bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Assessment in Digital At-scale Learning Environments
Authors: Mitros Piotr , Agarwal Anant , Paruchuri Vik
Published: May 2014

Assessment in traditional courses has been limited to either instructor grading, or problems that lend themselves well to relatively simple automation, such as multiple-choice bubble exams. Progress in educational technology, combined with economies of scale, allows us to radically increase both the depth and the accuracy of our measurements of what students learn. Increasingly, we can give rapid, individualized feedback for a wide range of problems, including engineering design problems and free-form text answers, as well as provide rich analytics that can be used to improve both teaching and learning. Data science and integration of data from disparate sources allows for increasingly inexpensive and accurate micro-assessments, such as those of open-ended textual responses, as well as estimation of higher-level skills that lead to long-term student success.
Digital libraries
Authors: Anderson William L.
Published: May 2014

One advantage of reading the other domain columns before writing this one on digital libraries is seeing how interdependent all these different SIGGROUP threads really are. The rapid development of internetworking technology generally, and the World Wide Web specifically, simply magnifies these interdependencies. So while this column focuses on digital libraries, and not on cooperation, learning, work practices, or knowledge management, I feel that all these areas are mutually interdependent, and that advances in one will be felt in all. I expect that these domain columns will cross-reference each other.
The CSCW column
Authors: Kaplan Simon
Published: May 2014

The CSCW column focuses on different aspects of computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW). In the last column I wrote about CSCW in general. In this column I am going to discuss the 'quadrant' groupware model.
Toward an informational model of the organization
Authors: Lundin John H. , Schkade Lawrence L.
Published: May 2014

Organizations are spending an increasing amount of their budgets on the communication infrastructure. At the same time, the solutions are becoming less defined with more technologies available and accessible. Organizations must develop an informational model and a comprehensive set of metrics to measure the flows of information within and between organizations. This paper will propose and explain a framework for communication transmission metrics as a portion of the informational model. The contribution of this paper is the structure, variable categories and the integration of the metrics for representing the communication infrastructure.
Automated reasoning about enterprise concepts
Authors: Compatangelo Ernesto , Rumolo Giovanni
Published: May 2014

This paper outlines some relevant automatic deductive properties bound to the DD approach to information concepts modelling in the enterprise domain. The approach is thus regarded as a framework for the development of a new generation of computer-aided modelling tools endowed with automatic reasoning capabilities. The modelling characteristics of the approach are outlined in a companion paper, by way of a comparison with the CIM-OSA model. The examples introduced in this paper show the benefits of modelling enterprise domain knowledge in terms of a logic-based language which supports specialised deductive services.
Tools and methods for group data modeling
Authors: Lee James D. , Dean Douglas L. , Vogel Douglas R.
Published: May 2014

The need for tools and meeting methods to provide effective support during data model development meetings has been an elusive goal. Researchers at the University of Arizona have developed collaborative tools and methods to support groups during these meetings. This paper discusses meeting methods to support such meetings. A process is described that orchestrates the work in a way that gives non-analyst participants an ordered set of tasks that they can complete. Use of this approach with a group data modeling tool provides a means for larger groups to effectively participate during data model development and review. Users can see and contribute model content in parallel. The approach manages complexity, supports comprehension, and fosters agreement among participants.
Integrated enterprise modeling
Authors: Mertins Kai , Jochem Roland
Published: May 2014

Success is not a static figure; it has to be constantly secured anew. The adaptability to changing competitive requirements is becoming a crucial factor of performance. The company of the future needs to be oriented towards integrated and model-based planning to allow open, flexible and changeable structures and business processes. This paper introduces a model-based method and a tool to adapt the necessary strategies and measures purposefully and continuously to the changing market requirements within the framework of corporate planning.
The coordination technology area at XRCE Grenoble
Authors: Andreoli Jean-Marc , Fernstrom Christer , Glance Natalie , Grasso Antonietta
Published: May 2014

The Xerox Research Centre Europe, XRCE, is one of four research centres of the Xerox Corporation and the only one located outside North America. XRCE comprises two laboratories - the Cambridge (UK) lab [21] and the Grenoble (France) lab - and an Advanced Technologies and Systems group (ATS), also located in Grenoble. The two labs have complementary research agendas and ATS is responsible for validating research results in a business context.In addition to the XRCE Grenoble research lab and the advanced technology group, the Grenoble location also hosts three business units in charge of the commercialisation of products based on XRCE technology and a Technology Showroom, which provides a unique set of demonstrators of advanced technologies from different research teams of Xerox: In fact, one of the major issues for industrial research units is how to transfer research results into operational entities. The combination of research groups with development teams and professional "presenters" of advanced technology under a single roof appears to improve how our research work impacts the business units of Xerox. Technology transfer is by necessity a two-way process, which needs a common ground for exchange of ideas between researchers and practitioners. All in all, XRCE has been designed to create a research environment with facilities to provide good exposure to results and to facilitate the transfer of research results into business operations.
Standardising on workflow-management—the OMG workflow management facility
Authors: Schulze Wolfgang , Bussler Christoph , Meyer-Wegener Klaus
Published: May 2014

With over 800 members, the Object Management Group (OMG) is the largest international consortium of the software industry. Its goal is not only to promote the use of object technology in general but also to define and standardise on a common architectural framework across heterogeneous hardware platforms and operating systems, called the Object Management Architecture (OMA) [13]. In the standardisation process, the OMG focuses on commercially available object technology. So far, the OMG's efforts have been very successful; most of the specifications have met broad acceptance and are implemented by commercial products. Since 1995, the OMG has followed the plan to extend their reference architecture (see [13,18,36]) with a component that supports workflow management. OMG technology, especially the Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA), and workflow management primarily address the same target users: large, distributed organisations with heterogeneous IT platforms. Therefore, it is quite obvious that a big synergy grows out of the integration of both technologies in building large-scale enterprise solutions.The promotion of workflow management standards is also the goal of another international body, the Workflow Management Coalition (WfMC) [3,31]. Since 1993, the WIMC has produced a number of specifications, mainly an interface model together with interface specifications for workflow management systems [32,33,34,35]. The OMG always assumed that the WIMC standards would fit nicely into the OMA. But in late 1996 it was recognized [23] that the interfaces of the WfMC specifications do not fit seemlessly into the OMG model and that the WfMC will probably fall to meet OMG's expectations (see also [19,22]). Therefore, in January 1997, the OMG Common Facility Task Force voted to reject the WfMC's motion to submit their standards to OMG on a fast-track approval process rather than going through the usual OMG standardisation procedure. The usual OMG process is based on a RFP (Request For Proposals) seeking for submissions for a particular area of standardisation. In almost all cases several submissions emerge which are combined into one revised submission. This submission is voted on and in case of a positive vote adopted by OMG. In early 1997, the OMG established the Workflow workgroup [30] with the charter to create and issue an RFP for an OMG Workflow Management Facility (WfMF). In May 1997, the RFP [15] was issued, asking the software industry for submissions for this new architectural component.This report gives a brief overview of the architectural context, the requirements of the RFP and a short evaluation of the initial submissions. An outlook to potential topics for future workflow RFPs that are collected in a Workflow roadmap document concludes the report.
CSCW research at GMD-FIT
Authors: Hoschka Peter
Published: May 2014

GMD-FIT, the Institute for Applied Information Technology, is a research unit of GMD, Germany's National Research Center for Information Technology. It is located on GMD's Schloss Birlinghoven campus near Bonn. FIT is committed to inventing and designing innovative information technology which is really needed and wanted by users, is based on an understanding of human communication and human information processing, and is seamlessly integrated into the user environment. We pursue a vision of information technology moving• from personal computing to social computing,• from distributing information to helping utilize information,• from rigid systems to user-adaptive environments, and• from automation tools to enabling systems.The main application areas of FIT are office and home environments, and the area of medicine.The FIT institute is grouped in two departments: Cooperation Support Systems (CSCW) and Human- Computer Interaction (HCI). The following sections give an overview of our work in the CSCW group.
Building virtual teams
Authors: Mark Gloria
Published: May 2014

As organizations become more globally distributed, and as the fast growth of the Internet, multimedia, and collaborative software environments enable more opportunities for virtual groups to form and conduct business, it is important to understand how the technology affects group interaction. One such company interested in implementing virtual collocation technologies, The Boeing Company, has recently begun to seriously investigate the technology requirements for virtually collocated teams [4]. This paper reports on an empirical study of four virtual teams at The Boeing Company conducted over a three-month period in Spring of 1998. The goal of this research was to gain an understanding of the behavioral effects on work teams who are using such technologies.
CIDP— on workflow-based client integration in complex client oriented design projects
Authors: Dangelmaier W. , Hamoudia H. , Klahold R. F.
Published: May 2014

Today's attendance companies tend strongly upward to "client orientation" by focusing on adjusting products to special needs and designing internal processes to fit variable customer requirements. For any kind of client-centred projects the degree to which customers take part in the design decision becomes of utmost importance. In this paper we will demonstrate innovative concepts we are validating which support a co-operative design of manifold projects. Our approach is based on the process-centred view of product development projects. We focus on workflow-based integration of third parties (i.e. customer and adviser) in controlling and influencing the project's progress directly by using the Internet and present a solution to meet the specific requirements for the workflow management.
The development and coaching of VISOK
Authors: Hepsø Vidar , Juul Merete , Mauseth Kristin
Published: May 2014

This paper reports on experiences in connection with designing and implementing a Web-browser-based user environment in Statoil. In doing so we will go through the technological details of the environment. Further, we will discuss the development strategy in detail, and the role of groupware in user involvement in particular. We approach two specific issues, on the one hand; what are the technical limitations in the feedback mechanisms, and on the other hand; limitations related to the social and organizational surroundings. Our conclusion is that in projects of this character you have to rely on a number of methods to promote user participation in collaborative development of both software and non-software products. Groupware, in our case made available in a Web based environment, has played a very modest role in the user involvement process. Coaching, i.e. teaching people how to use the environment, help desks and 'hybrid'-ethnographic fieldworks among the users have been significantly more successful in involving the users.
Living Web
Authors: Smith Jeffrey D. , Takahashi Kenji , Liang Eugene
Published: May 2014

In this paper, we describe an Internet-based platform and applications which address problems encountered in user-centered design. The issues of coordination and management, variety of representations, and the iterative nature of the design process are discussed along with solutions provided by our approach. We give actual examples of usage of our system and some issues for future consideration.
Campiello— new user interface approaches for community networks
Authors: Grasso Antonietta , Koch Michael , Snowdon Dave
Published: May 2014

Existing community networks have a broad agenda of using technology to foster social objectives of community cohesion, enhanced education and strong democracy. They are intended to advance social goals such as building community awareness, encouraging involvement in local decision making, or developing economic opportunities in disadvantaged communities [Schuler94].Given these objectives, the availability and modality of access can be considered a major issue, because only a broad participation to the community network activities can sustain their growth and wealth. However the experience so far demonstrate that the common user base is mainly composed by computer literate, accessing the network because the already have a PC at home or at the workplace. In fact from the technology point of view community networks are based on large bulletin boards and the main user interface is usually PC-based (proprietary application), a Web browser.In this paper we briefly present some ideas from the EU funded project Campiello. Campiello (Esprit Long Term Research Project 25572) started in September 1997 and will last until August 2000. The main point in the Campiello approach is, that the community network access will be broadly extended into the real places through new interface metaphors (paper, large screen displays) and not only be accessible from Home PCs. This greater penetration and connection with real life should support a user base truly representative of the community and possibly open the community to more interactions with external members.
Evaluation of collaborative systems using communication actions
Authors: Hinkelman Elizabeth A.
Published: May 2014

We take the view that spoken, natural human-human dialogue can be described in terms of participants' goals, plans, and actions. This theoretical orientation leads us to propose certain evaluation techniques for collaborative systems. Here we consider the nature of these evaluation techniques, their range of applicability to CSCW systems, and how the evaluation techniques might be modified to increase that range.
Modified field studies for CSCW systems
Authors: Steves Michelle Potts , Scholtz Jean
Published: May 2014

At the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), we are in the process of instituting and assessing collaboration technologies for manufacturing applications. This position paper for the Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) Evaluation Methodologies Workshop briefly describes the modified field study method used to evaluate a groupware system supporting both synchronous and asynchronous communications over data for manufacturing research and operations teams. The paper also briefly describes the context in which the work is being performed, the groupware system being evaluated, data collection techniques and tools, an overview of the types of metrics used and some technical issues facing this endeavor.
A multi-dimensional evaluation of the nanomanipulator, a scientific sollaboration system
Authors: Sonnenwald Diane H. , Soo Eileen Kupstas , Superfine Richard
Published: May 2014

The nanoManipulator system provides a natural scientist with the ability to interact directly with materials ranging in size from DNA to cells (Finch, Chi, Taylor II, Falvo, Washburn, & Superfine, 1995). By providing a virtual environment interface to an atomic force microscope (AFM), the nanoManipulator allows users to see, feel, and modify individual biological samples or groups of samples in a fluid or dry environment. A distributed version of the nanoManipulator is under development. This will allow scientists to conduct experiments and collaborate across distances during the scientific process (Brooks, Jr., et al., 1998).We are evaluating the distributed nanoManipulator and its impact on scientific collaboration using a multi-dimensional framework (see Fig. 1).This framework highlights the importance of examining process and outcome in research, scientific experimentation, and collaboration technology. Each of these dimensions suggests important questions whose answers will help determine if collaboration technology will fit into and support and/or change the process of research and scientific experimentation. Each of these dimensions is discussed below.
Knoware, a concept map based collaborative virtual environment
Authors: Regev Gil
Published: May 2014

Knoware is an on-going research project between the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (http://www.epfl.ch) and the International Institute for Management Development (http://www.imd.ch). Its main goal is to create a distance learning CVE that improves learners' synthesis capabilities. Knoware is a Concept Map based environment. This paper briefly describes Knoware and some questions related to intercultural issues as well as some lessons learned during the intercultural workshop that may be important for the future of Knoware.
Culture and the nuclear-test-ban treaty
Authors: Girven Mary L.
Published: May 2014

As former Webmaster for the Provisional Technical Secretariat of the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO PrepCom/PTS) in Vienna, Austria, and more recently, as implementer of an on-line scientific meetings database tool for the international organization and co-author of a paper[ ] describing why the database was created as well as how people can use it, I have been in a position to observe and can describe some of the difficulties involved in designing tools for an international/intercultural group. Most of what follows was gleaned from the paper Jerzy Knapik[ ] and I wrote as well as from work that I did supporting CTBTO both as a Sandian[ ] and as a staff member of the PTS.The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) was opened for signature on September 24, 1996 at United Nations Headquarters in New York. President Clinton was the first to sign it. Ratification of the Treaty has recently been the subject of heated debates in the U.S. Senate. As of October 5, 1999, the CTBT has been signed by 154 countries and ratified by 51 countries[ ]. The international organization supporting the implementation of this Treaty began operations in March of 1997 in Vienna. I was the organization's first Webmaster from November 1997 until February 1999, and have been supporting it as a Sandian both beforehand and since returning to Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) by working as Webmaster on the U.S. Department of Energy's Nuclear Explosion Monitoring Research and Engineering program's web site.The three main tasks of the international organization revolve around verifying that all countries are abiding by the terms of the Treaty. This includes development and maintenance of the International Monitoring System (IMS), which will gather data from 321 monitoring stations and 16 laboratories working in some 90 countries around the world; the International Data Centre (IDC) which will analyze data received from the IMS and make the raw data and its results available to all States parties; as well as preliminary work for conducting On-Site Inspections (OSI), which can be requested by any State party if a suspicious occurrence cannot be resolved through consultation and clarification.The Treaty calls for countries to promote cooperation among themselves (Paragraph 12 of Article IV of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty):"The States Parties undertake to promote cooperation among themselves to facilitate and participate in the fullest possible exchange relating to technologies used in the verification of this Treaty in order to enable all States Parties to strengthen their national implementation of verification measures and to benefit from the application of such technologies for peaceful purposes."[ ]The role of the International Cooperation Section of the CTBTO PrepCom/PTS is to help countries fulfill this mission. This is not necessarily an easy task because countries have different needs, requirements and national priorities as well as different levels of economic and technological development.
Narrative structure in virtual collaborative environments
Authors: Stubblefield William A.
Published: May 2014

The ability to conceptualize the world in narrative form is one of the central characteristics of human intelligence. We are unique, both in our ability to form narratives, and in the degree with which we require them to organize our knowledge of the world. Artificial Intelligence has recognized the importance of narrative structure since its earliest days [1]. More recent work has demonstrated the role of narrative structure in the formation of scientific theories [2, 3], in machine learning [9], in shaping human-computer interaction [4], and in our understanding of virtual worlds [5].Narrative also plays an essential role in forming and sustaining communities. Shared narratives articulate the common goals and assumptions of a community, and define the space of choice and action for cooperative activity. Ever since people began carving stories of the hunt on cave walls, shared narratives have played a central role in defining the terms of community membership, in articulating a community's shared goals and values, and in setting the patterns according to which people behave and interact in a social context.In Computers as Theatre, Brenda Laurel demonstrates the similarities between human-computer interaction and the structure of improvisational theatre [4]. In both contexts, people determine their own actions, but do so within a framework of assumptions and possible actions. These frameworks are largely narrative in structure: they have a beginning, a set of actions in the middle, and an end when the goals of the interaction are achieved (or failure occurs). In improvisational theatre, actors improvise within the basic framework of a genre, be it comedy, mystery, farce, etc. Their improvisations usually follow the basic plot arc of the genre. Where they diverge from the genre's structure, audiences perceive the alteration as a counterpoint to their expectations: the genre's narrative structure still exerts its influence. Similarly, users of interactive software improvise their work within the structure of goals, actions and information afforded by the software interface.In describing her work on co-operative role-playing in a multi-user virtual environment, Raybourn [6] has remarked on the ease and enthusiasm with which users assume roles in a larger story context, and spontaneously play to the larger, stated goals and assumptions of the simulation. Turkle [7] confirms this insight and argues that personality itself becomes plastic and context dependent in MOOs and other virtual environments.
PRAVTA---a light-weight mobile awareness client
Authors: Gross Tom
Published: May 2014

Despite huge progress in information and communication technology it is often difficult to spontaneously contact persons who are at other locations. Often important information about the persons at other sites is missing. Users need to know if the potential communication or cooperation partners are present in the system, if they are available, how busy they are, and so forth. Furthermore, users need this information independently of their current location and adapted to their current context. In this paper we introduce the PRAVTA prototype that provides users with awareness about presence, availability, and tasks of other users anytime and anyplace.
Towards a unifying approach to mobile computing
Authors: Magerkurth Carsten , Prante Thorsten
Published: May 2014

In this paper we address the diversity of mobile devices and the related problematic issues with a largely platform-independent approach to development. Our work is motivated by the amount and variety of mobile devices foreseen to reside in future ubiquitous computing environments. To reduce the development effort and to augment data exchange facilities, we present an application framework that abstractly defines common interaction objects in user interfaces on mobile devices.
Mobile commerce for financial services---killer applications or dead end?
Authors: Semrau Michael , Kraiss Achim
Published: May 2014

Since mobile commerce (m-commerce) started to be intensively discussed in the press, financial service companies are said to be the winners of m-commerce. But looking at existing m-commerce applications, you will find
really
interesting information only on few sites. In addition, there are many of these applications, which are just in a prototype state and not yet available to the customers. Based on the lessons we have learned from building prototype and productive m-commerce applications, the following paper briefly discusses some of the problems to be solved by corporations that want to use emerging innovative mobile technologies, such as the Wireless application Protocol (WAP). In particular, we address issues regarding application design and development, security, and infrastructure.
Work/place
Authors: Churchill Elizabeth F. , Munro Alan J.
Published: May 2014

Wireless, portable communication devices continue to promise newer and better ways of being constantly available and in touch with information and with other people. In tandem with developments in wireless, mobile access, dreams of refashioning the world of work are woven: if we are to believe the rhetoric, work activities and communications can now take place anytime, anywhere. In this short paper, we raise a number of issues that have been appearing in common discourses of the impact of wireless technologies on the world of work, and consider the relationship of these discourses to ideas of the design of the workplace. Further, we present a summary of papers that appear in this special issue. As the papers were initially presented at a workshop held at ECSCW in Bonn in September of 2001, we present in addition an overview of the comments and discussions that took place at the workshop.
A model to optimize object management in cooperative work environment
Authors: Kim Myong Ok
Published: May 2014

In most manufacturing environments, data representing an object are scattered over multiple databases and shared by multiple sources. We refer to such a cooperative work environment as a multidatabase multisource (MDMS) data environment. One of the most important issues in a MDMS data environment is how to select a value for an object which has multiple records of values. We introduce a model by which optimal decision is made in terms of determining values for objects to manufacture.
Flexible synchronization of shared groupware objects
Authors: Lukosch Stephan , Unger Claus
Published: May 2014

In this paper we describe an object manager, that has been developed for simplifying groupware development. The object manager offers a variety of services for controlling an application's shared data, including flexible object distribution, flexible coupling of user interface and shared data, latecomer support and configurable concurrency control. After a brief description of the object manager in total, we focus on a configurable concurrency control scheme. An example and directions for future work conclude the paper.
The gods must be crazy
Authors: Li Du , Zhou Limin , Muntz Richard
Published: May 2014

The concept of time in traditional distributed systems has been inherited in the Computer-Supported Collaborative Work (CSCW) literature. The following assumptions have generally been made: (1) Events are atomic and their durations do not matter. (2) Total ordering of events can be achieved by some mechanical algorithm. (3) The relationship between events is determined solely by time (causal relationship). However, we observe that these assumptions are not appropriate if the goal is to faithfully preserve user intentions in collaborative systems. In particular, we discuss why and how these assumptions should be relaxed or removed in the design of collaborative editing systems.
Collection awareness on the web via livemaps
Authors: Cohen Doron , Jacovi Michael , Maarek Yoelle , Soroka Vladimir
Published: May 2014

With the increasing proliferation of chat applications on the Web, the old vision of "adding people" to the Web, is becoming a reality. While infrastructure seems to be scalable and stable enough to support collaboration, the user model is not well defined yet. In particular, there seems to be a certain lack of abstraction and granularity in existing solutions. This paper studies the current restrictions of two common concepts in collaboration on the Web, namely "people awareness" and "document awareness", and proposes a more general one that we call "collection awareness", which seems more adequate to the graph structure of the Web. We introduce a new medium for supporting this higher-level awareness: "Livemaps".
Exploiting context to support social awareness and social navigation
Authors: Cheverst Keith , Mitchell Keith , Davies Nigel , Smith Gareth
Published: May 2014

The utilization of context (such as user location and user profile) opens up many new avenues for encouraging social interaction. The web-based GUIDE system enables visitors to the city of Lancaster to interact with an information model that represents the city via a hand-held and context-aware tourist guide. Our current work is focusing on extending the functionality of the (previously single user) GUIDE system by making parts of the information model public. In particular, the physical location of visitors can now be represented in the information space in order to enable a form of social awareness among city visitors. In addition, visitors can also change the information space by, for example, augmenting existing descriptions of the city's attractions with their own ratings. We believe that explicitly capturing and tagging the context associated with ratings provides a powerful mechanism for automatically tailoring information presented to the user.
A formal awareness model for 3D web-based collaborative environments
Authors: Herrero Pilar , de Antonio Angélica
Published: May 2014

The importance of an awareness model for a Virtual Environment has been underwritten by many studies and very interesting research has been undertaken in this CSCW research area.In this paper, we give a new interpretation of the set of key concepts and ideas, which have been used to define conventional awareness models in CVE's, for the purpose of building a formal model of awareness for 3D Web-based Collaborative Environments.At the same time, we will point out some limitations of current awareness models and we will propose some extensions, like Visual Acuity and Internal Filters. We will also provide an interpretation for these concepts in the context of Web applications.
Activity patterns in health care
Authors: Habing Nathalie , Dietz Jan , Zwetsloot-Schonk Berti
Published: May 2014

Concerning the development and adoption of the computer-based patient record (CPR), an unsolved problem is still the approach that should be taken to construct a highly configurable, generic CPR. The first step in finding such an approach, is the identification of generic activity patterns. These are considered to be helpful in the identification of components. We identified twelve generic activity patterns in the interaction between a patient and a care-cluster.
A meta-communication model for structuring intercultural communication action patterns
Authors: Yetim Fahri
Published: May 2014

This paper presents a meta-communication model for discursive construction of communication action patterns that may be part of an information system which supports communication and cooperation in virtual intercultural communities. The paper also provides a brief review of previous ideas on meta-communication from the language action perspective.
Layered patterns for business interaction
Authors: Lind Mikael , Goldkuhl Göran
Published: May 2014

Business modelling is needed in order to highlight the essentials of businesses when developing information systems. Patterns of inter-related speech acts are the basis for identifying essentials in Language/Action-oriented approaches for business modelling. Weigand et al. has made an attempt to conceptualise the notion of patterns in a layered architecture founded in such approaches. In this paper we present a framework of generic layered patterns for business interaction inspired by a critical examination of Weigand's meta-pattern framework. Our framework of interdependent layers of generic patterns can be used to describe and understand short-termed as well as long-termed business interaction. The five layers of generic patterns are
business act
as the basic unit of analysis,
action pair, exchange, business transaction,
and
transaction group.
Multilingual communication in electronic meetings
Authors: Aiken Milam
Published: May 2014

Numerous studies have demonstrated how Group Support Systems (GSS) are superior in many cases to traditional, oral meetings. These electronic meeting systems typically provide participants with parallel communication (all group members can exchange typed comments simultaneously), automated record keeping (all comments are stored on a disk file), and anonymity (no participant can tell where comments originated).The use of the systems has become widespread; one leading GSS product,
GroupSystems
, is used on every continent except Antarctica [5]. However, most GSS research has been based upon groups using English [6]. Some GSS studies have been conducted in other countries, but it is not always clear what language was used in the meetings. Although English is used in many locations throughout the world, most people prefer to use their native language when communicating. Meeting participants using other languages can benefit from the use of a GSS. Further, combining a GSS with automatic translation can yield an order of magnitude increase in the productivity of multilingual groups.
Digital storytelling for reflective practice in communities of learners
Authors: Freidus Natasha , Hlubinka Michelle
Published: May 2014

This paper will present the use of digital storytelling in community development settings to promote reflective practice and foster connections in communities of learners. Through digital storytelling, individuals learn to tell a story, and in doing so, become more effective actors in collaborative work environments. This particular form of digital storytelling encourages participants to communicate meaning on multiple levels (voice, point, emotional content, tension, story arc), and it allows storytellers to take fresh perspective on their work. Participants abstract meaning, but also give it a concrete form, as story, which can then be shared. We consider the benefits of this approach as a way to strengthen ties among participants in the creative and social outreach work in which they engage.
Situative cooperation support for communities
Authors: Prinz Wolfgang , Kolvenbach Sabine , Klöckner Konrad
Published: May 2014

This paper describes new ways for virtual communities to create and share information, to structure and rate the relevant aspects of shared information, and to be aware of the ongoing activities in communities. It presents the Community Toolbar, a browser integrated portal solution which provides functions for communities so that they become a lively and growing. Especially the paper focuses the support of group awareness in communities. First, we discuss the requirements for awareness support. Second, the concepts of awareness profiles and awareness contexts are introduced. The functionality of the Community Toolbar is presented in detail.
Proactive displays & the experience UbiComp project
Authors: McCarthy Joseph F. , Nguyen David H. , Rashid Al Mamunur , Soroczak Suzanne
Published: May 2014

The proliferation of sensing and display technologies creates opportunities for proactive displays that can sense and respond appropriately to the people and activities taking place in their vicinity. A conference provides an ideal context in which to explore the use of proactive displays, as attendees come together for the purpose of mutual revelation, eager both to learn more about others and what others are doing and to tell others about themselves and what they are doing. We will deploy a suite of proactive display applications that can aid and abet this desire for mutual revelation in the context of a paper presentation session, a demonstration and poster session, and informal break areas at the conference.
Changes in glutamate receptor subunits within the medulla in goats after section of the carotid sinus nerves
Authors: Miller Justin Robert , Neumueller Suzanne , Muere Clarissa , Olesiak Samantha , Pan Lawrence , Bukowy John D. , Daghistany Asem O. , Hodges Matthew R. , Forster Hubert V.
Published: May 2014

The mechanisms which contribute to the time-dependent recovery of resting ventilation and the ventilatory CO2 chemoreflex after carotid body denervation (CBD) are poorly understood. Herein we tested the hypothesis that there are time-dependent changes in the expression of specific AMPA, NMDA, and/or neurokinin-1 (NK1R) receptors within respiratory-related brain stem nuclei acutely or chronically after CBD in adult goats. Brain stem tissues were collected acutely (5 days) or chronically (30 days) after sham or bilateral CBD, immunostained with antibodies targeting AMPA (GluA1 or GluA2), NMDA (GluN1), or NK-1 receptors, and optical density (OD) compared. Physiological measurement confirmed categorization of each group and showed ventilatory effects consistent with bilateral CBD (Miller et al. J Appl Physiol 115: 1088–1098, 2013). Acutely after CBD, GluA1 OD was unchanged or slightly increased, but GluA2 and GluN1 OD were reduced 15–30% within the nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS) and in other medullary respiratory nuclei. Chronically after CBD, GluA1 was reduced ( P < 0.05) within the caudal NTS and in other nuclei, but there was significant recovery of GluA2 and GluN1 OD. NK1 OD was not significantly different from control after CBD. We conclude that the initial decrease in GluA2 and GluN1 after CBD likely contributes to hypoventilation and the reduced CO2 chemoreflex. The partial recovery of ventilation and the CO2 chemoreflex after CBD parallel a time-dependent return of these receptors to near control levels but likely depend upon additional initiating and maintenance factors for neuroplasticity.
Increased pressure-induced tone in rat parenchymal arterioles vs. middle cerebral arteries: role of ion channels and calcium sensitivity
Authors: Cipolla Marilyn J. , Sweet Julie , Chan Siu-Lung , Tavares Matthew J. , Gokina Natalia , Brayden Joseph E.
Published: May 2014

Brain parenchymal arterioles (PAs) are high-resistance vessels that branch off pial arteries and perfuse the brain parenchyma. PAs are the target of cerebral small vessel disease and have been shown to have greater pressure-induced tone at lower pressures than pial arteries. We investigated mechanisms by which brain PAs have increased myogenic tone compared with middle cerebral arteries (MCAs), focusing on differences in vascular smooth muscle (VSM) calcium and ion channel function. The amount of myogenic tone and VSM calcium was measured using Fura 2 in isolated and pressurized PAs and MCAs. Increases in intraluminal pressure caused larger increases in tone and cytosolic calcium in PAs compared with MCAs. At 50 mmHg, myogenic tone was 37 ± 5% for PAs vs. 6.5 ± 4% for MCAs ( P < 0.01), and VSM calcium was 200 ± 20 nmol/l in PAs vs. 104 ± 15 nmol/l in MCAs ( P < 0.01). In vessels permeabilized with Staphylococcus aureus α-toxin, PAs were not more sensitive to calcium, suggesting calcium sensitization was not at the level of the contractile apparatus. PAs were 30-fold more sensitive to the voltage-dependent calcium channel (VDCC) inhibitor nifedipine than MCAs (EC50 for PAs was 3.5 ± 0.4 vs. 82.1 ± 2.1 nmol/l for MCAs; P < 0.01); however, electrophysiological properties of the VDCC were not different in VSM. PAs had little to no response to the calcium-activated potassium channel inhibitor iberiotoxin, whereas MCAs constricted ∼15%. Thus increased myogenic tone in PAs appears related to differences in ion channel activity that promotes VSM membrane depolarization but not to a direct sensitization of the contractile apparatus to calcium.
The effect of rowing ergometry and resistive exercise on skeletal muscle structure and function during bed rest
Authors: Krainski Felix , Hastings Jeffrey L. , Heinicke Katja , Romain Nadine , Pacini Eric L. , Snell Peter G. , Wyrick Phil , Palmer M. Dean , Haller Ronald G. , Levine Benjamin D.
Published: May 2014

Exposure to microgravity causes functional and structural impairment of skeletal muscle. Current exercise regimens are time-consuming and insufficiently effective; an integrated countermeasure is needed that addresses musculoskeletal along with cardiovascular health. High-intensity, short-duration rowing ergometry and supplemental resistive strength exercise may achieve these goals. Twenty-seven healthy volunteers completed 5 wk of head-down-tilt bed rest (HDBR): 18 were randomized to exercise, 9 remained sedentary. Exercise consisted of rowing ergometry 6 days/wk, including interval training, and supplemental strength training 2 days/wk. Measurements before and after HDBR and following reambulation included assessment of strength, skeletal muscle volume (MRI), and muscle metabolism (magnetic resonance spectroscopy); quadriceps muscle biopsies were obtained to assess muscle fiber types, capillarization, and oxidative capacity. Sedentary bed rest (BR) led to decreased muscle volume (quadriceps: −9 ± 4%, P < 0.001; plantar flexors: −19 ± 6%, P < 0.001). Exercise (ExBR) reduced atrophy in the quadriceps (−5 ± 4%, interaction P = 0.018) and calf muscle, although to a lesser degree (−14 ± 6%, interaction P = 0.076). Knee extensor and plantar flexor strength was impaired by BR (−14 ± 15%, P = 0.014 and −22 ± 7%, P = 0.001) but preserved by ExBR (−4 ± 13%, P = 0.238 and +13 ± 28%, P = 0.011). Metabolic capacity, as assessed by maximal O2consumption,31P-MRS, and oxidative chain enzyme activity, was impaired in BR but stable or improved in ExBR. Reambulation reversed the negative impact of BR. High-intensity, short-duration rowing and supplemental strength training effectively preserved skeletal muscle function and structure while partially preventing atrophy in key antigravity muscles. Due to its integrated cardiovascular benefits, rowing ergometry could be a primary component of exercise prescriptions for astronauts or patients suffering from severe deconditioning.
Highly sensitive monitoring of chest wall dynamics and acoustics provides diverse valuable information for evaluating ventilation and diagnosing pneumothorax
Authors: Pesin Jimy , Faingersh Anna , Waisman Dan , Landesberg Amir
Published: May 2014

Current practice of monitoring lung ventilation in neonatal intensive care units, utilizing endotracheal tube pressure and flow, end-tidal CO2, arterial O2 saturation from pulse oximetry, and hemodynamic indexes, fails to account for asymmetric pathologies and to allow for early detection of deteriorating ventilation. This study investigated the utility of bilateral measurements of chest wall dynamics and sounds, in providing early detection of changes in the mechanics and distribution of lung ventilation. Nine healthy New Zealand rabbits were ventilated at a constant pressure, while miniature accelerometers were attached to each side of the chest. Slowly progressing pneumothorax was induced by injecting 1 ml/min air into the pleural space on either side of the chest. The end of the experiment ( tPTX) was defined when arterial O2 saturation from pulse oximetry dropped <90% or when vigorous spontaneous breathing began, since it represents the time of clinical detection using common methods. Consistent and significant changes were observed in 15 of the chest dynamics parameters. The most meaningful temporal changes were noted for features extracted from subsonic dynamics (<10 Hz), e.g., tidal amplitude, energy, and autoregressive poles. Features from the high-frequency band (10–200 Hz), e.g., energy and entropy, exhibited smaller but significant changes. At 70% tPTX, identification of asymmetric ventilation was attained for all animals. Side identification of the pneumothorax was achieved at 50% tPTX, within a 95% confidence interval. Diagnosis was, on average, 34.1 ± 18.8 min before tPTX. In conclusion, bilateral monitoring of the chest dynamics and acoustics provide novel information that is sensitive to asymmetric changes in ventilation, enabling early detection and localization of pneumothorax.
A new experimental model to study force depression: theDrosophilajump muscle
Authors: Koppes Ryan A. , Swank Douglas M. , Corr David T.
Published: May 2014

Force depression (FD) is a decrease in isometric force following active muscle shortening. Despite being well characterized experimentally, its underlying mechanism remains unknown. To develop a new, genetically manipulatable experimental model that would greatly improve our ability to study the underlying mechanism(s) of FD, we tested the Drosophila jump muscle for classical FD behavior. Steady-state force generation following active shortening decreased by 2, 8, and 11% of maximum isometric force with increasing shortening amplitudes of 5, 10, and 20% of optimal fiber length, and decreased by 11, 8, and 5% with increasing shortening velocities of 4, 20, and 200% of optimal fiber length per second. These steady-state FD (FDSS) characteristics of Drosophila jump muscle mimic those observed in mammalian skeletal muscle. A double exponential fit of transient force recovery following shortening identified two separate phases of force recovery: a rapid initial force redevelopment, and a slower recovery toward steady state. This analysis showed the slower rate of force redevelopment to be inversely proportional to the amount of FDSS, while the faster rate did not correlate with FDSS.This suggests that the mechanism behind the slower, most likely cross-bridge cycling rate, influences the amount of FDSS. Thus the jump muscle, when coupled with the genetic mutability of its sarcomere proteins, offers a unique and powerful experimental model to explore the underlying mechanism behind FD.