bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Tropical Brown Alga Lobophora variegata: A Source of Antiprotozoal Compounds
Authors: Cantillo-Ciau Zulema , Moo-Puc Rosa , Quijano Leovigildo , Freile-Pelegrín Yolanda
Published: April 2010

Lobophora variegata, a brown alga collected from the coast of the Yucatan peninsula, Mexico, was studied for antiprotozoal activity against Giardia intestinalis, Entamoeba histolytica and Trichomonas vaginalis. The whole extract showed the highest activity against T. vaginalis, with an IC50 value of 3.2 mg/mL. For the fractions, the best antiprotozoal activity was found in non-polar fractions. The chloroform fraction of the extract contained a major sulfoquinovosyldiacylglycerol (SQDG), identified as 1-O-palmitoyl-2-O-myristoyl-3-O-(6´´´-sulfo-a-D-quinovopyranosyl)-glycerol (1), together with small amounts of 1,2-di-O-palmitoyl-3-O-(6´´´-sulfo-a-D-quinovopyranosyl)-glycerol (2) and a new compound identified as 1-O-palmitoyl-2-O-oleoyl-3-O-(6´´´-sulfo-a-D-quinovopyranosyl)-glycerol (3). Their structures were elucidated on the basis of chemical and enzymatic hydrolysis and careful analysis of FAB-MS and NMR spectroscopic data. This is the first report on the isolation of SQDGs from L. variegata. The mixture of 1–3 showed good activity against E. histolytica and moderate activity against T. vaginalis with IC50s of 3.9 and 8.0 mg/mL, respectively, however, the activity of 1–3 is not as effective as metronidazole. These results afford ground information for the potential use of the whole extract and fractions of this species in protozoal infections.
Elucidating Drug-Enzyme Interactions and Their Structural Basis for Improving the Affinity and Potency of Isoniazid and Its Derivatives Based on Computer Modeling Approaches
Authors: Punkvang Auradee , Saparpakorn Patchreenart , Hannongbua Supa , Wolschann Peter , Pungpo Pornpan
Published: April 2010

The enoyl-ACP reductase enzyme (InhA) from M. tuberculosis is recognized as the primary target of isoniazid (INH), a first-line antibiotic for tuberculosis treatment. To identify the specific interactions of INH-NAD adduct and its derivative adducts in InhA binding pocket, molecular docking calculations and quantum chemical calculations were performed on a set of INH derivative adducts. Reliable binding modes of INH derivative adducts in the InhA pocket were established using the Autodock 3.05 program, which shows a good ability to reproduce the X-ray bound conformation with rmsd of less than 1.0 Å. The interaction energies of the INH-NAD adduct and its derivative adducts with individual amino acids in the InhA binding pocket were computed based on quantum chemical calculations at the MP2/6-31G (d) level. The molecular docking and quantum chemical calculation results reveal that hydrogen bond interactions are the main interactions for adduct binding. To clearly delineate the linear relationship between structure and activity of these adducts, CoMFA and CoMSIA models were set up based on molecular docking alignment. The resulting CoMFA and CoMSIA models are in conformity with the best statistical qualities, in which r2cv is 0.67 and 0.74, respectively. Structural requirements of isoniazid derivatives that can be incorporated into the isoniazid framework to improve the activity have been identified through CoMFA and CoMSIA steric and electrostatic contour maps. The integrated results from structure-based, ligand-based design approaches and quantum chemical calculations provide useful structural information facilitating the design of new and more potentially effective antitubercular agents as follow: the R substituents of isoniazid derivatives should contain a large plane and both sides of the plane should contain an electropositive group. Moreover, the steric and electrostatic fields of the 4-pyridyl ring are optimal for greater potency.
BARI+: A Biometric Based Distributed Key Management Approach for Wireless Body Area Networks
Authors: Raazi Syed Muhammad , Lee Heejo , Lee Sungyoung , Lee Young-Koo
Published: April 2010

Wireless body area networks (WBAN) consist of resource constrained sensing devices just like other wireless sensor networks (WSN). However, they differ from WSN in topology, scale and security requirements. Due to these differences, key management schemes designed for WSN are inefficient and unnecessarily complex when applied to WBAN. Considering the key management issue, WBAN are also different from WPAN because WBAN can use random biometric measurements as keys. We highlight the differences between WSN and WBAN and propose an efficient key management scheme, which makes use of biometrics and is specifically designed for WBAN domain.
СТРОГИЙ СТИЛЬ ВИЛЕНСКОГО КЛАССИЦИЗМА
Authors: Морозов Валерий
Published: April 2010

“Strong” style of Vilnius classicism was a great phenomenon in the East European architecture and existed side by side with the baroque classicism or empire style or “rational” style.

The paper determines the range of buildings, names of creators, characteristic features, peculiarities and significance of Vilnius classicism. It provides a deeper knowledge of the works of the famous Lithuanian architect V. Stuoka-Gucevičius. It is proved that in 1780 the project of the catholic Bishop’s Palace and reconstruction of the Carmelite’s Church in Mogiliev have been carried out by this architect.

Spreading of Vilnius classicism “strong” style in the Belarussian and Lithuanian architecture was determined. The patriotic domestic nobility chose this style consciously because of their demonstration of the “knight” behavior in everyday life. Thanks to this style a temple appearance of a house was created by a simple space organization and grand classic portico on the main facade.

Резюме

Строгий стиль виленского классицизма представляет собой крупное явление в архитектуре Восточной Европы наряду с барочным классицизмом, ампиром и рациональным направлением. В статье определен круг построек, имена создателей, характерные черты, особенности и значение виленского классицизма. Значительно расширены сведения о творчестве выдающегося литовского архитектора Л. Стуоки-Гуцявичюса. Доказано, что в 1780-е годы по его проектам было осуществлено строительство дворца католического архиепископа и перестройка костела кармелитов в Могилеве. Показан характер распространения строгого стиля виленского классицизма в архитектуре белорусских и литовских земель. Строгий стиль сознательно выбирало для своих построек патриотически настроенное местное дворянство, демонстрировавшее в повседневной жизни спартанское «рыцарское» поведение. Благодаря этому был создан облик «храмовидного» усадебного дома с простым объемным построением и величественным классицистическим портиком на главном фасаде.

Santrauka

Griežtas Vilniaus klasicizmo stilius – tai žymus Rytų Europos architektūros reiškinys šalia barokinio klasicizmo, ampiro ir racionalumo krypties. Straipsnyje minimi Vilniaus klasicizmo stiliaus architektai, apibūdinti šio stiliaus pastatai, pateikti jo svarbiausi bruožai ir reikšmė. Praplėstos žinios apie žymaus lietuvių architekto L. Stuokos-Gucevičiaus kūrybą. Įrodyta, kad pagal jo projektus nuo 1780 m. buvo pastatyti arkivyskupo rūmai ir perstatyta karmelitų bažnyčia Mogiliove. Apibūdinta Vilniaus griežtojo klasicizmo stiliaus įtaka Baltarusijos ir Lietuvos žemių architektūrai. Ši stilių savo pastatams sąmoningai rinkdavo vietiniai bajorai patriotai. Buvo sukurtas sodybos rūmų, primenančių šventovę, vaizdas.
PARKŲ MENO RAIDOS TENDENCIJOS EUROPOJE IR LIETUVOJE: ROMANTIZMAS IR ISTORIZMAS
Authors: Mocevičius Albinas
Published: April 2010

The paper describes the period between classicism and modernism. At that time romanticism and historicism predominated. The art trends in the parks of western and eastern Europe at the end of the 18th and 19th care analysed. Spatial, planning structure, compositional elements and trends are compared. The author tried to find common features between Lithuanian and European parks created in the period of romanticism and historicism in the 18th and 19th c. Geopolitical, economic and cultural features of development, which predetermined and influenced the trend of park art development until the beginning of a new era of modernism, are shortly described.

Santrauka

Straipsnyje trumpai aptariamas laikotarpis tarp klasicizmo ir modernizmo. Tuo laikotarpiu vyravo romantizmas ir istorizmas. Nagrinėjamos meno tendencijos Vakarų ir Rytų Europos XVIII a. pab. – XIX a. parkuose. Lyginama jų erdvinė, planinė struktūra, kompoziciniai elementai ir kitos tendencijos. Straipsnyje ieškoma sąlyčio taškų tarp Europoje ir Lietuvoje sukurtų parkų romantizmo ir istorizmo laikotarpiu, XVIII ir XIX a. Trumpai aptariamos geopolitinės, ekonominės ir kultūrinės raidos ypatybės, kurios lėmė ir veikė parkų meno raidos kryptį iki naujos Moderno epochos atsiradimo.
THE CITYSCAPE OF A CONTEMPORARY MEGAPOLIS: CHANGES OF TEXT FORM
Authors: Zaleckis Kęstutis
Published: April 2010

Cityscape is a sum of cultural artifacts. As a text it represents various cultural contents and is influenced by cultural changes. Magapolitan cityscape is unique because it becomes of alocal phenomenon. There the tendencies of hypertextualization of megapolitan cityscape are analyzed in the article.

Santrauka

Miestovaizdis – tai kultūrinių artefaktų visuma ir tekstas, perteikiantis kultūros turinius „skaitytojams“ ir atspindintis minėtų turinių pokyčius. Megapolio miestovaizdis unikalus tuo, kad jis tampa teksto forma, sutinkama ne tik konkrečiame megapolyje, bet ir kituose, žemesnio hierarchinio lygmens urbanistiniuose dariniuose. Kitaip tariant – jis tampa nelokaliu fenomenu. Straipsnyje analizuojamos megapolio miestovaizdžio hipertekstualizacijos tendencijos.
Quantifying the Association of Radiographic Osteoarthritis in Knee or Hip Joints with Other Knees or Hips: The Johnston County Osteoarthritis Project
Authors: SAYRE ERIC C. , JORDAN JOANNE M. , CIBERE JOLANDA , MURPHY LOUISE , SCHWARTZ TODD A. , HELMICK CHARLES G. , RENNER JORDAN B. , RAHMAN M. MUSHFIQUR , AGHAJANIAN JAAFAR , KANG WEIQUN , BADLEY ELIZABETH M. , KOPEC JACEK A.
Published: April 2010

Objective.

To quantify the association of radiographic osteoarthritis (ROA) in one knee or hip joint with other knee or hip joints.

Methods.

We analyzed baseline data from the Johnston County Osteoarthritis Project (n = 3068). We fit 4 models for left/right knee/hip. The Kellgren-Lawrence (KL) radiographic grade severity scale was KL 0/1 (no/questionable ROA), 2 (mild ROA), or 3/4 (moderate/severe ROA). We estimated associations between KL grade in contralateral joints and other joint sites (e.g., worst hip in knee models), adjusting for sex, race/ethnicity (African American/white), age, and measured body mass index, using cumulative odds logistic regression models. Interactions were investigated: race/ethnicity by sex; race/ethnicity and sex by the 2 explanatory variables.

Results.

Contralateral joint KL grade was strongly associated with KL grade, with OR ranging from 9.2 (95% CI 7.1, 11.9) to 225.0 (95% CI 83.6, 605.7). In the left knee model, the contralateral joint association was stronger among African Americans than whites, but for the other models the associations by race/ethnicity were identical. Models examining other joint sites showed weaker but mostly statistically significant associations (OR 1.4 to 1.8).

Conclusion.

We found a strong multivariable-adjusted association between KL grades in contralateral knees and hips, and a modest association with the other joint site (e.g., knees vs hips). These results suggest that diagnosis of ROA in 1 large joint may be a marker for risk of multijoint ROA, and warrant interventions to reduce the incidence or severity of ROA at these other joints.
Limited Diagnostic Value of Unilateral Sacroiliitis in Scintigraphy in Assessing Axial Spondyloarthritis
Authors: SONG IN-HO , BRANDT HENNING , RUDWALEIT MARTIN , SIEPER JOACHIM
Published: April 2010

Objective.

To assess the diagnostic value for axial spondyloarthritis (SpA) of unilateral sacroiliitis in scintigraphy in daily clinical practice.

Methods.

In 207 patients with chronic back pain, the diagnostic value of scintigraphy was assessed retrospectively. The diagnosis made by the rheumatologist (axial SpA vs no axial SpA) was the standard.

Results.

Sensitivities of scintigraphy for any (unilateral or bilateral), bilateral, and isolated unilateral sacroiliitis were 64.9%, 40.2%, and 24.7%, respectively. Respective specificities were 50.5%, 57.7%, and 92.8%, resulting in likelihood ratios of 1.3, 1.0, and 3.4.

Conclusion.

Scintigraphy of the sacroiliac joints is of limited value for the diagnosis of axial SpA. Unilateral compared to bilateral sacroiliitis is slightly superior, but is associated with a low sensitivity.
Assessing Back Pain: Does the Oswestry Disability Questionnaire Accurately Measure Function in Ankylosing Spondylitis?
Authors: O’SHEA FINBAR D. , RIARH REENA , ANTON ANNEPA , INMAN ROBERT D.
Published: April 2010

Objective.

To determine whether the Oswestry Disability Questionnaire (ODQ) can be used to assess the degree of pain or disability in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS).

Methods.

The ODQ was administered to a cohort of patients with AS. The resulting pain scores were correlated to the conventional measures in AS, the Bath AS Disease Activity Index and Functional Index (BASDAI and BASFI), as well as the Total and Nocturnal Back Pain scores, and the patient global assessment score.

Results.

A total of 49 patients with AS were assessed (38 men, 11 women), mean age 40 years (range 17–68). The mean ODQ score was 40/100 (range 0–92), the mean BASDAI 3.7/10 (range 0–9.5), the mean BASFI 3.3/10 (range 0–9.7), the mean total back pain score 3.7/10 (range 0–10), and the mean patient global assessment score 3.6/10 (range 0–10). Correlation between the ODQ and the traditional AS outcome measures was very good, with a correlation coefficient of r = 0.73 (BASFI) and r = 0.70 (BASDAI). Correlations between the ODQ and the total back pain score (r = 0.70) and the patient self-reported global assessment (r = 0.61) were good.

Conclusion.

The strong correlations between the ODQ and BASFI and BASDAI indicate that it identifies both activity and function domains in AS. This is the first demonstration of a role for this outcome measure in the assessment of patients with AS.
Web-Based Corporate Governance Information Disclosure
Authors: Jiang Yabing , Raghupathi Viju , Raghupathi Wullianallur
Published: April 2010

Effective and timely use of the Internet, with a navigable and regularly-updated corporate Web site, can improve perceptions about a company’s transparency vis-à-vis corporate governance practices. Based on an empirical analysis of data from 30 company Web sites in the DJIA, we conclude that a majority of companies underutilize their Web sites in communicating corporate governance information. Nearly all companies provide only routine content disclosure using minimal Web design features. A proactive display of compliance and due diligence content is largely absent, and most companies have yet to exploit advanced Web technologies to the fullest. Companies with better quality content and design appear to have higher corporate governance quotient (CGQ) ratings thereby implying greater transparency. The resultant framework can help companies vastly improve their Web sites by including more content that reflects due diligence and transparency and implementing Web 2.0 and other advanced technologies. Companies serious about transparency will adopt a more strategic approach to Web content and design. The lists of variables we identify can serve as checklists and/or templates for executives and researchers.
A Case Study of the Adoption and Use of Information Systems Technology in a Business-Format Franchise
Authors: Repack Diana L. , Repack William F.
Published: April 2010

This research identifies factors that influence technology use and adoption within the context of a growing international commercial and residential moving franchise system. This mixed method study explores differences in attitudes and expectations about technology between the franchisor and its franchisees. Franchise systems are different than other small or medium sized businesses because there are many individuals running their own relatively small business, yet they are still part of a larger whole. Running a successful business requires time, and individual franchisees tend to be more interested in spending that time on their day-to-day operation rather on addressing the information needs of the franchisor. As a result, franchisors often feel that the technologies they offer to facilitate information sharing are underutilized. A set of recommendations is provided for maximizing franchisees’ acceptance and usage of the technologies.
The Post-Adoption Phase of Broadband in Small Businesses
Authors: Gholami Roya , Koh Elizabeth , Lim John
Published: April 2010

In spite of the increasing significance of broadband, many small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are unaware of or unappreciative of its benefits. This is potentially a problem for governments, Internet Service Providers and other supply side institutions. The current study empirically verifies applicability of an extended IS continuance model controlling for organizational variables based on the Technology-Organization-Environment framework to examine factors influencing broadband post-adoption behavior of SMEs in Singapore. Strong support for the model has been manifested by the results, providing insight into influential factors. Results of the study suggest that perceived usefulness is a strong predictor of users’ continuance intention, followed by satisfaction with broadband usage as a significant but weaker predictor. SMEs in a more competitive business environment and whose key executive possesses greater IT knowledge are more likely to use broadband.
A Dynamic Spoken Dialogue Interface for Ambient Intelligence Interaction
Authors: Montoro Germán , Haya Pablo A. , Alamán Xavier
Published: April 2010

In this paper, we present the interpretation and generation processes of a spoken dialogue interface for ambient intelligence. The interface is automatically created for each specific environment and the interpretation and generation vary depending on the environment and its context. These processes rely on a dialogue tree structure. Several modules process the tree structure and the context information to produce specific dialogues for the current environment state. The interface has been implemented and evaluated in an ambient intelligence environment. Satisfactory objective and subjective evaluation results are shown at the end of the paper.
Spatio-Temporal Footprints
Authors: Guesgen Hans W. , Marsland Stephen
Published: April 2010

The recognition of human behaviour from sensor observations is an important area of research in smart homes and ambient intelligence. In this paper, we introduce the idea of spatio-temporal footprints, which are local patterns in space and time that should be similar across repeated occurrences of the same behaviour. We discuss the spatial and temporal mapping requirements of these footprints, together with how they may be used.
Ant Custering Algorithms
Authors: Chiou Yu-Chiun , Chou Shih-Ta
Published: April 2010

This paper proposes three ant clustering algorithms (ACAs): ACA-1, ACA-2 and ACA-3. The core logic of the proposed ACAs is to modify the ant colony metaheuristic by reformulating the clustering problem into a network problem. For a clustering problem of N objects and K clusters, a fully connected network of N nodes is formed with link costs, representing the dissimilarity of any two nodes it connects. K ants are then to collect their own nodes according to the link costs and following the pheromone trail laid by previous ants. The proposed three ACAs have been validated on a small-scale problem solved by a total enumeration method. The solution effectiveness at different problem scales consistently shows that ACA-2 outperforms among these three ACAs. A further comparison of ACA-2 with other commonly used clustering methods, including agglomerative hierarchy clustering algorithm (AHCA), K-means algorithm (KMA) and genetic clustering algorithm (GCA), shows that ACA-2 significantly outperforms them in solution effectiveness for the most of cases and also performs considerably better in solution stability as the problem scales or the number of clusters gets larger.
Self-Evolvable Protocol Design Using Genetic Algorithms
Authors: Yao Wenbing , Guan Sheng-Uei , Jiang Zhiqiang , Kiourktsidis Ilias
Published: April 2010

Self-modifying protocols (SMP) are protocols that can be modified at run time by the computers using them. Such protocols can be modified at run time so that they can adapt to the changing communicating environment and user requirements on the fly. Evolvable protocols are SMP designed using Genetic Algorithms (GA). The purpose of this paper is to apply Genetic Algorithms (GA) to design an evolvable protocol in order to equip communication peers with more autonomy and intelligence. The next-generation Internet will benefit from the concept of evolvable protocols. In this paper, we design a Self Evolvable Transaction Protocol (SETP) with a GA executor embedded. We then use the Network Simulator (NS2) to evaluate this evolvable protocol module to demonstrate the feasibility of our new design approach.
Facial Feature Tracking via Evolutionary Multiobjective Optimization
Authors: Larson Eric C. , Yen Gary G.
Published: April 2010

Facial feature tracking for model–based coding has evolved over the past decades. Of particular interest is its application in very low bit rate coding in which optimization is used to analyze head and shoulder sequences. We present the results of a computational experiment in which we apply a combination of non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm and a deterministic search to find optimal facial animation parameters at many bandwidths simultaneously. As objective functions are concerned, peak signal-to-noise ratio is maximized while the total number of facial animation parameters is minimized. Particularly, the algorithm is tested for efficiency and reliability. The results show that the overall methodology works effectively, but that a better error assessment function is needed for future study.
SimExplorer
Authors: Chuffart Florent , Dumoulin Nicolas , Faure Thierry , Deffuant Guillaume
Published: April 2010

This article describes Simexplorer, a computer framework for managing simulation experiments and, to some extent, the scientific quality of the modelling process. An information system, included in the framework, insures the traceability of the experiments and their reproducibility and thus contributes to the modelling process quality management. Moreover, this information system provides facilities for sharing and exchanging components of experiment scenarios. The authors illustrate the use of the framework on a simple example of modelling process.
A Non-Invasive Software Architecture Style for RFID Data Provisioning
Authors: Liu Ying , Lin Tao , Ram Sudha , Su Xuemei
Published: April 2010

Integrating real-time RFID data into autonomous and heterogeneous information systems across the business value chain presents a number of challenges. At an abstract architecture level, this paper identifies important requirements for RFID data provisioning and points of integration. A non-invasive architecture style is proposed to satisfy these requirements. It has the advantages of low entry barriers, low latency, high flexibility, and independent evolvability. The architecture style is used as a basis for evaluating three existing architectures for RFID data provisioning. Various architecture mismatches that could hinder the pace of RFID adoption are identified and discussed. A new asymmetric integration approach is suggested as an alternative to existing methods.
Facilitating Consumer Acceptance of RFID and Related Ubiquitous Technologies
Authors: Wasieleski David M. , Spangler William E. , Gal-Or Mordechai
Published: April 2010

The issue of consumer acceptance in the implementation of RFID and related ubiquitous technologies, driven primarily by privacy concerns, is a complex social problem involving consumers, companies, advocacy groups and government agencies – each of whom has different and often incompatible goals. This research decomposes the problem and explores it from the perspective of one of these stakeholders, that is, a company seeking to implement RFID in order to achieve specific business objectives. The authors establish a theoretical framework, based on social justice theory in business ethics that identifies the factors contributing to consumer and societal resistance to an RFID implementation. Within this framework, they outline the technical and managerial elements of an implementation plan, and relate those elements to the underlying components of social justice theory. The result is a strategy for technology managers that 1) considers the complex mix of consumer, societal and governmental concerns hindering adoption of the technologies, and 2) indicates areas of potential compromise.
Testing the Potential of RFID to Increase Supply-Chain Agility and to Mitigate the Bullwhip Effect
Authors: Vance Anthony , Lowry Paul Benjamin , Ogden Jeffrey A.
Published: April 2010

This study examines the potential of RFID technology to increase the agility of supply-chain e-commerce systems by mitigating the bullwhip effect. The bullwhip effect is a supply-chain phenomenon that reveals a lack of business agility characterized by the amplification of inventory variance. This study employs an experiment involving a modified Beer Distribution Game to simulate an RFID-enabled supply chain. The results provide empirical evidence that RFID technology can increase a supply chain’s agility and reduce the bullwhip effect by reducing inventory holding costs, stock out costs, and inventory-level variances. The results are all the more important when applied to interorganizational e-commerce systems.
QTDFS-ALOHA
Authors: Yan Xinqing , Yin Zhouping
Published: April 2010

Proposed protocols work clumsily in resolving the collisions occurred in dense RFID tag environment. QTDFS-ALOHA, a hybrid protocol which combines the query tree protocol and the dynamic frame slot ALOHA protocol, is proposed. In each frame of this protocol, only tags in the active set are allowed to answer in randomly selected slots. Afterwards, the population of tags in the active set is estimated. According to the identification accuracy required, the protocol may choose to continue the identification of the active set with delicately calculated frame length, or to divide the active set into multiple subsets using some binary prefix strings and identify each subset subsequently in the following frames. This process is performed recursively for all tag sets until the required accuracy is achieved. Proposed tag population estimation methods are summarized and evaluated. Numeric simulation verifies that this hybrid protocol outperforms other frame slot ALOHA based protocols.
Dealing with Interaction for Complex Systems Modelling and Prediction
Authors: Quattrociocchi Walter , Latorre Daniela , Lodi Elena , Nanni Mirco
Published: April 2010

The increasing complexity of problems in the context of system modeling is leading to a new epistemological approach able to provide a representation which allows from one hand, to model complex phenomena with the support of mathematical and computational instruments, and on the other hand able to capture the global system description. In this article is presented a methodology for complex dynamical systems modeling which is an extension of the supervised learning paradigm. The theoretical aspects of our methodology are introduced and then two different and heterogeneous case studies are presented.
Modeling Fractal Structure of Systems of Cities Using Spatial Correlation Function
Authors: Chen Yanguang , Jiang Shiguo
Published: April 2010

This article proposes a new method to analyze the spatial structure of urban systems using ideas from fractals. Regarding a system of cities as a set of “particles” distributed randomly on a triangular lattice, we construct a spatial correlation function of cities. Suppose that the spatial correlation follows the power law. It can be proved that the correlation exponent is the second order generalized dimension. The spatial correlation model is applied to the system of cities in China. The results show that the Chinese urban system can be described by the correlation dimension ranging from 1.3 to 1.6. The fractality of self-organized network of cities in both the conventional geographic space and the “time” space is revealed with the empirical evidence. The spatial correlation analysis is significant in that it is applicable to both large and small sizes of samples and can be used to link different fractal dimensions in urban study, including box dimension and radial dimension.
Polarized News Media and the Polarization of the Electorate
Authors: Liu Frank C.S.
Published: April 2010

An increasing amount of empirical evidence suggests that in democracies that usually divide into two camps during a campaign season, the news media environment is fragmented and polarized. An emerging concern is whether the electorate in such divided societies would be pulled by polarized news media outlets and become polarized as well. This study, employing a series of agent-based simulations that takes into account polarized news media, communication networks, and individual differences all together, explores the effect of a polarized news environment on increases in extremist opinions and in the proportion of individuals with divided communication networks. It also identifies circumstances under which individuals perceive division within their communication networks. The findings suggest that the effect of a polarized news media environment on polarizing the electorate may be overestimated, while the homogenizing effect of communication networks may be underestimated.
Superior Cantor Sets and Superior Devil Staircases
Authors: Rani Mamta , Prasad Sanjeev Kumar
Published: April 2010

Mandelbrot, in 1975, coined the term fractal and included Cantor set as a classical example of fractals. The Cantor set has wide applications in real world problems from strange attractors of nonlinear dynamical systems to the distribution of galaxies in the universe (Schroder, 1990). In this article, we obtain superior Cantor sets and present them graphically by superior devil’s staircases. Further, based on their method of generation, we put them into two categories.
Metaheuristic Search with Inequalities and Target Objectives for Mixed Binary Optimization Part I
Authors: Glover Fred , Hanafi Saïd
Published: April 2010

Recent adaptive memory and evolutionary metaheuristics for mixed integer programming have included proposals for introducing inequalities and target objectives to guide the search. These guidance approaches are useful in intensification and diversification strategies related to fixing subsets of variables at particular values, and in strategies that use linear programming to generate trial solutions whose variables are induced to receive integer values. In Part I (the present paper), we show how to improve such approaches by new inequalities that dominate those previously proposed and by associated target objectives that underlie the creation of both inequalities and trial solutions. Part I focuses on exploiting inequalities in target solution strategies by including partial vectors and more general target objectives. We also propose procedures for generating target objectives and solutions by exploiting proximity in original space or projected space. Part II of this study (to appear in a subsequent issue) focuses on supplementary linear programming models that exploit the new inequalities for intensification and diversification, and introduce additional inequalities from sets of elite solutions that enlarge the scope of these models. Part II indicates more advanced approaches for generating the target objective based on exploiting the mutually reinforcing notions of reaction and resistance. Our work in the concluding segment, building on the foundation laid in Part I, examines ways our framework can be exploited in generating target objectives, employing both older adaptive memory ideas of tabu search and newer ones proposed here for the first time.
A New Multiagent Algorithm for Dynamic Continuous Optimization
Authors: Lepagnot Julien , Nakib Amir , Oulhadj Hamouche , Siarry Patrick
Published: April 2010

Many real-world problems are dynamic and require an optimization algorithm that is able to continuously track a changing optimum over time. In this paper, a new multiagent algorithm is proposed to solve dynamic problems. This algorithm is based on multiple trajectory searches and saving the optima found to use them when a change is detected in the environment. The proposed algorithm is analyzed using the Moving Peaks Benchmark, and its performances are compared to competing dynamic optimization algorithms on several instances of this benchmark. The obtained results show the efficiency of the proposed algorithm, even in multimodal environments.
The Use of Structuration Theory and Actor Network Theory for Analysis
Authors: Iyamu Tiko , Roode Dewald
Published: April 2010

In the current climate of global competitiveness, many organisations are increasingly dependent on their IT strategy—either to increase their competitiveness, or often just to survive. Yet little is known about the non-technical influencing factors (such as people) and their impact on the development and implementation of IT strategy. There would therefore seem to be prima facie evidence that there is a need for a new approach to examining the relationships between social factors, technology and the organisation with respect to the development and implementation of IT strategy. This article seeks to make a contribution in this regard. Structuration Theory and Actor-Network Theory were employed to analyse how non-technical factors influence IT strategy. Structuration Theory holds that human actions are enabled and constrained by structures. Structures are rules and resources that do not exist independently of human action, nor are they material entities. Giddens describes them as ‘traces in the mind’ and argues that they exist only through the action of human beings. Actor Network Theory (ANT) provides a fresh perspective on the importance of relationships between actors that are both human and non-human. By their very presence, actors work to establish, maintain and revise the construction of organisational networks of aligned interests and gradually form stable actor-networks. ANT emphasises the heterogeneous nature of actor-networks which consist of and link together both technical and non-technical elements.
Worth and Human Values at the Centre of Designing Situated Digital Public Displays
Authors: Otero Nuno , José Rui
Published: April 2010

The development and design of computational artefacts and their widespread use in diverse contexts must take into account end-users needs, likes/dislikes and broader societal issues, including human values. However, the fast pace of technological developments highlight that the process of defining computational artefacts must incorporate not only the user but also the engineers and designers’ creativity. Considering these issues, in this article, the authors explore the adoption of the Worth-Centred Design framework to develop efforts regarding situated digital public displays. The authors discuss current efforts to extend the adoption of this framework, focus on enriching the understanding of potential places for situated digital displays and stakeholders’ views, and encourage open participation and co-creation.
A QoS aware Framework to support Minimum Energy Data Aggregation and Routing in Wireless Sensor Networks
Authors: Kumar Neeraj , Patel R.B.
Published: April 2010

In a wireless sensor network (WSN), the sensor nodes obtain data and communicate its data to a centralized node called base station (BS) using intermediate gateway nodes (GN). Because sensors are battery powered, they are highly energy constrained. Data aggregation can be used to combine data of several sensors into a single message, thus reducing sensor communication costs and energy consumption. In this article, the authors propose a QoS aware framework to support minimum energy data aggregation and routing in WSNs. To minimize the energy consumption, a new metric is defined for the evaluation of the path constructed from source to destination. The proposed QoS framework supports the dual goal of load balancing and serving as an admission control mechanism for incoming traffic at a particular sensor node. The results show that the proposed framework supports data aggregation with less energy consumption than earlier strategies.
Resilient and Timely Event Dissemination in Publish/Subscribe Middleware
Authors: Esposito Christian , Cotroneo Domenico
Published: April 2010

Recently we have witnessed an increasing demand of fault-tolerant communications in publish/subscribe middleware. Although several reliable solutions have been proposed, none of them address the problem of achieving resilient and timely event dissemination. We investigate how guaranteeing assured message dissemination despite occurrence of network faults without breaking temporal constraints. The contribution of this article is on devising a FEC approach where encoding functionality is placed at the root and on a subset of interior nodes in the multicast tree. Simulations-based experiments demonstrate that the proposed approach allows all the interested subscribers to receive all the published messages and the adopted resiliency mean does not affect the performance of the multicast protocol.
Towards Adaptive and Scalable Context Aware Middleware
Authors: Corradi Antonio , Fanelli Mario , Foschini Luca
Published: April 2010

The diffusion of portable client devices is promoting the spreading of novel mobile services, both traditional such as email and printing, and new such as social computing applications, capable of opportunistically exploiting any computing resource and any wireless connectivity encountered by roaming users. The new requirements call for novel context-aware middlewares to support and simplify the retrieval and the usage of context data. However, existing context data dissemination infrastructures still present several limitations: they are unable to adaptively exploit impromptu any wireless communication opportunity; they are unable to scale, especially in wide/densely populated environments; and they are prone to connection/device flaws. The article proposes a novel context-aware middleware that achieves adaptability, scalability, and dependability in context data dissemination through three main core guidelines: by using a distributed hierarchical architecture, by employing lightweight and adaptive context data dissemination solutions, and by adopting statistical context data/query replication techniques. The performance results, obtained by extensively testing the proposed solution in our wireless university campus testbed, have validated our design choices.
Simulating Tax Evasion with Utilitarian Agents and Social Feedback
Authors: Szabó Attila , Gulyás László , Tóth István János
Published: April 2010

This article discusses the TAXSIM model for the simulation of tax evading behavior in a computational model of a single market sector. The rate of tax evasion is an agreement between an employer and an employee that is made to reduce costs. The agents’ expectations and satisfaction are results of the agents’ individual learning, based on their own experiences and on those in their social network. This way the emerging social approach to tax evasion feeds back to individual behavior. The series of experiments reported in this chapter analyze scenarios in which 1) the quality of governmental services increases permanently, 2) a market leader unilaterally adopts the legal position, and 3) multi-national companies with tax allowances enter the market. In addition, we show that in this model, the level and efficiency of tax audits alone cannot control and explain the emerging tax compliance level.
Norm and Social Compliance
Authors: Campennì Marco , Cecconi Federico , Andrighetto Giulia , Conte Rosaria
Published: April 2010

The necessity to model the mental ingredients of norm compliance is a controversial issue within the study of norms. So far, the simulation-based study of norm emergence has shown a prevailing tendency to model norm conformity as a thoughtless behavior, emerging from social learning and imitation rather than from specific, norm-related mental representations. In this article, the opposite stance - namely, a view of norms as hybrid, two-faceted phenomena, including a behavioral/social and an internal/mental side - is taken. Such a view is aimed at accounting for the difference between norms, on one hand, and either behavioral regularities (conventions) on the other. After a brief presentation of a normative agent architecture, the preliminary results of agent-based simulations testing the impact of norm recognition and the role of normative beliefs in the emergence and stabilization of social norms are presented and discussed. We focused our attention on the effects which the use of a cognitive architecture (namely a norm recognition module) produces on the environment.
Spiraling into Transformative Learning
Authors: Cranton Patricia
Published: April 2010

This article explores how technical and vocational learning may spiral into transformative learning. Transformative learning theory is reviewed and the learning tasks of critical theory are used to integrate various approaches to transformative learning. With this as a foundation, the article explores how transformative learning can be fostered in adult vocational education.
Rethinking the Measurement of Training and Development in the Professions
Authors: Lynch Doug , Thomas Chris , Green Wendy , Gottfried Michael , Varga Matthew
Published: April 2010

The 21st century is often called the “age of talent.” Globalization has influenced both organizational processes and employee training, creating an increased need for educated, skilled, and adaptable employees. Training and development has become an integral part of most organizations’ efforts to develop and maintain competitive advantage, with an emphasis on creating learning organizations. These changes in the methods, modes and quantity of training have made it challenging to quantify the amount of training occurring across workplaces. This article takes the view that in order to understand the impact of training on organizations, it is important to conceptualize where and through whom training activities occur. We can think of the training and development profession as consisting of a series of four tiers, with the T&D function occurring less centrally within each tier. Tier I members of the training and development profession occupy jobs in which training and development are paramount to their roles and occupy the vast majority, if not all, of their time. Tier II professionals may be the primary person within the organization responsible for training and development, but the training is often limited to a particular focal area. A whole host of supervisory occupations might be considered Tier III jobs because of the close relation supervisors often have with the employees they supervise. Tier IV training and development professionals may come from any occupational background, and this is where much of informal training occurs.
From Politicized Adult Education to Market Oriented Adult Higher Education
Authors: Wang Viktor , Mott Vivian W.
Published: April 2010

This study investigated the general instructional modes of adult educators in Southeast China and Northeast China. The study utilized Conti’s (1983, 2004) Principles of Adult Learning Scale (PALS) to measure instructional modes of adult educators. Data were collected from 112 randomly selected participants engaged in teaching Chinese adult learners in Southeast China and Northeast China. The results of the study showed that adult educators in Southeast China were andragogical in their instruction while their counterparts in Northeast China were pedagogical although the difference (p>0.05) between the means of adult educators in Southeast China and Northeast China was not statistically significant.
Using Real Options Theory to Evaluate Strategic Investment Options for Mobile Content Delivery
Authors: Liginlal Divakaran , Khansa Lara , Chia Stella C.
Published: April 2010

With a rich fare of localized content, but limited regional media outlet channels, mobile content generates new business opportunities for Media News, a small media company with considerable growth potential. Two business models are considered: partnering with wireless service providers and strategic alliances with mobile content syndicators. First, the models are evaluated based on their resource requirements, market share acquisition, revenue generation, and nature, scope and control of content and bandwidth. Then, real options analysis is used to value Media News’ managerial flexibility in responding to uncertainty in investment choices specific to the media industry. The modeling approach, analytical methods, and decision support tools employed in this paper serve as exemplar for engineering managers involved in strategic investment decisions, especially in emerging areas such as mobile commerce.
Detection and Prevention of Single and Cooperative Black Hole Attacks in Mobile Ad Hoc Networks
Authors: Subathra P. , Sivagurunathan S. , Ramaraj N.
Published: April 2010

A Mobile Ad hoc Network (MANET) is a collection of wireless computers (nodes) communicating over multi-hop paths, without infrastructures such as base stations and access points. Nodes must cooperate to provide necessary network functionalities. The Dynamic Source Routing (DSR) protocol is a principal routing protocol in MANET, where security can be compromised by a “Black Hole” attack. In this attack, a malicious node claims to have the shortest path to the destination and attracts all traffic and drops all packets sent for forwarding, leading to performance degradation in the network. The situation becomes even more severe when two or more nodes cooperate and perform an attack called the “Cooperative Black Hole” attack. This article proposes a solution based on probing to identify and prevent such attacks. The proposed solution discovers a secure route between the source and destination by identifying and isolating both single and cooperative black holes, making the MANET resistant against such attacks. Simulation results show that the protocol provides better security and performance in terms of detection time, packet delivery ratio and false negative probability in comparison with trust and probe based schemes.
The BI-Based Organization
Authors: Wixom Barbara , Watson Hugh
Published: April 2010

Business intelligence (BI) is an umbrella term that is commonly used to describe the technologies, applications, and processes for gathering, storing, accessing, and analyzing data to help users make better decisions. For BI-based firms, BI is a prerequisite for competing in the marketplace. Though there are several possible BI targets, it is important to understand how they differ in terms of strategic vision, level of sponsorship, required resources, impact on people and processes, and benefits. Some companies like Harrah’s Entertainment, Continental Airlines, Norfolk Southern, and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina are exemplars of BI best practices. Despite the progress made with BI, there are still many opportunities for academic research.