bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Speed Reduction Profiles Affecting Vehicle Interactions at Level Crossings with No Trains
Authors: Ng Oi Kei , Saccomanno Frank F.
Published: August 2010

Observed road vehicle speed and deceleration profiles at active level crossings in the absence of a train are investigated and linked to safety performance. Results indicated that speed and deceleration profiles could be segmented into two zones along the approach road. Speed reduction was initiated at an upstream point along the road about 60 m from the track (Zone 1), and this became more pronounced for the road segment 20 to 30 m before the track (Zone 2). Although the deceleration rates based on average vehicle speeds were found to be within comfortable thresholds in both approach zones, a safety concern was raised for the worst-case scenario in which lead vehicles were reducing their speeds at a higher rate than following vehicles. Safety performance using an average crash potential index per vehicle was found to increase in the vicinity of the track for a given case study crossing application. The range of safety performance values was also found to be greater in Zone 2; this finding suggested possible safety concerns about rear-end crashes taking place near the track and the added possibility of a vehicle being pushed onto the track in the path of an oncoming train. This study provides useful insight for modifying speed profiles in a traffic simulation model to account for the presence of a level crossing. The analysis also provides insights into a base crash risk for an open crossing. These insights can be used to refine previous estimates of countermeasure effectiveness, including closures.
The More the Worse: the Grade of Noise-Induced Hearing Loss Associates with the Severity of Tinnitus
Authors: Mazurek Birgit , Olze Heidi , Haupt Heidemarie , Szczepek Agnieszka J.
Published: August 2010

Tinnitus disturbs lives and negatively affects the quality of life of about 2% of the adult world population. Research has shown that the main cause of tinnitus is hearing loss. To analyze a possible association of the degree of hearing loss with the severity of tinnitus, we have performed a retrospective study using admission data on 531 patients suffering from chronic tinnitus. We have found that 83% of our tinnitus patients had a high frequency hearing loss corresponding to a noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL). There was a significant correlation between the mean hearing loss and the tinnitus loudness (p < 0.0001). Interestingly, patients suffering from decompensated chronic tinnitus had a greater degree of hearing loss than the patients with compensated form of tinnitus. In addition, we demonstrate that the degree of hearing loss positively correlates with the two subscales (“intrusiveness” and “auditory perceptional difficulties”) of the Tinnitus Questionnaire. Our retrospective study provides indirect evidence supporting the hypothesis that the degree of noise-induced hearing loss influences the severity of tinnitus.
Predictors of Indoor Air Concentrations in Smoking and Non-Smoking Residences
Authors: Héroux Marie-Eve , Clark Nina , Ryswyk Keith Van , Mallick Ranjeeta , Gilbert Nicolas L. , Harrison Ian , Rispler Kathleen , Wang Daniel , Anastassopoulos Angelos , Guay Mireille , MacNeill Morgan , Wheeler Amanda J.
Published: August 2010

Indoor concentrations of air pollutants (benzene, toluene, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, acrolein, nitrogen dioxide, particulate matter, elemental carbon and ozone) were measured in residences in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. Data were collected in 106 homes in winter and 111 homes in summer of 2007, with 71 homes participating in both seasons. In addition, data for relative humidity, temperature, air exchange rates, housing characteristics and occupants’ activities during sampling were collected. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to construct season-specific models for the air pollutants. Where smoking was a major contributor to indoor concentrations, separate models were constructed for all homes and for those homes with no cigarette smoke exposure. The housing characteristics and occupants’ activities investigated in this study explained between 11% and 53% of the variability in indoor air pollutant concentrations, with ventilation, age of home and attached garage being important predictors for many pollutants.
Solid-Phase Synthesis of N-Substituted Glycine Oligomers (α‑Peptoids) and Derivatives
Authors: Culf Adrian S. , Ouellette Rodney J.
Published: August 2010

Peptoids (N-substituted polyglycines and extended peptoids with variant backbone amino-acid monomer units) are oligomeric synthetic polymers that are becoming a valuable molecular tool in the biosciences. Of particular interest are their applications to the exploration of peptoid secondary structures and drug design. Major advantages of peptoids as research and pharmaceutical tools include the ease and economy of synthesis, highly variable backbone and side-chain chemistry possibilities. At the same time, peptoids have been demonstrated as highly active in biological systems while resistant to proteolytic decay. This review with 227 references considers the solid-phase synthetic aspects of peptoid preparation and utilization up to 2010 from the instigation, by R. N. Zuckermann et al., of peptoid chemistry in 1992.
Evaluation of Ankylosing Spondylitis Quality of Life (EASi-QoL): Reliability and Validity of a New Patient-reported Outcome Measure
Authors: HAYWOOD KIRSTIE L. , GARRATT ANDREW M. , JORDAN KELVIN P. , HEALEY EMMA L. , PACKHAM JONATHAN C.
Published: August 2010

Objective.

There is currently no universally accepted measure of quality of life in ankylosing spondylitis (AS). Our objective was to develop and evaluate a patient-reported outcome measure of quality of life in AS, EASi-QoL.

Methods.

We used patient interviews, a literature review, and completion of an individualized measure of AS quality of life during clinic-based and pilot surveys to derive questionnaire content. Classical and modern psychometrics were then used to evaluate the questionnaire using data from a large UK-based postal survey of 1000 patients with AS.

Results.

Data analysis from the interviews and clinic-based and postal surveys produced a 57-item self-completed questionnaire. Fifteen items were removed as a result of patient interviews and the pilot survey. In total, 612 (64.0%) patients responded to the main postal survey. After assessment of data quality, confirmatory factor analysis, and Rasch analysis, 20 items were found to contribute to 4 domains of AS-related quality of life: physical function, disease activity, emotional well-being, and social participation. Item-total correlations ranged from 0.66 to 0.84. Cronbach’s alpha and test-retest reliability estimates were 0.88–0.92 and 0.88–0.93, respectively. Confirmed hypothesized correlations with the AS Quality of Life questionnaire, the Bath AS Disease Activity Index, Bath AS Functional Index, SF-36, EQ-5D, and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale were evidence for the construct validity of the EASi-QoL.

Conclusion.

The EASi-QoL has good evidence of data quality, internal reliability, test-retest reliability, and content and construct validity, and should be considered for use with patients in routine practice settings and in evaluative studies including clinical trials. Measurement responsiveness and minimal important change are currently being assessed.
Chercher l'enfant, trouver l'humain
Authors: Nadel Jacqueline
Published: August 2010

RÉSUMÉ Cet article examine les acquis de vingt ans de recherches sur le savoir social du jeune enfant. Il décrit la profonde transformation des méthodes, empruntant non seulement aux paradigmes d’études de la perception du monde physique, mais créant des paradigmes spécifiques adaptés à mettre en évidence la compréhension précoce du monde humain. De même que les paradigmes comme l’habituation permettent d’étudier les inobservables que sont les traitements des stimuli physiques, les simulations expérimentales de dysfonctionnement de la communication donnent les moyens de mettre en évidence des inobservables tels que les attentes sociales spécifiées ou générales, et la compréhension de l’intentionnalité des conduites sociales. Le profond impact du récent courant d’étude de la théorie de l’esprit sur les théories du développement social et émotionnel est souligné. L’article se termine par une rapide esquisse des promesses ouvertes par une approche pluridisciplinaire et évolutionniste du développement émotionnel.
Étude exploratoire des interfaces homme-machines éducatives pour l'autisme
Authors: Grynszpan Ouriel
Published: August 2010

RÉSUMÉ La présente recherche consiste en une étude pilote pour prospecter les possibilités de l’éducation informatisée pour l’autisme. Elle s’appuie sur un protocole expérimental permettant d’étudier deux dimensions : le domaine d’apprentissage ciblé par les jeux éducatifs (la planification spatiale versus la compréhension de dialogues), et les modalités utilisées dans l’Interface Homme-Machine (IHM). Des jeux informatiques ont été développés puis testés avec des participants atteints d’autisme et des participants typiques. L’apprentissage était évalué par comparaison entre les performances avant et après une période d’entraînement. Les résultats ont permis de mettre en évidence le rôle joué par les fonctions exécutives dans l’activité informatique.
Apprentissage de la lecture-écriture chez les enfants sourds
Authors: Niederberger Nathalie
Published: August 2010

RÉSUMÉ La plupart des enfants sourds présentent des difficultés dans l’apprentissage de la lecture-écriture. Cet article décrit les différences de capacités observées au sein de ce groupe et relève les domaines du langage écrit que ces élèves parviennent à maîtriser le mieux (comme la ponctuation et l’orthographe lexicale), ainsi que les domaines qui sont davantage problématiques (notamment la morphosyntaxe). Les causes possibles des difficultés spécifiques observées sont ensuite présentées. Le rôle de l’oral dans l’apprentissage de l’écrit et les conséquences de sa maîtrise limitée sont évoqués, ainsi que l’apport de la langue des signes dans l’apprentissage de la lecture-écriture. Des pistes pour les professionnels et les familles sont également suggérées.
Pour une réhabilitation de la notion de tempérament du nourrisson
Authors: Hubin-Gayte Mylène
Published: August 2010

RÉSUMÉ Bien que la variabilité interindividuelle des nourrissons ait été l’objet d’étude de nombreuses recherches, le concept de tempérament est resté, pendant des décennies, quasi absent de la littérature scientifique française. Le but de cet article est de faire un état des lieux des conceptions sur le tempérament du bébé, des domaines de variabilité qui lui sont rattachés, des diverses opérationnalisations de ce concept ainsi que des outils d’évaluation qui sont actuellement utilisés. Il s’agit également de montrer que ce concept de tempérament prend toute sa valeur dans une perspective interactionniste dans laquelle la stabilité des dimensions tempéramentales n’est plus forcément envisagée.
Des stratégies comportementales d'attachement aux stratégies représentationnelles : construction et validité des cartes de codage pour les histoires à compléter
Authors: Miljkovitch Raphaële , Pierrehumbert Blaise
Published: August 2010

RÉSUMÉ L’article présente l’actualité d’un système de codage des histoires d’attachement à compléter (Bretherton & Ridgeway, 1990) sous forme du Q-sort, à l’usage de l’examinateur. Ce système permet de mesurer, dès l’âge de 3 ans, les stratégies représentationnelles d’attachement par des mesures de proximité avec 4 prototypes (sécurité, inhibition, hyperactivation et désorganisation du système d’attachement), de même que des caractéristiques de jeu et des contenus de représentations plus spécifiques à travers 7 échelles issues d’une analyse en composantes principales. Certaines de ces échelles varient en fonction de l’âge et du sexe, ce qui n’est pas le cas des stratégies d’attachement (à l’exception de la désorganisation, plus marquée chez les garçons). Les scores obtenus par le biais de ce codage ne sont pas influencés par le QI de l’enfant. La validité externe du Q-sort a été établie par des associations significatives avec les représentations de la mère d’après l’AAI, et avec des comportements interactifs avec la mère d’après le Care Index. Par ailleurs, une corrélation négative entre les représentations de soutien parental et des symptômes d’internalisation d’après le CBCL vient corroborer des résultats trouvés par d’autres auteurs.
Représentations d'attachement évaluées avec les histoires à compléter et troubles du comportement chez des enfants de 6 ans
Authors: Gloger-Tippel Gabriele , König Lilith , Lahl Olaf
Published: August 2010

RÉSUMÉ Il a été montré que le lien d’attachement entre un enfant et son pourvoyeur de soins est un indicateur majeur de son adaptation socio-émotionnelle. À partir de l’âge préscolaire, l’attachement peut être mesuré au niveau représentationnel en utilisant la tâche des histoires d’attachement à compléter, codées à l’aide du « Düsseldorf Coding System » (DCS). Les résultats de l’étude longitudinale de Düsseldorf soutiennent l’hypothèse que les enfants avec un attachement sécurisé auront moins de troubles du comportement que les enfants avec un attachement insécurisé. 66 enfants de 5 ans ont été évalués deux à trois mois après leur entrée à l’école. Les mères évaluaient le comportement de leur enfant avec le « Social Behavior Questionnaire » et le « Child Behavior Checklist » ; les enseignants répondaient au « Teacher Report Form ». Du point de vue des troubles du comportement, les différences les plus importantes concernant les catégories d’attachement sont entre les types d’attachement désorganisé et sécurisé. L’appartenance à ces groupes compte pour 15 % et 10 % de la variance totale des troubles du comportement, selon qu’ils sont évalués par la mère ou par l’enseignant.
Emprises maternelles sur les goûts et les dégoûts de l'enfant : mécanismes et paradoxes
Authors: Schaal Benoist , Delaunay-El Allam Maryse , Soussignan Robert
Published: August 2010

Cette brève synthèse porte sur le développement des attirances et répulsions envers odeurs, saveurs et aliments. Elle remonte aux mécanismes initiaux des préférences chimiosensorielles, pour aborder ensuite les mécanismes à l’œuvre lors de la transition du sevrage. Enfin, les rares recherches qui tentent d’établir des liens entre expérience précoce et réponses à long terme sont décrites. La médiation privilégiée de la mère sera considérée dans la transmission familiale des préférences chimiosensorielles et alimentaires, tout en soulignant le paradoxe de certaines données qui révèlent les limites de cette transmission.
Developmental contributions to the obesity epidemic
Authors: Lumeng Julie Carroll , Blass Elliott M.
Published: August 2010

Contributions développementales à l’épidémie de l’obésité L’épidémie actuelle d’obésité est une crise sanitaire dont l’origine relève du comportement. Le statut pondéral et les préférences alimentaires s’enracinent dans la période prénatale. L’obésité, une fois établie durant l’enfance, tend à persister tout au long de la vie. De la même façon, la formation des préférences et choix alimentaires apparaît largement acquise aux environs de 4 ans. L’ontogenèse du statut pondéral et des préférences alimentaires requiert une meilleure compréhension des facteurs qui contribuent au développement d’un régime obésogène. Nous examinons brièvement les données épidémiologiques et neurobiologiques qui suggèrent que l’excès alimentaire et les préférences pour le sucré et le gras relèvent de comportements addictifs, et que l’obésité relève d’un trouble addictif. Une préférence innée ou précoce pour le sucré, les propriétés apaisantes et opioïdergiques du goût sucré qui favorisent son ingestion, et la réticence à essayer des aliments non familiers, rendent très difficile toute modification du développement précoce des préférences pour des aliments sucrés, gras et riches en calories. Par ailleurs, le mode de vie moderne favorise la réduction des dépenses énergétiques et l’accroissement de la consommation de calories à travers l’offre constante et la promotion de produits alimentaires caloriques et agréables au goût. Cet environnement aggrave les facteurs de risque liés aux propriétés addictives des aliments. Des mesures de santé publique ont fait face avec succès à d’autres urgences sanitaires nationales et internationales d’importance comparable, et une approche basée sur une connaissance concertée et précise des faits pourrait être tout aussi efficace pour circonvenir l’obésité.
L'intention d'action chez l'enfant de 3 à 6 ans
Authors: Antoine Florent , Bradmetz Joël
Published: August 2010

RÉSUMÉ Agir intentionnellement requiert la formation préalable de deux états mentaux distincts : l’intention de résultat (liée au désir) et l’intention d’action (liée à la croyance). Cette étude développementale menée auprès de 75 enfants âgés de 3 à 6 ans se propose d’explorer la capacité à s’auto-attribuer et à attribuer à autrui ces deux états intentionnels. Une première expérience réalisée dans le cadre des attributions interpersonnelles retrouve des résultats similaires à ceux obtenus dans le cadre des attributions intrapersonnelles, à savoir un décalage développemental entre intention de résultat et intention d’action (l’intention d’action n’étant pas conceptualisée avant l’âge de 5 ans en moyenne lorsqu’elle repose sur une fausse croyance). Une seconde expérience impliquant les deux types d’attribution au travers d’une même méthodologie révèle une concordance selon l’âge entre les attributions intrapersonnelle et interpersonnelle de l’intention d’action. Le développement de l’intentionnalité propre et de l’intentionnalité attribuée à autrui apparaît symétrique et synchrone.
Évaluation et justification des discriminations liées au sexe : une étude auprès de collégiens
Authors: Tostain Manuel , Ecolasse Martine
Published: August 2010

RÉSUMÉ L’étude porte sur l’évaluation et la justification des discriminations liées au sexe chez 568 collégiens âgés de 11 à 14 ans. Il s’agissait de mettre en évidence l’influence du statut social de la source à l’origine de la discrimination sur ces évaluations et justifications. Dans ce cadre, on présentait des histoires dans lesquelles une fille ou un garçon étaient refusés dans une activité en raison de leur sexe. Selon les versions, l’origine du refus provenait des pairs, d’un adulte ou d’un règlement scolaire. Ensuite, les sujets devaient estimer le caractère injuste/juste du refus et indiquer leur degré d’accord avec des justifications morales du refus de la discrimination et des justifications conventionnelles de l’acceptation de la discrimination. Des analyses de variances et de régressions multiples ont ensuite été appliquées aux données. Les résultats montrent : 1 / que les filles jugent le refus plus injuste que les garçons ; 2 / qu’avec l’âge le refus par le règlement est jugé plus injuste que le refus par les pairs ; 3 / que les justifications morales sont plus présentes dans le cas du règlement, tandis que les justifications conventionnelles sont plus présentes dans le cas des pairs.
1967 : l'opération des « jeunes loups » ou les débuts politiques de Jacques Chirac
Authors: Valence David
Published: August 2010

Résumé Quelques mois avant les élections législatives de mars 1967, les candidats de la majorité dans le Quercy et le Limousin se retrouvèrent pour prêter un serment symbolique. Ils se promirent de faire tomber les citadelles socialistes et radicales de ce centre-ouest de la France dans une mise en scène propre à séduire les imaginations. Les journalistes présents à cette rencontre parlèrent dès lors d’eux comme des « jeunes loups » du gaullisme. L’expression s’étendit pendant la campagne électorale à l’ensemble des membres de cabinets ministériels, voire à tous les hauts fonctionnaires candidats, de droite ou de gauche, à un siège de député. À travers les « jeunes loups », les commentateurs identifiaient les principales évolutions à l’œuvre dans les milieux politiques de ces années 60 : relève des générations issues de la Résistance, fonctionnarisation de la politique, déclin des identités politiques locales, révolution du marketing politique.
Easily Integrable Platform for the Deployment of a Remote Laboratory for Microcontrollers
Authors: Garcia-Zubia Javier , Angulo Ignacio , Irurzun Jaime , Orduna Pablo , Ruiz Jonathan , Hernandez Unai , Castro Manuel , San-Cristobal Elio
Published: August 2010

Remote laboratories are the natural solution in order to perform real experimentation under e-learning tools. Nevertheless these tools are the result of the research developed by the universities to cover their own needs without having in consideration the deployment of this technology by other institutions. This paper presents a hw prototype for a Remote Lab for microcontrollers that tries to solve these problems contributing new possibilities from the commercial and professional point of view.
THE USE OF POLY(L-LACTIC-CO-GLYCOLIC ACID)/TRICALCIUM PHOSPHATE AS A BONE SUBSTITUTE IN RABBIT FEMUR DEFECTS MODEL
Authors: Kuo Yi-Jie , Liao Chun-Jen , Rau Gary , Chen Chia-Hsien , Yang Chih-Hong , Tsuang Yang-Hwei
Published: August 2010

Autogenous bone grafting is still the gold standard for use in bone defects in orthopedic, plastic, and craniofacial surgeries. However, some patients are unable to provide sufficient quantity of bone and the high postoperative morbidity limits its clinical use. Currently, various bone substitutes are available for clinical applications, including calcium phosphate and biodegradable polyester. But hydroxyapatite is considered nondegradable and the degradation rate of biodegradable polyester is too fast, therefore both these biomaterials are hardly used clinically. To resolve this problem, we fabricated a biodegradable porous bone substitute by merging poly(L-lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) and β-tricalcium phosphate (TCP), such that the new bone substitute could provide the advantages of both the materials. The New Zealand white rabbit femur defect model was used to assess the biocompatibility and degree of osteoconduction of this new bone substitute.

There was no inflammatory reaction at the PLGA/TCP grafting site based on our macroscopic observations. Three months after grafting, the cavity and central portion of the created defect within the rabbit femur was filled with newly formed bone. Furthermore, the new ingrown bone tissues readily matured to secondary bone with Haversian systems similar to the surrounding cancellous bone. We conclude that the newly fabricated PLGA/TCP shows both excellent biocompatibility and effective osteoconduction.
Applying Knowledge Management in the Environmental and Climate Change Sciences
Authors: Paquette Scott
Published: August 2010

In recent years, the field of knowledge management has built a large foundational research base concentrating on the identification, acquisition, transfer and storage of knowledge. The majority of this research has been situated in the context of organizations, or corporate knowledge. However, knowledge management can have a significant impact on other non-corporate institutions, including scientific organizations focused on the study of the natural environment and global climate change. Knowledge management has the potential to make a valuable contribution to the work performed by scientists studying the environment and climate change. As technology improves and the importance of their work becomes more widely accepted, scientists are collecting vast amounts of multi-modal data in order to better understand the earth’s natural environment and the changes which are occurring due to natural and man-made forces. Traditionally, these scientists have focused on this data collection process, with the end goal of analysis targeted towards understanding the scientific context of this data. The demand for this analysis normally originated from other scientists.
Appreciative Sharing for Organizational Knowledge Work
Authors: Vat Kam Hou
Published: August 2010

This article investigates an organizational approach to knowledge sharing (Ludema, Whitney, Mohr, & Griffin, 2003; Thatchenkery, 2005) based on the positive change philosophy of appreciative inquiry (AI) (Thatchenkery & Chowdhry, 2007; Cooperrider & Whitney, 2005; Curran, 1991; Cooperrider & Srivastva, 1987). Of specific interest is the context of a community model to enable knowledge work through a participative sharing process (Vat, 2009). Of much concern here is an effort to put into perspective the social dimensions of knowledge sharing (Watkins & Cooperrider, 1996; Brown & Duguid, 1991) which not only deals with the internal and external boundaries of a distributed system of knowledge (Hoadley & Pea, 2002; Tsoukas, 1996), but with knowledge embedded within particular contexts of knowing. The promise of AI is that in every organization something works and change can be managed through the identification of what works, and the analysis of how to do more of what works (Bushe, 1995; Gergen, 1990; Harman, 1990). A key characteristic of the appreciative sharing approach is that it is a generative process. That means it is a moving target, and is created and constantly re-created by the people who use it. The premise in our investigation is that while the support of technologies is essential for a community in knowledge sharing, its success rests with its people – organizers, information and knowledge providers, sponsors, users, and volunteers – who support the community in a variety of ways (Hemlin, Allwood, & Martin, 2004). Therefore, when attempting to design technology in support of knowledge communities (Linn, 2000), it is important to remember “what is working around here?” in the organization. Such knowledge includes not only information capture and transmission, but also the establishment of social relationships (Hubbard, 1998) in which people can collaboratively construct their understanding.
Extracting Knowledge from Neural Networks
Authors: Fuller Christie M. , Wilson Rick L.
Published: August 2010

Neural networks (NN) as classifier systems have shown great promise in many problem domains in empirical studies over the past two decades. Using case classification accuracy as the criteria, neural networks have typically outperformed traditional parametric techniques (e.g., discriminant analysis, logistic regression) as well as other non-parametric approaches (e.g., various inductive learning systems such as ID3, C4.5, CART, etc.).
Knowledge Communication
Authors: Eppler M.J.
Published: August 2010

Communicating professional knowledge is a key activity for today’s specialized workforce. The efficient and effective transfer of experiences, insights, and know-how among different experts and decision makers is a prerequisite for high-quality decision making and coordinated, organizational action (Straub & Karahanna, 1998). Situations of such deliberate (interfunctional) knowledge transfer through interpersonal communication or group conversations (Gratton & Goshal, 2002) can be found in many business constellations, as the following typical examples illustrate:
Knowledge Management Software
Authors: Baroni de Carvalho Rodrigo , Tavares Ferreira Marta Arau´jo
Published: August 2010

Due to the vagueness of the concept of knowledge, the software market for knowledge management (KM) seems to be quite confusing. Technology vendors are developing different implementations of the KM concepts in their software products. Because of the variety and quantity of KM tools available on the market, a typology may be a valuable aid to organizations that are searching and evaluating KM software suitable to their needs.
RDF and OWL for Knowledge Management
Authors: Zarri Gian Piero
Published: August 2010

As Web-based content becomes an increasingly important knowledge management resource, Webbased technologies are developing to help harness that resource in a more effective way. The current state of these Web-based technology – the ‘first generation’ or ‘syntactic’ Web – gives rise to well known, serious problems when trying to accomplish in a non-trivial way essential management tasks like indexing, searching, extracting, maintaining and generating information. These tasks would, in fact, require some sort of ‘deep understanding’ of the information dealt with: in a ‘syntactic’ Web context, on the contrary, computers are only used as tools for posting and rendering information by brute force. Faced with this situation, Tim Berners-Lee first proposed a sort of ‘Semantic Web’ (SW) where the access to information is based mainly on the processing of the semantic properties of this information: “… the Semantic Web is an extension of the current Web in which information is given well-defined meaning (emphasis added), better enabling computers and people to work in co-operation” (Berners-Lee et al., 2001: 35). The Semantic Web’s challenge consists then in being able to manage information on the Web by ‘understanding’ its proper semantic content (its meaning), and not simply by matching some keywords.
Touch Screens for the Elderly
Authors: Luczak Holger , Schlick Christopher M. , Jochems Nicole , Vetter Sebastian , Kausch Bernhard
Published: August 2010

The fast aging of many western and eastern societies and their increasing reliance on information technology create a compelling need to reconsider older users’ interactions with computers. Changes in perceptual and motor skill capabilities that often accompany the aging process bring important implications for the design of information input devices. This paper summarizes the results of a laboratory study with different information input device. Three different input devices –– mouse, touch screen and eye-gaze –– were analyzed concerning efficiency, effectiveness and mental workload with respect to the age group of the computer user. The results derived from data of 90 subjects between 20 and 75 years show that regardless of participant’s age group the best performance in terms of short execution time results from touch screen information input. This effect is even more pronounced for the elderly.
Some Experiences of E-Learning in the Moodle E-Learning Environment
Authors: Siirak Virve
Published: August 2010

In this chapter it is argued that blended learning with web-based support by the Moodle e-learning environment based on social constructivist learning theory is an effective tool for teaching and learning ergonomics and human factor issues for future managers. The author has eight years experience of computer based teaching and learning. The author`s own teaching experience of the Moodle e-learning environment for creating and providing courses in Tallinn University of Technology (TUT), in Tallinn School of Economics and Business Administration at TUT, will be presented. According to the questionnaires given to students at the end of each course, the teaching and learning in the Moodle e-learning environment as blended learning is very useful for development of a learning culture and efficiency. The efficiency and motivation for learning are higher than providing traditional methods of learning. New possibilities and dimensions for teaching and learning are opening.
The Convergence Model Implements Accessible Information Creating Effective ICT Tools for Our Forgotten Ones
Authors: McKay Elspeth
Published: August 2010

In defining ‘effective HCI’ one may turn to the literature. While there can be no doubt that the ‘techno-vista’ has changed dramatically in the past decade; there are many new entries in the literature, which still elevate the mechanistic orientation of information communications technology (ICT), placing the social connectedness of human beings in a dependent context. Professor Bradley’s voice however shines through revealing her polite yet determined mindset that places human beings in the technological driving seat. This chapter presents a reprinted paper (McKay, 2007b) to acknowledge Professor Bradley’s dedicated encouragement for research into the interactive effects of ICT tools and computer literacy on the ‘multifaceted’ nature of human beings. As Professor Bradley explains that to test her ‘Convergence Model’, “…. we must develop new concepts to reflect the changes that are occurring, and grasp the latest new phenomena in depth” (Bradley, 2006, p.57). Effective HCI means having a trusted, interactive and communicative computing environment that lets users decide whether to trust it for a particular purpose, or not; furthermore, effective educational HCI is about knowing how to develop a learning design that provides access to an education information system that is easy to use, offering a safe environment for knowledge and cognitive skill development that supports the joy for life-long learning.”(McKay, 2007a, p.xii) The following reprinted McKay paper presents two such research projects that tap right into some of the issues that are faced by people through their basic right for unencumbered access to information, as described by Professor Bradley as “psychosocial life environment/quality of life and well being” (Bradley, 2006, p.61). In these funded research projects, McKay highlights the need to enhance access to Web-mediated information for those people who may need special help. Evidence gained through these projects suggests that unless we have input from the corporate sector, little progress will be forthcoming. Sadly however, this is not a new observation; the corporate sector has been on notice for several decades: “Family policy was also a part of constructive work environment actions when data processing systems were introduced” (Bradley, 2006, p.199). These two McKay research studies serve to reinforce Professor Bradley’s ‘Convergence Model’ as an effective HCI knowledge developing tool. It is however, incumbent upon the corporate sector to link the interrelating worlds of: globalisation, ICT, life environment, life role and their effects on humans.
The Ethics Driven Spatial Management in Multiculturalism through ICTs
Authors: Sharma Sangeeta
Published: August 2010

The new inclusive social dynamics is refocusing the intricacies of formation of social structures. The process of globalization is unifying various cultures leading to the creation of Multiculturalists society. As a corollary to this various ethnic groups are expanding their boundaries to form the larger social structures. The concept of spatial management relates to the management of spaces of various ethno- cultural formations into single social unit. This merging can be facilitated by building up mutual trust and respect for each other, which in turn can be reinforced by communicating with the help of Information and Communication Technologies. Hence the role of ICT in enhancing the process of unification is crucial as it pierces through the tightened boundaries of ethnic groups to develop the newer identities. This unveiled dimension is explored in this article, which focuses on the use of the technology in social reconfiguration.
Information and Communication Technologies for a more Sustainable World
Authors: Hilty Lorenz M.
Published: August 2010

As has been discussed for decades, a reduction of the input of natural resources into industrial production and consumption by a factor of 4-10 is a necessary condition for Sustainable Development. This paper discusses the potential contribution of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to such a dematerialization of the industrial societies and introduces a conceptual framework which accounts for positive and negative impacts of ICT on physical flows. This framework addresses three levels: the ICT life cycle itself, life cycles of other products influenced by ICT applications, and patterns of production and consumption. The conclusion is that ICT will only contribute to Sustainable Development if this technology is recognized and used as an enabler of a deep structural change; a transition towards an economic system in which value-creation is mainly based on information processing while keeping the physical properties of material within some limits that ensure that it can be recycled. This structural change will include the transition from a material-property-transfer mode to a service-transfer mode of consumption in areas where this is technically feasible and beneficial in terms of resource productivity. In such a post-industrial society, which may also be called a sustainable information society, open technological standards will play a crucial role, since they allow for complexity reduction while keeping competition alive, thus minimizing the risk of unmastered complexity in new critical infrastructures.
Information and Communication Technologies for the Good Society
Authors: Hofkirchner Wolfgang
Published: August 2010

The appearance of notions of a “good society” does not come as a surprise, given the recent crises in the fields of economy, the financial markets, or the climate change. These notions play a decisive role in the context of implementing ICTs. This chapter contends that ICTs – like any technology – make sense in the context of normative visions only that make technology a means to an end. The vision of a good society must nowadays refer to the global challenges confronting the further development of societies. In doing so it identifies ICTs as facilitators of the advent of a Global Sustainable Information Society which makes ICTs meaningful or it classifies them as meaningless gadgets or even as detrimental for designing the future. It is Gunilla Bradley who can take credit for devoting her lifework to raising awareness of the impacts of ICTs on humans and the ethical implications of research in that field.
Understand Complex Design Problems Using Systems Thinking
Authors: Huang Tao , Anderson Eric E.
Published: August 2010

This chapter provides a brief overview of systems theory and suggests that product designers could use systems theory and systems dynamics models to improve our understanding of complex Product Design research problems, to anticipate how and where changes in these dynamically evolving systems might occur and how they might interact with the current system to produce a new system with new behaviors, and to identify leverage points within the system where potential policy or design process changes might be introduced to produce effective solutions to these problems with minimum policy resistance. By investigating the current and future trends of the application of systems theory in Product Design research, this chapter invites multidisciplinary discussions of these topics.
Managing Managerial Mosaic
Authors: Kantola Jussi , Karwowski Waldemar , Vanharanta Hannu
Published: August 2010

In this chapter, the authors address a new management methodology that attempts to enhance understanding of organizational resources to all stakeholders thereby making management more systematic and efficient. By clarifying the conceptual structures of organizational resources to all stakeholders, decisions are based on the proper and relevant concepts. This new ontology-based management approach aids understanding and managing the whole in more human-centred way than previous methods. Also, the change becomes transparent and easy to visualize. Such transparent and visualized change enables the use of meta-knowledge to direct the management mosaic towards the desired outcome.
Model-Driven Development of Interoperable, Inter-Organisational Business Processes
Authors: Kühn Harald , Murzek Marion , Specht Gerhard , Zivkovic Srdjan
Published: August 2010

Public and private organisations have a high rate of interaction, i.e. all their external business processes are de-facto inter-organisational. Besides traditional non-functional aspects, inter-organisational processes demand a high rate of interoperability. The authors present a model-driven development process explicitly considering interoperability levels as development process phases. Applying this development process has shown that it substantially raises the interoperability awareness for all associated actors. To further improve “common sense” between the involved actors, we use an integrated modelling language approach. For this, the metamodels of the used modelling languages are integrated using metamodel integration based on metamodel mappings and integration rules. The approach is demonstrated by integrating BPMN-based business process modelling and CCTS-based data modelling into a consolidated modelling language. Considering the integrated metamodel, the authors apply model transformation to re-use model information along the described development phases, e.g. business process definitions are used to generate skeletons for executable workflows and business document definitions are used to generate data model definitions and associated data schemata. The application of the model-driven development process, the metamodel integration as well as the model transformation is illustrated by a case study of electronic VAT statement transaction.
A Reference Architecture for Interoperable and Adaptive Processes
Authors: Janssen Marijn , Snijders Brian , Herkemij Frits
Published: August 2010

The handling of subsidy applications typically crosses several departments and organizations, each of them having their own heterogeneous applications and processes. As such, the automated processing has to overcome an immense interoperability problem. This problem is further complicated due to the continuous stream of changes in and the creation of new legislation. Therefore there is a need for an architecture enabling the orchestration and interoperability of cross-agency processes that is able to deal and able to adapt to ever-changing circumstances. In this chapter the development of a reference architecture based on the analysis of four different types of subsidy processes is presented. This reference architecture is used to ensure interoperability and to derive generic building blocks. The architecture is implemented and tested in practice by building a prototype based on web services technology. The evaluation shows that the reference architecture can be used to improve interoperability and adaptability. Adaptability can be realized using an architecture which is built from generic components and meets the conditions set by the architecture.
Knowledge Interoperability of Parliaments’ and Government Agencies’ Information Systems
Authors: Loukis Euripidis , Xenakis Alexandros
Published: August 2010

There is a growing awareness that the interoperability among Government Agencies’ information systems (IS) is of critical importance for the development of e-government and the improvement of government efficiency and effectiveness. However, most of the IS interoperability research and practice in government has been focused on the operational level, aiming mainly to enable the delivery of integrated electronic services involving several Government Agencies, or to support the co-operation among Government Agencies from the same or even different countries. This chapter is dealing with knowledge-level interoperability, aiming to support higher knowledge-intensive tasks of government, such as the formulation of legislation and public policy. In particular, it presents an ontology-based methodology for achieving knowledge interoperability of IS of Parliaments and Government Agencies, so that they can exchange public policy related knowledge produced in the various stages of the legislation process. It is based on the common use by Parliaments of the ontology of the ‘Issue-Based Information Systems’ (IBIS) framework for constructing representations of this knowledge. An application of the proposed methodology is presented, followed by an evaluation, which results in an enrichment of the above ontology that enables a better representation of the public policy related knowledge produced in the legislation process, providing a ‘higher quality’ of knowledge interoperability. Finally a generalization of this methodology is formulated, which can be used for achieving knowledge interoperability among IS of other types of Government Agencies.
Towards a Scientific Foundation for Interoperability
Authors: Charalabidis Yannis , Gonçalves Ricardo Jardim , Popplewell Keith
Published: August 2010

As a term used to denote the ability of defence systems to collaborate, interoperability has emerged as one of the most important capacities of information systems, during the last 30 years. Being important at organizational, process and semantic levels, interoperability soon became a key characteristic of information systems and services, both in the private and public sector. As a crucial prerequisite for automated process execution leading to “one-stop” electronic services and promising dramatic increase in productivity for enterprises of any size, interoperability has been systematically sought after, since the dawn of the 21st century: standardization frameworks, guidelines at enterprise level, data schemas and techniques to tackle the problem of non-communicating systems or organisations started to appear. In parallel, most international software, hardware and service vendors created their own strategies for achieving the goal of open, collaborative, loosely coupled systems and components. This chapter goes beyond the presentation of the main milestones in this fascinating quest for collaboration between people, systems and information: it attempts to describe how this new interdisciplinary research area can transform into a vibrant scientific domain, by applying the necessary method and tools. To achieve that, the chapter presents the ingredients of this new domain, proposes its needed formal and systematic tools, explores its relation with neighbouring scientific domains and finally prescribes the next steps for achieving the thrilling goal of laying the foundations of a new science.
Chaos Theory for Hydrologic Modeling and Forecasting
Authors: Sivakumar Bellie
Published: August 2010

In hydrology, two modeling approaches have been prevalent: deterministic and stochastic. The ‘permanent’ nature of the Earth, ocean, and the atmosphere and the ‘cyclical’ nature of the associated mechanisms support the deterministic approach. The ‘highly irregular and complex’ nature of hydrologic processes and our ‘limited ability to observe’ the details favor the stochastic approach. In view of these, the question of whether a deterministic approach or a stochastic approach is better is meaningless. Indeed, for most hydrologic systems and processes, both the deterministic approach and the stochastic approach are complementary to each other and, thus, an approach that can couple these two and serve as a middle-ground would often be the most appropriate. ‘Chaos theory’ can offer such a coupled deterministic-stochastic approach, since its underlying concepts of nonlinear interdependence, hidden determinism and order, sensitivity to initial conditions are highly relevant in hydrology. The last two decades have witnessed numerous applications of chaos theory in hydrology. The outcomes of these studies are encouraging, but many challenges also remain. This chapter is intended: (1) to provide a comprehensive review of chaos theory applications in hydrology; and (2) to discuss the challenges that lie ahead and the scope for the future.
Graph Kernels for Chemoinformatics
Authors: Kashima Hisashi , Saigo Hiroto , Hattori Masahiro , Tsuda Koji
Published: August 2010

The authors review graph kernels which is one of the state-of-the-art approaches using machine learning techniques for computational predictive modeling in chemoinformatics. The authors introduce a random walk graph kernel that defines a similarity between arbitrary two labeled graphs based on label sequences generated by random walks on the graphs. They introduce two applications of the graph kernels, the prediction of properties of chemical compounds and prediction of missing enzymes in metabolic networks. In the latter application, the authors propose to use the random walk graph kernel to compare arbitrary two chemical reactions, and apply it to plant secondary metabolism.