43,666 research outputs found
Design of a shared whiteboard component for multimedia conferencing
This paper reports on the development of a framework for multimedia applications in the domain of tele-education. The paper focuses on the protocol design of a specific component of the framework, namely a shared whiteboard application. The relationship of this component with other components of the framework is also discussed. A salient feature of the framework is that it uses an advanced ATM-based network service. The design of the shared whiteboard component is considered representative for the design as a whole, and is used to illustrate how a flexible protocol architecture utilizing innovative network functions and satisfying demanding user requirements can be developed
Designing intelligent computer‐based simulations: A pragmatic approach
This paper examines the design of intelligent multimedia simulations. A case study is presented which uses an approach based in part on intelligent tutoring system design to integrate formative assessment into the learning of clinical decision‐making skills for nursing students. The approach advocated uses a modular design with an integrated intelligent agent within a multimedia simulation. The application was created using an object‐orientated programming language for the multimedia interface (Delphi) and a logic‐based interpreted language (Prolog) to create an expert assessment system. Domain knowledge is also encoded in a Windows help file reducing some of the complexity of the expert system. This approach offers a method for simplifying the production of an intelligent simulation system. The problems developing intelligent tutoring systems are examined and an argument is made for a practical approach to developing intelligent multimedia simulation systems
Design of a middleware for QoS-aware distribution transparent content delivery
Developers of distributed multimedia applications face a diversity of multimedia formats, streaming platforms and streaming protocols. Furthermore, support for end-to-end quality-of-service (QoS) is a crucial factor for the development of future distributed multimedia systems. This paper discusses the architecture, design and implementation of a QoS-aware middleware platform for content delivery. The platform supports the development of distributed multimedia applications and can deliver content with QoS guarantees. QoS support is offered by means of an agent infrastructure for QoS negotiation and enforcement. Properties of content are represented using a generic content representation model described using the OMG Meta Object Facility (MOF) model. A content delivery framework manages stream paths for content delivery despite differences in streaming protocols and content encoding. The integration of the QoS support, content representation and content delivery framework results in a QoS-aware middleware that enables representation transparent and location transparent delivery of content
An MPEG-7 scheme for semantic content modelling and filtering of digital video
Abstract Part 5 of the MPEG-7 standard specifies Multimedia Description Schemes (MDS); that is, the format multimedia content models should conform to in order to ensure interoperability across multiple platforms and applications. However, the standard does not specify how the content or the associated model may be filtered. This paper proposes an MPEG-7 scheme which can be deployed for digital video content modelling and filtering. The proposed scheme, COSMOS-7, produces rich and multi-faceted semantic content models and supports a content-based filtering approach that only analyses content relating directly to the preferred content requirements of the user. We present details of the scheme, front-end systems used for content modelling and filtering and experiences with a number of users
A taxonomy for interactive educational multimedia
Learning is more than knowledge acquisition; it often involves the active participation of the learner in a variety of knowledge- and skills-based learning and training activities. Interactive multimedia technology can support the variety of interaction channels and languages required to facilitate interactive learning and teaching. We will present a taxonomy for interactive educational multimedia that supports the classification, description and development of such systems. Such a taxonomy needs to embed multimedia technology into a coherent educational context. A conceptual framework based on an integrated interaction model is needed to capture learning and training activities in an online setting from an educational perspective, describe them in the human-computer context, and integrate them with mechanisms and principles of multimedia interaction
Development of limiting dilution viability pcr method to assess the effectiveness of selected biocides to treat indoor fungi growth
Indoor fungal contamination should be treated with cost-effective and green methods.
Biocides have direct biological effect on living organisms but the evidence on their
control of indoor fungal contamination is scarce. Using conventional cultivation to
evaluate their effectiveness is time consuming while polymerase chain reaction (PCR)
provides a fast and reliable alternative. The incorporation of serial dilution technique
and viability information in PCR has made it suitable to evaluate the effectiveness of
biocides. Thus, this study aimed to assess the antifungal ability of biocides, zinc
salicylate (ZS), calcium benzoate (CB) and potassium sorbate (KS) to treat indoor
fungal contamination through developing limiting dilution viability PCR (vPCR).
These biocides were selected as they successfully controlled the growth of indoor
waterborne fungi previously. Indoor air sampling revealed that higher educational
building of computer studies (Building A) and of civil engineering studies (Building
B) were contaminated by 509 CFU/m3 and 805.7 CFU/m3 of indoor airborne fungi,
respectively. Two indoor fungi, Talaromyces spp. and Aspergillus niger were
identified. They were subjected to biocides-treatment and subsequent conventional
cultivation and limiting dilution vPCR due to their potential risks against humans’
health. The limiting dilution vPCR was developed by incorporating the pre-treatment
of propidium monoazide (PMA) before deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) extraction and
the serial dilution of the DNA template in PCR. This approach was proven to
effectively enumerate the effectiveness of biocides to treat indoor fungi. KS was
shown to have the best effectiveness (100%) to prevent the growth of Talaromyces
spp, followed by ZS (80.8%) and CB (no effect). KS also showed the best
effectiveness against A. niger (100%) at the early stage of the study but its effect
reduced with time. ZS showed durable effect (66.67%) against A. niger Day 9
cultures. Inconstant results were indicated by cultivation method. This study has
provided a cheaper, more accurate and suitable approach to determine the
effectiveness of treatment of indoor fungi than cultivation methods
Application of palm shell activated carbon filter as a medium of indoor air contaminant adsorbent for indoor air quality improvement
For decades, the inclusion of activated carbon (AC) adsorption technique through
filtration has gained significant interest on improvement of indoor air quality (IAQ)
by reducing level of pollutant. The interest of reseachers in palm shell AC (PSAC)
keep increase owing to the fact that this material has superior characteristic as
compared to commercial AC. However, the investigation of PSAC performance for
air filtration are still limited and no research could be found on relating the effect of
burner for carbonization on PSAC properties. Therefore, the current research was
focused on producing PSAC by using new fabricated burner, exploring the effect of
combination of physical and chemical activation towards PSAC properties and
investigating of PSAC air filter performance used in Mechanical Ventilation Air
Conditioning (MVAC) system. Preliminary studies began with IAQ monitoring in
different building condition. The present data revealed that at certain situation, the
buildings environment was below than satisfactory level and required mitigation plan
by introducing new air filtration media in MVAC system. The best quality of charcoal
was obtained by Horizontal burner with less fume formation during carbonization
process compare to other design. The physical properties analysis of palm shell
charcoal showed the carbonization time (CT) 2 hours gained better charcoal properties
and highly recommended to continue into the activation process. After the activation
process, PSAC physical+chemical shows significantly higher pore development,
surface area and adsorption capacity compare to the other process. The lowest density
and the highest porosity up to 0.4632 g/cm
and 7.11% was calculated while the
highest Iodine number of 1091.05 mg/g and BET surface area of 713.7 m
3
/g was
obtained respectively in PSAC physical+chemical. Meanwhile, microstructure and
composition analysis shows that, PSAC physical+chemical fully produced honeycomb
form of porosity and comprised of C, O, K and Ca contents for high adsorption
capacity. The improvement of IAQ in the buildings was achieved with the application
of PSAC air filter which shows low concentration of CO2 with 302 ppm, CO with 0.4
ppm , TVOC with 0.1 ppm and PM10 with 0.02mg/m
2
respectively compare to the
commercial filter
A Semantic Grid Oriented to E-Tourism
With increasing complexity of tourism business models and tasks, there is a
clear need of the next generation e-Tourism infrastructure to support flexible
automation, integration, computation, storage, and collaboration. Currently
several enabling technologies such as semantic Web, Web service, agent and grid
computing have been applied in the different e-Tourism applications, however
there is no a unified framework to be able to integrate all of them. So this
paper presents a promising e-Tourism framework based on emerging semantic grid,
in which a number of key design issues are discussed including architecture,
ontologies structure, semantic reconciliation, service and resource discovery,
role based authorization and intelligent agent. The paper finally provides the
implementation of the framework.Comment: 12 PAGES, 7 Figure
An Open Framework for Integrating Widely Distributed Hypermedia Resources
The success of the WWW has served as an illustration of how hypermedia functionality can enhance access to large amounts of distributed information. However, the WWW and many other distributed hypermedia systems offer very simple forms of hypermedia functionality which are not easily applied to existing applications and data formats, and cannot easily incorporate alternative functions which would aid hypermedia navigation to and from existing documents that have not been developed with hypermedia access in mind. This paper describes the extension to a distributed environment of the open hypermedia functionality of the Microcosm system, which is designed to support the provision of hypermedia access to a wide range of source material and application, and to offer straightforward extension of the system to incorporate new forms of information access
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