bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Les thermes d'Aquae Segetae, Montbrison-Moingt (Loire) : première évaluation archéologique. / The roman baths of Aquae Segetae, Montbrison-Moingt (Loire) : a preliminary survey
Authors: Blin Olivier , Le Barrier Christian , Thirion Philippe
Published: May 2010

Une campagne d'évaluation archéologique et architecturale a été menée en septembre 1991 sur le bâtiment thermal gallo-romain du site d' 'Aquae Segetae, situé à 20 km au sud-ouest de la capitale des Ségusiaves, Forum Segusiavorum. Elle a montré l'exceptionnel état de conservation des vestiges encore en élévation. Les principales observations sont livrées ici, ainsi qu'un bilan synthétique des connaissances sur le site antique.
Un fond de cabane de l'antiquité tardive à Saumeray (Eure-et-Loir) / A late Roman Grubenhaus at Saumeray (Eure-et-Loir).
Authors: Lelong Alain
Published: May 2010

A rescue excavation in a quarry at Saumeray has revealed a late Roman Grubenhaus, a type of structure so far unknown in the upper Loir valley.
Les plantes génétiquement modifiées dans les PVD : entre discours et réalité
Authors: Raffin Thierry
Published: May 2010

Depuis le milieu des années 1990, la question des plantes génétiquement modifiées (PGM) taraude la compétition économique entre les États-Unis et l’Europe. L’Afrique, continent emblématique des problématiques du développement et du problème récurrent de la faim dans le monde, apparaît comme le terrain de cette opposition. Les promoteurs des OGM

tentent de s’appuyer sur ces problèmes pour le développement des biotechnologies végétales; les opposants dénoncent cette prétention des PGM à régler les questions de la faim et du développement dans les PVD. Dans cette compétition mondiale, la mise en place dans ces pays, à l’instigation des États-Unis, de réseaux et de relais appuyés sur les instituts de recherche nationaux, plaidant et oeuvrant pour une «nouvelle révolution verte génétique», ne semble pas véritablement permettre une appropriation de ces nouvelles biotechnologies par les PVD. Les conditions culturales et les savoirs sociotechniques traditionnels restent trop souvent en dehors de l’équation biotechnologique. Cela n’est pas sans produire des tensions, des inquiétudes, des résistances dans les milieux des petits producteurs agricoles.
Sleep Stage Transitions in Healthy Humans Altered by Central Monoaminergic Antagonist
Authors: Kishi A. , Yasuda H. , Matsumoto T. , Inami Y. , Horiguchi J. , Struzik Z. R. , Yamamoto Y.
Published: May 2010

Objectives: Sleep stage transitions constitute one of the key components of the dynamical aspect of sleep. However, neural mechanisms of sleep stage transitions have not, to date, been fully elucidated. We investigate the effects of administrating risperi-done, a central serotonergic and dopaminergic antagonist, on sleep stage transitions inhumans, and also on ultradian rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep rhythms.

Methods: Ten healthy young male volunteers (age: 22 ± 3.7 years) participated in this study. The subjects spent three nights in a sleep laboratory. The first was the adaptation night, and the second was the baseline night. On the third night, the subjects received risperidone (1 mg tablet) 30 min before the polysomnography recording. We measured and investigated transition probabilities between waking, REM and non-REM (stages I–IV) sleep stages.

Results: We found that the probability of transition from stage II to stage III was significantly greater for the risperidone night than for the baseline night. We also found that risperidone administration prolonged REM-onset intervals, when compared to the baseline night.

Conclusions: We demonstrate that central serotonergic and /or dopaminergic neural transmissions are involved in the regulation of sleep stage transitions from light (stage II) to deep (stage III) sleep, and also in determining ultradian REM sleep rhythms.
Central Sleep Apnea Detection from ECG-derived Respiratory Signals
Authors: Dickhaus H. , Maier C.
Published: May 2010

Objectives: This study examines the suitability of recurrence plot analysis for the problem of central sleep apnea (CSA) detection and delineation from ECG-derived respiratory (EDR) signals.

Methods: A parameter describing the average length of vertical line structures in recurrence plots is calculated at a time resolution of 1 s as ‘instantaneous trapping time’. Threshold comparison of this parameter is used to detect ongoing CSA. In data from 26 patients (duration 208 h) we assessed sensitivity for detection of CSA and mixed apnea (MSA) events by comparing the results obtained from 8-channel Holter ECGs to the annotations (860 CSA, 480 MSA) of simultaneously registered polysomnograms.

Results: Multivariate combination of the EDR from different ECG leads improved the detection accuracy significantly. When all eight leads were considered, an average instantaneous vertical line length above 5 correctly identified 1126 of the 1340 events (sensitivity 84%) with a total number of 1881 positive detections.

Conclusions: We conclude that recurrence plot analysis is a promising tool for detection and delineation of CSA epochs from EDR signals with high time resolution. Moreover, the approach is likewise applicable to directly measured respiratory signals.
Using Patterns for Engineering High-Quality E-Commerce Applications
Authors: Kamthan Pankaj
Published: May 2010

In this chapter, we view the development and maintenance of high-quality electronic commerce (ecommerce) applications from a Web engineering perspective. A methodology for deploying patterns as means for improving the quality of e-commerce applications is presented. To that regard, relevant quality attributes and corresponding stakeholder types for the e-commerce applications are identified. The role of development process, the challenges in making optimal use of patterns, and feasibility issues involved in doing so, are analyzed. The activities of a systematic selection and application of patterns are explored. Examples illustrating the use of patterns during macro- and micro-architecture design of business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce applications are given. The implications of the use of patterns in a Semantic Web context are briefly highlighted.
On the Use of Soft Computing Techniques for Web Personalization
Authors: Castellano G.
Published: May 2010

Due to the growing variety and quantity of information available on the Web, there is urgent need for developing Web-based applications capable of adapting their services to the needs of the users. This is the main rationale behind the flourishing area of Web personalization that finds in soft computing (SC) techniques a valid tool to handle uncertainty in Web usage data and develop Web-based applications tailored to user preferences. The main reason for this success seems to be the synergy resulting from SC paradigms, such as fuzzy logic, neural networks, and genetic algorithms. Each of these computing paradigms provides complementary reasoning and searching methods that allow the use of domain knowledge and empirical data to solve complex problems. In this chapter, we emphasize the suitability of hybrid schemes combining different SC techniques for the development of effective Web personalization systems. In particular, we present a neuro-fuzzy approach for Web personalization that combines techniques from the fuzzy and the neural paradigms to derive knowledge from Web usage data and represent the knowledge in the comprehensible form of fuzzy rules. The derived knowledge is ultimately used to dynamically suggest interesting links to the user of a Web site.
A Composite Model for E-Commerce Diffusion
Authors: Yap Alexander Y.
Published: May 2010

Why are some countries successful with e-commerce while others flounder? This chapter is an update of an earlier research study that the authors conducted to analyze the impact of technology, cultural, and socio-economic factors on the global diffusion of e-commerce. The general thesis of this chapter is that cultural and socio-economic factors in addition to technology were the reasons for the growth of e-commerce within countries. There had been no prior studies that combined the aggregate effects of cultural, socio-economic, and technology factors on e-commerce diffusion. While technology could solely contribute to Internet surfing, culture and socio-economic factors can be pivotal in bridging the gap between Internet usage and e-commerce diffusion. The objective of this research is to provide a model that quantified the aggregated influences of technology, culture, and socio-economic factors on global e-commerce diffusion. In terms of methodology, a cross-country regression model was used to analyze the determinants of e-commerce diffusion and the results provide evidence that the propensity for e-commerce growth can be explained by these factors. The results were aimed at providing firms with a greater understanding of strategies to employ while implementing e-commerce across the world. This paper revisits that publication to see if any changes in the factors have occurred.
Privacy Protection Overseas as Perceived by USA-Based IT Professionals
Authors: Shah Jaymeen R.
Published: May 2010

Privacy laws for the Internet are difficult to develop and implement domestically and internationally. A clear problem is how such laws are limited to national jurisdictions. What is legal in one country may be illegal in another. Due to differences in cultures and values, and government types, it may not be possible to establish global standards and legislations to ensure privacy. Due to the nonexistence of global privacy standards, multinational (international) companies usually select one of the following two possible solutions: (1) implement a most restrictive “one size fits all” privacy policy that is used across various countries, or (2) implement different privacy policies that meet the privacy regulations of different countries and expectations of those citizens. In order to investigate a solution that may be used by multinational companies, and how companies view domestic privacy laws, the authors conducted a survey of U.S.-based employees of domestic and multinational companies. The results of the survey suggest that the majority of the multinational companies prefer the first solution—most restrictive “one size fits all” approach. They develop and implement a single set of privacy policies that is used across their operations in different countries. The majority of the companies surveyed consider domestic privacy laws in the United States to be practical, but ineffective.
A Framework for Understanding Returns from E-Government
Authors: Srivastava Shirish C. , Teo Thompson S.H.
Published: May 2010

Though policy makers and governments are interested in understanding the returns from e-Government implementation, there are relatively few empirical studies that analyze this aspect. Using secondary data from 99 countries and the IT impact literature as the guiding theoretical perspective, we examine the returns from e-Government in the form of national performance. We do this by initially examining the relationship of e-Government development with the first order government process efficiency parameters (resource spending efficiency and administrative process efficiency). Subsequently we examine the association of these first order efficiency outcomes with the two second order dimensions of national performance (reduction of social divide and business competitiveness). Our initial analysis reveals a significant association between “e-Government development” and “resource spending efficiency” and also between “e-Government development” and “administrative process efficiency”. For the second order model, we find that the relationship between “administrative process efficiency” and “reduction of social divide” is not significant. Further, we conducted a post-hoc analysis which revealed that the relationship between “administrative process efficiency” and “reduction of social divide” is fully mediated through the “national business competitiveness”. Hence, “business competitiveness” emerges as an important variable for realizing the “reduction of social divide”. Through this research, we make some important contributions and offer implications for researchers, practitioners and policy makers.
A Time Series Analysis of International ICT Spillover
Authors: Zhang Juan Juan , Lee Sang-Yong Tom
Published: May 2010

This article studies the role of international spillover of information and communication technology (ICT) in economic growth. We examine the performance of ten countries from 1982 to 1999. By empirically analyzing the relationship between total factor productivity (TFP) and domestic and foreign ICT investment with time series analysis tools, we find limited evidence that there exist international ICT spillovers for a group of countries. Further, we discuss the possible ICT policies to improve productivity and balance out a win-win situation for both ICT spillover sending and receiving countries.
Technological Hurdles to Caribbean E-Commerce
Authors: Wresch William , Fraser Simon
Published: May 2010

Studies summarized by the United Nations Commission on Trade and Development continue to show that Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in developing countries face particular problems with managerial skills, connectivity, branding, logistics, security, and foreign competition. Yet the same studies note that barriers and e-commerce efforts vary considerably from one region of the world to another. To determine if these barriers are significant in the Caribbean region, during July and August of 2004, the principle investigators visited business executives in five Caribbean nations. 36 businesses and government agencies were interviewed. General results showed significant e-commerce efforts underway in these countries with most enabling technologies and business systems in place. However, several major barriers were repeatedly encountered. Logistics challenges, including shipping and customs barriers, as well as recent import controls in the United States were frequently mentioned. Many also described a banking sector unwilling or unable to facilitate convenient electronic payment systems. Nevertheless, executives described a number of e-commerce strategies which could be adopted by other SMEs that wish to increase their e-commerce income. The investigators present four managerial characteristics that were seen in the leading businesses. The authors hope the results of this study will suggest improved strategies for SMEs in developing countries seeking to use e-commerce to expand their markets.
Vendor vs. Client Risks in Outsourced IT Projects
Authors: Taylor Hazel
Published: May 2010

As outsourced and multinational IT projects become more common, managing risks for these projects is increasingly important. The research reported here examined key risks identified by Hong Kong vendor project managers working on both local and international package implementation projects. In addition to the typical risks that threaten project outcome success, respondents noted additional client- side and vendor-side risks, as well as location-specific risks on their multinational projects. They also distinguished threats to the satisfactory process of the project, and threats to their own firms from competitors and from potential damage to their reputation arising from customer dissatisfaction with either the outcomes or the process of the project. This broader risk focus of vendor project managers is contrasted with the client perspective through the lens of agency theory. Traditionally, agency theory has been used to predict risks to the client-principal related to vendors’ profit goals in the outsourcing relationship. However, the findings of this study suggest that vendors’ higher-level concerns for their future business and reputation mitigate the risk to the client of vendor opportunistic behavior.
How Do We Get There? Strategy Action Framework–"Action Engine"
Authors: Russ Meir , Fineman Robert , Paterni Riccardo , Jones Jeannette K.
Published: May 2010

The chapter will describe a comprehensive planning framework for developing a company’s knowledge management strategy. The framework includes the goals and game plans of the strategy and the use of three enablers supporting such a strategy: levers, processes, and systems. This is complemented by the development of an action plan while considering the resources needed and the constraints present. The framework also includes the discussion of aligning the knowledge management strategy with the company’s business strategy as well as with the organization’s knowledge base and core competencies. The chapter uses two cases to illustrate some of the aspects discussed.
Strategic Alliances and Knowledge Management Strategies
Authors: Donate-Manzanares Mario J. , Guadamillas-Gómez Fátima , Sánchez de Pablo Jesús D.
Published: May 2010

Managing organizational knowledge in alliances implies establishing the best possible strategic design to create, acquire, maintain, transfer, and apply organizational knowledge developed between the partners (or acquired from partners) in order to achieve competitive goals. In this chapter, the role of knowledge management strategy (KMS) in strategic alliances is analyzed in a technology-intensive company. Focusing on this, the importance of alliances for technological companies and the necessity of designing suitable KMSs in alliances–in terms of establishing objectives, knowledge management tools, and support systems–are explained first of all. This is followed by the analysis of a case study of KMS in the strategic alliances of a company currently developing different businesses in technological settings. Finally, a number of conclusions are discussed, based on how the implementation aspects concerning KMS in strategic alliances have been managed and the way they have contributed to the attainment of the company’s objectives and goals.
Knowledge Management for an Effective Sales and Marketing Function
Authors: Karna Amit , Singh Ramendra , Verma Sanjay
Published: May 2010

In the last decade, knowledge management has been receiving managerial attention particularly in the post-Internet era. With advancements in information and communications technologies, the incentives to manage knowledge have far surpassed the costs associated with it. The sales and marketing (S&M) function is one of the important functions in an organization with a unique blend of internal and external stakeholders to cater to. Another unique feature of knowledge management in the S&M function is that it lies on the interface of the organization with its customers. Therefore, information that comes into the organization through sales and marketing employees is often collected, filtered, and assimilated in different forms and with time lags. This chapter is aimed at familiarizing the readers with the importance of managing a continuously churning ocean of knowledge in the S&M function. We address various knowledge management issues and opportunities in the context of S&M and recommend a set of guidelines to enable managers increase the effectiveness of the S&M function by using appropriate knowledge management tools and strategies.
Web Application Server Clustering with Distributed Java Virtual machine
Authors: Lam King Tin , Wang Cho-Li
Published: May 2010

Web application servers, being today’s enterprise application backbone, have warranted a wealth of J2EE-based clustering technologies. Most of them however need complex configurations and excessive programming effort to retrofit applications for cluster-aware execution. This chapter proposes a clustering approach based on distributed Java virtual machine (DJVM). A DJVM is a collection of extended JVMs that enables parallel execution of a multithreaded Java application over a cluster. A DJVM achieves transparent clustering and resource virtualization, extolling the virtue of single-system-image (SSI). The authors evaluate this approach through porting Apache Tomcat to their JESSICA2 DJVM and identify scalability issues arising from fine-grain object sharing coupled with intensive synchronizations among distributed threads. By leveraging relaxed cache coherence protocols, we are able to conquer the scalability barriers and harness the power of our DJVM’s global object space design to significantly outstrip existing clustering techniques for cache-centric web applications.
Distributed Space-Time Block Coding for Amplify-and-Forward Cooperative Networks
Authors: Yi Zhihang , Kim Il-Min
Published: May 2010

This chapter focuses on distributed space-time codes (DSTCs) in cooperative networks. DSTCs can substantially improve the bandwidth efficiency of the cooperative network without requiring any feedback overheads from the destination to the relays. The first part of this chapter is dedicated to reviewing the existing works on DSTCs. In the second part of this chapter, distributed orthogonal space-time block codes (DOSTBCs) are presented in detail. It is shown that the DOSTBCs can achieve the single-symbol maximum likelihood decodability and full diversity order in an amplify-and-forward cooperative network. Then some special DOSTBCs, which generate uncorrelated noises at the destination, are introduced. Those codes are referred to as the row-monomial DOSTBCs. An upper bound of the data-rate of the row-monomial DOSTBC is derived and the codes achieving the upper bound are presented as well.
Towards Dynamic Collaborations in Virtual Organization Alliances
Authors: Zhao Xiaohui , Liu Chengfei
Published: May 2010

This chapter introduces a service oriented relative workflow model as a means of helping organisations promptly create flexible and privacy-safe virtual organisation alliances. It argues that virtual organisation alliances are highly advocated to adapt to dynamic B2B collaborations, driven by the fast changing service demand-and-supply requirements. However, the temporary partnership and low trustiness between collaborating organisations put challenges to effectively manage collaborative business processes, and correspondingly an organisation centred design method and a visibility mechanism are discussed in this chapter to provide a finer granularity of authority control at contacting and collaboration design phases. Furthermore, the authors hope that understanding the establishment of a virtual organisation alliance through the use of relative workflows will not only inform researchers a better business process design methodology, but also assist in the understanding of the dynamic behaviours inside a virtual organisation alliance and the supporting approaches.
Beyond Digital Divide
Authors: Selwyn Neil , Facer Keri
Published: May 2010

This chapter discusses how digital exclusion continues to present a serious and significant threat to the successful establishment of developed and developing countries as ‘information societies.’ Based on a review of recent research and theoretical work, the chapter considers a number of different reasons why digital exclusion remains a complex and entrenched social problem, highlighting the need to recognize the mediating role of economic, cultural, and social forms of capital in shaping individuals’ engagements with ICT. From this basis, the chapter proposes a hierarchical framework of digital exclusion based around conceptual ‘stages’ of ICT use. Using this framework, the argument is made that policymakers, technologists, and other information society stakeholders face a considerable challenge to match the social affordances of ICTs with the everyday needs, interests, and desires of individuals. In this sense, digital exclusion continues to demand a complex set of policy responses which go far beyond simply increasing levels of hardware provision and support, and then assuming any ‘gaps’ to have been ‘bridged.’ The chapter concludes by highlighting a number of possible directions for future action.
Beyond the Digital Divide
Authors: Auh Seongyeon , Shulman Stuart W. , Thrane Lisa E. , Shelley II Mack C.
Published: May 2010

An essential, and rapidly-developing, aspect of electronic government is the growing use of online resources for government activities such as e-rulemaking, citizen participation, and the provision of information, referral, and assistance for users with needs for service delivery. Major developments in the use of electronic government resources for services needed by the elder and disability populations are the primary focus of this chapter. We focus here on the results of a large-scale statewide survey of residents of the state of Iowa, and on the findings from evaluations of aging and disability resource Websites in the United States and in other countries. Current and future trends in service delivery that may help to bridge digital divides for the elder and disability populations are discussed.
Solving the Paradoxes of the Information Technology Revolution
Authors: Sandulli Francesco D.
Published: May 2010

The research on the digital divide usually analyzes the differences between those who have access to information technology and those who have not. This approach typically considers information technology a homogeneous set of technologies. In this chapter, we will break this assumption establishing different subsets of information technologies according to their impact on the task productivity and the firm’s demand for high skilled labour. This new focus reveals that depending on the information technology used by the firm to perform a given task, the demand for high skilled and low skilled workers may vary and consequently their wages and income, producing in some cases a new and till now unobserved digital divide
From the Digital Divide to Multiple Divides
Authors: Comunello Francesca
Published: May 2010

It is widely acknowledged that the label “digital divide” can be partially misleading, because it emphasizes a binary dichotomy (“haves vs. have nots”) and a mere technological dimension (in terms of physical availability of devices or conduits). Behind the dichotomous model, however, lie different use and adoption strategies. People cannot be described as being either in or out. Evaluating the complex relationships between technological, social, and human factors raises a number of questions, mainly related to the role of technology in social development. Moreover, we should also reconsider what is commonly meant by information and communication technology. In this chapter, I will try to introduce a multilevel model for analyzing the digital divide, focusing on effective access and new media literacy. The focus will be shifted from technology to humans. In every ICT for development project, local context and local needs should be regarded as the key factors.
Taxonomy of Behavioural Biometrics
Authors: Yampolskiy Roman V. , Govindaraju Venu
Published: May 2010

This chapter presents a taxonomy of the latest behavioural biometrics, including some future oriented approaches. Current research in the field is examined and analyzed along with the features used to describe different types of behaviour. After comparing accuracy rates for verification of users using different behavioural biometric approaches, researchers address privacy issues which arise or might arise in the future with the use of behavioural biometrics. Finally, generalized properties of behaviour are addressed as well as influence of environmental factors on observed behaviour and potential directions for future research in behavioural biometrics.
Security Evaluation of Behavioral Biometric Systems
Authors: Henniger Olaf
Published: May 2010

For establishing trust in the security of IT products, security evaluations by independent third-party testing laboratories are the first choice. In some fields of application of biometric methods (e.g., for protecting private keys for qualified electronic signatures), a security evaluation is even required by legislation. The common criteria for IT security evaluation form the basis for security evaluations for which wide international recognition is desired. Within the common criteria, predefined security assurance requirements describe actions to be carried out by the developers of the product and by the evaluators. The assurance components that require clarification in the context of biometric systems are related to vulnerability assessment. This chapter reviews the state of the art and gives a gentle introduction to the methodology for evaluating the security of biometric systems, in particular of behavioral biometric verification systems.
Performance Evaluation of Behavioral Biometric Systems
Authors: Cherifi F. , Hemery B. , Giot R. , Pasquet M. , Rosenberger C.
Published: May 2010

We present, in this chapter, an overview of techniques for the performance evaluation of behavioral biometric systems. The BioAPI standard that defines the architecture of a biometric system is presented in the first part of the chapter. The general methodology for the evaluation of biometric systems is given including statistical metrics, definition of benchmark databases, and subjective evaluation. These considerations rely with the ISO/IEC19795-1 standard describing the biometric performance testing and reporting. The specificity of behavioral biometric systems is detailed in the second part of the chapter in order to define some additional constraints for their evaluation. This chapter is dedicated to researchers and engineers who need to quantify the performance of such biometric systems.
Gabor Wavelets in Behavioral Biometrics
Authors: Amin M. Ashraful , Yan Hong
Published: May 2010

The Gabor wavelets are employed regularly in various biometrics applications because of their biological relevance and computational properties. These wavelets have kernels similar to the 2D receptive field profiles of the mammalian cortical simple cells. They exhibit desirable characteristics of spatial locality and orientation selectivity, and are optimally localized in the space and frequency domains. Physiological, biometric systems such as face, fingerprint, and iris based human identification have shown great improvement in identification accuracies if Gabor wavelets are used for feature extraction. Moreover, some behavioral biometric systems such as speaker and gait based applications have shown more than 7% increase in identification accuracies. In this study, we provide a brief discussion on the origin of Gabor wavelets, then an illustration of “how to use Gabor wavelets” to extract features for a generic biometric application is discussed. We also provide an implementation pseudocode for the wavelet. It also offers an elaborate discussion on biometric applications with specific emphasis on behavioral biometric systems that have used Gabor wavelets. We also provide guideline for some biometric systems that have not yet applied Gabor wavelets for feature extraction.
Creative Waves
Authors: Polaine Andy , Bennett Rick
Published: May 2010

The past few years have seen the promise of online collaboration vastly augmented by developments in online technologies and emerging creative practices. Through our work with the Omnium Research Group, the authors argue that design should never be a solitary activity and benefits from many levels of collaboration - never more so than when dealing with complex issues facing today’s world. The highly connected global society in which many of us now live frequently uses web-technologies to enhance nearly every facet of day-to-day life. The authors strongly believe that design education should not isolate itself from such communal and collaborative potential. This chapter explores what happens when online creative collaboration is applied to a real-world design project tackling critical health issues affecting local communities in Africa. It offers an account of the most recent, fully-online Creative Waves project - Visualising Issues in Pharmacy (VIP) that saw over 100 graphic designers join forces with a similar number of pharmacists from over 40 countries worldwide to produce graphic proposals for public awareness campaigns about six health issues seriously affecting the people of a village community in Kenya. The three-month VIP project is explained in relation to its aims, objectives and graphic outcomes, as well as the online environment in which it took place. Creative Waves is a concept created in 2005 by the Omnium Research Group, based at The University of New South Wales in Australia, to form online communities of design students from many institutions around the globe. Consisting an array of enthusiastic students, teaching staff, professional practitioners and luminaries invited as special guests, these online creative communities have proved that amazing results can be produced through careful facilitation between distanced individuals who will most likely never meet. The Creative Waves concept has to date been offered twice in collaboration with Icograda and the Icograda Education Network.
Maximizing Collaboration Using Topic Maps-Based Ontology
Authors: Yi Myongho
Published: May 2010

Enhanced information organization is more critical than ever in the digital world where ill-structured information is increasing because of the rapid growth of intranets, the Internet, and user-created content. This chapter discusses limitations of current information organization approaches in the digital age and incorporating ontology into information organizations, thus enhancing collaboration possibilities. This chapter compares the two ontology languages, RDF and Topic Maps, addresses the selection guidelines between the two ontology languages, and then presents user performance using a Topic Maps-based ontology.
Collaborative Retrieval Systems
Authors: Sun Ying
Published: May 2010

Collaborative search generally uses previously collected search sessions as a resource to help future users to improve their searching by query modification. The recommendation or automatic extension of the query is generally based on the content of the old sessions, or purely the sequence/order of queries/ texts in a session, or a combination. However, users with the same expressed query may need different information. The difference may not be topic related. This chapter proposes to enrich the context of query representation to incorporate non-topical properties of user information needs, which the authors believe will improve the results of collaborative search.
Conceptualizing Codes of Conduct in Social Networking Communities
Authors: Ewbank Ann Dutton , Kay Adam G. , Foulger Teresa S. , Carter Heather L.
Published: May 2010

This chapter reviews the capabilities of social networking tools and links those capabilities to recent legal and ethical controversies involving use of social networking tools such as Facebook and MySpace. A social cognitive moral framework is applied to explore and analyze the ethical issues present in these incidents. Three ethical vulnerabilities are identified in the use of social networking tools: 1) the medium provides a magnified forum for public humiliation or hazing, 2) a blurring of boundaries exists between private and public information on social networking sites, and 3) the medium merges individuals’ professional and non-professional identities. Prevalent legal and social responses to these kinds of incidents are considered and implications are suggested for encouraging responsible use. The chapter includes a description of the authors’ current research with preservice students involving an intervention whereby students read and think about real cases where educators use social networking. The intervention was created to improve students’ critical thinking about the ethical issues involved. Recommendations for applying institutional codes of conduct to ethical dilemmas involving online tools are discussed.
Best Practices Guidelines for Agile Requirements Engineering Practices
Authors: Patel Chetankumar , Ramachandran Muthu
Published: May 2010

Developing software that meets the customers or stakeholders’ needs and expectation is the ultimate goal of the software development methodology. To meet their need we have to perform requirement engineering which helps to identify and structure requirements. In traditional software development methods end users or stakeholders predefined their requirements and sent to the development team to analysis and negotiation to produce requirement specification. In many cases it is risky or very difficult and not economical to produce a complete, verifiable set of requirements. Traditional software development has a problem to deal with requirement change after careful analysis and negotiation. This problem is well tackled by the Agile Practices as it’s recommends an on-site customer to represents their requirements through user stories on story cards. Generally customers have rarely a general picture of the requirements or system in their mind which leads problems related to requirements like requirements conflicts, missing requirements, and ambiguous requirements etc, and does not address non-functional requirements from exploration phase. This chapter introduces best knowledge based guidelines for agile requirements engineering to enhance the quality of requirements (story cards).
Requirements Engineering in a Model-Based Methodology for Embedded Automotive Software
Authors: Boulanger Jean-Louis
Published: May 2010

This chapter resumes the requirements engineering in a model-based methodology for embedded automotive software. The methodology relies on two standard languages: EAST-ADL for automotive architecture description and SysML for systems modeling. The requirements engineering in the methodology describes phases of elicitation, modeling, traceability, verification and validation. It is illustrated by applying on a case study -- the knock controller -- a part of the engine management system.
Using Patterns for Engineering High-Quality Mobile Applications
Authors: Kamthan Pankaj
Published: May 2010

In this chapter, the development and evolution of mobile applications is viewed from an engineering perspective. A methodology for deploying patterns as means for improving the pragmatic quality of mobile applications is proposed. In doing so, relevant quality attributes and corresponding stakeholder types for mobile applications are identified, the role of the development process is emphasized, and the challenges in making optimal use of patterns are presented. The underling feasibility issues involved at each step are analyzed. The activities of selection and application of patterns are explored. The use of patterns during macro- and micro-architecture design of mobile applications is illustrated. The implications of the use of patterns in a Mobile Social Web context are briefly highlighted.
Models Oriented Approach for Developing Railway Safety-Critical Systems with UML
Authors: Boulanger Jean-Louis , Rasse Alban , Idani Akram
Published: May 2010

This chapter presents an approach for certified design of railway critical systems. This approach, which realizes the software development cycle, relies on metamodeling architecture and model-transformations. It combines semi-formal UML models and formal models in order to check, proof and generate code by refinement; we use the process algebra FSP to check the dynamic behavior and B to generate proved code. Initially, the authors select an UML subset, which could be uses to model the key aspects of critical systems. Then, from this subset, the authors perform projections to obtain B and FSP models which are exploited by tools for checking, refinement and proof.
Trends in Improving Performances in Distributed Database Management Systems
Authors: Hababeh Ismail Omar , Ramachandran Muthu
Published: May 2010

Database technology has been a significant field to work in for developing real life applications in network information systems. An enterprise’s reliance on its network and database applications in Distributed Database Management systems (DDBMS) environment is likely to continue growing exponentially. In such a system the estimation and prediction of Quality of Service (QoS) performance improvements are crucial since it increases understanding the issues that affect the distributed database networking system behaviour; like database fragmentation, clustering database network sites, and data allocation and replication that would reduce the amount of irrelevant data and speed up the transactions response time. This chapter introduces the trends of database management systems DBMS and presents an integrated method for designing Distributed Relational networking Database Management System DRDBMS that efficiently and effectively achieves the objectives of database fragmentation, clustering database network sites, and fragments allocation and replication. It is based on high speed partitioning, clustering, and data allocation techniques that minimize the data fragments accessed and data transferred through the network sites, maximize the overall system throughput by increasing the degree of concurrent transactions processing of multiple fragments located in different sites, and result in better QoS design and decision support.
Educational and Social Benefits of Social Network Sites
Authors: Greenhow Christine , Robelia Beth
Published: May 2010

Online social network sites present opportunities for human service educators, practitioners, and clients. Human services education students can collaborate through multimedia networks, sharing ideas and experiences. Human services professionals can leverage online networks to problem solve, socialize and develop common resources, and clients can use such networks to engage in self-reflection and get support from those facing similar challenges. This chapter offers an introduction to online social network sites, summarizing their features, uses, demographics, and trends, and presents emerging research on their social and educational potential. An accompanying case study reveals how young adults might use online social network sites to further personal and educational goals. The chapter concludes with a discussion of how such sites might be employed by human services education students, practitioners and clients.
Practical Applications of Case Management Software for Practitioners in Health and Human Services
Authors: Cooper Lesley , Fox Dana , Stanley-Horn Diane
Published: May 2010

This chapter aims to demonstrate the capabilities and practical applications of a case management software system for not-for-profit organizations. Whilst a variety of software systems are available, for the purposes of this chapter the authors will use/refer to “Penelope,” a system designed by Athena, a Kitchener, Ontario software company. Penelope is a sophisticated piece of technology that can collect and analyze information on clients, services, human resources and outcomes. Although a wide range of data can be collected using this software, it cannot make decisions about what to record or how to scrutinize the data. The “what to record” and the “how to analyze and interpret” are management and clinical decisions. Effective use of case management software requires technical, management and analytical skills combined with leadership and imagination. Case management software systems and the information they provide are only as good as the planning and organizational systems in which they are used. The best starting point for practitioners and managers seeking answers to questions about their clients, services, community and policy, and to maximize the capabilities of case management software systems is the development and application of a program logic model unique to the agency in question. A program logic model focuses on the services and programs provided by the agency describing its’ inputs, activities, outputs and outcomes. Understanding how to develop and apply their model allows practitioners and managers to perform tasks such as performance monitoring, experimental and quasi experimental approaches program evaluations, and client satisfaction and outcome studies to demonstrate the effectiveness of their services to funding bodies, consumer groups, and their boards of directors whilst also providing a tool that can be used to enhance agency performance.
Formulating Modern Energy Policy through a Collaborative Expert Model
Authors: Patlitzianas Kostas , Metaxiotis Kostas
Published: May 2010

Nowadays, a comprehensive and modern energy policy making, which will be characterized by clarity and transparency, is necessary. Indeed, there exists a number of energy policy and planning systems, but there are no decision support systems investigating the energy policy making in an integrated way. In this context, the main aim of this chapter is to present an expert system based on a “multidimensional” approach for the energy policy making, which also incorporates the three objectives (security of supply, competitiveness of energy market and environmental protection) and takes into consideration all the related economical, social and technological parameters. This model was successfully applied in order to support the decisions towards the development of the energy policy priorities in the developing Mediterranean Countries as well as the countries of Gulf Cooperation Council – GCC.
Poly-Generation Planning
Authors: Rong Aiying , Lahdelma Risto , Grunow Martin
Published: May 2010

Increasing environmental concerns and the trends towards deregulation of energy markets have become an integral part of energy policy planning. Consequently, the requirement for environmentally sound energy production technologies has gained much ground in the energy business. The development of energy-efficient production technologies has experienced cogeneration and tri-generation and now is moving towards poly-generation. All these aspects have added new dimension in energy planning. The liberalized energy market requires techniques for planning under uncertainty. The growing environmental awareness calls for explicit handling of the impacts of energy generation on environment. Advanced production technologies require more sophisticated models for planning. The energy sector is one of the core application areas for operations research, decision sciences and intelligent techniques. The scientific community is addressing the analysis and planning of poly-generation systems with different approaches, taking into account technical, environment, economic and social issues. This chapter presents a survey on the models and decision support tools for cogeneration, tri-generation and poly-generation planning. This survey tries to reflect the influence of deregulated energy market and environmental concerns on decision support tasks at utility level. Diverse modelling techniques and solution methods for planning problems will co-exist for a long time. Undoubtedly, the application of intelligent techniques is one of the main trends.
Information Technology in Power System Planning and Operation under Deregulated Markets
Authors: Elkarmi Fawwaz
Published: May 2010

Power systems have grown recently in size and complexity to unprecedented levels. This means that planning and operation of power systems can not be made possible without the aid of information technology tools and instruments. Even small systems need such aid because of the complexity factor. On the other hand, new trends have recently emerged to solve the problems arising from increased size of power systems. These trends are related to the market structure, legal, and business issues. Other trends also cover technological developments, and environmental issues. Moreover, power systems have special characteristics and features that are not duplicated in other infrastructures. All these issues confirm the need for special information technology tools and instruments which aid in planning and operation of power systems.