Social networking has increased drastically in recent years, resulting in an increased amount of data being created daily. Furthermore, diversity of issues and complexity of the social networks pose a challenge in social network mining. Traditional algorithm software cannot deal with such complex and vast amounts of data, necessitating the development of novel analytic approaches and tools. This reference work deals with social network aspects of big data analytics. It covers theory, practices and challenges in social networking. The book spans numerous disciplines like neural networking, deep learning, artificial intelligence, visualization, e-learning in higher education, e-healthcare, security and intrusion detection.

This book covers techniques that can be used to analyze data from IoT sensors and addresses questions regarding the performance of an IoT system. It strikes a balance between practice and theory so one can learn how to apply these tools in practice with a good understanding of their inner workings. This is an introductory book for readers who have no familiarity with these techniques. The techniques presented in An Introduction to IoT Analytics come from the areas of machine learning, statistics, and operations research. Machine learning techniques are described that can be used to analyze IoT data generated from sensors for clustering, classification, and regression. The statistical techniques described can be used to carry out regression and forecasting of IoT sensor data and dimensionality reduction of data sets. Operations research is concerned with the performance of an IoT system by constructing a model of the system under study and then carrying out a what-if analysis. The book also describes simulation techniques. Key Features IoT analytics is not just machine learning but also involves other tools, such as forecasting and simulation techniques. Many diagrams and examples are given throughout the book to fully explain the material presented. Each chapter concludes with a project designed to help readers better understand the techniques described. The material in this book has been class tested over several semesters. Practice exercises are included with solutions provided online at www.routledge.com/9780367686314 Harry G. Perros is a Professor of Computer Science at North Carolina State University, an Alumni Distinguished Graduate Professor, and an IEEE Fellow. He has published extensively in the area of performance modeling of computer and communication systems.

This book covers techniques that can be used to analyze data from IoT sensors and addresses questions regarding the performance of an IoT system. It strikes a balance between practice and theory so one can learn how to apply these tools in practice with a good understanding of their inner workings. This is an introductory book for readers who have no familiarity with these techniques. The techniques presented in An Introduction to IoT Analytics come from the areas of machine learning, statistics, and operations research. Machine learning techniques are described that can be used to analyze IoT data generated from sensors for clustering, classification, and regression. The statistical techniques described can be used to carry out regression and forecasting of IoT sensor data and dimensionality reduction of data sets. Operations research is concerned with the performance of an IoT system by constructing a model of the system under study and then carrying out a what-if analysis. The book also describes simulation techniques. Key Features IoT analytics is not just machine learning but also involves other tools, such as forecasting and simulation techniques. Many diagrams and examples are given throughout the book to fully explain the material presented. Each chapter concludes with a project designed to help readers better understand the techniques described. The material in this book has been class tested over several semesters. Practice exercises are included with solutions provided online at www.routledge.com/9780367686314 Harry G. Perros is a Professor of Computer Science at North Carolina State University, an Alumni Distinguished Graduate Professor, and an IEEE Fellow. He has published extensively in the area of performance modeling of computer and communication systems.

Urban Sensographies views the human body as a highly nuanced sensor to explore how various performance-based methods can be implemented to gather usable 'felt data' about the environment of the city as the basis for creating embodied mappings. The contributors to this fascinating volume seek to draw conclusions about the constitution, character and morphology of urban space as public, habitable and sustainable by monitoring the reactions of the human body as a form of urban sensor. This co-authored book is centrally concerned, as a symptom of the degree to which cities are evolving in the 21st century, to examine the effects of this change on the practices and behaviours of urban dwellers. This takes into account such factors as: defensible, retail and consumer space; legacies of modernist design in the built environment; the effects of surveillance technologies, motorised traffic and smart phone use; the integration of 'wild' as well as 'domesticated' nature in urban planning and living; and the effects of urban pollution on the earth's climate. Drawing on three years of funded practical research carried out by a multi-medial team of researchers and artists, this book analyses the presence and movement of the human body in urban space, which is essential reading for academics and practitioners in the fields of dance, film, visual art, sound technology, digital media and performance studies.

This book aims to provide the latest research developments and results in the domain of AI techniques for smart cyber ecosystems. It presents a holistic insight into AI-enabled theoretic approaches and methodology in IoT networking, security analytics using AI tools and network automation, which ultimately enable intelligent cyber space. This book will be a valuable resource for students, researchers, engineers and policy makers working in various areas related to cybersecurity and privacy for Smart Cities. This book includes chapters titled "An Overview of the Artificial Intelligence Evolution and Its Fundamental Concepts, and Their Relationship with IoT Security", "Smart City: Evolution and Fundamental Concepts", "Advances in AI-Based Security for Internet of Things in Wireless Virtualization Environment", "A Conceptual Model for Optimal Resource Sharing of Networked Microgrids Focusing Uncertainty: Paving Path to Eco-friendly Smart Cities", "A Novel Framework for a Cyber Secure Smart City", "Contemplating Security Challenges and Threats for Smart Cities", "Self-Monitoring Obfuscated IoT Network", "Introduction to Side Channel Attacks and Investigation of Power Analysis and Fault Injection Attack Techniques", "Collaborative Digital Forensic Investigations Model for Law Enforcement: Oman as a Case Study", "Understanding Security Requirements and Challenges in the Industrial Internet of Things: A Review", "5G Security and the Internet of Things", "The Problem of Deepfake Videos and How to Counteract Them in Smart Cities", "The Rise of Ransomware Aided by Vulnerable IoT Devices", "Security Issues in Self-Driving Cars within Smart Cities", and "Trust-Aware Crowd Associated Network-Based Approach for Optimal Waste Management in Smart Cities". This book provides state-of-the-art research results and discusses current issues, challenges, solutions and recent trends related to security and organization within IoT and Smart Cities. We expect this book to be of significant importance not only to researchers and practitioners in academia, government agencies and industries, but also for policy makers and system managers. We anticipate this book to be a valuable resource for all those working in this new and exciting area, and a "must have" for all university libraries.

This new volume looks at the electrifying world of blockchain technology and how it has been revolutionizing the Internet of Things and cyber-physical systems. Aimed primarily at business users and developers who are considering blockchain-based projects, the volume provides a comprehensive introduction to the theoretical and practical aspects of blockchain technology. It presents a selection of chapters on topics that cover new information on blockchain and bitcoin security, IoT security threats and attacks, privacy issues, fault-tolerance mechanisms, and more. Some major software packages are discussed, and it also addresses the legal issues currently affecting the field. The information presented here is relevant to current and future problems relating to blockchain technology and will provide the tools to build efficient decentralized applications. Blockchain technology and the IoT can profoundly change how the world-and businesses-work, and this book provides a window into the current world of blockchain. No longer limited to just Bitcoin, blockchain technology has spread into many sectors and into a significant number of different technologies.

This book covers challenges and solutions in establishing Industry 4.0 standards for Internet of Things. It proposes a clear view about the role of Internet of Things in establishing standards. The sensor design for industrial problem, challenges faced, and solutions are all addressed. The concept of digital twin and complexity in data analytics for predictive maintenance and fault prediction is also covered. The book is aimed at existing problems faced by the industry at present, with the goal of cost-efficiency and unmanned automation. It also concentrates on predictive maintenance and predictive failures. In addition, it includes design challenges and a survey of literature.

This book teaches beginners and aspiring game developers how to develop 2D games with Unity. Thousands of commercial games have been built with Unity. The reader will learn the complete process of 2D game development, step by step. The theory behind each step is fully explained. This book contains numerous color illustrations and access to all source code and companion videos. Key Features: Fully detailed game projects from scratch. Beginners can do the steps and create games right away. No coding experience is necessary. Numerous examples take a raw beginner toward professional coding proficiency in C# and Unity. Includes a thorough introduction to Unity 2020, including 2D game development, prefabs, cameras, animation, character controllers, lighting, and sound. Includes a step-by-step introduction to Unity 2019.3. Extensive coverage of GIMP, Audacity, and MuseScore for the creation of 2D graphics, sound effects, and music. All required software is free to use for any purpose including commercial applications and games. Franz Lanzinger is the owner and chief game developer of Lanzinger Studio, an independent game development and music studio in Sunnyvale, California. He started his career in game programming in 1982 at Atari Games, Inc., where he designed and programmed the classic arcade game Crystal Castles. In 1989, he joined Tengen, where he was a programmer and designer for Ms. Pac-Man and Toobin' on the NES. He co-founded Bitmasters, where he designed and coded games including Rampart and Championship Pool for the NES and SNES, and NCAA Final Four Basketball for the SNES and Sega Genesis. In 1996, he founded Actual Entertainment, publisher and developer of the Gubble video game series. He has a B.Sc. in mathematics from the University of Notre Dame and attended graduate school in mathematics at the University of California at Berkeley. He is a former world record holder on Centipede and Burgertime. He is a professional author, game developer, accompanist, and piano teacher. He is currently working on remaking the original Gubble game in Unity and Blender.

The Joy of Photoshop is the long-awaited book from the social media sensation James Fridman. Have you ever taken a seemingly perfect picture only to have it ruined by one tiny detail? Photoshop master James Fridman is only too happy to help, even if he sometimes takes requests a little too literally. The Joy of Photoshop contains James's best-loved and funniest image alterations. From the woman who wished to look like a mermaid, to super-fans who want to be edited into their favourite movies, his followers never get quite what they asked for. Including plenty of never-before-seen pictures, this meme-tastic book will have you in stitches!

Cloud computing is becoming the next revolution in the IT industry; providing central storage for internet data and services that have the potential to bring data transmission performance, security and privacy, data deluge, and inefficient architecture to the next level. Enabling the New Era of Cloud Computing: Data Security, Transfer, and Management discusses cloud computing as an emerging technology and its critical role in the IT industry upgrade and economic development in the future. This book is an essential resource for business decision makers, technology investors, architects and engineers, and cloud consumers interested in the cloud computing future.

Private online digital currency systems offer people accessible, convenient, and inexpensive everyday financial tools outside of traditional bank-owned and operated platforms. Digital currency systems facilitate local and international fund transfers, online and offline payments, and simple cash-to-digital everyday financial products without the need for a conventional bank account of any retail bank product. Over the past several years, Bitcoin has grown into an efficient person-to-person and person-to-business payment system without the backing of any bank or financial institution. This phenomenon is producing a new level of an on- and offline commerce and a society much more attuned to digital currency systems. The Digital Currency Challenge details how new 2007-2008 U.S. legal issues surrounding digital currency products forced companies from the U.S. market and caused the Treasury Department to enact stricter regulations. Mullan profiles new and innovative present day digital currency systems, such as Bitcoin, and illustrates how software designers and monetary theorists use new technology to circumvent current U.S. regulations. This work also explains how new digital currency systems are not just software products, but tools providing financial freedom to people in countries all around the world.

Literature and the Internet is the only Internet guide written for literature. It begins with a practical introduction on finding, navigating, and using literary sites. Later chapters focus on issues such as plagiarism, citation, website evaluation, the use of Internet sites in literature courses, and the technical, scholarly and professional issues raised by the advent of the Internet. The book concludes with a chapter on the cultural implications of the Internet for literary studies.
Literature and the Internet includes an annotated bibliography of Internet sources (with URLs) that introduces readers to hundreds of sites to explore on their own. No special training in computer technology or software is required.

Provides the fundamentals of cloud computing; Focuses on new applications for cloud computing; Analyzes real-time problems

Visualizing with Text uncovers the rich palette of text elements usable in visualizations from simple labels through to documents. Using a multidisciplinary research effort spanning across fields including visualization, typography, and cartography, it builds a solid foundation for the design space of text in visualization. The book illustrates many new kinds of visualizations, including microtext lines, skim formatting, and typographic sets that solve some of the shortcomings of well-known visualization techniques. Key features: More than 240 illustrations to aid inspiration of new visualizations Eight new approaches to data visualization leveraging text Quick reference guide for visualization with text Builds a solid foundation extending current visualization theory Bridges between visualization, typography, text analytics, and natural language processing The author website, including teaching exercises and interactive demos and code, can be found here. Designers, developers, and academics can use this book as a reference and inspiration for new approaches to visualization in any application that uses text.

This book discusses the use of the internet in China, the complicated power relations in online political communications, and the interactions and struggles between the government and the public over the use of the internet. It argues that there is a "semi-structured" online public sphere, in which there is a certain amount of equal and liberal political communication, but that the online political debates are also limited by government control and censorship, as well as by inequality and exclusions, and moreover that the government rarely engages in the political debates. Based on extensive original research, and considering specific debates around particular issues, the book analyses how Chinese net-users debate about political issues, how they problematize the government's actions and policies, what language they use, what online discourses are produced, and how the debates and online discourses are limited. Overall, the book provides a rich picture of the current state of online political communication in China.

Data storage, processing, and management at remote location over dynamic networks is the most challenging task in cloud networks. Users' expectations are very high for data accuracy, reliability, accessibility, and availability in pervasive cloud environment. It was the core motivation for the Cloud Networks Internet of Things (CNIoT). The exponential growth of the networks and data management in CNIoT must be implemented in fast growing service sectors such as logistic and enterprise management. The network based IoT works as a bridge to fill the gap between IT and cloud networks, where data is easily accessible and available. This book provides a framework for the next generation of cloud networks, which is the emerging part of 5G partnership projects. This contributed book has following salient features, A cloud-based next generation networking technologies. Cloud-based IoT and mobility management technology. The proposed book is a reference for research scholars and course supplement for cloud-IoT related subjects such as distributed networks in computer/ electrical engineering. Sanjay Kumar Biswash is working as an Assistant professor in NIIT University, India. He held Research Scientist position, Institute of Cybernetics, National Research Tomsk Polytechnic University, Russia. He was PDF at LNCC, Brazil and SDSU, USA. He was a visiting researcher to the UC, Portugal. Sourav Kanti Addya is working as an Assistant professor in NITK, Surathkal, India. He was a PDF at IIT Kharagpur, India. He was a visiting scholar at SDSU, USA. He obtained national level GATE scholarship. He is a member of IEEE, ACM.

"I don't even help [my children] with their homework in the evening because I'm in the chat rooms, and I don't help put them to bed because I don't realize how late it is. I also don't help them get ready for school in the morning like I used to do because I'm checking my e-mail. And I just can't stop myself."—Raymond, an Internet addict.

Internet addiction is real. Like alcoholism, drug addiction, or compulsive gambling, it has devastating effects on the lives of addicts and their families: divorce, job loss, falling productivity at work, failure in school, and, in extreme cases, criminal behavior. The problem has already reached epidemic proportions in the United States, and the number of "netaholics" continues to grow rapidly as more households and businesses go on-line. Yet, until now, no one from the mental health community has come forward with a specific description of Internet addiction and its effects or a strategy for treatment and recovery.

In Caught in the Net, Kimberly Young shares the results of her three-year study of Internet abuse. Often using the words of the Internet addicts themselves, she presents the stories of dozens of lives that were shattered by an overwhelming compulsion to surf the Net, play MUD games, or chat with distant and invisible neighbors in the timeless limbo of cyberspace.

Why is the Internet so seductive? What are the warning signs of Internet addiction? Is recovery possible? Dr. Young answers these questions and many more. She provides a questionnaire to help Net users determine whether they are addicts, and offers concrete steps to help problem users regulate Internet usage and devise a more balanced place for it in their daily lives.

For Internet addicts as well as their parents, spouses, friends, and employers, Caught in the Net offers guidance on where and how to seek help from counselors, therapists, and other professionals who take this affliction seriously. For mental health professionals, this book provides insights into the nature and causes of Internet addiction and encourages counselors and therapists to expand their addiction recovery programs to address the specific problems of Internet addicts.

"Think that computer addiction is a joke? Think again. This groundbreaking book is the first to explore on-line addiction in a serious way and to consider the effects on individuals and their families. Caught in the Net is an important book for anyone who spends mornings and evenings connected to the Net."—Clifford Stoll, author of The Cuckoo's Egg and Silicon Snake Oil.

"An excellent account of the dangers of the burgeoning Internet industry. Dr. Young carefully outlines the traps into which people can fall and offers pragmatic self-help suggestions. Caught in the Net is valuable for both consumers and the professionals who deal with them."—Maressa Hecht Orzack, PhD, Founder and Coordinator, Computer Addiction Services, McLean Hospital Lecturer, Harvard University Medical School

"I don't mean to spend all my time this way, but I can't stop. It's the only place my opinion matters and I feel important."—bob&atsign;age38.automechanic.internet.addict

"I feel guilty about it, but when I tried to break free, I simply didn't have the strength....I'm a long-time smoker, but I've found the craving to go on the Internet first thing every morning is stronger than my urge to light a cigarette."—marylou&atsign;age40.motheroffour.internet.addict

"When you're talking about the Internet, you're talking about power. It's the most powerful information tool I have ever known. When I explore the on-line world, I feel like that robot in the movie Short Circuit. I need more input! More input!"—dave&atsign;age28.militarytelecommunicationsexpert.internet.addict

"I feel the rush every time my mind gets connected to this intensely powerful information whirlpool. When I enter cyberspace, I become one with my mind. It's like Mr. Spock doing the Vulcan mind meld."—josh&atsign;age29.computerprogrammer.internet.addict

itt.edu and view her website at: www.netaddiction.com.

This book provides an overview of disability exceptions to copyright infringement and the international and human rights legal framework for disability rights and exceptions. The focus is on those exceptions as they apply to visual art, while the book presents a comprehensive study of copyright's disability exceptions per se and the international and human rights law framework in which they are situated. 3D printing now allows people with a visual impairment to experience 3D reproductions of paintings, drawings and photographs through touch. At the same time, the uncertain application of existing disability exceptions to these reproductions may generate concerns about legal risk, hampering sensory art projects and reducing inclusivity and equity in cultural engagement by people with a visual impairment. The work adopts an interdisciplinary approach, with contributions from diverse stakeholders, including persons with disabilities, cultural institutions and the 3D printing industry. The book sketches the scene relating to sensory art projects. Experts in intellectual property, human rights, disability and art law then critically analyse the current legal landscape relating to disability access to works of visual art at both international and regional levels, as well as across a broad representative sample of national jurisdictions, and identify where legal reform is required. This comparative analysis of the laws aims to better inform stakeholders of the applicable legal landscape, the legal risks and opportunities associated with sensory art and the opportunities for reform and best practice guidelines, with the overarching goal of facilitating international harmonisation of the law and enhanced inclusivity.

Developing Semantic Web Services is "well-informed about work on WS [Web Services] and the SemWeb [Semantic Web], and in particular . . . understand[s] OWL-S . . . very well . . .. Also, the book . . . fill[s] a need that, to my knowledge, hasn't been met at all." ---David Martin, editor OWL-S Coalition The inventor of the World Wide Web, Tim Berners-Lee, is also the originator of the next generation Web architecture, the Semantic Web. Currently, his World Wide Web consortium (W3C) team works to develop, extend, and standardize the Web's markup languages and tools. The objective of the Semantic Web Architecture is to provide a knowledge representation of linked data in order to allow machine processing on a global scale. The W3C has developed a new generation of open standard markup languages which are now poised to unleash the power, flexibility, and above all---logic---of the next generation Web, as well as open the door to the next generation of Web Services. There are many ways in which the two areas of Web Services and the Semantic Web could interact to lead to the further development of Semantic Web Services. Berners-Lee has suggested that both of these technologies would benefit from integration that would combine the Semantic Web's meaningful content with Web Services' business logic. Areas such as UDDI and WSDL are ideally suited to be implemented using Semantic Web technology. In addition, SOAP could use RDF payloads, remote RDF query and updates, and interact with Semantic Web business rules engines, thereby laying the foundation for Semantic Web Services. This book presents the complete Language Pyramid of Web markup languages, including Resource Description Framework (RDF), Web Ontology Language (OWL) and OWL-Services (OWL-S) along with examples and software demos. The source code for the "Semantic Web Author," an Integrated Development Environment for Semantic Markup Languages is available on CD-ROM with the book.

The author of this book has identified the seven key emerging Internet-related technologies: Internet of things, smart everything, big data, cloud computing, cybersecurity, software-defined networking, and online education. Together these technologies are transformational and disruptive. This book provides researchers, students, and professionals a comprehensive introduction, applications, benefits, and challenges for each technology. It presents the impact of these cutting-edge technologies on our global economy and its future. The word "technology" refers to "collection of techniques, skills, methods, and processes used in the production of goods or services."

Welcome to the third volume of Game Audio Programming: Principles and Practices-the first series of its kind dedicated to the art and science of game audio programming. This volume contains 14 chapters from some of the top game audio programmers and sound designers in the industry. Topics range across game genres (ARPG, RTS, FPS, etc.), and from low-level topics such as DSP to high-level topics like using influence maps for audio. The techniques in this book are targeted at game audio programmers of all abilities, from newbies who are just getting into audio programming to seasoned veterans. All of the principles and practices in this book have been used in real shipping games, so they are all very practical and immediately applicable. There are chapters about split-screen audio, dynamic music improvisation, dynamic mixing, ambiences, DSPs, and more. This book continues the tradition of collecting modern, up-to-date knowledge and wisdom about game audio programming. So, whether you've been a game audio programmer for one year or ten years, or even if you've just been assigned the task and are trying to figure out what it's all about, this book is for you! Key Features Cutting-edge advanced game audio programming concepts with examples from real game audio engines Includes both high-level and low-level topics Practical code examples, math, and diagrams that you can apply directly to your game audio engine. Guy Somberg has been programming audio engines for his entire career. From humble beginnings writing a low-level audio mixer for slot machines, he quickly transitioned to writing game audio engines for all manner of games. He has written audio engines that shipped AAA games like Hellgate: London, Bioshock 2, The Sims 4, and Torchlight 3, as well as smaller titles like Minion Master, Tales from the Borderlands, and Game of Thrones. Guy has also given several talks at the Game Developer Conference, the Audio Developer Conference, and CppCon. When he's not programming or writing game audio programming books, he can be found at home reading, playing video games, and playing the flute.

Analyzing and Securing Social Networks focuses on the two major technologies that have been developed for online social networks (OSNs): (i) data mining technologies for analyzing these networks and extracting useful information such as location, demographics, and sentiments of the participants of the network, and (ii) security and privacy technologies that ensure the privacy of the participants of the network as well as provide controlled access to the information posted and exchanged by the participants. The authors explore security and privacy issues for social media systems, analyze such systems, and discuss prototypes they have developed for social media systems whose data are represented using semantic web technologies. These experimental systems have been developed at The University of Texas at Dallas. The material in this book, together with the numerous references listed in each chapter, have been used for a graduate-level course at The University of Texas at Dallas on analyzing and securing social media. Several experimental systems developed by graduate students are also provided. The book is divided into nine main sections: (1) supporting technologies, (2) basics of analyzing and securing social networks, (3) the authors' design and implementation of various social network analytics tools, (4) privacy aspects of social networks, (5) access control and inference control for social networks, (6) experimental systems designed or developed by the authors on analyzing and securing social networks, (7) social media application systems developed by the authors, (8) secure social media systems developed by the authors, and (9) some of the authors' exploratory work and further directions.

Get beyond the basics and see how modern-day users are reimaging the SEO process SEO is often underutilized and overlooked across the marketing realm today. SEO is not merely trying to improve your website ranking on Google, but it can spark and optimize ideas. Above all it can help improve the amount of free traffic coming to your web properties. This book provides you with a comprehensive approach to make sure marketing spend is utilized as effectively as possible and deliver the best ROI for your brand and business. Maximizing your organic (free) traffic channels should be a top priority and this book will provide you with insight on how to do that. From working with social media influencers to steering creative ideas and campaigns, modern day SEO requires a full-service perspective of marketing and its processes. General education on SEO and organic content marking Understanding which search engines to focus on How SEO and content can solve business problems Building a new brand through SEO and content Identifying who your true competitors are Which Analytics reports you should be regularly monitoring How to establish research channels that can inform your business initiatives Building personas and audience purchase journeys Prioritizing locations, demographics and countries What needs to be in place to maximize free traffic levels to your brands assets Understanding all the key tasks and attributes for an effective content program Data-Driven Content: Detailed instruction on how to use data to inform content responses, ideas and asset types Understanding different content asset types from standard items like articles to highly advanced assets like films, podcasts, white papers and other assets Calculating ROI for SEO and Content initiatives Small business marketing via content and SEO and having the right small business mindset for success Website and content design considerations (accessibility, principles of marketing) Optimizing for the future and looking at other search venues Amazon Optimization YouTube Optimization App Store Optimization (ASO) Podcast Optimization Optimizing Blogs and other off-site content Prepping and optimizing for the newest technologies, including voice search, artificial intelligence, and content discovery vehicles How to build an optimization path and programs that drive results and manage risks In addition to learning the most effective processes to structure your SEO, you will have access to bonus materials that accompany this book which will include worksheets, checklists, creative brief examples, quizzes, and best interview questions when hiring an SEO specialist. Modern-day marketers, business owners, and brand managers, this book is for you!

In this book, the authors first address the research issues by providing a motivating scenario, followed by the exploration of the principles and techniques of the challenging topics. Then they solve the raised research issues by developing a series of methodologies. More specifically, the authors study the query optimization and tackle the query performance prediction for knowledge retrieval. They also handle unstructured data processing, data clustering for knowledge extraction. To optimize the queries issued through interfaces against knowledge bases, the authors propose a cache-based optimization layer between consumers and the querying interface to facilitate the querying and solve the latency issue. The cache depends on a novel learning method that considers the querying patterns from individual's historical queries without having knowledge of the backing systems of the knowledge base. To predict the query performance for appropriate query scheduling, the authors examine the queries' structural and syntactical features and apply multiple widely adopted prediction models. Their feature modelling approach eschews the knowledge requirement on both the querying languages and system. To extract knowledge from unstructured Web sources, the authors examine two kinds of Web sources containing unstructured data: the source code from Web repositories and the posts in programming question-answering communities. They use natural language processing techniques to pre-process the source codes and obtain the natural language elements. Then they apply traditional knowledge extraction techniques to extract knowledge. For the data from programming question-answering communities, the authors make the attempt towards building programming knowledge base by starting with paraphrase identification problems and develop novel features to accurately identify duplicate posts. For domain specific knowledge extraction, the authors propose to use a clustering technique to separate knowledge into different groups. They focus on developing a new clustering algorithm that uses manifold constraints in the optimization task and achieves fast and accurate performance. For each model and approach presented in this dissertation, the authors have conducted extensive experiments to evaluate it using either public dataset or synthetic data they generated.

The emergence of affordable micro sensors, such as MEMS Inertial Measurement Systems, are applied in embedded systems and Internet-of-Things devices. This has brought techniques such as Kalman Filtering, which are capable of combining information from multiple sensors or sources, to the interest of students and hobbyists. This book will explore the necessary background concepts, helping a much wider audience of readers develop an understanding and intuition that will enable them to follow the explanation for the Kalman Filtering algorithm. Key Features: Provides intuitive understanding of Kalman Filtering approach Succinct overview of concepts to enhance accessibility and appeal to a wide audience Interactive learning techniques with code examples Malek Adjouadi, PhD, is Ware Professor with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Florida International University, Miami. He received his PhD from the Electrical Engineering Department at the University of Florida, Gainesville. He is the Founding Director of the Center for Advanced Technology and Education funded by the National Science Foundation. His earlier work on computer vision to help persons with blindness led to his testimony to the U.S. Senate on the committee of Veterans Affairs on the subject of technology to help persons with disabilities. His research interests are in imaging, signal processing and machine learning, with applications in brain research and assistive technology. Armando Barreto, PhD, is Professor of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at Florida International University, Miami, as well as the Director of FIU's Digital Signal Processing Laboratory, with more than 25 years of experience teaching DSP to undergraduate and graduate students. He earned his PhD in electrical engineering from the University of Florida, Gainesville. His work has focused on applying DSP techniques to the facilitation of human-computer interactions, particularly for the benefit of individuals with disabilities. He has developed human-computer interfaces based on the processing of signals and has developed a system that adds spatialized sounds to the icons in a computer interface to facilitate access by individuals with "low vision." With his research team, he has explored the use of Magnetic, Angular-Rate and Gravity (MARG) sensor modules and Inertial Measurement Units (IMUs) for human-computer interaction applications. He is a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). Francisco R. Ortega, PhD, is an Assistant Professor at Colorado State University and Director of the Natural User Interaction Lab (NUILAB). Dr. Ortega earned his PhD in Computer Science (CS) in the field of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and 3D User Interfaces (3DUI) from Florida International University (FIU). He also held a position of Post-Doc and Visiting Assistant Professor at FIU. His main research area focuses on improving user interaction in 3DUI by (a) eliciting (hand and full-body) gesture and multimodal interactions, (b) developing techniques for multimodal interaction, and (c) developing interactive multimodal recognition systems. His secondary research aims to discover how to increase interest for CS in non-CS entry-level college students via virtual and augmented reality games. His research has resulted in multiple peer-reviewed publications in venues such as ACM ISS, ACM SUI, and IEEE 3DUI, among others. He is the first-author of the CRC Press book Interaction Design for 3D User Interfaces: The World of Modern Input Devices for Research, Applications and Game Development. Nonnarit O-larnnithipong, PhD, is an Instructor at Florida International University. Dr. O-larnnithipong earned his PhD in Electrical Engineering, majoring in Digital Signal Processing from Florida International University (FIU). He also held a position of Post-Doctoral Associate at FIU in 2019. His research has focused on (1) implementing the sensor fusion algorithm to improve orientation measurement using MEMS inertial and magnetic sensors and (2) developing a 3D hand motion tracking system using Inertial Measurement Units (IMUs) and infrared cameras. His research has resulted in multiple peer-reviewed publications in venues such as HCI-International and IEEE Sensors.