We present a novel approach to place recognition well-suited to environments with many dynamic objects--objects that may or may not be present in an agent's subsequent visits. By incorporating an object-detecting preprocessing step, our approach yields high-quality place representations that incorporate object information. Not only does this result in significantly improved place recognition in dynamic environments, it also significantly reduces memory/storage requirements, which may increase the effectiveness of mobile agents with limited resources.

Citizen scientists have the potential to play an important role in combating mosquito-borne diseases such as malaria, dengue fever, Zika, and West Nile virus. While public health officials do not have the labor or resources to collect adequate spatial and temporal coverage of where, when, and what types of mosquitoes are found, these officials may be hesitant to include citizen science data because they are not confident of the data. The GLOBE Observer Mosquito Habitat Mapper (GO MHM) app was launched in 2017, and data are being collected from around the world. As part of the app, photos of mosquito larvae are submitted. Computer vision software provides a means of assisting in the validation of the images for correctness. We have developed an image recognition prototype that includes image collection, training of image classifiers, specimen recognition, and expert validation and analytics. Photos of known mosquito larvae are used to train a Deep Learning classification model. Citizen scientists submit photos, and the system conducts an analysis that indicates the probability of correct mosquito identification. New and better classification models can be trained from new data received from citizen scientists. Experts can have access to the recognition results to assess data quality and devise ways to improve the quality of GO MHM data, while public health officials can use the data to assist in the mitigation of disease outbreaks. Recommendations are made for prototype improvements.

We propose a system that assists infectious disease experts in the rapid identification of potential outbreaks resulting from arboviruses (mosquito, ticks, and other arthropodborne viruses). The proposed system currently identifies mosquito larvae in images received from citizen scientists. Mosquito-borne viruses, such as the recent outbreak of Zika virus, can have devastating consequences in affected communities. We describe the first implemented prototype of our system, which includes modules for image collection, training of image classifiers, specimen recognition, and expert validation and analytics. The results of the recognition of specimens in images provided by citizen scientists can be used to generate visualizations of geographical regions of interest where the threat of an arbovirus may be imminent. Our system uses state-of-the-art image classification algorithms and a combination of mobile and desktop applications to ensure that crucial information is shared appropriately and accordingly among its users.

An approach for three robust and semi-blind digital video watermarking algorithms has been proposed in this paper. These algorithms are based on hybrid transforms using the combination of Discrete Cosine Transform and Singular Value Decomposition (DCTSVD), Discrete Wavelet Transform and Singular Value Decomposition (DWT-SVD) and Discrete Wavelet Transform, Discrete Cosine Transform and Singular Value Decomposition (DWT-DCT-SVD). The original video is divided to number of frames. On one frame, the three hybrid transform algorithms have been applied separately. The process is repeated for all the reaming frames. The performance of the proposed algorithms is evaluated with respect to imperceptibility and robustness. The results show that the proposed algorithms give a good Peak Signal to Noise Ratio (PSNR), however their performance varied with respect to robustness.

This report examines students' perceptions of the implementation of carefully designed curriculum materials (called modules) in linear algebra courses at three different universities. The curricular materials were produced collaboratively by STEM and mathematics education faculty as members of a professional learning community (PLC) over several years.

This paper reports on the experience of STEM and mathematics faculty at four different institutions working collaboratively to integrate learning theory with curriculum development in a core undergraduate linear algebra context. The faculty formed a Professional Learning Community (PLC) with a focus on learning theories in mathematics and curriculum development. Beginning with an online reading seminar, faculty paired with at least one other STEM faculty member at each institution to develop modules collaboratively with each other and with the group as a whole through regular project meetings. Two representative modules from this collaboration are presented with student and faculty feedback. A link is provided to other modules. We consider this a proof-of-concept paper with broader applicability beyond linear algebra to other mathematics and even STEM courses. We focus on linear algebra because it is widely taught in undergraduate mathematics programs and lends itself easily to a variety of applications and geometric analyses. We intend to continue to apply this approach to other content domains. We chose a particular theoretical framework, Action-Process-Object-Schema (APOS), because the mathematics education faculty in this group had considerable experience in the development and use of the framework.

We applied computer-based text analyses of regressive imagery to verbal protocols of individuals engaged in creative problem-solving in two domains: visual art (23 experts, 23 novices) and computer programming (14 experts, 14 novices). Percentages of words involving primary process and secondary process thought, plus emotion-related words, were tabulated. Visual art protocols were higher in primary process thought and emotion-related words; those from programming were higher in secondary process thought. Almost no main effects of expertise or interactions were found. Correlations between the measures (particularly those involving emotion-related words) also varied as a function of task. This pattern suggests cognitive processes vary considerably across different creative problem-solving tasks or domains, and that a more domain-specific approach to creative cognition may be advisable. Further implications for integrating and consolidating some extant lines of creativity research are discussed.

We report on some initial findings of an investigation into current practices in, and the need for, information/computer ethics curricula at the graduate level. We give some results and analysis from a survey of faculty and graduate students at four diverse U.S. institutions. Faculty and students agree that students will face professional ethical challenges after graduation, but assessment of students' preparedness for these challenges differs widely across the surveyed institutions. A clear majority of faculty and students expressed support for an elective graduate-level ethics course, and roughly half supported a required graduate-level ethics course.

In free and open source software (FOSS), computer code is made freely accessible and can be modified by anyone. It is a creative domain with many unique features; the FOSS mode of creativity has also influenced many aspects of contemporary cultural production. In this article we identify a number of fundamental but unresolved general issues in the study of creativity, then examine the potential for the study of FOSS to inform these topics. Archival studies of the genesis of FOSS projects, coupled with laboratory studies detailing the psychological processes involved in software creation, can provide converging evidence on the nature of creativity in software design. Such a research program has broad implications both for theories of creativity and for real-world innovation in software and other forms of digital cultural production.

We propose that the study of creativity would benefit from more efforts to unify methods and results from disparate modes of inquiry and domains. We illustrate one approach for combining two perspectives: Martindale's regressive imagery and computer-based text analysis; and Ericsson and Simon's articulation of concurrent verbal protocol analysis for studying creative problem solving. We examine two domains: visual arts and computer programming. Our approach yields data suggestive of potentially key differences across domains, thereby suggesting that such hybrid techniques may inform creative problem solving in basic and unprecedented ways.

We propose that the study of creativity would benefit from more efforts to unify methods and results from disparate modes of inquiry and domains. We illustrate one approach for combining two perspectives: Martindale's regressive imagery and computer-based text analysis; and Ericsson and Simon's articulation of concurrent verbal protocol analysis for studying creative problem solving. We examine two domains: visual arts and computer programming. Our approach yields data suggestive of potentially key differences across domains, thereby suggesting that such hybrid techniques may inform creative problem solving in basic and unprecedented ways.

We report on some results from a multiyear development of new techniques and materials for teaching linear algebra. Our goals were to (a) to create a professional learning community across STEM disciplines, (b) to combine expertise in content and pedagogy in designing effective instructional practice, and (c) to use learning theories to support the conceptual alignment of content and pedagogical goals. In particular, our approach combines the use of domain-specific problems, APOS learning theory, and the development of the professional learning community. This set of practices was developed and deployed across four diverse institutions, in diverse linear algebra courses, and was effective across this diversity. We discuss the development of teaching materials, and present reflections from students and faculty which were shared during and after these "modules" were used in classes.

In this panel, we explore some of the issues surrounding the ethical review of computer security research by institutional review boards (IRBs) and other ethical review bodies. These issues include interpretation of legal language defining how ethical review is to be performed, the impact of information and communication technologies (ICT) on research methods and ethical analysis, how terms like “risk” and “harm” must be interpreted in the light of ICT. We examine two case studies in which these issues surface, and conclude by providing some ideas on the path forward.

While research linking science and aesthetics continues to proliferate, in technical domains like software development, quantitative investigations of aesthetics are virtually nonexistent. As an initial exploration, we administered an online survey to 12 experts and 38 novices in programming, assessing the frequency, nature, time course, and judgment criteria of their aesthetic experience with software code. Both groups reported having aesthetic experiences with code, though somewhat less frequently and intensely than with other creative artifacts. Overall, judgments of "ugly" code were reported to be faster than those of "beautiful" code, which in turn were faster than those of "correct" code. Aesthetic considerations of code were generally rated as quite important, though not as important as functionality. Finally, aesthetic judgment criteria were highly correlated among experts and novices. Results suggest a quantitative approach to aesthetics in software code is a promising direction, with trans-domain implications for aesthetics and creativity.

I wouldn’t compare a program with the Mona Lisa, but it does have a simplicity and elegance that’s quite handsome. Stylistic distinctions of different programs are intriguing, very much like the differences art critics might see between Leonardo’s Mona Lisa and a Van Gogh...When you write an algorithm using M expressions, it’s so beautiful you almost feel it could be framed and hung on a wall. Gary Kildall (Lammers, 1986/2006: 64)

This paper explores the growing concerns with computer science research, and in particular, computer security research and its relationship with the committees that review human subjects research. It offers cases that review boards are likely to confront, and provides a context for appropriate consideration of such research, as issues of bots, clouds, and worms enter the discourse of human subjects review.

Claims about the potential of free software to reform the production and distribution of software are routinely countered by skepticism that the free software community fails to engage the pragmatic and economic `realities' of a software industry. We argue to the contrary that contemporary business and economic trends definitively demonstrate the financial viability of an economy based on free software. But the argument for free software derives its true normative weight from social justice considerations: the evaluation of the basis for a software economy should be guided by consideration of the social and cultural states which are the ultimate goals of any economic arrangement. That is, the software economy should be evaluated in light of its ability to provide justice. We conclude with a discussion of possible avenues for reform.