Conventional database systems are designed for managing textual and numerical data, and retrieving such data is often based on simple comparisons of text/numerical values. However, this simple method of retrieval is no longer adequate for multimedia data, since the digitized representation of images, video, or data itself does not convey the reality of these media items. In addition, composite data consisting of heterogeneous types of data also associates with the semantic content acquired by a user's recognition. Therefore, content-based retrieval for multimedia data is realized taking such intrinsic features of multimedia data into account. Implementation of the content-based retrieval facility is not based on a single fundamental, but is closely related to an underlying data model, a priori knowledge of the area of interest, and the scheme for representing queries. This paper surveys recent studies on content-based retrieval for multimedia databases from the point of view of three fundamental issues. Throughout the discussion, we assume databases that manage only nontextual/numerical data, such as image or video, are also in the category of multimedia databases.

A survey on content-based retrieval for multimedia databases

To apply semiotics to organizational analysis and information systems design, it is essential to unite two basic concepts: the sign and the norm. A sign is anything that stands for something else for some community. A norm is a generalized disposition to the world shared by members of a community. When its condition is met, a norm generates a propositional attitude which may, but not necessarily will, affect the subject's behaviour. Norms reflect regularities in the behaviour of members in an organization, allowing them to coordinate their actions. Organized behaviour is norm-governed behaviour. Signs trigger the norms leading to more signs being produced. Both signs and norms lend themselves to empirical study. The focus in this paper is on the properties of norms since those for signs are relatively well known. The paper discusses a number of different taxonomies of norms: formal, informal, technical; evaluative, perceptual, behavioural, cognitive; structure, action; substantive, communication and control. A semiotic analysis of information systems is adduced in this paper from the social, pragmatic, semantic, syntactic, empiric and physical perspectives. The paper finally presents a semiotic approach to information systems design, by discussing the method of information modelling and systems architecture. This approach shows advantages over other traditional ones in a higher degree of separation of knowledge, and hence in the consistency, integrity and maintainability of systems.

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Understanding the roles of signs and norms in organizations - a semiotic approach to information systems design

In recent years, more and more higher education institutions have interests of integrating internetbased technologies in the classroom as part of the learning environment. Compared to studies on other information technologies, users’ behavior towards this type of systems, however, has not been assessed and understood thoroughly. In order to get more experience about human behaviors on multimedia learning environment, we conducted a comparative study consisting of 362 students, which is almost three times the sample size of the previous study, participating to test the theoretical model. Results suggest that TAM is a solid theoretical model where its validity can extend to the multimedia and e-learning context. The study provides a more intensive view of the multimedia learning system users and is an important step towards a better understanding of the user behavior on the system and a multimedia acceptance model.

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Viability of the "Technology Acceptance Model" in Multimedia Learning Environments: A Comparative Study

Despite surveillance systems becoming increasingly ubiquitous in our living environment, automated surveillance, currently based on video sensory modality and machine intelligence, lacks most of the time the robustness and reliability required in several real applications. To tackle this issue, audio sensory devices have been incorporated, both alone or in combination with video, giving birth in the past decade, to a considerable amount of research. In this article, audio-based automated surveillance methods are organized into a comprehensive survey: A general taxonomy, inspired by the more widespread video surveillance field, is proposed to systematically describe the methods covering background subtraction, event classification, object tracking, and situation analysis. For each of these tasks, all the significant works are reviewed, detailing their pros and cons and the context for which they have been proposed. Moreover, a specific section is devoted to audio features, discussing their expressiveness and their employment in the above-described tasks. Differing from other surveys on audio processing and analysis, the present one is specifically targeted to automated surveillance, highlighting the target applications of each described method and providing the reader with a systematic and schematic view useful for retrieving the most suited algorithms for each specific requirement.

Audio Surveillance: A Systematic Review

Next Generation Wireless Lans 802 11n And 802 11ac

Patient participation in health care is associated with improved outcomes for patients and hospitals. New technologies are creating vast potential for patients to participate in care at the bedside. Several studies have explored patient use, satisfaction and perceptions of health information technology (HIT) interventions in hospital. Understanding what works for whom, under what conditions, is important when considering interventions successfully engaging patients in care. This realist review aimed to determine key features of interventions using bedside technology to engage hospital patients in their care and analyse these in terms of context, mechanisms and outcomes. A realist review was chosen to explain how and why complex HIT interventions work or fail within certain contexts. The review was guided by Pawson’s realist review methodology, involving: clarifying review scope; searching for evidence; data extraction and evidence appraisal; synthesising evidence and drawing conclusions. Author experience and an initial literature scope provided insight and review questions and theories (propositions) around why interventions worked were developed and iteratively refined. A purposive search was conducted to find evidence to support, refute or identify further propositions, which formed an explanatory model. Each study was ‘mined’ for evidence to further develop the propositions and model. Interactive learning was the overarching theme of studies using technology to engage patients in their care. Several propositions underpinned this, which were labelled: information sharing; self-assessment and feedback; tailored education; user-centred design; and support in use of HIT. As studies were mostly feasibility or usability studies, they reported patient-centred outcomes including patient acceptability, satisfaction and actual use of HIT interventions. For each proposition, outcomes were proposed to come about by mechanisms including improved communication, shared decision-making, empowerment and self-efficacy; which acted as facilitators to patient participation in care. Overall, there was a stronger representation of health than IT disciplines in studies reviewed, with a lack of IT input in terms of theoretical underpinning, methodological design and reporting of outcomes. HIT interventions have great potential for engaging hospitalised patients in their care. However, stronger interdisciplinary collaboration between health and IT researchers is needed for effective design and evaluation of HIT interventions.

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Using technology to engage hospitalised patients in their care: a realist review.

Building processors with large instruction windows has been proposed as a mechanism for overcoming the memory wall, but finding a feasible and implementable design has been an elusive goal. Traditional processors are composed of structures that do not scale to large instruction windows because of timing and power constraints. However, the behavior of programs executed with large instruction windows gives rise to a natural and simple alternative to scaling. We characterize this phenomenon of execution locality and propose a microarchitecture to exploit it to achieve the benefit of a large instruction window processor with low implementation cost. Execution locality is the tendency of instructions to exhibit high or low latency based on their dependence on memory operations. In this paper we propose a decoupled microarchitecture that executes low latency instructions on a cache processor and high latency instructions on a memory processor. We demonstrate that such a design, using small structures and many in-order components, can achieve the same performance as much more aggressive proposals while minimizing design complexity.

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A decoupled KILO-instruction processor

COMMUNICATIONS OF THE ACM January 2000/Vol. 43, No. 1 89 O ne significant characteristic of multimedia is that it is a vehicle for the convergence of the traditionally separate technologies of computing, entertainment, and telecommunications. To this is added a rich diversity of application areas wanting to exploit this new technological medium including education, commerce, advertising, and medicine, to name a few. This conjunction of technologies and applications creates a very fertile ground for innovation and creation of new multimedia forms. Vocationally, there is high mobility of practitioners in the field and there are very few well-defined career paths. In this rapidly evolving environment, it is imperative that practitioners are highly adaptable and multiskilled. In this context a number of universities have recently introduced undergraduate multimedia degrees. This has presented some interesting challenges to those involved in designing these courses. Under the garb of multimedia there is certainly industry demand for graduates, but defining “multimedia” has proved to be a difficult task. This burdens academics with the problem of achieving consensus on a curriculum for multimedia. This is not so much due to the wide scope of multidisciplinary applications of multimedia (much like word processing) but because the term “multimedia” has metamorphized into something akin to the mythological, multiheaded Hydra where its meaning is often determined by some immediate context in isolation from its source. Implicit in this debate about the definition of multimedia is the question of which discipline can claim ownership, with all that entails. Is it possible that multimedia is not part of an existing discipline but a new one? Some have argued that multimedia is like the emergence of computer science 30 years ago. CS, however, evolved from a conjunction of the fundamentally related disciplines of electrical engineering, mathematics, and other sciences. The similar academic and research cultures associated with these disciplines provided a strong sense of cohesion and direction to their progeny. Unfortunately, this is not the case with multimedia as a number of the disciplines that lay claim to it have traditionally antagonistic cultures. Attempts to synthesize a definition of multimedia and, hence, an undergraduate course as simply a conglomeration of the multitudinous diverse views Ruben Gonzalez, Greg Cranitch, and Jun Jo

Academic directions of multimedia education

This paper reviews the key issues in hypermedia systems as an overture to the proposal of a new semiotic paradigm for hypermedia data and coding models. The hypertext concept permits users to interact with and manage data as high-level conceptual objects rather than as symbol streams. Current hypermedia systems can best be defined as an amalgamation of hypertext and multimedia. While the hypertext data model enables this goal, that is not true for the data models of other media forms. A new semiotic paradigm that addresses these deficiencies and supports object-oriented interaction with compressed multimedia streams is proposed. This paper initially presents an overview of the hypertext data model, contrasting it with existing multimedia data and coding models. The framework for the new paradigm is then presented in a brief review of cognitive, psychological, and semiotic principles. This analysis culminates in the proposal of semiotically based data models and representations predisposed to the hypermedia paradigm.

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Hypermedia data modeling, coding, and semiotics

The word multimedia conjures up many emotions and responses-it often refers to anything that uses visual and acoustic data. As a result, some may brush multimedia off as just a marketing slogan. However, many universities have introduced degree courses in multimedia. This article attempts to define the scope and basis for a multimedia discipline.

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Ruben Gonzalez

Papers

Using technology to engage hospitalised patients in their care: a realist review.

A decoupled KILO-instruction processor

Academic directions of multimedia education

Hypermedia data modeling, coding, and semiotics

Disciplining multimedia