Games and simulations have emerged as new and effective tools for educational learning by providing interactivity and integration with online resources that are typically unavailable with traditional educational resources. Design, Utilization, and Analysis of Simulations and Game-Based Educational Worlds presents developments and evaluations of games and computer-mediated simulations in order to showcase a better understanding of the role of electronic games in multiple studies. This book is useful for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers to gain a deeper comprehension of the relationship between research and practice of electronic gaming and simulations in the educational environment.

Changes and additions are sprinkled throughout. Among the significant new features are: * Markov-chain simulation (Sections 1. 3, 2. 6, 3. 6, 4. 3, 5. 4. 5, and 5. 5); * gradient estimation (Sections 1. 6, 2. 5, and 4. 9); * better handling of asynchronous observations (Sections 3. 3 and 3. 6); * radically updated treatment of indirect estimation (Section 3. 3); * new section on standardized time series (Section 3. 8); * better way to generate random integers (Section 6. 7. 1) and fractions (Appendix L, program UNIFL); * thirty-seven new problems plus improvements of old problems. Helpful comments by Peter Glynn, Barry Nelson, Lee Schruben, and Pierre Trudeau stimulated several changes. Our new random integer routine extends ideas of Aarni Perko. Our new random fraction routine implements Pierre L'Ecuyer's recommended composite generator and provides seeds to produce disjoint streams. We thank Springer-Verlag and its late editor, Walter Kaufmann-Bilhler, for inviting us to update the book for its second edition. Working with them has been a pleasure. Denise St-Michel again contributed invaluable text-editing assistance. Preface to the First Edition Simulation means driving a model of a system with suitable inputs and observing the corresponding outputs. It is widely applied in engineering, in business, and in the physical and social sciences.

As games become increasingly embedded into everyday life, understanding the ethics of their creation and use, as well as their potential for practicing ethical thinking, becomes more relevant. Designing Games for Ethics: Models, Techniques and Frameworks brings together the diverse and growing community of voices and begin to define the field, identify its primary challenges and questions, and establish the current state of the discipline. Such a rigorous, collaborative, and holistic foundation for the study of ethics and games is necessary to appropriately inform future games, policies, standards, and curricula.

"Elsevier's Dictionary of Computer Graphics" contains 10,540 terms with more than 2,600 cross-references that are commonly used in the theory and practice of computer graphics. Included are terms from all areas related to a) the theory of computer graphics - descriptive geometry, projective geometry, topology, fractal geometry, color science; and b) the practice of computer graphics - computer-aided design (CAD) systems, technical drawing, computer art, computer animation, business graphics, scientific visualization, virtual reality, graphical programming, image processing, graphical computer devices.

As well as the commonly used terms in the above-mentioned areas, the dictionary also includes terms that are currently coming into use, especially in the areas of computer-aided design systems, computer art, computer animation, virtual reality and graphical programming.

Elsevier's Dictionary of Computer Graphics will be a valuable tool for engineers, scientists, artists, students and for everyone who takes an interest in computer graphics.

1.1. INTRODUCTION Plastic covering, either framed or floating, is now used worldwide to protect crops from unfavorable growing conditions, such as severe weather and insects and birds. Protected cultivation in the broad sense, including mulching, has been widely spread by the innovation of plastic films. Paper, straw, and glass were the main materials used before the era of plastics. Utilization of plastics in agriculture started in the developed countries and is now spreading to the developing countries. Early utilization of plastic was in cold regions, and plastic was mainly used for protection from the cold. Now plastic is used also for protection from wind, insects and diseases. The use of covering techniques started with a simple system such as mulching, then row covers and small tunnels were developed, and finally plastic houses. Floating mulch was an exception to this sequence: it was introduced rather recently, although it is a simple structure. New development of functional and inexpensive films triggered widespread use of floating mulch. Table 1.1. The use a/plastic mulch in the world (after Jouet, 2001).

The book provides a unified presentation of algorithms for association rule and sequential pattern discovery. For both mining problems, the presentation relies on the lattice structure of the search space. All algorithms are built as processes running on this structure. Proving their properties takes advantage of the mathematical properties of the structure. Mining for association rules and sequential patterns is known to be a problem with large computational complexity. The issue of designing efficient parallel algorithms should be considered as critical. Most algorithms in the book are devised for both sequential and parallel execution. Parallel algorithm design takes advantage of the lattice structure of the search space. Partitioning is performed via lattice recursive bisection. Database partitioning is also used as an additional source of parallelism.Part of the motivation for writing this book was postgraduate teaching. Since the book only assumes elementary mathematical knowledge in the domains of lattices, combinatorial optimization, probability calculus, and statistics, it is fit for use by undergraduate students as well. The algorithms are described in a C-like pseudo programming language. The computations are shown in great detail. This makes the book also fit for use by implementers: computer scientists in many domains as well as industry engineers.

This book contains contributions presented during the international conference on Model-Based Reasoning (MBR012), held on June 21-23 in Sestri Levante, Italy. Interdisciplinary researchers discuss in this volume how scientific cognition and other kinds of cognition make use of models, abduction, and explanatory reasoning in order to produce important or creative changes in theories and concepts. Some of the contributions analyzed the problem of model-based reasoning in technology and stressed the issues of scientific and technological innovation. The book is divided in three main parts: models, mental models, representations; abduction, problem solving and practical reasoning; historical, epistemological and technological issues.

The volume is based on the papers that were presented at the international

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Mobile Computing Environments for Multimedia Systems brings together in one place important contributions and up-to-date research results in this fast moving area. Mobile Computing Environments for Multimedia Systems serves as an excellent reference, providing insight into some of the most challenging research issues in the field.

This book offers a new, theoretical approach to information dynamics, i.e., information processing in complex dynamical systems. The presentation establishes a consistent theoretical framework for the problem of discovering knowledge behind empirical, dynamical data and addresses applications in information processing and coding in dynamical systems. This will be an essential reference for those in neural computing, information theory, nonlinear dynamics and complex systems modeling.

This comprehensive book offers a full picture of the cutting edge technologies in the area of "Multimedia Retrieval and Management". It addresses graduate students and scientists in electrical engineering and in computer science as well as system designers, engineers, programmers and other technical managers in the IT industries. The book provides a complete set of theories and technologies necessary for a profound introduction to the field. It includes multimedia low-level feature extraction and high-level semantic description in addition to multimedia authentication and watermarking, and the most up-to-date MPEG-7 standard. A broad range of practical applications is covered, e.g., digital libraries, medical images, biometrics, human palm-print and face-for-security, living plants data management and video-on-demand service.

Today one of the hardest parts of computer aided design or analysis is first modeling the design, then recording and verifying it. For example, a typical vehicle such as a tank, automobile, ship or aircraft might be composed of tens of thousands of individual parts. Many of these parts are composed of cylinders, flats, and simple conic curves and surfaces such as are amenable to modeling using a constructive solid geometry (CSG) approach. However, especially with the increasing use of composite materials, many parts are designed using sculp tured surfaces. A marriage of these two techniques in now critical to continued development of computer aided design and analysis. Further, the graphical user interfaces used in most modeling systems are at best barely adequate to the required task. Critical work on these interfaces is required to continue pushing back the frontiers. Similarly, once the design is modeled, how are the varied and diverse pieces stored, retrieved, and modified? How are physical interferences prevented or eliminated? Although considerable progress has been made, there are still more questions and frustrations than answers. One of the fundamental problems of the 1990s is and will continue to be modeling. The second problem is interpretation. With the ever increasing computational power available, our ability to generate data far exceeds our ability to interpret, understand, and utilize that data.

Explorations in Art and Technology is about the creative process in action through the eyes of practitioners and researchers. The book explores the fascinating relationship between artist and technologist through studies of innovative projects that push the boundaries of digital art. The research sheds new light on the nature of interaction between people and computers and provides insight into the characteristics of environments in which creativity can be enhanced. In doing so, it presents a case for organisations to develop strategies for offering environments in which collaborative, sustainable partnerships can thrive. What emerges is a compelling story of new visions and new forms in a field that is set to transform traditional norms in both art and technology as we move through the 21st Century. Additional information and links are available at: http://www.creativityandcognition.com

Proceedings of the FISITA 2012 World Automotive Congress are selected from nearly 2,000 papers submitted to the 34th FISITA World Automotive Congress, which is held by Society of Automotive Engineers of China (SAE-China ) and the International Federation of Automotive Engineering Societies (FISITA). This proceedings focus on solutions for sustainable mobility in all areas of passenger car, truck and bus transportation. Volume 6: Vehicle Electronics focuses on: *Engine/Chassis/Body Electronic Control *Electrical and Electronic System *Software and Hardware Development *Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) *Vehicle Sensor and Actuator *In-Vehicle Network *Multi-Media/Infotainment System Above all researchers, professional engineers and graduates in fields of automotive engineering, mechanical engineering and electronic engineering will benefit from this book. SAE-China is a national academic organization composed of enterprises and professionals who focus on research, design and education in the fields of automotive and related industries. FISITA is the umbrella organization for the national automotive societies in 37 countries around the world. It was founded in Paris in 1948 with the purpose of bringing engineers from around the world together in a spirit of cooperation to share ideas and advance the technological development of the automobile.

It is said that business re-engineering is part of our transition to a post-industrial society. The purpose of this book is to present an approach to how to reorganize businesses using the discipline of software engineering as a guiding paradigm. The author's thesis is that software engineering provides the necessary analytical expertise for defining business processes and the tools to transform process descriptions to support systems.
The author begins by introducing the concepts and needs for business reengineering and principles and practice of software engineering. He then shows how by concentrating on processes, a business can define the information base required and how it is to be constructed. As a result, any manager or technically-minded person will learn how to implement the reengineering of a business.

Sir Francis Crick would undoubtedly be at the front of the line ordering this fascinating book. Being one of the discoverers of DNA, he would be amazed at how his work has been applied to mankind's most important invention, the computer. In this excellent text, the reader is given a comprehensive introduction to the field of DNA computing. The book emphasizes computational methods to tackle central problems of DNA computing, such as controlling living cells, building patterns, and generating nanomachines. It also includes laboratory-scale human-operated models of computation, as well as a description of the first experiment of DNA computation conducted by Adleman in 1994.

Deformable avatars are virtual humans that deform themselves during motion. This implies facial deformations, body deformations at joints, and global deformations. Simulating deformable avatars ensures a more realistic simulation of virtual humans. The research requires models for capturing of geometrie and kinematic data, the synthesis of the realistic human shape and motion, the parametrisation and motion retargeting, and several appropriate deformation models. Once a deformable avatar has been created and animated, the researcher must model high-level behavior and introduce agent technology. The book can be divided into 5 subtopics: 1. Motion capture and 3D reconstruction 2. Parametrie motion and retargeting 3. Musc1es and deformation models 4. Facial animation and communication 5. High-level behaviors and autonomous agents Most of the papers were presented during the IFIP workshop "DEFORM '2000" that was held at the University of Geneva in December 2000, followed by "A V AT ARS 2000" held at EPFL, Lausanne. The two workshops were sponsored by the "Troisu me Cycle Romand d'Informatique" and allowed participants to discuss the state of research in these important areas. x Preface We would like to thank IFIP for its support and Yana Lambert from Kluwer Academic Publishers for her advice. Finally, we are very grateful to Zerrin Celebi, who has prepared the edited version of this book and Dr. Laurent Moccozet for his collaboration."

Now students can master the nuances of Microsoft (R) Office quickly with ILLUSTRATED MICROSOFT (R) OFFICE 2019 & OFFICE 365 ADVANCED, part of today's popular Illustrated Series. This focused, user-friendly approach uses a proven two-page layout that allows students to work through an entire task without turning the page. Clear Learning Outcomes outline the skills for each lesson, while large full-color screen images reflect exactly what students see on their own computers. Each module begins with a brief overview of the principles covered in the lesson and introduces a real-world case scenario to engage students and reinforce critical skills to make them successful in their educational and professional careers. In addition, MindTap and updated SAM (Skills Assessment Manager) online resources are available to guide additional study and ensure successful results.

Learn how to paint on your iPad like the professionals in Beginner's Guide to Procreate, a comprehensive introduction to this industry-standard software. Accessible and versatile, Procreate is an ideal tool for anyone wanting to give digital painting a go. Step-by-step tutorials, quick tips, and inspiring artwork ensure you'll have all you need to create stunning concept art quickly and easily.

This volume provides an overview of multimedia data mining and knowledge discovery and discusses the variety of hot topics in multimedia data mining research. It describes the objectives and current tendencies in multimedia data mining research and their applications. Each part contains an overview of its chapters and leads the reader with a structured approach through the diverse subjects in the field.

ITIL(R) 4 Direct, Plan and ImproveIf you've achieved your ITIL(R) 4 Foundation certificate, you're probably planning the next stage in your ITIL journey and which qualification to work towards. DPI provides essential knowledge and capabilities for service management professionals, supporting those involved in directing or planning based on strategy and continual improvement - a must-have skillset practitioners should seek beyond Foundation level. DPI is the only one of the ITIL 4 advanced level courses that leads to both Managing Professional (MP) and Strategic Leader (SL) status. The module is aimed at managers and aspiring managers at all levels, providing them with the practical skills needed to improve themselves and their organisation by way of effective strategic direction and delivering continual improvement. An excellent supplement to any training courseITIL(R) 4 Direct, Plan and Improve (DPI) - Your companion to the ITIL 4 Managing Professional and Strategic Leader DPI certification is a study guide designed to help students pass the ITIL(R) 4 Direct, Plan and Improve module. The majority of this book is based on the AXELOS ITIL(R) 4: Direct, Plan and Improve publication and the associated DPI Strategist syllabus. It provides students with the information they need to pass the DPI exam, and help them become a successful practitioner. Suitable for existing ITIL v3 experts, ITIL 4 Managing Professional (MP) students, ITSM (IT service management) practitioners who are adopting ITIL 4, approved training organisations, IT service managers, IT managers and those in IT support roles, the book covers: Key concepts: Scope, key principles and methods; The role of governance, risk and compliance; Continual improvement; Organisational change management; Measurement and reporting; Value streams and practices; and Exam preparation. A useful tool throughout your careerIn addition to being an essential study aid, the author - a seasoned ITSM professional - also provides additional guidance throughout the book which you can lean on once your training and exam are over. The book includes her own practical experience from which she gives advice and points to think about along the way so that you can refer back to this book for years to come - long after you've passed your exam. The essential link between your ITIL qualification and the real world - buy this book today!ITIL(R) is a registered trade mark of AXELOS Limited. All rights reserved. This book is an official AXELOS licensed product.

This text compiles research from a vibrant social simulation community of researchers who have developed unique and innovative approaches to social simulation.

In 1982, Professor Pawlak published his seminal paper on what he called "rough sets" - a work which opened a new direction in the development of theories of incomplete information. Today, a decade and a half later, the theory of rough sets has evolved into a far-reaching methodology for dealing with a wide variety of issues centering on incompleteness and imprecision of information - issues which playa key role in the conception and design of intelligent information systems. "Incomplete Information: Rough Set Analysis" - or RSA for short - presents an up-to-date and highly authoritative account of the current status of the basic theory, its many extensions and wide-ranging applications. Edited by Professor Ewa Orlowska, one of the leading contributors to the theory of rough sets, RSA is a collection of nineteen well-integrated chapters authored by experts in rough set theory and related fields. A common thread that runs through these chapters ties the concept of incompleteness of information to those of indiscernibility and similarity.

This book provides insight and enhanced appreciation of analysis, modeling and control of dynamic systems. The reader is assumed to be familiar with calculus, physics and some programming skills. It might develop the reader's ability to interpret physical significance of mathematical results in system analysis. The book also prepares the reader for more advanced treatment of subsequent knowledge in the automatic control field. Learning objectives are performance-oriented, using for this purpose interactive MATLAB and SIMULINK software tools. It presents realistic problems in order to analyze, design and develop automatic control systems. Learning with computing tools can aid theory and help students to think, analyze and reason in meaningful ways. The book is also complemented with classroom slides and MATLAB and SIMULINK exercise files to aid students to focus on fundamental concepts treated.