Examining the Effectiveness of Gamification in Human Computation

Within the human computation paradigm, gamification is increasingly gaining interest. This is because an enjoyable experience generated by game features can be a powerful approach to attract participants. Although potentially useful, little research has been conducted into understanding the effectiveness of gamification in human computation. In this experimental study, we operationalized effectiveness as perceived engagement and user acceptance and examined it by comparing the performance of a gamified human computation system against a non-gamified version. We also investigate the determinants of acceptance and how their effects differ between these two systems. Analysis of our data found that participants experienced more engagement and showed higher behavioral intentions toward the gamified system. Moreover, perceived output quality and perceived engagement were significant determinants of acceptance of the gamified system. In contrast, determinants for acceptance of the non-gamified system were perceived output quality and perceived usability.     

Random multispace quantization as an analytic mechanism for BioHashing of biometric and random identity inputs

Biometric analysis for identity verification is becoming a widespread reality. Such implementations necessitate large-scale capture and storage of biometric data, which raises serious issues in terms of data privacy and (if such data is compromised) identity theft. These problems stem from the essential permanence of biometric data, which (unlike secret passwords or physical tokens) cannot be refreshed or reissued if compromised. Our previously presented biometric-hash framework prescribes the integration of external (password or token-derived) randomness with user-specific biometrics, resulting in bitstring outputs with security characteristics (i.e., noninvertibility) comparable to cryptographic ciphers or hashes. The resultant BioHashes are hence cancellable, i.e., straightforwardly revoked and reissued (via refreshed password or reissued token) if compromised. BioHashing furthermore enhances recognition effectiveness, which is explained in this paper as arising from the random multispace quantization (RMQ) of biometric and external random inputs     

Combining genetic approach and integer programming to solve multi-facility economic lot-scheduling problem

Economic lot-scheduling problem (ELSP) has been studied since the 1950??s. ELSP deals with the scheduling of the production of several items on a single facility in a cyclical pattern. The facility can only produce one single item at a time, and there is a set-up cost and set-up time associated with each item. Because of the rapid development of many emerging markets nowadays, many common items are produced in different places in order to satisfy the demands in different markets. This becomes the multi-facilities ELSP problems. In ELSP problems, it is known that if more items types to be produced by the facility, the production frequency of each item type will increase because of the balancing of the production rate and the demand rate. Consequently, the number of set-up time and set-up cost increases accordingly. Thus, reallocating the common items, which can be produced in any facilities, to be produced only on certain facility can certainly reduce the number of production frequency, and lead to lower related costs. The objective of this paper is to propose an optimization methodology combining Integer Programming and Genetic Algorithm to solve multi-facility ELSP problems. This paper proposes to divide the main problem into a master problem and sub-problems, which are solved by Integer Programming and Genetic Algorithm respectively. To demonstrate the significance of reallocating the common items and aggregating them to produce in certain facility, several models have been designed and tested. The comparison of the models demonstrates the reduction of the costs benefited by result of common items reallocation.     

Miscibility of poly(p-vinyl phenol) with polymethacrylates

Summary Poly(p-vinyl phenol) is miscible with poly(methyl methacrylate), poly(ethyl methacrylate), poly(n-propyl methacrylate), poly(isopropyl methacrylate), and poly(tetrahydrofurfuryl methacrylate), but is immiscible with poly(n-butyl methacrylate). Except for poly(p-vinyl phenol)/ poly(methyl methacrylate) blends, the other miscible blends show pronounced positive deviations in their glass transition temperatures. The T_g-composition curves of the five miscible blend systems can be described by the Gordon-Taylor and the Kwei equations.     

Evaluation of in-air hand gestures interaction for older people

Universal Access in the Information Society - In-air gestural interfaces are gaining popularity due to the increasing availability and low cost of gesture recognition hardware. However, the current...     

Controlled Growth of Conductive AlN Thin Films by Plasma-Assisted Reactive Evaporation

Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A - In this work, the growth of conductive AlN thin films by plasma-assisted reactive evaporation at different filament-to-substrate distances was presented...     

Nitrogen-doped graphene-supported zinc sulfide nanorods as efficient Pt-free for visible-light photocatalytic hydrogen production

Nitrogen-doped graphene-ZnS composite (NG-ZnS) was synthesized by thermal treatment of graphene-ZnS composite (G-ZnS) in NH₃ medium. In the second step, the as-synthesized samples were deposited on indium tin oxide glass (ITO) by electrophoretic deposition for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction. The as-prepared NG-ZnS-modified ITO electrode displayed excellent photocatalytic activity, rapid transient photocurrent response, superior stability and high recyclability compared to the pure ZnS and G-ZnS-modified ITO electrode due to the synergy between the photocatalytic activity of ZnS nanorods and the large surface area and high conductivity of N-graphene.     

Human gait recognition using localized Grassmann mean representatives with partial least squares regression

Multimedia Tools and Applications - Gait recognition has become popular due to the rising demand for nonintrusive biometrics. At its nascent stage of development, gait recognition faces a number of...     

Inkjet-printed patch antenna emitter for wireless communication application

This research focuses on exploring low-cost and rapid production solutions for fabricating emitters for patch antennas for wireless communication applications. Additive manufacturing technique is employed to fabricate two patch antennas using silver nanoparticle ink on FR4 substrate. Finite-element simulation software, HFSS is used to analyse and predict the theoretical performance of the antenna designs for 2.4?GHz MIMO and 6?GHz wireless data transmission. The fabricated antennas have resonant frequencies closely matching the design values. The work provides a viable solution for fabricating emitters and finally antennas commercially using inkjet printing platform, thus overall reducing the cost and simplifying the process.     

Ethanol dehydration activity on hydrothermally stable LaPxOy catalysts synthesized using CTAB template

Nanocrystalline LaP_xO_y with various starting P to La ratios from 0.5 to 2.0 catalysts were prepared by a sol?Cgel method using cetyl trimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) as template. The catalysts were thoroughly characterized by N₂ physisorption, powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), temperature programmed desorption (TPD) of NH₃, solid state ³¹P and ¹H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques. XRD results indicate the presence of predominantly monazite LaPO₄ with minor amounts of (??3.0 wt%) rhabdophane LaPO₄ phase in the samples with starting P/La ratios of 1.0 and 1.5. NH₃-TPD results show an increasing trend in the total acidity with increase in P/La ratio. These catalysts were tested in the selective ethanol dehydration in the temperature range between 250 and 400?°C. The catalyst activity (??mol/h/m²) is increased with P/La ratio and the catalyst with highest P/La ratio of 2.0 exhibiting the highest ethanol dehydration activity. The ethanol conversion increased with reaction temperature, reaching 100% at 350?°C and remains unchanged at higher temperatures. On the other hand, the ethylene selectivity is also increased up to 350?°C and then decreased with further increase of reaction temperature. At a P/La ratio of 2, the CTAB templated LaP_xO_y catalyst showed higher catalytic activities compared to the LaP_xO_y by hydrothermal method without any template.