bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Linezolid treatment of shunt-related cerebrospinal fluid infections in children
Authors: Yılmaz Adem , Dalgic Nazan , Müslüman Murat , Sancar Mesut , Çolak Ibrahim , Aydın Yunus
Published: April 2010

Object

The emergence of multidrug-resistant bacteria as a cause of ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunt infection is a disconcerting phenomenon that often requires the use of alternative antimicrobial agents due to resistance against commonly used medications. Linezolid, a member of a new class of antimicrobial agents, has good activity against virtually all important gram-positive pathogens, including multidrug-resistant gram-positive pathogens. The object of this article is to report a single-center experience with linezolid treatment in 6 young patients with VP shunt infections caused by drug-resistant strains.

Methods

The authors reviewed the records of 6 pediatric patients who developed VP shunt infection and in whom initial antimicrobial treatment regimens, including vancomycin, either failed or were associated with vancomycin-resistant enterococcus. All 6 patients were treated at their hospital between July 1, 2008, and June 29, 2009. The patients' demographic and clinical characteristics, underlying diseases, clinical manifestations, laboratory results, and various treatment modalities used before linezolid therapy were evaluated.

Results

The 6 patients included were 2 boys and 4 girls with a mean (± SD) age of 11.83 ± 12 months (range 4–36 months). Five patients had acquired an infection within 4 months (mean 7.50 ± 13.51 months, range 1–35 months) after shunt insertion. Four patients were treated with external ventricular drainage. Two patients' parents refused to allow shunt removal and placement of an external ventricular drain. The CSF was clear of bacterial growth within a mean of 3.67 ± 1.36 days (range 2–6 days) after initiation of linezolid treatment. The mean duration of linezolid treatment was 18.17 ± 3.31 days (range 14–21 days). Microbiological clearance of CSF and clinical cure were achieved in all patients. No laboratory or clinical side effects were observed during the treatment period. The mean length of hospital stay was 22.8 ± 4.96 days (range 17–28 days).

Conclusions

Linezolid could be an appropriate treatment alternative in children with ventriculostomy-related CSF infections caused by drug-resistant strains, including cases in which shunt removal is not an option. Well-designed prospective studies providing additional information on linezolid levels in plasma and CSF are necessary to confirm the authors' observations.
Treatment decision making based on the published natural history and growth rate of small meningiomas
Authors: Sughrue Michael E. , Rutkowski Martin J. , Aranda Derick , Barani Igor J. , McDermott Michael W. , Parsa Andrew T.
Published: April 2010

Object

Definitive data allowing clinicians to predict which meningioma patients will fail to respond to conservative management are lacking. To address this need, the authors systematically reviewed the published literature regarding the natural history of small, untreated meningiomas.

Methods

The authors performed a systematic review of the existing literature on untreated meningiomas that were followed with serial MR imaging. They summarize the published linear rates of tumor growth, and the risk factors for development of new or worsened symptoms during follow-up by using a stratified chi-square test.

Results

The search methods identified 22 published studies reporting on 675 patients with untreated meningiomas followed by serial MR imaging. Linear growth rates varied significantly: no growth was the most common rate, although reports of more aggressive tumors noted growth rates of up to a 93% linear increase in size per year. The authors found that few patients with initial tumor diameters < 2 cm went on to develop new or worsened symptoms over a median follow-up period of 4.6 years. Patients with initial tumor diameters of 2–2.5 cm demonstrated a marked difference in the rate of symptom progression if their tumors grew > 10% per year, compared with those tumors growing ≤ 10% per year (42% vs 0%; p < 0.001, chi-square test). Patients with tumors between > 2.5 and 3 cm in initial size went on to develop new or worsened symptoms 17% of the time.

Conclusions

This systematic review of the literature regarding the clinical behavior of untreated meningiomas suggests that most meningiomas ≤ 2.5 cm in diameter do not proceed to cause symptoms in the approximately 5-year period following their discovery. Those that do cause symptoms can usually be predicted with close radiographic follow-up. Based on these findings, the authors suggest the importance of observation in the early course of treatment for small asymptomatic meningiomas, especially those with an initial diameter < 2 cm.
Synthesis of 4′,7-Diacetoxyapigenin and Its Apoptotic Induction in Human Hep G2 Cells
Authors: Xu Keyong , Liu Feng , Liu Benguo , Gao Han , Ning Zhengxiang
Published: April 2010

In this study, 4′,7-diacetoxyapigenin [4-(7-acetoxy-5-hydroxy-4-oxo-4H-chromen-2-yl) phenyl acetate] was synthesized for the first time. Its chemical structure was identified by UV, ESI-MS, 1H and 13C-NMR. It could inhibit the proliferation of Hep G2 cells in a dose-dependent manner and induce the significant increase of the G0/G1 cell population. After treatment by 4′,7-diacetoxyapigenin, phosphatidylserine of Hep G2 cells could significantly translocate to the surface of the membrane. The increase of an early apoptotic population was observed by both annexin-FITC and PI staining. It was concluded that 4′,7-diacetoxyapigenin not only induced cells to enter into apoptosis, but also affected the progress of the cell cycle.
Wound Healing Potential of Elaeis guineensis Jacq Leaves in an Infected Albino Rat Model
Authors: Sasidharan Sreenivasan , Nilawatyi Rajoo , Xavier Rathinam , Latha Lachimanan Yoga , Amala Rajoo
Published: April 2010

Ethnopharmacological relevance:Elaeis guineensisJacq (Arecaceae) is one of the plants that are central to the lives of traditional societies in West Africa. It has been reported as a traditional folkloric medicine for a variety of ailments. The plant leaves are also used in some parts of Africa for wound healing, but there are no scientific reports on any wound healing activity of the plant. Aim of the study:To investigate the effects of E. guineensis leaf on wound healing activity in rats. Methods: A phytochemical screening was done to determine the major phytochemicals in the extract. The antimicrobial activity of the extract was examined using the disk diffusion technique and broth dilution method. The wound healing activity of leaves of E. guineensiswas studied by incorporating the methanolic extract in yellow soft paraffin in concentration of 10% (w/w). Wound healing activity was studied by determining the percentage of wound closure, microbial examination of granulated skin tissue and histological analysis in the control and extract treated groups. Results: Phytochemical screening reveals the presence of tannins, alkaloids, steroids, saponins, terpenoids, and flavonoids in the extract. The extract showed significant activity against Candida albicans with an MIC value of 6.25 mg/mL. The results show that the E. guineensis extract has potent wound healing capacity, as evident from better wound closure, improved tissue regeneration at the wound site, and supporting histopathological parameters pertaining to wound healing. Assessment of granulation tissue every fourth day showed a significant reduction in microbial count. Conclusions: E. guineensis accelerated wound healing in rats, thus supporting this traditional use.
Recycled Concrete as Aggregate for Structural Concrete Production
Authors: Malešev Mirjana , Radonjanin Vlastimir , Marinković Snežana
Published: April 2010

A comparative analysis of the experimental results of the properties of fresh and hardened concrete with different replacement ratios of natural with recycled coarse aggregate is presented in the paper. Recycled aggregate was made by crushing the waste concrete of laboratory test cubes and precast concrete columns. Three types of concrete mixtures were tested: concrete made entirely with natural aggregate (NAC) as a control concrete and two types of concrete made with natural fine and recycled coarse aggregate (50% and 100% replacement of coarse recycled aggregate). Ninety-nine specimens were made for the testing of the basic properties of hardened concrete. Load testing of reinforced concrete beams made of the investigated concrete types is also presented in the paper. Regardless of the replacement ratio, recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) had a satisfactory performance, which did not differ significantly from the performance of control concrete in this experimental research. However, for this to be fulfilled, it is necessary to use quality recycled concrete coarse aggregate and to follow the specific rules for design and production of this new concrete type.
A Soft Computing Overview
Authors: Gestal Marcos , Rivero Daniel
Published: April 2010

Nature has proved to be the best testing system, where we can analyze the effectiveness of any method of solving problems. It provides one of the most complex problems to be resolved: the survival. Analyzing how the species behave to achieve that survival, soft computing methods try to mimic this behavior to provide meaningful solutions to diverse problems. This chapter offers an introduction the fundamentals that the different soft computing techniques translate from Nature. It includes an approach of the brain behavior (Artificial Neural Networks) or the evolution ideas taken from Darwin’ laws (Evolutionary Computation algorithms).
Comparative Study of Evolutionary Computing Methods for Parameter Estimation of Power Quality Signals
Authors: Pandi V. Ravikumar , Panigrahi B. K.
Published: April 2010

Recently utilities and end users become more concerned about power quality issues because the load equipments are more sensitive to various power quality disturbances, such as harmonics and voltage fluctuation. Harmonic distortion and voltage flicker are the major causes in growing concern about electric power quality. Power quality disturbance monitoring plays an important role in the deregulated power market scenario due to competitiveness among the utilities. This paper presents an evolutionary algorithm approach based on Adaptive Particle Swarm Optimization (APSO) to determine the amplitude, phase and frequency of a power quality signal. In this APSO algorithm the time varying inertia weight is modified as rank based, and re-initialization is used to increase the diversity. In this paper, to the authors highlight the efficacy of different evolutionary optimization techniques like classical PSO, Constriction based PSO, Clonal Algorithm (CLONALOG), Adaptive Bacterial Foraging (ABF) and the proposed Adaptive Particle Swarm Optimization (APSO) to extract different parameters like amplitude, phase and frequency of harmonic distorted power quality signal and voltage flicker.
Geospatial Technology
Authors: Boehm Richard G. , Mohan Audrey
Published: April 2010

Research into the nature and function of curricular matters in applied geography has provided an opportunity to assess the penetration and relative importance of geospatial technology to the discipline of geography. Departments of Geography with degree programs in applied geography were surveyed to find out how important geospatial technology was in the preparation of students for meaningful jobs and careers. The Applied Geography Specialty Group of the Association of American Geographers (AAG) was also surveyed about the value of geospatial technology, as was the 95 academic programs that listed applied geography as a “program specialty” in the AAG Guide to Geography Programs in the Americas. There was a uniform agreement across these various groups that geospatial technology occupied an extremely important position in their overall course offerings, and if you are watching the workplace, such courses are not only sensible but offer critical employable skills for students upon graduation. It is widely known that geospatial technology education and training require a large commitment of departmental resources, including faculty lines, equipment expenditures, space, and technical support. A geography department and its university’s administration have to understand these unique requirements and allocate resources, more akin to a computer science department than a traditional academic unit. This reality is of immediate importance to geography departments because almost one quarter of all academic jobs advertised in geography over the last six years have been in the broad area of geospatial technology. A final conclusion to this research is a policy matter that suggests geography departments take a strong proprietorial position toward providing education in geospatial technology because other disciplines and training programs see opportunities in a rapidly expanding workplace skill and they are aggressively pursuing a niche of their own.
The S'ANT Approach to Facilitate a Superior Chronic Disease Self-Management Model
Authors: Wickramasinghe Nilmini , Bali Rajeev K. , Goldberg Steve
Published: April 2010

Diabetes is one of the leading chronic diseases and its prevalence continues to rise exponentially. The goal of this article is to present the case for the application of a pervasive technology solution in the form of a wireless-enabled mobile phone to facilitate superior diabetes management. In so doing, we highlight the need for employing the S’ANT approach (Wickramasinghe and Bali, 2009) - namely the incorporation of Actor-network Theory and Social Network Analysis - in order to support a network centric healthcare solution.
A Socio-Technical Account of an Internet-Based Self-Service Technology Implementation
Authors: Naidoo Rennie
Published: April 2010

Despite the rampant growth in technology-based service delivery options, the implementation of these contemporary forms of service channels continues to be risky and problematic for organisations. Current conceptualisations of IS implementation is rather narrow and highlights only particular aspects of this phenomenon. This paper adopts a socio-technical lens to enhance our understanding of the implementation of an Internet-based self-service technology (ISST) at a major South African healthcare insurance firm. Actor-Network theory’s (ANT) key conceptual elements of inscription and translation are used to describe how the design and use of this self-service technology emerged from the co-entanglement between the technological and social. Drawing from a field study, this paper demonstrates the complex interdependencies and interactions among contrasting social, political, economic and technological issues and therefore advances implementation theory for these contemporary service channels in yet another important way.
An Internet Framework for Pervasive Sensor Computing
Authors: Peng Rui , Hua Kien A. , Cheng Hao
Published: April 2010

The rapid increase of sensor networks has brought a revolution in pervasive computing. However, data from these fragmented and heterogeneous sensor networks are easily shared. Existing sensor computing environments are based on the traditional database approach, in which sensors are tightly coupled with specific applications. Such static configurations are effective only in situations where all the participating sources are precisely known to the application developers, and users are aware of the applications. A pervasive computing environment raises more challenges, due to ad hoc user requests and the vast number of available sources, making static integration less effective. This paper presents an Internet framework called iSEE (Internet Sensor Exploration Environment) which provides a more complete environment for pervasive sensor computing. iSEE enables advertising and sharing of sensors and applications on the Internet with unsolicited users much like how Web pages are publicly shared today.
Support for Medication Safety and Compliance in Smart Home Environments
Authors: Reyes Álamo José M. , Yang Hen-I , Babbitt Ryan , Wong Johnny
Published: April 2010

The rapid pace of new medications introduced to the market and the trend of modern healthcare towards specialization complicates doctors’ prescribing process and patients’ management of medications, resulting in an increase in the likelihood of unsafe prescriptions. The severity of this problem is magnified when patients require multiple medications or have cognitive impairments. The Medicine Information Support System (MISS) is designed to integrate related information systems from doctor offices, pharmacies and patients’ smart homes with a universal database of medication conflicts to enable safety checks for adverse reactions among prescribed medications. MISS enhances the quality of patients’ healthcare by monitoring and promoting the compliance of patients’ medication intake. It also ensures patients’ medical records remain private by following the privacy guidelines and regulations such as the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) law in the United States.
Two Informational Complexity Measures in Social Networks and Agent Communities
Authors: Fonseca António Jorge Filipe
Published: April 2010

Several informational complexity measures rely on the notion of stochastic process in order to extract hidden structural properties behind the apparent randomness of information sources. Following an equivalence approach between dynamic relation evolution within a social network and a generic stochastic process two dynamic measures of network complexity are proposed.
Data-Driven Decision Making for New Drugs
Authors: Sillup George P. , Klimberg Ronald K. , McSweeney David P.
Published: April 2010

Two courses, advanced decision-making and pharmaceutical marketing, were combined in a collaborative process to mimic how the pharmaceutical industry determines the potential of new drugs. Integrated student teams worked together to complete semester-long projects and taught each other their respective knowledge areas—marketing and statistics. Real-world data for medical and pharmacy claims payments were “cleaned” and mined by students to analyze usage and cost patterns for anti-hypertensive and anti-hypercholesterolemia drugs currently on the market. Analyses included merging the medical and pharmaceutical data records to derive individual electronic patient records, which were the basis of financial projections for the new drugs. Importantly, the single patient record is congruent with the needs of the stakeholders currently working to reform U.S. healthcare delivery.
Data Integration in the Geospatial Semantic Web
Authors: Maué Patrick , Schade Sven
Published: April 2010

Geospatial decision makers have to be aware of the varying interests of all stakeholders. One crucial task in the process is to identify relevant information available from the Web. In this chapter the authors introduce an application in the quarrying domain which integrates Semantic Web technologies to provide new ways to discover and reason about relevant information. The authors discuss the daily struggle of the domain experts to create decision-support maps helping to find suitable locations for opening up new quarries. After explaining how semantics can help these experts, they introduce the various components and the architecture of the software which has been developed in the European funded SWING project. In the last section, the different use cases illustrate how the implemented tools have been applied to real world scenarios.
Blind Detection of Additive Spread-Spectrum Watermarking in the Dual-Tree Complex Wavelet Transform Domain
Authors: Kwitt Roland , Meerwald Peter , Uhl Andreas
Published: April 2010

In this paper, the authors adapt two blind detector structures for additive spread-spectrum image watermarking to the host signal characteristics of the Dual-Tree Complex Wavelet Transform (DT-CWT) domain coefficients. The research is motivated by the superior perceptual characteristics of the DT-CWT and its active use in watermarking. To improve the numerous existing watermarking schemes in which the host signal is modeled by a Gaussian distribution, the authors show that the Generalized Gaussian nature of Dual-Tree detail subband statistics can be exploited for better detector performance. This paper finds that the Rao detector is more practical than the likelihood-ratio test for their detection problem. The authors experimentally investigate the robustness of the proposed detectors under JPEG and JPEG2000 attacks and assess the perceptual quality of the watermarked images. The results demonstrate that their alterations allow significantly better blind watermark detection performance in the DT-CWT domain than the widely used linear-correlation detector. As only the detection side has to be modified, the proposed methods can be easily adopted in existing DT-CWT watermarking schemes.
Watermark-Only Security Attack on DM-QIM Watermarking
Authors: Matam B. R. , Lowe David
Published: April 2010

This paper addresses the security of a specific class of common watermarking methods based on Dither modulation-quantisation index modulation (DM-QIM) and focusing on watermark-only attacks (WOA). The vulnerabilities of and probable attacks on lattice structure based watermark embedding methods have been presented in the literature. DM-QIM is one of the best known lattice structure based watermarking techniques. In this paper, the authors discuss a watermark-only attack scenario (the attacker has access to a single watermarked content only). In the literature it is an assumption that DM-QIM methods are secure to WOA. However, the authors show that the DM-QIM based embedding method is vulnerable against a guided key guessing attack by exploiting subtle statistical regularities in the feature space embeddings for time series and images. Using a distribution-free algorithm, this paper presents an analysis of the attack and numerical results for multiple examples of image and time series data.
How Do Virtual Teams Work Efficiently
Authors: Liu Ying Chieh , Burn Janice M.
Published: April 2010

Virtual teams are groups of members collaborating in the execution of a specific task from disperse locations. Increasing use of virtual teams has highlighted the need for organizations to focus on ways to improve their performance. The key issues of concern include both technical and social dimensions, and this research study addresses the latter. Hence, this study derives a social relationship model from a comprehensive literature review and conducts an experiment to validate this through SEM (structural equation modeling). The results reveal: (1) communication has a direct positive impact on relationship building, but indirect positive effects on performance and satisfaction; (2) relationship building impacts directly with strong and positive impacts on cohesion and trust, but indirectly with strong impacts on performance and satisfaction; (3) cohesion has a direct, strong, and positive impact on performance, but a strong indirect impact on satisfaction; (4) trust has a positive direct impact on performance, but an indirect positive impact on satisfaction; and (5) performance has a strong and positive impact on satisfaction. In addition, this study confirms that relationship building is a vital mediator in the social relationship model. Managerial implications and future research directions are identified.
Synchronicity and Group Ability to Autonomously Cluster Brainstorming Ideas
Authors: Helquist Joel H. , Krus John , Nunamaker Jr. Jay F.
Published: April 2010

This article presents an exploratory examination of the impact of synchronicity and quantity of brainstorming ideas on the ability of a group to autonomously cluster brainstorming ideas. Groups were tasked with clustering brainstorming ideas through the use of a group support system (GSS) tool. The tool allowed each participant to create and modify categories to which individual brainstorming ideas could be aligned. No explicit means of coordination were available; each participant worked autonomously to cluster the brainstorming ideas. The results indicated that the groups working synchronously displayed improved performance and satisfaction ratings. Likewise, groups categorizing the smallest quantity of brainstorming ideas performed better than the larger quantities.
The Role of Self-Efficacy, Trust, and Experience and the Mediating Effects of Satisfaction in the Choice of C2C E-Commerce among Young Adults
Authors: Leonard Lori N.K. , Jones Kiku
Published: April 2010

There are many avenues for consumers to transact with one another. Consumers are increasingly trying to find ways to interact and transact with other consumers via the Web. This study utilizes young adults to assess a consumer’s choice to use consumer-to-consumer (C2C) electronic commerce by examining a consumer’s computer self-efficacy, Web experience, and C2C electronic commerce trust. In addition, mediating effects of C2C electronic commerce satisfaction between the above-mentioned variables and C2C electronic commerce choice is investigated. The findings indicate only Web experience predicts a young adult’s choice for C2C electronic commerce. In addition, satisfaction was found to be a mediator between Web experience and choice. Implications for both practitioners and researchers are provided.
Quality Enhancing the Continued Use of E-Government Web Sites
Authors: Wangpipatwong Sivaporn , Chutimaskul Wichian , Papasratorn Borworn
Published: April 2010

This study empirically examines Web site quality toward the enhancement of the continued use of e-government Web sites by citizens. The web site quality under examination includes three main aspects, which are information quality, system quality, and service quality. The participants were 614 country-wide e-citizens of Thailand. The data were collected by means of a web-based survey and analyzed by using multiple regression analysis. The findings revealed that the three quality aspects enhanced the continued use of egovernment Web sites, with system quality providing the greatest enhancement, followed by service quality and information quality.
Semantic Web Based Integration of Knowledge Resources for Expertise Finding
Authors: Janev Valentina , Dudukovic Jovan , Vraneš Sanja
Published: April 2010

This article discusses the challenges of expertise data integration and expert finding in modern organizations using an illustrative case study of a concrete research-intensive establishment, the Mihajlo Pupin Institute (MPI). It presents how the latest semantic technologies (Ontologies, Web services, Semantic Wiki) could be used on the top of the commercial ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) software (SAP®) and the open-source ECM (Enterprise Content Management) software (Alfresco) to ensure meaningful search and retrieval of expertise for in-house users, as well as the integration into the Semantic Web community space. This article points out the necessary adjustments in enterprise knowledge management infrastructure in the light of uprising initiatives for standardization of the Semantic Web data.
Towards Sustainable Development of Energy-Aware Systems
Authors: Petre Luigia , Sere Kaisa
Published: April 2010

Smart devices have pervaded our society and encouraged lifestyles that depend on them. One of the fundamental requirements for a successful dependency is that the general public be aware of the energy limitations of these devices and to stay in control of energy consumption. In this paper, the authors propose a formal specification method that takes energy into account. They propose two development approaches that can use these specifications to develop energy-aware systems in a sustainable manner.
FH-MAC
Authors: Tandjaoui Djamel , Doudou Messaoud , Romdhani Imed
Published: April 2010

In this article, the authors propose a new hybrid MAC protocol named H-MAC for wireless mesh networks. This protocol combines CSMA and TDMA schemes according to the contention level. In addition, it exploits channel diversity and provides a medium access control method that ensures the QoS requirements. Using ns-2 simulator, we have implemented and compared H-MAC with other MAC protocol used in Wireless Network. The results showed that H-MAC performs better compared to Z-MAC, IEEE 802.11 and LCM-MAC.
Efficient Communication Interfaces for Distributed Energy Resources
Authors: Frank Heinz , Mesentean Sidonia
Published: April 2010

The IEC 61850 standard originally was developed for the substation automation. During the past years it was adapted for the integration of distributed energy resources into communication networks, however, with specific requirements. Many small and midsize manufacturers are using, as controllers, a big variety of different microprocessors with limited performances. Such controllers need an interface for IEC 61850 communication networks with a basic functionality which can be implemented with limited costs. Based on their experiences during the realization of an IEC 61850 communication stack, the authors propose ways to support these requirements. In particular, communication interfaces for photovoltaics systems and wind power plants are considered.
The Influence of National and Organizational Cultures on Technology Use
Authors: Guo Zixiu , D’Ambra John
Published: April 2010

This article presents the results of an exploratory study examining the influence of national and organizational cultures on technology use in a multinational organizational (MNO) context. Data were collected from 121 respondents of a multinational organization in the Asia Pacific with headquarters in Australia and three subsidiaries in Asia: Korea, Malaysia, and Thailand. Even though significant differences were found between respondents from headquarters and subsidiaries in terms of perceived media richness and preference for telephone and written documents, very similar media preference patterns for face-to-face and e-mail between the headquarters and subsidiaries were identified. Furthermore, face-to-face and e-mail were two primary media used for most communication activities in this MNO. Follow-up interviews revealed that the universal organizational culture of this MNO may explain media use consistency between the headquarters and subsidiaries. Implications of the findings are discussed and future research considered.
Information Technology Prescription for Small, Medium, and Large Hospitals
Authors: Bourgeois Stacy , Prater Edmund , Slinkman Craig
Published: April 2010

Hospitals invest in information technology to lower costs and to improve quality of care. However, it is unclear whether these expectations for information technology are being met. This study explores information technology (IT) in a hospital environment and investigates its relationship to mortality, patient safety, and financial performance across small, medium, and large hospitals. Breaking down IT into functional, technical and integration components permits the assessment of different types of technologies’ impact on financial and operational outcomes. Findings indicate that both IT sophistication (access to IT applications) and IT sophistication’s relationship to hospital performance varies significantly between small, medium, and large hospitals. In addition, empirical investigation of quality, safety, and financial performance outcomes demonstrates that the observed impact of IT is contingent upon the category of IT employed.
A Successful Failure to Collaborate on Storage Technology Education
Authors: McAvoy J. , Van Sickle E. , Cameron B.
Published: April 2010

In industry, up to 40% of an IS budget can be spent on Storage technology, making it the fastest growing segment of IT/IS. While industry has recognised the need to diffuse this technology, academia has been slow to respond to this diffusion need. Universities are not teaching courses in this area and a variety of reasons are presented ranging from lack of skills to cost (the cost of installing a Storage system for use by students is a massive expenditure well beyond the budgets of most IS academic departments).This paper concentrates on the lack of skills (knowledge barriers in the parlance of diffusion of innovation theory) and examines ways to overcome this. The knowledge skills are present in industry, so collaboration between industry and academia is a suggested solution. Collaboration between industry and academia, though, is fraught with problems. The aim of this research therefore is to examine how this collaboration can be effective. Interestingly, the result of this research suggests true collaboration is not the solution, but a win-win situation is still possible for all stakeholders.
Building Trust in E-Commerce through Web Interface
Authors: Kumar Muneesh , Sareen Mamta
Published: April 2010

The emergence of Internet has revolutionalized the way businesses are conducted. The impact of e-commerce is pervasive, both on companies and society as a whole. It has the potential to impact the pace of economic development and in turn influence the process of human development at the global level. However, the growth in e-commerce is being impaired by the issue of trust in the buyer-seller relationship which is arising due to the virtual nature of e-commerce environment. The online trading environment is constrained by a number of factors including web interface that in turn influences user experience. This article identifies various dimensions of web interface that have the potential to influence trust in e-commerce. The empirical evidence presented in the article is based on a survey of the web interfaces of 65 Indian e-Marketplaces.
Strategies to Prepare Emergency Management Personnel to Integrate Geospatial Tools into Emergency Management
Authors: Toomey Tricia , Frost Eric , Jennex Murray E.
Published: April 2010

Emergency management is a diverse field. Effective disaster management involves knowledge of various subjects as well as work experience in all aspects related to mitigation, planning, response, and recovery efforts. One field not being fully exploited by disaster management is the use of geospatial tools in the form of Geographic Information Systems (GIS), cartography, and geovisualization. One reason for this is that many emergency managers are not fully aware of the assistance GIS can lend to effectively manage disaster situations. All functions of emergency management have a strong geographic component. Where is the earthquake epicenter? Where is the damage? Where does the dam inundation run and who/what is in that path? Where is the area of road closures? The questions asking “where” are endless in effective emergency management and range from the mitigation stage through to the recovery stage. For example, a tsunami may inundate only a certain portion of the region, therefore, it is important to have mitigation and planning efforts concentrated in those regions. It is also important to know what businesses, housing, and populations are in the affected areas. The integration of geospatial tools for risk assessment, mitigation, planning, response, and recovery efforts is emerging as an effective and potentially invaluable resource for answering such questions in regards to emergency management.
Multi-Agent Architecture for Developing Cooperative E-Business Applications
Authors: Brahimi Mahmoud , Seinturier Lionel , Boufaida Mahmoud
Published: April 2010

This article describes a multi-agent approach that provides solutions to the problems raised during the development of cooperative e-business applications. This approach is organized in the form of cooperative application groups representing the different parts of a company. Agent coordinators orchestrate the cooperative work of these groups. The most requested functionalities inside the company and those offered to the external world can be exported as Web Services. These Web Services are described with DAML-based Web Service ontology (OWL-S) and managed with an intermediate agent called Web Service Finder Agent. The proposed solution provides a new vision of the cooperation context where the companies and their partners share knowledge and offer functionalities as agents and Web Services.
Developing Global Competitiveness in Healthcare
Authors: Wall William P.
Published: April 2010

Healthcare is a competitive business in its own right. Global competition in healthcare adds yet another complex dimension to the success of a healthcare organization. Providing state of the art technology along with the manpower and management skills to bridge boundaries and cultures, confronts today’s healthcare organizations with challenges that, while on the surface may appear simple, may also prove to be a bigger challenge to their success and survival than the medical care they are actually providing. This case study explores one major healthcare organization in Thailand posing the question of what it sees as critical to the success of healthcare competition in the global community. An inductive approach was utilized for a method of determining competitiveness. The resulting qualitative analysis of that data addresses issues of seeking and maintaining global competitiveness, providing superior quality care with competitive and reasonable pricing of sub-specialty and high acuity services and work effectively through strategic alliances. In the case of the healthcare organization in this study, global competitiveness is maintained through what they term “Thainess”. That “Thainess” or ability to provide comfort and hospitality at the same time as providing excellent medical care and facilities give them both economy of scale to provide reasonable pricing and a uniqueness in the medical care provided. Uniqueness and quality in service attracts strategic alliances of similar quality and allows for expansion into global communities that were not possible in the past.
On the Use of Intelligent Systems for the Modelling of Financial Literacy Parameters
Authors: Tawfik H. , Huang R. , Samy M. , Nagar A.K.
Published: April 2010

Research has shown that more young people lack good financial literacy and make poor financial decisions. Financial literacy is not only important for individuals, but also for families, financial institutions, and the entire economy. In this paper, artificial neural networks (ANNs) and support vector machines (SVMs) are used as tools to model the financial literacy levels of young university students across Australia and three Western European countries. The goal was to ascertain the students’ level of financial knowledge in relation to the use of credit card and loan facilities based on a number of input parameters such as age, gender and educational level. Sensitivity analysis is applied to determine the relative contribution of each input parameter to the overall financial literacy model. The experiments show that ANNs and SVMs exhibit promising results and capabilities for effectively modeling financial literacy. Our findings indicate that the main determinants of young people’s level of financial literacy include educational level, length of employment, age, and credit card status – in terms of the use of credit card facilities, and gender, living status and credit card status – in terms of the use of loan facilities.
Exploring Qualitative Differences in Knowledge Sources
Authors: Hallin Carina Antonia , Øgaard Torvald , Marnburg Einar
Published: April 2010

Focusing on knowledge management (KM) and strategic decision making in service businesses through the constructs of strategic capital and knowledge sharing, the study investigates qualitative differences in domain-specific knowledge of frontline employees and executives. The study draws on cognitive theory and investigates the extent to which the knowledge of these subject groups is correct with respect to incorporating intuitive judgments by various employee groups into forecasting and following strategic decision making. The authors carried out this investigation through an exploratory study of the subject groups’ confidence and accuracy (CA) performance in a constructed knowledge-based forecasting setting. The groups’ intuitive judgmental performances were examined when predicting uncertain business and industry-related outcomes. The authors surveyed 39 executives and 38 frontline employees in 12 hotels. The analysis is based on a between-participants design. The results from this setting do not fully confirm findings in earlier CA studies. Their results indicate that there are no significant differences in the accuracy of executives (as experts) and frontline employees (as novices). Although executives demonstrate overconfidence in their judgments and frontline employees demonstrate under confidence, in line with earlier CA theory of experts and novices, the differences we find are not significant. Similarly, the CA calibration performance difference between the two groups is not significant. They suggest, among other reasons, that our findings differ from earlier CA studies because of organizational politics and culture by power distance, social capital, misuse of knowledge and the size of the business.
Using Corporate Universities to Failitate Knowledge Transfer and Achieve Competitive Advantage
Authors: Clinton M. Suzanne , Merritt Kimberly L. , Murray Samantha R.
Published: April 2010

The knowledge literature suggests that transferring knowledge leads to synergistic cost advantages, better implementation of organizational strategies, and competitive advantage. Organizations are implementing corporate universities to aid in knowledge transfer. There is no standardized definition for corporate universities, but rather models that allow organizations to customize them to meet their training needs. Building on recent work of managing the knowledge transfer process (Murray & Peyrefitte, 2007) and on seminal work on media richness theory (Daft & Lengel, 1986), the authors propose that the type of knowledge to be transferred, and the appropriate media to transfer that knowledge, determine the most beneficial generation of corporate university to achieve competitive advantage. The article presents a model and propositions concerning relationships between the type of knowledge to be transferred, appropriate media selection, and generation of corporate university to implement.
Knowledge Management Awareness and Its Related Operations and Their Impact on Knowledge Management Utilization at Jordanian Universities
Authors: Zoubi Dalal M.
Published: April 2010

The interest in KM in Jordan is relatively new, since about 2003. Many Jordanian institutions, including universities are working to understand issues related to this field in order to use KM and achieve excellence and competitiveness. This study tries to highlight some of the factors affecting KM utilization at universities, such as KM awareness and the exercising of its operations, because failure to utilize KM is often due to a lack of awareness, and incorrect exercise of its operations. This study aims at identifying the impact of the workers KM awareness at YU and ANU, and exercising its operations on KM utilization. Data was collected from workers at senior and middle management levels, using a questionnaire consisting of three sub-measures. Several conclusions have been reached, and it is expected that they will contribute to helping universities utilize the KM system successfully.
Exploring the Effects of Web-Enabled Self-Regulated Learning and Online Class Frequency on Students' Computing Skills in Blended Learning Courses
Authors: Shen Pei-Di , Tsai Chia-Wen
Published: April 2010

Web-based courses have shown to be successful in providing quality distance education. However, due to a national education policy, pure online courses are not permitted in Taiwan. In addition, there exists a lack of appropriate design and delivery of blended learning courses. In this study, the authors conducted a quasi-experiment to examine the effects in applying blended learning (BL) with web-enabled self-regulated learning (SRL) to enhance students’ skills of deploying database management system (DBMS). Four class sections with a total of 172 second-year students were taken as four distinct groups. The results showed that students in the SRL and BL groups with 5 online classes had the highest grades for using DBMS among the four groups. Students who received the treatments of web-enabled SRL also outperformed a control group that did not have the benefit of instruction in SRL. The implications of this study are also discussed.
Improving the User Experience of a Mobile Photo Gallery by Supporting Social Interaction
Authors: Vartiainen Elina
Published: April 2010

Today, image gallery applications on mobile devices tend to be stand-alone and offline. For people who want to share photos with others, many add-on tools have been developed to connect the gallery applications to Internet services to enable photo-sharing. The authors argue that photo-centric social interaction is best supported when the gallery application is fully integrated with an Internet service. In this case, no additional tools are needed and the user’s image content is fully synchronized with the service. They designed and implemented a service-integrated mobile gallery application with a corresponding Internet service. Moreover, they conducted a field study with 10 participants to compare our application with a state-of-the-art gallery application combined with an add-on photo-sharing tool. Their application was preferred by most participants and it was especially appreciated because of the user experience. Above all, the results show that social activity increased amongst the participants while using our application.
The Formal Design Model of a Lift Dispatching System (LDS)
Authors: Wang Yingxu , Ngolah Cyprian F. , Ahmadi Hadi , Sheu Philip , Ying Shi
Published: April 2010

A Lift Dispatching System (LDS) is a typical real-time system that is highly complicated in design and implementation. This article presents the formal design, specification, and modeling of the LDS system using a denotational mathematics known as Real-Time Process Algebra (RTPA). The conceptual model of the LDS system is introduced as the initial requirements for the system. The architectural model of the LDS system is created using RTPA architectural modeling methodologies and refined by a set of Unified Data Models (UDMs). The static behaviors of the LDS system are specified and refined by a set of Unified Process Models (UPMs) for the lift dispatching and serving processes. The dynamic behaviors of the LDS system are specified and refined by process priority allocation and process deployment models. Based on the formal design models of the LDS system, code can be automatically generated using the RTPA Code Generator (RTPA-CG), or be seamlessly transferred into programs by programmers. The formal models of LDS may not only serve as a formal design paradigm of real-time software systems, but also a test bench of the expressive power and modeling capability of exiting formal methods in software engineering.
Counter-Surveillance Strategies Adopted By Child Pornographers
Authors: Eneman Marie
Published: April 2010

On the one side, it could be argued that ICT provide a perceived anonymity for people downloading and distributing child abusive material, also labelled child pornography. While, on the other side the technology offers powerful surveillance mechanisms to monitor these activities and thus constitutes a powerful tool for law enforcement. This article aims to explore how offenders manage the risk of surveillance when downloading, distributing and exchanging child abusive material. Critical research with a focus on panopticon is used as a theoretical framework. The data is drawn from interviews with offenders, convicted of child pornography. The findings show that the offenders have developed technological and social strategies to reduce the risk of surveillance and addresses the need of a new theoretical concept better adjusted to surveillance practices that allow the many to watch the many. The ultimate motivation for researching this topic is to contribute to the development of effective child protection strategies.