bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Game Theoretic Approach for Sensitive Information Sharing in Supply Chain
Authors: Zhang Xiaofeng , Cheung William K. , Luo ZongWei , Tong Frank
Published: October 2011

With the adoption of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology, information sharing among participants in a supply chain is greatly facilitated, raising privacy concerns on sharing sensitive information. Balancing the conflicts between the improvement of visibility and the decrease of sensitive information shared is paramount. In this paper, the authors propose a leader-follower game model called LFM to model the strategic game between buyer and supplier. A Stackelberg equilibrium state is then computed as the solution to this game model. The proposed approach exhibits better performance when compared with conventional optimization approaches via derivation in terms of the total information sharing level and the total gain acquired verified by the experiments. In the future, the authors will extend this approach to a more complex situation with more participants in a dynamic environment.
Towards a Unified Definition of Supply Chain Management
Authors: Sweeney Edward
Published: October 2011

A wide range of definitions of supply chain management (SCM) have been developed over the last three decades. The philosophy of SCM is based firmly on a recognition that it is only by working in a more integrated manner that competitive advantage can be maximised. However, for this to become a reality the development of common definitions and understandings between supply chain partners is a critical success factor. The corollary of this is that a lack of definitional consistency and a common understanding is an inhibitor to the successful adoption of SCM thinking in practice. This paper reviews a number of definitions of SCM, as well as discussions and analyses of such definitions. This leads to the central point posited in the paper – the need for a ‘unified definition’. Such a definitional construct, labelled the Four Fundamentals of SCM, is proposed with the core of the paper providing a narrative description of this construct based on a wide range of literature.
An Observer Approach for Deterministic Learning Using Patchy Neural Networks with Applications to Fuzzy Cognitive Networks
Authors: Psillakis H. E. , Christodoulou M. A. , Giotis T. , Boutalis Y.
Published: October 2011

In this paper, a new methodology is proposed for deterministic learning with neural networks. Using an observer that employs the integral of the sign of the error term, asymptotic estimation of the respective nonlinear vector field is achieved. Patchy Neural Networks (PNNs) are introduced to identify the unknown nonlinearity from the observer’s output and the state measurements. The proposed scheme achieves learning with a single pass from the respective patches and does not need standard persistency of excitation conditions. Furthermore, the PNN weights are updated algebraically, reducing the computational load of learning significantly. Simulation results for a Duffing oscillator and a fuzzy cognitive network illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.
Existence of Positive Solutions for Generalized p-Laplacian BVPs
Authors: Lian Wei-Cheng , Wong Fu-Hsiang , Lo Jen-Chieh , Yeh Cheh-Chih
Published: October 2011

Using Kransnoskii’s fixed point theorem, the authors obtain the existence of multiple solutions of the following boundary value problem
Noise Power Spectrum for Firecrackers
Authors: Patange K. B. , Khan A. R. , Behere S. H. , Shaikh Y. H.
Published: October 2011

Frequency of noise can affect human beings in different ways. The sound of firecrackers is a type of intensive impulsive noise, which is hazardous. In this paper, the noise produced by firecrackers during celebration festivals in Aurangabad (M.S.), India is measured. The noise is analyzed from the study of power spectra for different types of firecrackers. Noise measurements of firecrackers show that they produce high sound pressure peak levels at their characteristics frequencies. Plots of noise power versus frequency for different crackers are presented and the inferences are discussed. Typical firecracker peak noise levels are given.
Mitigation Strategies for Foot and Mouth Disease
Authors: Chowdhury Sohini Roy , Scoglio Caterina , Hsu William H.
Published: October 2011

Prediction of epidemics such as Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) is a global necessity in addressing economic, political and ethical issues faced by the affected countries. In the absence of precise and accurate spatial information regarding disease dynamics, learning- based predictive models can be used to mimic latent spatial parameters so as to predict the spread of epidemics in time. This paper analyzes temporal predictions from four such learning-based models, namely: neural network, autoregressive, Bayesian network, and Monte-Carlo simulation models. The prediction qualities of these models have been validated using FMD incidence reports in Turkey. Additionally, the authors perform simulations of mitigation strategies based on the predictive models to curb the impact of the epidemic. This paper also analyzes the cost-effectiveness of these mitigation strategies to conclude that vaccinations and movement ban strategies are more cost-effective than premise culls before the onset of an epidemic outbreak; however, in the event of existing epidemic outbreaks, premise culling is more effective at controlling FMD.
What Does Artificial Life Tell Us About Death?
Authors: Gershenson Carlos
Published: October 2011

This paper discusses how concepts developed within artificial life (ALife) can help demystify the notion of death. This is relevant because sooner or later we will all die; death affects us all. Studying the properties of living systems independently of their substrate, ALife describes life as a type of organization. Thus, death entails the loss of that organization. Within this perspective, different notions of death are derived from different notions of life. Also, the relationship between life and mind and the implications of death to the mind are discussed. A criterium is proposed in which the value of life depends on its uniqueness, i.e. a living system is more valuable if it is harder to replace. However, this does not imply that death in replaceable living systems is unproblematic. This is decided on whether there is harm to the system produced by death. The paper concludes with speculations about how the notion of death could be shaped in the future.
Adaptive Non-Uniform Particle Swarm Application to Plasmonic Design
Authors: Kessentini Sameh , Barchiesi Dominique , Grosges Thomas , Giraud-Moreau Laurence , Lamy de la Chapelle Marc
Published: October 2011

The metaheuristic approach has become an important tool for the optimization of design in engineering. In that way, its application to the development of the plasmonic based biosensor is apparent. Plasmonics represents a rapidly expanding interdisciplinary field with numerous transducers for physical, biological and medicine applications. Specific problems are related to this domain. The plasmonic structures design depends on a large number of parameters. Second, the way of their fabrication is complex and industrial aspects are in their infancy. In this study, the authors propose a non-uniform adapted Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) for rapid resolution of plasmonic problem. The method is tested and compared to the standard PSO, the meta-PSO (Veenhuis, 2006) and the ANUHEM (Barchiesi, 2009).These approaches are applied to the specific problem of the optimization of Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) Biosensors design. Results show great efficiency of the introduced method.
Parallel Scatter Search Algorithms for Exam Timetabling
Authors: Mansour Nashat , Sleiman-Haidar Ghia
Published: October 2011

University exam timetabling refers to scheduling exams into predefined days, time periods and rooms, given a set of constraints. Exam timetabling is a computationally intractable optimization problem, which requires heuristic techniques for producing adequate solutions within reasonable execution time. For large numbers of exams and students, sequential algorithms are likely to be time consuming. This paper presents parallel scatter search meta-heuristic algorithms for producing good sub-optimal exam timetables in a reasonable time. Scatter search is a population-based approach that generates solutions over a number of iterations and aims to combine diversification and search intensification. The authors propose parallel scatter search algorithms that are based on distributing the population of candidate solutions over a number of processors in a PC cluster environment. The main components of scatter search are computed in parallel and efficient communication techniques are employed. Empirical results show that the proposed parallel scatter search algorithms yield good speed-up. Also, they show that parallel scatter search algorithms improve solution quality because they explore larger parts of the search space within reasonable time, in contrast with the sequential algorithm.
Extraction of Target User Group from Web Usage Data Using Evolutionary Biclustering Approach
Authors: Rathipriya R. , Thangavel K. , Bagyamani J.
Published: October 2011

Data mining extracts hidden information from a database that the user did not know existed. Biclustering is one of the data mining technique which helps marketing user to target marketing campaigns more accurately and to align campaigns more closely with the needs, wants, and attitudes of customers and prospects. The biclustering results can be tuned to find users’ browsing patterns relevant to current business problems. This paper presents a new application of biclustering to web usage data using a combination of heuristics and meta-heuristics algorithms. Two-way K-means clustering is used to generate the seeds from preprocessed web usage data, Greedy Heuristic is used iteratively to refine a set of seeds, which is fast but often yield local optimal solutions. In this paper, Genetic Algorithm is used as a global optimizer that can be coupled with greedy method to identify the global optimal target user groups based on their coherent browsing pattern. The performance of the proposed work is evaluated by conducting experiment on the msnbc, a clickstream dataset from UCI repository. Results show that the proposed work performs well in extracting optimal target users groups from the web usage data which can be used for focalized marketing campaigns.
Opening the Black Box of Leadership in the Successful Development of Local E-Government Initiative in a Developing Country
Authors: Priyatma Johanes Eka , Mohamed Zainal Abidin
Published: October 2011

Leadership has been identified as one of the critical factors in the successful development of e-government projects especially so in developing countries. Unfortunately, empirical studies linking the outcome of e-government projects and the role of leadership are very limited. Moreover, these studies did not comprehensively discuss the role of leadership in implementing e-government projects involving social, political, and technological transformation. Using the four moments of Actor Network Theory (ANT) translation framework, this paper presents detailed actions taken by leaders in the development of a local e-government project. The paper argues that ANT translation provides an appropriate framework to trace and monitor how leadership has been practiced effectively in an e-government project in a developing country.
A Socio-Technical Study of the Adoption of Internet Technology in Banking, Re-Interpreted as an Innovation Using Innovation Translation
Authors: Al-Hajri Salim , Tatnall Arthur
Published: October 2011

This article presents a re-interpretation of research done in the mid-2000s on uptake of Internet technologies in the banking industry in Oman, compared with that in Australia. It addresses the question: What are the enablers and the inhibitors of Internet technology adoption in the Omani banking industry compared with those in the Australian banking industry? The research did not attempt a direct comparison of the banking industries in these two very different countries, but rather considered Internet technology adoption in Oman, informed by the more mature Australian experience. The original study considered Internet banking as an innovation and used an approach to theorising this innovation that was based on Diffusion of Innovations and the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). Given the socio-technical nature of this investigation, however, another approach to adoption of innovations was worth investigating, and this article reports a re-interpretation of the original study using innovation translation from actor-network theory (ANT).
A Petri Net Model for Analysing E-Learning and Learning Difficulties
Authors: Adam Tas
Published: October 2011

Petri Nets are tools for the modelling and analysis of the behaviour of systems and analysis of the Petri Net can then reveal important information about the structure and dynamic behaviour of the modelled system. In this article, the author argues that Petri Net concepts (when used qualitatively) are not fundamentally different from those of ANT. For example, the ‘places’ from Petri Nets bear a strong resemblance to the actors in ANT, and the ‘triggers’ or ‘transitions’, are somewhat analogous to ANT’s translations. In modelling, places represent conditions and transitions represent events. Tokens may model the resources or data items that are associated with a place or places. The original research that this article is based on was undertaken using an actor-network framework to develop a model for e-Learning for students with Learning Difficulties. This article explores the qualitative use of Petri Nets to supplement this ANT treatment.
ROCRSSI++
Authors: Frattini Flavio , Esposito Christian , Russo Stefano
Published: October 2011

Localization within a Wireless Sensor Network consists of defining the position of a given set of sensors by satisfying some non-functional requirements such as (1) efficient energy consumption, (2) low communication or computation overhead, (3) no, or limited, use of particular hardware components, (4) fast localization, (5) robustness, and (6) low localization error. Although there are several algorithms and techniques available in literature, localization is viewed as an open issue because none of the current solutions are able to jointly satisfy all the previous requirements. An algorithm called ROCRSSI appears to be a suitable solution; however, it is affected by several inefficiencies that limit its effectiveness in real case scenarios. This paper proposes a refined version of this algorithm, called ROCRSSI++, which resolves such inefficiencies using and storing information gathered by the sensors in a more efficient manner. Several experiments on actual devices have been performed. The results show a reduction of the localization error with respect to the original algorithm. This paper investigates energy consumption and localization time required by the proposed approach.
Various Extensions for the Ambient OSGi Framework
Authors: Frénot Stéphane , Le Mouël Frédéric , Ponge Julien , Salagnac Guillaume
Published: October 2011

OSGi is a wrapper above the Java Virtual Machine that embraces two concepts: component approach and service-oriented programming. The component approach enables a Java run-time to host several concurrent applications, while the service-oriented programming paradigm allows the decomposition of applications into independent units that are dynamically bound at runtime. Combining component and service-oriented programming greatly simplifies the implementation of highly adaptive, constantly evolving applications. This, in turn, is an ideal match to the requirements and constraints of ambient intelligence computing, such as adaptation to changes associated with context evolution. OSGi particularly fits ambient requirements and constraints by absorbing and adapting to changes associated with context evolution. However, OSGi needs to be finely tuned in order to integrate ambient specific issues. This paper focuses on Zero-configuration architecture, Multi-provider framework, and Limited resource requirements. The authors studied many OSGi improvements that should be taken into account when building OSGi-based gateways. This paper summarizes the INRIA Amazones teamwork (http://amazones.gforge.inria.fr/) on extending OSGi specifications and implementations to cope with ambient concerns. This paper references three main concerns: management, isolation, and security.
A Case Study of an Intervention to Support Ed.D. Students in Dissertation Writing
Authors: Kania-Gosche Beth , Leavitt Lynda
Published: October 2011

Dissertation writing is often the most challenging aspect of the doctoral program. In an effort to raise completion rates and lower time-to-degree as well as increase student satisfaction with the program, professors in an Ed.D. program developed a semester-long course to support students writing their dissertations. This case study describes the development of the course and the implementation of the first semester. The course consisted of a series of workshops on various aspects of dissertation writing as well as various other activities such as peer review. The students did not receive a grade for the course. After reviewing data, students in the course were classified by their productivity that semester and engagement in the course. Students who were highly engaged but not highly productive were the most prevalent group. In this article, the authors also provide follow-up, including changes made the next semester and data on student completion.
Exploring the Preparedness of Business Education Teacher Candidates for their Internships
Authors: Fletcher Edward C. , Mountjoy Kathy , Bailey Glenn
Published: October 2011

Applying a modified-Delphi technique, this research study sought consensus from business education mentor teachers regarding the top three areas in which business education student teachers were prepared as well as underprepared for their roles as teachers. Further, the mentor teachers provided recommendations for business education teacher preparation programs to implement to better prepare their teacher candidates for the student teaching internship. To that end, the mentor teachers did not gain consensus on the top three areas their student teachers were most prepared. However, they did agree classroom management and working with special needs’ students were among the top three areas their student teachers were least prepared. The mentor teachers agreed business education teacher preparation programs could provide more experiences with classroom management in public schools and provide their teacher candidates with more information about the workload and commitment needed to be effective teachers.
Transformative Learning
Authors: Wang Viktor , Cranton Patricia
Published: October 2011

The theory of transformative learning has been explored by different theorists and scholars. However, few scholars have made an attempt to make a comparison between transformative learning and Confucianism or between transformative learning and andragogy. The authors of this article address these comparisons to develop new and different insights to guide Web-based teaching and learning. Indeed, as Web-based teaching and learning has become popular in the 21st century, the theory of transformative learning should help Web-based teaching and learning. The authors of this article demonstrate different ways whereby the theory of transformative learning can be used to stimulate critical self-reflection and potentially transformative learning.
Semantic Federation of Product Information from Structured and Unstructured Sources
Authors: Wauer Matthias , Meinecke Johannes , Schuster Daniel , Konzag Andreas , Aleksy Markus , Riedel Till
Published: October 2011

Product-related information can be found in various data sources and formats across the product lifecycle. Effectively exploiting this information requires the federation of these sources, the extraction of implicit information, and the efficient access to this comprehensive knowledge base. Existing solutions for product information management (PIM) are usually restricted to structured information, but most of the business-critical information resides in unstructured documents. We present a generic architecture for federating heterogeneous information from various sources, including the Internet of Things, and argue how this process benefits from using semantic representations. A reference implementation tailor-made to business users is explained and evaluated. We also discuss several issues we experienced that we believe to be valuable for researchers and implementers of semantic information systems, as well as the information retrieval community.
The Role of Twitter in the World of Business
Authors: Curran Kevin , O’Hara Kevin , O’Brien Sean
Published: October 2011

This paper examines the services people seek out on Twitter and the integration of Twitter into businesses. Twitter has experienced tremendous growth in users over the past few years, from users sharing to the world what they had for lunch to their opinions on world events. As a social media website, Twitter has become the third most popular behind only Facebook and YouTube. Its user base statistics ensure a wide audience for business to engage with. However, many find this a daunting prospect as there are no set guidelines as to how business might use the service. The ability to post quick short messages for the whole of the social network to see has encouraged people to use this microblogging platform to comment and share attitudes on company brands and products. The authors present how the business world is using the social network site as a new communication channel to reach customers and examine other possible uses for Twitter in a business context. This paper also discusses how Twitter plans to move forward and evolve with its service, ensuring that personal, business and third party developers’ best interests are catered to.
Fuzzy Logic-based Mobility Metric Clustering Algorithm for MANETs
Authors: Venkateswaran P. , Kundu Mousumi , Shaw Srishti , Orea Kanika , Nandi R.
Published: October 2011

Mobile ad-hoc network, (MANET) is a collection of wireless mobile nodes dynamically forming a temporary communication network without using any existing infrastructure or centralized administration. To reduce routing overhead, computational complexity and overcome the problem of low bandwidth utilization, MANET is divided into several clusters. The authors propose a fuzzy logic based mobility metric for MANET that had been utilized as the basis of cluster formation in the algorithm viz., FUZZY CLUSTERING. This algorithm leads to more stable cluster formation compared to the existing MOBIC algorithm as evidenced by significant reduction in the number of clusterhead changes. As the frequency of cluster reorganization is a significant attribute, the proposed algorithm is expected to yield improved performance for MANETs.
Uncovering Actionable Knowledge in Corporate Data with Qualified Association Rules
Authors: Jukic Nenad , Nestorov Svetlozar , Velasco Miguel , Eddington Jami
Published: October 2011

Association rules mining is one of the most successfully applied data mining methods in today’s business settings (e.g. Amazon or Netflix recommendations to customers). Qualified association rules mining is an extension of the association rules data mining method, that uncovers previously unknown correlations that only manifest themselves under certain circumstances (e.g. on a particular day of the week), with the goal of improving action results, e.g. turning an underperforming campaign (spread too thin over the entire audience) into a highly targeted campaign that delivers results. Such correlations have not been easily reachable using standard data mining tools so far. This paper describes the method for straightforward discovery of qualified association rules and demonstrates the use of qualified association rules mining on an actual corporate data set. The data set is a subset of a corporate data warehouse for Sam’s Club, a division of Wal-Mart Stores, INC. The experiments described in this paper illustrate how qualified association rules supplement standard association rules data mining methods and provide additional information which can be used to better target corporate actions.
Agile Development in Data Warehousing
Authors: Rahman Nayem , Rutz Dale , Akhter Shameem
Published: October 2011

Traditional data warehouse projects follow a waterfall development model in which the project goes through distinct phases such as requirements gathering, design, development, testing, deployment, and stabilization. However, both business requirements and technology are complex in nature and the waterfall model can take six to nine months to fully implement a solution; by then business as well as technology has often changed considerably. The result is disappointed stakeholders and frustrated development teams. Agile development implements projects in an iterative fashion. Also known as the sixty percent solution, the agile approach seeks to deliver more than half of the user requirements in the initial release, with refinements coming in a series of subsequent releases which are scheduled at regular intervals. An agile data warehousing approach greatly increases the likelihood of successful implementation on time and within budget. This article discusses agile development methodologies in data warehousing and business intelligence, implications of the agile methodology, managing changes in data warehouses given frequent change in business intelligence (BI) requirements, and demonstrates the impact of agility on the business.
Business Intelligence Should be Centralized
Authors: Johnson Brian
Published: October 2011

The implementation of BI into the business strategy and culture is laden with many potential points that could result in failure of the initiative, leaving BI to be underdeveloped and a source of wasted resources for the company. Due to the unique nature of BI in the business space, properly setting up BI within the organizational structure from the onset of integration minimizes the impact of the most common hurdles to BI implementation. Many companies choose to mitigate these problems by using a centralized approach by building a Center of Excellence, but their place in the company’s organizational structure needs to be well-defined and properly empowered to be effective. This paper also reviews how the concept of centralization is defined, how it relates to the implementation of BI, and how it can effectively in overcome the common implementation hurdles.
The Future Talent Shortage Will Force Global Companies to Use HR Analytics to Help Manage and Predict Future Human Capital Needs
Authors: Worth Carey W.
Published: October 2011

During the recent recession the number of jobs lost has been widely publicized. However, lurking among this obvious and simple metric of how human capital is involved in the workforce, there is the need to analyze and predict future talent. As economic conditions are slow to improve, decisions to simply cut the traditional costs, benefits, compensation and headcount are no longer enough. Companies have already started using business intelligence (BI) to transform and maximize the potential of their human capital. The use of human capital based business intelligence (BI) has increasingly become one of the vital strategic components for world-class companies. This paper will focus on why companies should use analytics (a subset of Business Intelligence (BI)) to transform and maximize the potential of their human capital.
Criteria for the Creation of Aesthetic Images for Human-Computer Interfaces A Survey for Computer Scientists
Authors: Peters Gabriele
Published: October 2011

Interaction in modern human-computer interfaces is most intuitively initiated in an image-based way. Often images are the key components of an interface. However, too frequently, interfaces are still designed by computer scientists with no explicit education in the aesthetic design of interfaces and images. This article develops a well-defined system of criteria for the aesthetic design of images, motivated by principles of visual information processing by the human brain and by considerations of the visual arts. This theoretic disquisition establishes a framework for the evaluation of images in terms of aesthetics and it serves as a guideline for interface designers by giving them a collection of criteria at hand; how to deal with images in terms of aesthetics for the purpose of developing better user interfaces. The proposed criteria are exemplified by an analysis of the images of the web interfaces of four well known museums.
Cognitive Memory for Semantic Agents Architecture in Robotic Interaction
Authors: Dourlens Sébastien , Ramdane-Cherif Amar
Published: October 2011

Since 1960, AI researchers have worked on intelligent and reactive architectures capable of managing multiple events and acts in the environment. This issue is part of the Robotics domain. An extraction of meaning at different levels of abstraction and the decision process must be implemented in the robot brain to accomplish the multimodal interaction with humans in a human environment. This paper presents a semantic agents architecture giving the robot the ability to understand what is happening and thus provide more robust responses. Intelligence and knowledge about objects like behaviours in the environment are stored in two ontologies linked to an inference engine. To store and exchange information, an event knowledge representation language is used by semantic agents. This architecture brings other advantages: pervasive, cooperating, redundant, automatically adaptable, and interoperable. It is independent of platforms.
Equivalence Between LDA/QR and Direct LDA
Authors: Li Rong-Hua , Liang Shuang , Baciu George , Chan Eddie
Published: October 2011

Singularity problems of scatter matrices in Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) are challenging and have obtained attention during the last decade. Linear Discriminant Analysis via QR decomposition (LDA/QR) and Direct Linear Discriminant analysis (DLDA) are two popular algorithms to solve the singularity problem. This paper establishes the equivalent relationship between LDA/QR and DLDA. They can be regarded as special cases of pseudo-inverse LDA. Similar to LDA/QR algorithm, DLDA can also be considered as a two-stage LDA method. Interestingly, the first stage of DLDA can act as a dimension reduction algorithm. The experiment compares LDA/QR and DLDA algorithms in terms of classification accuracy, computational complexity on several benchmark datasets and compares their first stages. The results confirm the established equivalent relationship and verify their capabilities in dimension reduction.
A Computational Simulation of the Cognitive Process of Children Knowledge Acquisition and Memory Development
Authors: Bancroft Jeff , Wang Yingxu
Published: October 2011

The cognitive mechanisms of knowledge representation, memory establishment, and learning are fundamental issues in understanding the brain. A basic approach to studying these mental processes is to observe and simulate how knowledge is memorized by little children. This paper presents a simulation tool for knowledge acquisition and memory development for young children of two to five years old. The cognitive mechanisms of memory, the mathematical model of concepts and knowledge, and the fundamental elements of internal knowledge representation are explored. The cognitive processes of children’s memory and knowledge development are described based on concept algebra and the object-attribute-relation (OAR) model. The design of the simulation tool for children’s knowledge acquisition and memory development is presented with the graphical representor of memory and the dynamic concept network of knowledge. Applications of the simulation tool are described by case studies on children’s knowledge acquisition about family members, relatives, and transportation. This work is a part of the development of cognitive computers that mimic human knowledge processing and autonomous learning.
Cyberbullying
Authors: Heymann Michael J. , Schnackenberg Heidi L.
Published: October 2011

Robert J. Mitchell Junior/Senior High School is a small institution located in central New York. Although generally minimal behavior problems occur at the school, currently cyberbullying is on the rise. One of the students, James, was recently a victim of cyberbullying. A picture of him was posted on a social networking site, which initiated a barrage of cruel text messages and emails. Although James didn’t tell anyone about the incident, another student complicit in some of the bullying, Sarah, confessed to him. Sarah and James then went to their teacher, Mr. Moten, to tell him about the bullying and that they thought another student was responsible for creating the social networking site and posting the picture. Without the benefit of a school or district cyberbullying policy, Mr. Moten then attempts to figure out what to do to help James and stop the harassment.
Bring Out Your Data
Authors: Grissom Thomas E. , DuKatz Andrew , Kordylewski Hubert A. , Dutton Richard P.
Published: October 2011

Recent healthcare legislation, financial pressures, and regulatory oversight have increased the need to create improved mechanisms for performance measurement, quality management tracking, and outcomes-based research. The Anesthesia Quality Institute (AQI) has established the National Anesthesia Clinical Outcomes Registry (NACOR) to support these requirements for a wide-range of customers including individual anesthesiologists, anesthesia practices, hospitals, and credentialing agencies. Concurrently, the availability of increased digital sources of healthcare data make it possible to capture massive quantities of data in a more efficient and cost-effective manner than ever before. With NACOR, AQI has established a user-friendly, automated process to effectively and efficiently collect a wide-range of anesthesia-related data directly from anesthesia practices. This review will examine the issues guiding the evolution of NACOR as well as some potential pitfalls in its growth and usage.
Exploring Determinants Influencing the Intention to Use Mobile Payment Service
Authors: Mahran Amira F. A. , Enaba Hala M. Labib
Published: October 2011

Mobile services are becoming increasingly commonplace in everyday life; however, Mobile payment (M-payment) is not among frequently used mobile services. The slowness of the diffusion of this service is the point of departure of the current research. The authors discuss why consumers are slow in adopting M-payment service and develop a proposed model that measures the customer’s attitude and intention to use this technology in Egypt. Different theories from diverse fields are reviewed to formulate the study’s conceptual framework. Empirical data were collected via an online survey for a sample of 490 students in “open education”, a type of e-distance learning. The results suggest that although the most important determinants influencing the customer’s attitude toward the service are perceived behavioral control and perceived usefulness, those influencing the intention to use it are perceived innovativeness, perceived expressiveness, facilitating condition, perceived usefulness, and social pressure. The results of the research differ from those of previous studies because of the effect of the Egyptian culture. Service providers can benefit from the results when formulating the marketing strategies to increase the usage of this service, improving mobile commerce.
A Steganalysis Method for 2D Engineering Graphics Based on the Statistic of Geometric Features
Authors: Peng Fei , Li Honglin
Published: October 2011

Aiming at hiding information in 2D engineering graphics based on geometric features, a steganalysis method is proposed in this paper. First, the authors obtained the number of 2D engineering graphics’ strictly vertical and horizontal lines and identify the number of horizontal and vertical lines which are deviated from the straight line within a certain range. Subsequently, the authors selected the ratio between the deviated lines and the normal lines as the statistical characteristics. Finally, a detection model was constructed based on the hypothesis. Experimental results show that the algorithm can detect hidden information in the 2D engineering graphics effectively.
Media Naturalness Reduction and Compensatory Channel Expansion
Authors: Kock Ned , Garza Vanessa
Published: October 2011

This study provides a combined test of the media naturalness and channel expansion theories with a study of communication media perceptions and use outcomes in the context of a college information systems course delivery. Data was collected from undergraduate students at the middle and end of a long semester. Approximately half of the students took the course face-to-face, and the other half online. As predicted, based on media naturalness theory, grades were significantly higher in the face-to-face condition than the online condition at the middle of the semester. Consistent with predictions based on channel expansion theory, the difference between grades obtained at the middle of the semester disappeared at the end of the semester. This study shows that online course delivery may lead to both negative and positive effects in the same semester, leading to a final outcome that is generally positive. It provides a more nuanced view of online course delivery effects, and clarifies previous empirical findings that appear paradoxical at first glance.
The Relationship Between English Language Adoption and Global Digital Inequality
Authors: Tang Hui-Wen Vivian , Yin Mu-Shang , Sheu Ru-Shuo
Published: October 2011

The aim of this study was to investigate whether differences in information and communication technology (ICT) readiness and access across countries were fundamentally related to the variable of English language adoption. A one-way multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was utilized to comparatively examine the developments of ICT readiness and use among 149 countries categorized into four groups based on levels of English language adoption and economic development. The results of the comparative analysis showed that English language adoption is not a dominant factor in determining the global digital divide. The results suggest that much of the differences in ICT development across countries are attributable to levels of economic development. Limitations and implications for additional studies on specifying key factors widening the global technology gap are discussed.
Open Book Examinations in a Distance (Teacher) Education Programme
Authors: Msila Vuyisile
Published: October 2011

The current post-apartheid system of education in South Africa requires students to be critical thinkers. Education institutions utilise a variety of assessment strategies; peer assessment, self-assessment, and group assessment are some of the formative assessments that are crucial in the promotion of students. This article reports on the findings of a qualitative study conducted at a South African higher education institution where the emphasis was on the open book examination as an alternative form of assessment. The research was conducted among 32 teacher-learners who were enrolled in a two year part-time (teacher education) distance programme. Five of the teacher-learners’ facilitators were part of the sample. The majority of participants concurred that the open book examinations have a number of advantages. One advantage is that this model helps students in allaying anxiety usually associated with closed book examinations. However, there are few challenges posed by this form of assessment, as some current students simply reproduce extracts from the texts in their examination books without any critical interpretation. When properly applied, the open book examination presents an effective assessment model.
Information Security Awareness On-Line Materials Design with Knowledge Maps
Authors: Shaw Ruey-Shiang , Keh Huan-Chao , Huang Nan-Ching
Published: October 2011

Information Security Awareness, though known as a primary and important issue in the domain of Information Security, CSI computer crime and security survey showed poor security awareness training in public and private sectors. In many studies, the authors have found that the usage of knowledge maps helps the process of learning and conception building. Therefore, the authors have tried to figure out if the implementation of knowledge maps on the training materials of Information Security Awareness will improve the learning performance. Based on the e-learning materials for E-Mail Information Security Awareness, the authors designed them in the format of knowledge maps and compared the learning performance with common browsing-based materials. The results showed the knowledge map-based materials lead to higher learning performance than browse-based ones.
A Study of the Predictive Relationships Between Faculty Engagement, Learner Satisfaction and Outcomes in Multiple Learning Delivery Modes
Authors: Yen Cherng-Jyh , Abdous M’hammed
Published: October 2011

The confluence of technology convergence, market forces, and student demand for greater access is reshaping higher education institutions. Indeed, the convergence of technological innovations in hardware, software, and telecommunications, combined with the ubiquity of learning management systems, is reconfiguring and strengthening traditional teaching and learning delivery modes (Amirault & Visser, 2009; Harasim, 2006; Laurillard, 2008). In the current context, one in which universities are forced to adapt, rethink, and even reinvent themselves, the traditional lines between distance education (DE) and face-to-face teaching and learning are becoming progressively blurred, particularly since the dramatic rise of online and blended or hybrid learning (Means, Toyama, Murphy, Bakia, & Jones, 2009; Parsad & Lewis, 2008). This structural transformation is progressively redefining the concept of faculty’s presence and their ability to interact and engage learners. The traditional model of teaching and learning (with its heavy reliance on teacher presence) is being augmented with various tools and technologies (Abdous & Yen, 2010). Additionally, student engagement and its corollary, interaction, have been closely linked to desirable learning outcomes, including academic achievement, critical thinking, and grades (Handelsman, Briggs, Sullivan, & Towler, 2005; Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005; Carini, Kuh, & Klein, 2006).
Digital Literacy and Competence in Students Attending a Faculty of Humanities
Authors: Cartelli Antonio , Di Nuzzo Angela
Published: October 2011

In this paper the behaviors and tendencies in the use of digital technologies by university students are analyzed. After a short discussion of former studies and the presentation of the model for digital literacy structure and assessment in students attending compulsory school, the investigation carried out by the authors is described and the results obtained from the analysis of the university students’ answers is reported. The survey was submitted to 331 students in the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Cassino, Italy, and the students’ answers show a contradictory reality: on one side, digital technologies are mainly used to communicate in social networks or to play music and movies, on another side it is evident the students’ interest for the most recent aspects of the application of digital technology and for the improvement in the quality of their use.
Complementing Business Process Verification by Validity Analysis
Authors: Soffer Pnina , Kaner Maya
Published: October 2011

This paper investigates the need for complementing automated verification of business process models with a validity analysis performed by human analysts. As business processes become increasingly automated through process aware information systems, the quality of process design becomes crucial. Although verification of process models has gained much attention, their validation, relating to the reachability of the process goal, has hardly been addressed. The paper investigates the need for model validation both theoretically and empirically. The authors present a theoretical analysis, showing that process model verification and validation are complementary in nature, and an empirical evaluation of the effectiveness of validity criteria in validating a process model. The theoretical analysis, which relates to different aspects of process model quality, shows that process model verification and validation are complementary in nature. The empirical findings corroborate the effectiveness of validity criteria and indicate that a systematic criteria-supported validity analysis improves the identification of validity problems in process models.
Visualization-Based Decision Support Systems
Authors: Sauter Vicki L. , Mudigonda Srikanth , Subramanian Ashok , Creely Ray
Published: October 2011

Increasingly, decision makers are incorporating large quantities of interrelated data in their decision making. Decision support systems need to provide visualization tools to help decision makers glean trends and patterns that will help them design and evaluate alternative actions. While visualization software that might be incorporated into decision support systems is available, the literature does not provide sufficient guidelines for selecting among possible visualizations or their attributes. This paper describes a case study of the development of a visualization component to represent regional relationship data. It addresses the specific information goals of the target organization, various constraints that needed to be satisfied, and how the goals were achieved via a suitable choice of visualization technology and visualization algorithms. The development process highlighted the need for specific visualizations to be driven by the specific problem characteristics as much as general rules of visualization. Lessons learned during the process and how these lessons may be generalized to address similar requirements is presented.
Matrixes of Weighing and Catastrophes
Authors: R. José G.Hernández , G. María J.García , G. Gilberto J.Hernández
Published: October 2011

An easy to apply multi-criteria technique is the Matrixes Of Weighing (MOW), but many of the professionals that use it, in their respective fields, do it in intuitive fashion. In this regard, applications are rarely reported in specialized literature, which explains how few references exist about them. One of the application areas for MOW is the handling of catastrophes, in particular the pre-catastrophe and post-catastrophe phases where a series of problems are usually handled which solution leads to a choice, which could be done by using multi-criteria techniques.The objective of this investigation is to present the MOW with multiplicative factors, and showing their application in the pre-catastrophe phase, when choosing possible shelters and in the post-catastrophe phase, by aiding to hierarchies which infrastructures to be recovered after a catastrophe.