bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
UbiWave
Authors: Wu Fan , Agu Emmanuel , Lindsay Clifford , Chen Chung-han
Published: May 2010

Advances in ubiquitous displays and wireless communications have fueled the emergence of exciting mobile graphics applications including 3D virtual product catalogs, 3D maps, security monitoring systems and mobile games. Current trends that use cameras to capture geometry, material re?ectance and other graphics elements mean that very high resolution inputs are accessible to render extremely photorealistic scenes. However, captured graphics content can be many gigabytes in size, and must be simpli?ed before they can be used on small mobile devices, which have limited resources, such as memory, screen size and battery energy. Scaling and converting graphics content to a suitable rendering format involves running several software tools, and selecting the best resolution for target mobile device is often done by trial and error, which all takes time. Wireless errors can also affect transmitted content and aggressive compression is needed for low-bandwidth wireless networks. Most rendering algorithms are currently optimized for visual realism and speed, but are not resource or energy ef?cient on a mobile device. This chapter focuses on the improvement of rendering performance by reducing the impacts of these problems with UbiWave, an end-to-end framework to enable real time mobile access to high resolution graphics using wavelets. The framework tackles the issues including simpli?cation, transmission, and resource ef?cient rendering of graphics content on mobile device based on wavelets by utilizing 1) a Perceptual Error Metric (PoI) for automatically computing the best resolution of graphics content for a given mobile display to eliminate guesswork and save resources, 2) Unequal Error Protection (UEP) to improve the resilience to wireless errors, 3) an Energy-ef?cient Adaptive Real-time Rendering (EARR) heuristic to balance energy consumption, rendering speed and image quality and 4) an Energy-ef?cient Streaming Technique. The results facilitate a new class of mobile graphics application which can gracefully adapt the lowest acceptable rendering resolution to the wireless network conditions and the availability of resources and battery energy on mobile device adaptively.
Interrupt Handling in Symbian and Linux Mobile Operating Systems
Authors: Ahmad Ashraf M.A. , Biltawi Mariam M.
Published: May 2010

Handling interrupts is at the heart of a real time operating systems, such operating systems are the Mobile OS. The most commonly used Mobile OS are the Symbian and RT-Linux operating systems. This paper will introduce the differences of interrupt handling in many different aspects to measure these differences effect on mobile applications performance and throughput. The major contributions to this chapter are first to introduce the interrupt handling mechanism in mobile system with through elaboration on the types of interrupt handling that a Mobile OS may use. Then a deep analysis for both interrupt handling mechanisms used by the Symbian and RT-Linux OS is presented. A comprehensive conclusion will be explained about the major differences in all aspects among both Symbian and RT Linux mobile OS.
Technologies and Systems for Web Content Adaptation
Authors: Hu Wen-Chen , Kaabouch Naima , Yang Hung-Jen , Hu Weihong
Published: May 2010

The world has witnessed the blossom of mobile commerce in the past few years. Traditional Web pages are mainly designed for desktop or notebook computers. They usually do not suit the devices well because the pages, especially the large files, cannot be properly, speedily displayed on the microbrowsers due to the limitations of mobile handheld devices: (i) small screen size, (ii) narrow network bandwidth, (iii) low memory capacity, and (iv) limited computing power and resources. Therefore, loading and visualizing large documents on handheld devices become an arduous task. Various methods are created for browsing the mobile Web efficiently and effectively. This chapter investigates some of the methods: (i) page segmentation, (ii) component ranking, and (iii) other ad hoc methods. Though each method employs a different strategy, their goals are the same: conveying the meaning of Web pages by using minimum space. The major problem of the current methods is that it is not easy to find the clear-cut components in a Web page. Other related issues such as mobile handheld devices and microbrowsers will also be discussed in this chapter.
Fast Mode Decision in H.264/AVC
Authors: Lambert Peter , Mys Stefaan , Škorupa Jozef , Slowack Jürgen , Van de Walle Rik , Yang Ming Yuan , Grecos Christos , Argiriou Vassilios
Published: May 2010

The latest video coding standard (Wiegand, 2003), H.264/AVC, uses variable block sizes ranging from 16x16 to 4x4 to perform motion estimation in inter-frame coding and a rich set of prediction patterns for intra-frame coding. Then a robust RDO (Rate Distortion Optimization) technique is employed to select the best coding mode and reference frame for each macroblock. As a result, H.264/AVC exhibits high coding efficiency compared to older video coding standards [2, 3] and shows significant future promise in the fields of video broadcasting and communication. However, high coding efficiency also carries high computational complexity. Fast mode decision is one of the key techniques to significantly reducing computational complexity for a similar RD (Rate Distortion) performance. This chapter provides an up-to-date critical survey of fast mode decision techniques for the H.264/AVC standard. The motivation for this chapter is twofold: Firstly to provide an up-to-data review of the existing techniques and secondly to offer some insights into the studies of fast mode decision techniques.
Changing The Rules
Authors: Koscianski André
Published: May 2010

The increasing availability of information and communication technology makes it possible to explore new concepts and strategies in teaching and learning processes. The reduction of cost and the amelioration of processing power of computers allow bringing to the classroom software of greater complexity. This way, the use of simple computer presentations is gradually replaced by hypermedia systems capable of combining different kinds of information. Interactive simulators represent a next step, allowing students to participate in an active process of experimentation. These tools make use of numeric models to represent the dynamics of systems with high accuracy. Video games can blend the numeric and media capabilities of computers with a presentation format that provides a pleasant experience and promotes a deep engagement in activities. These characteristics have a positive impact on learning results, explaining the interest on such software. The construction of educational games requires knowledge from very diverse fields, like pedagogy, cognitive psychology, computer graphics, simulation and software engineering. Each area of expertise has its own view from the issues involved; bringing together different professionals in a coherent manner can be a challenging task. This work describes tools to help organize the design and decisions during the implementation of an educational game. They facilitate the communication between project members, by documenting design options in different stages.
Communicability Era
Authors: Ficarra Francisco Vicente Cipolla , Nicol Emma , Ficarra Miguel Cipolla
Published: May 2010

In the current chapter are analyzed the main reasons for which it is necessary to count with a new profile in design, realization and assessment of the interactive systems. The whole of the observations and proposals is the result of theoretical research, experiences in projects of interactive multimedia systems in the public and private Spanish and Italian university context in the last two decades. Through all this time it has been seen how the lack of training among the professionals in the interactive systems, especially in some university environments, not only has increased the production costs but the detection of a low quality of design and communicability has discouraged the interaction of the novel users with these systems. One of the goals that we set ourselves is to determine the set of necessary knowledge and/or experiences that these professionals must possess to carry out satisfactorily the interactive systems of the present and the future, in the least possible production time, with reduced costs and a high final quality. Obviously, the key factor of these shortcomings lies in the university educational systems and in the organization of the contents in the study plans, leaving behind the business factor of university teaching. Therefore, we have structured the current work in the following way: study of the evolution of the multimedia systems, anchoring of the notions related to communication, determination of the main areas of knowledge of the future professional, analysis of the software quality, signalling of the business-oriented factors in the structuring of the university study plans, especially related to degrees, engineering titles and masters.
Smart Homes to Support Elderly People
Authors: D’Ulizia Arianna , Ferri Fernando , Grifoni Patrizia , Guzzo Tiziana
Published: May 2010

Today the biggest challenge of our aging society is to enable people with impairments to have a better quality of life maintaining their independence. The chapter explores how technology can support elderly and disabled people in their home. Firstly, a classification of Smart Home Systems in Safety systems, Environmental control systems, Energy-control-systems, Reminder systems, Medication Dispensing systems, Communication and Entertainment systems is presented. For each of these systems some examples of different technological solutions presented in the literature are described. Moreover, an analysis of social and economic impacts of the use of these technologies on the society is presented. Finally, some studies about the perception and acceptance of these technologies by user are given.
Localization and Monitoring of People With a Near-Field Imaging System
Authors: Linnavuo Matti , Rimminen Henry
Published: May 2010

The chapter describes the state of the art and potentialities of near-field imaging (NFI) technology, applications, and nursing tools in health care. First, principles of NFI are discussed. Various uses of NFI sensor data are presented. The data can be used for indoor tracking, automatic fall detection, activity monitoring, bed exit detection, passage control, vital functions monitoring, household automation and other applications. Special attention is given to the techniques and problems in localization, posture recognition, vital functions recording and additional functions for people identification. Examples of statistical analysis of person behavior are given. Three cases of realized applications of NFI technique are discussed.
Lessons from Evaluating Ubiquitous Applications in Support of Hospital Work
Authors: Tentori Monica , González Victor M. , Favela Jesus
Published: May 2010

The evaluation of ubiquitous computing (Ubicomp) applications presents a number of challenges ranging from the optimal recreation of the contextual conditions where technologies will be implemented, to the definition of tasks which often go well beyond the model of human-computer interaction that people are used to interact with. Many contexts, such as hospitals and healthcare which are frequently explored for the deployment of Ubicomp raise additional challenges as a result of the nature of the work where human life can be in risk, privacy of personal records is paramount, and labor is highly distributed across space and time. For the last six years the authors have been creating and pilot-testing numerous Ubicomp applications in support of hospital work and healthcare (Ubihealth). In this chapter, they discuss the lessons learned from evaluating these applications and organize them as a frame of techniques that assists researchers in selecting the proper method and type of evaluation to be conducted. Based on that frame the authors discuss a set of principles that designers must consider during evaluation. These principles include maintaining consistency of the activities and techniques used during the evaluation, give proper credit of individual benefits, promote replication of the environment, balance constraints and consider the level of pervasiveness and complexity.
TUM-AgeTech
Authors: Lueth Tim C. , D’Angelo Lorenzo T. , Czabke Axel
Published: May 2010

In this chapter, the program of the Technical University Munich regarding implementation of technologies for an aging society is introduced. Various departments from the faculties of both technology and medicine are working jointly to actualize a technological basis for the development of assistance devices. Industrialized countries such as Japan and Germany will be facing an extreme demographic shift over the next 15 years. More than half of the population will be over 50 years of age. Belief in technological progress – initiated by the innovations of computer and the Internet – harbors the risk that the time required for necessary technological advancements is being significantly underestimated. This chapter describes the motivation and the concept of hardware architecture for implementation of assistance devices and for integration of pre-existing (or concurrently developed) sensors and concepts.
Digital Libraries
Authors: Ashraf Dr.Tariq , Gulati Ms.Puja Anand
Published: May 2010

The chapter discusses the concept of digital libraries and their structures. It delves into their role in the virtual learning environment and examines the issue related to preservation and building of sustainable digital libraries. It argues that a sustainable digitization program, needs to be fully integrated into traditional collection development strategies. The assessment of what libraries have achieved so far in this direction can be discerned upon a close examination of key factors common to sustainable collection development, be it of analog, digitized, or born-digital materials. Key factors for achieving financial sustainability are described.
Digital Libraries and Scholarly Communication
Authors: Jindal S. C.
Published: May 2010

The chapter examines various components of scholarly communication in the context of digital technologies as being applied in libraries. It highlights the role of digital environment in research and its impact. Chapter provides both a historical and contemporary perspective of digital library movement and discusses issue s like sustainability and preservation. It argues that Research libraries have begun to take on the provision, organization and preservation of digital information with the same long-term commitment they have made for print materials
Facilitating Access to Indian Cultural Heritage
Authors: Gaur Ramesh C.
Published: May 2010

It is estimated that India possesses more than five million manuscripts on varied subjects lying scattered or fragmented in India and foreign collections. This invaluable and unique pool of knowledge is under threat. Recognizing the need to encompass and preserve this knowledge resource and to make these accessible to scholars and researchers, Kala Nidhi Division of Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) initiated a microfilming of manuscripts programme of private and public institutions in 1989. IGNCA has, so far, microfilmed over 250000 manuscripts in 20,600 microfilm rolls, out of that 14,400 rolls have been digitized. National Mission for Manuscripts (NMM) established in February 2003 seeks to unearth and preserve the vast manuscript wealth of India. The digitization of over 25000 manuscripts under NMM, IGNCA and also under project mode by Cultural Informatics Laboratory (CIL), IGNCA makes largest repository of copies of manuscripts at IGNCA. Besides, IGNCA is also having a unique collection of 2500 rare books, about 1,0,5000 slides, 2000 paintings, 3000 photographs, more than 3000 hours of video recordings, art objects, 10 personal collections of eminent scholars such as Dr. Suniti Kumar Chatterjee, Prof. Hazari Prasad Dwivedi, Dr. Kapila Vatsyayan and Prof. Maheswar Neog, photo documentation work on Rock Art, and various museums in India etc. Many of these collections such as rare books, photographs etc are well covered and some are not covered under copyright laws. However, there are issues such as ownership rights, permission rights and access rights etc, which do not allow open access to these collections. As per the existing arrangements, consultation to all collections at IGNCA is allowed to all, 25% copies of the material are also allowed on cost basis. However, to get a copy of the material, user need to approach the concerned library (from where the copies have been obtained) to seek permission. This chapter attempts to describe factors considered as hindrance to providing access to Indian cultural heritage material. Lack of proper policy guidelines especially on copyright issues and intellectual property rights concerning both cultural heritage materials in original as well as in digital form are an obstacle. Open access initiatives worldwide are advocating access to even current information. Cultural heritage belongs to the humanity worldwide, therefore, access should be given to all. These issues, which may not be solved at individual level or institutional level, require debate, deliberations and formulation of policy framework at the highest level.
Ubiquitous Travel Environments and Travel Control Strategies
Authors: Chorus Caspar , Timmermans Harry
Published: May 2010

In the near future, ubiquitous travel environments in which travelers have direct access to information and communication technology will become widely available. In principle, it will allow various organizations and companies not only to provide real-time dynamic information but also to induce travelers to behave in ways that contribute with some underlying personal or system-wide objective (e.g. avoid risk, environmental concerns etc). The latter application assumes a sufficiently valid and reliable model of traveler response to information provision or recommendation. As these two fields have mainly developed in isolation, the purpose of this chapter is to provide an overview of the state of the art of these two fields.
QoS and Energy Saving Routing and MAC Mechanisms for Wireless Networks
Authors: Gkamas Vasileios , Kokkinos Panagiotis , Varvarigos Emmanouel
Published: May 2010

This chapter describes routing and medium access control (MAC) mechanisms for providing Quality of Service (QoS) together with energy savings in wireless ad hoc networks. The proposed mechanisms operate in a cross-layer optimization logic, in the direction of either minimizing total energy consumption in the network or maximizing network lifetime, while at the same time providing QoS to the end users. The authors present a multi-cost routing approach, where various cost parameters and optimization functions are defined and used for selecting the paths to be followed. Also, routing and MAC protocols are investigated for the case where nodes have variable transmission power capabilities. Finally, the performance of the proposed protocols is evaluated and compared to that of other well-known routing and MAC protocols.
Efficient Power Allocation in E-MBMS Enabled 4G Networks
Authors: Alexiou Antonios , Bouras Christos , Kokkinos Vasileios
Published: May 2010

The plethora of mobile multimedia services that are expected to face high penetration, poses the need for the deployment of a resource economic scheme in Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks. To this direction, the Evolved - Multimedia Broadcast / Multicast Service (E-MBMS) is envisaged to play an instrumental role for LTE proliferation and set the basis for a successful 4th Generation (4G) standardization process. One of the most critical aspects of E-MBMS performance is the selection of the most efficient radio bearer, in terms of power consumption. This chapter presents the prevailing radio bearer selection mechanisms and examines their performance in terms of power consumption. Furthermore, it discusses problems regarding the high power requirements for the realization of E-MBMS and evaluates the proposed techniques/solutions. Finally, this chapter presents a novel mechanism for efficient power control during E-MBMS transmissions that conforms to LTE requirements for simultaneous provision of multiple multimedia sessions.
Discursive Practice and the Nigerian Identity in Personal Emails
Authors: Chiluwa Innocent
Published: May 2010

As communication by the electronic mail spreads and becomes increasingly common, more and more people are taking the advantage of its flexibility and simplicity for communicating social identity and cultural matters. This chapter, focuses on how Nigerian users of the electronic mails, apply the medium for expressing their identity through discursive means. Data comprises 150 personal emails written and sent between 2002 and 2009 in Lagos and Ota regions of Nigeria by individual email writers, comprising youths and adults from a university community and the Nigerian civil service. Applying socio-linguistic approach and computer-mediated discourse analysis, the study shows that the most common discursive means of expressing the Nigerian identity are greeting forms and modes of address; religious discursive practices and assertions of native personal names. The data also show evidences of Nigerian English in the email messages.
Analyzing the Discourse of E-mail Communication
Authors: Kirkgöz Yasemin
Published: May 2010

Communication by electronic mail has become a widely used medium within various organizations. Yet, the possible emergence of various discourse features is not widely discussed in the literature. This chapter investigates the discourse features of real examples of e-mail messages drawn from an international commercial source in Turkey from several aspects; functional categories, stylistic features and register. Analysis of functional categories suggests that messages are used to disseminate information for a variety of work-related purposes to inform, to request, to direct, and to praise. Stylistic analysis reveals that messages contain various features analogous to spoken discourse. At the level of register, messages are found to display various levels of formality. From the analysis, those features commonly used in e-mail messages are illustrated with reference to sample data. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the findings and suggestions that the future research might take.
Impoliteness as a Model for Virtual Speech Community Building
Authors: LeBlanc Tracy R.
Published: May 2010

The aim of this chapter is to account for linguistic strategies of breaking into a virtual speech community, particularly the community the author refers to here as the Pen community. Virtual communication necessitates accommodations not otherwise engaged in face-to-face conversation, and the Pen community is both virtual and leet. Being leet necessitates interactional behavior consisting of techie knowledge, leet speak fluency, and a shared interest in the venture of building and maintaining a leet identity online. The goal for this ongoing research is to understand virtual conversational behavior and its role in leet speech community building. With a brief discussion of the literature on sociolinguistic perspectives as well as pragmatic theories pertaining to conversational behavior (Watts, Ide, & Ehlich 2005; Culpeper, 1996), exchanges from three threads of discourse from the Pen virtual speech community are accounted for. The notable features of discourse are the strategies employed by participants in order to create, build, foster a sense of place and identity, and strengthen said communities. The Pen community’s discourse permits examples of strategies undertaken for this collective effort through attempting to enter into the community and become a member, topic shifting behavior, and flaming. The author operationalizes each of these examples via Culpeper’s Impoliteness model. Included here are a brief review of relevant literature, a discourse analytical approach to the interactional behavior found in The Pen community, and conclusions about how a leet speech community is built virtually. The Impoliteness model serves well here as a starting point for further research on virtual speech community building.
New Directions in Understanding Cyberbullying
Authors: Ramirez Artemio , Palazzolo Kellie E. , Savage Matthew W.
Published: May 2010

This chapter focuses cyberbullying, or bullying messages that are transmitted via electronic technologies. This chapter synthesizes research focusing on predictors and outcomes associated with cyberbullying into an overall conceptual message-based model that highlights both the role of messages as products of various influences, and the messages themselves as influences upon numerous affective, behavioral, and cognitive outcomes. The chapter provides (1) an initial review of how cyberbullying and related behaviors are termed and defined; (2) an overview of message factors that predict cyberbullying messages and tactics, and (3) a discussion of the outcomes of cyberbullying. The chapter concludes by offering potential solutions and recommendations to problems associated with cyberbullying.
Contesting ‘Sustainability' in Infrastructure Planning
Authors: Shibata Kuniko , Sanders Paul
Published: May 2010

Sustainable infrastructure demands that declared principles of sustainability are enacted in the processes of its implementation. However, a problem arises if the concept of sustainability is not thoroughly scrutinized in the planning process. The public interest could be undermined when the rhetoric of sustainability is used to substantiate a proposed plan. This chapter analyses the manifestation of sustainable development in the Boggo Road Busway Plan in Brisbane, Australia against the sustainability agenda set in the South East Queensland Regional and Transport Plans. Although the construction of the Busway was intended to improve public transport access in the region, its implementation drew significant environmental concerns. Local community groups contested the ‘sustainability’ concept deployed in Queensland’s infrastructure planning. Their challenges resulted in important concessions in the delivery of the Busway plan. This case demonstrates that principles of sustainable infrastructure should be measurable and that local communities be better informed in order to fulfill the public interest in regional planning.
The Big Brother
Authors: Pathak Virendra , Webb Robert
Published: May 2010

Monitoring urban growth and land-use change is an important issue for sustainable infrastructure planning. Rapid urban development, sprawl and increasing population pressure, particularly in developing nations, are resulting in deterioration of infrastructure facilities; loss of productive agricultural lands and open spaces; pollution; health hazards; and micro-climatic changes. In addressing these issues effectively, it is crucial to collect up-to-date and accurate data and monitor the changing environment at regular intervals. This chapter discusses the role of geospatial technologies for mapping and monitoring the changing environment and urban structure, where such technologies are highly useful for sustainable infrastructure planning and provision.
The Key to Successful Implementation
Authors: Trigunarsyah Bambang , Skitmore Martin
Published: May 2010

Delivering infrastructure projects involves many stakeholders. Their responsibilities and authorities vary over the course of the project lifecycle - from establishing the project parameters and performance requirements, to operating and maintaining the completed infrastructure. To ensure the successful delivery of infrastructure projects, it is important for the project management team to identify and manage the stakeholders and their requirements. This chapter discusses the management of stakeholders in delivering infrastructure projects, from their conception to completion. It includes managing the stakeholders for project selection and involving them to improve project constructability, operability and maintainability
Integrating Medicinal Learning Objects with Daily Duties
Authors: Puustjärvi Juha , Puustjärvi Leena
Published: May 2010

Lifelong learning is a term that is widely used in a variety of context. The term recognizes that learning is not confined to the classroom, but takes place throughout life and in a range of situations. The authors of this chapter have analyzed lifelong learning in healthcare sector, where the fast development of drug treatment requires special knowledge that needs to be renewed frequently. This chapter analyzes various ways of ensuring that the employers of medicinal organizations are aware of the relevant medicinal instructions such as medicinal learning objects and guides. In particular, the authors consider three complementary ways for the dissemination of medicinal instructions: (i) by providing keyword-based searching, (ii) by providing ontology-based searching, and (iii) by automatic integration of medicinal instructions to employers´ day-to-day work tasks. The integration can be based either on the similarity of the metadata descriptions of the tasks and learning objects, or on the ontology which specifies the relationships of the tasks and instructions. The authors’ argument is that integration is most preferable as medicinal instructions are provided just-in-time and tailored to their specific needs. In addition, a notable gain of ontology based integration is that employees will be aware of the existence of the all relevant instructions.
Personal Health Information in the Age of Ubiquitous Health
Authors: Wiljer David , Urowitz Sara , Jones Erin
Published: May 2010

We have long passed through the information age into an information perfusion in health care, and new strategies for managing it are emerging. The ubiquity of health information has transformed the clinician, the public, and the patient, forever changing the landscape of health care in the shift toward consumerism and the notion of the empowered patient. This chapter explores essential issues of ubiquitous health information (UHI), beginning with its origins in the explosion of health information and the advent of new technologies. Challenges of UHI include privacy issues, change management, and the lack of basic infrastructure. However, benefits for patients include improvements in access to information, communication with providers, prescription renewals, medication tracking, and the ability to self-manage their conditions. Benefits at the organizational level include increased patient satisfaction, continuity of care, changes in costing models and improved standardization of care as organizations streamline processes to address this change in clinical practice.
Content-Based Image Retrieval for Digital Mammography
Authors: El Naqa Issam , Wei Liyang , Yang Yongyi
Published: May 2010

Content-based image retrieval (CBIR) is an emerging field for computerized detection and diagnosis of breast cancer lesions. The underlying principle of CBIR in mammography is to query mammogram databases for diagnostic information based on the content or extracted features of the images instead of their textual annotation. Potentially, this would provide the radiologist with archived examples that are similar to his/her current case. This chapter reviews recent advances in CBIR technology, discuss its expanding role in medical imaging and its particular application to mammography, provides working examples based on the authors’ experience for developing machine-learning methods for CBIR in mammography, and highlights the potential opportunities in this field for computer vision research and clinical decision-making.
Feature Evaluation and Classification for Content-Based Medical Image Retrieval System
Authors: Dimitrovski Ivica , Loskovska Suzana
Published: May 2010

Image retrieval in general and content-based image retrieval (CBIR) in particular are well-known research fields in information management. A large number of methods have been proposed and investigated in both areas but satisfactory general solution has not still been developed. The aim of this research is to develop highly flexible web-based system for storage, organization and retrieval of medical images. The system besides text and metadata retrieval also supports querying by image to find visually similar images to presented query. Several algorithms and techniques were implemented in the system to support content-based retrieval. For efficient and reliable search machine learning techniques were included in the system.
Virtual Reality as an Experiential Tool
Authors: Gorini Alessandra , Gaggioli Andrea , Riva Giuseppe
Published: May 2010

The present chapter illustrates the past and the future of different virtual reality applications for the treatment of psychological disorders. After a brief technical description of the virtual reality systems, the rationale of using virtual reality to treat different psychological disorders, as well as the advantages that the online virtual worlds offer to the promising field of the virtual therapy will be discussed. However, challenges related to the potential risks of the use of virtual worlds and questions regarding privacy and personal safety will also be discussed. Finally, the chapter introduces the concept of “Interreality”, a personalized immersive form of e-therapy whose main novelty is a hybrid, closed-loop empowering experience bridging physical and virtual worlds. The main feature of interreality is a twofold link between the virtual and the real world: (a) behavior in the physical world influences the experience in the virtual one; (b) behavior in the virtual world influences the experience in the real one. This is achieved through: (1) 3D shared virtual worlds; (2) bio and activity sensors (that connect the real to the virtual world); (3) mobile internet appliances (that connect the virtual to the real world).
Interactive Hypermedia-Based Learning Environment
Authors: Eilam Billie , Gurtler Ofir
Published: May 2010

Seven students learning art in the 12th grade, experienced for the first time the processes involved in the interpretation of a dynamic performance art in a hypermedia-based learning environment, followed by learning a hypermedia–based curriculum unit concerning this complex skill, and concluding by transferring this acquired knowledge for interpreting a new, different artwork. Cognitive aspects of students’ profiles of understanding and models of enactment are described. Interpretation of performance art is highly complex, but is important in current era of visual culture. Generally, this learning environment enabled most students to overcome some of the difficulties involved in this dynamic visualization, but presented them with other difficulties. A careful considerations of these issues as related to the design, by curriculum developers and teachers may yield a successful students’ performance.
Explaining the Educational Power of Games
Authors: Lainema Timo , Saarinen Eeli
Published: May 2010

This chapter introduces two views of learning relevant for game-based learning: experiential learning theory and the constructivist view on learning. The authors will first discuss, how these views explain learning from a perspective that is relevant for game-based learning. They will also evaluate, how these views on learning relate to assessment of learning through gaming. Last, they will concretize the diversity of the potential learning outcomes of gaming: how, for example, the learner’s previous knowledge, personality, the team members affect the learning experience and outcome. According to constructivism, learning is a constructive process in which the learner is building an internal representation of knowledge. This is something to which game-based education clearly adds value to.
Designing Serious Games for People with Dual Diagnosis
Authors: Brown David J. , Standen Penny , Evett Lindsay , Battersby Steven , Shopland Nick
Published: May 2010

This chapter is concerned with the potential of serious games as effective and engaging learning resources for people with learning and sensory disabilities. This is considered, followed by detailing of a suitable design methodology and its application, description of a range of types of games that have been successfully developed for this target group, and an explication of accessibility guidelines. Future development in this area is discussed, and it is concluded that there is great potential in the wide range of possible areas of research into, and development of, serious games for supporting people with learning and sensory disabilities, which would contribute greatly to their inclusion in society.
An Analysis of Quality of Service Architectures
Authors: Marques Eduardo M. D. , de Brito Lina M. P. L. , Sampaio Paulo N. M. , Rodríguez Peralta Laura M.
Published: May 2010

During the last years Internet evolution demanded for new and richer applications. To fulfill the novel and more complex application requirements, new solutions in many domains were required. One of these domains is the network support, assuring, into some extend, a specific or predictable treatment to traffic; therefore, in this chapter, we present a broad view of the main efforts available on the literature in order to provide Quality of Service (QoS) in both wired networks and wireless sensor networks (WSNs). For this purpose, the authors present: (1) the more relevant QoS architectures and technologies along with some of its recent improvements; (2) the different perspectives that combine some of those architectures and technologies into more complex solutions, in order to achieve stronger QoS and/or performance; (3) the most relevant QoS issues in WSNs environments; and (4) through the comparison of the several solutions, they list the advantages and limitations and reveal some relations among the existing QoS solutions.
Traffic Controller for Handling Service Quality in Multimedia Network
Authors: Ramachandra Manjunath , Jain Vikas
Published: May 2010

The present day Internet traffic largely caters for the multimedia traffic throwing open new and unthinkable applications such as tele-surgery. The complexity of data transactions increases with a demand for in time and real time data transfers, demanding the limited resources of the network beyond their capabilities. It requires a prioritization of data transfers, controlled dumping of data over the network etc. To make the matter worse, the data from different origin combine together imparting long lasting detrimental features such as self similarity and long range dependency in to the traffic. The multimedia data fortunately is associated with redundancies that may be removed through efficient compression techniques. There exists a provision to control the compression or bitrates based on the availability of resources in the network. The traffic controller or shaper has to optimize the quality of the transferred multimedia data depending up on the state of the network. In this chapter, a novel traffic shaper is introduced considering the adverse properties of the network and counteract with the same.
Multiple Optimization of Network Carrier and Traffic Flow Goals Using a Heuristic Routing Decision System
Authors: Goodridge Wayne S. , Sivakumar Shyamala C , Robertson William , Phillips William J.
Published: May 2010

This chapter presents a multiple constraint optimization algorithm called routing decision system (RDS) that uses the concept of preference functions to address the problem of selecting paths in core networks that satisfy traffic-oriented QoS requirements while simultaneously satisfying network resource-oriented performance goals. The original contribution lies in the use of strong scales employed for constructing a multiple criteria preference function in an affine space. The use of preference functions makes it possible for paths that match both traffic-oriented and resource-oriented goals to be selected by the algorithm. The RDS algorithm is used in conjunction with a heuristic path finding algorithm called Constraint Path Heuristic (CP-H) algorithm which is a novel approach to finding a set of constraint paths between source and destination nodes in a network. The CP-H algorithm finds multiple paths for each metric and then passes all the paths to the RDS algorithm. Simulation results showed that the CP-H/RDS algorithm has a success rate of between 93 and 96% when used in Waxman graph topologies, and is shown to be significantly better than other heuristic based algorithms under strict constraints. In addition, it is shown that the associated execution time of the CP-H/RDS algorithm is slightly higher than other heuristic based algorithms but good enough for use in an online traffic engineering (TE) application. Simulations to assess the performance of CP-H/RDS algorithm in a TE environment show that the algorithms has lower call block rates than other TE algorithms. It is also shown that the CP-H/RDS has a 96% probability of providing at least two distinct feasible backup paths in addition to the main QoS path. A framework for implementing the CP-H/RDS as a routing server is proposed. The routing decision system server (RDSS) framework is novel in that the complexity introduced by QoS awareness remains outside the network.
QoS Routing and Management in Backbone Networks
Authors: Bertrand Gilles , Lahoud Samer , Molnár Miklós , Texier Géraldine
Published: May 2010

The Internet relies on the cooperation of competitive network operators that typically administrate their networks unilaterally and autonomously to interconnect people and companies in different locations. Recent work calls for extending this organizational model with augmented interactions between network operators, to provide a higher level of endtoend quality of service and to ease certain aspects of traffic management in backbone networks. This chapter presents the emerging collaborative network management models as well as related technologies. In particular, it describes recent techniques for interdomain traffic engineering and for qualityofservice aware routing. The detailed methods are of great interest for network operators and permit the development of new types of commercial relationships between them, ranging from simple interconnection agreements to collaborative traffic management and automated provisioning.
Providing Quality of Service to Computer Networks through Traffic Modeling
Authors: Vieira Flávio Henrique Teles , Bozinis George E.
Published: May 2010

In this chapter, the authors examine two important network traffic issues: estimation of effective bandwidth and data loss probability in communication networks. They focus on estimation approaches based on network traffic modeling. Initially, they review some concepts related to network traffic modeling such as monofractal and multifractal properties. Further, they address the issue of estimating the effective bandwidth for network traffic flows. Besides effective bandwidth, the knowledge of the loss probability explicitly allows us to guarantee some QoS parameters required by the traffic flows, for example, by discarding flows with intolerable byte loss rate. In this sense, the authors present an overview of loss probability estimation methods including an approach that considers multifractal characteristics of network traffic. That is, given the model parameters, the data loss probability for network traffic can be directly computed. They conclude that both the multifractal based effective bandwidth and loss probability estimation methods can be powerful tools for really providing QoS to network flows.
Traffic and Network Performance Monitoring for Effective Quality of Service and Network Management
Authors: Papantoni-Kazakos P. , Burrell A. T.
Published: May 2010

The authors consider distributed mobile networks carrying time-varying heterogeneous traffics. To deal effectively with the mobile and time-varying distributed environment, the deployment of traffic and network performance monitoring techniques is necessary for the identification of traffic changes, network failures, and also for the facilitation of protocol adaptations and topological modifications. Concurrently, the heterogeneous traffic environment necessitates the deployment of hybrid information transport techniques. This chapter discusses the design, analysis, and evaluation of distributed and dynamic techniques which manage the traffic and monitor the network performance effectively, while capturing the dynamics inherent in the mobile heterogeneous environments. Specifically, the design of a monitoring sub-network is sought, where the arising research tasks include: • the adoption of a core sequential algorithm which monitors both the variations in the rates of the information data flows and the dynamics of the network performance. • The identification of the specific operational and performance characteristics of the monitoring systems, when the core algorithm is implemented in a distributed environment; for a given network topology, it is important to identify the minimum size monitoring sub-network for complete “visibility” of data flows and network functions. • Dynamically changing monitoring sub-network architectures, as functions of time-varying network topologies. • The deployment of Artificial Intelligence learning techniques, in the presence of dynamically changing network and information flow environments, to appropriately adapt crucial operational parameters of the data monitoring algorithms.
Avatars
Authors: Adrian Angela
Published: May 2010

Virtual worlds may be the future of e-commerce. The game designers who fashioned these flourishing virtual worlds have invented a much more appealing way to use the internet: through an avatar. This usage of the term was coined in 1985 by Chip Morningstar, a user of the first avatar environment created by LucasFilm called Habitat. Habitat lacked many of the features we have in today’s games such as quests and puzzles. It was more similar to a social MUD in which the interactivity between avatars was the ultimate goal. According to Encarta: “Avatar [Sanskrit]: 1. incarnation of Hindu deity: an incarnation of a Hindu deity in human or animal form, especially one of the incarnations of Vishnu such as Rama and Krishna. 2. embodiment of something: somebody who embodies, personifies, or is the manifestation of an idea or concept. 3. image of person in virtual reality: a movable three-dimensional image that can be used to represent somebody in cyberspace, for example, an Internet user.” Unlike previous video game alter-egos, these avatars can be completely customized and are designed mainly for social interaction (Lastowka and Hunter, 2004). The average player dedicates hundreds of hours (and hundreds of dollars, in some cases). To cultivate his avatar. A survey suggested that approximately 20 percent of Norrath’s citizens deem it their place of residence; they just commute to Earth and back. To a large and growing number of people, virtual worlds are an important source of material and emotional well-being. (Yee). Ordinary people, who are bored and frustrated by regular web commerce, participate vigorously and passionately in avatar-based on-line markets.
Philosophy, Personality and Property
Authors: Adrian Angela
Published: May 2010

What is a body, a matter of law? (Rao, 2007; Scott, 1981). Where is the body? Is it integral or severable from the legal person? Is it a commodity? Have our bodies, our selves, and our labour become commodities with a market exchange value? (Radin, 1996). The bioscientific conversion of the body into information has become labelled postmodern. Jean Baudrillard described this postmodernity as ‘hyperreality’. (Poster, 1999). This means that only the viewer only acknowledges the real in its image – reality, as the hyperreal, is “always already reproduced”. (Id.). The process of conversion of the body, the human organism, into genetic information is just such a reproduction. Just as the process of conversion of the personality into reputational information is also such a reproduction. This means that the body need no longer exist only as a corporeal reality, but also as the ‘mirroring’ body, quite literally ‘a body of information.’ (Halewood, 2008)