bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
An Innovative Offshore Delivery of an Undergraduate Mechanical Engineering Program
Authors: Alam Firoz , Subic Aleksandar , Plumb Gregory , Shortis Mark , Chandra Reddy P.
Published: March 2012

In the era of globalisation, traditional onshore education providers have the opportunity to offer offshore education to meet student needs. Although a number of many non-engineering programs have been offered offshore for some time, the engineering programs generally lag behind due to insufficient laboratory and workshop facilities off campus and the difficulties encountered when trying to emulate this learning experience. RMIT University’s offshore mechanical engineering program is designed to overcome these difficulties by combining traditional teaching and learning with flexible learning modes. The program represents a hybrid approach and has drawn significant interest among students, educational developers, and professional bodies.
Community Engagement in Engineering Education
Authors: Akbar Delwar
Published: March 2012

Engineers usually manage development projects such as dams, weirs, and bridge constructions. All of which require community engagement at least during the planning and construction stages of the project. All projects of this nature undertake mandatory or voluntary Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) before commencing the on-ground activities. Therefore, an engineer is no longer just an engineer but also a development professional. They have to understand the role of the community in project development, and must understand the principles and processes of community engagement. Engineers need to be properly trained for community engagement during either undergraduate or post-graduate education or a similar standing of professional training. The purpose of this chapter is to give an outline of the key principles and processes of community engagement. It also highlights the need for community engagement components in curricula and its learning outcomes in engineering education.
The Way We Work
Authors: Wang Wendy
Published: March 2012

Information technology provides unprecedented opportunities to work virtually. Despite a handful of perceived drawbacks, telecommuting offers society, organizations, and individuals numerous benefits. However, the embrace of telecommuting has been lukewarm at best. One possible explanation is that the traditional idea of a commuter workforce is so strongly ingrained that it will take more time before people begin to regard the office as superfluous. This chapter examines what the idea of “work” looked like in the past, looks like in the present, and what it may look like in the future. By examining the factors that contributed to how we worked both before and after the industrial revolution, and questioning whether these factors are still valid today, this chapter prompts us to reevaluate our assumption about the way we work, and prepare for the changes that are presently taking place. Lastly, this chapter will explore the practical and research implications of virtual work.
Shadowing Virtual Work Practices
Authors: Engstrom Craig Lee
Published: March 2012

Without modification, traditional ethnological approaches cannot fully attend to the translocation of practices into and out of virtual spaces. The ethnographer can observe the dislocation of a particular work practice from a specific place when he or she observes a research subject “log on,” but accounting for the translocation of others’ practices into the shared virtual space, which is necessary to conduct hermeneutical (or constitutive) research in virtual environments, remains an elusive methodological practice. In this chapter, interpretive shadowing, as it has recently been described (e.g., Czarniawska, 2007), is offered as one way to address some of the limitations of virtual ethnography. By describing (virtual) action nets vis-à-vis the “hybrid character of actions,” researchers are able to follow subjects and objects as they move through various spaces/places and describe how these actants constitute fields of practices. Drawing upon examples from two years of shadowing research within the field of private investigations, this chapter describes how shadowers can observe both immediate and virtual practices. Specifically, descriptions of how to account for institutional practices that transcend space, place, and time are provided. Though interpretive research is theoretically sound, examples of specific methodological techniques are provided to address some of the technical limitations of the method when using it to study virtual practices.
Thinking Outside the Office
Authors: Rubin Beth A. , Spivack April J.
Published: March 2012

This chapter draws on labor process theory and builds on a previous paper by Spivack and Rubin (2011) that explored workplace factors that might diminish the autonomy of creative knowledge workers. Using data from the National Study of the Changing Workforce, this chapter tests hypotheses linking creative workers’ ability to work virtually, control their task and temporal autonomy to their well-being, job satisfaction, and commitment. The authors find that creative workers that have spatial autonomy have more positive work attitudes and better mental health. Further, they show that along with task and temporal autonomy, the conditions of the new workplace make spatial autonomy an important consideration. These findings contribute both to literature about the changing workplace and to practitioners concerned with maximizing the well-being of creative knowledge workers.
Australian Users’ Interactions with E-Services in a Virtual Environment
Authors: Sandhu Kamaljeet
Published: March 2012

Research into human interaction with computers requires a clear understanding about “user learning experience” on websites that shape user perceptions about virtual work. This chapter investigates issues that impact users’ learning based on experience in using the e-services system. This research aims to address some of the important characteristics of user learning experience and how it can positively/negatively impact user attitudes towards e-service tasks in virtual work. The adoption, use, and then continued use of an e-services system in terms of e-services system characteristics based on service-user interaction will be studied.
High-Touch Interactivity around Digital Learning Contents and Virtual Experiences
Authors: Hai-Jew Shalin
Published: March 2012

In high-demand learning, such as in higher education, high-touch interactivity between the subject matter experts and learners is critical as is the mutual creative frictions between the learners themselves. Technological affordances have enabled digital learning contents and immersive spaces to promote high-touch interactivity, intensive long-term conversations, interactions, co-designs, collaborations, and innovations between people. A majority of the digital contents and immersive experiences have been designed for particular purposes; some others are more free-form. In addition, these digital contents may be human-mediated or automated. This chapter examines real-world cases in the uses of digital contents and mediated virtual experiential contents for high-touch interactions.
The Role of Experiments in the Study of Virtual Groups
Authors: Walker Lisa Slattery , Blanchard Anita L. , Burnett Heather
Published: March 2012

In this chapter, the authors discuss the use of experimental methods in the study of virtual groups. For some time, experimentalists have hoped, as noted in Bainbridge (2007), that virtual worlds would provide a locale for research. The authors discuss practical techniques for doing so, and provide a detailed example of one such experiment as a platform for discussing opportunities and potential pitfalls for conducting research on virtual work groups. For convenience, they divide the steps in creating and conducting an experiment into several stages: design of the experiment, pre-testing, and statistical power of the data it produces. Each stage in any experiment presents challenges and requires decisions on the part of the experimenters; experiments conducted with virtual groups are certainly no exception.
Grounded Theory Approaches to Research on Virtual Work
Authors: Gibson Danna M. , Webb Lynne M.
Published: March 2012

This chapter explains how researchers can effectively employ grounded theory to study virtual work. The chapter defines grounded theory, reports the history of its development, describes its data collection and analysis, as well as offers guidelines for writing research reports of grounded theory analyses of human interactions surrounding virtual work.
Exploring Organizational Cultures through Virtual Survey Research
Authors: Gilchrist Eletra S. , Sheldon Pavica
Published: March 2012

The survey is regarded as the most commonly used methodological tool in gathering information. There are many types of surveys, but this chapter discusses how to conduct and analyze quantitative and qualitative survey research in virtual environments via online or computer-administered surveys. Corporations are increasingly relying on virtual surveys to acquire knowledge about their employees’ morale, satisfaction, and productivity. Hence, this chapter is intended as a tutorial guide for exploring organizational cultures through virtual survey research. This chapter explains in detail how to design survey questionnaires, sample subjects, analyze data both quantitatively and qualitatively, and finally how to interpret survey results. Strengths and limitations associated with using virtual surveys are highlighted. The chapter also considers future directions for understanding employees’ needs through virtual survey research.
Mapping a Typology for Identifying the Culturally-Related Challenges of Global Virtual Teams
Authors: Zakaria Norhayati , Amelinckx Andrea , Wilemon David
Published: March 2012

This chapter presents and synthesizes the culturally oriented challenges of managing distributed projects by Global Virtual Teams (GVTs) and examines the distinctive issues intrinsic to GVT work structures from a research perspective. In the first section, the authors define the concept of the global virtual team and explore the differences between global virtual teams and traditional co-located team structures. In the second section, they draw upon the cross-cultural theories (Hall, 1976; Hofstede, 1984) as a framework to explore the unique aspects of managing GVTs and then further develop a cultural typology illustrating the challenges of GVTs. Next, the authors discuss the research approaches to examine the cultural impacts on the success of GVTs, as well as highlight the practical implication in the light of the wide-ranging training programs needed by multinational corporations. In the final section, they assert that in order to be effective, GVTs need to develop new patterns of communication, team structure, knowledge exchange, and project management capabilities, and thus, the authors conclude with the future research directions.
Case Study Findings from Human Interaction with Web E-Services
Authors: Sandhu Kamaljeet
Published: March 2012

Case study findings may provide a deeper insight into human interaction with web e-services. The qualitative data that was captured in this study suggests that human interaction with web e-services may make the user task difficult, and that the user expectation about the system not meeting user requirements may downgrade the system’s use. Introducing an e-services system without integrating the user-friendly characteristics may have the effect of introducing complexity. Initial staff impressions of the system were formed on the basis of their expectations. When task outcomes did not meet their expectations, staff tried and then avoided its use.
ERP Implementation Across Cultures
Authors: Romm Livermore Celia , Rippa Pierluigi
Published: March 2012

Implementing an ERP project is a political process. This paper starts with a literature review of organizational politics and its implications to the implementation of ERP systems. The Political Strategies Framework which categorizes different ePolitics strategies in the cases is introduced. The framework is applied in the later sections of the paper to case study data from two companies, one in the US and one in Italy, that both implemented a SAP Enterprise Resources Planning Systems (ERP) with very different outcomes. The discussion highlights the political dynamics in each case and the way in which the framework can help us understand these differences. The conclusions section discusses the differences between the political dynamics in each case and the implications from the findings to broader issues of research on ERP implementation and politics.
Careful What You Say
Authors: Ognyanova Katherine
Published: March 2012

This paper outlines the practices of state control over Internet content in Russia, explaining their grounding in the information culture and media environment of the country. Building on existing data on freedom of the press and online censorship, the present work provides a socio-cultural context expanding the understanding of Kremlin’s influence on the Web. To this end, three relevant planes of power relations are explored. The first one involves censorship and self-censorship routines embedded in Russian information traditions. The second pertains to the state-controlled traditional media, where news goes through a political filter and Internet gets framed in a particular restricted manner. The third domain is that of legislative frameworks and their selective application. The paper suggests that the tools used to control objectionable materials on the Russian Web are not Internet-specific. Rather, they should be seen as an extension of the censorship mechanisms used in traditional media.
Building and Connecting to Online Communities for Action
Authors: Collin Philippa
Published: March 2012

Young people are using information communication technologies (ICT) for new forms of political participation. At the same time, government and non-government organisations are looking to the internet to implement policies designed to engage young people in democracy. This raises the question of what forms of e-citizenship are being imposed on young people and are these same forms being pursued by young people themselves? Coleman (2008) has suggested that programs tend to promote autonomous or managed forms and argues for a ‘productive convergence’ that can facilitate democratic e-citizenship. Using original research, this article presents two case studies of such a ‘productive convergence’ and argues that what is particularly powerful in such e-citizenship programs is that they facilitate young people’s connection to existing networks as well as the building of new communities for action. This article presents a critical analysis of how organisations and young people in Australia and the United Kingdom view and use the internet for participation and considers the extent to which there is increased democratising potential in these e-citizenship programs.
Election Campaigns on the Internet
Authors: Hoff Jens
Published: March 2012

This article investigates whether political use of the Internet affects users politically. Using a combination of log- and survey data from a study of Internet use during the Danish 2007 parliamentary election, a number of hypotheses are tested. The investigation finds that 30% of the survey respondents say they are influenced politically by their Internet use. However, they are only modestly influenced when it comes to “core values” such as party choice or important political issues, while respondents are affected more in terms of general political opinions and opinions on different candidates. Political interest is found to act as an important determinant for political activity on the Internet, and certain types of uses are found to have more profound political effects than others. Somewhat paradoxically—but in line with Zaller (1992)— those indicating they are “little” or “somewhat” interested in politics are found to be the most politically affected.
Comparing the Influence of Social Networks Online and Offline on Decision Making
Authors: Kim Jang Hyun , Barnett George A. , Kwon Kyunghee “Hazel”
Published: March 2012

Along with individuals’ ideological factors, various network properties play a crucial role in the process of legislators’ political decision-making. Social networks among legislators provide relational resources through which communication occurs, exerting social influence among the members in a network. This chapter examines six social relationships among the members of the 109th United States Senate as predictors of senatorial voting (roll call votes), (1) shared committees, (2) co-sponsorships, (3) party membership, (4) PAC donation, (5) geographical contiguity, and (6) internet hyperlinks, which may be considered as direct or indirect representations of communication networks. The six networks are modeled using MRQAP. Results suggest that roll call voting was predicted by party membership, co-sponsorship, geographical proximity, and PAC donation networks, while shared committee membership did not contribute significantly. As for hyperlinks, the result was mixed, showing a small variance of contribution in a simpler model but not significant with more complex models. Suggestions for future research are addressed.
From the Internet to the Corridors
Authors: Breindl Yana
Published: March 2012

European Institutions constitute venues of access for digital rights advocacy networks wishing to influence policy-making on issues of intellectual property rights, internet regulation, and the respect of civil rights in digital environments. Inspired by the hacker imaginary and free and open source principles, digital rights advocacy networks make intensive use of internet tools in order to organize and consolidate a collective identity and build a transnational public sphere. This study focuses on the “No Software Patents” campaign that aimed at influencing the directive on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions (2002-2005) and on the “Telecoms package” campaign, with the objective to remove “graduated response” amendments within a wider set of European telecommunication directives (2007-2009). By discussing the advocacy techniques – both online and offline – that were developed by this activist network, we provide an insight into power struggles that are currently taking place in Europe, but also in other regions of the world.
“Army Uniform Is Part Of My Skin”
Authors: Baqir M. Naveed
Published: March 2012

This paper discusses implications of Information Communication Technologies (ICT) growth on the new political discourse in Pakistan. The power play between the civil society and General Pervez Musharraf set new directions for Pakistani politics in 2007. This paper presents a critical discourse analysis of the controversy surrounding Musharraf’s attempt to continue holding the offices of army chief and president of Pakistan simultaneously. He declared “army uniform is part of my skin”. The civil society’s online participation in the political process and the street protests that resulted forced him to flee the country. The paper offers an analysis of ICT growth and politics in Pakistan and provides an understanding of how ICT growth has shaped the political landscape in Pakistan. Social and electronic media have emerged as powerful political players and have influenced Pakistani politics and policy development. This critical discourse analysis explains political changes during 2007 that are generally attributed to ICT growth. The results indicate that ICT growth plays an important role in achieving harmony, coordination, social change, justice, and transparency of government.
Wearable Technologies for Neonatal Monitoring
Authors: Liu Q. , Poon C. C. Y. , Zhang Y. T.
Published: March 2012

Measuring physiological parameters including heart rate (HR), breathing rate (BR), blood oxygen saturation (SaO2), temperature, pulse transit time (PTT), and blood pressure (BP) in neonates can indicate incidence of adverse events during infancy and also help towards building a complete personal health record (PHR) since birth. Emerging wearable technologies, which provide non-invasive and continuous monitoring of these vital signs, can therefore be used to increase the survival rate of neonates and serve as acquisition tools for developing PHR. This chapter introduces five key technologies for the design of wearable devices: Miniaturisation, Intelligence, Networking, Digitalisation, and Standardisation. Some existing prototypes of wearable medical systems will be described at the end of the chapter.
Neonatal Infrared Thermography Monitoring
Authors: Abbas Abbas K. , Heiman Konrad , Jergus Katrin , Orlikowsky Thorsten , Leonhardt Steffen
Published: March 2012

For critically ill preterm infants, there is a clinical need for contact-free monitoring technologies, which would eliminate discomfort and potential harm (e.g., necrosis) due to adhesive electrodes, temperature and saturation sensors. Hence, this chapter focuses on non-contact physiological monitoring of infants based on infrared (IR) thermography. This technique has the potential to replace the conventional temperature sensing by detecting radiated thermal energy emitted from the baby’s surface according to black-body radiation principle. This allows the application of a less invasive method giving more detailed information about the thermoregulation status of newborn infants. As an illustrative example, an investigation into thermoregulation physiology during kangaroo care method has been chosen to illustrate the benefit of this method for standardized neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) procedures. Furthermore, this technique may have a large impact on non-contact respiratory monitoring, as it allows quantitative evaluation of the heat transfer processes over nostrils region. Moreover, the ability to detect infrared respiration (IRTR) signature with thermography imaging, will pave the road toward a non-contact breathing monitoring. This in turn will influence the development efforts for wireless and smart incubator solutions.
Overview of the ISO/IEEE11073 Family of Standards and their Applications to Health Monitoring
Authors: Escayola J. , Trigo J.D. , Martínez I. , Martínez-Espronceda M. , Aragüés A. , Sancho D. , Led S. , Serrano L. , García J.
Published: March 2012

Traditional fields in health delivery such as chronic diseases or independent aging are evolving to novel healthcare applications like intra-hospital ecosystems and Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs). Furthermore, emerging trends in Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and evolution of the Medical Devices (MDs) to Personal Health Devices (PHDs) led towards the interoperability of new health services. In this patient-centered context, the international ISO/IEEE11073 (X73) family of standards is proposed to provide device usability enhancements. In this chapter, the X73 technical features and the new transport technology profiles specifically designed for X73 are introduced to provide an updated framework for developing highly efficient portable and wearable MDs and PHDs. Moreover, these protocol guidelines and technology features are applied to vital signs monitoring, pointing out some potential advantages for adopting new use cases such as NICUs where design requirements like ergonomics, reliability, size, power consumption and signal transmission become strict implementation constraints.
Monitoring Brain Development in Preterm Infants
Authors: Niemarkt H.J. , Andriessen P.
Published: March 2012

As neurocognitive deficits a still common in preterm infants and the exact etiology of these problems is not elucidated, investigation of preterm brain development is warranted. Electroencephalography (EEG) can provide important information about brain development, although it is hard and time consuming to interpret for neonatologists. Automated EEG analysis can overcome these problems, making brain monitoring more feasible in the neonatal intensive care unit. This chapter discusses different aspects of EEG maturation which are suitable for automated analysis: 1. changes in continuity and 2. changes in frequency. The most important pitfalls for automated EEG analysis are the complex validation process, the lack of a good gold standard, and EEG artifacts. However, when these limitations are addressed, automated EEG analysis can be the cornerstone for a brain monitor, which helps in evaluating premature brain development, in identifying factors which endanger or interfere with normal brain development and in evaluating neuroprotective strategies.
Neonatal Monitoring Based on Facial Expression Analysis
Authors: Han Jungong , Hazelhoff Lykele , de With Peter H.N.
Published: March 2012

Prematurely born infants are observed in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) for medical treatment. These infants are nursed in an incubator, where their vital body functions such as heart rate, respiration, blood pressure, oxygen saturation, and temperature are continuously monitored. However, the existing monitoring system is lack of the measurement for visual expression of the neonatal. Therefore, valuable information about the well being of the patient (e.g., pain and discomfort) may pass unnoticed. This chapter aims at designing a prototype of an automated video monitoring system for the detection of discomfort in newborns by analyzing their facial expression. The system consists of several algorithmic components, ranging from the face detection, ROI determination, facial feature extraction, to behavior stage classification. To further adapt this system to the real hospital environment, the authors also intend to address the problem of locating the face regions under varying lighting conditions. To this end, an adaptive face detection technique based on gamut mapping is presented. The authors have evaluated the prototype system on recordings of a healthy newborn with different conditions, and we show that our algorithm can operate with approximately 88% accuracy.
Smart Jacket Design for Improving Comfort of Neonatal Monitoring
Authors: Chen Wei , Bouwstra Sibrecht
Published: March 2012

Health monitoring is crucial for the survival of ill and premature infants admitted at the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) in a hospital. The reliability and comfort of monitoring systems will impact on the quality of life and long-term health prospects of the neonates. This chapter presents the ongoing design work of a smart jacket for improving comfort of neonatal monitoring. Textile sensors, a reflectance pulse oximeter, and a wearable temperature sensor are developed to be embedded into the smart jacket. The authors also report a power supply and wireless communication system developed for the smart jacket. Sensor locations, materials, and appearance are designed to optimize the functionality, patient comfort and the possibilities for aesthetic features. Prototypes are presented for demonstrating the design concept, and experimental results for functional performance are shown from the tests on premature babies at the NICU of Máxima Medical Centre (MMC) in Veldhoven, the Netherlands.
Conclusion and Outlook
Authors: Feijs Loe , Chen Wei , Oetomo Sidarto Bambang
Published: March 2012

This chapter looks back to the other chapters of this book, briefly mentioning some of the highlights. At the same time, this chapter attempts to create a larger picture, showing where the field is going and how it fits into a larger societal context. In order to structure the presentation, this chapter considers six main trends which are important in health care and in neonatal care in particular.
A Citizen-Centric Platform to Support Networking in the Area of e-Democracy
Authors: Molinari Francesco , Wills Christopher , Koumpis Adamantios , Moumtzi Vasiliki
Published: March 2012

This chapter describes experiences acquired during the research work conducted as part of the European Project Tell Me (www.tellmeproject.eu). The project envisaged to support the pan-European creation of Living Labs as new forms of cooperation between government, enterprises, citizens, and academia for a successful transfer of e-Government, e-Democracy, and e-Services state-of-the art applications, solutions, know-how, and best practices. In this chapter authors explore the potential of providing an existing system (DEMOS) allowing moderated and goal-oriented discourses between the citizens and the policy makers to become parts of open-ended ventures to allow the creation of collaborative networks for Electronic Democracy. This work also recommends that this form of support network elevates e-Democracy of a country and thus improves e-governance systems at the grassroots.
Analysis-Sensitive Conversion of Administrative Data into Statistical Information Systems
Authors: Fugini Mariagrazia , Cesarini Mirko , Mezzanzanica Mario
Published: March 2012

This chapter presents a case study concerning the development of a Statistical Information System (SIS) out of data coming from administrative archives of the PAs. Such archives are a rich source of up to date information, but an attempt to use them as sources for statistical analysis reveals errors and incompatibilities among each other that do not permit their usage as a statistical and decision support basis. These errors and incompatibilities are usually undetected during administrative use, since they do not affect their day-by-day use in the PAs; however they need to be fixed before performing any further aggregate analysis. The reader is engaged with the basic aspects involved in building a SIS out of administrative data, such as design of an integration model for different and heterogeneous data sources, improvement of the overall data quality, removal of errors that might impact on the correctness of statistical analysis, design of a data warehouse for statistical analysis, and design of a multidimensional database to develop indicators for decision support. Finally, some examples are presented concerning the information that can be obtained by making use of a SIS constructed out of Registry and Income Office archives.
E-Government Policy
Authors: Ambali Abdul Raufu
Published: March 2012

The emergence of faster delivery service required a faster mechanism of transaction between government and its people. But such a transaction is not without issues that have to be addressed by the governments of the public sectors. The primary issues addresses by this chapter include the relationships between the perceived: security tightening, facilitating conditions, usefulness, eases of using e-filing system, and users’ retention. The second issue addressed by the chapter is differences in gender of the users with respect to factors that influence their state of retention. The findings of the study show a strong relationship between the predicting factors and user’s intention to continuing using the system. The findings also show that the retention of users is highly affected by the differences in the gender of the users. This research would like to recommend that a faster transaction mechanism between the government and the people enhances the e-governance system and in this context, this chapter focuses on some potential implications of e-filing system of Malaysia.
A Novel Approach for Load Frequency Control of Interconnected Thermal Power Stations
Authors: Arya Yogendra , Mathur H.D. , Gupta S.K.
Published: March 2012

This paper presents a fuzzy logic controller for load frequency control (LFC) of multi-area interconnected power system. The study has been designed for a three area interconnected thermal power stations with generation rate constraint (GRC). Simulation results of the proposed fuzzy controller are presented and it has been shown that proposed controller can generate the good dynamic response following a step load change. Robustness of proposed controller is achieved by analyzing the system response with varying system parameters.
Online Social Networks
Authors: Melton James , Miller Robert , Salmona Michelle
Published: March 2012

Previous research has shown that many college students in the United States post content to social networking sites that they know would be considered inappropriate by employers and other authority figures. However, the phenomenon has not been extensively studied in cross-cultural context. To address this knowledge gap, a survey of college students in Australia, Denmark, the United Kingdom, and the United States was conducted. The study found a universal tendency among the four groups: students knew the content they were posting would be considered inappropriate by employers and other authority figures, but they chose to post it anyway. The article also reports on differences in the way this tendency was manifested and on related aspects of social networking across cultures, including decisions about privacy and information disclosure.
Geographies of Open Source Biotechnology Innovation
Authors: Tamoschus David
Published: March 2012

Virtual communication forms play an increasingly important role for innovation and knowledge creation to individuals and to public and private organizations such as research centers, universities, and firms. Whereas biotech R&D cooperation was characteristically organized in a highly specialized cluster based largely on local face-to-face communications and strategic temporary linkages to other agglomerations, this archetypal configuration may undergo changes due to the emerging applicability of open innovation models such as ‘open source biotechnology’ or the advanced integration of physicians and patients into therapy development processes. An in-depth case study of an ‘Open Source Pharma’ network portrays how innovation and knowledge integration mechanisms are put into practice through ´permanence` in virtual space. In this newly created environment a number of geographical patterns are inverted: ´local buzz` turns into ´virtual global buzz`; global pipelines transform to local pipelines. However, institutionalized norms of the virtual network illustrate noteworthy similarities with ´localized capabilities` of regional agglomerations.
Social Media
Authors: Tyagi Archana , Tyagi Ragini
Published: March 2012

Social Media is primarily internet and mobile tools allowing people to share, collaborate and publish information. Over the last couple of years, the availability and usage of such tools has emerged substantially and led to a cultural shift, connecting people and allowing them to collaborate in ways that were not possible otherwise. To embrace social media tools seamlessly in the organizations can be a real challenge for human resource management professionals. The specific contribution of this paper is to take a relook at the opportunities which social media tools are able to create for the organizations in terms of learning and collaboration. Living and smooth working in a non-hierarchical network is still a big hurdle for organizations and can be a challenging task faced by human resource departments. This paper presents the foundational components of social media linked with human resource processes and lays the groundwork required for companies to harness the potential of social media in the long run. The ultimate objective of human resource departments is to be ready with a shift in their competency and skill sets by embracing a high degree of “technological readiness”, adaptability and positive attitude towards these new social media tools. An exhaustive literature survey presents the analysis of the paper.
Where Time Goes
Authors: Isman Aytekin , Altınay Zehra , Altınay Fahriye A.
Published: March 2012

The aim of this research study is to explore the role of technology in managing leisure time in a productive and socialized way for a professional growth of the graduates who have studied for a master’s degree in the field of education. In this respect, pre-service teachers reflected, through-self reports, on how they used their leisure time learning with the help of the technology. 38 volunteer pre-service teachers became part of the qualitative research in order to gain insights about leisure time management in a productive way. Case study was employed as research approach and self-report provided valuable qualitative data for the research focus. This research study revealed that pre-service teachers have the ability to manage leisure time with various social activities. Significantly, the online technology also enriches personal and professional growth.
Learner Characteristics and Performance in a First-Person Online Desktop Virtual Environment
Authors: Ausburn Lynna J.
Published: March 2012

This study used a trait/treatment conceptual model with a single-treatment design to examine effects of gender, computer gaming experience, age, and visual skill on learners’ performance and perceptions in an online desktop virtual environment (DVE). Participants were 55 adult students in a sub-baccalaureate surgical technology program. The DVE presented two operating rooms (ORs) and their contents. The DVE was a “first-person” environment in which learners controlled their exploration and navigation and viewed the ORs from their own perspective as if seeing them in the physical world. Results indicated that gender, gaming experience, and age affected the learners’ spatial orientation, perceived confidence, and perceived task difficulty in the DVE, but visual skill did not. Correlations were also found among several of the learner variables. Recommendations are made for both practice and further research.
Developing Self-Regulation Skills in Virtual Worlds
Authors: Paraskeva Fotini , Mysirlaki Sofia , Vasileiou Vasilis N.
Published: March 2012

In order to succeed in today’s life and work environments, people require more than thinking skills and content knowledge. Initiative and self-direction skills are needed, including the ability to manage goals and time, to work independently, and be self-directed learners. On the other hand, e-learning has brought changes in every field of formal and informal education, such as training programs, basic education, and life-long learning. However, e-learning is not inherently motivating and can even be demotivating due to technological, intrapersonal, and interpersonal hurdles. A hallmark of e-learning is its reliance on learner autonomy, also called independent or self-directed learning. In view of the need for the design of e-learning environments that would provide self-regulation strategies for the maximization of learners’ engagement to an e-learning course and the development self-regulation as an important life skill, this paper presents the application of a Self-Regulation Theory based educational scenario, using the Virtual World of Second Life to enhance situated experience in professional and career development and to develop self-regulation as an important skill for the 21st century, along with skills, such as collaboration, team work, peer exchange and problem solving.
Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game for Teaching Youth Finance in Canada
Authors: Jones David A. , Chang Maiga
Published: March 2012

It has been stated that people need to improve their knowledge of finances and make better choices with their money. Many programs have been created to teach basic finances. These programs target people of all ages from adults all the way down to kindergarten students. The vast majority of opinions on teaching finances state that education begins with children – the younger the better. The goal of this research is to create a fun to play multiplayer online role playing game (MORPG) capable of teaching younger students how to better manage their personal finances. The game is designed as an educational tool with an attempt to balance both the entertainment and educational components. It simulates a real world where the player must make financial decisions for their avatars in an attempt to develop enough wealth to allow that avatars to retire at a specified age.
Cooperative Error Control Mechanism Combining Cognitive Technology for Video Streaming Over Vehicular Networks
Authors: Tsai Ming-Fong , Chilamkurti Naveen , Li Hsia-Hsin
Published: March 2012

Video streaming over vehicular networks is an attractive feature to many applications, such as emergency video transmission and inter-vehicle video transmission. Vehicles accessing road-side units have a few seconds to download information and experience a high packet loss rate. Hence, this paper proposes Cooperative Error Control (CEC) mechanism combining Cognitive Technology (CT) for video streaming over wireless vehicular networks. CEC mechanism combining CT uses a cooperative error recover scheme to recover lost packets not only from a road-side unit which uses the primary channel but also from the other vehicles using a free channel. Hence, CEC mechanism with CT can enhance error recovery performance and quality of video streaming over vehicular networks. Simulation results show the error recover performance of the CEC mechanism combining CT performs better than the other related mechanisms.
An Efficient Data Dissemination Scheme for Warning Messages in Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks
Authors: Javed Muhammad A. , Khan Jamil Y.
Published: March 2012

Vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs) are expected to be used for the dissemination of emergency warning messages on the roads. The emergency warning messages such as post crash warning notification would require an efficient multi hop broadcast scheme to notify all the vehicles within a particular area about the emergency. Such emergency warning applications have low delay and transmission overhead requirements to effectively transmit the emergency notification. In this paper, an adaptive distance based backoff scheme is presented for efficient dissemination of warning messages on the road. The proposed scheme adaptively selects the furthest vehicle as the next forwarder of the emergency message based on channel conditions. The detailed performance figures of the protocol are presented in the paper using simulations in the OPNET network simulator. The proposed protocol introduces lower packet delay and broadcast overhead as compared to standard packet broadcasting protocols for vehicular networks.
Potential Use of the Theory of Vulnerability in Information Systems
Authors: Silva Pedro Sá , Pinto Jorge , Varajão João , Trigo António , Bentes Isabel , Varum Humberto
Published: March 2012

Information Systems in the past few years became a keystone of society. History shows that in some Information Systems one simple failure can lead to disproportioned economic and social damages. Initially used in structural systems, the theory of vulnerability searches for this type of failure. This theory identifies failures in which small damage can have disproportionate impact consequences in terms of the functionality of the whole system. To test and evaluate these failures injections and analyze the impacts of them in sensitive Information Systems, simulation provides an interesting approach. By mimicking systems and representing them through models, simulation studies an imitated system without disrupting the system itself. Simulation provides a safer approach to explore and test the system in damage scenarios without real consequences. This paper discusses the use of the theory of vulnerability in Information Systems simulation.
A Reflection on the Ph.D. Program in Spatially Integrated Social Science at the University of Toledo
Authors: Alam Bhuiyan Monwar , Eckert Jeanette , Lindquist Peter S.
Published: March 2012

The use of spatial analysis tools is on the rise in many academic fields and practical applications. These tools enhance the ability to examine data from spatial perspectives. Though the study of place and space has traditionally been the domain of the field of geography, growing numbers of researchers are turning to these tools in the social sciences and beyond. The University of Toledo has established a unique Ph.D. granting program to encompass the theories, tools, and applications of spatially integrated social science. In the first couple of years of its inception the program has attracted students from different places and diverse backgrounds. It is expected that the program will continue to thrive in attracting diverse students, securing external grants, and positively impacting on the economy of Northwest Ohio. This paper is a personal reflection of the views of the authors on the Ph.D. program in Spatially Integrated Social Science at the University of Toledo two years after its inception in fall 2009. The views, by no means, are of the University of Toledo, its SISS program, or any of the participating departments and faculty members.
Social Media and Corporate Data Warehouse Environments
Authors: Bartoo Debora S.
Published: March 2012

This paper argues that organizations need to prepare for the integration of social media data into their data warehouses in order to fully understand their customers. Social media has quickly gained acceptance in its adoption and use and firms are eager to get their hands on it to better understand customer sentiment. However, social media data is different and more complex than traditional data and most data warehouses are not structured in a way for BI applications to easily make sense it. As a result, it is becoming critical for business intelligence teams to begin to understand the challenges this data presents and to better plan for the integration of this information into corporate data warehouses.
A Method for Scalable Real-Time Network Performance Baselining, Anomaly Detection, and Forecasting
Authors: Strahan Robert
Published: March 2012

Communication is the lifeblood of any business. Today, communication is predominantly facilitated by digital packets transported over the interconnected arteries of the data network infrastructure. It is imperative that this infrastructure is well managed, that unexpected behavior is quickly identified and explained, and that problems are predicted and preempted. Therefore, network performance management systems should be able to detect unusual or anomalous behavior as it happens, and quickly trigger automatic analysis or alert a human operator. Growth trends in network traffic must also be identified so that future problems may be anticipated and prevented. To meet these challenges, this paper proposes an integrated, scalable method to perform baselining, anomaly detection, and forecasting on time series network metrics. The method is based on the popular Holt-Winters triple exponential smoothing technique – a technique that compares favorably to other more complex and costly approaches.
A Distance Instructional System with Learning Performance Evaluation Mechanism
Authors: Lee Ying-Chen , Terashima Nobuyoshi
Published: March 2012

In this paper, a Moodle-based educational system has been constructed by providing friendly interface to fit most students in e-learning. For the website implementation, the authors take the course “Multimedia Implementation Using JAVA” as a case study. From the modified Moodle-based educational system, the browsing time of each web page for students can be obtained. By analyzing the recorded information, teachers can find out factors which will affect students’ learning performance, so as to apply the proposed learning performance evaluation mechanism to evaluate students’ learning performance for providing adequate auxiliary learning materials to individual students.