bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Identification of Intangibles in the Value of Microfinance Institutions
Authors: Lozano Carmen , Fuentes Federico
Published: April 2010

This paper examines the relevant qualitative aspects of a microfinance company’s strength. The inclusion of these aspects in accounting reports through what may be called “invisible balances” (coming from intangible assets) would be a complement to “visible balances” in which the tangible assets of the company are reflected. The methodology that the authors propose is based on the application of the theory of fuzzy subsets. The authors’ approach makes use of logical outlines, which are flexible enough to attempt more realistic assessments and is indispensable in a context clearly defined by complexity and uncertainty.
Socio-Economic Differences and Deployment of the LDC Micro-Finance Bottom-up Approach in DCs
Authors: Hettihewa Samanthala , Wright Christopher S.
Published: April 2010

Microfinance (MF), after showing great success in poverty-relief in less-developed countries (LDCs), has experiencing rapid growth and interest in developed countries (DCs). However, current DC MF literature gives the impression that survival concerns are diverting DC MF from its original poverty-relief intent. As e-technology evolves, further threats and opportunities are created for MF by changing cost structures and relationships. This study uses descriptive analysis to infer that DC MF needs redesigning for DC socio-economic conditions or it will continue gaining a reputation of being too poorly focused, ineffective, and inefficient for use in DCs. After showing that LDC poverty is harsher than DC poverty, this paper reviews current-performance concerns of DC MF, links those issues with the effect of regulatory and other socio-economic factors on micro-enterprise, discusses how MF can relieve poverty in DCs, and concludes that MF needs refocusing before DCs investing in further developing/adapting MF infrastructure.
Service-Oriented Development of Fault Tolerant Communicating Systems
Authors: Laibinis Linas , Troubitsyna Elena , Leppänen Sari
Published: April 2010

Telecommunication systems must have a high degree of availability, that is, a high probability of correct and timely provision of requested services. To achieve this, correctness of software for such systems should be ensured. Application of formal methods helps increase confidence in building correct software. However, to be used in practice, formal methods should be well integrated into existing development process. In this paper, the authors propose a formal model-driven approach to development of communicating systems. The authors formalize and extend the Lyra approach—a top-down service-oriented method for development of communicating systems. Lyra is based on transformation and decomposition of models expressed in UML2. The authors formalize Lyra in the B Method by proposing a set of formal specification and refinement patterns reflecting the essential models and transformations of the Lyra phases. Moreover, this paper extends Lyra to integrate reasoning about fault tolerance in the entire development flow.
Hierarchical Agent Monitored Parallel On-Chip System
Authors: Guang Liang , Plosila Juha , Isoaho Jouni , Tenhunen Hannu
Published: April 2010

In this paper, the authors present a formal specification of a novel design paradigm, hierarchical agent monitored SoCs (HAMSOC). The paradigm motivates dynamic monitoring in a hierarchical and distributed manner, with adaptive agents embedded for local and global operations. Formal methods are of essential importance to the development of such a novel and complex platform. As the initial effort, functional specification is indispensable to the non-ambiguous system modeling before potential property verification. The formal specification defines the manner by which the system can be constructed with hierarchical components and the representation of run-time information in modeling entities and every type of the monitoring operations. The syntax follows the standard set theory with additional glossary and notations introduced to facilitate practical SoC design process. A case study of hierarchical monitoring for power management in NoC (Network-on-chip), written with the formal specification, is demonstrated.
The Role of Choice in the Development of an M-Government Strategy in Turkey
Authors: de Kervenoael Ronan , Cakici N. Meltem , Guner Duygu
Published: April 2010

Enhanced data services through mobile phones are expected to be soon fully transactional, interactive and embedded with other mobile consumption practices. While private services will continue to take the lead in the mobile data revolution, others such as government and NGOs are becoming more prominent m-players. This paper adopts a qualitative case study approach interpreting micro-level municipality officers’ mobility concept, ICT histories and choice practices for m-government services in Turkey. The findings highlight that in-situs ICT choice strategies are non-homogenous, sometimes conflicting with each other, and that current strategies have not yet justified the necessity for municipality officers to engage and fully commit to m-government efforts. Furthermore, beyond m-government initiatives’ success or failure, the mechanisms related to public administration mobile technical capacity building and knowledge transfer are identified to be directly related to m-government engagement likelihood.
Evolution of Electronic and Mobile Business and Services
Authors: Adams Carl , Mouatt Simon
Published: April 2010

Mobile business and services are playing an increasingly significant role in economic activity for nations. However, one of the prerequisites for successful electronic business activity is to have practical and acceptable mechanisms to conduct electronic transactions. In this paper, the authors identify weaknesses in the mobile and electronic payments markets, namely hyper-competition that results in too much variation and lack of standards. The paper gains insights from previous works on the government and money nexus. The relationship between governments and money has continued to evolve. The current global and electronic environment now presents fresh challenges for the state, as payments extend across national jurisdictions and deal with new types of services and transactions. The paper provides the basis for developing theory to fully capture and recognise the development of mobility in an electronic and global market space and by identifying practical ways governments can support the evolving mobile payments industry.
A Comparative Study of the Effects of Low and High Uncertainty Avoidance on Continuance Behavior
Authors: Kim Hak-Jin , Choi Hun , Kim Jinwoo
Published: April 2010

This study examines the effects of uncertainty avoidance (UA) at the individual level on continuance behavior in the domain of mobile data services (MDS). It proposes a research model for post-expectation factors and continuance behavior that considers the moderating effect of UA, and verifies the model with online survey data gathered in Korea and Hong Kong. Post-expectation factors are classified as either intrinsic or extrinsic motivational factors, while respondents are classified according to their propensities into low-UA and high-UA groups. The results indicate that UA has substantial effects not only on the mean values of the post-expectation factors studied but also on the strength of those factors’ impact on satisfaction and continuance intention. The effects of intrinsic motivational factors on satisfaction and continuance intention are stronger for the high-UA group than for the low-UA group. In contrast, the effects of extrinsic motivational factors are generally stronger for the low-UA group.
Uncovering the Hidden Issues in E-Government Adoption in a Least Developed Country
Authors: Imran Ahmed , Gregor Shirley
Published: April 2010

Bangladesh, in common with many least developed countries, has been struggling to find a workable strategy to adopt information and communication technology (ICT) and e-government in its public sector organizations. There has been no satisfactory progress in this area despite a number of high-level initiatives. As a result, the country is failing to keep pace in e-government advances compared with other developing countries. This paper reports a study that involved focus groups and interviews with key stakeholders in Bangladesh. A process model is developed to show the interrelationships amongst the major barriers in the adoption of ICT in Bangladesh public sector. A lack of knowledge and entrenched attitudes and mindsets are seen as the key underlying contributors to the lack of progress. The paper introduces important directions for the formulation of long-term strategies for the successful adoption of ICT in the Bangladesh public sector and provides a basis for further theoretical development.
What Shapes Global Diffusion of e-Government
Authors: Azad Bijan , Faraj Samer , Goh Jie Mein , Feghali Tony
Published: April 2010

Prior research has established the existence of a differential between industrialized and other countries for e-Government diffusion. It attempts to explain this divide by identifying economic and technical variables. At the same time, the role of national governance institutions in e-Government diffusion has been relatively under-theorized and under-studied. The authors posit that, the existing national governance institutions shape the diffusion and assimilation of e-Government in any country via associated institutions in three key sectors: government, private sector and non-governmental organizations. This paper develops and tests a preliminary model of e-Government diffusion using the governance institutional climate as represented via democratic practices, transparency of private sector corporate governance, corruption perception, and the free press. The results indicate that the level of development of national governance institutions can explain the level of e-Government diffusion over and above economic and technical variables. The authors’ research contributes to the literature by providing initial evidence that the existing national governance institutions influence and shape e-Gov diffusion and assimilation beyond the adoption stage.
Adoption of Electronic Health Records
Authors: Ahmad Yousuf J. , Raghavan Vijay V. , Martz Jr. William Benjamin
Published: April 2010

Adoption of Electronic Health Records (EHR) can provide an impetus to a greater degree of overall adoption of Information Technology (IT) in many healthcare organizations. In this study, using a Delphi technique, input from 40 CIO responses is analyzed to provide an insight into acceptance and adoption of EHRs at an enterprise level. Many useful findings emerged from the study. First, a majority of the participants believed that about 40-49 percent of the providers will be using EHRs by the year 2014, thus highlighting the need for studying EHR diffusion in hospitals. As predictors of successful implementations, physicians’ leadership and attitude was ranked as the most important factor. Another significant determinant of success was the business model of the physicians—whether they are affiliated with hospitals or working independently. This factor highlights the need to employ different strategies to encourage adoption of EHRs among these distinct groups. All findings are discussed, including their implications for IT diffusion in healthcare.
Healthcare Information Exchange in Advancing Shared Care Regionally
Authors: Harno Kari
Published: April 2010

Healthcare information exchange (HIE) has been refined from point-to-point messaging to wide-area networks, integrating multiple service providers and transforming the practice and structure of healthcare delivery. The scale and complexity of these information and communication technology (ICT) systems have induced technical, administrative and security challenges that require the roles, relationships and processes in healthcare to be revised in order for the expected change and productivity to be delivered. This article introduces how a federated regional information system was successfully deployed in a Finnish Hospital District and evaluates regional HIE between public healthcare providers. Understanding these principles and critical success factors, that is, the role of stakeholders, governance and financing, is essential for guidance to implement viable cross-organizational information exchange. In this context, ICT not only fulfills the objective of cost containment, but also creates positive impacts on patient care and service quality. The roadmap to a national eHealth network is paved on the premises of these experiences and lessons learned are conceptualized to plans when migrating to a national eHealth network.
Random Forest Classifier Based ECG Arrhythmia Classification
Authors: Vimal C. , Sathish B.
Published: April 2010

Heart Rate Variability (HRV) analysis is a non-invasive tool for assessing the autonomic nervous system and for arrhythmia detection and classification. This paper presents a Random Forest classifier based diagnostic system for detecting cardiac arrhythmias using ECG data. The authors use features extracted from ECG signals using HRV analysis and DWT for classification. The experimental results indicate that a prediction accuracy of more than 98% can be obtained using the proposed method. This system can be further improved and fine-tuned for practical applications.
ECG Signal De-noising with Asynchronous Averaging and Filtering Algorithm
Authors: Gautam Alka , Lee Hoon-Jae , Chung Wan-Young
Published: April 2010

In this study, a new algorithm is proposed—Asynchronous Averaging and Filtering (AAF) for ECG signal de-noising. R-peaks are detected with another proposed algorithm—Minimum Slot and Maximum Point selecting method (MSMP). AAF algorithm reduces random noise (major component of EMG noise) from ECG signal and provides comparatively good results for baseline wander noise cancellation. Signal to noise ratio (SNR) improves in filtered ECG signal, while signal shape remains undistorted. The authors conclude that R-peak detection with MSMP method gives comparable results from existing algorithm like Pan-Tomkins algorithm. AAF algorithm is advantageous over adaptation algorithms like Wiener and LMS algorithm. Overall performance of proposed algorithms is comparatively good.
Characterization of HRV by Poincare Plot Analysis among the Female Tea Garden Workers of Northern Hilly Regions of West Bengal
Authors: Chatterjee Somsirsa , Ganguly Ankur , Bhattacharya Saugat
Published: April 2010

Recent research on Heart Rate Variability (HRV) has proven that Poincare Plot is a powerful tool to mark Short Term and Long Term Heart Rate Variability. This study focuses a comprehensive characterization of HRV among the Tea Garden Workers of the Northern Hilly Regions of West Bengal. The characterization, as available from the data sets, projects the average values of SD1 characteristics, that is, Short Term HRV in females as 58.265ms and SD2 as 149.474. The SDRR shows a mean value of 87.298 with a standard deviation of 119.669 and the S Characterization as 16505.99 ms and Standard deviation of 45882.31 ms. The SDRR shows a mean value of 87.298 with a standard deviation of 119.669 and the S Characterization as 16505.99 ms and Standard deviation of 45882.31 ms. ApEn Characterization showed mean value of 0.961 and standard deviation of 0.274.
Technology and Teacher Education
Authors: Akyeampong Albert , Franklin Teresa , Keengwe Jared
Published: April 2010

This study explored one primary question: To what extent do student perceptions of various forms of instructional technology tools predict instructional quality? Participants for the study were drawn from a teacher education program in a large Midwest public university. Data were collected using a web-based survey with a total of 121 responses used in the final analysis. A multiple regression analysis was conducted to evaluate how well Productivity Tools, Presentation Tools, Communication Tools, and World Wide Web Tools predict Student Evaluation of Faculty Instructional Quality. The overall significant results of the regression model and the subsequent significant results of the t-test for Presentation Tools and Productivity Tools is an indication that Presentation and Productivity tools can be used by faculty to facilitate student and faculty interaction, promote cooperation among students, promote active learning techniques, give prompt feedback, emphasize time on task, communicate high expectation and respect diverse talents and ways of learning.
Facilitating Students to Earn Computing Certificates via Blended Learning in Online Problem-Solving Environment
Authors: Tsai Chia-Wen
Published: April 2010

The vocational schools in Taiwan regard professional certifications as a badge of skills achievement. However, due to a national policy, pure online courses are not permitted. Moreover, it remains unclear whether every subject is suitable to be delivered via online courses. In this regard, the author conducted a quasi-experiment to examine the effects of applying blended learning (BL) with different course orientations on students’ computing skills, and explored the appropriate combination for teachers who teach computing courses. Four classes in successive semesters, with a total of 195 students from the courses of ‘Database Management System’ and ‘Packaged Software and Application’, were divided into 2 (Design-oriented vs. Procedural-oriented) × 2 (BL vs. Traditional Learning) experimental groups. The results showed that students from both design-oriented and procedural-oriented courses delivered in BL environment, had significantly higher grades on the examination for certificates than those who learned in traditional learning environment.
Bringing AI to E-learning
Authors: Giotopoulos K. , Alexakos C. , Beligiannis G. , Stefani A.
Published: April 2010

This paper presents a newly developed student model agent, which is the basic part of an e-learning environment that incorporates Intelligent Agents and Computational Intelligence Techniques. The e-learning environment consists of three parts, the E-learning platform Front-End, the Student Questioner Reasoning and the Student Model Agent. The basic aim of this contribution is to describe in detail the agent’s architecture and the innovative features it provides to the e-learning environment through its utilization as an autonomous component. Several basic processes and techniques are facilitated through the agent in order to provide intelligence to the e-learning environment.
Uses of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Agriculture and Rural Development in Sub-Saharan Africa
Authors: Maumbe Blessing M. , Okello Julius
Published: April 2010

This paper presents a framework of the evolution of information and communication technology (ICT) applications in agriculture and rural development based on comparative experiences of South Africa and Kenya. The framework posits that full deployment of ICT in agriculture and rural development will be a culmination of several phases of changes that starts with e-government policy design, development and implementation. The paper argues that ICT use in agriculture and rural development is a powerful instrument for improving agricultural and rural development and standards of living throughout Sub-Saharan Africa. However, success in greater application of ICT in agriculture will require addressing impediments to adoption and diffusion. Such impediments include the lack of awareness, low literacy, infrastructure deficiencies (e.g. lack of electricity to charge electronic gadgets), language and cultural barriers in ICT usage, the low e-inclusivity and the need to cater for the special needs of some users. The paper reviews successful applications of ICT in agriculture and urges greater use of ICT-based interventions in agriculture as a vehicle for spurring rural development in Africa.
Information Sharing Strategies in Business-to-Business E-Hubs
Authors: Zhang Yifeng , Bhattacharyya Siddhartha
Published: April 2010

Studies show that supply chain structure is a key factor affecting information sharing. Business-to-business (B2B) e-hubs have fundamentally changed many companies’ supply chain structure, from a one-to-many to a many-to-many configuration. Traditional supply chains typically center around one company, which interacts with multiple suppliers or customers, forming a one-to-many structure. B2B e-hubs, on the contrary, usually connect many buyers and sellers together, without being dominated by a single company, thus forming a many-to-many configuration. Information sharing in traditional supply chains has been studied extensively, but little attention has been paid to the same in B2B e-hubs. In this study, the authors identified and examined five information sharing strategies in B2B e-hubs. Agent performances under different information sharing strategies were measured and analyzed using an agent-based e-hub model and practical implications were discussed.
A New Behavior Management Architecture for Language Faculty of an Agent for Task Delegation
Authors: Kuppuswami S. , Chithralekha T.
Published: April 2010

In this paper, the authors describe a new architecture for the language faculty of an agent that fulfills the interaction requirements of task delegation. The architecture of the language faculty is based on a conceptualization of the language faculty of an agent and a definition of its internal state paradigm. The new architecture is behavior-management based and possesses self-management properties. This architecture is compared with existing abstract self-management architectures, which examines how the new architecture solves unresolved issues of older models. The architecture description is followed by a case study - Multilingual Natural Language Agent Interface for Mail Service, which illustrates its application.
Effective Use of Information Systems/Technologies in the Mergers and Acquisitions Environment
Authors: Chu Hung W. , Huynh Minh Q.
Published: April 2010

In this study, the authors examine the effects of information systems/technologies (IS/T) on the performance of firms engaged in growth strategies based on mergers and acquisitions (M&A). A model derived from a resource-based theory of the firm is developed to predict the influence of IS/T on performance of firms. Data on the financial performance of 133 firms are used to gauge the impact of IS/T on various M&A objectives. The results suggest that IS/Ts implement M&A objectives that seek to increase overall efficiency better than those that seek to introduce new products or efforts to increase sales. Future studies to examine the process of introducing new products from resource-based theory are suggested.
A Keystroke Biometric Systemfor Long-Text Input
Authors: Tappert Charles C. , Cha Sung-Hyuk , Villani Mary , Zack Robert S.
Published: April 2010

A novel keystroke biometric system for long-text input was developed and evaluated for user identification and authentication applications. The system consists of a Java applet to collect raw keystroke data over the Internet, a feature extractor, and pattern classifiers to make identification or authentication decisions. Experiments on more than 100 participants investigated two input modesâ€”copy and free-textâ€”and two keyboard typesâ€”desktop and laptop. The system can accurately identify or authenticate individuals if the same type of keyboard is used to produce the enrollment and questioned input samples. Longitudinal experiments quantified performance degradation over intervals of several weeks and two years. Additional experiments investigated the systemâ€™s hierarchical model, parameter settings, assumptions, and sufficiency of enrollment samples and input-text length. Although evaluated on input texts up to 650 keystrokes, the authors found that input of 300 keystrokes, roughly four lines of text, is sufficient for the important applications described.
A Six-View Perspective Framework for System Security
Authors: Yadav Surya B.
Published: April 2010

To secure information systems, the security risks and requirements must be clearly understood before the proper security mechanisms can be identified and designed. Todayâ€™s security requirement specifications are generally incomplete and narrowly focused, which leads to ineffective security designs of information systems. The author asserts that multiple viewsâ€”management, threat, resource, process, assessment, and legalâ€”of information systems provides an opportunity for a better understanding of security risks and requirements. In this paper, the author proposes a six-view perspective of a system security framework to identify a more complete set of security risks and requirements. The proposed framework presents a synergistic view of the system security in which the author presents an extensive list of heuristics/guidelines under each view, discussing security issues, risks, and requirements. Through a case study, the authors shows that a multiple view perspective of system security is effective in determining a more complete set of security requirements than the traditional approach of focusing on threats alone.
Factors Impacting the Success of Electronic Government
Authors: Almutairi Helaiel
Published: April 2010

The author’s goal in this study is to investigate factors that impact the success of electronic government. The focus in this study is on several organizational and personal characteristics, including age, tenure, information system (IS) experiences, gender, education level, nationality, training in information system (IS), position, and experience in current job. The study is then applied to Kuwait, and electronic government success is measured using information system usage. The findings indicate that four out of the nine factors impact electronic government success. These four factors are age, IS experiences, education level, and training in IS. The author then examines several research and practical implications.
Moderated Multiple Regression of Absorptive Capacity Attributes and Deployment Outcomes
Authors: Angeles Rebecca
Published: April 2010

In this study, the author examines organizations’ perceptions of the importance of absorptive capacity attributes in the deployment of radio frequency identification (RFID) in a supply chain and their relationships with operational efficiency and market knowledge creation as moderated by information technology infrastructure integration and supply chain process integration. Data was collected using a survey questionnaire administered online to members of the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP). Four proposed hypotheses were partially supported in this study. Both variables, IT infrastructure integration and supply chain process integration, moderate the relationships between three predictor variables, business process modularity, standard electronic business interfaces, and breadth of information exchange and the two dependent variables examined in this study, operational efficiency and market knowledge creation to a considerable extent. This study has clear implications for how decision makers affecting their firm’s supply chains should make a business case for robust IT elements that support both IT infrastructure integration and supply chain process integration.
Two-Commodity Markovian Inventory System with Set of Reorders
Authors: Anbazhagan N. , Vigneshwaran B.
Published: April 2010

This article examines a two commodity substitutable inventory system—two different brands of super computers under continuous review. The demand points for each commodity are assumed to form independent Poisson processes. The reordering policy is to place orders for both the commodities when the total net inventory level drops to any one of the prefixed levels with prescribed probability distribution. Lost sales are assumed during the stock out period. The lead time for a reorder is exponentially distributed with parameter(, depending on the size of the ordering quantity. The limiting probability distribution for the joint inventory levels is also evaluated. Various operational characteristics and total expected cost rate are derived. Numerical examples are provided to find optimal reorder quantity and band width .
An Automated Supply Chain Management System and Its Performance Evaluation
Authors: Kart Firat , Moser Louise E. , Melliar-Smith P. M.
Published: April 2010

The MIDAS system is an automated supply chain management system that enables customers, manufacturers, and suppliers to cooperate over the Internet. MIDAS aims to achieve high customer satisfaction by supporting the build-to-order customization model and to reduce inventory carrying costs and logistics administration costs at the manufacturer by supporting the just-in-time manufacturing model. It allows a manufacturer to choose from the MIDAS Registry, suppliers of components, and negotiate based on the prices, availability, and delivery times of those components. The manufacturer can use one of several strategies to aggregate customers’ orders before processing them, and one of several strategies to accumulate suppliers’ quotes before deciding on a particular supplier. The paper presents an evaluation of these strategies in terms of the customer’s satisfaction, as measured by the customer response time, and the manufacturer’s gain, as measured by the number of orders aggregated or the best price ratio.
A Beaconless Minimum Interference Based Routing Protocol to Minimize End-to-End Delay per Packet for Mobile Ad hoc Networks
Authors: Meghanathan Natarajan , Sugumar Meena
Published: April 2010

The authors propose a beaconless, on-demand, mobile ad hoc network routing protocol called minimum interference based routing protocol (MIF) that minimizes the end-to-end delay per data packet. During route discovery, each node inserts its identification and location information before broadcasting the Route-Request (RREQ) message in its neighborhood. The weight of a link, called the interference index, is the number of interfering links surrounding it. Two links are said to interfere with each other, if the distance between the mid points of the two links is within the interference range. The interference index of a path is the sum of the interference index values of the constituent links. The destination selects the path with the minimum interference index value and notifies the source through the Route-Reply packet. Simulation results demonstrate that MIF incurs a significant reduction in the end-to-end delay per data packet vis-à-vis the interference-aware load balancing routing protocol.
Competitive Landscape of Mobile Telecommunications Tower Companies in India
Authors: Singh N.P.
Published: April 2010

With the entry of 3G and WiMAX players, the Indian mobile subscriber base is expected to reach 1110 million by the end of 2015. To meet mobile infrastructure demand, India will require approximately 350,000 to 400,000 mobile telecommunications towers in the next 7 to 8 years. Presently only 40% of mobile telecommunications towers are shared in India. The high growth of subscribers and initial cost of mobile telecommunications towers and license conditions will force mobile network operators to share infrastructure with other mobile network operators, specifically with new operators. The Indian government has allowed sharing of passive and active components of mobile telecommunication infrastructure. With the changing demand of the telecommunications infrastructure, many new telecommunications tower business entities and companies and mobile telecommunications tower business models are being explored. In this paper, the author presents the landscape of the mobile telecommunications tower industry in India, which consists of four types of companies and trends with respect to the strategies of telecommunication tower companies, especially tenancy ratio. Emerging features of the mobile telecommunication towers industry in India are also presented.
Knowledge Management in Construction Projects
Authors: An Min , Ahmad Hesham S.
Published: April 2010

Knowledge is now becoming the most valuable asset of the construction organisations to gain competitive advantages by improving quality while reducing cost and time of work completion in projects. Knowledge Management (KM) is the most effective way to deal with the intellectual capital of the organisations through facilitating the capturing and sharing of existing knowledge and creating new innovative knowledge. The most useful knowledge in construction projects is tacit knowledge since it includes the people ideas, perceptions and experiences that can be shared and re-used to improve experiences and enhance abilities of employees for problem-solving and decision-making. Many of methods have been adopted to deal with knowledge in the construction organisations, but they are still far from enough, particularly in dealing with tacit knowledge gained from construction projects. This paper presents a methodology for dealing with tacit knowledge efficiently and effectively in construction projects. A case study has been conducted to evaluate the proposed KM method and to test its importance and usefulness in the construction industry.
The Waterfall Approach and Requirement Uncertainty
Authors: Ruël Huub J.M. , Bondarouk Tanya , Smink Stefan
Published: April 2010

The Waterfall approach has been the dominant approach for enterprise systems (ES) implementation since the 1970s. It offers ES project managers a simple, step-by-step way to make ES projects manageable and minimize drawbacks. The main criticism of this approach centres on its inflexibility regarding requirement uncertainty. In this article, the authors challenge this criticism. By means of an in-depth case study of a Waterfall approach-based ES implementation project within the maintenance department of one of the world’s biggest airline companies, this article will illustrate how it deals with requirements uncertainty and required flexibility in practice.
IT Risk Evaluation Model Using Risk Maps and Fuzzy Inference
Authors: Bodea Constanta- Nicoleta , Dascalu Maria-Iuliana
Published: April 2010

A risk evaluation model for IT projects using fuzzy inference is proposed. The knowledge base for fuzzy processes is built using a causal and cognitive map of risks. This map was specially developed for IT projects and takes into account the typical lifecycle and the risk taxonomy created by the Software Engineering Institute. The model was used to compute the technological risk of an e-testing project. This project was positioned on the middle level of the risk map, implying that the probability of encountering technological difficulties depends on the number of technologies used and their market maturity. A software system for validating the model was also developed.
Automatic Image and Speech Recognition Based on Neural Network
Authors: Król Dariusz , Szlachetko Boguslaw
Published: April 2010

The objective of this paper is to present a real-time mechanism for recognition of different objects using Spatiognitron neural network technology. Spatiognitron is based on a biological neural structure and the theory described in this paper presents what are known as Time Delay Neural Networks (TDNN). These are fields which enable the recognition of different features in the input object. The approach was verified by qualitative recognition process tests in commercial car license plate recognition using a NeuroCar based system. A second set of tests was carried out in a laboratory environment using NeuroScope, an automatic speech recognition system.
Experiences in Developing a Micro-payment System for Peer-to-Peer Networks
Authors: Chaudhary Kaylash , Dai Xiaoling , Grundy John
Published: April 2010

Micro-payment systems are an important part of peer-to-peer (P2P) networks and address the “free-rider” problem in most existing content sharing systems. To address this issue, the authors have developed a new micro-payment system for content sharing in P2P networks called P2P-Netpay. This is an offline, debit based protocol that provides a secure, flexible, usable and reliable credit service. This article compares micro-payment with non-micro-payment credit systems for file sharing applications and finds that this approach liberates the “free-rider” problem. The authors analyse the heuristic evaluation performed by a set of evaluators and present directions for research aiming to improve the overall satisfaction and efficiency of the proposed model.
Virtual Telemedicine Using Natural Language Processing
Authors: Bajwa Imran Sarwar
Published: April 2010

Conventional telemedicine has limitations due to the existing time constraints in the response of a medical specialist. One major reason is that telemedicine based medical facilities are subject to the availability of a medical expert and telecommunication facilities. On the other hand, communication using telecommunication is only possible on fixed and appointed time. Typically, the field of telemedicine exists in both medical and telecommunication areas to provide medical facilities over a long distance, especially in remote areas. In this article, the authors present a solution for ‘virtual telemedicine’ to cope with the problem of the long time constraints in conventional telemedicine. Virtual Telemedicine is the use of telemedicine with the methods of artificial intelligence.
Prediction of Protein-Protein Interactions Between Human Host and Two Mycobacterial Organisms
Authors: Krishnadev Oruganty , Bisht Shveta , Srinivasan Narayanaswamy
Published: April 2010

The genomes of many human pathogens have been sequenced but the protein-protein interactions across a pathogen and human are still poorly understood. The authors apply a simple homology-based method to predict protein-protein interactions between human host and two mycobacterial organisms viz., M.tuberculosis and M.leprae. They focused on secreted proteins of pathogens and cellular membrane proteins to restrict to uncovering biologically significant and feasible interactions. Predicted interactions include five mycobacterial proteins of yet unknown function, thus suggesting a role for these proteins in pathogenesis. The authors predict interaction partners for secreted mycobacterial antigens such as MPT70, serine proteases and other proteins interacting with human proteins, such as toll-like receptors, ras signalling proteins and immune maintenance proteins, that are implicated in pathogenesis. These results suggest that the list of predicted interactions is suitable for further analysis and forms a useful step in the understanding of pathogenesis of these mycobacterial organisms.
Finding Minimum Reaction Cuts of Metabolic Networks Under a Boolean Model Using Integer Programming and Feedback Vertex Sets
Authors: Tamura Takeyuki , Takemoto Kazuhiro , Akutsu Tatsuya
Published: April 2010

In this paper, the authors consider the problem of, given a metabolic network, a set of source compounds and a set of target compounds, finding a minimum size reaction cut, where a Boolean model is used as a model of metabolic networks. The problem has potential applications to measurement of structural robustness of metabolic networks and detection of drug targets. They develop an integer programming-based method for this optimization problem. In order to cope with cycles and reversible reactions, they further develop a novel integer programming (IP) formalization method using a feedback vertex set (FVS). When applied to an E. coli metabolic network consisting of Glycolysis/Glyconeogenesis, Citrate cycle and Pentose phosphate pathway obtained from KEGG database, the FVS-based method can find an optimal set of reactions to be inactivated much faster than a naive IP-based method and several times faster than a flux balance-based method. The authors also confirm that our proposed method works even for large networks and discuss the biological meaning of our results.
Characterization and Classification of Local Protein Surfaces Using Self-Organizing Map
Authors: Sael Lee , Kihara Daisuke
Published: April 2010

Annotating protein structures is an urgent task as increasing number of protein structures of unknown function is being solved. To achieve this goal, it is critical to establish computational methods for characterizing and classifying protein local structures. The authors analyzed the similarity of local surface patches from 609 representative proteins considering shape and the electrostatic potential, which are represented by the 3D Zernike descriptors. Classification of local patches is done with the emergent self-organizing map (ESOM). They mapped patches at ligand binding-sites to investigate how they distribute and cluster among the ESOM map. They obtained 30-50 clusters of local surfaces of different characteristics, which will be useful for annotating surface of proteins.
Mapping Affymetrix Microarray Probes to the Rat Genome via a Persistent Index
Authors: Fairley Susan , McClure John D. , Hanlon Neil , Irving Rob , McBride Martin W. , Dominiczak Anna F. , Hunt Ela
Published: April 2010

A probe mapping technique using a novel implementation of a persistent q-gram index was developed. It guarantees to find all matches that meet certain definitions. These include exact matching of the central 19 bases of 25 base probes, matching the central 19 bases with at most one or three mismatches and exact matching of any 16 bases. In comparison with BLAST and BLAT, the new methods were either significantly faster or identified matches missed by the heuristics. The 16 bp method was used to map the 342,410 perfect match probes from the Affymetrix GeneChip Rat Genome 230 2.0 Array to the genome. When compared with the mapping from Ensembl, the new mapping included over seven million novel matches, providing additional evidence for researchers wishing to further investigate the sources of signals measured in microarray experiments. The results demonstrate the practicality of the index, which could support other q-gram based algorithms.
A Project Staffing Model to Enhance the Effectiveness of Knowledge Transfer in the Requirements Planning Phase for Multi-Project Environments
Authors: Ballou Donald P. , Belardo Salvatore , Pazer Harold L.
Published: April 2010

When the systems analysis phase produces faulty requirements, it can often be traced to the failure of the requirements determination team and the client to communicate effectively. This failure is frequently a consequence of inadequate knowledge of the client’s domain possessed by the development team. This paper presents concepts and procedures designed to facilitate communication between requirements determination teams and clients across a full set of IS projects with potentially differing priorities. A systematic framework for staffing requirements determination teams is provided. The importance and interdependence of two types of knowledge, explicit and tacit, to the success of the requirements determination phase is extensively explored. A metric for explicit knowledge coupled with a model that captures the impact of various levels of tacit knowledge upon the acquisition rate of explicit knowledge serve as key inputs to our Project Staffing Model. The appropriately weighted area under an explicit knowledge curve captures the totality of explicit knowledge. Summing such values, weighted to reflect project importance, provides a mechanism for evaluating alternative staffing assignments. An illustrative case highlights implementation issues and suggests procedures when uncertainty exists concerning key inputs. A research agenda is recommended for the estimation of factors required by the analysis.
A Viewpoint-Based Approach for Understanding the Morphogenesis of Patterns
Authors: Kamthan Pankaj
Published: April 2010

An understanding of knowledge artifacts such as patterns is a necessary prerequisite for any subsequent action. In this article, as an initial step for formulating a theoretical basis for patterns, a conceptual model of primitive viewpoints is proposed and, by exploring one of the viewpoints, a conceptual model for stakeholders of a pattern is presented. This is followed by the description of a conceptual model of a process, namely P3, for the production of patterns. The workflows of P3 highlight, as appropriate, the interface of patterns to humans and/or machines. The implications of the Semantic Web and the Social Web towards P3 are briefly discussed.
Qualitative Analysis of Semantically Enabled Knowledge Management Systems in Agile Software Engineering
Authors: Rech Jörg , Bogner Christian
Published: April 2010

In many agile software engineering organizations there is not enough time to follow knowledge management processes, to retrieve knowledge in complex processes, or to systematically elicit knowledge. This chapter gives an overview about the human-centered design of semantically-enabled knowledge management systems based on Wikis used in agile software engineering environments. The methodology – developed in the RISE (Reuse in Software Engineering) project – enables and supports the design of human-centered knowledge sharing platforms, such as Wikis. Furthermore, the paper specifies requirements one should keep in mind when building human-centered systems to support knowledge management. A two-phase qualitative analysis showed that the knowledge management system acts as a flexible and customizable view on the information needed during working-time which strongly relieves software engineers from time-consuming retrieval activities. Furthermore, the observations gave some hints about how the software system supports the collection of vital working experiences and how it could be subsequently formed and refined.
Quantum Modeling of Social Dynamics
Authors: Bisconti C. , Corallo A. , De Maggio M. , Grippa F. , Totaro S.
Published: April 2010

In this paper, the authors apply models extracted from the Many-Body Quantum Mechanics to understand how knowledge production is correlated to the innovation potential of a work team. This study is grounded in key assumtpions. First, complexity theory applied to social science suggests that it is of paramount importance to consider elements of non-objectivity and non-determinism in the statistical description of socio-economic phenomena. Second, a typical factor of indeterminacy in the explanation of these phenomena lead to the need to apply the instruments of quantum physics to formally describe social behaviours. In order to experiment the validity of the proposed mathematic model, the research intends to: 1) model nodes and interactions; 2) simulate the network behaviour starting from specific defined models; 3) visualize the macroscopic results emerging during the analysis/simulation phases through a digital representation of the social network.
Adventure Game Learning Platform
Authors: Minovic Miroslav , Štavljanin Velimir , Milovanovic Miloš , Starcevic Dušan
Published: April 2010

Educational games display great potential as an active form of knowledge transfer. This research field is young, but some patterns in educational game development can be recognized. In this paper, the authors present a new approach to educational game development that overcomes some downsides of more traditional systems. The paper provides the opportunity to create an educational adventure game by using specialized software tool as well as integrating knowledge in that specific game instance. As a result of that process, game definition is created as a form of XML document. On the other side, a web-based interpreter is used to present the adventure game to user in runtime. XML format provides us with platform independency. By use of this tool, the educator gains the ability to create an educational game without programming knowledge, and to reuse some previously created knowledge.