necessary prerequisites for the activity modalities construct in ADT. The AT was an attempt to apply the ideas of Marx and Engels to psychology in the early decades of the new socialist state, the Soviet Union. The front figure in this pioneering movement was the Russian psychologist and semiotician L. S. Vygotsky (1896-1934) together with his collaborators A. N. Leont’ev (1903-1979) and A. R. Luria (1902-1977). Other prominent researchers in this spirit were V. N. Vološinov (1895-1936) and M. M. Bakhtin (1895-1975). With the advent of the Stalinist era the momentum of the AT was more or less crushed. However, small but marginalized groups kept the ideas of AT alive. One of the most prominent philosophers was the previously mentioned E. Ilyenkov (1924-1979). During the last couple of decades, AT has gained a renewed momentum among Western researchers and been further developed by the works of M. Cole, J. Wertsch and Y. Engeström and others.
The Practical and Theoretical Trails in Hindsight
Authors: Taxén Lars
Published: May 2010

In Section 1 and Section 2, I described the practical and theoretical background of the ADT. In Section 3, I have given an account of the ADT itself. At this point, it is time to look back and see how these three parts are related to each other.
The Anatomy-Centric Approach Towards Managing Complex Projects
Authors: Taxén Lars
Published: May 2010

The purpose of this chapter is to describe and discuss the anatomy-centric approach towards coordinating complex development projects. The content of the chapter is mainly based on my empirical experience from Ericsson.
Enterprise Architectures
Authors: Taxén Lars
Published: May 2010

In this chapter, I reconceptualize enterprise architectures by using the activity domain as the basic architectural entity, thus emphasizing the elements of communal meaning and transition between domains. I compare this view of the enterprise with influential EA frameworks such as the one proposed by Zachman. I discuss implications of the ADT approach and suggest how to operationalize the construction of enterprise architectures from the ADT perspective.
Social Navigation and Local Folksonomies
Authors: Bilandzic Mark , Foth Marcus
Published: May 2010

Web services such as wikis, blogs, podcasting, file sharing and social networking are frequently referred to by the term Web 2.0. The innovation of these services lies in their ability to enable an increasing number of users to actively participate on the Internet by creating and sharing their own content and help develop a collective intelligence. In this chapter the authors discuss how they use Web 2.0 techniques such as “folksonomy” and “geo-tagging” in a mobile information system to collect and harness the everyday connections and local knowledge of urban residents in order to support their social navigation practices.
Ambient Pedagogies, Meaningful Learning and Social Software
Authors: Ravenscroft Andrew , Sagar Musbah , Baur Enzian , Oriogun Peter
Published: May 2010

This chapter will present a new approach to designing learning interactions and experiences that reconciles relatively stable learning processes with relatively new digital practices in the context of social software and Web 2.0. It will begin with a brief position on current educational articulations of social software before offering some theoretical pointers and methodological perspectives for research and development in this area. The authors will then explain how an ongoing initiative in advanced learning design has developed notions of “ambient learning design” and “experience design” to address these issues and describe a new methodology for developing digital tools that incorporate these concepts. This approach is exemplified through ongoing work within an initiative in Digital Dialogue Games and the InterLoc tool that realises them. Finally, the implications this work has for future trends in designing for inclusive, highly communicative and engaging learning interactions and practices for the digital age are discussed.
Agents and Social Interaction
Authors: Bullington Joseph C.
Published: May 2010

Social interaction represents a powerful new locus of research in the quest to build more truly human-like artificial agents. The work in this area, as in the field of human computer interaction, generally, is becoming more interdisciplinary in nature. In this spirit, the present chapter will survey concepts and theory from social psychology, a field many researchers may be unfamiliar with. Dennett’s notion of the intentional system will provide some initial grounding for the notion of social interaction, along with a brief discussion of conversational agents. The body of the chapter will then survey the areas of animal behavior and social psychology most relevant to human-agent interaction, concentrating on the areas of interpersonal relations and social perception. Within the area of social perception, the focus will be on the topics of emotion and attribution theory. Where relevant, research in the area of agent-human interaction will be discussed. The chapter will conclude with a brief survey of the use of agent-based modeling and simulation in social theory. The future looks very promising for researchers in this area; the complex problems involved in developing artificial agents who have mind-like attributes will require an interdisciplinary effort.
Structures in Complex Bipartite Networks
Authors: Lehmann Sune
Published: May 2010

A network structure of nodes and links is an informative way to study information systems. The network representation is valuable because it encodes the structure of the data. This chapter reviews recent advances in the field of network science with an emphasis on describing the structure of information networks. The author argues that bipartite networks constitute an important class of networks, and describes a method for detecting overlapping communities in bipartite networks. The author discusses the relevance of network communities to the future of organizing and understanding large datasets.
Lexical Granularity for Automatic Indexing and Means to Achieve It
Authors: Kokkinakis Dimitrios
Published: May 2010

The identification and mapping of terminology from large repositories of life science data onto concept hierarchies constitute an important initial step for a deeper semantic exploration of unstructured textual content. Accurate and efficient mapping of this kind is likely to provide better means of enhancing indexing and retrieval of text, uncovering subtle differences, similarities and useful patterns, and hopefully new knowledge, among complex surface realisations, overlooked by shallow techniques based on various forms of lexicon look-up approaches. However, a finer-grained level of mapping between terms as they occur in natural language and domain concepts is a cumbersome enterprise that requires various levels of processing in order to make explicit relevant linguistic structures. This chapter highlights some of the challenges encountered in the process of bridging free text to controlled vocabularies and thesauri and vice versa. The author investigates how the extensive variability of lexical terms in authentic data can be efficiently projected to hierarchically structured codes, while means to increase the coverage of the underlying lexical resources are also investigated.
Expanding Terms with Medical Ontologies to Improve a Multi-Label Text Categorization System
Authors: Martín-Valdivia M. Teresa , Montejo-Ráez Arturo , Díaz-Galiano M. C. , Perea Ortega José M. , Ureña-López L. Alfonso
Published: May 2010

This chapter argues for the integration of clinical knowledge extracted from medical ontologies in order to improve a Multi-Label Text Categorization (MLTC) system for medical domain. The approach is based on the concept of semantic enrichment by integrating knowledge in different biomedical collections. Specifically, the authors expand terms from these collections using the UMLS (Unified Medical Language System) metathesaurus. This resource includes several medical ontologies. They have managed two rather different medical collections: first, the CCHMC collection (Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Centre) from the Department of Radiology, and second, the widely used OHSUMED collection. The results obtained show that the use of the medical ontologies improves the system performance.
Information Extraction of Protein Phosphorylation from Biomedical Literature
Authors: Narayanaswamy M. , Ravikumar K. E. , Hu Z. Z. , Vijay-Shanker K. , Wu C. H.
Published: May 2010

Protein posttranslational modification (PTM) is a fundamental biological process, and currently few text mining systems focus on PTM information extraction. A rule-based text mining system, RLIMS-P (Rule-based LIterature Mining System for Protein Phosphorylation), was recently developed by our group to extract protein substrate, kinase and phosphorylated residue/sites from MEDLINE abstracts. This chapter covers the evaluation and benchmarking of RLIMS-P and highlights some novel and unique features of the system. The extraction patterns of RLIMS-P capture a range of lexical, syntactic and semantic constraints found in sentences expressing phosphorylation information. RLIMS-P also has a second phase that puts together information extracted from different sentences. This is an important feature since it is not common to find the kinase, substrate and site of phosphorylation to be mentioned in the same sentence. Small modifications to the rules for extraction of phosphorylation information have also allowed us to develop systems for extraction of two other PTMs, acetylation and methylation. A thorough evaluation of these two systems needs to be completed. Finally, an online version of RLIMSP with enhanced functionalities, namely, phosphorylation annotation ranking, evidence tagging, and protein entity mapping, has been developed and is publicly accessible.
CorTag
Authors: Kodratoff Yves , Azé Jérôme , Fontaine Lise
Published: May 2010

This chapter argues that in order to extract significant knowledge from masses of technical texts, it is necessary to provide the field specialists with programming tools with which they themselves may use to program their text analysis tools. These programming tools, besides helping the programming effort of the field specialists, must also help them to gather the field knowledge necessary for defining and retrieving what they define as significant knowledge. This necessary field knowledge must be included in a well-structured and easy to use part of the programming tool. In this chapter, we present CorTag, a programming tool which is designed to correct existing tags in a text and to assist the field specialist to retrieve the knowledge and/or information he or she is looking for.
Leveraging Semantic Technologies towards Social Ambient Intelligence
Authors: Joly Adrien , Maret Pierre , Bataille Fabien
Published: May 2010

These times, when the amount of information exponentially grows on the Internet, when most people can be connected at all times with powerful personal devices, we need to enhance, adapt, and simplify access to information and communication with other people. The vision of ambient intelligence which is a relevant response to this need brings many challenges in different areas such as context-awareness, adaptive human-system interaction, privacy enforcement, and social communications. The authors believe that ontologies and other semantic technologies can help meeting most of these challenges in a unified manner, as they are a bridge between meaningful (but fuzzy by nature) human knowledge and digital information systems. In this chapter, the authors will depict their vision of “Social Ambient Intelligence” based on the review of several uses of semantic technologies for context management, adaptive human-system interaction, privacy enforcement and social communications. Based on identified benefits and lacks, and on their experience, they will propose several research leads towards the realization of this vision.
Software Support for Advanced Cephalometric Analysis in Orthodontics
Authors: Halazonetis Demetrios J.
Published: May 2010

Cephalometric analysis has been a routine diagnostic procedure in Orthodontics for more than 60 years, traditionally employing the measurement of angles and distances on lateral cephalometric radiographs. Recently, advances in geometric morphometric (GM) methods and computed tomography (CT) hardware, together with increased power of personal computers, have created a synergic effect that is revolutionizing the cephalometric field. This chapter starts with a brief introduction of GM methods, including Procrustes superimposition, Principal Component Analysis, and semilandmarks. CT technology is discussed next, with a more detailed explanation of how the CT data are manipulated in order to visualize the patient’s anatomy. Direct and indirect volume rendering methods are explained and their application is shown with clinical cases. Finally, the Viewbox software is described, a tool that enables practical application of sophisticated diagnostic and research methods in Orthodontics.
A New Software Environment for 3D-Time Series Analysis
Authors: Hendricks Jorg , Wollny Gert , Hemprich Alexander , Hierl Thomas
Published: May 2010

This chapter presents a toolchain including image segmentation, rigid registration and a voxel based non-rigid registration as well as 3D visualization, that allows a time series analysis based on DICOM CT images. Time series analysis stands for comparing image data sets from the same person or specimen taken at different times to show the changes. The registration methods used are explained and the methods are validated using a landmark based validation method to estimate the accuracy of the registration algorithms which is an substantial part of registration process. Without quantitative evaluation, no registration method can be accepted for practical utilization. The authors used the toolchain for time series analysis of CT data of patients treated via maxillary distraction. Two analysis examples are given. In dentistry the scope of further application ranges from pre- and postoperative oral surgery images (orthognathic surgery, trauma surgery) to endodontic and orthodontic treatment. Therefore the authors hope that the presented toolchain leads to further development of similar software and their usage in different fields.
Relationship Between Shrinkage and Stress
Authors: Versluis Antheunis , Tantbirojn Daranee
Published: May 2010

Residual stress due to polymerization shrinkage of restorative dental materials has been associated with a number of clinical symptoms, ranging from post-operative sensitivity to secondary caries to fracture. Although the concept of shrinkage stress is intuitive, its assessment is complex. Shrinkage stress is the outcome of multiple factors. To study how they interact requires an integrating model. Finite element models have been invaluable for shrinkage stress research because they provide an integration environment to study shrinkage concepts. By retracing the advancements in shrinkage stress concepts, this chapter illustrates the vital role that finite element modeling plays in evaluating the essence of shrinkage stress and its controlling factors. The shrinkage concepts discussed in this chapter will improve clinical understanding for management of shrinkage stress, and help design and assess polymerization shrinkage research.
Requirements for a Universal Image Analysis Tool in Dentistry and Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
Authors: Hierl Thomas , Huempfner-Hierl Heike , Kruber Daniel , Gaebler Thomas , Hemprich Alexander , Wollny Gert
Published: May 2010

This chapter discusses the requirements of an image analysis tool designed for dentistry and oral and maxillofacial surgery focussing on 3D-image data. As software for the analysis of all the different types of medical 3D-data is not available, a model software based on VTK (visualization toolkit) is presented. VTK is a free modular software which can be tailored to individual demands. First, the most important types of image data are shown, then the operations needed to handle the data sets. Metric analysis is covered in-depth as it forms the basis of orthodontic and surgery planning. Finally typical examples of different fields of dentistry are given.
Denoising and Contrast Enhancement in Dental Radiography
Authors: Borghese N.A. , Frosio I.
Published: May 2010

This chapter shows how large improvement in image quality can be obtained when radiographs are filtered using adequate statistical models. In particular, it shows that impulsive noise, which appears as random patterns of light and dark pixels on raw radiographs, can be efficiently removed. A switching median filter is used to this aim: failed pixels are identified first and then corrected through local median filtering. The critical stage is the correct identification of the failed pixels. We show here that a great improvement can be obtained considering an adequate sensor model and a principled noise distribution, constituted of a mixture of photon counting and impulsive noise with uniform distribution. It is then shown that contrast in cephalometric images can be largely increased using different grey levels stretching for bone and soft tissues. The two tissues are identified through an adequate mixture derived from histogram analysis, composed of two Gaussians and one inverted log-normal. Results show that both soft and bony tissues become clearly visible in the same image under a wider range of conditions. Both filters work in quasi-real time for images larger than five Mega-pixels.
Advances and Trends in Tissue Engineering of Teeth
Authors: Patel Shital , Morsi Yos
Published: May 2010

Tooth loss due to several reasons affects most people adversely at some time in their lives. A biological tooth substitute, which could not only replace lost teeth but also restore their function, could be achieved by tissue engineering. Scaffolds required for this purpose, can be produced by the use of various techniques. Cells, which are to be seeded onto these scaffolds, can range from differentiated ones to stem cells both of dental and non-dental origin. This chapter deals with overcoming the drawbacks of the currently available tooth replacement techniques by tissue engineering, the success achieved in it at this stage and suggestion on the focus for future research.
Haptic-Based Virtual Reality Dental Simulator as an Educational Tool
Authors: Kolesnikov Maxim , Steinberg Arnold D. , Zefran Milos
Published: May 2010

This chapter describes the haptic dental simulator developed at the University of Illinois at Chicago. It explores its use and advantages as an educational tool in dentistry and examines the structure of the simulator, its hardware and software components, the simulator’s functionality, reality assessment, and the users’ experiences with this technology. The authors hope that the dental haptic simulation program should provide significant benefits over traditional dental training techniques. It should facilitate students’ development of necessary tactile skills, provide unlimited practice time and require less student/instructor interaction while helping students learn basic clinical skills more quickly and effectively.
Digital Library for Dental Biomaterials
Authors: Letic-Gavrilovic Anka
Published: May 2010

In this chapter, the author will demonstrate and describe a project to develop a unique database with multilingual information and knowledge resource for biomedical dental materials and their properties. The database will be populated with high-quality, peer-reviewed information, equipped with an original search engine which would include all necessary information to (1) do standardization of therapeutic treatments (2) understand, the tissue response to biomaterials; (3) identify biomaterials and tissue matrix environment, to allow deeper understanding of the underlying relationship which allow more effective device design and engineering; (4) develop enabling tools by improvements in high-throughput assay and instrumentation, imaging, modalities, fabrication technologies, computational modelling and bioinformatics;(5) promote scale up, translation and commercialisation.
Unicode Characters for Human Dentition
Authors: Tamagawa Hiroo , Amano Hideaki , Hayashi Naoji , Hirose Yasuyuki
Published: May 2010

In this chapter, the authors report the minimal set of characters from the Unicode Standard that is sufficient for the notation of human dentition in Zsigmondy-Palmer style. For domestic reasons, the Japanese Ministry of International Trade and Industry expanded and revised the Japan Industrial Standard (JIS) character code set in 2004 (JIS X 0213). More than 11,000 characters that seemed to be necessary for denoting and exchanging information about personal names and toponyms were added to this revision, which also contained the characters needed for denoting human dentition (dental notation). The Unicode Standard has been adopted for these characters as part of the double-byte character standard, which enabled, mainly in eastern Asian countries, the retrieval of human dentition directly on paper or displays of computers running Unicode-compliant OS. These countries have been using the Zsigmondy-Palmer style of denoting dental records on paper forms for a long time. The authors describe the background and the application of the characters for human dentition to the exchange, storage and reuse of the history of dental diseases via e-mail and other means of electronic communication.
Virtual Dental Patient
Authors: Nikolaidis Nikos , Marras Ioannis , Mikrogeorgis Georgios , Lyroudia Kleoniki , Pitas Ioannis
Published: May 2010

The availability of datasets comprising of digitized images of human body cross sections (as well as images acquired with other modalities such as CT and MRI) along with the recent advances in fields like graphics, 3D visualization, virtual reality, 2D and 3D image processing and analysis (segmentation, registration, filtering, etc.) have given rise to a broad range of educational, diagnostic and treatment planning applications, such as virtual anatomy and digital atlases, virtual endoscopy, intervention planning etc. This chapter describes efforts towards the creation of the Virtual Dental Patient (VDP) i.e. a 3D face and oral cavity model constructed using human anatomical data that is accompanied by detailed teeth models obtained from digitized cross sections of extracted teeth. VDP can be animated and adapted to the characteristics of a specific patient. Numerous dentistry-related applications can be envisioned for the created VDP model. Here we focus on its use in a virtual tooth drilling system whose aim is to aid dentists, dental students and researchers in getting acquainted with the handling of drilling instruments and the skills and challenges associated with cavity preparation procedures in endodontic therapy. Virtual drilling can be performed within the VDP oral cavity, on 3D volumetric and surface models (meshes) of virtual teeth. The drilling procedure is controlled by the Phantom Desktop (Sensable Technologies Inc., Woburn, MA) force feedback haptic device. The application is a very promising educational and research tool that allows the user to practice in a realistic manner virtual tooth drilling for endodontic treatment cavity preparation and other related tasks.
Knowledge Discovery for Sensor Network Comprehension
Authors: Rodrigues Pedro Pereira , Gama João , Lopes Luís
Published: May 2010

In this chapter we explore different characteristics of sensor networks which define new requirements for knowledge discovery, with the common goal of extracting some kind of comprehension about sensor data and sensor networks, focusing on clustering techniques which provide useful information about sensor networks as it represents the interactions between sensors. This network comprehension ability is related with sensor data clustering and clustering of the data streams produced by the sensors. A wide range of techniques already exists to assess these interactions in centralized scenarios, but the seizable processing abilities of sensors in distributed algorithms present several benefits that shall be considered in future designs. Also, sensors produce data at high rate. Often, human experts need to inspect these data streams visually in order to decide on some corrective or proactive operations (Rodrigues & Gama, 2008). Visualization of data streams, and of data mining results, is therefore extremely relevant to sensor data management, and can enhance sensor network comprehension, and should be addressed in future works.
Why General Outlier Detection Techniques Do Not Suffice for Wireless Sensor Networks
Authors: Zhang Yang , Meratnia Nirvana , Havinga Paul
Published: May 2010

Raw data collected in wireless sensor networks are often unreliable and inaccurate due to noise, faulty sensors and harsh environmental effects. Sensor data that significantly deviate from normal pattern of sensed data are often called outliers. Outlier detection in wireless sensor networks aims at identifying such readings, which represent either measurement errors or interesting events. Due to numerous shortcomings, commonly used outlier detection techniques for general data seem not to be directly applicable to outlier detection in wireless sensor networks. In this chapter, the authors report on the current stateof- the-art on outlier detection techniques for general data, provide a comprehensive technique-based taxonomy for these techniques, and highlight their characteristics in a comparative view. Furthermore, the authors address challenges of outlier detection in wireless sensor networks, provide a guideline on requirements that suitable outlier detection techniques for wireless sensor networks should meet, and will explain why general outlier detection techniques do not suffice.
Peer-to-Peer Data Clustering in Self-Organizing Sensor Networks
Authors: Lodi Stefano , Monti Gabriele , Moro Gianluca , Sartori Claudio
Published: May 2010

This work proposes and evaluates distributed algorithms for data clustering in self-organizing ad-hoc sensor networks with computational, connectivity, and power constraints. Self-organization is essential in environments with a large number of devices, because the resulting system cannot be configured and maintained by specific human adjustments on its single components. One of the benefits of in-network data clustering algorithms is the capability of the network to transmit only relevant, high level information, namely models, instead of large amounts of raw data, also reducing drastically energy consumption. For instance, a sensor network could directly identify or anticipate extreme environmental events such as tsunami, tornado or volcanic eruptions notifying only the alarm or its probability, rather than transmitting via satellite each single normal wave motion. The efficiency and efficacy of the methods is evaluated by simulation measuring network traffic, and comparing the generated models with ideal results returned by density-based clustering algorithms for centralized systems.
Technological Social-ism
Authors: Wright Judson
Published: May 2010

Culture is a byproduct of our brains. Moreover, we’ll look at ways culture also employs ritual (from shamanistic practices to grocery shopping) to shape neural paths, and thus shape our brains. Music has a definite (well researched) role in this feedback loop. The ear learns how to discern music from noise in the very immediate context of the environment. This serves more than entertainment purposes however. At a glance, we often can discern visual noise from images, nonsense from words. The dynamics are hardly unique to audial compositions. There are many kinds of compositional rules that apply to all of the senses and well beyond. The brain develops these rule sets specific to the needs of the culture and in order to maintain it. These rules, rarely articulated, are stored in the form of icons, a somewhat abstracted, context-less abbreviation open to wide interpretation. It may seem somewhat amazing we can come up with compatible rules, by reading these icons from our unique personal perspectives. And often we don’t, as we each have differing tastes and opinions. However, “drawing from the same well” defines abstract groupings, to which we choose to subscribe. We both subscribe to and influence which rule-sets we use to filter our perceptions and conclusions. But the way we (often unconsciously) choose is far more elusive and subtle.
A Tabular Approach to Outcome-Based Course Planning and Assessment
Authors: Au Oliver T.S.
Published: May 2010

Many educational institutions are migrating towards outcome-based teaching and learning. Being true to criterion-referenced assessment, students’ final grades are often determined elaborately on a set of complex rules. The author proposes a tabular approach to help instructors in course planning and assessment. The resulting course plan consists of tables that show learning outcomes, study topics, teaching, learning and assessment activities in rows and columns. Instructors can more easily spot misalignments between items on the tables. Though marks are assigned to learning outcomes, students’ final grades are still assessed criterion-referenced rather than norm-referenced. This mark-based assessment is transparent and familiar to students. The tabular approach may reduce the OBTL migration effort of the instructors and improve the learning experience of the students.
Adaptive Computer Assisted Assessment
Authors: Pérez-Marín Diana , Pascual-Nieto Ismael , Rodríguez Pilar
Published: May 2010

This chapter introduces the reader in the fields of automatic assessment of free-text students’ answers, student modeling and adaptive educational hypermedia. Traditionally, these fields have been studied separately missing the benefits of their synergic combination (i.e., free-text scoring systems which do not keep any student model, and adaptive educational hypermedia systems which do not use any natural language processing technique). In particular, a procedure to automatically generate students’ conceptual models from their answers to a free-text adaptive computer assisted assessment system will be fully described, together with its implementation in the will tools. Furthermore, the authors will explore how useful this new possibility of hybrid learning is both for teachers and students in two case studies carried out during the 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 academic years, in which traditional lessons were combined with the use of the Will Tools both in technical and non-technical domains.
Eight Educational Considerations for Hybrid Learning
Authors: Alberts Philip P. , Murray Linda A. , Stephenson Julia E.
Published: May 2010

This chapter sets out educational considerations (pedagogic principles) that can be used to guide the design of hybrid learning. Eight educational considerations have been determined from a review of education theories according to their relevance to teaching in higher education. The origin of each consideration is described and evidence from the literature of their application in e-learning is provided. The way in which this set of educational considerations has been used by the authors to enhance the design of hybrid learning at a UK higher educational institution is described. It is anticipated that those who need to design pedagogically-valid hybrid learning programmes will find the information provided here helpful. Furthermore, those engaged in helping others to combine the advantages of face-to-face teaching and e-learning will be assisted in developing a methodology for changing the approaches of teachers, thus achieving maximum impact on student learning.
Students Writing Their Own Lectures with a Wiki and the CSA
Authors: Ellis Cath , Folley Sue
Published: May 2010

This chapter examines why despite decades of research and overwhelming evidence questioning the pedagogical effectiveness of lecturing as a teaching and learning strategy, it remains the dominant pedagogical mode in most higher education institutions worldwide. The authors explore further why lectures are not the most appropriate teaching strategy in the current higher education climate for three main reasons: the way we now view ‘knowledge’; the information society in which we are currently immersed; and the diverse background and experience of today’s student population. The authors offer an alternative to the lecture which can achieve what a lecture aims to, but in a more student-centred way. Their alternative is informed by the contributing student approach, devised by Collis & Moonen (2001), whereby students collaboratively find, explore, share, and engage with the content which they would have otherwise received passively via a didactic lecture.
A Mixed Reality Approach to Hybrid Learning in Mixed Culture Environments
Authors: Callaghan Victor , Shen Liping , Gardner Michael , Shen Ruimin , Wang Minjuan
Published: May 2010

This chapter describes a conceptual framework that aims to augment existing eLearning systems with a 3D virtual classroom environment to provide geographically dispersed online learners with a sense of being together and part of a natural class. The virtual classroom model the authors present is based on a combination a ‘massively multi-user’ games technology system from Sun Microsystems Research Labs, a distance learning platform based at Shanghai Jiaotong University and a mixed reality environment developed at Essex University. Learning is, to some extent, a social activity as it involves relationships between people (between students, between students and teachers). Networked technology has a global reach bringing not just new opportunities but also complex multi-cultural and pedagogical issues. Thus, in this chapter the authors discuss both the technology and the socio-educational aspects of designing online Mixed Reality Hybrid Learning systems
Ramping up to Hybrid Teaching and Learning
Authors: Boora Raj , Church John , Madill Helen , Brown Wade , Chykerda Myles
Published: May 2010

Hybrid learning models attempt to create an environment that can harness the best parts of both face-to-face and online modes of content delivery. The creation of these environments can be achieved in a very straightforward manner. However, the challenge is to develop these environments so that they fit the needs of the students, the abilities of the instructors, and also the nature of the content, all of which are numerous and varied. Deciding what elements to put online and what elements to deliver face-to-face presents a significant challenge, as the number of tools available to instructional staff will increase significantly over the next decade. Once the means of delivery are understood, it is possible to take the idea of hybrid teaching and learning environments one step further by first making the most of online and face-to-face delivery separately and then using them together when the need arises.
Knowledge Management for Hybrid Learning
Authors: Sieber Stefanie , Henrich Andreas
Published: May 2010

The merging of knowledge management and hybrid learning has gained more and more attraction and has been put in the focus of interests lately, for the simple reason that both areas can benefit from each other. As a result, this chapter deals with knowledge management for hybrid learning. This chapter begins with a short introduction, followed by a brief clarification showing our understanding of hybrid learning. Afterwards, knowledge and associated attributes are defined precisely – definitions are derived and taxonomies for knowledge are described. This section closes with a first reflection on knowledge in the context of hybrid learning. Subsequently, the authors take a closer look at knowledge management by introducing different schools of thought and models for knowledge management. Opportunities to delve deeper into the subject individually are offered passim. The main part of the chapter provides a comprehensive view of knowledge management for hybrid learning. The described features range from general conclusions to theoretical aspects, exemplary projects, and finally practical aspects – previous deliberations are brought together, current insights concerning the research perspective are described and tools as well as techniques which foster knowledge management for hybrid learning are presented. Finally, a critical reflection as well as an outlook and some thoughts concerning future issues conclude this chapter.
The Polyphonic Model of Hybrid and Collaborative Learning
Authors: Trausan-Matu Stefan
Published: May 2010

This chapter presents a model for hybrid and collaborative learning based on an analogy with musical polyphony, starting from Bakhtin’s ideas of dialogism. The model considers different voices (participants) inter-animating and jointly constructing a coherent tune (a solution, in problem solving), enabling other voices to adopt differential positions and to identify dissonances (unsound approaches). This chapter introduces also software tools, which visualize the discussion threads in a chat and the influences that an utterance has on the subsequent ones. Such tools help both teachers and learners to evaluate and enhance the learning process. The model helps to understand how learners inter-animate when they participate to collaborative chats for problem solving or other learning activities, including Hybrid Learning.
Web X.0
Authors: Murugesan San
Published: May 2010

The Web has evolved from its humble beginnings merely as a publishing medium intended for a small group of scientists to a medium of interaction, participation, and collaboration. It has dramatically influenced almost every sphere of our activity and has created paradigm shifts. Encompassing new technologies, business strategies, and social trends, the Web continues to forge many new applications that we had never imagined before or were not previously feasible. It has created new paradigms in business, social interaction, governance, and education. In this chapter, we trace the Web’s continuing evolution and phenomenal strides, outline the features and characteristics of Web 2.0, 3.0, and X.0, and examine their prospects and potential. The ability to recognize new Web technologies for their potential in business, social and educational applications, and the ability to develop and deploy creative applications based on these technologies are the keys to continued success of the Web and our progress and well being.