A service-oriented middleware for integrated management of crowdsourced and sensor data streams in disaster management

The increasing number of sensors used in diverse applications has provided a massive number of continuous, unbounded, rapid data and requires the management of distinct protocols, interfaces and intermittent connections. As traditional sensor networks are error-prone and difficult to maintain, the study highlights the emerging role of “citizens as sensors” as a complementary data source to increase public awareness. To this end, an interoperable, reusable middleware for managing spatial, temporal, and thematic data using Sensor Web Enablement initiative services and a processing engine was designed, implemented, and deployed. The study found that its approach provided effective sensor data-stream access, publication, and filtering in dynamic scenarios such as disaster management, as well as it enables batch and stream management integration. Also, an interoperability analytics testing of a flood citizen observatory highlighted even variable data such as those provided by the crowd can be integrated with sensor data stream. Our approach, thus, offers a mean to improve near-real-time applications

Tangible user interfaces : past, present and future directions

In the last two decades, Tangible User Interfaces (TUIs) have emerged as a new interface type that interlinks the digital and physical worlds. Drawing upon users' knowledge and skills of interaction with the real non-digital world, TUIs show a potential to enhance the way in which people interact with and leverage digital information. However, TUI research is still in its infancy and extensive research is required in or- der to fully understand the implications of tangible user interfaces, to develop technologies that further bridge the digital and the physical, and to guide TUI design with empirical knowledge. This paper examines the existing body of work on Tangible User In- terfaces. We start by sketching the history of tangible user interfaces, examining the intellectual origins of this field. We then present TUIs in a broader context, survey application domains, and review frame- works and taxonomies. We also discuss conceptual foundations of TUIs including perspectives from cognitive sciences, phycology, and philoso- phy. Methods and technologies for designing, building, and evaluating TUIs are also addressed. Finally, we discuss the strengths and limita- tions of TUIs and chart directions for future research

Scalable system for smart urban transport management

Efficient management of smart transport systems requires the integration of various sensing technologies, as well as fast processing of a high volume of heterogeneous data, in order to perform smart analytics of urban networks in real time. However, dynamic response that relies on intelligent demand-side transport management is particularly challenging due to the increasing flow of transmitted sensor data. In this work, a novel smart service-driven, adaptable middleware architecture is proposed to acquire, store, manipulate, and integrate information from heterogeneous data sources in order to deliver smart analytics aimed at supporting strategic decision-making. The architecture offers adaptive and scalable data integration services for acquiring and processing dynamic data, delivering fast response time, and offering data mining and machine learning models for real-time prediction, combined with advanced visualisation techniques. The proposed solution has been implemented and validated, demonstrating its ability to provide real-time performance on the existing, operational, and large-scale bus network of a European capital city

Using Mobile Augmented Reality to Enhance Health Professional Practice Education

The use of augmented reality (AR) as a new multimedia networking technology is increasing. An investigation was made of the value of using AR as a tool to support the teaching of clinical practice skills. A series of mobile AR resources were created for use on tablet computers and smartphones to supplement clinical skills teaching in the laboratory (using image recognition), and clinical practice (using geolocation). Undergraduate students in nursing, physiotherapy, and occupational therapy tested these resources in lab sessions, a location-based campus exercise, and during clinical practice experiences. Following this, a post-exposure web survey and focus group interviews were undertaken to appraise the value of these tools. Results demonstrated that the potential for students to use technologies they already possess in AR based m-learning may offer significant advantages, and offer a practical technique to engage learners. However, these technologies remain in an early stage of development and more robust implementations and sustainable platforms are required for mainstream educational use

Infraestructure readiness for autonomous vehicles

This study is aimed at identifying the major challenges in the infraestructure design, operation and maintenance to allow the implementation of Autonomous Vehicles in interurban and urban road network

Toward a conceptual framework for designing sustainable cyber-physical system architectures: A systematic mapping study

Cyber-physical systems (CPS) represent devices whose components enable interaction between machines and processes. One of the biggest challenges of these systems today is the ability to adjust to changes at the time of execution as they are implemented in environments with a multidimensional complexity, this challenge is currently addressed from the design of the systems themselves by integrating sustainability. With this problem in mind, the present document describes a systematic mapping study of the literature with the goal of demonstrating the current panorama of the frameworks, designs, and/or models used at the time of initiating the development of a cyber-physical system. As a result, it has been concluded that there is a lack of guidelines to construct sustainable, and evolvable cyber-physical systems. To address these issues, a framework for designing sustainable CPS architectures is outlined

Knowledge, chivanhu and struggles for survival in conflict-torn Manicaland, Zimbabwe

Includes bibliographical references.This dissertation explored how villagers in a district of Manicaland province of Zimbabwe deeply affected by violence and want survived the violence that has characterised Zimbabwe’s most recent politics (from the year 2000). Marked by invasions of white owned farms, by interparty violence, interpersonal violence as well as witchcraft related violence, the period posed immense challenges to life and limb. Yet institutions of welfare, security and law enforcement were not equal to the task of ensuring survival necessitating questions about the sufficiency of “modern” institutions of law enforcement, media, politics, economy and health in guaranteeing survival in moments of want. How villagers survived the contexts of immense want, acute shortages of cash, basic commodities, formal unemployment levels of over ninety percent, hyperinflation (which in 2008 reached over 231 million percent) and direct physical violence is cause for wonder for scholarship of everyday life. Based on ethnographic data gathered over a period of fifteen months, the dissertation interrogates how villagers survived these challenges. Unlike much scholarship on Zimbabwe’s ‘crisis’, it takes seriously matters of knowing and ontology with respect to chivanhu (erroneously understood as “tradition” of the Shona people)

Urban Growth Dynamics : Analysis of the Evolution Process of Small Urban Centres in Developing Countries

Despite the fact that small urban centres accommodate the largest share of urban population, in most developing countries small urban centres are neglected by urban analysts. This means there is inadequate information on their growth characteristics and patterns of land use development.The overall aim of this study is to explore the growth, land use and socio-economic characteristics of small urban areas in developing countries, to inform policies and theory. The study used coding and SPSS techniques to analyse data from the in-depth study of a single case study area. Tools and methods for data collection included mapping, household surveys, document review, storytelling, in-depth interviews and observation in the field.The results indicate that the growth of interactions with other centres, the way people access and develop land, and rapid spontaneous growth of settlements are key factors affecting the emergence of different land use categories, while patterns of settlement growth also reflect the uneven provision of basic services. Theoretically, the study supports the propositions regarding land replacement and patterns of settlement development, while challenging assumptions about socio-economic segregation. The thesis contributes to knowledge on the evolution of settlements and their dynamics, changing settlement patterns, and land use reorganisation

Going Beyong the Third Grade Science Kit: An Integrated Thematic Approach

A project has been developed to aid in the design of a third grade science program and/or to be used as a supplement to any existing third grade science curriculum. The project has been organized into fourteen lesson plans. Each lesson plan includes an overview of the lesson, student learning objectives matched to the Washington State Essential Academic Learning Requirements, activities, a list of required materials, an outline of instruction, and the name of a trade book to compliment the lesson. Current literature and research regarding the topic of integrated curriculum were explored