bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Graphic Display of Labor Events
Authors: Oladapo Olufemi T.
Published: May 2011

This chapter introduces the partograph as an essential tool of labour management. It describes the concept of the partograph from its historical perspective and highlights its benefits, practical application in contemporary clinical practice, and current challenges to its universal implementation. It also explores the feasibility of design and incorporation of electronic partograph into teleobstetrics to facilitate remote but skilled birth attendance as one of the ways to tackle the problems of prolonged labour resulting from inequitable distribution of maternity specialists in underserved populations. The author hopes that understanding of the basic concept of the partograph, its practical application, and barriers to its global implementation would reveal research priorities in the subject of partography and guide interested information technologists in the development of appropriate design and usage of partograph in the electronic form.
Demystifying eHealth Human Resources
Authors: Gibson Candace J. , Covvey H. Dominic
Published: May 2011

The introduction and use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in health care, particularly the electronic health record (EHR), may be seriously hampered or delayed by the lack of available human resources with the necessary skills and competencies in e-health. A number of different types of professionals are needed, and an appropriate mix of skills and workers who can complement one another in the final deployment of the EHR and in the appropriate and best use and management of the health information it contains. These include health informatics (HI) professionals or health informaticians, health information management (HIM) professionals, and others, with not only knowledge of ICT, but also knowledge of the health system, data standards, and interoperability across platforms; privacy and security of health records; human factors and process engineering; project management and technology adoption; and user-supporting mechanisms. A human resources strategy is needed to address the current shortage of skilled workers and to develop a long term strategy for education and training of e-health personnel necessary to ensure the continued quality of health data collected, its security and confidentiality, and to manage and maintain the systems and data in the future.
Regional Patient Safety Initiatives
Authors: Anderson James G.
Published: May 2011

Data-sharing systems—where healthcare providers jointly implement a common reporting system to promote voluntary reporting, information sharing, and learning—are emerging as an important regional, state-level, and national strategy for improving patient safety. The objective of this chapter is to review the evidence regarding the effectiveness of these data-sharing systems and to report on the results of an analysis of data from the Pittsburgh Regional Healthcare Initiative (PRHI). PRHI consists of 42 hospitals, purchasers, and insurers in southwestern Pennsylvania that implemented Medmarx, an online medication error reporting systems. Analysis of data from the PRHI hospitals indicated that the number of errors and corrective actions reported initially varied widely with organizational characteristics such as hospital size, JCAHO accreditation score and teaching status. But the subsequent trends in reporting errors and reporting actions were different. Whereas the number of reported errors increased significantly, and at similar rates, across the participating hospitals, the number of corrective actions reported per error remained mostly unchanged over the 12-month period. A computer simulation model was developed to explore organizational changes designed to improve patient safety. Four interventions were simulated involving the implementation of computerized physician order entry, decision support systems and a clinical pharmacist on hospital rounds. The results of this study carry implications for the design and assessment of data-sharing systems. Improvements in patient safety require more than voluntary reporting and clinical initiatives. Organizational changes are essential in order to significantly reduce medical errors and adverse events.
Use of Handheld Computers in Nursing Education
Authors: Farrell Maureen
Published: May 2011

The use of mobile technologies in nursing education is rapidly increasing. Handheld computers are the most frequently used of these technologies as they can provide students with information for point of care clinical reference, such as diagnostics, medical terminology, and drug references. Integrating the management and processing of information into clinical practice is an effective learning approach for students and reflects a changing paradigm in nursing education. Traditionally, nursing programs have the tendency to separate the acquisition of academic knowledge from clinical practice, and the process of integrating academic information into the decision making processes in the clinical area has been difficult for student nurses. This chapter will provide an overview of the use of handheld computers in nursing and medical education, including a brief synopsis of current use in clinical practice. It will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of their use, barriers to implementation and future directions.
Women’s Health Informatics in the Primary Care Setting
Authors: Parry Gareth
Published: May 2011

Women’s health in primary care is a large part of the generalist’s practice. Information technology (IT) is now an integral part of the generalist’s office, often more so than in secondary care and therefore this chapter is a key starting point in the book. Initially there is an introduction of the role of IT in primary health and the many areas it may encompass. We then move onto organizing clinical information and the ways that this maybe represented electronically in the “cradle to grave” electronic health record. In addition to recording information, can IT help the primary care doctor? The area of IT in screening, prevention and alerts is discussed. The role of the computer in the clinician’s office and the impact it has on the consultation is explored. Can computer help clinicians perform better? Areas of discussion include the role of computers in audit and systems using artificial intelligence to improve patient care. IT is increasingly important in scheduling both within the practice and at the local hospital. This can be done by the primary care doctor and in some instances by the patient his or herself. The ideal situation is the primary care doctor having a system which can “talk” to external systems (e.g. local hospital notes, with a secure portal). In some countries such as the United Kingdom, this is becoming a reality, though there are problems which are discussed.
Critical Factors for the Creation of Learning Healthcare Organizations
Authors: Wickramasinghe Nilmini
Published: May 2011

The need to transform the U.S. healthcare system became clear during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Katrina was not an unexpected disaster nor was it an exceptionally large event. And yet in the wake of Katrina the loss of life was tragic and emergency health care following the storm was severely hampered by the lack of paper health records that had been washed away or ruined. What is required is a transformation of the current health system to an intelligent health system that maximizes technology and utilizes valuable knowledge assets. To effect such a change healthcare organizations must become learning organizations. The objective of this chapter is to provide a link between principles of organizational learning and knowledge management in order to build the learning healthcare organization. The major thrust of this approach is that the human side of the organization must lead knowledge management technology and not the other way around. The chapter distinguishes between organizational learning as a structure laying the foundation for learning, and the learning organization as a process for maintaining and perpetuating continuous improvement in the organization supported by incorporating a process-centric view of knowledge management (KM) realized through the establishment of a KM infrastructure. Moreover, it emphasizes that since health care is a knowledge intensive industry knowledge management is an integral component in building the learning healthcare organization.
Applying Personal Health Informatics to Create Effective Patient-Centered E-Health
Authors: Wilson E. Vance
Published: May 2011

E-health use is increasing worldwide, but no current e-health paradigm fulfills the complete range of users’ needs for Web-enabled healthcare services. Moreover, a number of obstacles exist that could make it difficult for e-health to meet users’ expectations, especially in the case where the users are patients. These dilemmas cloud the future of e-health, as promoters of e-commerce, personal health records, and consumer health informatics paradigms vie to create e-health applications while being hampered by the implicit constraints of each perspective. This chapter presents an alternative approach for designing and developing e-health titled personal health informatics (PHI). PHI was developed to overcome the limitations of preceding paradigms while incorporating their best features. The chapter goes on to describe how PHI can be applied to create effective patient-centered e-health for delivery by healthcare organizations to their own patients.
A Bio-Psycho-Social Review of Usability Methods and their Applications in Healthcare
Authors: Price Morgan
Published: May 2011

The purpose of this chapter is to provide the reader with an overview of several models and theories from the general HCI literature, highlighting models at three levels of focus: biomechanical interactions, individual-cognitive interactions, and social interactions. This chapter will also explore how these models were or could be applied to the design and evaluation of clinical information systems, such as electronic medical records and hospital information systems. Finally, it will conclude with how an understanding at each level compliments the other two in order to create a more complete understanding of the interactions of information systems in healthcare.
Social Cognitive Ontology and User Driven Healthcare
Authors: Biswas Rakesh , Martin Carmel M. , Sturmberg Joachim , Mukherji Kamalika , Lee Edwin Wen Huo , Umakanth Shashikiran
Published: May 2011

The chapter starts from the premise that illness and healthcare are predominantly social phenomena that shape the perspectives of key stakeholders of healthcare. It introduces readers to the concepts associated around the term ontology with particular reference to philosophical, social and computer ontology and teases out the relations between them. It proposes a synthesis of these concepts with the term ‘social cognitive ontological constructs’ (SCOCs). The chapter proceeds to explore the role of SCOCs in the generation of human emotions that are postulated to have to do more with cognition (knowledge) than affect (feelings). The authors propose a way forward to address emotional needs of patients and healthcare givers through informational feedback that is based on a conceptual framework incorporating SCOCs of key stakeholders. This would come about through recognizing the clinical encounter for what it is: a shared learning experience. The chapter proceeds to identify problems with the traditional development of top down medical knowledge and the need to break out of the well meaning but restrictive sub specialty approach. It uses the term de specialization to describe the process of breaking out of the traditional top down mold which may be achieved by collaborative learning not only across various medical specialties but also directly from the patient and her “other” caregivers. Finally it discusses current efforts in the medical landscape at bringing about this silent revolution in the form of a Web-based user driven healthcare. It also supplies a few details of the attempts made by the authors in a recent project trying to create electronic health records in a user driven manner beginning with the patient’s version of their perceived illness with data added on as the patient traverses his/her way through various levels of care beginning from the community to the tertiary care hospital. The data contained within these records may then be effectively and anonymously shared between different patients and health professionals who key in their own experiential information and find matching individual experiential information through text tagging in a Web 2.0 platform.
IT-Based Virtual Medical Centres and Structures
Authors: Staudinger Bettina , Ostermann Herwig , Staudinger Roland
Published: May 2011

The management of the information technology in a virtual medical service centre is subject to different requirements than the IT-management of a hospital resembling more a closed shop. Building a virtual centre calls for performance of an open shop principle, because the entire treatment chain cannot be mapped within one single institution, but requires integrated cooperation in order to manage a patient’s clinical pathway. Not only the spatial displacement, but also the unavoidable higher process orientation within a virtual cooperation deserves particular consideration. Additionally, the information management is challenged by the fact that the provision of relevant information in standardised form is an indispensable element of a virtual centre. In this context, the question about potential structural assembling, and organisational principles and elements of virtual medical service centres has to be answered in order to conclude on the basic requirements of data management and the appropriate solution approaches. This shall be presented partly using the example of the virtual oncological medical centre in Tyrol.
The Development and Implementation of Patient Safety Information Systems (PSIS)
Authors: Kim Jeongeun
Published: May 2011

This chapter presents the overview of the current status and developmental stages of the PSIS technology and consensus around the patient safety issues as they emerge, grow, and mature globally. The first section gives the general description of the patient safety reporting system (PSRS), and then provides the brief summary of 23 patient safety information classifications and terminologies to date. In the next section, the development of the international classification of patient safety (ICPS) is overviewed, which evolved from the local to an international level by the joint initiatives of WHO. The essential elements of the PSIS and the clinical decision support system (CDSS) functionalities are explained to make the future goals of PSIS clearer. The patient safety indicator (PSI) is explained in a separate section, which provides the opportunity to assess the incidence of adverse events and in-hospital complications using administrative data found in the typical discharge record. The ultimate goals of PSIS and PSI are to improve the quality of healthcare and ensure patient safety.
Imaging Advances of the Cardiopulmonary System
Authors: Llobet Holly , Llobet Paul , LaBrunda Michelle
Published: May 2011

A technological explosion has been revolutionizing imaging technology of the heart and lungs over the last decade. These advances have been transforming the health care industry, both preventative and acute care medicine. Ultrasound, nuclear medicine, computed tomography (CT), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are examples of radiological techniques which have allowed for more accurate diagnosis and staging (determination of severity of disease). The most notable advances have occurred in CT and MRI. Most medical subspecialties rely on CT and MRI as the dominant diagnostic tools an exception being cardiology. CT and MRI are able to provide a detailed image of any organ or tissue in the body without the necessity of invasive or painful procedures. Virtually any individual could be tested as long as they are able to remain immobile for the duration of the study. Image generation traditionally has been limited by the perpetual motion of the human body. For example, the human heart is continually contracting and relaxing without a stationary moment during which an image could be obtained. Lung imaging has been more successful than cardiac imaging, but studies were limited to the length of time an ill person is able to hold his or her breath. Historically, imaging technology was limited by inability to take a picture fast enough of a moving object while maintaining a clinically useful level of resolution. Recent technologic innovation, resulting in high speed electrocardiogram- gated CT and MRI imaging, now allows the use of these imaging modalities for evaluation of the heart and lungs. These novel innovations provide clinicians with new tools for diagnosis and treatment of disease, but there are still unresolved issues, most notably radiation exposure. Ultrasound and MRI studies are the safest of the imaging modalities and subjects receive no radiation exposure. Nuclear studies give an approximate radiation dose of 10mSv and as high as 27mSv (Conti, 2005). In CT imaging, radiation dose can vary depending on the organ system being imaged and the type of scanner being used. The average radiation dose for pulmonary studies is 4.2mSv (Conti, 2005). The use of multi-detector CT (MDCT) to evaluate the heart can range from 6.7—13mSv. To put it into perspective, according to the National Institute of Health, an average individual will receive a radiation dose of 360mSv per year from the ambient environment. It is unlikely that the radiation doses received in routine imaging techniques will lead to adverse reactions such as cancer, but patients should be informed of the risks and benefits of each procedure so that they can make informed decisions. It is especially important that patients be informed when radioactive material is to be injected into their bodies. The reasons for this will be discussed later on in the chapter.
The Study of Transesophageal Oxygen Saturation Monitoring
Authors: Zhang Zhiqiang , Gao Bo , Liao Guojie , Mu Ling , Wei Wei
Published: May 2011

In this chapter, the transesophageal oxygen saturation (SpO2) monitoring system was proposed based on the early experiments, to provide a new program of SpO2 acquisition and analysis and avoid the limitation of traditional methods. The PPG (photoplethysmographic) signal of descending aorta and left ventricular was monitored in the experiment. The analysis of the peak-to-peak values, the standard deviation and the position of peaks in signal waveforms showed that in vivo signal was more stable and sensitive; and the physiological information was reflected in the left ventricular PPG waveform. Therefore, it can be concluded that the transesophageal SpO2 monitoring technology has better guidance in clinical applications.
Multi-Purpose DS-Based Cluster Formation and Management in Mobile Ad Hoc Networks
Authors: Anitha V. S. , Sebastian M. P.
Published: May 2011

This chapter proposes a scenario-based and diameter-bounded algorithm for cluster formation and management in mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs). A (k, r) -Dominating Set is used for the selection of clusterheads and gateway nodes depending on the topology of the network. Here k is the minimum number of clusterheads per node in the network and r is the maximum number of hops between the node and the clusterhead. The non-clusterhead node selects the most qualified dominating node as its clusterhead from among the k dominating nodes. The quality of the clusterhead is a function of various metrics, which include connectivity, stability and residual battery power. The long-term service as a clusterhead depletes its energy, causing it to drop out of the network. Similarly, the clusterhead with relatively high mobility than its neighbors leads to frequent clusterhead election process. This perturbs the stability of the network and can adversely affect the network performance. Load balancing among the clusterheads and correct positioning of the clusterhead in a cluster are vital to increase the lifespan of a network. The proposed centralized algorithm periodically calculates the quality of all dominating nodes in the network and if it goes below the threshold level it resigns the job as the clusterhead and sends this message to all other members in the cluster. Since these nodes have k dominating nodes within the r -hop distance, it can choose the current best-qualified node as its clusterhead. Simulation experiments are conducted to evaluate the performance of the algorithm in terms of the number of elements in the (k, r)-DS, the load balancing factor, the number of re-affiliations per unit time and the number of dominating set updates per unit time. The results establish the potential of this algorithm for use in MANETs.
Improving Energy Efficiency and Throughput in Heterogeneous Mobile Ad Hoc Networks
Authors: Pillai Manu J. , Sebastian M. P.
Published: May 2011

The nodes are expected to transmit at different power levels in heterogeneous mobile adhoc networks, thus leading to communication links of different length. Conventional MAC protocols that unconditionally presume that links are bi-directional and with unvarying energy distribution may not succeed or execute badly under such circumstances. Interference and signal loss resulting out of distance and fading diminish the entire throughput attained in heterogeneous networks to a greater extent. This article presents a MAC protocol, which adaptively transmits data frames using either the energy efficient nodes or a list of high data rate assistant nodes. In addition, a cross-layer based energy level on-demand routing protocol that adaptively regulates the transmission rate on basis of congestion is projected as well. Simulation results illustrate that the proposed protocols considerably diminish energy consumption and delay, and attain high throughput in contrast with the Hybrid MAC and traditional IEEE 802.11 protocols
Realization of Route Reconstructing Scheme for Mobile Ad hoc Network
Authors: Danyang Qin , Lin Ma , Xuejun Sha , Yubin Xu
Published: May 2011

Mobile Ad Hoc Network (MANET) is a centerless packet radio network without fixed infrastructure. In recent years tremendous attentions have been received because of capabilities of self-configuration and self-maintenance. However, attenuation and interference caused by node mobility and wireless channels sharing weaken the stability of communication links especially in ubiquitous MANET. A mathematical exploring model for next-hop node has been established. The negative impact of wireless routes discontinuity on pervasive communication is alleviated by a novel route reconstructed scheme proposed in this paper based on restricting the route requirement zone into a pie slice region on intermediate nodes according the solution of the exploring equation. The scheme is an effective approach to increase survivability and reduce average end-to-end delay during route maintenance as well as allowing continuous packet forwarding for fault resilience so as to support mobile multimedia communication. The ns-2 based simulation results show remarkable packets successful delivery rate and end-to-end delay improvements of source-initiated routing protocol with route reconstructing scheme, and especially in the case of high dynamic environments with heavy traffic loads, more robust and scalable performance will be obtained.
Speaker Discrimination on Broadcast News and Telephonic Calls Based on New Fusion Techniques
Authors: Sayoud Halim , Ouamour Siham
Published: May 2011

This chapter describes a new Speaker Discrimination System (SDS), which is a part of an overall project called Audio Documents Indexing based on a Speaker Discrimination System (ADISDS). Speaker discrimination consists in checking whether two speech segments come from the same speaker or not. This research domain presents an important field in biometry, since the voice remains an important feature used at distance (via telephone). However, although some discriminative classifiers do exist nowadays, their performances are not enough sufficient for short speech segments. This issue led us to propose an efficient fusion between such classifiers in order to enhance the discriminative performance. This fusion is obtained, by using three different techniques: a serial fusion, parallel fusion and serial-parallel fusion. Also, two classifiers have been chosen for the evaluation: a mono-gaussian statistical classifier and a Multi Layer Perceptron (MLP). Several experiments of speaker discrimination are conducted on different databases: Hub4 Broadcast-News and telephonic calls. Results show that the fusion has efficiently improved the scores obtained by each approach alone. So, for instance, the authors got an Equal Error Rate (EER) of about 7% on a subset of Hub4 Broadcast-News database, with short segments of 4 seconds, and an EER of about 4% on telephonic speech, with medium segments of 10 seconds.
A Model for Mobile Learning Service Quality in University Environment
Authors: Al-Mushasha Nabeel Farouq , Hassan Shahizan
Published: May 2011

It is generally known that accessibility and mobility are the main barriers for effective implementation of electronic learning. However, the advent of mobile technology could be a potential solution to remove the barriers. Nevertheless, there is a lack of research that addresses the issue of mobile learning service quality in a university environment. This study aims to propose a service quality model for m-learning in a university environment. A questionnaire survey was conducted which measured ten dependent variables and three independent variables. The dependent variables were meant to measure service quality, information quality, and system quality. The dependent variables were meant to measure the causal relationship between overall learners’ perceived service quality, learner satisfaction, and learner behavioral intention to use the service in future. The findings revealed that the factors that lead to service quality of m-learning in a university environment were interface design, reliability, trust, content usefulness, content adequacy, ease of use, accessibility, and interactivity. The findings also indicates that there are causal relationships between learner satisfaction with overall service quality, and learner satisfaction with learner behavioral intention.
Typology and Challenges in Developing Mobile Middleware Based Community Network Infrastructure
Authors: Sugumaran Vijayan , Raghunathan Shriram
Published: May 2011

The evolution of mobile devices has opened new opportunities for collaboration, communication and computation on the move. Increasing device capabilities, instant connectivity, portability, rapidly reducing costs, etc. are some of the drivers for this change. Though mobile devices have lower processing power, memory capabilities compared to the stationary computing devices and deal with varying network conditions with reduced power, the demand for anywhere anytime computing is a significant driver for change. There is great interest in application development for mobile devices which caters to different needs of the users. Applications can be easily developed as complete middleware systems which can provide a great deal of abstraction for users. There is great interest in designing novel and scalable mobile middleware especially utilizing the capabilities available for collaboration and communication. This work traces the factors contributing to the proliferation of mobile communities and places the middleware for mobile community networks in a current and future perspective. The architecture for middleware based mobile community network is proposed and the challenges in implementing such a network are also discussed.
Video Games as Aggregating Mediums and Resulting Products of Several Visual Communication Languages
Authors: Tavares Paula , Teixeira Pedro Mota , Pereira Leonardo , Cruz-Cunha Maria Manuela
Published: May 2011

Finally, we examine the importance and function of motion graphics inside the game experience and the game contexts in which this communication feature is applied.
A Multiplayer Team Performance Task
Authors: Emurian Henry H. , Canfield Gerald C. , Roma Peter G. , Brinson Zabecca S. , Gasior Eric D. , Hienz Robert D. , Hursh Steven R. , Brady Joseph V.
Published: May 2011

This chapter describes a Team Performance Task (TPT) that has been designed to assess the status of a three-person team operating a game-like multiplayer task requiring inter-player cooperation to achieve optimal performance effectiveness. The objective of the TPT is to extract features of an operational setting that may be integrated into a task scenario that will yield multi-dimensional indices of both individual and team performances that are sensitive to alterations in the workload parameters and to the skill level and cohesion of the players. The design of a prototype task is described in detail, and evaluative results based on observations of five groups of three players are presented to show the individual and team metrics of performance effectiveness that are made available with this task. Future applications of the TPT are suggested, to include its potential to diagnose and support the cohesiveness and operational readiness of teams operating within space-based and other challenging environments.
Emotional Journeys in Game Design Teams
Authors: Stacey Patrick , Nandhakumar Joe
Published: May 2011

There is little research into the emotional dimension of creative industry personnel, such as computer game designers, and how emotions relate to their creative practices and work-related events. Such socioemotional work is the focus of this chapter. There is a practice-centered relevance to this topic too – it is reported that there exists a poor quality of life in many global game studios. Given our deficient knowledge of emotions in computer game development, and the practical resonance of this topic, our key research question is: What emotions, creative practices and work-related events characterize emotional journeys in computer game design teams, and how do these characteristics inter-relate? To explore and answer this research question, we draw on an in-depth field study of a computer games studio in Singapore. The chapter offers a theory of emotion-mediated improvisation as a coping model for the tumultuous emotional journeys that game developers endure.
Gamer Talk
Authors: Sharritt Matthew , Aune R. Kelly , Suthers Daniel D.
Published: May 2011

A qualitative case study of student game play is presented, describing how game player communication becomes increasingly complex, efficient, and impenetrable by those who have not actively played the game. Transcripts of gathered video tape reveal how student ‘gamer talk’ became increasingly implicit, using terminology provided by the game and their shared context of playing the game. Over time, communication among game player group members generally became more efficient and less penetrable by members outside the group (such as new players), as players engaged in culture-building activities around their shared context. However, players occasionally became more explicit in their communication when grounding was required to reach shared meaning, such as in instances where players disagreed on the purpose of a particular game feature or strategy. Finally, implications are offered to suggest ways in which gamer cultures can be made more accessible to game designers and those guiding classroom interactions.
Knowing the Game
Authors: Ortiz Julio Angel
Published: May 2011

The chapter serves as an introduction to current thinking about the role of games in our society. It takes a measured tone in acknowledging some of the challenges to understanding the myriads impacts of this emergent scholarly discipline. It discusses the current threads of discourse and reveals how most academic studies have concentrated on one specific videogame genre or aspect as the starting point for general assumptions about this field. Specifically, some empirical studies link the use of videogames to edu-technical benefits, associated risk factors, and health rewards/treatment. These views have dominated current discourse, and as a result, much of the subtlety is lost on the economic, social, cultural and policy impacts of this lucrative and complex socio-technological phenomenon. The results of this study draw insights into the present and future of gaming research. It also indicates that although videogame and entertainment software research is growing, it is limited.
Games and Advertising
Authors: Duarte Inês de Seixas , Valente de Andrade António Manuel
Published: May 2011

In this chapter we will review the state of the art in these areas and present some arguments for and against each of these strategies.
Pluralistic Coordination
Authors: Denning Peter J. , Flores Fernando , Flores Gloria
Published: May 2011

Two questions are examined. Why is coordination hard to achieve when teams are diverse? Are there conditions under which players of MMOGs can learn skills of effective coordination and transfer these skills to real teams? A pluralistic network is a social system in which people are committed to working together effectively despite cultural differences. A core set of eight practices enables a network to be pluralistic. An experiment with the World of Warcraft game confirmed that the game can significantly accelerate learning of those practices. To enable the skills to be transferred to the real world, the game must be augmented with a reflective learning environment.
Human and Virtual Beings as Equal Collaborative Partners in Computer Games
Authors: Thomas Daniel I. , Vlacic Ljubo B.
Published: May 2011

Computer games provide a compelling environment to study and enable virtual beings to engage with humans as equals. In this chapter, we investigate the requirements, design and implementation of virtual beings that participate in computer games as humans would; playing the game and creating rich new collaborative game play experiences in areas of education, training and entertainment.
Browser-Native Games That Use Real-World XML Data
Authors: Chetwynd Jonathan
Published: May 2011

The rising tide of scientific data available on the web, has the potential to help us consider the complex problems that concern us today, and simulation games can help us visualize, model and plan for alternative futures. However, the modularisation of knowledge has limited communication across subject domains, and copyright legislation and business practices may need to change, if the many new visualisation tools needed are to be interoperable and share common interfaces. A game standard and specification for the web, together with easy-to-use authoring tools for creating browser-native games that use real-world XML data; could enhance communication, and engage the public in the understanding of science, and its progress.
Affective Educational Games and the Evolving Teaching Experience
Authors: Muñoz Karla , Mc Kevitt Paul , Lunney Tom , Noguez Julieta , Neri Luis
Published: May 2011

Teaching methods must adapt to learners’ expectations. Computer game-based learning environments enable learning through experimentation and are inherently motivational. However, for identifying when learners achieve learning goals and providing suitable feedback, Intelligent Tutoring Systems must be used. Recognizing the learner’s affective state enables educational games to improve the learner’s experience or to distinguish relevant emotions. This chapter discusses the creation of an affective student model that infers the learner’s emotions from cognitive and motivational variables through observable behavior. The control-value theory of ‘achievement emotions’ provides a basis for this work. A Probabilistic Relational Models (PRMs) approach for affective student modeling, which is based on Dynamic Bayesian Networks, is discussed. The approach is tested through a prototyping study based on Wizard-of-Oz experiments and preliminary results are presented. The affective student model will be incorporated into PlayPhysics, an emotional game-based learning environment for teaching Physics. PRMs facilitate the design of student models with Bayesian Networks. The effectiveness of PlayPhysics will be evaluated by comparing the students’ learning gains and learning efficiencies.
User Facing Web Services in Portals
Authors: Polgar Jana
Published: May 2011

In SOA framework, Portal applications aggregate and render information from multiple sources in easily consumable format to the end users. Web services seem to dominate the integration efforts in SOA. Traditional data-oriented web services require portlet applications to provide specific presentation logic and the communication interface for each web service. This approach is not well suited to dynamic SOA based integration of business processes and content. WSRP 2.0 aim at solving the problem and providing the framework for easy aggregation of presentation services.Is not practical to publish portlets locally if the organisation wishes to publish their portlets as web services to allow their business partners using these services in their portals. UDDI extension for WSRP enables the discovery and access to user facing web services while eliminating the need to design local user facing portlets. Most importantly, the remote portlets can be updated by the web service providers from their own servers.
WebSphere Portal 6.1
Authors: Stober Thomas , Hansmann Uwe
Published: May 2011

Contemporary architectural approach is for an orchestrated, agnostic, federated enterprise through the adoption of loosely-coupled open Service interfaces. The Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) paradigm unifies dis­parate, heterogeneous technologies. It resurrects legacy technology silos with a Service ‘face-lift’ while maintaining their autonomy. Somewhat in its infancy as standards and methodologies are evaluated and adopted, the differences between theory and praxis of SOA remain to be fully de­termined, predominately due to the size and complexity of the conundrum it addresses.
Conceptual Business Service
Authors: Clohesy Ben , Frye Alan , Redpath Robert
Published: May 2011

Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) is gaining acceptance, offering advantages including closer alignment of IT systems with business. Ideally, within large enterprises, capabilities would be used by solutions from a number of business units while matching the detailed requirements of each; this level of interoperability is difficult to achieve. While much of the current activity focuses on technical interoperability we propose that the focus shift to business interoperability as the key consideration to bring clarity to the engineering aspects of technical interoperability. A model-driven architectural approach is presented that views an organisation’s business processes as structured assets requiring formalisation. A new concept is presented, the conceptual business service (CBS), which provides abstraction through modeling, and promotes building a portfolio of navigable business services at the appropriate level of abstraction and granularity. A method for specifying a CBS is outlined using reference domain meta-data allowing easier service solution recognition among other benefits.
Critical Infrastructure Protection
Authors: Pye Graeme , Warren Matthew , Hutchinson William
Published: May 2011

The protection of Australian critical infrastructures and the choices made in terms of priorities and cost all impact upon the planning, precautions, and security aspects of protecting these important systems. Often, the choices made will have an ethical imperative that is difficult to assess at the time the decision is taken, and it is only after an incident that the truth of the choices made become fully evident. This is the focus of this discussion that highlights the issues of earlier resource funding choices made and how an ethical choice had to be made, with regard to protecting the security of a water supply infrastructure, or that of a community under the threat of bushfire as outlined in the case study.
Involvement, Elaboration and the Sources of Online Trust
Authors: Williams Russell , Kitchen Philip J.
Published: May 2011

Establishing trust in online encounters has attracted significant recent research interest. A large part of this work focuses on those factors that can be manipulated on a website to influence consumers’ trusting beliefs. A notable part of this research concerns the influence of website infrastructure attributes [design and interaction elements] on consumers’ assessment of vendor trustworthiness in the absence of knowledge-based transactional experience. Developing this work further, we introduce the established marketing concepts of ‘involvement’ and ‘elaboration’. Consumer involvement describes the relevance of a situation or decision for an individual. In the marketing literature, the importance of this concept lies in the fact that it influences an individual’s information search and processing strategies. Noting this, propositions are advanced suggesting that the infrastructure attributes that individuals use as informational cues may in fact influence assessments of trusting beliefs differently according to whether individuals face high or low involvement situations
User-Centred Systems Design as Organizational Change
Authors: Gulliksen Jan , Cajander Åsa , Sandblad Bengt , Eriksson Elina , Kavathatzopoulos Iordanis
Published: May 2011

This paper presents a longitudinal case study in which six Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) researchers worked extensively in an action research cooperation with a public authority over a period of four years. The purpose of the cooperation was to increase the focus on usability in the authority, and the main research question was how user centred systems design and increased awareness on work environment in relation to computer usage could promote organizational change in a public authority. The overarching research approach in this project has been action research and the data used in this paper is derived from an evaluation performed at the end of the project, as well as through our experiences from working with the project. The results involve aspects relating to organizational issues, management support, strategic documents and end-user participation. Moreover the results include methodological support for bringing users and developers closer together and individual and organisational attitudes to development. The purpose of this paper is to make some general conclusions on how to bring about change when approaching a large public authority with the purpose of introducing usability and user centred systems design.
Humans and Emerging RFID Systems
Authors: Pitkänen Olli , Niemelä Marketta
Published: May 2011

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology offers a lot of promises. To redeem them, RFID applications have to respect privacy and they need to be supported by the legal system. The article evaluates how the current EU directives on data protection support emerging applications that are based on RFID tags. The evaluation is based on user scenarios that illustrate human needs in relation to technologies and applications. The article continues earlier analyses and uses more realistic and state-of-the-art applications and scenarios. We conclude by pointing out further research needs in the field of RFID and data protection.
‘Listening to the Voices of the Users’ in Product Based Software Development
Authors: Iivari Netta , Molin-Juustila Tonja
Published: May 2011

(IT) development, but it is often challenging, especially in the product based software development context. This article critically examines the practice of ‘listening to the voices of the users’; how it is accomplished in product based software development. First literature addressing users’ role in the product development context is reviewed. Afterwards, empirical analysis in three IT companies involved in product business but with different degrees of productization is carried out. In the analysis, the focus is on: 1) Where do the uses’ voices come from? 2) When are the users’ voices listened to? 3) What happens to the users’ voices; whether and how do they affect the development? 4) What are the challenges and particularities of each case? The analysis reveals similarities but also clear differences between the cases. Implications both for theory and practice discussed.
Location-Based Mobile Storytelling
Authors: Stein Jennifer , Ruston Scott , Fisher Scott S.
Published: May 2011

This article describes an investigation in location-based mobile storytelling entitled Tracking Agama. Using a combination of SMS messaging, voice calls, and web log entries, Tracking Agama leads its participants on a narrative-based exploration of Los Angeles, in pursuit of a fabled urban researcher, “Agama.” Participants use a bit of detective work to discover the keywords allowing access to Agama’s voice-activated and phone-accessible audio diary entries; send and receive SMS messages from Agama and his assistant; and receive calls from the virtual characters.
The Impacts of Brand Equity, Security, and Personalization on Trust Processes in an E-Commerce Environment
Authors: Stoecklin-Serino Catharina , Paradice David , Hooker Robert
Published: May 2011

This research broadens the study of trust as it applies to developing stable relationships in electronic environments. Prior studies have investigated many aspects of trust, but few have looked at its incremental development. Previous empirical research identifies antecedents to initial perceptions of trust that may influence the progression of trust to deeper levels. More conceptual work identifies antecedents that swiftly cultivate trust, allowing for stable relationships to develop more quickly. The antecedents investigated in this study, using regression and structural equation modeling, are the use of security symbols, trustworthy brand names, and personalization techniques. The results of the study indicate that the use of security symbols and trustworthy brand names have a positive and lasting effect on trusting beliefs and that personalization has a decreasing and lasting effect on trusting beliefs. There was no support for the hypothesis that trust develops over time in electronic environments.
Strategic Scenarios for Fixed-Mobile Convergence
Authors: Harno Jarmo , Kumar K.R.Renjish , Heikkinen Mikko V.J. , Kind Mario , Monath Thomas , von Hugo Dirk
Published: May 2011

This study demonstrates that an integrated operator can benefit from cost savings, customer retention and prevention of revenue erosion by having a fixed-mobile convergence (FMC) migration strategy including introduction of advanced service packages. This development is driven by increasing importance of mobile network capabilities and services, as well as the decreasing gap between fixed and mobile systems, in terms of technological models and prices, making FMC both requested by the market and commercially feasible to provide. FMC is expected to offer benefits for network and service operators as well as businesses and consumers. The authors have analyzed the operator’s dilemma on proper migration strategy in exploiting the benefits of cost savings and generating new revenues, but exposing oneself to the risk of substitution effects among its fixed and mobile products. They provide quantitative comparison of some strategic scenarios utilizing techno-economic case study methodology in modeling an integrated operator business in a Western European context.