bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
SMEs E-Business Security Issues
Authors: Gaivéo José
Published: May 2011

Nowadays, when organizations, no matter what dimension they possess, are confronted with more exigent market challenges, they must change strategies and behaviours as needed to respond according to their new business positioning. If all organizations are affected by markets instability, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) suffer a greater impact due to a lack of suitable resources for the appropriate change of business strategy or even to develop a new strategy, which reveals information and information security significance, and so the relevance of securing Information Systems that supports their flows trough organizations. This chapter is intended to point information security issues that are important to SMEs’ e-Business strategies, issues which could simultaneously guarantee organizational information privacy. Another purpose is the establishment of guidelines which could also be applied to SMEs, allowing information security policies definitions.
Investing in Excess Capacity
Authors: Argoneto Pierluigi , Renna Paolo
Published: May 2011

The cooperation among firms allows them to focus on their core products, improving efficiency and competiveness. The emerging paradigm of co-opetition, considering at the same time cooperative and competitive aspects, seems to be the most promising approach both in traditional and electronic network. This chapter investigates the excess capacity issue for independent plants operating in a co-opetitive network. Two models have been proposed: the first without any information exchange, based on classical real options approach, and the second characterized by a certain degree of information sharing: in here the real options methodology is combined with a fuzzy engine. A simulation environment based on Multi Agent Architecture has been developed in order to test the proposed models. The simulation results show that the innovative combined approach drastically reduces the investment, maintaining a high level of profit.
Optimal Design and Operation of Supply Chain Networks under Demand Uncertainty
Authors: Georgiadis Michael C. , Longinidis Pantelis
Published: May 2011

This chapter considers a detailed mathematical formulation for the problem of designing supply chain networks comprising multiproduct production facilities with shared production resources, warehouses, distribution centers and customer zones and operating under time varying demand uncertainty. Uncertainty is captured in terms of a number of likely scenarios possible to materialize during the life time of the network. The problem is formulated as a mixed-integer linear programming problem and solved to global optimality using standard branch-and-bound techniques. A case study concerned with the establishment of Europe-wide supply chain is used to illustrate the applicability and efficiency of the proposed approach. The results obtained provide a good indication of the value of having a model that takes into account the complex interactions that exist in such networks and the effect of inventory levels to the design and operation.
Quantitative Risk Management Models for Newsvendor Supply Chains
Authors: Vlachos Dimitrios
Published: May 2011

As the practices of offshoring and outsourcing force the supply chain networks to keep on expanding geographically in the globalised environment, the logistics processes are becoming more exposed to risk and disruptions. Thus, modern supply chains seem to be more vulnerable than ever. It is clear that efficient logistics risk and security management emerges as an issue of pivotal importance in such competitive, demanding and stochastic environment and is thus vital for the viability and profitability of a company. In this context, this chapter focuses on a set of stochastic quantitative models that study the impact of one or more supply chain disruptions on optimal determination of single period inventory control policies. The purpose of this research is to provide a critical review of state-of-the-art methodologies to be used as a starting point for further research efforts.
Foundations for MDA Case Tools
Authors: Favre Liliana María , Pereira Claudia Teresa , Martinez Liliana Inés
Published: May 2011

The model driven architecture (MDA) is an initiative proposed by the object management group (OMG), which is emerging as a technical framework to improve productivity, portability, interoperability, and maintenance (MDA, 2003). MDA promotes the use of models and modelto- model transformations for developing software systems. All artifacts, such as requirement specifications, architecture descriptions, design descriptions, and code are regarded as models. MDA distinguishes four main kinds of models: computation independent model (CIM), platform independent model (PIM), platform specific models (PSM), and implementation specific model (ISM).
Social Network Sites (SNS) and Digital Culture
Authors: Laws Ana Luisa Sánchez
Published: May 2011

This chapter aims at building an analytical framework that expands the current scholarship on Social Network Sites (SNS) to the domain of museums. SNS are web-based services that allow their users to create public or semi-public profiles and use these to create lists of other users with whom they share a connection, with the possibility to make their networks visible to themselves and also to make these networks visible at various degrees of public access (boyd & Ellison 2008, 211). These technologies also allow for communication between members of a network within various degrees of control and privacy. The emergence and growing popularity of SNS, with examples of general public services such as Twitter, Facebook and MySpace, niche versions such as those allowed by the Ning platform, and the current trend of including SNS capabilities in media sharing services such as YouTube and Flickr, has brought to museums new opportunities and challenges to engage in dialogue and connect with a variety of publics. The chapter discusses ongoing research into the role online activities play in the communications and branding strategies of museums, and how theory and technology might be applied to develop an analytical framework for a specific case, the Panama Viejo Museum. The main question that the chapter addresses is how to measure the degree the use of Social Network Sites and their impact in the online practices of museums, and proposes as response a framework for museum SNS analytics.
Geospatio-Temporal Semantic Web for Cultural Heritage
Authors: Kauppinen Tomi , Paakkarinen Panu , Mäkela Eetu , Kuittinen Heini , Väätäinen Jari , Hyvönen Eero
Published: May 2011

People frequently need to find knowledge related to places when they plan a leisure trip, when they are executing that plan in a certain place, or when they want to virtually explore a place they have visited in the past. In this chapter the authors present and discuss a set of methods for searching and browsing spatio-temporally referenced knowledge related to cultural objects, e.g. artifacts, photographs and visiting sites. These methods have been implemented in the semantic cultural heritage portal CultureSampo that offers map-based interfaces for a user to explore hundreds of thousands of content objects and points of interest in Finland. Their goal is develop and demonstrate novel ways to help the user 1) to decide where to go for a trip, and 2) to learn more about the neighborhoods and points of interest during the visit.
Supporting and Promoting Tourism Network Systems through ICT Applications
Authors: De Maggio Marco , Ndou Valentina , Schina Laura
Published: May 2011

Furthermore, the authors, hope that from the assumptions and the insights of the studies reported will follow a high spread of the concept of DMSs considered as a significant contribution for developing strong innovative patterns of collaboration in Tourism Industry.
New Approaches for Managing Tourism Complexity
Authors: Ndou Valentina
Published: May 2011

This chapter’s main objective is to provide a new conceptualization of the tourism which has major implications for management approaches, business models and strategy techniques of the sector. The objective is to try to reconcile the complexity of the environment with the managerial techniques and strategies that aim to create sustainable competitive advantage. The author will begin with a review of tourism characteristics of supply and demand side. Then they will analyze the paradigm shifts that are taking place overall in the new economy and the main challenges they bring on in the tourism context. Subsequently, they will discuss the need to realize a shift in tourism conceptualization and management in itself. The author will move their focus of analysis away from traditional, mechanical views of tourism to dynamic approaches that take into account the behavior of the overall system and help identify key leverage points of change and transformation.
Virtual Tourism
Authors: Zhao Jingyuan , Ordóñez de Pablos Patricia , Tenysson Robert
Published: May 2011

Although the research on virtual tourism made great progress in China, there is still a gap compared with international research on virtual tourism. With the promotion of virtual reality technology and the development of tourism industries, virtual tourism will effectively meet the needs of tourists. This study focuses on functions and profit models of virtual tourism in China, and also discusses on the application of virtual tourism in China.
Society in a Virtual World
Authors: Jirovsky Vaclav
Published: May 2011

The new virtual world created by the Internet, with its attendant new technology environment, new actors and new models of societal behavior, has given rise to unexpected and as yet to be described social phenomena. This chapter guides the reader through virtual communities on the Internet, highlighting behavioral anomalies in the community or individual. The main objective of this chapter is to introduce the reader to basic patterns of behavior which may foster illegitimate use of the Internet, including illegal activity, and security incidents. This survey of virtual communities and the threats they create to Internet security, as well as the behavioral change of individuals when exposed to the virtual world, is intended to give the reader a basis for understanding the virtual world’s impact on mankind and social reality. Such an understanding could be helpful to discern new Internet threats or to assess expected risks.
The Social Design of 3D Interactive Spaces for Security in Higher Education
Authors: Hai-Jew Shalin
Published: May 2011

Immersive spaces offer a unique set of security challenges related to human, data, learning facilitation, and virtual environment risks. Security risks may originate from people, the technology, or a mix of unintended synergistic effects; they may originate from intentional, unintentional, and accidental actions. Understanding the risk environment will be important for those who use persistent, immersive 3D spaces for teaching and learning. Based on the current research and direct experiences in educational immersive spaces, this chapter will first define the security risks and offer real-world examples. Then, this will look at various potential social design interventions. “Social design” refers to protective measures created through awareness-raising among all participants, policy creation and implementation, human facilitation of teaching and learning in immersive spaces, and other efforts to improve and maintain the security for the socio-technical system, the institution of higher education, the learners, the faculty, and the larger cyber-sphere. These social design endeavors, one part of a larger 360o security approach, will improve security but never fully attain “perfect security” (a condition of no-risk). This chapter will include an international survey of instructors who teach in 3D immersive spaces to solicit their ideas about security and the social design of protective measures.
“No Drama!”
Authors: Johnston Nola
Published: May 2011

This chapter argues that because in-world social relationships have value and impact on user experience, their security must be addressed by any group entering a virtual environment. Given the constraints imposed by legal structures, the coding of a world’s architecture, and social norms and expectations, what options for management of social relationships are practical and effective? A case study of one social group in the virtual world of Second Life® offers a possible model. Elf Circle is a large group that has developed a comprehensive system of social governance—still evolving—to manage social relationships and protect its members. Its policies and procedures, and the reasons for them, are reviewed with the aim of providing some governance strategies that address common issues.
Modeling Secure 3D Web Applications
Authors: Walczak Krzysztof
Published: May 2011

This chapter describes a novel approach to building 3D web applications, called Flex-VR, which can be used a basis for implementing security solutions. Two key elements of the approach are described: scene structuralization and content modeling. The scene structuralization enables decomposition of a 3D scene into independent geometrical and behavioral objects, called VR-Beans. Virtual scenes with rich interactivity and behavior can be dynamically created by combining sets of independent VR-Beans. The second element – the content model – is a generalized high-level description of the application content. The model enables efficient manipulation of content elements and dynamic composition of virtual scenes. Flex-VR provides a fine-grained semantically-rich content structure, which can be used as a basis for defining access privileges for users and groups. Five levels of user privileges definition in the Flex-VR approach are described. An application of Flex-VR in the cultural heritage domain is presented. Examples demonstrate how user privileges can be defined at all levels.
Noise and Repeatability of Odorant Gas Sensors in an E-Nose
Authors: Tian Fengchun , Yang Simon X. , Xu Xuntao , Liu Tao
Published: May 2011

The impact of the characteristics of the sensors used for electronic nose (e-nose) systems on the repeatability of the measurements is considered. The noise performance of the different types of sensors available for e-nose utilization is first examined. Following the theoretical background, the probability density functions and power spectra of noise from real sensors are presented. The impact of sensor imperfections including noise on repeatability forms the basis of the remainder of the chapter. The impact of the sensors themselves, the effect of data pre-processing methods, and the feature extraction algorithm on the repeatability are considered.
Detection of Diseases and Volatile Discrimination of Plants
Authors: Ghaffari Reza , Zhang Fu , Iliescu D. D. , Hines Evor L. , Leeson Mark S. , Napier Richard
Published: May 2011

The diagnosis of plant diseases is an important part of commercial greenhouse crop production and can enable continued disease and pest control. A plant subject to infection typically releases exclusive volatile organic compounds (VOCs) which may be detected by appropriate sensors. In this work, an Electronic Nose (EN) is employed as an alternative to Gas Chromatography - Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) to sample the VOCs emitted by control and artificially infected tomato plants. A case study in which powdery mildew and spider mites may be present on tomato plants is considered. The data from the EN was analyzed and visualized using Fuzzy C-Mean Clustering (FCM) and Self-Organizing Maps (SOM). The VOC samples from healthy plants were successfully distinguished from the infected ones using the clustering techniques. This study suggests that the proposed methodology is promising for enhancing the automated detection of crop pests and diseases and may be an attractive tool to be deployed in horticultural settings.
Enhancing the Classification of Eye Bacteria Using Bagging to Multilayer Perceptron and Decision Tree
Authors: Li Xu-Qin , Hines Evor L. , Leeson Mark S. , Iliescu D. D.
Published: May 2011

Eye bacteria are vital to the diagnosis of eye disease, which makes the classification of such bacteria necessary and important. This chapter aims to classify different kinds of eye bacteria after the data were collected by an Electronic Nose. First the Multi-layer perceptron (MLP) and decision tree (DT) were introduced as the algorithm and the base classifiers. After that, the bagging technique was introduced to both algorithms and showed that the accuracy of the MLP had been significantly improved. Moreover, bagging to the DT not only reduced the misclassification rate, but enabled DT to select the most important features, and thus, decreased the dimension of the data facilitating an enhanced training and testing process.
Transitioning a Face-To-Face Class to an Online Class
Authors: Fitzgerald-Sisk Margaret , Tennyson Robert D.
Published: May 2011

This chapter speaks to knowledge engineering through the use of narrative, personal research. It is intended that the readers experience the development of an online class from the perspective of the instructional designer and the perspective of the subject matter expert and instructor for whom the instructional designer is working. In this experience, the reader will gain a view of knowledge engineering with respect to a number of issues and requirements regarding how to represent, create, manage and use ontologism as shared knowledge representations.
Forum Summarization to Support Tutor and Teacher in group interaction management
Authors: Carbonaro Antonella
Published: May 2011

The process of summarizing information is becoming increasingly important in the light of recent advances in resource creation and distribution and the resulting influx of large numbers of information in everyday life. These advances are also challenging educational institutions to adopt the opportunities of distributed knowledge sharing and communication. The chapter presents a summarization system to support tutor in managing student communication and interaction within a learning framework. Results show the adequacy of the system in identifying a good content summarization and then in improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the context in which summarization can be integrated.
An Approach to a Semantic Recommender System for Digital Libraries
Authors: Morales-del-Castillo José M. , Peis Eduardo , Herrera-Viedma Enrique
Published: May 2011

One of the key aims of the so-called Information Society is to facilitate the interconnection and communication of sparse groups of people, which can collaborate with each other by exchanging on-line information from distributed sources (Angehrn et al., 2008). In specific contexts, such as in the research and scholarly domain, where many times work is developed relaying on team-based research (Borgman, 2007), finding colleagues and associates to build collaborative relationships has become a crucial matter. Actually, this is one of the pillars of the conduct of research and production of scholarship (Palmer et al., 2009). Nevertheless, this task can be specially difficult when the research activity implies opening new multidisciplinary lines of investigation, since it is hard to know what’s hot and who’s in in a certain domain out of that of this specialization (even if both areas are related or close to each other).
Technology Engineering for NPD Acceleration
Authors: Taifi Nouha , Campi Eliana , Cisternino Valerio , Zilli Antonio , Corallo Angelo , Passiante Giuseppina
Published: May 2011

In complex environments, firms adopt continuously new IT-based systems and tools for knowledge management, otherwise knowledge can be dispersed or lost. And as a part of the new product development process, the product design is one of the most crucial phases for the relevance of its data and information and for the importance of the new knowledge creation of its designers and engineers. This chapter argues, through a conceptual model, the strategic role of the integration of knowledge management systems and special communities for the acceleration of the new product development process and presents an ontology-based knowledge management system and its application in the context of a community of automotive designers. More precisely, the issue management, based on this engineered IT-system, will accelerate and optimize the product design phase and knowledge sharing among the designers and engineers.
Locating Doctors using Social and Semantic Web Technologies
Authors: Rodríguez-González Alejandro , García-Crespo Ángel , Colomo-Palacios Ricardo , Labra-Gayo José Emilio , Berbís Juan Miguel Gómez
Published: May 2011

The advent of the information age represents both a challenge and an opportunity for medicine. New forms of diagnosis, innovation-oriented supervision and expert location paths are deeply impacting medical sciences as we know it around the word. In this new scenario, semantic technologies can be seen as new and promising tool to support knowledge-based services, and particularly for the health domain, medical diagnosis. This chapter presents MedFinder, a system based on semantic technologies and social Web to improve patient care for medical diagnosis. The main breakthroughs of MedFinder are the follow-up once the diagnosis is performed, by using a medical ontology and formal reasoning together with rules, since it makes possible to locate the most appropriate doctor for a patient using Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and taking into account user preferences given via social Web feedback.
Refactoring and its Application to Ontologies
Authors: Conesa Jordi , Olive Antoni , Caballé Santi
Published: May 2011

Over the last years, a great deal of ontologies of many different kinds and describing different domains has been created, and new methods and prototypes have been developed to search them easily. These ontologies may be reused for several tasks, such as for increasing semantic interoperability, improving searching, supporting Information Systems or the creation of their conceptual schemas. Searching an ontology that is relevant to the users’ purpose is a big challenge, and when the user is able to find it a new challenge arises: how to adapt the ontology in order to be applied effectively into the problem domain. It is nearly impossible to find an ontology that can be applied as is to a particular problem. Is in that context where ontology refactoring takes special interest. This chapter tries to clarify what ontology refactoring is and presents a possible catalog of ontology refactoring operations.
Techniques, Technologies and Patents Related to Intelligent Educational Systems
Authors: Prentzas Jim , Hatzilygeroudis Ioannis
Published: May 2011

E-learning systems play an increasingly important role in lifelong learning. Tailoring the learning process to individual needs is a key issue in such systems. Intelligent Educational Systems (IESs) are e-learning systems employing Artificial Intelligence methods to effectively adapt to learner characteristics. Main types of IESs are Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITSs) and Adaptive Educational Hypermedia Systems (AEHSs) incorporating intelligent methods. In this chapter, the authors present technologies and techniques used in the primary modules of IESs and survey corresponding patents. They present issues and problems involving specific IES modules as well as the overall IES. The authors discuss solutions offered for such issues by Artificial Intelligence methods and patents. They also discuss categorization aspects of patents related to IESs and briefly present the work described in some representative patents. Lastly, the authors outline future research directions regarding IESs.
Mash-Up Personal Learning Environments
Authors: Wild Fridolin , Mödritscher Felix , Sigurdarson Steinn
Published: May 2011

In this chapter, the authors formulate a critique on the contemporary models and theories of learning environment design, while at the same time proposing a new approach that puts the learner centre stage. It will be argued that this approach is more apt to explain technology-enhanced learning and is more helpful in guiding (even end-user driven) engineering and maintenance of personalized learning environments. The authors call this new approach a mash-up personal learning environment (MUPPLE) and it is a vision (and prototype) of the future of personalized, networked, and collaborative learning.
Collaborative Development of Educational Modules
Authors: Barbosa Ellen Francine , Maldonado José Carlos
Published: May 2011

Lifelong learning has to accommodate a variety of types of learners who differ in age, learning experiences, media preferences, learning styles, capability for working in teams, among others. To be more effective, lifelong learning scenarios require the establishment and integration of innovative methods, tools, and procedures into well-defined processes, aiming at producing customized and high-quality educational products, capable of better engaging the students (and teachers as well) in an active learning process. Collaborative development plays an important role in this perspective, providing means for developers from different domains, working on multi-disciplinary and heterogeneous teams, geographically dispersed or not, cooperating, sharing data and information regarding the materials being developed. At the very end, the envisioned scenario is to evolve collaborative development in collaborative learning, broadening the learning opportunities to actively involve learners in their own knowledge construction process. In this chapter, the authors explore the collaborative development of educational modules and its implications in lifelong learning scenarios. They discuss the establishment of a systematic process for developing educational modules, providing a set of guidelines and supporting mechanisms to collaboratively create, reuse and evolve them. Also, as part of the process, the authors focus on issues of content modeling aiming at helping the developers to determine the relevant parts of the knowledge domain and to structure the concepts and related information. They illustrate the application of ideas by the collaborative development of an educational module for software testing domain. The module has been preliminarily evaluated; in general, positive attitudes toward the quality and flexibility it provides can be observed.
Video-Lectures over Internet
Authors: Ronchetti Marco
Published: May 2011

Recent trends suggest that multimedia (in particular audio and video) will increase their share of Internet traffic, and that users are becoming more and more acquainted with viewing multimedia content on their computers and mobile devices. Scholarly institutions are experimenting since several years with the distribution of video-lectures, which are generally not meant as a replacement of traditional lectures, but rather as a different kind of support of the educational process. After recalling the pioneering ideas, discussed in this chapter is the pedagogical soundness of the idea of using videos over Internet for teaching and learning. Later reviewed are the various directions that research has taken over the last 10 years to support and enhance this modality.
Chinese Postgraduate Students Learning Online in New Zealand
Authors: Cong Yan , Earl Kerry
Published: May 2011

Findings presented explore the Chinese cultural influence, aspects of instructional design that supported learning and achievement, and the influence of the culture in which they were learning. Lessons for the teaching staff, learning design staff and others involved in online learning for students of other cultures are outlined.
Shaping Perspectives on the “Culture of Disability”
Authors: Kilham Christine H.
Published: May 2011

Reflecting a more inclusive ethos, teachers in Westernized countries today work with students with diverse needs. Mainstream classrooms may include students with a range of disabilities and/or those from disadvantaged backgrounds including single parent families, rural/remote locations, and lower socio-economic status. How might pre-service teachers be encouraged to see the potential of these students, rather than categorizing them unidimensionally as problems to be solved, or cases to refer? This case study investigated how an online role play could assist Australian pre-service teachers to adopt the perspectives of different stakeholders and develop a more holistic approach. The role play took a constructivist approach to learning and encouraged participants to apply legislative frameworks, work with students’ strengths, and devise solutions to scenarios where there was no single, correct answer. Exposure to multiple viewpoints through the role play helped participants to develop inclusive strategies, rather than marginalizing pupils with additional needs into a special education “culture of deficit”.
Blended Learning Internationalization from the Commonwealth
Authors: Kinash Shelley , Crichton Susan
Published: May 2011

This case depiction addresses the contentious issue of providing culturally and globally accessible teaching and learning to international students in universities in the Commonwealth nations of Australia and Canada. The chapter describes the university systems and cultures, the barriers to authentic higher education internationalization, and the problems frequently experienced by international students. Two university cases are presented and analysed to depict and detail blended learning approaches (face-to-face combined with e-learning) as exemplars of culturally and globally accessible higher education and thereby ideologically grounded internationalization. Lessons learned are presented at the systems level and as teaching and learning solutions designed to address pedagogical problems frequently experienced by international students in the areas of communication, academic skills, teaching and learning conceptualization, and moving from rote learning to critical thinking. The blended learning solutions are analysed through the lens of critical theory.
Learning in Cross-Cultural Online MBA Courses
Authors: Liu Xiaojing , Magjuka Richard J.
Published: May 2011

The rapid improvement in online communication technologies and the globalization of the economy have made offering transnational courses in online learning programs a popular trend. This chapter reports the findings of a case study that investigated the perceptions of international students regarding cultural challenges in their learning experiences during an online MBA program. The study revealed that international students faced cultural barriers, including time management, transition to different instruction styles, time zone differences, case-based learning, and academic integrity, which affected their engagement in online MBA courses. Recommendations are made at the end of the chapter on how to improve the quality of the international students’ learning experiences in cross-cultural learning environments.
Culture Matters!
Authors: Edmundson Andrea L.
Published: May 2011

I have had my mantra since my first trip overseas–a six-month internship as an undergraduate spent in New Zealand–“Culture matters!” On my first international trip, I asked myself, “How different could it be? After all, New Zealand is an English speaking, developed country!” On my first day, I had to drive on the left side of the road instead of on the right. Can you imagine? They gave me the keys to a vehicle without considering this handicap. I circled the ‘round-about at least 4 times before I felt comfortable that my brain had adjusted to exiting correctly. I literally had to practice that maneuver mentally: My first hint that managing cultural differences required different thought patterns and practice!
Face Recognition Based on Manifold Learning and SVM Classification of 2D and 3D Geodesic Curves
Authors: Berretti Stefano , Del Bimbo Alberto , Pala Pietro , Mata Francisco Josè Silva
Published: May 2011

This chapter has a twofold objective. On the one hand, an original approach based on the computation of radial geodesic distances (RGD) is proposed to represent two-dimensional (2D) face images and three-dimensional (3D) face models for the purpose of face recognition. In 3D, the RGD of a generic point of a 3D face surface is computed as the length of the particular geodesic that connects the point with a reference point along a radial direction. In 2D, the RGD of a face image pixel with respect to a reference pixel accounts for the difference of gray level intensities of the two pixels and the Euclidean distance between them. The main contribution of this solution is to permit direct comparison between representations extracted from 2D and 3D facial data, thus opening the way to hybrid approaches for face recognition capable to combine and exploit advantages of different media so as to overcome limitations of traditional solutions based on 2D still images. On the other hand, face representations based on RGDs are used for the purpose of face identification by using them in an operative framework that exploits state of the art techniques for manifold embedding and machine learning. Due to the high dimensionality of face representations based on RGD, embedding into lower-dimensional spaces using manifold learning is applied before classification. Support Vector Machines (SVMs) are used to perform face recognition using 2D- and 3D-RGDs. This shows a general work flow that is not limited to face recognition applications, but can be used in many different contexts of recognition and retrieval. Experimental results are reported for 3D-3D and 2D-3D face recognition using the proposed approach.
Non-Topical Classification of Query Logs Using Background Knowledge
Authors: Taksa Isak , Zelikovitz Sarah , Spink Amanda
Published: May 2011

Background knowledge has been actively investigated as a possible means to improve performance of machine learning algorithms. Research has shown that background knowledge plays an especially critical role in three atypical text categorization tasks: short-text classification, limited labeled data, and non-topical classification. This chapter explores the use of machine learning for non-hierarchical classification of search queries, and presents an approach to background knowledge discovery by using information retrieval techniques. Two different sets of background knowledge that were obtained from the World Wide Web, one in 2006 and one in 2009, are used with the proposed approach to classify a commercial corpus of web query data by the age of the user. In the process, various classification scenarios are generated and executed, providing insight into choice, significance and range of tuning parameters, and exploring impact of the dynamic web on classification results.
Adaptive Indexing for Semantic Music Information Retrieval
Authors: Leung Clement H.C. , Liu Jiming , Milani Alfredo , Chan Alice W.S.
Published: May 2011

With the rapid advancement of music compression and storage technologies, digital music can be easily created, shared and distributed, not only in computers, but also in numerous portable digital devices. Music often constitutes a key component in many multimedia databases, and as they grow in size and complexity, their meaningful search and retrieval become important and necessary. Music Information Retrieval (MIR) is a relatively young and challenging research area started since the late 1990s. Although some form of music retrieval is available on the Internet, these tend to be inflexible and have significant limitations. Currently, most of these music retrieval systems only rely on low-level music information contents (e.g., metadata, album title, lyrics, etc.), and in this chapter, the authors present an adaptive indexing approach to search and discover music information. Experimental results show that through such an indexing architecture, high-level music semantics may be incorporated into search strategies.
Acoustic Analysis of Music Albums
Authors: Jensen Kristoffer
Published: May 2011

Most music is generally published in a cluster of songs, called an album, although many, if not most people enjoy individual songs, commonly called singles. This study proposes to investigate whether or not there is a reason for assembling and enjoying full albums. Two different approaches are undertaken in order to investigate this, both based on audio features, calculated from the music, and related to the common music dimensions rhythm, timbre and chroma. In the first experiment, automatic segmentation is done on full music albums. If the segmentation is done on song boundaries, which is to be expected, as different fade-ins and –outs are employed, then songs are seen as the homogenous units, while if the boundaries are found within songs, then other homogenous units also exist. A second experiment on music sorting by similarity reveals findings on the sorting complexity of music albums. If the sorting complexity is high, then the albums are unordered; otherwise the album is ordered with regards to the features. A discussion of the results of the evaluation of the segment boundaries and sorting complexity reveals interesting findings.
Model-Driven Configuration of Distributed Real-time and Embedded Systems
Authors: Dougherty Brian , White Jules , Schmidt Douglas C.
Published: May 2011

Distributed real-time and embedded (DRE) systems are increasingly being constructed with commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) components to reduce development time and effort. The configuration of these components must ensure that real-time quality-of-service (QoS) and resource constraints are satisfied. Due to the numerous QoS constraints that must be met, manual system configuration is hard. Model-Driven Architecture (MDA) is a design paradigm that incorporates models to provide visual representations of design entities. MDAs show promise for addressing many of these challenges by allowing the definition and automated enforcement of design constraints. This chapter presents MDA techniques and tools that simplify and automate the configuration of COTS components for DRE systems. First, the challenges that make manual DRE system configuration infeasible are presented. Second, the authors provide an incremental methodology for constructing modeling tools to alleviate these difficulties. Finally, the authors provide a case study describing the construction of the Ascent Modeling Platform (AMP), which is a modeling tool capable of producing near-optimal DRE system configurations.
Productivity Analysis of the Distributed QoS Modeling Language
Authors: Hoffert Joe , Schmidt Douglas C. , Gokhale Aniruddha
Published: May 2011

Model-driven engineering (MDE), in general, and Domain-Specific Modeling Languages (DSMLs), in particular, are increasingly used to manage the complexity of developing applications in various domains. Although many DSML benefits are qualitative (e.g., ease of use, familiarity of domain concepts), there is a need to quantitatively demonstrate the benefits of DSMLs (e.g., quantify when DSMLs provide savings in development time) to simplify comparison and evaluation. This chapter describes how the authors conducted productivity analysis for the Distributed Quality-of-Service (QoS) Modeling Language (DQML). Their analysis shows (1) the significant productivity gain using DQML compared with alternative methods when configuring application entities and (2) the viability of quantitative productivity metrics for DSMLs.
An MDA Approach for Developing Executable UML Components
Authors: Motogna S. , Pârv B. , Lazar I.
Published: May 2011

Model-driven Architecture frameworks provide an approach for specifying systems independently of a particular platform and for transforming such system models for a particular platform. But development processes based on MDA are not widely used today because they are in general heavy-weight processes - in most situations they cannot deliver (incrementally) partial implementations to be executed immediately. Executable UML means a execution semantics for a subset of actions sufficient for computational completeness. This chapter introduces a foundational UML (fUML) based action language (AL) and describes its concrete syntax. AL is used to describe the operations for iComponent - the proposed solution for a platform-independent component model for dynamic execution environments. Moreover, a UML profile for modeling components is defined and applied, following agile principles, to the development of service-oriented components for dynamic execution environments. The intended use of the proposed approach is enterprise systems.
Applying UML Extensions in Modeling Software Product Line Architecture of a Distribution Services Platform
Authors: Dobrica Liliana , Ovaska Eila
Published: May 2011

UML provides the means to use specific variation mechanisms to describe hierarchical systems. However, it does not support a description of variation, as it is required for service architecture. UML built-in extension mechanisms refine its specification. This chapter presents the extensions of the UML for representing variations in the software product line architecture of middleware services. The product line is defined as a middleware services framework that includes several products. The products realize different functionality by using various modern software technologies of spontaneous networks. Architecture design produces descriptions at two abstraction levels from multiple viewpoints. The modeling of service architectures benefits from a more familiar and widely used notation that improves stakeholders’ understanding of the architectural artifacts. A standard based notation also enables more extensive tool support for manipulating architecture models.
Harness the Wisdom of Crowds
Authors: Shen Aaron X. L. , Lee Matthew K.O. , Cheung Christy M. K.
Published: May 2011

Today, the growth and popularity of social computing greatly facilitate online collaboration in creating user-centered networked content. This chapter explores participation behaviors in social computing communities, conceptualizing them as group-referent intentional social actions. The authors identify the concept of “we-intention”, which reflects an individual’s perception of the extent to which all participants in a collectivity will engage in the joint action and act together, as a topic of theoretical and practical interest. A preliminary conceptual framework was further developed and, in particular, the collectively shared beliefs (i.e., collective attitude and collective efficacy) and the social influence processes (i.e., subjective norms, group norms and social identity) were regarded as the key predictors of participation we-intention in social computing communities. This chapter finally concludes with a discussion on future research directions in the areas of we-intention and social computing.
Social Contexts in an Information Rich Environment
Authors: Williams Gbolahan K. , Poernomo Iman
Published: May 2011

Information Management’ has seen a tremendous transformation over the years from various forms of traditional analogue/digital techniques for managing information to more current digital forms that employ various heterogeneous technologies aimed at enhancing the task of information management to a level that is more robust, reliable and effective. As one would expect, the application of social computing technologies (SCT) to modern information management contexts has played a particularly useful role to facilitate the process of information sharing, document authoring, communication and collaboration between users in various domains. As such, these technologies have seen increased interest from business and industry, cultural institutions, educational institutions and government. This chapter presents a general overview of the use of social computing technologies in various application domains, discusses various considerations and challenges, and presents a scope for future solutions to those challenges. The conclusion is that while it is generally accepted that SCT’s have the potential to improve communication and collaboration in various organizational and social settings, one must elicit the precise social behavioral models in which it is trying to improve or replicate and some measure to gauge those improvements. In such an instance, the authors suggest ethnography would be particularly useful.
The Central Effects of Thyroid Hormones on Appetite
Authors: Amin Anjali , Dhillo Waljit S. , Murphy Kevin G.
Published: May 2011

Obesity is a major public health issue worldwide. Current pharmacological treatments are largely unsuccessful. Determining the complex pathways that regulate food intake may aid the development of new treatments. The hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid (HPT) axis has well-known effects on energy expenditure, but its role in the regulation of food intake is less well characterised. Evidence suggests that the HPT axis can directly influence food intake. Thyroid dysfunction can have clinically significant consequences on appetite and body weight. Classically, these effects were thought to be mediated by the peripheral effects of thyroid hormone. However, more recently, local regulation of thyroid hormone in the central nervous system (CNS) is thought to play an important role in physiologically regulating appetite. This paper focuses on the role of the HPT and thyroid hormone in appetite and provides evidence for potential new targets for anti-obesity agents.
Management of Differentiated Thyroid Cancer in Pregnancy
Authors: Imran Syed Ali , Rajaraman Murali
Published: May 2011

In young women, differentiated thyroid cancer is the second most common malignancy diagnosed around the time of pregnancy. Management of thyroid cancer during pregnancy poses distinct challenges due to concerns regarding maternal and fetal well-being. In most cases surgery can be safely delayed until after delivery and with adequate management and outcome of pregnancy in women with thyroid cancer is excellent. Ideally these patients should be managed by a multidisciplinary team, and management plan should be determined by a consensus between the patient and the healthcare team.
Visual Symptoms in Parkinson's Disease
Authors: Armstrong R. A.
Published: May 2011

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a common disorder of middle-aged and elderly people in which degeneration of the extrapyramidal motor system causes significant movement problems. In some patients, however, there are additional disturbances in sensory systems including loss of the sense of smell and auditory and/or visual problems. This paper is a general overview of the visual problems likely to be encountered in PD. Changes in vision in PD may result from alterations in visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, colour discrimination, pupil reactivity, eye movements, motion perception, visual field sensitivity, and visual processing speeds. Slower visual processing speeds can also lead to a decline in visual perception especially for rapidly changing visual stimuli. In addition, there may be disturbances of visuospatial orientation, facial recognition problems, and chronic visual hallucinations. Some of the treatments used in PD may also have adverse ocular reactions. The pattern electroretinogram (PERG) is useful in evaluating retinal dopamine mechanisms and in monitoring dopamine therapies in PD. If visual problems are present, they can have an important effect on the quality of life of the patient, which can be improved by accurate diagnosis and where possible, correction of such defects.