Knowledge discovery from tree databases using balanced optimal search

This research is a step forward in discovering knowledge from databases of complex structure like tree or graph. Several data mining algorithms are developed based on a novel representation called Balanced Optimal Search for extracting implicit, unknown and potentially useful information like patterns, similarities and various relationships from tree data, which are also proved to be advantageous in analysing big data. This thesis focuses on analysing unordered tree data, which is robust to data inconsistency, irregularity and swift information changes, hence, in the era of big data it becomes a popular and widely used data model.

How your shopping choices will help Coles and Woolworths take on the banks

The days when Coles and Woolworths only sold groceries are long gone. Both are now established players in a broad range of consumer markets, with interests in liquor and hotels, fuel and convenience, general merchandise and mobile phones. With a network of over 1,600 supermarkets, 1,100 service stations, 2,200 liquor stores and nearly 400 hotels, the supermarket duo are now getting ready for a war with Australia’s big four banks.

Theoretical results of QoS-guaranteed resource scaling for cloud-based MapReduce

Quality of Service (QoS) is a new issue in cloud-based MapReduce, which is a popular computation model for parallel and distributed processing of big data. QoS guarantee is challenging in a dynamical computation environment due to the fact that a fixed resource allocation may become under-provisioning, which leads to QoS violation, or over-provisioning, which increases unnecessary resource cost. This requires runtime resource scaling to adapt environmental changes for QoS guarantee. Aiming to guarantee the QoS, which is referred as to hard deadline in this work, this paper develops a theory to determine how and when resource is scaled up/down for cloud-based MapReduce. The theory employs a nonlinear transformation to define the problem in a reverse resource space, simplifying the theoretical analysis significantly. Then, theoretical results are presented in three theorems on sufficient conditions for guaranteeing the QoS of cloud-based MapReduce. The superiority and applications of the theory are demonstrated through case studies.

Generating product feature hierarchy from product reviews

User generated information such as product reviews have been booming due to the advent of web 2.0. In particular, rich information associated with reviewed products has been buried in such big data. In order to facilitate identifying useful information from product (e.g., cameras) reviews, opinion mining has been proposed and widely used in recent years. In detail, as the most critical step of opinion mining, feature extraction aims to extract significant product features from review texts. However, most existing approaches only find individual features rather than identifying the hierarchical relationships between the product features. In this paper, we propose an approach which finds both features and feature relationships, structured as a feature hierarchy which is referred to as feature taxonomy in the remainder of the paper. Specifically, by making use of frequent patterns and association rules, we construct the feature taxonomy to profile the product at multiple levels instead of single level, which provides more detailed information about the product. The experiment which has been conducted based upon some real world review datasets shows that our proposed method is capable of identifying product features and relations effectively.

The radical in arts education research

Arts education research, as an interdisciplinary field, has developed in the shadows of a number of research traditions. However amid all the methodological innovation, I believe there is one particular, distinctive and radical research strategy which arts educators have created to research the practice of arts education: namely arts-based research. For many, and Elliot Eisner from Stanford University was among the first, arts education needed a research approach which could deal with the complex dynamics of arts education in the classroom. What was needed was ‘an approach to the conduct of educational research that was rooted in the arts and that used aesthetically crafted forms to reveal aspects of practice that mattered educationally’ (Eisner 2006: 11). While arts education researchers were crafting the principles and practices of arts-based research, fellow artist/researchers in the creative arts were addressing similar needs and fashioning their own exacting research strategies. This chapter aligns arts-based research with the complementary research practices established in creative arts studios and identifies the shared and truly radical nature of these moves. Finally, and in a contemporary turn many will find surprising, I will discuss how the radical aspects of these methodologies are now being held up as core elements of what is being called the fourth paradigm of scientific research, known as eScience. Could it be that the radical dynamics of arts-based research pre-figured the needs of eScience researchers who are currently struggling to manage the ‘deluge of Big Data’ which is disrupting their well-established scientific methods?

Globalisation

This book provides an engaging and accessible analysis of traditional issues associated with mass education. The book challenges preconceptions about social class, gender and ethnicity discrimination; highlights the interplay between technology, media, popular culture and schooling; and inspects the relevance of ethics and philosophy in the modern classroom. This new edition has been comprehensively updated to provide current information regarding literature, statistics and legal policies, and significantly expands on the previous edition's structure of derailing traditional myths about education as a point of discussion. It also features two new chapters on Big Data and Globalisation and what they mean for the Australian classroom. Written for students, practising teachers and academics alike, This book summarises the current educational landscape in Australia and looks at fundamental issues in society as they relate to education.

Wear Next: An Exploration into the Future of Wearable Technology

Technology is increasingly infiltrating all aspects of our lives and the rapid uptake of devices that live near, on or in our bodies are facilitating radical new ways of working, relating and socialising. This distribution of technology into the very fabric of our everyday life creates new possibilities, but also raises questions regarding our future relationship with data and the quantified self. By embedding technology into the fabric of our clothes and accessories, it becomes ‘wearable’. Such ‘wearables’ enable the acquisition of and the connection to vast amounts of data about people and environments in order to provide life-augmenting levels of interactivity. Wearable sensors for example, offer the potential for significant benefits in the future management of our wellbeing. Fitness trackers such as ‘Fitbit’ and ‘Garmen’ provide wearers with the ability to monitor their personal fitness indicators while other wearables provide healthcare professionals with information that improves diagnosis. While the rapid uptake of wearables may offer unique and innovative opportunities, there are also concerns surrounding the high levels of data sharing that come as a consequence of these technologies. As more ‘smart’ devices connect to the Internet, and as technology becomes increasingly available (e.g. via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth), more products, artefacts and things are becoming interconnected. This digital connection of devices is called The ‘Internet of Things’ (IoT). IoT is spreading rapidly, with many traditionally non-online devices becoming increasingly connected; products such as mobile phones, fridges, pedometers, coffee machines, video cameras, cars and clothing. The IoT is growing at a rapid rate with estimates indicating that by 2020 there will be over 25 billion connected things globally. As the number of devices connected to the Internet increases, so too does the amount of data collected and type of information that is stored and potentially shared. The ability to collect massive amounts of data - known as ‘big data’ - can be used to better understand and predict behaviours across all areas of research from societal and economic to environmental and biological. With this kind of information at our disposal, we have a more powerful lens with which to perceive the world, and the resulting insights can be used to design more appropriate products, services and systems. It can however, also be used as a method of surveillance, suppression and coercion by governments or large organisations. This is becoming particularly apparent in advertising that targets audiences based on the individual preferences revealed by the data collected from social media and online devices such as GPS systems or pedometers. This type of technology also provides fertile ground for public debates around future fashion, identity and broader social issues such as culture, politics and the environment. The potential implications of these type of technological interactions via wearables, through and with the IoT, have never been more real or more accessible. But, as highlighted, this interconnectedness also brings with it complex technical, ethical and moral challenges. Data security and the protection of privacy and personal information will become ever more present in current and future ethical and moral debates of the 21st century. This type of technology is also a stepping-stone to a future that includes implantable technology, biotechnologies, interspecies communication and augmented humans (cyborgs). Technologies that live symbiotically and perpetually in our bodies, the built environment and the natural environment are no longer the stuff of science fiction; it is in fact a reality. So, where next?... The works exhibited in Wear Next_ provide a snapshot into the broad spectrum of wearables in design and in development internationally. This exhibition has been curated to serve as a platform for enhanced broader debate around future technology, our mediated future-selves and the evolution of human interactions. As you explore the exhibition, may we ask that you pause and think to yourself, what might we... Wear Next_? WEARNEXT ONLINE LISTINGS AND MEDIA COVERAGE: http://indulgemagazine.net/wear-next/ http://www.weekendnotes.com/wear-next-exhibition-gallery-artisan/ http://concreteplayground.com/brisbane/event/wear-next_/ http://www.nationalcraftinitiative.com.au/news_and_events/event/48/wear-next http://bneart.com/whats-on/wear-next_/ http://creativelysould.tumblr.com/post/124899079611/creative-weekend-art-edition http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/smartly-dressed-the-future-of-wearable-technology/6744374 http://couriermail.newspaperdirect.com/epaper/viewer.aspx RADIO COVERAGE http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/wear-next-exhibition-whats-next-for-wearable-technology/6745986 TELEVISION COVERAGE http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/wear-next-exhibition-whats-next-for-wearable-technology/6745986 https://au.news.yahoo.com/video/watch/29439742/how-you-could-soon-be-wearing-smart-clothes/#page1

Why we should design smart cities for getting lost

If smart cities run on big data and algorithms that channel only 'relevant' information and opinions to us, how do we maintain the diversity of ideas and possibilities that drives truly smart cities?

Identity, addressing, authenticity and audit requirements for trust in ERP, analytics and big/open data in a “Cloud” computing environment : a review and proposal

Enterprises, both public and private, have rapidly commenced using the benefits of enterprise resource planning (ERP) combined with business analytics and “open data sets” which are often outside the control of the enterprise to gain further efficiencies, build new service operations and increase business activity. In many cases, these business activities are based around relevant software systems hosted in a “cloud computing” environment. “Garbage in, garbage out”, or “GIGO”, is a term long used to describe problems in unqualified dependency on information systems, dating from the 1960s. However, a more pertinent variation arose sometime later, namely “garbage in, gospel out” signifying that with large scale information systems, such as ERP and usage of open datasets in a cloud environment, the ability to verify the authenticity of those data sets used may be almost impossible, resulting in dependence upon questionable results. Illicit data set “impersonation” becomes a reality. At the same time the ability to audit such results may be an important requirement, particularly in the public sector. This paper discusses the need for enhancement of identity, reliability, authenticity and audit services, including naming and addressing services, in this emerging environment and analyses some current technologies that are offered and which may be appropriate. However, severe limitations to addressing these requirements have been identified and the paper proposes further research work in the area.

The big brother : monitoring urban growth and change for sustainable infrastructure provision

Monitoring urban growth and land-use change is an important issue for sustainable infrastructure planning. Rapid urban development, sprawl and increasing population pressure, particularly in developing nations, are resulting in deterioration of infrastructure facilities, loss of productive agricultural lands and open spaces, pollution, health hazards and micro-climatic changes. In addressing these issues effectively, it is crucial to collect up-to-date and accurate data and monitor the changing environment at regular intervals. This chapter discusses the role of geospatial technologies for mapping and monitoring the changing environment and urban structure, where such technologies are highly useful for sustainable infrastructure planning and provision.

Big, bigger, best? The impact of reforms on the not-for-profit sector in Queensland

Organisations within the not-for-profit sector provide services to individuals and groups that government and for-profit organisations cannot or will not consider. The not-for-profit sector has come to be a vibrant and rich agglomeration of services and programs that operate under a myriad of philosophical stances, service orientation, client groupings and operational capacities. In Australia these organisations and services are providing social support and service assistance to many people in the community; often targeting their assistance to the most difficult of clients. Initially, in undertaking this role, the not-for-profit sector received limited sponsorship from government. Over time governments assumed greater responsibility in the form of service grants to particular groups: ‘the worthy poor’. More recently, they have entered into contractual service agreements with the not-for-profit sector, which specify the nature of the outcomes to be achieved and, to a degree, the way in which the services will be provided. A consequence of this growing shift to a more marketised model of service contracting, often offered-up under the label of enhanced collaborative practice, has been increased competitiveness between agencies that had previously worked well together (Keast and Brown, 2006). Another trend emerging from the market approach is the entrance of for-profit providers. These larger organisations have higher levels of organisational capacity with considerable organisational slack to allow them to adopt new service roles. Shaped almost as ‘shadow governments’ they appear to be a strong preference for governments looking for greater accountability of outcomes and an easier way to control the interaction with the conventional not-for-profit sector. The question is will governments’ apparent preference for larger organisational arrangements lead to the demise of the vibrancy of the not-for-profit sector and impact on service provision to those people who fall outside of the remit of the new service providers? To address this issue, this paper uses information gleaned from a state-wide survey of not-for-profit organisations in Queensland, Australia which included organisational size, operational scope, funding arrangements and governance/management approaches. Supplementing this information is qualitative data derived from 17 focus groups and 120 interviews conducted over ten years of study of this sector. The findings contribute to greater understanding of the practice and theory of the future provision of social services.

Mining a data reasoning model for personalized text classification

It is a big challenge to acquire correct user profiles for personalized text classification since users may be unsure in providing their interests. Traditional approaches to user profiling adopt machine learning (ML) to automatically discover classification knowledge from explicit user feedback in describing personal interests. However, the accuracy of ML-based methods cannot be significantly improved in many cases due to the term independence assumption and uncertainties associated with them. This paper presents a novel relevance feedback approach for personalized text classification. It basically applies data mining to discover knowledge from relevant and non-relevant text and constraints specific knowledge by reasoning rules to eliminate some conflicting information. We also developed a Dempster-Shafer (DS) approach as the means to utilise the specific knowledge to build high-quality data models for classification. The experimental results conducted on Reuters Corpus Volume 1 and TREC topics support that the proposed technique achieves encouraging performance in comparing with the state-of-the-art relevance feedback models.

Alcohol-related violence presenting to the emergency department : is ‘glassing’ the big issue?

Objective Describe the characteristics of patients presenting to Emergency Departments (EDs) within Queensland, Australia with injuries due to assault with a glass implement (‘glassing’) and to set this within the broader context of presentations due to alcohol-related violence. Methods Analysis of prospectively collected ED injury surveillance data collated by the Queensland Injury Surveillance Unit (QISU) between 1999 and 2011. Cases of injury due to alcohol-related violence were identified and analysed using coded fields supplemented with qualitative data contained within the injury description text. Descriptive statistics were used to assess the characteristics of injury presentations due to alcohol-related violence. Violence included interpersonal violence and aggression (verbal aggression and object violence). Results A total of 4629 cases were studied. The study population was predominantly male (72%) and aged 18 to 24 (36%), with males in this age group comprising more than a quarter of the study population (28%). Nine percent of alcohol-related assault injuries were a consequence of ‘glassing’. The home was the most common location for alcohol-related violence (31%) and alcohol-related ‘glassings’ (33%). Overall, the most common glass object involved was a bottle (75%), however, within licensed venues an even mix of a drinking glass (44%) and glass bottle (45%) were identified. Conclusions Contrary to public perception generated by media, ‘glassing’ incidents, particularly at licensed venues, constitute a relatively small proportion of all alcohol-related violence. The current study highlights the predominance of young men injured following alcohol-related violence, demonstrating a key focus area within the population for aiming prevention strategies.

Data innovation and open access [Blog]

After nearly fifteen years of the open access (OA) movement and its hard-fought struggle for a more open scholarly communication system, publishers are realizing that business models can be both open and profitable. Making journal articles available on an OA license is becoming an accepted strategy for maximizing the value of content to both research communities and the businesses that serve them. The first blog in this two-part series celebrating Data Innovation Day looks at the role that data-innovation is playing in the shift to open access for journal articles.

Consensus σ70 promoter prediction using hadoop

MapReduce frameworks such as Hadoop are well suited to handling large sets of data which can be processed separately and independently, with canonical applications in information retrieval and sales record analysis. Rapid advances in sequencing technology have ensured an explosion in the availability of genomic data, with a consequent rise in the importance of large scale comparative genomics, often involving operations and data relationships which deviate from the classical Map Reduce structure. This work examines the application of Hadoop to patterns of this nature, using as our focus a wellestablished workflow for identifying promoters - binding sites for regulatory proteins - Across multiple gene regions and organisms, coupled with the unifying step of assembling these results into a consensus sequence. Our approach demonstrates the utility of Hadoop for problems of this nature, showing how the tyranny of the "dominant decomposition" can be at least partially overcome. It also demonstrates how load balance and the granularity of parallelism can be optimized by pre-processing that splits and reorganizes input files, allowing a wide range of related problems to be brought under the same computational umbrella.