<p>Most of the largest databases currently available have a strong geospatial component and contain potentially useful information which might be of value. The discipline concerned with extracting this information and knowledge is data mining. Knowledge discovery is performed by applying automatic algorithms which recognise patterns in the data.</p><p>Classical data mining algorithms assume that data are independently generated and identically distributed. Geospatial data are multidimensional, spatially autocorrelated and heterogeneous. These properties make classical data mining algorithms inappropriate for geospatial data, as their basic assumptions cease to be valid. Extracting knowledge from geospatial data therefore requires special approaches. One way to do that is to use visual data mining, where the data is presented in visual form for a human to perform the pattern recognition. When visual mining is applied to geospatial data, it is part of the discipline called exploratory geovisualisation.</p><p>Both automatic and visual data mining have their respective advantages. Computers can treat large amounts of data much faster than humans, while humans are able to recognise objects and visually explore data much more effectively than computers. A combination of visual and automatic data mining draws together human cognitive skills and computer efficiency and permits faster and more efficient knowledge discovery.</p><p>This thesis investigates if a combination of visual and automatic data mining is useful for exploration of geospatial data. Three case studies illustrate three different combinations of methods. Hierarchical clustering is combined with visual data mining for exploration of geographical metadata in the first case study. The second case study presents an attempt to explore an environmental dataset by a combination of visual mining and a Self-Organising Map. Spatial pre-processing and visual data mining methods were used in the third case study for emergency response data.</p><p>Contemporary system design methods involve user participation at all stages. These methods originated in the field of Human-Computer Interaction, but have been adapted for the geovisualisation issues related to spatial problem solving. Attention to user-centred design was present in all three case studies, but the principles were fully followed only for the third case study, where a usability assessment was performed using a combination of a formal evaluation and exploratory usability.</p>

Literature has identified the need to study socially pervasive ICT in context in order to understand how user acceptability of innovation varies according to different inputs. This thesis contributes to the existing body of knowledge on innovation studies (Chapter 2) and proposes a methodology for a conceptual model, for representing dynamic contextual changes in longitudinal studies. The foundation for this methodology is the 'Price of Convenience' (PoC) Model (Chapter 4). As a theory development Thesis, it deals with two related studies of socially pervasive ICT implementation: (1) voluntary adoption of innovations and (2) acceptance of new socially pervasive and ubiquitous ICT innovations (Chapters 6 and 7).

No description available.

<p>The dataset is a compiliation of firearm related incidents on US k-12 schools from 1999-2023. The statistical analysis results are used in a systems dynamics simulation model to measure risk response effectiveness and evaluate secondary risks.</p>

<p dir="ltr">With increasing frequency, American schools have been plagued with mass casualty events perpetrated by offenders using various types of firearms. In recent years, several studies have used AnyLogic®, an agent-based computer modeling software, to model some of these mass shooting events. More specifically, researchers have modeled mass shooting events and how changes in police response and victim response affect casualty rates in these scenarios. Another model has used the same agent-based software to model mass-casualty events of various venues. The model goes further by integrating what will be known throughout this paper as “the bleed-out model”. The bleed-out model uses known data from these mass casualty events to model types of injuries and their related probability of resulting in a fatality. The model also uses known data about traumatic wound interventions from mass casualty scenarios, as well as law enforcement and military applications, to model life-saving measures to counteract traumatic injuries and decrease the probability of a victim becoming a fatality. This research used AnyLogic® software to integrate agent-based school shooting models with an agent-based bleed-out model. Once combined, individual first aid kits (IFAKs) geared toward traumatic wound/hemorrhaging care were introduced into the environment and their placement was arranged in several different ways. AnyLogic® software and quantitative analysis were used to make recommendations about best practices for implementing IFAKS in schools. This research specifically examines whether the placement distance for IFAKS in schools during an active shooter incident could have a statistically significant impact on the survivability of active shooter victims. Different scenarios are assessed in the AnyLogic® model varying the placement of a fixed number of IFAKS throughout the school during an incident.</p>

<p>This master’s thesis consists of a scenario-based evaluation of an IT-security assessment method known as the eXtendedMethod for Assessment of System Security (XMASS), as well as an assessment of a real-world network using the softwareimplementation of this method known as the Security AssessmeNT Application (SANTA).This thesis also describes a number of improvements made to the software implementation, some which could also be addedto the method itself. These were performed during the preparation of the assessment but had no effect on the outcome.The evaluation showed that the method and implementation contained a number of flaws in the way the filtering effect ofthe traffic mediators of a network, such as network-based firewalls, was implemented. When it comes to the assessment ofthe real-world network it was seen that the network, given the supplied information regarding the software and hardwaresetup of its entities, appeared to be sufficiently secure to handle the transmission of data at the lowest classification level(Restricted). However, as with almost all security assessments, this does not mean that the network is guaranteed to besecure enough; it just indicates that, given the information specified, the network has the potential of being sufficientlysecure.The main conclusion of this thesis is that the way XMASS and SANTA calculates the effect of filtering traffic mediatorsshould be looked into and improved to increase the usability of the tool. The method can however still be used in its currentstate, but requires the individual(s) performing the assessment to be aware of the drawbacks of the current implementationand thus compensate for these when producing the input for the assessment method.</p>

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<p>The largest project at the AICG lab at Linköping University, Cognitive models for virtual characters, focuses on creating an agent architecture for intelligent, virtual characters. The goal is to create an agent that acts naturally and gives a realistic user experience. The purpose of this thesis is to develop and implement an appropriate learning model that fits the existing agent architecture using an agile project methodology. The model developed can be seen as an online unsupervised reinforcement learning model that enhances experiences through reward. The model is based on Maes model where new effects are created depending on whether the agent is fulfilling its goals or not.</p><p>The model we have developed is based on constant monitoring of the system. If an action is chosen it is saved in a short-term memory. The memory is constantly updated with current information about the environment and the agent’s state. These memories will be evaluated on the basis of user defined classes that define what all values must satisfy to be successful. If the last memory in the list is considered to be evaluated it will be saved in a long-term memory. This long-term memory works all the time as a basis for how theagent’s network is structured. The long term memory is filtered based on where the agent is, how it feels and its current state.</p><p>Our model is evaluated in a series of tests where the agent's ability to adapt and how repetitive the agent is, is tested.</p><p>In reality, an agent with learning will get a dynamic network based on input from the user, but after a short period it may look completely different, depending on the amount of situations experienced by the agent and where it has been. An agent will have one network structure in the vicinity of food at location x and a completely different structure at anenemy at location y. If the agent enters a new situation where past experience does notfavor the agent, it will explore all possible actions it can take and thus creating newexperiences.</p><p>A comparison with an implementation without classification and learning indicates that the user needs to create fewer classes than it otherwise needs to create effects to cover all possible combinations. <img src="http://www.diva-portal.org/cgi-bin/mimetex.cgi?K_%7Bs%7D+K_%7Bb%7D" /><img src="http://www.diva-portal.org/cgi-bin/mimetex.cgi?K" />K_S+K_B classes creates effects for S*B state/behavior combinations, where K_S and K_B is the number of state classes and behavior classes and S and B is the number of states and behaviors in the network.</p> / Cognitive models for virtual characters

<p>The research presented in this thesis investigates the design challenges associated with the development and use of mobile applications and tools for supporting collaboration in educational activities. These technologies provide new opportunities to promote and enhance collaboration by engaging learners in a variety of activities across different places and contexts. A basic challenge is to identify how to design and deploy mobile tools and services that could be used to support collaboration in different kinds of settings. There is a need to investigate how to design collaborative learning processes and to support flexible educational activities that take advantage of mobility. The main research question that I focus on is the identification of factors that influence the design of mobile collaborative learning.</p><p>The theoretical foundations that guide my work rely on the concepts behind computer supported collaborative learning and design-based research. These ideas are presented at the beginning of this thesis and provide the basis for developing an initial framework for understanding mobile collaboration. The empirical results from three different projects conducted as part of my efforts at the Center for Learning and Knowledge Technologies at Växjö University are presented and analyzed. These results are based on a collection of papers that have been published in two refereed international conference proceedings, a journal paper, and a book chapter. The educational activities and technological support have been developed in accordance with a grounded theoretical framework. The thesis ends by discussing those factors, which have been identified as having a significant influence when it comes to the design and support of mobile collaborative learning.</p><p>The findings presented in this thesis indicate that mobility changes the contexts of learning and modes of collaboration, requiring different design approaches than those used in traditional system development to support teaching and learning. The major conclusion of these efforts is that the learners’ creations, actions, sharing of experiences and reflections are key factors to consider when designing mobile collaborative activities in learning. The results additionally point to the benefit of directly involving the learners in the design process by connecting them to the iterative cycles of interaction design and research.</p>

The recent trend in health care has been on the development and implementation of clinical guidelines to support and comply with evidence-based care. Evidence-based care is established with a view to improve the overall quality of care for patients, reduce costs, and address medico-legal issues. One of the main questions addressed by this thesis is how to support guideline-based care. It is recognised that this is better achieved by taking into consideration the provider workflow. However, workflow support remains a challenging (and hence rarely seen) accomplishment in practice, particularly in the context of chronic disease management (CDM). Our view is that guidelines can be knowledge-engineered into four main artefacts: electronic health record (EHR) content, computer-interpretable guideline (CiG), workflow and hypermedia. The next question is then how to coordinate and make use of these artefacts in a health information system (HIS). We leverage the EHR since we view this as the core component to any HIS. / PhD Doctorate