bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Populating Knowledge Based Decision Support Systems
Authors: García-Manotas Ignacio , Lupiani Eduardo , García-Sánchez Francisco , Valencia-García Rafael
Published: April 2010

Knowledge-based decision support systems (KBDSS) hold up business and organizational decision-making activities on the basis of the knowledge available concerning the domain under question. One of the main problems with knowledge bases is that their construction is a time-consuming task. A number of methodologies have been proposed in the context of the Semantic Web to assist in the development of ontology-based knowledge bases. In this paper, we present a technique for populating knowledge bases from semi-structured text which take advantage of the semantic underpinnings provided by ontologies. This technique has been tested and evaluated in the financial domain
Using the Rhizomer Platform for Semantic Decision Support Systems Development
Authors: García Roberto
Published: April 2010

Decision support systems get more useful as they manage to make decisions more informed. However, the cost of information and of combining and making it available in the appropriate context make this a tricky trade-off. Fortunately, Semantic Web technologies make it possible to easily publish and reuse data. But this is not simple data, it is semantic data, which makes it easier to query, browse and combine it. Apart from semantic data, it is also important a user interface that carries all this potential to the user. Rhizomer is a framework for semantic data publishing and user interaction that facilitates building semantic dashboards. It is possible, for instance, to build a simple dashboard on top of semantic data generated from financial reports and incorporate web services that provide specialised ways to interact with semantic data, like showing geo-located resources in a map or events in a timeline.
Investigating the Properties of a Social Bookmarking and Tagging Network
Authors: Angelova Ralitsa , Lipczak Marek , Milios Evangelos , Pralat Pawel
Published: April 2010

Social networks and collaborative tagging systems are rapidly gaining popularity as a primary means for storing and sharing data among friends, family, colleagues, or perfect strangers as long as they have common interests. del.icio.us3 is a social network where people store and share their personal bookmarks. Most importantly, users tag their bookmarks for ease of information dissemination and later look up. However, it is the friendship links that make del.icio.us a social network. They exist independently of the set of bookmarks that belong to the users and have no relation to the tags typically assigned to the bookmarks. To study the interaction among users, the strength of the existing links and their hidden meaning, we introduce implicit links in the network. These links connect only highly “similar” users. Here, similarity can reflect different aspects of the user’s profile that makes her similar to any other user, such as number of shared bookmarks, or similarity of their tags clouds. The authors investigate the question whether friends have common interests, they gain additional insights on the strategies that users use to assign tags to their bookmarks, and they demonstrate that the graphs formed by implicit links have unique properties differing from binomial random graphs or random graphs with an expected power-law degree distribution.
Detecting Trends in Social Bookmarking Systems
Authors: Wetzker Robert , Zimmermann Carsten , Bauckhage Christian
Published: April 2010

The authors present and evaluate an approach to trend detection in social bookmarking systems using a probabilistic generative model in combination with smoothing techniques. Social bookmarking systems are gaining major interest among researchers in the areas of data mining and Web intelligence, since they provide a large amount of user-generated annotations and reflect the interest of millions of people. Based on a vast corpus of approximately 150 million bookmarks found at del. icio.us, the authors analyze bookmarking and tagging patterns and discuss evidence that social bookmarking systems are vulnerable to spamming. They present a method to limit the impact of spam on a trend detector and provide conclusions as well as directions for future research.
Mining Frequent Generalized Patterns for Web Personalization in the Presence of Taxonomies
Authors: Giannikopoulos Panagiotis , Varlamis Iraklis , Eirinaki Magdalini
Published: April 2010

The Web is a continuously evolving environment, since its content is updated on a regular basis. As a result, the traditional usage-based approach to generate recommendations that takes as input the navigation paths recorded on the Web page level, is not as effective. Moreover, most of the content available online is either explicitly or implicitly characterized by a set of categories organized in a taxonomy, allowing the page-level navigation patterns to be generalized to a higher, aggregate level. In this direction, the authors present the Frequent Generalized Pattern (FGP) algorithm. FGP takes as input the transaction data and a hierarchy of categories and produces generalized association rules that contain transaction items and/or item categories. The results can be used to generate association rules and subsequently recommendations for the users. The algorithm can be applied to the log files of a typical Web site; however, it can be more helpful in a Web 2.0 application, such as a feed aggregator or a digital library mediator, where content is semantically annotated and the taxonomic nature is more complex, requiring us to extend FGP in a version called FGP+. The authors experimentally evaluate both algorithms using Web log data collected from a newspaper Web site.
The Pros and Cons of Digital Divide and E-Readiness Assessments
Authors: Hanafizadeh Mohammad Reza , Hanafizadeh Payam , Saghaei Abbas
Published: April 2010

Evolving information and communication technologies (ICTs) have yielded new terms like “information society,” “digital divide,” and “e-readiness” which have attracted many scholars, practitioners, and policymakers. Therefore, in recent years numerous attempts have been done to develop e-readiness and digital divide models oriented toward certain objectives. In this research, these models are investigated with view to their definitions and methodologies, and their strengths and weaknesses are identified. These findings can help researchers and policymakers select the models that fit in with their objectives as well as identify the defects of previous models and rectify them in their own models. Moreover, the extensive literature review led to an integrated model which is proposed to assess the e-readiness of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Such a model can serve as a basis and standard for developing comprehensive models in SMEs.
Exploring Antecedents of Behavior Intention to Use Internet Banking in Korea
Authors: Lee Kun Chang , Chung Namho
Published: April 2010

This study is aimed at analyzing adoption and usage behavior within the context of Internet banking services in South Korea. In a country where the penetration rate of the Internet is very high, it seems that the self-efficacy would play a crucial role in affecting the Internet banking adoption. To pursue this research question, this study adopts TAM and incorporates the self-efficacy into TAM as one of antecedent variables such as risk, Internet experience, facilitating conditions. The proposed research model is tested empirically with 185 usable questionnaires and partial least square (PLS) method. Experimental results showed that the self-efficacy plays a prominent role in influencing the Internet banking usage compared to other factors.
Theorizing Intercultural Accommodation in Consumer E-Commerce
Authors: Chen Rui , Sharma Sushil
Published: April 2010

Consumer e-commerce extends the marketplace of traditional business and brings in business opportunities in online retailing and service. As a consequence of intensive competition among online vendors, the need to capture more customers has become crucial. The consumer group is under a huge change due to demographic shift and immigration laws. Population of minorities has dramatically increased suggesting a growing buying power of ethnic groups. To effectively attract ethnic consumers into consumer e-commerce Web sites, we propose the Web-based intercultural accommodation model. Drawing upon literature in linguistic, sociology, and Web information system success, this model offers a theoretical explanation of online ethnic consumers’ behavioral intention to use e-commerce Web site. The conceptual model recognizes the potential roles of ethnicity attributes of individual consumers as well as the use of ethnic pertaining Web site designs in accommodating ethnic consumers. The theoretical model is subject to empirical validation.
Electronic Customer Relationship Management and SME Marketing Practice
Authors: McMahon Fiona , O’Donnell Aodheen
Published: April 2010

Evidence suggests that small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) have failed to capitalize on the Internet to facilitate the management of customer relations (e-CRM) and the creation of competitive advantage (Chen & Popovich, 2003; Geiger & Martin, 1999; McGowan et al., 2001; O’Toole, 2001). This is attributed to a lack of influence, time, finance and specialised knowledge, (Carson & Gilmore, 2003) coupled with the reality that most Information Systems and Technology models and tools have been developed from the perspective of the large firm (Maguire et al., 2007; Poon & Swatman, 1999).Despite such constraints, it is posited that by exploring the components of e-CRM in the unique context of SME business and marketing practice that a natural synergy exists between e-CRM and SME marketing in the creation of value propositions. Specifically this is addressed through the two contributing constructs of SME marketing; namely entrepreneurial marketing and network marketing (Carson & Gilmore, 2000).
Governance Mechanisms in Internet-Based Affiliate Marketing Programs in Spain
Authors: Fox Paul B. , Wareham Jonathan D.
Published: April 2010

Internet-based affiliate marketing programs have emerged as one of the fastest-growing methods for online retailers to acquire customers and increase sales by tapping into the power of independent web sites to reach a large, diverse audience of potential customers. However, while these programs have proven effective in increasing website traffic and sales, illegal or inappropriate activities on the part of affiliates could negatively impact a retailer’s brand in the eyes of customers. This study is an exploratory analysis of governance mechanisms (formal contracts, partner selection, incentives and monitoring) in one-to-many affiliate programs in Spain. Agency theory and transaction cost analysis provide the theoretical background. The conclusion is that there is a significant lack of transparency in the guidance and restrictions communicated to affiliates, and a lack of systematic monitoring of affiliate behavior, which increases the risk of opportunism or misconduct. General recommendations for managers of affiliate programs are considered.
Software Firm Cost Structure and Its Impact on IPOs in the E-Commerce Era
Authors: Carter Richard B. , Strader Troy J.
Published: April 2010

The first decade of the e-commerce era saw an increase in activity in the software development industries as new firms were created and existing firms made acquisitions. Many firms pursued a growth strategy and this growth required capital that was often obtained through an initial public offering (IPO) of equity. Software firm cost structures are very different from traditional physical goods firms because their marginal costs are much lower, but what is not known is whether this affects their financing strategies. In this study we compare software firm and traditional firm IPOs using data from 780 IPOs offered during the late dot-com era (1998-2002) to identify differences in firm and offer characteristics, investment risk, initial returns, and underwriting activity. We find that the characteristics and performance of software firm IPOs are significantly different from IPOs offered by raditional firms during this time period providing supporting for our conclusion that firm cost structure should be considered when analyzing IPOs and other strategic issues.
A Study of the Impact of Individual Differences on Online Shopping
Authors: Wang Jianfeng , Gu Linwu , Aiken Milam
Published: April 2010

Previous studies explored the effects of individual cognitive and affective reactions on online shopping and those of individual differences on usage of information systems. However, few studies evaluated how individual differences affect online shopping. This paper draws on the theory of reasoned action (TRA) and the technology acceptance model (TAM) as it attempts to gain understanding of individual difference impacts on online shopping attitudes. The model was tested using data collected from a Web survey, and 171 questionnaires were collected and analyzed. Results show that online shopping experience, level of Internet usage, cognitive absorption, personal innovativeness, and computer self-efficacy positively influence online shopping attitudes, and that perceived usefulness is a significant mediator, but only between online shopping attitudes and two individual differences variables: the level of Internet usage and cognitive absorption.
From Collaborative Tools to Collaborative Working Environments
Authors: Prinz Wolfgang , Martínez-Carreras Maria Antonia , Pallot Marc
Published: April 2010

In this article we introduce the main research lines concerning CSCW and groupware, which are forming the core foundation of Collaborative Working Environments (CWE). Furthermore, we introduce the problematic aspects in CWE and the features and recommendations for the integration of CWE in organizations. Through this issue readers will learn new paradigms for the building of CWE as well as directions for measuring and planning the implementation of collaboration within enterprises with the aim of obtaining the best performance. Finally, a brief introduction of the three articles of this special issue on CWE is presented.
Towards a Reference Architecture for Collaborative Work Environments
Authors: Peristeras Vassilios , Martínez-Carreras Maria Antonia , Gómez-Skarmeta Antonio F. , Prinz Wolfgang , Nasirifard Peyman
Published: April 2010

In this article the authors provide an overview of the Ecospace reference architecture which constitutes a reusable high-level representation for building Collaborative Work Environments that are interoperable, context-aware and highly personalised. Based on this architecture they have already developed a number of prototypes that at the same time use and validate the proposed design. Here they present an example, specifically a prototype that demonstrates interoperability and context-awareness as important features of the Ecospace architecture.
The Impact of Age on Electronic Commerce Participation
Authors: McCloskey Donna W. , Leppel Karen
Published: April 2010

This exploratory study examined the impact of age on e-commerce participation and its antecedents: usefulness, ease of information access, and trust. The three age groups considered were the “young” who were 18 to 25, the “mature” who were 50 to 69, and the “elderly” who were 70 and older. Of the three age groups, mature consumers had the highest perception of the usefulness of e-commerce but the lowest perceptions of trust. The elderly perceived less ease of information access and were less likely to participate in electronic commerce than the other age groups. Greater perceptions of usefulness and trust were found to be positively related to participation. In addition, trust had positive impacts on ease of information access and usefulness. While ease of information access had a positive impact on usefulness, it had no direct impact on e-commerce participation.
Simulating E-business Innovation Process Improvement with Virtual Teams Across Europe and Asia
Authors: Strang Kenneth D. , Chan Cliff E.L.
Published: April 2010

In this article, E-business new product development innovation processes were studied at four enterprises across Europe and Asia. E-entrepreneurship innovation was improved using a quality of idea priority model. The conventional quality function deployment phase 1 matrix was revised to increase the voice of customers and engineer quality of idea decision-making. The proposed model was simulated with geographically dispersed virtual teams (based on production data). Statistical analyses were applied to test the hypothesis that an improved innovation process could better discriminate between new product return on investment pass or fail probability.
Business Process Change in E-Government Projects
Authors: Kennedy Aileen , Coughlan Joseph P. , Kelleher Carol
Published: April 2010

This research investigates one of the first e-Government services launched as part of Ireland’s Information Society program, the Irish Land Registry’s implementation of their award winning Electronic Access (EAS) project. In-depth enquiries into how public sector organizations manage IT-enabled transformations have remained relatively limited and this case contributes to this emerging body of literature. The analysis highlights that the implementation of e-Government initiatives beyond basic service levels necessitates business process change in order to reap rewards. This study fulfils an identified need for research in Business Process Change (BPC) in the implementation of e-government initiatives. In this way the research attempts to add to, and complement, the existing pool of studies exploring e-Government induced change. The conclusions from the research stress the importance of planning for process change and the support of top management in the achievement of the efficiency gains and improved customer experience that are outcomes of e-Government.
The Prospects for eGovernment and eGovernance in Sub-Saharan Africa
Authors: Nyirenda Joshua C. , Cropf Robert A.
Published: April 2010

EGovernance and eGovernment are critical tools for Good governance and economic development, and are therefore critical for Highly Indebted Poor Countries, a majority of which are in Sub-Saharan Africa. This article reviews literature in order to discuss the prospects of eGovernance and eGovernment in Sub Saharan Countries, and chooses the nation of Zambia as an in-depth case study. Issues of investment climate, market structure, infrastructural capacity, social contexts and political and cultural resistance factors are identified as impediments but also key components (if well understood and tackled) for effective initiation and implementation of eGovernance and eGovernment projects.
Tracking the Evolution of E-Governance in India
Authors: Gupta M.P.
Published: April 2010

An attempt is made in this article to gain an understanding of the evolution of Electronic Governance (E-governance) in India. The initial part of the article examines the Historical Perspectives and the evolution of E-governance in India since the formation of the Department of Electronics. The following sections give a detailed study about the initiatives taken by the Government of India over periods of five years and their Missions and Objectives in the creation of a “Transparent and Efficient Govern ability” from grass root levels. The relative development with the induction of these technologies through various policies and reforms are mapped against the projects and gauge the significant impact on the ability of our government to establish the current E-governance structures.
Ubiquitous Participation Platform for POLicy Makings (UbiPOL)
Authors: Irani Zahir , Lee Habin , Weerakkody Vishanth , Kamal Muhammad , Topham Shaun
Published: April 2010

The purpose of UbiPOL project is to develop a ubiquitous platform that allows citizens be involved in Policy Making Processes (PMPs) regardless of their current locations and time. However, literature highlights one of the foremost reasons that make citizens de-motivated in engaging themselves in policy making—the ignorance of germane policies and PMPs within the government organizations. It is highly suggested that while more citizens find connections between their everyday life activities and pertinent government policies, the more they become pro-active or motivated to be involved in PMPs. For this reason, UbiPOL aims to provide ‘context aware knowledge’ provision with regards to policy making, i.e. through UbiPOL enabling citizens in identifying any relevant policies along with other citizens’ opinion ‘whenever they want’ ‘wherever they are’ according to their everyday life pattern. As a result of this platform, citizens are anticipated to be more acquainted with the newest relevant policies and PMPs for their participation during their routine life activities. Moreover, this platform is also anticipated to provide policy tracking functionality through a ‘workflow engine’ and ‘opinion tag’ concept to improve the transparency of PMPs. As a final point, the platform intends to facilitate policy makers to collect citizen opinions more efficiently as the opinions are collected as soon as they are created in the middle of citizen’s everyday life. UbiPOL provides security and identity management facility to ensure only authorized citizens can have access to relevant policies according to their roles in PMPs. The delivery of the opinion and policy data over the wireless network is secure as the platform use leading edge encryption algorithm in its communication kernels. UbiPOL is a scalable platform ensuring at least 100,000 citizens can use the system at the same time (e.g., for e-Voting applications) through its well proven automatic load balancing mechanisms. The privacy ensuring opinion mining engine prevents unwanted revealing of citizen identities and the mining engine prevents any unrelated commercial advertisements are included in the opinion base to minimize the misuse of the system.
The mHealth Stack
Authors: Falchuk Benjamin , Famolari David , Fischer Russell , Loeb Shoshana , Panagos Euthimios
Published: April 2010

Applications accessible through mobile devices, such as mobile phones, are playing an increasingly important part in the delivery of high quality and personalized healthcare services. In this paper, we examine current usage of mobile devices and networks by mobile healthcare applications, and present our views on how mobile devices and networks could be used for creating patient-centered healthcare applications. The patient-centered healthcare paradigm allows for increased quality of care and quality of life for patients while increasing personal freedom to move about and be always connected to care-givers and healthcare services. The structure of our discussion is analogous to layered protocol stack in communications, progressing from the network and radio technologies, servicing middleware, cloud services, health sensors, mobile smartphones, and applications. All these layers come into play to support future mobile healthcare services.
Blood Vessel Segmentation in Complex-Valued Magnetic Resonance Images with Snake Active Contour Model
Authors: Handayani Astri , Suksmono Andriyan B. , Mengko Tati L.R. , Hirose Akira
Published: April 2010

Accurate blood vessel segmentation plays a crucial role in non-invasive blood flow velocity measurement based on complex-valued magnetic resonance images. We propose a specific snake active contour model-based blood vessel segmentation framework for complex-valued magnetic resonance images. The proposed framework combines both magnitude and phase information from a complex-valued image representation to obtain an optimum segmentation result. Magnitude information of the complex-valued image provides a structural localization of the target object, while phase information identifies the existence of flowing matters within the object. Snake active contour model, which models the segmentation procedure as a force-balancing physical system, is being adopted as a framework for this work due to its interactive, dynamic, and customizable characteristics. Two snake-based segmentation models are developed to produce a more accurate segmentation result, namely the Model-constrained Gradient Vector Flow-snake (MC GVF-snake) and Stochastic-snake. MC GVF-snake elaborates a prior knowledge on common physical structure of the target object to restrict and guide the segmentation mechanism, while Stochastic-snake implements the simulated annealing stochastic procedure to produce improved segmentation accuracy. The developed segmentation framework has been evaluated on actual complex-valued MRI images, both in noise-free and noisy simulated conditions. Evaluation results indicate that both of the developed algorithms give an improved segmentation performance as well as increased robustness, in comparison to the conventional snake algorithm.
From the Streets to the Net? The Political Use of the Internet by Social Movements
Authors: Mosca Lorenzo
Published: April 2010

This article focuses on the political use of the Internet by the Italian Global Justice Movement (GJM) considering both the organizations and the individuals involved in the movement. First, a definition of the concept ‘political use of the Internet’ and its operationalization is provided. Second, light is shed on how the Internet is used politically by participants in social movements taking into account their organizational and participatory experiences. Data were gathered with quantitative and qualitative instruments during different researches: a survey of participants in a demonstration against the ‘Bolkestein’ directive and a series of interviews with representatives of different organizational sectors of the Italian GJM, complemented by a qualitative website analysis of the same organizations. While quantitative data allows for controlling relations among variables concerning the political use of the Internet by individuals, qualitative data provides more detailed information on Internet use in the everyday life of activists and organizations.
Election Campaigns on the Internet
Authors: Hoff Jens
Published: April 2010

This article investigates whether political use of the Internet affects users politically. Using a combination of log- and survey data from a study of Internet use during the Danish 2007 parliamentary election, a number of hypotheses are tested. The investigation finds that 30% of the survey respondents say they are influenced politically by their Internet use. However, they are only modestly influenced when it comes to “core values” such as party choice or important political issues, while respondents are affected more in terms of general political opinions and opinions on different candidates. Political interest is found to act as an important determinant for political activity on the Internet, and certain types of uses are found to have more profound political effects than others. Somewhat paradoxically—but in line with Zaller (1992) — those indicating they are “little” or “somewhat” interested in politics are found to be the most politically affected.
Generating Process Network Communication Infrastructure for Custom Multi-Core Platforms
Authors: Sørensen Peter , Madsen Jan
Published: April 2010

We present an approach for generating implementations of abstraction layers implementing the communication infrastructure of applications modeled as process networks. Our approach is unique in that it does not rely on assumptions about the capabilities and topology of the underlying platform. Instead, a generic implementation is adapted to the particular platform based on information retrieved from analyzing the platform. At the heart of the approach is a novel method for analyzing the capabilities of custom execution platforms composed of components. The versatility and usefulness of the approach and analysis method is demonstrated through a case study.
Consumers' Attitudes Toward Mobile Commerce
Authors: Su QiYing , Adams Carl
Published: April 2010

Mobile commerce operates in a global market place where services are rolled out to different nations. However, it is unclear if mobile commerce developed for one national environment can be successfully applied in another. There are likely to be many influences on attitudes to mobile commerce, including environmental and cultural. This paper reports on a study on consumers’ attitudes toward m-commerce from samples in a city in China and a city in the UK. Attributes of environment and cultural influences are explored and the paper develops a model on Consumers’ Attitudes toward M-commerce in different Cultural Environments (CAMCE). The paper makes contribution by identify and distinguish between influences related to the environment and to culture.
Analysis of Mobile Users' Perception Towards SMS Voting
Authors: Sulaiman Ainin , Zolait Ali Hussein Saleh , Kaisin N.G.
Published: April 2010

The objective of this study is to study the characteristics of SMS voting adopters in terms of demographic factors as well as to explore the mobile users’ perception towards SMS voting. A survey using questionnaires was conducted to gain information and opinions from a convenience sample of 300 Malaysian mobile users regarding their perceptions on using SMS to vote. The findings revealed that approximately two-thirds of Malay respondents use SMS voting. The study’s findings reveal that most mobile users in the sample are single and female, and that mobile users like to send their votes using SMS. There is a significant difference between the usages of SMS voting among female respondents. Out of the total respondents, 80 percent perceived that the ease of use factor greatly influences mobile users in using SMS for voting purposes.
Toward a Theory of Game-Media Literacy
Authors: Caperton Idit Harel
Published: April 2010

This paper discusses varied ideas on games, learning, and digital literacy for 21st-century education as theorized and practiced by the author and James Paul Gee, and their colleagues. With attention to games as means for learning, the author links Gee’s theories to the learning sciences tradition (particularly those of the MIT Constructionists) and extending game media literacy to encompass “writing” (producing) as well as “reading” (playing) games. If game-playing is like reading and game-making is like writing, then we must introduce learners to both from a young age. The imagining and writing of web-games fosters the development of many essential skill-sets needed for creativity and innovation, providing an appealing new way for a global computing education, STEM education, for closing achievement gaps. Gee and the author reveal a shared aim to encourage researchers and theorists, as well as policymakers, to investigate gaming with regard to epistemology and cognition.
Narratizing Disciplines and Disciplinizing Narratives
Authors: Barab Sasha A. , Gresalfi Melissa , Dodge Tyler , Ingram-Goble Adam
Published: April 2010

Education is about revealing possibility and exciting passions, empowering learners with the disciplinary expertise to meaningfully act on problematic contexts in which applying disciplinary knowledge is important. Toward this end, we have been using gaming methodologies and technologies to design curricular dramas that position students as active change agents who use knowledge to inquire into particular circumstances and, through their actions, transform the problematic situation into a known. Unlike more traditional textbooks designed to transmit facts or micro-stories, our focus is on building interactive experiences in which understanding core concepts, such as erosion or the idea of metaphor, and seeing oneself as a person who uses these to address personally meaningful and socially significant problems is valued. It is the explicit goal of this manuscript to communicate this power of educational videogames, as well as the design steps that we have been using to make this happen.
Evaluation of Peak Ground Acceleration and Response Spectra Considering the Local Site Effects
Authors: Sitharam T. G. , Vipin K. S.
Published: April 2010

The local site effects play an important role in the evaluation of seismic hazard. The proper evaluation of the local site effects will help in evaluating the amplification factors for different locations. This article deals with the evaluation of peak ground acceleration and response spectra based on the local site effects for the study area. The seismic hazard analysis was done based on a probabilistic logic tree approach and the peak horizontal acceleration (PHA) values at the bed rock level were evaluated. Different methods of site classification have been reviewed in the present work. The surface level peak ground acceleration (PGA) values were evaluated for the entire study area for four different site classes based on NEHRP site classification. The uniform hazard response spectrum (UHRS) has been developed for the city of Bangalore and the details are presented in this work.
Cyclic Pore Pressure Generation, Dissipation and Densification in Granular Mixes
Authors: Thevanayagam S. , Shenthan T.
Published: April 2010

Knowledge of cyclic load induced pore pressure generation, post-liquefaction dissipation and volumetric densification characteristics of sands, silty sands, and silts are important for the analysis of performance of loose saturated granular deposits in seismic areas. This article presents results from an experimental study of these characteristics for such soils containing 0 to 100% non-plastic silt. Pore pressure generation characteristics are studied using undrained cyclic triaxial tests. Pre- and post-liquefaction compressibility and coefficient of consolidation, and post-liquefaction volumetric densification characteristics are determined from consolidation data prior to cyclic tests and pore pressure dissipation tests following undrained cyclic tests. Effects of fines content on these characteristics compared to those of clean sands are examined in the context of intergranular void ratio and intergranular contact density concepts.
Bridging the Digital Divide
Authors: Pee L.G. , Kankanhalli A. , On Show V.C.Y.
Published: April 2010

Subsidized ICT access is often provided in less-developed regions of the world to bridge the digital divide. While such efforts can be helpful, their effectiveness depends on targeted users’ willingness to utilize the ICT provided. To better understand the phenomenon from users’ perspective, this study examines the factors influencing individual’s intention and behavior of using public internet kiosks in Mauritius. Having witnessed rapid growth in ICT recently, Mauritius is an appropriate context for this study. Findings indicate that self efficacy, perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control are significant in explaining ICT use. Although these factors have been studied in the developed world, their perception and assessment in the developing world differ and deserve more attention. This study adds to the limited empirical research in this part of the world. Implications for research and suggestions for encouraging ICT use in such regions are discussed.
E-Business Assimilation in China's International Trade Firms
Authors: Li Dahui , Lai Fujun , Wang Jian
Published: April 2010

Despite the importance of international trade firms in China’s economic development, there is only limited empirical evidence about how these firms assimilate Internet-based e-business in global supply chain operations. Using the Technology-Organization-Environment framework, this study investigates technological, organizational, and environmental factors which determine e-business assimilation in these firms. Based on survey data collected from 307 international trade firms in the Beijing area, we found that environmental uncertainty was negatively associated with e-business assimilation, while a firm’s internal IT capability, relative advantage of e-business, learning orientation, and inter-organizational dependence were positive determinants of e-business assimilation. The effect of a firm’s ownership type was also significant. Environmental uncertainty was the most important inhibitor, and IT capability and inter-organizational dependence were the most salient enablers of e-business assimilation.
Utilization of Project Management Software in Qatari Government Organizations
Authors: Salaheldin Salaheldin Ismail , Sharif Khurram , Al Alami Maysarah
Published: April 2010

This study aims to explore the critical driving and resisting forces that promote or inhibit the implementation and use of project management (PM) software in Qatari Government Organizations in an attempt to determine whether software-based PM methodologies are being effectively implemented in the public sector organizations or not. Research hypotheses were evaluated using ANOVA and Mann- Whitney test. Findings indicated that forces that promote or inhibit software based PM implementation are significantly affected by the managerial interest and nature of existing (traditional or contemporary) PM practices. More importantly our findings identified some driving forces that promote the implementation of software-based PM methodology (SPMM) in Qatari government organizations and also identified some roadblocks that prohibit such implementations. Finally managerial implications for the successful implementation of SPMM are provided and avenues for further research are suggested.
Collaborative Innovation for the Management of Information Technology Resources
Authors: O'Sullivan David , Dooley Lawrence
Published: April 2010

All organisations are now facing one of the largest upheavals in business practice since the ‘great depression’. Information technology organisations, who frequently lead the development of change based around ICT, are being asked to develop new products and services that add significant value for customers and to radically change their internal processes so that they are more cost effective. Innovation is process of creating positive change to any organisation and that adds value to customers—internal and external. Innovation is now widely accepted at the only sustainable engine of renewed growth for organisations. Organisations that do not embrace innovation and learn to apply its principles will simply stagnate or be obliterated by competition. ICT organisations that can learn to apply innovation effectively will become key strategic assets in driving costs down and also in adding new dimensions to product and service development. This article presents an approach to applying innovation in any ICT based organisation, be it a service department within a larger organisation or a commercial business that generates ICT solutions for clients. The process of innovation in ICT based organisations is similar to innovation in any organisation and requires an in-depth understanding and practice of developing innovation goals, the management of innovative actions or projects, the empowerment of human capital or teams and the continuous monitoring of innovation performance. This article presents a methodology for applying innovation and a case study of how innovation related knowledge can be managed in any ICT organisation.
IT Professionals
Authors: Trigo António , Varajão João , Soto-Acosta Pedro , Barroso João , Molina-Castillo Francisco J. , Gonzalvez-Gallego Nicolas
Published: April 2010

Nowadays, Universities and other Training Institutions need to clearly identify the Information Technology (IT) skills that companies demand from IT practitioners. This is essential not only for offering appropriate and reliable university degrees, but also to help future IT professionals on where to focus in order to achieve better job positions. In an attempt to address this issue, this study rely on 102 Chief Information Officers, from Iberian large companies, to characterize current IT professionals and what is expected from future hirings. Results revealed that IT Technicians and Senior Analysts are the predominant positions and also that future hiring will request candidates with at least two to five years of work experience. The two most important skills found were core functions at the IT department: business knowledge and user support. In contrast, traditional competences such as web development and management of emerging technologies were less demanded.
Contemporary Issues in Handheld Computing Research
Authors: Hu Wen-Chen , Zuo Yanjun , Chen Lei , Yang Hung-Jen
Published: April 2010

Mobile phones have become ubiquitous in today’s society. However, mobile users are no longer satisfied with simple phones but instead expect ever more powerful functions to be available from their mobile devices. Advanced phones known as smartphones allow mobile users to perform a wide variety of advanced handheld functions such as browsing the mobile Internet or finding a nearby theater showing a specific movie. The design and development of these new, improved handheld functions require the help of handheld computing research. This article introduces handheld computing research using three themes: (i) mobile handheld devices, (ii) mobile computing, and (iii) current issues in handheld computing research. Information about other handheld topics of interest to researchers is given in the last section.
Opportunistic Software Deployment in Disconnected Mobile Ad Hoc Networks
Authors: Guidec Frédéric , Le Sommer Nicolas , Mahéo Yves
Published: April 2010

This paper presents a middleware platform allowing the dissemination of software components on handheld devices forming a disconnected MANET. It is based on a model that exploits peer-to-peer and opportunistic interactions between neighboring devices to deploy component-based applications, without relying on any kind of infrastructure network. Each device runs a deployment manager, which strive to fill a local component repository with software components so as to be able to satisfy the deployment requests expressed by the user. To do so the deployment manager interacts with peer managers located on neighboring devices, providing its neighbors with copies of software components it owns locally, while obtaining itself from these neighbors copies of components it lacks. The platform also provides communication facilities adapted to disconnected MANETs that notably allow efficient multi-hop exchanges.
Supporting Diabetes Self-Management with Pervasive Wireless Technology Solutions
Authors: Wickramasinghe Nilmini , Troshani Indrit , Goldberg Steve
Published: April 2010

Diabetes is one of the leading chronic diseases affecting Australians and its prevalence continues to rise. Diabetes is therefore becoming a serious challenge for both the quality of healthcare and expenditure in the Australian healthcare system. The goal of this study is to investigate the application of a pervasive technology solution developed by INET in the form of a wireless enabled mobile phone to facilitate superior diabetes self-management.
Medical Data Visualization via a Pervasive Multi-Agent Platform
Authors: Coronato Antonio , Gallo Luigi , De Pietro Giuseppe
Published: April 2010

Pervasive healthcare is the field of application emerging from the combination of healthcare with pervasive computing, which is the computing paradigm that provides users with access to services in a transparent way, wherever they are and whichever their interacting device is. In this paper, a software infrastructure for pervasive healthcare is presented. Such an infrastructure aims at supporting medical practitioners with advanced pervasive access to medical data, which is also context-aware in the sense that the modality to fruit data depends on the device used by the operator and on his or her physical position within the environment. The paper also describes a service for high quality 3D rendering of medical volume data, which takes advantage of the software infrastructure to distribute the computational load upon the devices available in the environment in a completely transparent way to users.
Seamless Access to Healthcare Folders with Strong Privacy Guarantees
Authors: Allard Tristan , Anciaux Nicolas , Bouganim Luc , Pucheral Philippe , Thion Romuald
Published: April 2010

During the past decade, many countries launched ambitious Electronic Health Record (EHR) programs with the objective to increase the quality of care while decreasing its cost. Pervasive healthcare aims itself at making healthcare information securely available anywhere and anytime, even in disconnected environments (e.g., at patient home). Current server-based EHR solutions badly tackle disconnected situations and fail in providing ultimate security guarantees for the patients. The solution proposed in this paper capitalizes on a new hardware device combining a secure microcontroller (similar to a smart card chip) with a large external Flash memory on a USB key form factor. Embedding the patient folder as well as a database system and a web server in such a device gives the opportunity to manage securely a healthcare folder in complete autonomy. This paper proposes also a new way of personalizing access control policies to meet patient’s privacy concerns with minimal assistance of practitioners. While both proposals are orthogonal, their integration in the same infrastructure allows building trustworthy pervasive healthcare folders.
A Framework for Data and Mined Knowledge Interoperability in Clinical Decision Support Systems
Authors: Kazemzadeh Reza S. , Sartipi Kamran , Jayaratna Priya
Published: April 2010

Due to reliance on human knowledge, the practice of medicine is subject to errors that endanger patients’ health and cause substantial financial loss to healthcare institutions. Computer-based decision support systems assist healthcare personnel to improve quality of clinical practice. Currently, most clinical guideline modeling languages represent decision-making knowledge in terms of basic logical expressions. In this paper, we focus on encoding, sharing, and using results of data mining analyses to influence decision making within Clinical Decision Support Systems. A knowledge management framework is proposed that addresses the issues of data and knowledge interoperability by adopting healthcare and data mining modeling standards. In a further step, data mining results are incorporated into a guideline-based decision support system. A prototype tool has been developed to provide an environment for clinical guideline authoring and execution. Also, three real world case studies have been presented, one of which is used as a running example throughout the paper.
Load Balancing Algorithms in Distributed Service Architectures for Medical Applications
Authors: Logeswaran Rajasvaran , Chen Li-Choo
Published: April 2010

This paper investigates the performance of two proposed load balancing algorithms for Object-Oriented Distributed Service Architectures (DSA) that are open and flexible, enabling rapid and easy development of new applications on various kinds of software and hardware platforms, catering for telecommunications and distributed medical applications. The proposed algorithms, namely, Node Status Algorithm and Random Sender Initiated Algorithm, have been developed as solutions to the performance problems faced by the DSA. The performance of the proposed algorithms have been tested and compared with baseline load balancing algorithms, namely the Random Algorithm and Shortest Queue Algorithm. Simulation results show that both the proposed algorithms perform better than the baseline algorithms, especially in heavily loaded conditions. This paper discusses the mechanisms of the algorithms and reports on the investigations that have been carried out in comparing the load balancing algorithms implemented on a DSA-based network, which is useful for the distributed computing requirements of the medical field.