8 research outputs found
Advances in Computer Science and Engineering
The book Advances in Computer Science and Engineering constitutes the revised selection of 23 chapters written by scientists and researchers from all over the world. The chapters cover topics in the scientific fields of Applied Computing Techniques, Innovations in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Applications and Advances in Applied Modeling
Cultural Heritage on line
The 2nd International Conference "Cultural Heritage online ā Empowering users: an active role for user communities" was held in Florence on 15-16 December 2009. It was organised by the Fondazione Rinascimento Digitale, the Italian Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities and the Library of Congress, through the National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program - NDIIP partners. The conference topics were related to digital libraries, digital preservation and the changing paradigms, focussing on user needs and expectations, analysing how to involve users and the cultural heritage community in creating and sharing digital resources. The sessions investigated also new organisational issues and roles, and cultural and economic limits from an international perspective
Experimental Evaluation of Growing and Pruning Hyper Basis Function Neural Networks Trained with Extended Information Filter
In this paper we test Extended Information Filter (EIF) for sequential training of Hyper Basis Function Neural Networks with growing and pruning ability (HBF-GP). The HBF neuron allows different scaling of input dimensions to provide better generalization property when dealing with complex nonlinear problems in engineering practice. The main intuition behind HBF is in generalization of Gaussian type of neuron that applies Mahalanobis-like distance as a distance metrics between input training sample and prototype vector. We exploit concept of neuronās significance and allow growing and pruning of HBF neurons during sequential learning process. From engineerās perspective, EIF is attractive for training of neural networks because it allows a designer to have scarce initial knowledge of the system/problem. Extensive experimental study shows that HBF neural network trained with EIF achieves same prediction error and compactness of network topology when compared to EKF, but without the need to know initial state uncertainty, which is its main advantage over EKF
Bioinspired metaheuristic algorithms for global optimization
This paper presents concise comparison study of newly developed bioinspired algorithms for global optimization problems. Three different metaheuristic techniques, namely Accelerated Particle Swarm Optimization (APSO), Firefly Algorithm (FA), and Grey Wolf Optimizer (GWO) are investigated and implemented in Matlab environment. These methods are compared on four unimodal and multimodal nonlinear functions in order to find global optimum values. Computational results indicate that GWO outperforms other intelligent techniques, and that all aforementioned algorithms can be successfully used for optimization of continuous functions
An investigation of innovation and knowledge creation in virtual worlds
The Internet and World Wide Web have had, and continue to have, an incredible
impact on our civilization. These technologies have radically influenced the way
that society is organised and the manner in which people around the world
communicate and interact. The structure and function of individual, social,
organisational, economic and political life begin to resemble the digital network
architectures upon which they are increasingly reliant. It is increasingly difficult
to imagine how our āofflineā world would look or function without the āonlineā
world; it is becoming less meaningful to distinguish between the āactualā and the
āvirtualā. Thus, the major architectural project of the twenty-first century is to
āimagine, build, and enhance an interactive and ever changing cyberspaceā (LĆ©vy,
1997, p. 10). Virtual worlds are at the forefront of this evolving digital landscape.
Virtual worlds have ācritical implications for business, education, social sciences,
and our society at largeā (Messinger et al., 2009, p. 204).
This study focuses on the possibilities of virtual worlds in terms of
communication, collaboration, innovation and creativity. The concept of
knowledge creation is at the core of this research. The study shows that scholars
increasingly recognise that knowledge creation, as a socially enacted process,
goes to the very heart of innovation. However, efforts to build upon these insights
have struggled to escape the influence of the information processing paradigm of
old and have failed to move beyond the persistent but problematic
conceptualisation of knowledge creation in terms of tacit and explicit knowledge.
Based on these insights, the study leverages extant research to develop the
conceptual apparatus necessary to carry out an investigation of innovation and
knowledge creation in virtual worlds. The study derives and articulates a set of
definitions (of virtual worlds, innovation, knowledge and knowledge creation) to
guide research. The study also leverages a number of extant theories in order to
develop a preliminary framework to model knowledge creation in virtual worlds.
Using a combination of participant observation and six case studies of innovative
educational projects in Second Life, the study yields a range of insights into the
process of knowledge creation in virtual worlds and into the factors that affect it.
The studyās contributions to theory are expressed as a series of propositions and
findings and are represented as a revised and empirically grounded theoretical
framework of knowledge creation in virtual worlds. These findings highlight the
importance of prior related knowledge and intrinsic motivation in terms of
shaping and stimulating knowledge creation in virtual worlds. At the same time,
they highlight the importance of meta-knowledge (knowledge about knowledge)
in terms of guiding the knowledge creation process whilst revealing the diversity
of behavioural approaches actually used to create knowledge in virtual worlds
and. This theoretical framework is itself one of the chief contributions of the study
and the analysis explores how it can be used to guide further research in virtual
worlds and on knowledge creation. The studyās contributions to practice are
presented as actionable guide to simulate knowledge creation in virtual worlds.
This guide utilises a theoretically based classification of four knowledge-creator
archetypes (the sage, the lore master, the artisan, and the apprentice) and derives
an actionable set of behavioural prescriptions for each archetype. The study
concludes with a discussion of the studyās implications in terms of future
research