bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Legal Responses to the Commodification of Personal Data in the Era of Big Data
Authors: Douilhet Emile , Karanasiou Argyro P.
Published: June 2016

Big Data is a relatively recent phenomenon, but has already shown its potential to drastically alter the relationship between businesses, individuals, and governments. Many organisations now control vast amounts of raw data, and those industry players with the resources to mine that data to create new information have a significant advantage in the big data market. The aim of this chapter is to identify the legal grounds for the ownership of big data: who legally owns the petabytes and exabytes of information created daily? Does this belong to the users, the data analysts, or to the data brokers and various infomediaries? The chapter presents a succinct overview of the legal ownership of big data by examining the key players in control of the information at each stage of processing of big data. It then moves on to describe the current legislative framework with regard to data protection and concludes in additional techno-legal solutions offered to complement the law of big data in this respect.
Toward Broader Definitions of “Video Games”
Authors: Jensen Lucas John , Barreto Daisyane , Valentine Keri Duncan
Published: June 2016

As video games grow in popularity, ambition, scope, and technological prowess, they also mature as an art form, shedding old definitions tethered to video games as simple, competitive exercises. Greater technological capabilities, in addition to years of experimentation and maturation, have expanded the ability of games to tell different kinds of stories, offering branching paths. The question of “what makes a game a game?” looms larger than ever in this era of video game storytelling. As plots and characters grow, branch, and develop, so, too, do the boundaries of what a game actually is. In traditional definitions of gaming, a set of rules and a victory condition were essential elements to a game. As game narratives and game mechanics grow in increasingly complex and experimental directions, new player goals have emerged. Now, gamers socialize, customize, nurture, kill, build, destroy, break, glitch, and explore as much as they work to win and accrue points. This chapter surveys the current landscape of video games, highlighting examples and trends that challenge more traditional notions and definitions of what it means to be a “video game.” The broader definition presented here takes into account play, narrative, digital environments, and more, acknowledging the expanse of the video game experience.
Gaming before E-Sports
Authors: Lindsey Marley-Vincent
Published: June 2016

Discussions of competitive gaming often begin and end with the development of professional E-Sports. However, competitive gaming has a history that stretches back to the first days of networked play with first generation games like Doom, Warcraft II and Multi-User Dungeons (Henceforth MUDs). Within these games, digital communities became a prominent means of discourse and discussion, heavily reliant on gender as a habit of thought to describe inequality and disparities between players. Using an archive of Warcraft II histories, and forum threads for the game, this chapter describes a social history of this digital community with specific emphasis on the ways that gender was used.
Affordances and Constraints of Analog Games for Ethics Education
Authors: Greenhalgh Spencer P.
Published: June 2016

Today's students face a wide range of complex moral dilemmas, and games have the potential to represent these dilemmas, thereby supporting formal ethics education. The potential of digital games to contribute in this way is being increasingly recognized, but the author argues that those interested in the convergence of games, ethics, and education should more fully consider analog games (i.e., games without a digital component). This argument draws from a qualitative study that focused on the use of an analog roleplaying game in an undergraduate activity that explored ethical issues related to politics, society, and culture. The results of this study are examined through an educational technology lens, which suggests that games (like other educational resources) afford and constrain learning and teaching in certain ways. These results demonstrate that this game afforded and constrained ethics education in both ways similar to digital games and ways unique to analog games.
Implementing a Game-Based Instructional Design Strategy in the Eighth Grade Science Classroom
Authors: Dowling Angela , Ahern Terence C.
Published: June 2016

This chapter examines the effects of a game-like environment on instructional activity design and learning outcomes in a middle school general science class. The authors investigated if science content can be designed and successfully delivered instructionally using a game-like learning environment. The authors also wanted to investigate if by utilizing a game-design method could class and student engagement be increased. The results indicated that the instructional design of the unit using a game-like environment was successful and students exhibited learning. The authors also address the challenges inherent in utilizing this instructional strategy.
Jamming Econo
Authors: Valentine Keri Duncan , Jensen Lucas John
Published: June 2016

By their nature, video games create perspectival relationships between the game space, with its mechanics, characters, etc. and their players. Perspectival mechanics in games like Monument Valley and Fez require one to simultaneously transform the environment, the objects in the environment, and one's egocentric reference frames, illustrating the complex nature intrinsic to video game spaces. The authors seek to investigate the ways perspectival mechanics in video games are both created and experienced using postphenomenological inquiry. This investigation is situated within the indie genre of games in particular, a context where these mechanics are intentionally being explored. In addition, this chapter draws parallels between indie games and indie music, contexts where boundary pushing is the norm. In addition to explicating the phenomenon of perspectival shifts in indie games, the authors review research related to spatial thinking, conjecturing affordances of indie games as geometric gifts, possibly well positioned to support spatial thinking.
Games People Play
Authors: Baldwin Sandy , Opoku-Agyemang Kwabena , Roy Dibyadyuti
Published: June 2016

The study of various choices made while producing and playing games allows little opportunity for interrogating video games as a transcultural convergence of multiple subjectivities and institutions. This chapter speaks to this topic by presenting the Computer Games Across Cultures (CGAC) project. CGAC involved humanities researchers from West Virginia University (USA), Bangor University (Wales), and Jawaharlal Nehru University (India) who over a two-year period sought to understand creative and cultural aspects of gaming. CGAC's researchers employed both qualitative and quantitative methodologies to bridge the gap between the academic explorations of gaming in tandem with industry-specific practices within such spaces. This chapter provides an overview of the resultant work through its analysis of a cross-section of games. Examining both Western mainstream games and lesser known games from places like India and Ghana helped interrogate representational politics in videogames and provide a broader view of the relationship between gaming and game making, in a socio-cultural context.
Building the Future of Education
Authors: Yiannouka Stavros Nicolaou
Published: June 2016

The chapter will begin with a discussion of the current array of failings in the education systems of both developed, and developing countries, and will continue with an analysis of the concept of the iron triangle. Within that context, suggested goals of education, as well as an agenda as to how these might be attained will be presented. At the end, discussion of i2Flex (Avgerinou, Gialamas, & Tsoukia, 2014) as an educational innovation will unfold with the view to addressing how the earlier mentioned educational issues could be solved via its implementation.
The Flipped K-12 Classroom
Authors: Dennen Vanessa P. , Spector Jonathan Michael
Published: June 2016

New technologies are changing how best to support and facilitate learning in primary and secondary education. Many of these new technologies are available through the Internet, which is an important resource for learning and instruction at all levels and in nearly all contexts. Among the changes that are occurring is the possibility of integrating Internet resources into curricula, which are often linked to mandated standards in schools in the USA and other countries. Among the many possibilities of leveraging these classrooms is the concept of flipping the classroom so that primary presentations of content take place outside the classroom, with classroom activities focused on practice, interaction and feedback. To make a flipped classroom successful requires training teachers about technology integration, providing ongoing professional development, and developing supportive school and home environments with strong educational leadership. The focus of this chapter is on the needs and requirements involved in making flipped classrooms successful learning experiences for students.
Meeting the Professional Development Needs of Special Educators in 21st Century Classrooms
Authors: Hardman Elizabeth
Published: June 2016

This chapter describes the challenges personnel preparation programs meet when preparing pre-service special educators for service in today's technology rich classrooms. The author used action research methodology to explore the feasibility of developing a virtual Professional Learning Community (PLC) for the purpose of building a collaborative culture of learning in special education and providing pre-service and novice special educators access to networks of support. A wiki and Ning provided the basic infrastructure for the virtual PLC and the data collected from the websites were analyzed using the eight essential characteristics of PLC development. The results showed that the PLC membership participated in community work primarily as observers only, relying almost entirely on the teacher educator to direct and manage all facets of community work. The implications of the research are discussed with respect to how personnel preparation programs prepare teachers for service in in 21st Century classrooms.
The Teacher as Information Designer
Authors: Pettersson Rune , Avgerinou Maria D.
Published: June 2016

It is not possible to develop firm design rules advising teachers and designers on exactly how to best design entire courses, course activities, and different kinds of instruction sets and experiences. However, based on existing research from various disciplines (Cognitive Psychology, Information Design, Instructional Design, Multimedia Design) it is possible to formulate principles and develop guidelines and recommendations for the design of effective and efficient courses, course activities and instruction sets that facilitate, enhance and extend good teaching, and are also highly conducive to student learning. In this chapter, we focus on teachers in their role as information designers in print, and digital environments. With the 21st Century classroom in mind, guidelines based on information, and multimedia research design assist the teacher-designer to confidently blend content, modalities, and media, and design information and instruction sets that are well suited for the intended receivers thus optimizing their potential for learning.
Learner Assessment in Blended and Online Settings
Authors: Persichitte Kay A. , Young Suzanne , Dousay Tonia A.
Published: June 2016

In this chapter, the authors distinguish between blended and online learning settings, discuss a variety of types of learner assessment, describe contemporary trends, challenges, and recommendations for the effective assessment of learning in blended and online courses, and offer several recommendations for future research. The content targets teachers, instructional designers, administrators, and program managers of K-12 blended and online learning settings. Suggestions are offered for using web-based communication tools for feedback and assessment in blended settings. The authors conclude with a discussion of implementation topics associated with assessment in these learning environments that deserve additional attention and consideration.
Principals' Corner
Authors: Augoustatos MaryAnn , Makropoulos Catherine
Published: June 2016

This chapter presents and discusses the fundamentals of the i2Flex teaching methodology from the perspective of the elementary and middle school principals. First, the Elementary School Principal (Ms. Makropoulos) will present how she has set the groundwork for students and faculty to embrace this new paradigm shift in the teaching and learning at American Community Schools (ACS) Athens. Then, the Middle School Principal (Ms. Augoustatos) presents and discusses the two-year implementation process of the i2Flex methodology of instruction.
Setting the Stage for i2Flex
Authors: Kynigou Penny , Sarantes Helen
Published: June 2016

This chapter is about setting the stage for i2Flex with reference to implementation in the elementary school. The fifth grade teacher and the technology specialist discuss and share specific examples of their practice supporting young learners with the foundational skills that they will need in order to use the i2Flex program successfully in the middle and high schools.
The i2Flex Instructional Methodology Implemented in Middle School Classes for Young EFL and Foreign Language Learners
Authors: Grigoropoulos Jenny Eugenia , Arnold Heike
Published: June 2016

Teachers engaging in the i2Flex teaching methodology employ constructivism-based media in order to update their practices according to the students' changing needs with reference to their education. As a result, students are more eager to learn in a positive environment, and more likely to reach their potential which leads to higher academic performance levels. The authors present and discuss the i2Flex instructional methodology as they implemented it in Middle School Classes for young EFL and Foreign Language learners. Students are active participants of the process. The teacher changes hats from being the instructor in the limited sense of the direct instructor in a teacher centered classroom environment, to being an effective facilitator of the process of education, eventually. The lesson plans change, the media through which they will be delivered also change to be adding to, or even omitting at times, the traditional textbook.
Hooked on Mathematics
Authors: Andrikopoulos Dora , Katsiyianni Matina
Published: June 2016

Within a flexible-learning framework, blended learning offers a unique opportunity to fully amalgamate pedagogy and technology in teaching and learning. It may also lead to significant enhancements and integrations of curriculum design. This chapter discusses the implementation of the i2Flex methodology, which is a type of blended learning, in a math classroom at ACS Athens, Greece. The definitions of the methodology are stated and the classroom applications are described. A middle school math teacher and the Math Studio coordinator designed a specific unit of work in mathematics in order to convert it to i2Flex delivery. The classroom atmosphere is described in detail, and a range of considerations about the methodology is discussed. Finally, the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework is discussed as an evaluation tool of the methodology for the success of the methodology.
Creativity in Interdisciplinary Teaching
Authors: Lewis Caitlin R. , Gournaris Margarita
Published: June 2016

We co-taught an interdisciplinary English and social studies class in 9th grade. Our class had very diverse ability levels. In order to differentiate instruction and engage all our students, we turned to the i2Flex methodology as a guide, and found tremendous success implementing it together with role-play and simulation. We found that incorporating Web 2.0 tools within our instructional approach increased student motivation. The ideas behind i2Flex guided us in changing our approach to instruction and lead us to creating a far more constructivist classroom. Student engagement and enjoyment improved, and we saw struggling student flourish.
Fitness Revisited
Authors: Dimitropoulos Angelos
Published: June 2016

Technology can be seen everywhere in sports. From the shoes that students wear to the sports equipment used for physical activity. Sports organizations nowadays spend thousands in promoting latest technologies to enhance sports performance. Technology is changing the way that athletes train: they now have the chance to improve their technique and their skills by using mobile applications and gadgets that help them boost their fitness levels and take one's workout to the next level. This chapter describes ways that students in the ACS Athens i2Flex fitness class explore physical activity by using the power of new and emerging technologies, and mobile learning, while at the same time eliminating concerns about giving up activity time for some kind of online alternative.
Accounting for Noise Pollution in Planning of Smart Cities
Authors: Hammad A.W.A. , Akbarnezhad A. , Rey D.
Published: June 2016

The incorporation of sustainable design measures in urban planning and development has been steadily increasing in the recent years. Achieving a sustainable urban environment requires accounting for the economic, environmental and social impacts of the development involved. An important factor affecting the social and environmental sustainability of urbanised areas which is commonly overlooked in urban planning is the noise pollution level. Despite the proven impacts of noise pollution on the general wellbeing of individuals within an urban setting, there remains a lack of systematic methods to integrate the impact of noise within the design of urban areas. This chapter seeks to raise awareness of the issue of noise pollution in urban settings while proposing novel approaches for its incorporation as a design parameter in planning the layout of smart cities.
Smart City Solutions for India
Authors: Nagargoje Shekhar Vishnu , Somani Gaurvav Krishna , Sutaria Mehul Manjibhai , Jha Navneet
Published: June 2016

Indian Government has proposed to develop 100 Smart Cities and 500 AMRUT (Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation) Cities in its overall commitment of sustainable development. The proposed study aims at documenting the potential and need of developing Smart cities in India, to understand smart city principles and various dimensions of smart city adopted in various parts of the world which will further help in deriving recommendations and lessons for India's future smart cities. The objective of this study is to generate learning and exploration that will improve confidence in civic authorities, experts, city planners, developers; and help stimulate further private sector investment in developing Smart cities of India.
Total Quality Management in Smart City Development
Authors: Babatunde Oluwayomi Kayode
Published: June 2016

Wastes and pollution are associated with an uncoordinated urbanization trend. This exploratory study investigates total quality management's (TQM) role in smart city development. It delineates smart cities and its conjoined relationship with digital cities. It submits to the complementary relationship between TQM and quality function deployment (QFD) and highlights stakeholder engagement as central to smart city development strategy, underpinned by social theory. It distils that stakeholders and built environment professionals need to work collaboratively to maximize the benefit of smart cities as being an innovation value chain, leading to the use of IT-enabled platform such as building information modelling (BIM). This culminates in the design of an integrative framework with ICT (focusing on BIM) and TQM serving as the information architecture and the ideological premise respectively. It then presents the close-loop (front-end) and open-loop (back-end) approaches to smart city development, discusses future research directions and concludes with implications.
Decentralisation and Devolution in the United Kingdom
Authors: Game Chris
Published: June 2016

The key to the core of this chapter is in its title. Constitutionally, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK) is still a unitary state comprising three countries – England, Scotland, Wales – plus the province of Northern Ireland. Since 1998, though, the last three have had their own elected parliaments or assemblies and devolved governments, whose responsibilities naturally include most local government functions and operations. It is arguable, therefore, that in practice nowadays the UK is quasi-federal. England, with 84% of the UK population, doesn't have a separate parliament, but is gradually working out its own form of devolution. The chapter describes all these developments, but its detail is largely reserved for the structure and workings of local government in England – elections and elected councillors, services and functions, and its currently rapidly changing finances – and the impact, particularly on councils' financial and policy discretion, of its having, in population terms, by far the largest scale of local government in Western Europe.
The U.S. Local Governments and Reforms
Authors: Colakoglu Elif
Published: June 2016

The United States (the U.S.) is a federal constitutional republic governed by presidential system based on a pluralist democracy, and has a strong democratic tradition. Its government system is shaped by forms with a three-tiered structure: Federal, states, and local governments. As the lower-level administrative subdivision of the states, local governments which are named as counties, municipalities, townships, school districts, and special districts comprised by a very wide range as the numbers, characteristics and structures. While counties, municipalities and townships are general-purpose local government, school districts, and special districts are special-purpose local governments. This chapter aims to generally address the U.S. local governments' place in administrative system within the relationship among federal and federated states. Accordingly, first, their structures and forms are examined. Second, their budgets in terms of common revenues and spending are discussed. Third and final, all administrative and fiscal reforms of local governments are put forward.
Mapping Local Democracy in Romania
Authors: Dragoman Dragos
Published: June 2016

In East European settings, during transition, local democracy experienced great difficulties in turning from a theoretical model into a functional mechanism. As basis for citizens' political involvement, local democracy can be mapped in various ways. The authors intend to draw a map of local democracy in Romania by focusing on the function and scope of local government (second tier government), the relationship between local and central government, and the outcomes of the recent reform process. The authors intend to evaluate the quality of local democracy by the interactions between elected councilors and citizens. How elected councilors imagine their functions and responsibilities and how citizens support candidates, especially independent candidates and minor parties' lists is at the core of our investigation. From this perspective, local and regional parties are to be seen as valuable assets for local democracy, as they help promoting local interests and local elites and fuel national wide parties with political ideas and personnel.
The Significance of The 2014 Local Elections in Turkey for Decentralisation and Local Autonomy
Authors: Sadioglu Ugur , Dede Kadir , Yüceyılmaz Ali Arda
Published: June 2016

30 March 2014 Local Elections were held in Turkey at the end of an extraordinarily political process and in a highly polarized atmosphere. The election exceeded the limits of the characteristic of “being local” due to such developments recorded in the pre-election period as anti-government social opposition raised against Justice and Development Party (JDP) by Gezi Park protests, tension between judicial and executive organs resulting from the power struggle between the political, social and economic interest groups and corruption investigations opened against the ministers. Ruling JDP Government turned the election into a confidence vote and Turkey entered into the local election process with the new metropolitan model (“Whole City” model). Colorful, vivid and costly election process ended up with a political geography of local election, which should be subjected to new and important analyses. Thus this chapter discusses the issue of local autonomy over pre-election propaganda process, new metropolitan municipality model, election results and political geography analyses.
Development of Novel Multi-Objective Based Model for Protein Structural Class Prediction
Authors: Panda Bishnupriya , Majhi Babita
Published: June 2016

Protein folding has played a vital role in rational drug design, pharmacology and many other applications. The knowledge of protein structural class provides useful information towards the determination of protein structure. The exponential growth of newly discovered protein sequences by different scientific communities has made a large gap between the number of sequence-known and the number of structure-known proteins. Accurate determination of protein structural class using a suitable computational method has been a challenging problem in protein science. This chapter is based on the concept of Chou's pseudo amino acid composition feature representation method. Thus the sample of a protein is represented by a set of discrete components which incorporate both the sequence order and the length effect. On the basis of such a statistical framework a low complexity functional link artificial neural network and a complex novel hybrid model using radial basis function neural network and multi-objective algorithm based classifier are introduced to predict protein structural class.
Rough Fuzzy Set Theory and Neighbourhood Approximation Based Modelling for Spatial Epidemiology
Authors: Tripathy Balakrushna , K. Sharmila Banu
Published: June 2016

Modern epidemiological studies involve understanding individual and social level inferences and their role in the transmission and distribution of disease instances. The geographic relevance in epidemiology has been analysed in concurrence with these inferences. The substantial amount of data involved in an epidemiological study is usually very large and intuitively involves missing values and uncertainty. Rough Set Theory (RST) has been used in medical informatics for ‘outcome prediction' and ‘feature selection'. It can be used to construct the decision system involving spatial, medical and demographic data effectively. This chapter proposes the use of rough sets in conjunction with parallel techniques like Fuzzy sets, Intuitionistic systems and Granular (Neighborhood Approximation) computing for the classic problem of data representation, dimensionality reduction, generation and harvest of minimal rules. RST handles missing values and uncertainty more specific to spatial and medical features of data.
Application of Uncertainty Models in Bioinformatics
Authors: Tripathy B.K. , Mohanty R.K. , Sooraj T.R.
Published: June 2016

This chapter provides the information related to the researches enhanced using uncertainty models in life sciences and biomedical Informatics. The main emphasis of this chapter is to present the general ideas for the time line of different uncertainty models to handle uncertain information and their applications in the various fields of biology. There are many mathematical models to handle vague data and uncertain information such as theory of probability, fuzzy set theory, rough set theory, soft set theory. Literatures from the life sciences and bioinformatics have been reviewed and provided the different experimental & theoretical results to understand the applications of uncertain models in the field of bioinformatics.
Analysis of Microarray Data using Artificial Intelligence Based Techniques
Authors: Raza Khalid
Published: June 2016

Microarray is one of the essential technologies used by the biologists to measure genome-wide expression levels of genes in a particular organism under some particular conditions or stimuli. As microarrays technologies have become more prevalent, the challenges of analyzing these data for getting better insight about biological processes have essentially increased. Due to availability of artificial intelligence based sophisticated computational techniques, such as artificial neural networks, fuzzy logic, genetic algorithms, and many other nature-inspired algorithms, it is possible to analyse microarray gene expression data in a better way. In this chapter, we present artificial intelligence based techniques for the analysis of microarray gene expression data. Further, challenges in the field and future work direction have also been suggested.
Personalized Medicine in the Era of Genomics
Authors: Soni Navneet Kaur , Thukral Nitin , Hasija Yasha
Published: June 2016

Personalized medicine is a model that aims at customizing healthcare and tailoring medicine according to an individual`s genetic makeup. It classifies individuals that differ in their susceptibility to a particular disease or response to a particular treatment into subpopulations based on individual's unique genetic and clinical information along with environmental factors. The completion of Human Genome Project and the advent of high-throughput genome analysis tools has helped in building and strengthening this model. There lies a huge potential in the implementation of personalized medicine to significantly improve the clinical outcomes; however, its implementation into clinical practice remains slow and is a matter of concern. This chapter aims at acquainting readers with the underlying concepts and components of personalized medicine supplemented with some disease-based case studies, discussing challenges and recent advancements in the implementation of the model of personalized medicine.
BFO Optimized Automatic Load Frequency Control of a Multi-Area Power System
Authors: Ray Pravat Kumar , Ekka Sushmita
Published: June 2016

This chapter presents an analysis on operation of Automatic Load Frequency Control (ALFC) by developing models in SIMULINK which helps us to understand the principle behind ALFC including the challenges. The three area system is being taken into account considering several important parameters of ALFC like integral controller gains (KIi), governor speed regulation parameters (Ri), and frequency bias parameters (Bi), which are being optimized by using Bacteria Foraging Optimization Algorithm (BFOA). Simultaneous optimization of certain parameters like KIi, Ri and Bi has been done which provides not only the best dynamic response for the system but also allows us to use much higher values of Ri than used in practice. This will help the power industries for easier and cheaper realization of the governor. The performance of BFOA is also investigated through the convergence characteristics which reveal that that the Bacteria Foraging Algorithm is quite faster in optimization such that there is reduction in the computational burden and also minimal use of computer resource utilization.
On the Advancement of Using Data Mining for Crime Situation Recognition
Authors: Isafiade Omowunmi E. , Bagula Antoine , Berman Sonia
Published: June 2016

The primary role of intelligence organisations and public safety agencies encompasses protecting the lives and property of citizens. However, the urban population growth rate tends to overshadow the available security resources. Thus, the security agencies appear to be more reactive than proactive. Public safety agencies usually have a plethora of under-utilised crime incident reports at their disposal, which if efficiently analysed could reveal some previously unknown useful information. Such information reveals insights into a range of functions in a crime investigation, which can assist in determining criminal trends and in knowledge-driven decision support. This chapter provides an overview of data mining techniques and existing applications used in this domain of interest. Features of existing applications and techniques, such as exploratory basis, model selection, algorithm advancement and result summary, are compared. Future potential of crime data mining, and open research issues, are also discussed.
Crime Hotspot Detection
Authors: Eftelioglu Emre , Shekhar Shashi , Tang Xun
Published: June 2016

Given a set of crime locations, a statistically significant crime hotspot is an area where the concentration of crimes inside is significantly higher than outside. The motivation of crime hotspot detection is twofold: detecting crime hotspots to focus the deployment of police enforcement and predicting the potential residence of a serial criminal. Crime hotspot detection is computationally challenging due to the difficulty of enumerating all potential hotspot areas, selecting an interest measure to compare these with the overall crime intensity, and testing for statistical significance to reduce chance patterns. This chapter focuses on statistical significant crime hotspots. First, the foundations of spatial scan statistics and its applications (i.e. SaTScan) to circular hotspot detection are reviewed. Next, ring-shaped hotspot detection is introduced. Third, linear hotspot detection is described since most crimes occur along a road network. The chapter concludes with future research directions in crime hotspot detection.
Automated Identification of Child Abuse in Chat Rooms by Using Data Mining
Authors: Keyvanpour Mohammadreza , Ebrahimi Mohammadreza , Nayebi Necmiye Genc , Ormandjieva Olga , Suen Ching Y.
Published: June 2016

Providing a safe environment for juveniles and children in online social networks is considered as one of the major factors of improving public safety. Due to the prevalence of the online conversations, mitigating the undesirable effects of child abuse in cyber space has become inevitable. Using automatic ways to combat this kind of crime is challenging and demands efficient and scalable data mining techniques. The problem can be casted as a combination of textual preprocessing in data/text mining and pattern classification in machine learning. This chapter covers different data mining methods including preprocessing, feature extraction and the popular ways of feature enrichment through extracting sentiments and emotional features. A brief tutorial on classification algorithms in the domain of automated predator identification is also presented through the chapter. Finally, the discussion is summarized and the challenges and open issues in this application domain are discussed.
Data Mining Techniques for Distributed Denial of Service Attacks Detection in the Internet of Things
Authors: Machaka Pheeha , Nelwamondo Fulufhelo
Published: June 2016

This chapter reviews the evolution of the traditional internet into the Internet of Things (IoT). The characteristics and application of the IoT are also reviewed, together with its security concerns in terms of distributed denial of service attacks. The chapter further investigates the state-of-the-art in data mining techniques for Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks targeting the various infrastructures. The chapter explores the characteristics and pervasiveness of DDoS attacks. It also explores the motives, mechanisms and techniques used to execute a DDoS attack. The chapter further investigates the current data mining techniques that are used to combat and detect these attacks, their advantages and disadvantages are explored. Future direction of the research is also provided.
A Hybrid Algorithm Using Genetic Algorithm and Cuckoo Search Algorithm to Solve Job Scheduling Problem in Computational Grid Systems
Authors: Ghosh Tarun Kumar , Das Sanjoy
Published: June 2016

Job scheduling is one of the major challenges in Grid computing systems to efficiently exploit the capabilities of dynamic, autonomous, heterogeneous and distributed resources for execution of different types of jobs. Thus optimal job scheduling is an NP-complete problem which can easily be solved by using heuristic techniques. This paper presents a hybrid algorithm for job scheduling using Genetic Algorithm (GA) and Cuckoo Search Algorithm (CSA) for efficiently allocating jobs to resources in a Grid system so that makespan and flowtime are minimized. This proposed algorithm combines the advantages of both GA and CSA. The authors' results have been compared with standard GA, CSA and Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) to show the importance of the proposed algorithm.
Efficient Mutation Strategies Embedded in Laplacian-Biogeography-Based Optimization Algorithm for Unconstrained Function Minimization
Authors: Garg Vanita , Deep Kusum
Published: June 2016

Biogeography-Based optimization (BBO) is a nature inspired optimization technique that has excellent exploitation ability but the exploration ability needs to be improved to make it more robust. With this objective in mind, Garg and Deep proposed Laplacian BBO (LX-BBO) based on the Laplace Crossover which is a Real Coded Genetic Crossover Operator. It was concluded that LX- BBO outperforms its competitors. A natural question is to incorporate real coded mutation strategies into LX-BBO in order to improve its diversity. Therefore, in this paper, the exploring ability of LX-BBO is further investigated by using six different types of mutation operators present in literature. Gaussian, Cauchy, Levy, Power, Polynomial and Random mutation are used to test which mutation works best for LX-BBO. The performance of all these versions of BBO are measured on the benchmark problem set proposed in CEC 2014. On the basis of the criteria lay down by CEC, analysis of numerical and graphical results and statistical tests it is concluded that LX-BBO works best with Random and Cauchy Mutation.
Meta-Heuristic Algorithms to Solve Bi-Criteria Parallel Machines Scheduling Problem
Authors: Jeet Kawal , Dhir Renu , Sharma Sameer
Published: June 2016

Parallel machine scheduling problems are classified as NP-hard problems. The direct solutions for these problems are not available and meta-heuristic algorithms are required to be used to find near-optimal solutions. In this paper, the formulations of multi-objective Artificial Bee Colony algorithm by using combination of weighted objectives, secondary storage for managing possible solutions and Genetic algorithm have been developed and applied to schedule jobs on parallel machines optimizing bi-criteria namely maximum tardiness and weighted flow time. The results obtained indicate that proposed algorithm outperforms other multi-objective algorithms in optimizing bi-criteria scheduling problems on parallel machines. Further, the sequential optimization of bi-criteria using Early Due Date (EDD) followed by Genetic Algorithm (GA) has also been investigated. The efficiencies of the proposed algorithms have been verified by numerical illustrations and statistical tests.
A Modified Approach For Information Systems Success In The Context Of Internet Banking Using Structural Equation Modelling with R
Authors: Jagannathan Veeraraghavan , Balasubramanian Senthilarasu , Natarajan Thamaraiselvan
Published: June 2016

Modern day bankers are in immense pressure to stay in the ever-changing online business. So as to stay in the competition, they have to enhance and foresee what their client needs. There is a dearth of studies in a developing country like India, for finding the success factors of Internet Banking (IB) from the perspective of the expectations of the IB customer. This study intends to fill that void with the proposed framework by modelling user expectations in terms of the quality dimensions of the Information Systems (IS) Success model, along with security dimension. Data collected from 312 IB experienced students of a premier educational Institution in India. Structural Equation Modeling has been employed to test the hypotheses of the proposed framework. The results showed that the quality dimensions alongside security, strongly influences the confirmation of user expectations from using the IB website. The study provided a starting point to model IB user expectations. Some managerial implications and future research directions are proposed, based on the results of the study.
E-Retail Adoption in Emerging Markets
Authors: Kumar Amresh , Sikdar Pallab , Alam Md. Moddassir
Published: June 2016

A five factor e-shopping adoption model grounded upon TAM and an additional dimension of ‘Trust' has been tested through Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). For testing the hypothesized relations as part of the conceptual model, Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) has been employed. A structured instrument has been administered as part of survey to 600 eligible respondents comprising of online shoppers. A total of 539 shoppers spread across national zones, age and gender groups constituted the final sample. Perceived Usefulness (PU), Perceived Ease of Use (PEOU), Trust, Intention to Use (ITU) and Attitude towards Use (ATU) are reliable and valid factors predicting e-shopping adoption. PU and PEOU along with Trust bear significant causation towards ATU. ATU serves as strong predictor of ITU, while PEOU determines PU as well. Further, ATU partially mediates PU and ITU relationship. Present study highlights the applicability of modified TAM framework in predicting the inclination of emerging market consumers to embrace online shopping mediums scantly represented in extant literature.
The Impact of a Racing Feature on Middle School Science Students' Performance in an Educational Game
Authors: Ault Marilyn , Craig-Hare Jana , Frey Bruce
Published: June 2016

Reason Racer is an online, rate-based, multiplayer game designed to engage middle school students in the knowledge and skills related to scientific argumentation. Several game features are included as design considerations unrelated to science content or argumentation. One specific feature, a competitive racing component that occurs in between challenging tasks, is the subject of this analysis. The effect of two conditions on 72 ninth grade students' performance was analyzed: game play with a competitive racing component (Race) and game play without a competitive racing component (No-Race). A counterbalanced design was used with two randomly assigned groups playing the game using two different science scenarios. When students played with a racing component interspersed between challenging tasks they completed the tasks more quickly and accurately than when they did not experience the racing component. These findings are discussed in terms of game design and the use of game features not related to academic content.
Exploring the Potential of a Location Based Augmented Reality Game for Language Learning
Authors: Richardson Donald
Published: June 2016

This paper adds to the small but growing body of research into the potential of augmented reality games for teaching and learning English as a foreign language (EFL). It explores the extent to which such games enhance the language learning experience of advanced level EFL learners. The author draws on his work developing Mission not really Impossible, a location-based augmented reality game which uses the Aurasma mobile application to provide a series of challenging language tasks for advanced level learners as they move around the city of Karlsruhe in Germany. The game is evaluated through a mix of observation during gameplay and feedback from participants. Broad approval of the language challenges that had to be completed is evident and Aurasma proves itself to be user-friendly and reliable. The findings affirm the potential of augmented reality games to engage and challenge advanced level language learners.
Exploring the Effectiveness of Online Role Play Simulations in Tackling Groupthink in Crisis Management Training
Authors: Leung Lawrence , Law Nancy
Published: June 2016

Crisis management in law enforcement contexts is considered to be a kind of Naturalistic Decision-making (NDM). In a NDM situation, crisis management personnel usually have to tackle highly fluid situations under great stress and uncertainty. It has been observed that a major challenge to the effective handling of crisis situations is the tendency for the personnel involved to ignore alternatives and make irrational decisions that, a phenomenon that the psychologist Janis (1972) refers to as Groupthink. This paper reports on the design of an online Role Play Simulation (RPS) for crisis management training and its implementation in in-service police training. The interactions of participants recorded during the RPS training were categorized using Bales' Interaction Process Analysis (IPA). The results show that participation in the RPS has positive effect on the reduction of Groupthink tendency.
Identifying Flow in Video Games
Authors: Borderie Joceran , Michinov Nicolas
Published: June 2016

The flow, or optimal experience, is a highly focused mental state leading to immersion and high performance. Although flow theory has been widely applied to research on videogames, methods based on behavior observation to identify flow states are limited in this domain. The aim of the present study was to develop a new method to detect flow episodes occurring during a gaming session from observation of players' behaviors and analysis of game replays. The authors developed an optimal experience behavior pattern and a related coding scheme. In-depth interviews were then conducted to determine whether episodes coded as flow by researchers were also described as such by the players themselves. Findings showed that intense concentration followed by an expression of satisfaction could be a useful pattern to detect flow. Unexpectedly, the interviews suggested that frustration, as well as joy, may also be an emotional signature of flow. This study shed new light on the relationship between gameplay and flow.
Knew Me and New Me
Authors: Foster Aroutis , Shah Mamta
Published: June 2016

This paper reports a mixed-methods study supporting twenty 9th grade students' mathematics knowledge, motivation, and identity change through projective reflection using Game Network Analysis (GaNA). GaNA is an ecological game-based learning framework that was conceptualized for facilitating teachers in selecting and using games. Projective reflection is an identity change process catalyzed by digital game play and facilitated by reflection and discussion activities focused within a domain. From September-December 2010, a game, Dimension M was used to facilitate students' in gameplay to construct mathematics knowledge, motivation to learn, and identity change. Data sources included interviews, in-class participant and video observations, and pre-post assessments. Students had statistically significant gains in mathematics. Students engaged in identity exploration activities that allowed them to value mathematics. The implications of projective reflection and GaNA are discussed. Further studies are needed for scaling and replicating the use of projective reflection.