bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Setting a CKM Strategy
Authors: Al-Shammari Minwir
Published: May 2011

In today’s dynamic business environment, change is omnipresent. Organizations have to develop sound change management strategies in order to counter the same. Transition to knowledge-based economies made establishment of effective knowledge management (KM) mechanisms within companies crucial to achieve business competitiveness. This chapter addresses background concepts, critical issues, and future trends related to the blueprinting of CKM as a knowledge-based strategy for anticipating and meeting customers’ needs profitably. Crafting CKM requires a set of activities, i.e. plan, design, build, and implement, which seek to create or leverage the firm’s distinctive core competencies (DCCs) in order to attain a sustainable competitive advantage (SCA). This chapter advocates the premise that successful businesses are those that have both vision and commitment to make that vision a reality. The vision might be customer-oriented, e.g. the strategy is CKM, the processes include CKM value chain primary activities (capture data from customers, create profiles of customers, compose knowledge about customers, maximize value for customers, measure return on relationships with customers, and master the learning throughout CKM change), and CKM value chain support activities: reorganizing people, reconfiguring processes, and retooling Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs).
Retooling ICT Systems
Authors: Al-Shammari Minwir
Published: May 2011

Regardless of the type of organization or operation, the evolving nature of organizational ICT systems helps organizations to live up to changing market dynamics. Although CKM itself is not a technological solution, ICTs are required to enable the integration of its customer-facing processes and, to build knowledge-based endurable and profitable customer relationships. The previous chapter explored the role of people in enabling CKM; whereas the current chapter is devoted to examining the role of ICTs retooling. Retooling ICTs is used in this chapter to refer to the replacement of old legacy systems with new systems in enabling a successful CKM change. The main focus of the chapter is on the hardware, software, and network components of ICTs in the context of CKM.
Digital Watermarking Capacity and Detection Error Rate
Authors: Zhang Fan
Published: May 2011

The digital multimedia, including text, image, graphics, audio, video, and so forth, has become a main way for information communication along with the popularization of Internet and the development of multimedia techniques. How to provide copyright protection has drawn extensive attention in recent years. As a main method for copyright protection, digital watermarking has been widely studied and applied. In this chapter we discuss the important properties of watermarks, the capacity, and the detection error rate. The watermarking system is analyzed based on the channel capacity and error rate of the communication system, and the relation between the detection error rate with the capacity and payload capacity is derived. This chapter also introduces a new analysis method of the watermarking capacity, which is based on the theories of attractors and attraction basin of artificial neural network. The attraction basin of neural network decides the upper limit of watermarking, and the attractors of neural network decide the lower limit of watermarking. According to the experimental results, the detection error rate of watermark is mainly influenced by the watermark average energy and the watermarking capacity. The error rate rises with the increase of watermarking capacity. When the channel coding is used, the watermarking error rate drops with the decrease of the payload capacity of watermarking.
Digital Watermarking
Authors: Mooney Aidan
Published: May 2011

As Internet usage continues to grow, people are becoming more aware of the need to protect the display and presentation of digital documents. Digital watermarking offers a means to protect such documents. It works by embedding a piece of information into these documents – either visibly or invisibly – which can be detected or extracted from the document at a later stage to prove ownership of the document. This chapter will review, in detail, the process of digital image watermarking and will evaluate the different types of watermarks which may be used and the different techniques used to embed the watermarks. An examination of the domains used to embed the watermarks and some of the techniques used for detection of the embedded watermark are provided. Finally future trends within the area of digital watermarking are outlined.
Fractal-Based Secured Multiple-Image Compression and Distribution
Authors: Chang Hsuan T. , Hsu Chih-Chung
Published: May 2011

This chapter introduces a pioneer concept in which multiple images are simultaneously considered in the compression and secured distribution frameworks. We have proposed the so-called fractal mating coding scheme to successfully implement the joint image compression and encryption concept through a novel design in the domain pool construction. With the exploration of the intra- and inter-image similarity among multiple images, not only the coding performance can be improved, but also the secured image distribution purpose can be achieved. The authors hope that the revealed fractal-based ideas in this chapter will provide a different perspective for the image compression and distribution framework.
An Engagement Strategy for Community Network Research and Design
Authors: Day Peter
Published: May 2011

This chapter introduces the community engagement strategy of the Community Network Analysis (CNA) project and considers its significance to research and practice in socio-technical design and social networking systems within the context of community technology. CNA uses a participatory action research (PAR) methodology grounded in community development principles. Employing the Community Development Foundation’s “involvement ready” model, the project adopted a mixed methods approach to data collection and analysis—community profiling, social network analysis, participatory learning workshops, and community communication space prototyping. The immersive nature of the project’s engagement strategy was designed to facilitate an interpretevist understanding of the complexities of West Hove community ecology. The project’s community-based participatory research approach is described together with the project’s contribution to knowledge, some of its significant outputs and outcomes and the tensions between the practices of community research and community development actions.
Leadership of Integrated Teams in Virtual Environments
Authors: Tuffley David
Published: May 2011

This chapter introduces a process reference model of leadership for integrated teams operating in virtual environments. Geographically dispersed integrated project teams collaborating in virtual environments face many challenges in successfully completing projects, particularly if the teams are non-homogenous. These challenges have driven the development of more powerful and efficient collaborative technologies, that enable participants to better communicate. The need to support and develop leadership in the online setting is one of these challenges, representing a socio-technical gap between how integrated virtual teams use leadership and how technology supports it. The leadership model proposed here will be useful both to individuals desiring to lead in such online settings and those wishing to develop online systems that support leadership.
Systems Design with the Socio-Technical Walkthrough
Authors: Herrmann Thomas
Published: May 2011

Socio-technical systems integrate technical and organizational structures and are related to various stakeholders and their perspectives. The design of socio-technical systems has to support this integration and to take the differing perspectives into account. To support this goal, the design concepts have to be represented with appropriate documentation methods, which combine formal and informal aspects. Communication processes have to be facilitated which systematically refer to these kinds of documentation. Therefore a socio-technical, semi-structured modeling method (SeeMe) is introduced. It represents socio-technical concepts with diagrams which can be developed, evaluated and improved by the socio-technical walkthrough (STWT). This facilitation method—together with a corresponding software-tool—has proven to be suitable for socio-technical design in complex, practical projects.
Designing for Trust
Authors: Cofta Piotr
Published: May 2011

Designing for trust is a methodology that attempts to design our perception of trust in information systems, in the long-term expectation that such systems will foster justified trust among people. The methodology contains several tools, but this chapter concentrates on a specific analytical tool that can be used to assess the compatibility between existing and required relationships of trust, in the context of information flow. While still under development, this methodology brings interesting results, identifying and addressing the strengths and weaknesses of incoming technical systems before they are actually deployed. This chapter discusses basic principles of designing for trust, presents the architectures of trust compatibility assessment tool and shows its applicability to citizen identity systems, using the proposed United Kingdom scheme as an example.
Creating Social Technologies to Assist and Understand Social Interactions
Authors: Nijholt Anton , Heylen Dirk , Rienks Rutger
Published: May 2011

In this chapter the authors discuss a particular approach to the creation of socio-technical systems for the meeting domain. Besides presenting a methodology this chapter will present applications that have been constructed on the basis of the method and applications that can be envisioned. Throughout the chapter, illustrations are drawn from research on the development of meeting support tools. The chapter concludes with a section on implications and considerations for the on-going development of social technical systems in general and for the meeting domain in particular.
The Role of Affect in an Agent-Based Collaborative E-Learning System Used for Engineering Education
Authors: Ammar Mohamed Ben , Neji Mahmoud , Alimi Adel M.
Published: May 2011

Affective computing is a new artificial intelligence area that deals with the possibility of making computers able to recognize human emotions in different ways. This chapter represents an implemented framework, which integrates this new area with an intelligent tutoring system. The authors argue that tutor agents providing socially appropriate affective behaviors would provide a new dimension for collaborative learning systems. The main goal is to analyse learner facial expressions and show how affective computing could contribute to learning interactions, both by recognizing learner emotions during learning sessions and by responding appropriately.
The Dichotomy of Modeling and Execution
Authors: Kloppmann Matthias , Koenig Dieter , Moser Simon
Published: May 2011

This chapter introduces a set of languages intended to model and run business processes. The Business Process Modeling Notation 1.1 (BPMN) is a notation used to graphically depict business processes. BPMN is able to express choreographies, i.e. the cooperation of separate, autonomous business processes to jointly achieve a larger scenario. Since BPMN is only a notation, there is no specification for a meta-model that allows rendering BPMN choreographies into an executable form. This chapter describes how the Service Component Architecture (SCA) and the Web Services Business Process Execution Language (WS-BPEL) help to close that gap. BPMN, SCA and WS-BPEL can jointly be used and combined to model, deploy and execute business process choreographies. We will also integrate the related BPEL4People specification, since BPMN allows human ‘user tasks’, but WS-BPEL focuses only on automated business process. The authors argue that, based on these specifications, the dichotomy between modeling and execution can be addressed efficiently. In this chapter, we will show that a key aspect of the future of Business Process Management is to combine graphical modeling (via BPMN) with a precise specification of an executable business process (via WS-BPEL and related standards).
Yet Another Workflow Language
Authors: Ouyang Chun , Adams Michael , ter Hofstede Arthur H.M.
Published: May 2011

Due to the absence of commonly accepted conceptual and formal foundations for workflow management, and more generally Business Process Management (BPM), a plethora of approaches to process modelling and execution exists both in academia and in industry. The introduction of workflow patterns provided a deep and language independent understanding of modelling issues and requirements encountered in business process specification. They provide a comparative insight into various approaches to process specification and serve as guidance for language and tool development. YAWL (Yet Another Workflow Language) is a novel and formally defined workflow language based on workflow patterns and Petri nets, thus leveraging off both practical and theoretical insights in the field of BPM. This chapter provides an overview of this language and its corresponding open source support environment.
ICN-Based Workflow Model and its Advances
Authors: Kim Kwanghoon , Ellis Clarence A.
Published: May 2011

This chapter introduces the basic concepts of information control net (ICN) and its workflow models. In principle, a workflow model is the theoretical basis of a workflow modeling methodology as well as a workflow enactment architecture. Particularly, the workflow model is directly related with how its major components are embodied for implementing the underlying workflow enactment system, too. Accordingly, the authors describe the graphical and formal representations of ICN-based workflow model and its advanced models-role-based model and actor-based model-that can be automatically transformed from the ICN-based workflow model in order to improve their verifiability, maintainability and usability. Conclusively stating, we strongly believe that the ICN-based workflow model and its advanced models be very useful not only for maximizing the quality of workflows but also for strengthening theoretical backgrounds of the recent research issues, such as workflow verification/validation, workflow reengineering, workflow intelligence, workflow mining/rediscovery, and advanced workflow architectures, and so on.
B2B and EAI with Business Process Management
Authors: Bussler Christoph
Published: May 2011

This chapter introduces the application of process management to business-to-business (B2B) integration and enterprise application integration (EAI). It introduces several integration examples and a complete conceptual model of integration with a focus on process management. Several specific process-oriented integration problems are introduced that are process-specific in nature. The goal of this chapter is to introduce B2B and EAI integration, to show how process management fits into the conceptual model of integration and to convey solution strategies to specific process-oriented integration problems. The exercises at the end of the chapter continue the various examples and allow the reader to apply their knowledge to several advanced integration problems.
Introduction to Blended Learning Practices
Authors: Stacey Elizabeth , Gerbic Philippa
Published: May 2011

Blended learning is now part of the learning landscape in higher education, not just for campus-based courses but for courses designed for students studying at a distance as well as for communities of professional learning and practice. The impact of this concept in university teaching and learning can be seen in the appearance of practice focused texts for example, Littlejohn and Pegler (2007) and, more recently, Garrison and Vaughan (2008). Blended learning is now constantly positioned as one of the emerging trends in higher education (e. g. Allen, Seaman and Garrett, 2007; Graham, 2006; Garrison and Kanuka, 2004) and therefore is of particular strategic importance in the future of universities, their students and teachers as well as in the widening community of professional education and training. As an introduction to this book, this chapter will review the growing literature about blended learning and will discuss some of its key issues. The authors begin by introducing the concept of blended learning and its many meanings and attempt to clarify the definitional discussion. Issues in teaching and learning in both campus based and distance settings are then described followed by a discussion of the way blended learning provides a process for establishing communities of learning and practice, particularly for professional learning. Much of the literature about professional learning and learning communities has only just begun to identify aspects of blended learning practices as significant in their field, a gap this book is helping to fill.
Redesigning Initial Teacher Education
Authors: Simpson Mary , Anderson Bill
Published: May 2011

A teacher education programme previously taught in distinct on-campus and distance forms was redesigned to take advantage of the affordances offered by a blended learning approach. The redesign process described here drew on three areas – the research and practice base of adult learning, knowledge of and experience with the design of learning communities, and the findings of research activities focused on the original distance form of the programme. The use of information and communication technologies (ICT) enabled blending of technologies, media, modes of delivery, and learning activities and was central to the redesign process. However that process was driven overall by a commitment to educational principles not the potential of technologies. Other considerations in the redesign process include the demands placed on staff, the value of programme-level redesign, and the need for ongoing monitoring of the redesign process and evaluation of the programme during implementation. The implications for blended learning in teacher education programmes are discussed.
Virtual Learning and Real Communities
Authors: Mackey Julie
Published: May 2011

Blended learning is examined via the experiences of teachers participating in qualification-bearing online professional development courses while simultaneously engaging in everyday professional practice in the classroom. A “communities of practice” framework guides the interpretation of teachers’ perspectives of their membership, identity, activities and experiences in the online and school communities. While online courses tend to emphasise participation as a vital component of socially constructed learning in the virtual environment, the evidence from this study suggests that online courses can also promote the contextual learning opportunities which exist in the everyday experiences of teachers in their local communities of practice.
Blended Learning and the New Pressures on the Academy
Authors: Samarawickrema Gayani
Published: May 2011

This chapter focuses on the factors relating to adopting blended learning by teaching academics and the associated social world around technology adoption in a large Australian university. Set up as an institutional case study, the findings are interpreted through two theoretical frameworks: diffusion of innovation theory and actor-network theory to reveal the complexities of innovation adoption. The chapter examines teaching academics’ individual motivations including the institution’s political and policy drivers, and shows how technology is shaped to fit a context, and how the context in turn shapes the use of technology. The closing discussion considers new work systems and processes that facilitate and accommodate change precipitated by technology adoption, and suggests how the transformation process might be supported.
Blending Technology into an Academic Practice Qualification for University Teachers
Authors: Gunn Cathy , Blake Adam
Published: May 2011

An accredited course in Academic Practice aligns with university and national strategic goals related to teaching and learning enhancement within a research-intensive institution. The course was originally designed to be taught in face to face mode with an elearning dimension to provide the flexibility required by students in full time employment. Participation in a national implementation initiative for E-Learning Guidelines created an opportunity to reconceptualize the course for blended learning. A range of contextual factors influenced both the pace and the scale of technology enhancement. The design-based research process adopted for review and redevelopment of one of the core subjects for a Post Graduate Certificate course is described in this chapter.
State-of-the-Art Recommender Systems
Authors: Candillier Laurent , Jack Kris , Fessant Françoise , Meyer Frank
Published: May 2011

The aim of Recommender Systems is to help users to find items that they should appreciate from huge catalogues. In that field, collaborative filtering approaches can be distinguished from content-based ones. The former is based on a set of user ratings on items, while the latter uses item content descriptions and user thematic profiles. While collaborative filtering systems often result in better predictive performance, content-based filtering offers solutions to the limitations of collaborative filtering, as well as a natural way to interact with users. These complementary approaches thus motivate the design of hybrid systems. In this chapter, the main algorithmic methods used for recommender systems are presented in a state of the art. The evaluation of recommender systems is currently an important issue. The authors focus on two kinds of evaluations. The first one concerns the performance accuracy: several approaches are compared through experiments on two real movies rating datasets MovieLens and Netflix. The second concerns user satisfaction and for this a hybrid system is implemented and tested with real users.
Computing Recommendations with Collaborative Filtering
Authors: Lathia Neal
Published: May 2011

Recommender systems generate personalized content for each of its users, by relying on an assumption reflected in the interaction between people: those who have had similar opinions in the past will continue sharing the same tastes in the future. Collaborative filtering, the dominant algorithm underlying recommender systems, uses a model of its users, contained within profiles, in order to guide what interactions should be allowed, and how these interactions translate first into predicted ratings, and then into recommendations. In this chapter, the authors introduce the various approaches that have been adopted when designing collaborative filtering algorithms, and how they differ from one another in the way they make use of the available user information. They then explore how these systems are evaluated, and highlight a number of problems that prevent recommendations from being suitably computed, before looking at the how current trends in recommender system research are projecting towards future developments.
Applications of Artificial Immune Systems in Agents
Authors: Niño Vasquez Luis Fernando , Muñoz Mopan Fredy Fernando , Prieto Salazar Camilo Eduardo , Guarnizo Marín José Guillermo
Published: May 2011

Artificial Immune Systems (AIS) have been widely used in different fields such as robotics, computer science, and multi-agent systems with high efficacy. This is a survey chapter within which single and multi-agent systems inspired by immunology concepts are presented and analyzed. Most of the work is usually based on the adaptive immune response characteristics, such as clonal selection, idiotypic networks, and negative selection. However, the innate immune response has been neglected and there is not much work where innate metaphors are used as inspiration source to develop robotic systems. Therefore, a work that involves some interesting features of the innate and adaptive immune responses in a cognitive model for object transportation is presented at the end of this chapter.
Applying the Immunological Network Concept to Clustering Document Collections
Authors: Ciesielski Krzysztof , Klopotek Mieczyslaw A. , Wierzchon Slawomir T.
Published: May 2011

In this chapter the authors discuss an application of an immune-based algorithm for extraction and visualization of clusters structure in large collection of documents. Particularly a hierarchical, topic-sensitive approach is proposed; it appears to be a robust solution, both in terms of time and space complexity, to the problem of scalability of document map generation process. The approach relies upon extraction of a hierarchy of concepts, that is almost homogenous groups of documents described by unique sets of terms. To represent the content of each context a modified version the aiNet algorithm is employed; it was chosen because of its flexibility in representing natural clusters existing in a training set. To fasten the learning phase, a smart method of initialization of the immune memory was proposed as well as further modifications of the entire algorithm were introduced. Careful evaluation of the effectiveness of the novel text clustering procedure is presented in section reporting experiments.
Feature Selection Based on Clonal Selection Algorithm
Authors: Zhang Xiangrong , Liu Fang
Published: May 2011

The problem of feature selection is fundamental in various tasks like classification, data mining, image processing, conceptual learning, and so on. Feature selection is usually used to achieve the same or better performance using fewer features. It can be considered as an optimization problem and aims to find an optimal feature subset from the available features according to a certain criterion function. Clonal selection algorithm is a good choice in solving an optimization problem. It introduces the mechanisms of affinity maturation, clone, and memorization. Rapid convergence and good global searching capability characterize the performance of the corresponding operations. In this study, the property of rapid convergence to global optimum of clonal selection algorithm is made use of to speed up the searching of the most appropriate feature subset among a huge number of possible feature combinations. Compared with the traditional genetic algorithm-based feature selection, the clonal selection algorithm-based feature selection can find a better feature subset for classification. Experimental results on datasets from UCI learning repository, 16 types of Brodatz textures classification, and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images classification demonstrated the effectiveness and good performance of the method in applications.
On Foundations of Evolutionary Computation
Authors: Burgin Mark , Eberbach Eugene
Published: May 2011

There are different models of evolutionary computations: genetic algorithms, genetic programming, etc. This chapter presents mathematical foundations of evolutionary computation based on the concept of evolutionary automaton. Different classes of evolutionary automata (evolutionary finite automata, evolutionary Turing machines and evolutionary inductive Turing machines) are introduced and studied. It is demonstrated that evolutionary algorithms are more expressive than conventional recursive algorithms, such as Turing machines. Universal evolutionary algorithms and automata are constructed. It is proved that classes of evolutionary finite automata, evolutionary Turing machines and evolutionary inductive Turing machines have universal automata. As in the case of conventional automata and Turing machines, universal evolutionary algorithms and automata provide means to study many important problems in the area of evolutionary computation, such as complexity, completeness, optimality and search decidability of evolutionary algorithms, as well as such natural phenomena as cooperation and competition. Expressiveness and generality of the introduced classes of evolutionary automata are investigated.
Nature Inspired Parallel Computing
Authors: Zhu Dingju
Published: May 2011

Parallel computing is more and more important for science and engineering, but it is not used so widely as serial computing. People are used to serial computing and feel parallel computing too difficult to understand, design and use. In fact, they are most familiar with nature, in which all things exist and go on in parallel. If one learns parallel computing before learning serial computing, even if he or she has not read this chapter, they can find that serial computing is more difficult to understand, design and use than parallel computing, for it is not running in the way as the nature we are familiar with. Nature is composed of a large number of objects and events. Events are the spirit of objects; objects the body of events. They are related with each other in nature. Objects can construct or exist in parallel and events can occur or go on in parallel. The parallelism mainly exists in four dimensions including space dimension, application dimension, time dimension, and user dimension. After reading this chapter, even if you have been used to serial computing, you can find that the parallel computing used in your applications is just from nature. This chapter illustrates NIPC (Nature Inspired Parallel Computing) and its applications to help you grasp the methods of applying NIPC to your applications. The authors hope to help you understand and use parallel computing more easily and design and develop parallel software more effectively.
Diagnostic Support Systems and Computational Intelligence
Authors: Mougiakakou Stavroula , Valavanis Ioannis , Nikita Alexandra , Nikita Konstantina S.
Published: May 2011

Recent advances in computer science provide the intelligent computation tools needed to design and develop Diagnostic Support Systems (DSSs) that promise to increase the efficiency of physicians during their clinical practice. This chapter provides a brief overview of the use of computational intelligence methods in the design and development of DSSs aimed at the differential diagnosis of hepatic lesions from Computed Tomography (CT) images. Furthermore, examples of DSSs developed by our research team for supporting the diagnosis of focal liver lesions from non-enhanced CT images are presented.
Developments and Advances in Biomedical Functional Infrared Imaging
Authors: Merla Arcangelo
Published: May 2011

This chapter presents an overview on recent developments in the field of clinical applications of the functional infrared imaging. The functional infrared imaging is a relatively recent imaging methodology introduced for the study of the functional properties and alterations of the human thermoregulatory system for biomedical purposes. The methodology is based on the modeling of the bio-heat exchange processes and the recording of thermal infrared data by means of advanced technology. Some innovative applications of functional infrared imaging to diagnostics, psychometrics, stress measurements and psycho-neurophysiology will be presented, with special emphasis to the potentialities and the capabilities that such technique may bring to biomedical investigations.
Pit Pattern Classification Using Multichannel Features and Multiclassification
Authors: Haefner Michael , Gangl Alfred , Liedlgruber Michael , Uhl A. , Vecsei Andreas , Wrba Friedrich
Published: May 2011

Wavelet-, Fourier-, and spatial domain-based texture classification methods have been used successfully for classifying zoom-endoscopic colon images according to the pit pattern classification scheme. Regarding the wavelet-based methods, statistical features based on the wavelet coefficients as well as structural features based on the wavelet packet decomposition structures of the images have been used. In the case of the Fourier-based method, statistical features based on the Fourier-coefficients in ring filter domains are computed. In the spatial domain, histogram-based techniques are used. After reviewing the various methods employed we start by extracting the feature vectors for the methods from one color channel only. To enhance the classification results the methods are then extended to utilize multichannel features obtained from all three color channels of the respective color model used. Finally, these methods are combined into one multiclassifier to stabilize classification results across the image classes.
Automatic Identification and Elastic Properties of Deformed Objects Using their Microscopic Images
Authors: Papaodysseus C. , Rousopoulos P. , Arabadjis D. , Panagopoulos M. , Loumou P.
Published: May 2011

In this chapter the state of the art is presented in the domain of automatic identification and classification of bodies on the basis of their deformed images obtained via microscope. The approach is illustrated by means of the case of automatic recognition of third-stage larvae from microscopic images of them in high deformation instances. The introduced methodology incorporates elements of elasticity theory, image processing, curve fitting and clustering methods; a concise presentation of the state of the art in these fields is given. Combining proper elements of these disciplines, we first evaluate the undeformed shape of a parasite given a digital image of a random parasite deformation instance. It is demonstrated that different orientations and deformations of the same parasite give rise to practically the same undeformed shape when the methodology is applied to the corresponding images, thus confirming the consistency of the approach. Next, a pattern recognition method is introduced to classify the unwrapped parasites into four families, with a high success rate. In addition, the methodology presented here is a powerful tool for the exact evaluation of the mechano-elastic properties of bodies from images of their deformation instances.
Evaluation of Medical Image Compression
Authors: Delgorge-Rosenberger C. , Rosenberger C.
Published: May 2011

The authors present in this chapter an overview on evaluation of medical image compression. The different methodologies used in the literature are presented. Subjective evaluation uses some a priori knowledge such as the judgment of experts or the ability to realize a correct diagnosis. Objective evaluation generally takes into account the value of metrics: the PSNR is an example of such a criterion. The goal of hybrid evaluation is to realize a reliable judgment while having a simple computation. The authors discuss on the benefits and drawbacks of these approaches. The European Project called OTELO in which they were involved, gives feedback on ultrasound image compression.
An Approach to Managing Identity Fraud
Authors: Jamieson Rodger , Smith Stephen , Stephens Greg , Winchester Donald
Published: May 2011

This chapter outlines components of a strategy for government and a conceptual identity fraud enterprise management framework for organizations to manage identity crime occurring via cyberspace. Identity crime, related cybercrimes and information systems security breaches are insidious motivators for governments and organizations to protect and secure their systems, databases and other assets against intrusion and loss. Managing identity crime is a critical step in cyber security and global information assurance. Strategy components and conceptual model elements are constructed through analysis and synthesis of models from academic literature, and reports by industry and government professionals. A comprehensive government strategy with a legislative component reinforces organizational policies to combat identity crimes. Model components used to develop our identity fraud organizational framework were selected from cost of identity fraud, identity risk management, identity fraud profiling, and fraud risk management literature. Our framework is organized into anticipatory, reactionary and remediation phases.
An Overview of the Community Cyber Security Maturity Model
Authors: White Gregory B. , Huson Mark L.
Published: May 2011

The protection of cyberspace is essential to ensure that the critical infrastructures a nation relies on are not corrupted or disrupted. Government efforts generally focus on securing cyberspace at the national level. In the United States, states and communities have not seen the same concentrated effort and are now the weak link in the security chain. Until recently there has been no program for states and communities to follow in order to establish a viable security program. Now, however, the Community Cyber Security Maturity Model has been developed to provide a framework for states and communities to follow to prepare for, prevent, detect, respond to, and recover from potential cyber attacks. This model has a broad applicability and can be adapted to be used in other nations as well.
Theoretical and Methodological Approaches
Authors: Schoechle Timothy
Published: May 2011

The primary theoretical perspective and framework of analysis for this study are public sphere theory and political economy. Although standardization is a social practice that springs from tradition and not from any theoretical grounding, it is situated and institutionalized in a public but non-governmental setting that could be seen as a public sphere as described by Habermas (1962). Public sphere theory provides a focus on publicness and the discursive process that are relevant for analyzing and understanding standardization practice. Political economy provides an approach to understanding the various interests being served by the social practices that are relevant to this study, and to the underlying reasons for their establishment.
Traditional Institutional Structures and Practices
Authors: Schoechle Timothy
Published: May 2011

In order to understand how traditional processes and discursive spaces may be undergoing enclosure, it is useful to examine the baseline from which recent changes have taken place. In other words, it is important to ask, How open were these standards-setting institutions and their practices in the past? This is not an easy question to answer. The diversity among various institutions is considerable. Even the question, What institutions should we be talking about? is not easy to answer. A detailed historical account, analysis, and comparison of standardization bodies is beyond the scope of this study, but the three oldest and most established international standards-setting organizations , the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), and International Organization for Standardization (ISO), have been selected here because they are stable, they are respected, and their authority and legitimacy are well established. These organizations were mentioned briefly in an earlier chapter, as part of an historical overview of the global standardization system. They will now be examined in more detail.
Chinese Brush Calligraphy Character Retrieval and Learning
Authors: Zhuang Yueting , Zhang Xiafen , Lu Weiming , Wu Fei
Published: May 2011

Chinese brush calligraphy is a valuable civilization legacy and a high art of scholarship. It is still popular in Chinese banners, newspaper mastheads, university names, and celebration gifts. There are Web sites that try to help people enjoy and learn Chinese calligraphy. However, there lacks advanced services such as content-based retrieval or vivid writing process simulation for calligraphy learning. This article proposes a novel Chinese calligraphy learning approach: First, the scanned calligraphy pages were segmented into individual calligraphy characters using minimum-bounding box. Second, the individual character’s feature information was extracted and kept. Then, a corresponding database was built to serve as a map between the feature data and the original raw data. Finally, a retrieval engine was constructed and a dynamic writing process was simulated to help learners get the calligraphy character they were interested in and watch how it was generated step by step.
How Did They Study at a Distance? Experiences of IGNOU Graduates
Authors: Srivastava Manjulika , Reddy Venugopal
Published: May 2011

The question why some learners successfully study through distance mode and others do not is increasingly becoming important as open and distance learning (ODL) has come to occupy a prominent place in providing higher education to large segments of the population in India. With barely 1112 students studying through distance mode in 1962, the number has crossed 2.8 million in 2006. This article presents the findings of an empirical research study conducted to investigate the study habits of successful distance learners of the India Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU). Every year, nearly 70,000-80,000 pass out of IGNOU. What strategies were adopted by these diverse groups, what media they utilized, and what modes of support they prefered are some of the major issues addressed in this study.
Is the Perceived IT Governance Maturity Level Enough?
Authors: Park Jong-Sung , Lee Jung-Hoon , Lee Chi-Hoon
Published: May 2011

Despite Carr’s assertion that IT would soon become a commodity (Carr, 2004), corporations are increasingly coming to regard their particular deployment of IT as a strategic asset (ITGI, 2008). As companies increasingly recognize the value of IT, the importance accorded in their thinking to IT Governance (ITG) also grows. According to a recent IT Governance Institute (ITGI) report on ITG around the world, a number of companies are working actively to heighten their ITG maturity level. These efforts, however, do not always bring with them their expected results if they are undertaken on the basis of a narrow or distorted view of ITG. This research closely analyzes a case study company, evaluating its ITG maturity level through the COBIT framework. COBIT results are compared with the company’s own CIO’s evaluation of its ITG level. This comparison shows the need for companies to assess their ITG needs in a balanced way before seeking to way to advance their level of ITG. In addition, the work indicates the desirability of consistent monitoring conducted under a well-devised control framework.
The Computer Medium in Digital Art's Creative Process
Authors: Marcos Adérito Fernandes , Branco Pedro , Carvalho João Álvaro
Published: May 2011

Art objects might be described as symbolic objects that aim at stimulating emotions. They reach us through our senses (visual, auditory, tactile, or other). They are displayed by means of physical material (stone, paper, wood, etc.) and combine some patterns to produce an aesthetic composition. They convey some message, normally to suggest some state of mind or to induce an emotion and the consequent feeling on the side of the viewer. Digital art differs from conventional art pieces by the use of computers and computer-based artifacts that manipulate digitally coded information, inheriting the almost unlimited possibilities in interaction, virtualization and manipulation of information the computer medium offers. In this chapter the authors propose to analyze and discuss the concepts and definitions behind digital art, emphasizing how the computer medium is itself the tool and the raw material in its creation, especially if we stress the fact that the conception and design of artistic information content is at the heart of any artistic work. Furthermore the authors present a framework for digital art creation that consists of a common design space where digital artists can smoothly progress from the concept until the final artifact while exploring the computer medium to its maximum potential.
Randomness, Chance, & Art
Authors: Ham Ethan
Published: May 2011

Randomness is a slippery term that conveys different meanings in different disciplines. In mathematics, an individual number is random when there is an equal chance for it to be any number from a set of possible values. In computer science the term becomes more relative and numbers have varying degrees of pseudo-randomness. Information theory equates randomness with unpredictability and, at odds with other definitions, concludes that a higher level of randomness indicates a greater concentration of information; a message’s probable denseness of information is highest when the message is partially surprising and partially expected.There is no fixed definition for what randomness means in art, but analogies can be drawn to how the term is used in other fields. For example, information theory’s definition might suggest that artworks have the greatest impact when using a mixture of pattern and unpredictability.
Visual Analytics and Conceptual Blending Theory
Authors: Kalish Mia
Published: May 2011

One visualization in Diné philosophy is four small dots arranged in a circular sequence at 90°, 0°, 270°, and 180°. Each position is associated with a time of day, a season, a color, a type of stone, a time in the lifecycle, and a process of living and learning. I use Conceptual Blending Theory to explore this complex information space of small spatial stories that combine to form an “information system of information systems.” This approach to visual analytics uses reduction to human scale, which easily adapts itself to automated analysis and data configuration. This process reveals a previously unseen world and contributes new ideas to understanding both the creation of new visualizations and the decomposition of existing visualizations. This verifiable methodology can validate the steps in the decomposition process itself and also be used to predict the content of missing data.
The Use of Interactive Voice Response Systems to Improve the Quality and Safety of Ambulatory Care
Authors: Oake Natalie , Foster Alan J.
Published: May 2011

This chapter highlights how an interactive voice response system (IVRS) may be used to improve quality of care problems associated with ambulatory care. The authors provide examples of quality problems, related to access, effectiveness, and safety, and describe how an IVRS may be used to reduce them. The chapter is also comprised of a comprehensive examination of published literature describing studies that have used IVRS interventions. The majority of these studies used an IVRS to manage patients with chronic disease or change behavior related to preventive medicine. Finally, the authors discuss potential implementation issues, including technological requirements of the IVRS, project management, and scalability of the IVRS.
Integration Issues in the Healthcare Supply Chain
Authors: Kitsiou Spyros , Matopoulos Aristides , Vlachopoulou Maro , Manthou Vicky
Published: May 2011

The efficacy, quality, responsiveness, and value of healthcare services provided is increasingly attracting the attention and the questioning of governments, payers, patients, and healthcare providers. Investments on integration technologies and integration of supply chain processes, has been considered as a way towards removing inefficiencies in the sector. This chapter aims to initially provide an in depth analysis of the healthcare supply chain and to present core entities, processes, and flows. Moreover, the chapter explores the concept of integration in the context of the healthcare sector, and indentifies the integration drivers, as well as challenges.