Kernel Graph Convolutional Neural Networks

Graph kernels have been successfully applied to many graph classification problems. Typically, a kernel is first designed, and then an SVM classifier is trained based on the features defined implicitly by this kernel. This two-stage approach decouples data representation from learning, which is suboptimal. On the other hand, Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) have the capability to learn their own features directly from the raw data during training. Unfortunately, they cannot handle irregular data such as graphs. We address this challenge by using graph kernels to embed meaningful local neighborhoods of the graphs in a continuous vector space. A set of filters is then convolved with these patches, pooled, and the output is then passed to a feedforward network. With limited parameter tuning, our approach outperforms strong baselines on 7 out of 10 benchmark datasets.Comment: Accepted at ICANN '1

Intercultural Education and ADHD: Τhe Use of Virtual Reality as a Means of Intervention and Assessment

People are looking to the digital world for solutions to the challenges they face in their everyday lives, as technology continues to advance rapidly. People with impairments now have equal access to learning opportunities due to technological advancements. ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) has become more prevalent among children and teenagers from ethnic minorities in recent years. Due to challenges with cognitive and metacognitive functioning, this condition is associated with various learning and behavioral difficulties. People can only assimilate into the social environment once they have developed these functions. Children can learn alternative techniques to manage their cognitive deficiencies and adapt to various contexts by developing self-awareness, self-regulation, and self-control through internal attention. With the rapid advancement of research, numerous medical and psychological approaches have been developed for the treatment of ADHD, significantly assisting in the management of symptoms. The current study examines different therapeutic strategies aimed at improving the quality of life for children from racial and ethnic minorities who are affected by ADHD. These strategies include video games with virtual reality (VR) environments

The influence of nature on secondary school students’ subjective well-being in England and Greece

The main aim of this thesis is to investigate the potential benefits of affiliation with nature on British and Greek secondary school students’ positive functioning, and the variations in relation to climate and geography conditions. Particular emphasis is given on the role of schools' environmental education programs and activities. Following the contemporary positive psychology theory, we have focused on two main well-being conceptualizations: (i) the hedonic (or so-called subjective well-being), i.e. life satisfaction/happiness, and (ii) the eudaimonic, i.e. personal growth/flourishing life. A wide range of objective and subjective indicators have been used to represent various environmental parameters. The subjective indicators include students’ perceptions about the surrounding environment, their experiential exposure to nature (participation in outdoor sports, excursions to nature, etc.), environmental attitudes, values and knowledge, while the objective indicators assess the local climate and geographical characteristics, such as average annual temperature, wind and precipitation, altitude, distance from sea, rural vs. urban areas, and local environmental conditions, such as air pollution, proximity to heavy industries and airports, and proximity to areas of outstanding natural beauty. The study employs a quantitative survey approach (paper and internet based) to collect cross-sectional data from various lower and upper secondary schools across the two countries. A sample of 3614 students (aged between 14 and 19 years old) from 94 Greek secondary schools and 527 students (aged between 12 and 19 years old) from 15 English secondary schools have been collected during the academic years 2010-2011 and 2011-2012. The statistical analysis is mainly based on OLS and ordered logistic regressions with clustered standard errors, to control for intraclass correlation among the respodents. The findings highlight the significant effect of connectedness with nature on subjective and eudaimonic well-being, and the beneficial role of environmental education in promoting overall life satisfaction, school satisfaction and eudaimonia, either directly or indirectly through the enhancement of connectedness with nature

The impact of mobility patterns on the efficiency of data forwarding in MANETs

One of the most challenging requirements in cutting-edge Mobile Ad hoc Networks is the need for adaptive and efficient routing. Networks capable of adapting their behavior based on current conditions are often characterized as self-organizing networks, which are lately considered very promising for future applications. This work examines the impact of the different mobility properties on the performance of self-organizing networks. For that purpose, a simulator was developed to model different mobility patterns and study the way they affect the effectiveness of the well-known AODV routing protocol. Particularly, this paper focuses on the effect of the different mobility schemes on network topology and consequently to the overall network performance. The results reveal the tight correlations between node mobility characteristics and network metrics