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This paper presents a technique for performance optimization of multimodal interactive web-based medical simulation. A web-based simulation framework is promising for easy access and wide dissemination of medical simulation. However, the real-time performance of the simulation highly depends on hardware capability on the client side. Providing consistent simulation in different hardware is critical for reliable medical simulation. This paper proposes a non-linear mixed integer programming model to optimize the performance of visualization and physics computation while considering hardware capability and application specific constraints. The optimization model identifies and parameterizes the rendering and computing capabilities of the client hardware using an exploratory proxy code. The parameters are utilized to determine the optimized simulation conditions including texture sizes, mesh sizes and canvas resolution. The test results show that the optimization model not only achieves a desired frame per second but also resolves visual artifacts due to low performance hardware. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this article is to study if trading simulation is an effective tool to increase students' knowledge of the foreign exchange market. We developed a real-time multiuser web-based trading system that replicates an electronic brokerage foreign exchange market. To assess the effectiveness of the program, we conducted surveys in three phases. We used the data to monitor the progress of students' knowledge of the currency market. We found that the level of foreign exchange market awareness increased as the game progressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research project investigated student reaction to playing the DIFFUSION SIMULATION GAME (DSG) and how an instructor, who is a novice in playing online games, implemented the DSG in an online higher education course. The goal of this research project was to determine whether playing the DSG helps students learn and apply course content. In addition, the authors sought to understand how to implement and use the DSG effectively as an integral part of the online Managing Technological Change course. Results indicated that student reaction to playing the game was very positive and students felt the game helped them better understand the change process. For example, students felt the DSG provided insight into school culture, the amount of time needed to implement a change, and the need for a change agent to be flexible. The instructor learned the importance of clearly identifying learning goals when using the DSG in an online course and realized that debriefing is a critical component of using games or simulations for learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper proposes a new web-based environment for learning discrete simulation. FONWebGPSS is an application that provides a web-based interface for creating, storing and executing discrete system simulation models in the GPSS language. The primary goal of the paper is to improve the process of learning simulation by integration of the FONWebGPSS in the existing e-learning system, Moodle. Evaluation of the developed integrated solution for learning simulation has been performed within an undergraduate course, Simulation and simulation languages, at the Faculty of Organizational Sciences, University of Belgrade on a testing sample of 208 students divided into an experimental and a control groups. The research results show that students achieve better results on the final test when using the FONWebGPSS application integrated into the e-learning system in comparison with the standard desktop version of the GPSS. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Simulation is aimed very often to solve problems of great complexity requiring – beyond using the advanced simulation software tools – platforms that enable the implementation of such software systems. In recent years the concept of cloud computing has emerged and is being applied more and more widely for solving such problems. This paper, beyond delineating the main trends of the development of distributed simulation over a grid, especially over the Internet through Web-based applications, highlights the concepts of service-based simulation system approach. This concept gives the possibility of implementing Web- or cloud agents and other ASP system compliant simulation services based on simulation standards. As a sample application, Fuzzy Web Service is demonstrated as a part of CASSANDRA 4.0 (Cognizant Adaptive Simulation System for Applications in Numerous Different Relevant Areas) that is developed by the McLeod Institute of Simulation Sciences Hungarian Center. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Educators increasingly view the high level of engagement and experiential learning offered by games as a means to promote learning. However, as with any designed learning experience, player experiences should provide an accurate representation of content to be learned. In this study, the authors investigated the DIFFUSION SIMULATION GAME (DSG) to assess the consistency of strategies effective in the game with those implied to be effective by the diffusion of innovations theory on which the game is based. They analyzed records from 2,361 completed game sessions of the DSG and compared successful and unsuccessful strategies. They further compared successful gameplay strategies with strategies suggested by the diffusion of innovations theory. The data analysis indicated that four of the seven winning strategies were inconsistent with what the theory predicts. However, this conclusion is tentative, given limitations of temporal detail in available data. These limitations imply how data should be collected to better investigate strategies that result in successful DSG gameplay. In addition, the study provides a case in which objective methods were used to analyze patterns of gameplay and offers insight on how data should be collected to analyze patterns more effectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper explores the engineering contributions of a Web-based simulator of fruit fly, particularly with regards to software and system infrastructure. This simulation system is the result of a multidisciplinary effort in the areas of ecological simulation modelling and software/systems engineering, in order to provide tools to support decision making in biosecurity. We report on the following interesting software and system engineering aspects: catering for a variety of users, scalability issues, response time requirements, a three-tiered development environment, Web-suitable architecture, a flexible data interchange format, a range of cooperating underlying temporal–spatial models, and the need for evaluation in for non-functional aspects such as scalability in execution time and memory requirements. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Delays in a railway network are a common problem that railway companies face in their daily operations. When a train is delayed, it may either be beneficial to let a connecting train wait so that passengers in the delayed train do not miss their connection, or it may be beneficial to let the connecting train depart on time to avoid further delays. These decisions naturally depend on the global structure of the network, on the schedule, on the passenger routes and on the imposed delays. The railway delay management (RDM) problem (in a broad sense) is to decide which trains have to wait for connecting trains and which trains have to depart on time. The offline version (i.e. when all delays are known in advance) is already NP-hard for very special networks. In this paper we show that the online railway delay management (ORDM) problem is PSPACE-hard. This result justifies the need for a simulation approach to evaluate wait policies for ORDM. For this purpose we present TOPSU—RDM, a simulation platform for evaluating and comparing different heuristics for the ORDM problem with stochastic delays. Our novel approach is to separate the actual simulation and the program that implements the decision-making policy, thus enabling implementations of different heuristics to ‘‘compete’’ on the same instances and delay distributions. We also report on computational results indicating the worthiness of developing intelligent wait policies. For RDM and other logistic planning processes, it is our goal to bridge the gap between theoretical models, which are accessible to theoretical analysis, but are often too far away from practice, and the methods which are used in practice today, whose performance is almost impossible to measure. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: Introduction: Studies have shown that between 0.4% and 4% of all 12-lead electrocardiograms (ECGs) are recorded using incorrect electrode positions. Electrode misplacement can cause a misdiagnosis either by concealing a pathology or, on the contrary, by emulating a pathology. Irrespective of this fact, ECG textbooks contain little or no information regarding the effects of electrode misplacement. Moreover, current pedagogic tools, which include physical mannequins, do not allow for the free positioning of electrodes to demonstrate these effects. In recognition of this, an electrode misplacement simulator (EMS) has been developed in this study. Methods: The EMS is a Web-based simulation developed using the Adobe Flash technology. The software allows the user to position the electrodes anywhere on the torso while rendering the corresponding ECG leads using body surface potential maps. A beta version of the EMS has been made available on the Internet. Results: The EMS has been briefly evaluated by a random selection of delegates (n = 17) from the 37th Annual Conference on Computing in Cardiology. After completing representative tasks and using the EMS for approximately 30 minutes, all 17 participants completed a questionnaire. Overall, the responsiveness of the EMS was rated between 4 and 5 on a Likert scale, 94% of participants rated the “ease of use” between 4 and 5, and 88% of participants also rated the “look and feel” between 4 and 5 on a Likert scale. Conclusion: The EMS has the potential to be used to support researchers in enhancing criteria currently used for detecting electrode misplacement. It could also be used to assist academic staff in teaching the effects of electrode misplacement. In this respect, it is currently being used as part of an undergraduate “Clinical Physiology” degree program at the University of Ulster. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The AACSB requires continuous improvement of business school outcomes through a comprehensive Assurance of Learning program. Measuring ethical decision making poses an interesting challenge for schools making it central to their mission. The authors provide an innovative and effective approach to assessing ethical decision making and closing the loop for continual improvement. Using a web-based simulation, results from 2 cohorts suggest that improvements based on shortcomings of one cohort can impact decision-making behaviors of subsequent cohorts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although neural networks (NN) are important especially for engineers, scientists, mathematicians and statisticians, they may also be hard to understand. In this article, application areas of NN are discussed, basic NN components are described and it is explained how an NN work. A web-based simulation and visualization tool (EasyLearnNN) is developed using Java and Java 2D for teaching NN concepts. Perceptron, ADALINE, Multilayer Perceptron, LVQ and SOM models and related training algorithms are implemented. As a result, comparison with other teaching methods of NN concepts is presented and discussed. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Comput Appl Eng Educ 18: 449–457, 2010; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com; DOI 10.1002/cae.20184 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The area of Web-based simulation (the integration of the Web with the field of simulation) (WBS) has grown since the mid-1990s. The Web itself has evolved rapidly, and current Web-related research areas include Web 2.0, service-oriented architectures and the Semantic Web. This paper gives a review of the area of WBS, exploring the advantages and disadvantages of WBS over classical simulation systems, a classification of different sub- and related-areas of WBS, an exploration of technologies that enable WBS, and the evolution of the Web in terms of its relationship to WBS. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In recent years, we have witnessed a major paradigm shift from treating software as a shrink-wrapped product to using software as a service over a network. Two platforms have emerged as a result of this paradigm shift: Java Platform Enterprise Edition (EE) and the Microsoft .NET Framework. This paper presents a client-server web-based architecture for the development and execution of visual simulations using the Java 2 Platform EE, eXtensible Markup Language, and Scalable Vector Graphics standards. The architecture is created to be modular, extensible, and scalable for many concurrent users. We developed a Web-based Queuing System Simulation System as an example application and implementation of our architecture. WebQS3 (http://sunfish.cs.vt.edu/webQS3/) was used for evaluating different architectural design strategies, testing our ideas, assessing performance, and illustrating our architecture. The architecture is applicable for discrete-event simulations that can be visualized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Powerful new features may be incorporated to simulation environments by exploiting existing Web technology. To demonstrate this, WebManSim, a prototype web-based manufacturing system simulator has been developed. The proposed system includes project management principles, supports communication and voting and provides workflow facilities and simulation program generation - execution capabilities. Such a system provides close monitor to the evolution of the simulation project, enhances the coordination and communication of the simulation participants, identifies and resolves conflicts that may arise in the simulation team and creates virtual simulation expert communities. The use of such a system may improve the simulation team coordination by automatically initiating project tasks as soon as possible, reduce the project duration by eliminating dead time between activities and decrease the overall simulation project cost by minimizing the face-to-face meetings especially when used by project teams located at geographically remote places. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study provided a statistical model to assess varied types of Web-based simulations in a digital-filter design course. Ninety-one undergraduate students participated in an experimental study. Two independent variables were studied: Web-based simulations (batch-based, comparison-based, and interval change-based simulations); and prior Internet familiarity (high and low). Two dependent variables were measured a knowledge achievement test, and a problem-solving belief test. The experimental research design of the study was a 3 x 2 randomized post-test design. Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) was used to analyze collected data. The main effects and the potential interaction of the two independent variables were examined. Results indicate that Web-based simulation with a simple batch-based design yielded a significantly better learning performance than two other complex simulation designs (comparison-based and interval change-based simulations) (F[2,85] = 4.274, p < 0.05). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The complex and invisible services in smart home can lead to the difficulty in occupant role over the whole smart home life-cycle beginning from the design process to the occupancy stage. As any smart home will be eventually used by end users, providing a method to enhance user participation and user comprehension on how smart equipments and service will be installed as well as be operated is indispensable. Nonetheless, there is no research which applies the user-centered approach on the smart home design stage so far. This paper is focused on how to create and to implement virtual space using virtual reality technology as a platform to simulate smart home service configuration. A new framework comprises Spatial Context-aware Place Data Model, Place and Avatar Agents, and Web Service is firstly introduced in this paper. By means of context-aware building data model, human–space interaction which is vital for simulating smart home functions and services are realized in the virtual environment. Together with VR, the platform is capable of visualizing invisible services, performing real-time interactions with the home, and acknowledging the users how it can be configured and operated according to their individual needs. In addition, the web-based service increases the system accessibility and usability as users can log-in from anywhere to collaborate with each others. Because smart home is extremely difficult for users to gain insight of smart service configuration, our research position is to express a user-oriented approach by applying the concept of U-VR to smart home simulation model. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The historical roots of simulation might be described with the broadest definition of medical simulation: “an imitation of some real thing, state of affairs, or process” for the practice of skills, problem solving, and judgment. From the first “blue box” flight simulator to the military''s impetus in the transfer of modeling and simulation technology to medicine, worldwide acceptance of simulation training is growing. Large collaborative simulation centers support the expectation of increases in multidisciplinary, interprofessional, and multimodal simulation training. Virtual worlds, both immersive and Web-based, are at the frontier of innovation in medical education. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Sixty-five teams of basic and secondary school students solved problem-solving tasks during a virtual hike in a Web-based inquiry-learning simulation ‘Hiking Across Estonia’. This environment provided learners with all necessary background information for problem-solving and tools for carrying out experiments. There were 25 tasks in certain order about ecological and environmental issues. The teams were clustered according to the data about participants, the results of the pre- and post-test, and their achievement in problem-solving tasks of the virtual hike. Only two out of five clusters were regarded as effective in solving problems and analysing tables, graphs, figures, and photos. The others had difficulties in forming contextual or task and process awareness. A support system for increasing the effectiveness of inquiry learning and enhancing their development of analytical skills was developed on the basis of the strategies that the members of five clusters had used in solving the problems, their achievement in solving the tasks during the virtual hike and in the pre- and post-test, and the personal data about the teams. The support system contained different notes before solving the problems and changed sequence of the tasks on the virtual hike for some clusters. The usage of this system was evaluated in a second study with 60 teams. The comparison of two studies demonstrated significant effectiveness of the support system to both general problem-solving ability and analytical skills. The characteristics of each cluster and the influence of the support system are discussed in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using Java, Java-enabled Web and object-oriented programming technologies, a framework is designed to organize multicomputer system on Intranet quickly to complete Monte Carlo simulation parallelizing. The high-performance computing environment is embedded in Web server so it can be accessed more easily. Adaptive parallelism and eager scheduling algorithm are used to realize load balancing, parallel processing and system fault-tolerance. Independent sequence pseudo-random number generator schemes to keep the parallel simulation availability. Three kinds of stock option pricing models as instances, ideal speedup and pricing results obtained on test bed. Now, as a Web service, a high-performance financial derivative security-pricing platform is set up for training and studying. The framework can also be used to develop other SPMD (single procedure multiple data) application. Robustness is still a major problem for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the creation of interactive computer simulations that implement virtual laboratories in the field of Control Engineering education. Easy Java Simulations (Ejs, http://fem.um.es/Ejs/), a Java-based tool that helps create interactive dynamic simulations, is introduced. This tool can be used on its own, generating stand-alone Java applications or applets, or in conjunction with Matlab/Simulink, using them as the internal engine that describes and solves the model. We describe in this paper this particular feature in detail, and provide some examples that show the advantages that this tool offers to the world-wide engineering education community. Ejs is a freeware, open source, tool aimed for educators with low profile in programming but deep knowledge on certain technical and scientific fields. The tool allows to develop complete, interactive simulations in three steps: describing the mathematical model (optionally using Matlab/Simulink), building the user interface using off-the-shelf graphical elements, and connecting certain properties of these elements to the variables of the model. This last step is the key point to transform a classical simulation into a full interactive application. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Comput Appl Eng Educ 13: 84–98, 2005; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com); DOI 10.1002/cae.20033 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents some personal reflections on how information technology is moving towards effective and efficient application in control education. The time has arrived for virtual and remote labs to make use of the facilities that the World Wide Web (WWW) provides. The replacement of traditional laboratories with virtual or remote laboratories is presented. Their advantages and disadvantages are evaluated from a critical point of view. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper describes a distributed simulation of ecosystems in the Internet. It is accomplished by means of an object oriented continuous simulation language, called OOCSMP, and a Java (and C++) generating compiler (called C-OOL) for this language. We have extended the language with some primitives to provide for distribution. Sinchronization points are added automatically by the compiler, which generates the distributed Java code using RMI packages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The movement of contaminants through the soil matrix is primarily a liquid phase process in which the chemical partitions between sorbed and dissolved phases. These phenomena have been modeled extensively and several computer models were developed. The use of those computer programs requires installation of the software in the users machine. Usually, post-processing of the numerical output provided by the software is required. In this paper, a web-based simulation environment for retention and transport of dissolved organic and inorganic compounds in soils is presented. The system was developed using Java and is based on the Multi-reaction Transport Model of heavy metals in soil. The mathematical and numerical formulation of the model is briefly sketched. The core computing components of the simulation environment were written in C or fortran for their computational efficiency. The emerging Java Native Interface (JNI) technique and the Swing interface were used to design a user-friendly simulator. Java security problems (due to the use of applets calling native libraries) are discussed and a solution to avoid security restrictions is provided. The simulation system provides interactive user control and real time visualization through standard web browsers. The Java-based simulation code was used to analyze a hypothetical soil contamination problem. The almost instantaneous visualization of results provided by the Java-based interface resulted in efficient and easy analyses. Although a performance comparison was not in mind, the evaluation of the same scenario using the original fortran code took three times as much total time (program run, evaluation of results and post-processing) as that using the Java simulation system. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]