bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
An Assembly Sequence Planning Approach with Binary Gravitational Search Algorithm
Authors: Ibrahim Ismail  , Ibrahim Zuwairie  , Ahmad Hamzah  , Md. Yusof Zulkifli  , Shapiai Mohd Ibrahim  , Nawawi Sophan Wahyudi  , Mubin Marizan
Published: February 2025

Assembly sequence planning (ASP) known as a hard combinatorial optimization problem is an important part of assembly process planning. Determining the sequence of assembly arguably is quite challenging in ASP problem. A good assembly sequence can help to reduce the cost and time of the manufacturing process.This paper presents an implementation of binary Gravitational Search Algorithm (BGSA) for solving an assembly sequence planning (ASP) problem. Initially, each agent is represented by a feasible assembly sequence according to a precedence matrix. Next, binary Gravitational Search Algorithm (BGSA) is used for updating the current to new feasible assembly sequence to solving ASP problem. Using a case study of ASP, the results show that the proposed approach based on BGSA is more efficient for solving the ASP problem in compare to other approaches based on simulated annealing (SA), genetic algorithm (GA), and binary particle swarm optimization (BPSO).
Automatic Acceptance Test Case Generation From Essential Use Cases
Authors: Kamalrudin Massila  , Nor Aiza M.  , Grundy John  , Hosking John  , Robinson Mark
Published: February 2025

Requirements validation is a crucial process to determine whether client-stakeholders' needs and expectations of a product are sufficiently correct and complete. Various requirements validation techniques have been used to evaluate the correctness and quality of requirements, but most of these techniques are tedious, expensive and time consuming. Accordingly, most project members are reluctant to invest their time and efforts in the requirements validation process. Moreover, automated tool supports that promote effective collaboration between the client-stakeholders and the engineers are still lacking. In this paper, we describe a novel approach that combines prototyping and test-based requirements techniques to improve the requirements validation process and promote better communication and collaboration between requirements engineers and client-stakeholders. To justify the potential of this prototype tool, we also present three types of evaluation conducted on the prototpye tool, which are the usability survey, 3-tool comparison analysis and expert reviews.
Probabilistic Argument Graphs for Argumentation Lotteries
Authors: Hunter Anthony  , Thimm Matthias
Published: February 2025

Uncertainty about which arguments or attacks should appear in an argument graph means that there is uncertainty as to the structure of the argument graph. When informal arguments are presented, there may be imprecision in the language used, and so the audience may be uncertain as to the structure of the argument graph as intended by the presenter of the arguments. For a presenter of arguments, it is useful to know the audience's argument graph, but the presenter may be uncertain as to the structure of it. To model each of these situations, we can use probabilistic argument graphs. The set of subgraphs of an argument graph is a sample space. A probability value is assigned to each subgraph such that the sum is 1, thereby reflecting the uncertainty over which is the actual subgraph. We can then determine the probability that a particular set of arguments is included or excluded from an extension according to a particular Dung semantics. We harness this to define the notion of an argument lottery, which can be used by the audience to determine the expected utility of a debate, and can be used by the presenter to decide which arguments to present by choosing those that maximize expected utility.
Argumentation Logic
Authors: Kakas Antonis  , Toni Francesca  , Mancarella Paolo
Published: February 2025

We propose a novel logic-based argumentation framework, called Argumentation Logic (AL), built upon a restriction of classical Propositional Logic (PL) as its underlying logic. This allows us to control the application of Reduction ad Absurdum (RA). In the case of classically consistent theories, AL and PL are equivalent, and RA is recovered through a notion of (non-)acceptability of arguments. In the case of classically inconsistent theories, AL is an extension of PL that does not trivialize, enjoying good logic-based argumentation and general logical properties.
An ontology for personalized environmental decision support
Authors: Rospocher Marco
Published: February 2025

We present the PESCaDO Ontology, a modular application ontology exploited for personalized environmental decision support, that enables to formally describe (i) the user decision support request, (ii) the environmental data relevant to process the request, as well as (iii) the decisions and conclusions to be produced. The PESCaDO Ontology was thoroughly developed following state of the art best practices, and it is matched with a comprehensive and detailed documentation.
Adding Constructicon to the Latvian FrameNet
Authors: Gosko Didzis  , Barzdins Guntis
Published: February 2025

The paper describes an extension to the practical natural language processing and information extraction system implemented for a national news agency in Latvia. The constructicon extension introduces pattern based rules capturing the structure of frame annotations rather than identifying the frame constituents in an isolated manner. Reported are also results for English where this approach improves the accuracy of the FrameNet automatic parsing compared to the current state-of-the-art.
How to Compute Reading Development Strategy? Evidence from Russian-Speaking Children
Authors: Kornev Alexandr N.  , Balčiūnienė Ingrida  , Selezneva Margarita G.  , Sorokin Anatolij A.
Published: February 2025

The paper deals with the automatized analysis of reading strategies in Russian- speaking children. The studyThe research was carried out with the financial support of the Russian Foundation for Humanities (RGNF), grant 12-06-00941.
Social Palimpsests – Clouding the Lens of the Personal Panopticon
Authors: Murray-Rust Dave  , Van Kleek Max  , Dragan Laura  , Shadbolt Nigel
Published: February 2025

The use of personal data has incredible potential to benefit both society and individuals through increased understanding of behaviour, communication and support for emerging forms of socialisation and connectedness. However, there are risks associated with disclosing personal information, and present systems show a systematic asymmetry between the subjects of the data and those who control and manage the way that data is propagated and used. This leads to a tension between a desire to engage with online society and enjoy its benefits on one hand, and a distrust of those with whom the data is shared on the other. In this chapter, we explore a set of obfuscation techniques which may help to redress the balance of power when sharing personal data, and return agency and choice to users of online services.
Providing a USSD location based clinic finder in South Africa: Did it work?
Authors: Parsons Annie Neo  , Timler Dagmar
Published: February 2025

A new mHealth service, Clinic Finder, was designed to provide a location-based service for any cellphone user in South Africa dialing a dedicated USSD string to find the nearest public primary health care facility. The service was funded by a European Union grant to Cell-Life to support the National Department of Health. Clinic Finder's aims were to provide a reliable and accurate service, and to assess both the most effective means of advertising the service as well as interest in the service. Users dialing the USSD string are asked to agree to geo-location (Vodacom and MTN users) or asked to enter their province, town and street (virtual network users and those choosing not to geo-locate). The service provider, AAT, sends the data to Cell-Life where an SMS with details of the nearest public primary health care facility is sent to the user by Cell-Life's open-source Communicate platform. The service was advertised on 3 days in 2014 using two different means: a newspaper ad on 20 May 2014 and Please Call Me ads on 30 July 2014 and 14 August 2014. 28.2% of unique users on 20 May 2014, 10.5% of unique users on 30 July 2014 and 92.8% of unique users on 14 August 2014 who agreed to geo-location successfully received SMSs. However, only 4.2%, 0.5%, and 2.4% of unique users responding to each advertisement who did not geo-locate then received an SMS. A small survey of users following the 20 May 2014 newspaper ad found overall interest in the idea of Clinic Finder, though unsuccessful users were more likely to dislike the service. The overall experience of using location based services and USSD for Clinic Finder suggests a need in the field of mHealth for wider availability of data on service usability and effectiveness.
Manipulating and Visualizing Data by Means of Data Galaxies
Authors: Kozlovics Sergejs  , Rucevskis Peteris
Published: February 2025

Data in various formats are everywhere, and the need to be able to analyze them is obvious. Although there are many useful tools for manipulating and analyzing data, it is very difficult to ensure inter-operation between the tools to be able to use the whole range of their capabilities. Data galaxies is a new concept that is intended to provide a common space for different kinds of data manipulations and visualizations, where existing tools can be used together in a data flow leading to the desired result. The power of the approach is demonstrated by several use cases. Implementation details are also provided.
Concrete filled double skin circular tubes: a review
Authors: Essopjee Yoosuf  , Dundu Morgan
Published: February 2025

A review of the research conducted on the compressive strength of concrete filled double skin circular tubes (CFDSCT) columns is conducted. Variables of the CFDSCT considered in this review include the concrete strength, steel strength, inner and outer tube diameter, steel thickness and length of the stub columns. Test results show that the composite columns had compressive strengths of up to 41% higher than the sum of the individual strengths of the section. All the outer tubes of these composite columns by failed local buckling. A review of the design equations proposed are presented and discussed. The paper also identifies gaps for further research for these types of columns.
A critical review on current and proposed structural fire engineering codes for steelwork in South Africa
Authors: Walls Richard  , Viljoen Celeste  , De Clercq Hennie  , Retief Johan
Published: February 2025

This paper presents a review on the code requirements in South Africa for steelwork exposed to fire conditions, both currently and the proposed changes to the codes. The SA hot-rolled steel design code, SANS 10162-1 [1], is based upon the Canadian steel code, CSA S16 [2], and contains negligible guidance in relation to fire design. It is currently being proposed that the updated Canadian code be adopted for the next revision of SANS 10162, along with its new fire engineering guidelines (Annex K). In this paper the proposed new guidelines are presented and investigated relative to local building code requirements as outlined in the National Building Regulations (described in SANS 10400: Part T [3]). They are also compared to the Eurocode suite of design guides [4,5], which are considered to be technically advanced codes. It can be seen that the Canadian guidelines can be effectively adopted in the next iteration of SANS 10162, and provide results consistent with the Eurocode design equations. However, in the long term it may be necessary to move towards or consult the Eurocodes because of the much broader scope they encompass.
Simplified torsional strength of reinforced and prestressed concrete beams
Authors: Rahal Khaldoun N.
Published: February 2025

A simple non-iterative model for the calculation of the torsional strength of reinforced and concentrically prestressed concrete beams is presented. The proposed model is based on a modification of a recently developed semi-empirical model suitable for non-prestressed members. The main equation relates the ultimate torsional moment to the amount and strength of the longitudinal and transverse reinforcement, the concrete compressive strength, and the geometrical properties of the cross section. The calculated strength is limited by an upper value calculated based on crushing of the concrete before the yielding of the reinforcement. The calculations of the model are compared to experimental data and good correlation is obtained.
Quality assurance in low-cost housing construction projects in the metropole
Authors: Rarani Manelisi  , Fore Stanley
Published: February 2025

In South Africa, to protect the beneficiaries of housing against the inferior workmanship, unsuitable material and inappropriate construction methods, building standards and regulations have been introduced. The housing inspectors have been given power to enforce and ensure that the building standards and regulations are followed and met by contractors. Regardless of the measures, low-cost houses built through government programmes are known to have many quality problems. Hence, this research assesses the effectiveness and adequacy that inspection process contributes to quality assurance in low-cost housing construction projects in the South African metrople. Data for the analysis were collected through questionnaires administered to low-cost housing inspectors in the South African metropolis. IBM Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Statistics 21 version was used in analysing the data collected. This paper concludes that the low-cost housing inspectors lack training in housing inspection, and have limited knowledge in building standards and regulations. It is recommended that standard continuous training and education for low-cost housing inspectors be established. Such a program would provide courses and training of low-cost housing inspectors to improve their level of knowledge in building standards and regulations, review their roles and responsibilities, and establish awareness of their roles among the affected parties.
An examination of natural pozzolans in Uganda for low-strength construction applications
Authors: Naturinda Dans N.  , Kerali Anthony G.
Published: February 2025

A pozzolan is a material that contains reactive silica or silica and alumina. When finely ground and mixed with lime in the presence of water, pozzolans react to form a cement-like product. Uganda has a vast potential for natural pozzolans especially in the rift valley areas. These can be used to produce a cheaper alternative material to Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC). However, limited investigations have been done in the past on their quality and potential to reduce the cost of housing especially for the low-income earners in Uganda. This study was aimed at generating data to determine their suitability for use in low-strength construction applications. The study established diverse physical and chemical properties of natural pozzolans in Uganda. The findings indicate a strong bearing between pozzolan grading and strength development. Due to the cost implications of attaining the finest grades, the ratio of pozzolan to lime in the blend was varied to attain optimum grades that can provide adequate strength for a number of low-strength construction applications without escalating the cost. The study recommends further investigation of strength variations of pozzolan-lime blends to generate products for specific applications at a reasonable cost.
New proposed direct tensile strength test for concrete
Authors: Khan M. Iqbal  , Mourad Shehab
Published: February 2025

The evaluation of the tensile strength and determination of the tensile stress-strain curve using indirect tests becomes approximate hence there is a necessity for exploring direct tensile strength measurement. This investigation is part of ongoing research on the development of direct tensile strength measurement. In this paper direct tensile strength test has been proposed and the results obtained have been compared with compressive strength and flexural strength. It has been found that results obtained are well comparable and relationships are similar to that proposed in earlier findings.
Engineering properties of slag-based geopolymer concrete
Authors: Albitar M.  , Ali M.S. Mohamed  , Visintin P.
Published: February 2025

Geopolymer concrete is manufactured from high-volume waste materials, such as fly ash from coal-burning power stations and can be altered by adding mineral admixtures, such as ground granulated slag or granulated lead smelter slag. The addition of these admixtures may lead to increase the compressive strength of fly ash, or reduce the amount of cementitious material in the binder, which in turn reduces costs and offers further environmental benefits. This paper presents an experimental study on the behavior of slag-based geopolymer concrete. The experimental program included 25 mix designs which were used to examine several parameters. The key parameters considered were the slag-to-fly ash ratio, slag-to-river sand ratio, alkaline solution-to-binder ratio and curing method. The mechanical properties were tested, analyzed and compared to the American Concrete Institute and Australian Standards set for ordinary Portland cement concrete in order to determine the similarities and differences. The results show that using partially slag as a binder of up to 75% can provide a normal concrete strength. The results concluded that the mechanical properties of the slag-based geopolymer concrete were similar to that of fly ash-based geopolymer concrete.
Proposing a realistic frequency for fatigue tests using Artificial Neural Network
Authors: Khodaii Ali  , Zonouzy Attila Hassanzadeh
Published: February 2025

Among many factors affecting fatigue life estimation of hot mix asphalt pavement materials are loading frequencies, rest period, test temperature and obviously constituent material properties. An over or under estimation of fatigue life could lead to an early destruction of pavement or an over design which is naturally not desirable. It is therefore essential that a realistic loading frequency be used that corresponds to the actual speed; headway and the traffic wander across the lane. The actual data collected from a weight in motion system at a major road from Tehran to Qum was used and analyzed employing an artificial neural network. A prediction model is proposed that show 89% goodness of fit and 0.296 errors in predicting the loading frequency. This model can be used for selection of realistic loading time and the rest period which has an important impact on many properties of asphaltic materials including fatigue, relaxation and self-healing properties of such pavement materials.
Physical, chemical and pozzolanic properties of bricks of X-X zone of Karacahisar castle, Turkey
Authors: Güldoğan İnci  , Güney Yücel  , Altinsapan Erol Mehmet
Published: February 2025

The objective of this study was to analyze the similar and different properties of historic bricks used in X-X zone of old Byzantium Castle Karacahisar Castle and according this knowledge to provide a reference for the bricks which will be used for the restoration here in the future. In order to perform this research, physical, pozzolanic and chemical analyses were carried out to structural adobe bricks. According to the analysis, it was found that water absorption percentage by weight under atmospheric pressure is between 11,8-25,3%, apparent porosity and water absorption by volume percent is between 22,2-38,2%. Apparent density of bricks is between 1,51-1,89 gr/cm3and real density is between 2,37-2,61 gr/cm3. According to the ignition loss analysis, the CaCO3content percent is between 1-19,4 % and the bricks do not have good pozzolanic properties.
Effect of wetting and air curing durations on strength of stabilized sands
Authors: Moatlhodi Lerato J.  , Okonta Felix N.
Published: February 2025

Low cost houses in most developing countries are constructed from sandcrete blocks manufactured from sand-cement mortar. In South Africa, failure of many of these blocks has been experienced leading to collapse of the structures. Lack of sufficient compressive strength in the manufactured blocks was attributed as the main cause of the failures. The unconfined compressive strength (UCS) of sandcrete blocks can however be improved by curing the blocks under different conditions. Therefore the objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of different wetting and air drying durations would have on the strength and the stiffness of the cubes produced. Weakly cemented sand cubes, with different cement contents and cement-fly ash binder ratios compacted at the optimum moisture content, were prepared. The 28 days UCS was determined, modulus of elasticity and moisture contents of sample specimen was also determined. The results showed that curing cubes under water for 7 days and then air curing for 21 days yield maximum UCS and modulus of elasticity for sands cemented by plain Portland cement, and that 3 days under water curing produced maximum results for sands stabilized by cement-fly ash binder. It was however found that under water for 28 days results in minimum strength. Therefore the longer the cubes are cured under water minimum strengths were achieved.
Chloride penetration into concrete with compressive load-induced cracks
Authors: Balqis M.Y.  , Jonkers H.M.  , Schlangen E.
Published: February 2025

In this study, a new experimental approach of chloride penetration in concrete specimens under compressive load was projected. The influence of chloride transport in concrete with cracks was investigated by varying the compression load levels and the period of contact with chloride solution containing 3% of natrium chloride. The concrete specimens were set in paired and parallel direction to the compressive load. Circulation of chloride solution was realized through a container that was attached on one of the moulded surfaces of the specimens. The chloride profiles and chloride content were measured using highly energetic laser pulse of so-called LIBS method. The modification on concrete pore structure by an applied compressive load was confirmed by the MIP determination. The results shows penetration of chloride in concrete becomes more significant at higher load levels with increased time of contact with salt solution. It can be concluded that chloride diffusivity in cement-based materials was influenced by time and very much affected by an applied load, thereby limiting the service life of concrete structures.
A study on behavior of reinforced concrete columns subjected to axial compression
Authors: Gupta P.K  , Verma V.K
Published: February 2025

In the present study, a total of nine specimens of different diameters of 146 mm to 208 mm dia., were cast. Length of specimens was at kept 800 mm. Length to diameter ratio varies from 3.85 to 5.48. The concrete of grade M30 was designed as per IS: 10262-2009 for the casting of specimens. The main reinforcement was taken from 2.0 to 4.05% of gross cross-sectional area. Bars of 12 mm dia. were used for main reinforcement and 8 mm dia. bars were used for lateral ties.
Case Mining for Research Findings in a Case-based Reasoning System in the Biology of Aging
Authors: Bichindaritz Isabelle
Published: February 2025

Scientific literature has been quickly expanding as the availability of articles in electronic form has increased rapidly. For the scientific researcher and the practitioner alike, keeping track with the advancement of the research is an ongoing challenge, and for the most part, the mass of experience recorded in the scientific literature is largely untapped. In particular, novice scientists, non researchers, and students would benefit from a system proposing recommendations for the problems they are interested in resolving. This article presents the first stages of the Digital Knowledge Finder design, a case-based reasoning system to manage experience from the scientific literature. One of the main functionality of the system is to enable both to represent the experience in a declarative and searchable form, and to reason from it through reuse – the latter being a consequence of the former. This article focuses on research findings mining and results from an aging literature dataset.
Ethical Issues Concerning Lethal Autonomous Robots in Warfare
Authors: Gerdes Anne
Published: February 2025

The massively introduction of advanced military technologies makes it important to address ethical issues related to the potential use of lethal autonomous robot systems (LARS) in warfare. Hence, this article sets out to:
An Efficient ZZW Construction Using Low-Density Generator-Matrix Embedding Techniques
Authors: Wang Jyun-Jie  , Lin Chi-Yuan  , Chu Meng-Hui
Published: February 2025

A novel steganographic algorithm based on ZZW construction is proposed to improve the steganographic embedding efficiency. Low-density generator-matrix (LDGM) embedding is an efficient embedding technique for embedding a large number of messages into host. We shall propose a modified ZZW construction to improve the embedding complexity and efficiency. We use LDGM embedding techniques instead of the first channel of ZZW construction and estimate the suboptimal parameters for the bias propagation (BiP) algorithm of LDGM embedding. By using this construction, we are capable of constructing a new embedding structure with small payloads from original embedding structure with large payloads. Experimental results show that the embedding efficiencies of our construction are close to the theoretical upper bound.
Integrated Software and Platform Deployment on Cloud Environment
Authors: Hsu Wei-Liang  , Chang Yue-Shan  , Tan Zheng-Han
Published: February 2025

With the development of cloud computing, it can provide many services through network. Also with the development of virtual technology, we can use virtual machines instead of physical machines to do some research or other usages. In tradition, if we want to create a virtual machine with software, we have to make many virtual machine templates with different software on them. It may waste storage. Therefore, we have proposed system to solve this problem. It can let user easy to create instance and with the automatically installing software, we don't need to create many virtual machine templates. We believe that this system will save more time and physical resources.
A Visual-based Positioning System
Authors: Chien Cheng-Sheng  , Sun Min-Te  , Wang Yi-Chang  , Kuo Jen You
Published: February 2025

We implemented a visual-based positioning system on the Android smartphones. This system uses only the build-in camera and sensors in a smartphone. The system works without additional assisted equipments, so it is very easy to deploy to consumers with mobile devices. In addition, we conducted small and large-scale field experiments to examine the accuracy of our system. The results indicate that our system is able to provide a much better accuracy in small-scale experiments compared with the global positioning system. In large-scale experiments, the system is accurate enough for virtual augmentation and location-based service applications.
Grid-based Hole Recovery Mechanism using Virtual Force in Hybrid WSNs
Authors: Huang Kuo-Feng  , Chen Po-Ju
Published: February 2025

The sensor nodes are typically empowered with scarce energy resource and limited computing functionality in wireless sensor networks. However, random deployment, which occur hole problem, results in reducing the data transmission performance or additional power consumption. Consequently, the coverage completeness is an important factor for the network lifetime due to the hole problem in wireless sensor networks. We proposed a hole recovery mechanism based on the grid architecture in hybrid wireless sensor networks. Moreover, virtual force theory is utilized to determine which mobile node should enforce the recovery task. By the simulation results, the proposed mechanism is demonstrated that could efficiently maintain high coverage ratio and prolong the network lifetime.
Establish Controllable Process Performance Model for Software Cost Prediction and Management in Software Development
Authors: Chen Shu-Chen  , Chu Chih-Ping
Published: February 2025

More and more organizations invest resources to improve cost prediction and management during software development. Several cost estimation models with the aspects of parameters and requirements have been proposed to forecast software cost. However, the intended objectives of those models lie not only in forecasting but also in management. Without controllable factors those models are simply grouped as forecasting models rather than prediction models. If a model does not have at least one controllable factor, it will not directly provide effective action to affect the predicted outcomes. The process performance model (PPM) is a statistical collection of the relationships among attributes of processes and specific outcomes that can be used to construct cost prediction models. In this paper, we describe how to use practical leverage and actual data to establish an empirical process performance model with statistical regression techniques to predict software cost and manage cost using controllable factors. With regression analysis, the proposed model can provide outcome prediction to manage projects cost more confidently.
Analyzing Abstract Factory and Strategy Design Patterns using Design Structure Matrix: A Role-Playing Game Case
Authors: Lee Wen-Tin  , Chang Ting-Shao  , Tsai Chieh-Ting  , Chen William  , Hsu Eden
Published: February 2025

Design patterns provide valuable knowledge for resolving design problems. Applying design patterns to design models in the design phase can increase the flexibility, extendibility, and maintainability of a software system. However, research analyzing methods for visualizing and understanding the differences in software design models with and without design patterns is scant. This study used the design structure matrix (DSM) to analyze the relationships between class diagrams in role-playing games. DSM partitioning analysis indicated that the modularization, extendibility, and maintainability of software design models improved after applying abstract factory and strategy design patterns to class diagrams. The approach proposed in this study can help pattern users visualize design patterns and improve understanding of the design models of a software system.
Vulnerabilities and Threats in Cloud Software Engineering Security
Authors: Yu Weider D.  , Runiassy Maryam  , Yin Yijun
Published: February 2025

Understanding cloud computing security issues is necessary and important towards building a reliable cloud environment and delivering high quality services to cloud customers. This paper proposes a fishbone (a.k.a. cause and effect) model to categorize major cloud threats, demonstrate the relationship between cloud threats and vulnerabilities, and rank each category to show its relative importance comparing to the others. The ranking also shows where software engineering technologies and standards stand in the realm of cloud security. This model can be applied to trace root-causes of cloud security incidents.
A Cloud-based Mobile Healthcare System
Authors: Lin Chin-Fu  , Lin Shih-Hsuan  , Peng Sheng-Lung  , Chang Ruay-Shiung
Published: February 2025

The increasing of elderly population in Taiwan forms aging society. Medical and healthcare issues are concerned and needed to be solved urgently. Most of healthcare systems on the market focus on measurement and analysis of individual physiological data, lack of integration of all aspects of health information. Aimed to achieve Telemedicine care and provide more complete health management services, we developed a new interdisciplinary system that combines cloud platform, information security, Bluetooth monitoring equipments, and medical information. Our system breaks the limitation of time and space through Internet, provides all-day long Telemedicine, analyzes user's physiological data via professional medical resources, and notifies caretaker the newest care requests immediately via Android Push Notification.
Feature Selection for Multispectral Brain Image Segmentation in Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Authors: Chai Jyh-Wen  , Fu Jachih  , Chen Chia-Hao  , Troy Carol  , Chen Hsian-Min  , Chen Clayton Chi-Chang
Published: February 2025

A feature selection for multispectral image segmentation algorithm is proposed to segment brain Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) in the native coordinate space, with no need of transformation to a standard coordinate space or the probability maps for initiation of segmentation. The proposed method is a simple voxel-based algorithm which derived from multispectral remote sensing techniques. The proposed method requires minimal in-teractive input which manually depicts three 3x3 pixels of Gray Metter (GM), White Matter (WM), and Cerebral Spinal Fluid (CSF) tissue clusters to segment 3D high-resolution mul-tislice-multispectral MRI's.
On the Existence of All Shortest Vertex-Disjoint Paths in Cayley Graphs of Abelian Groups
Authors: Lai Cheng-Nan
Published: February 2025

Cayley graphs provide a group-theoretic model for designing and analyzing symmetric interconnection networks. In this paper, we give a sufficient condition for the existence of m vertex-disjoint shortest paths from one source vertex to other m (not necessarily distinct) destination vertices in a Cayley graph of an abelian group, where m≤n and n is the cardinality of a (group) generator of the abelian group. In addition, when the condition holds, the m vertex-disjoint shortest paths can be constructed in O(mn) time, which is optimal in the worst case when O(n)≤ the order of diameter. By applying our results, we can easily obtain the necessary and sufficient conditions, which can be verified in nearly optimal time, for the existence of all shortest vertex-disjoint paths in generalized hypercubes.
WSD-AIS: an Artificial Immune System Approach against Web Spam
Authors: Zhu Yan  , Yang Fan  , Tang Shouhong
Published: February 2025

Web spamming is a serious universal problem, which causes web information security problems, reduces the Web quality, and damages users' legal benefits by misleading search engines to increase the rank of some web pages than they deserved. Web spam detection is a classification problem. This paper discusses an Artificial Immune System-based method (WSD-AIS) to combat web spam. In this approach, a Web spam is an invading antigen and the detection model represented by a set of mature antibodies can discover the Web spam by artificial immune mechanism. Besides, features are carefully chosen for improving the performance. Our experiment results show that the proposed solution is more robust than Naïve Bayes in terms of the imbalance data set and can achieve satisfied performance with relative fewer features. WSD-AIS approach is able to detect much more spammed Web hosts than Naïve Bayes.
The Role of Technology in Reducing Unnecessary Duplicate Diagnostic Imaging Examinations
Authors: Griffith Janessa  , Borycki Elizabeth M.  , Kushniruk Andre W.
Published: February 2025

Unnecessarily repeating diagnostic imaging (DI) examinations can expose patients to additional radiation and place pressures on human and financial resources in healthcare. Through a qualitative study, non-radiologist physicians were interviewed about their ordering practices. This included questioning participants about how they would determine if a DI examination had already been performed or scheduled to take place. Participants described how they asked their patients about whether prior testing had been done or if future tests were scheduled. Participants also indicated that they consulted electronic systems to determine if prior DI examinations occurred. However, other research suggested that patients may not accurately recall their DI history. Meanwhile, using electronic systems such as decision support or computerized provider order entry could help to reduce duplicate ordering, although more research is necessary.
Building an Electronic Handover Tool for Physicians Using a Collaborative Approach between Clinicians and the Development Team
Authors: Guilbeault Peggy  , Momtahan Kathryn  , Hudson Jordan
Published: February 2025

In an effort by The Ottawa Hospital (TOH) to become one of the top 10% performers in patient safety and quality of care, the hospital embarked on improving the communication process during handover between physicians by building an electronic handover tool. It is expected that this tool will decrease information loss during handover. The Information Systems (IS) department engaged a workgroup of physicians to become involved in defining requirements to build an electronic handover tool that suited their clinical handover needs. This group became ultimately responsible for defining the graphical user interface (GUI) and all functionality related to the tool. Prior to the pilot, the Information Systems team will run a usability testing session to ensure the application is user friendly and has met the goals and objectives of the workgroup. As a result, The Ottawa Hospital has developed a fully integrated electronic handover tool built on the Clinical Mobile Application (CMA) which allows clinicians to enter patient problems, notes and tasks available to all physicians to facilitate the handover process.
The Implementation Experiences of a Pharmacy Automation Drug Dispensing System in Saudi Arabia
Authors: Al Muallem Yahya  , Al Dogether Majed  , Al Assaf Rakan  , Al Ateeq Asma  , Househ Mowafa
Published: February 2025

The objective of this paper is to investigate the experiences of implementing a pharmacy automation drug dispensing system in Saudi Arabia. Key informant interviews, meeting documents, and experience of the researcher were the data collection sources used in the study. A thematic analysis of the data was conducted. Study results discuss the organizational challenges prior to implementation as well as details of the implementation process. Preliminary results show improvements in the services provided by the pharmaceutical department. Lessons learned are also discussed. The work presented in this paper is preliminary and more research is needed to evaluate the overall impact of the new pharmacy automation system on services provided by the pharmaceutical department.
Determinants of Health Behavior Choices in Patients Using Computer-Mediated Decision Aid
Authors: Kukafka Rita  , Jeong In cheol  , Finkelstein Joseph
Published: February 2025

Using discriminant analysis an optimal set of predictors was identified which determined healthy behavior choices of users of a computer-mediated decision aid. The resulting set included smoking status, smoking cessation success estimate, self-efficacy, BMI and diet status. Prediction of smoking cessation choice was the most accurate (73%) followed by weight management choice (67%). Physical activity and diet choices were much better identified in a combined cluster (76%–87%) indicating that the decision about these two behaviors was affected by the same variables and the variables that could separate them may have been missing from the dataset. Presence of variables related to individual risks and levels of success in accepting certain health behaviors in the final set of predictors confirmed significance of the computer-mediated decision aid which presented these very variables for the user consideration.
A Framework of ‘p’-Benefits in Health Information Technology Implementation
Authors: Kuziemsky Craig E.  , Keshavjee Karim
Published: February 2025

Implementing health information technology (HIT) into clinical settings is still problematic despite extensive efforts and research. HIT issues are caused by a gap in fit between users and technology. The transition from paper (p) to electronic (e) systems is a key factor in the chasm between users and technology. While a significant body of research exists on behavioral or usability evaluation of HIT, there is far less research that looks how to support the transition from p to e systems. This paper presents a framework of ‘p’ benefits to help us understand why issues occur in the transition from ‘p’ to ‘e’ systems. The framework can help us design and evaluate HIT in a manner that bridges the transition from p to e and helps close the user-technology chasm.
Project ALIVE: An Action-Research Exploration of EMR Value in Primary Care
Authors: Alexander Ted  , Singh Neha  , Huda Shahrin  , Alarakhia Mohamed
Published: February 2025

This paper outlines a quality assurance (QA) process and a multiple case, explorative, electronic medical records (EMRs) project in Ontario. The project, dedicated to Advancing and Leveraging the Investment Value of EMRs (ALIVE) was an eight-month investigation of improvements to EMRs in terms of the technical elements of patient records that could be optimized through data standardization and the social elements needed to integrate value into the everyday functioning of primary care (PC) organizations. We argue that standardized and structured data offer substantial clinical value in PC insofar as it enables more proactive chronic disease prevention and management (CDPM). While PC clinicians may have had the opportunity to look the other way with respect to enabling technologies in the past, imminent health system reforms demand more meaningful use of EMRs moving forward.
Hospital Discharge and the Role of ICTs: Considering Patient Perspectives
Authors: Wong Ming Chao  , Yee Kwang Chien  , Turner Paul
Published: February 2025

Hospital discharge is associated with high risks and potential adverse events for patients. While significant efforts have been made to improve discharge, patients and their families/carers have tended to be marginalized in discharge processes. Evidence from user-centred approaches to the development of eHealth emphasize the importance of engaging end-users to optimize the safety and quality of health services. This paper promotes a patient-centred approach focusing on discharge back to the community and the development of electronic tools as a method for contributing to improving the safety and quality of discharge processes. Understanding and engaging with patients as end-users avoids simplistic techno-centric and info-centric approaches to discharge improvement.
Using Community Based Participatory Research as a Method for Investigating Electronic Health Records
Authors: Almond Helen  , Cummings Elizabeth  , Turner Paul
Published: February 2025

One information source for the Personally Controlled Electronic Health Record is the consumer repository. This paper reports on the use of community based participatory research, as a project method, derived from an initiative where people with complex chronic conditions and their carers attended a rural health promotion and lifestyle modification program. Through co-operative inquiry embedded in the research approach, health promotion workers and their clients were actively supported to adopt and use the PCEHR as an intervention. Simultaneously they were encouraged to reflect on its design, mechanisms for its implementation and their perceptions of its overall impact on consumer's ability to self-manage complex conditions.
Designing Electronic Medication Reconciliation for Patients: The Lead User Method
Authors: Bellwood Paule  , Price Morgan
Published: February 2025

There is a potential to reduce medication errors by supporting the use of medication reconciliation through electronic Personal Health Records. The lead user method was used to identify specific goals and activities that are required to have in an electronic medication reconciliation tool and to provide a synthesized visual design that would reflect these requirements. Lead users identified two major functionalities of a proposed medication reconciliation tool: ability to view and edit certain medication information when reconciling medication lists and share most current, reconciled medication lists with selected providers.
Evaluating a Telehealth Follow-up Program for Cardiology Patients Using Administrative Data
Authors: Stewart Samuel Alan  , Worth Leslie  , Burton Carolyn
Published: February 2025

This project evaluated the effect of a telehealth follow-up intervention on readmission rates for patients discharged from the Saskatoon Health Region cardiology units with ACS or HF. 1-year readmission rates for ACS patients were 27.4% (95% CI: [26%, 29%]) before telehealth implementation and 25.2% (95% CI: [24%, 27%]) after, producing an insignificant hazard ratio of 1.07 (95% CI: [0.97, 1.18], P=0.1899). For HF 50.3% (95% CI: [44%, 56%]) of pre-implementation and 47.9% (95% CI: [43%, 53%]) of post-implementation patients had a 1-year readmission, producing a HR of 1.04 (95% CI: [0.83, 1.26], P=0.6882). This analysis found no significant effect of telehealth on readmission rates for ACS or HF patients.
Improving Access to Pediatric Cardiology in Cape Verde via a Collaborative International Telemedicine Service
Authors: Lapão Luís Velez  , Correia Artur
Published: February 2025

This paper addresses the role of international telemedicine services in supporting the evacuation procedures from Cape Verde to Portugal, enabling better quality and cost reductions in the management of the global health system. The Cape Verde, as other African countries, health system lacks many medical specialists, like pediatric cardiologists, neurosurgery, etc. In this study, tele-cardiology shows good results as diagnostic support to the evacuation decision. Telemedicine services show benefits while monitoring patients in post-evacuation, helping to address the lack of responsive care in some specialties whose actual use will help save resources both in provision and in management of the evacuation procedures. Additionally, with tele-cardiology collaborative service many evacuations can be avoided whereas many cases will be treated and followed locally in Cape Verde with remote technical support from Portugal. This international telemedicine service enabled more efficient evacuations, by reducing expenses in travel and housing, and therefore contributed to the health system's improvement. This study provides some evidence of how important telemedicine really is to cope with both the geography and the shortage of physicians.
A Connecting System for Cardiological Lexicons
Authors: Bonacina Stefano  , Marceglia Sara  , Pinello Veronica  , Magni Silvia  , Pinciroli Francesco
Published: February 2025

The purpose of this paper is to present the approach and the development of a software application (“lexicons connecting” system) to correlate effectively and unambiguously the correspondence between the specialist medical vocabulary and the familiar medical vocabulary for the cardiovascular domain. To investigate the question, the idea, the design, and the implementation of such system will be described. To this end, firstly, a number of research methodologies will be examined including domain ontologies development, database design and implementation. Then, the following implementation methodology and its results are presented. Finally, an example of the application use will be depicted and future work will be briefly described.
Combining Archetypes with Fast Health Interoperability Resources in Future-proof Health Information Systems
Authors: Bosca Diego  , Moner David  , Maldonado Jose Alberto  , Robles Montserrat
Published: February 2025

Messaging standards, and specifically HL7 v2, are heavily used for the communication and interoperability of Health Information Systems. HL7 FHIR was created as an evolution of the messaging standards to achieve semantic interoperability. FHIR is somehow similar to other approaches like the dual model methodology as both are based on the precise modeling of clinical information. In this paper, we demonstrate how we can apply the dual model methodology to standards like FHIR. We show the usefulness of this approach for data transformation between FHIR and other specifications such as HL7 CDA, EN ISO 13606, and openEHR. We also discuss the advantages and disadvantages of defining archetypes over FHIR, and the consequences and outcomes of this approach. Finally, we exemplify this approach by creating a testing data server that supports both FHIR resources and archetypes.