bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The SURE-LET Approach for MR Brain Image Denoising Using Different Shrinkage Rules
Authors: Selvathi D. , Selvi S. Thamarai , Malar C. Loorthu Sahaya
Published: April 2010

SURE-LET Approach is used for reducing or removing noise in brain Magnetic Resonance Images (MRI). Removing or reducing noise is an active research area in image processing. Rician noise is the dominant noise in MRIs. Due to this type of noise, the abnormal tissue (cancerous tissue) may be misclassified as normal tissue and introduces bias into MRI measurements that can have signi?cant impact on the shapes and orientations of tensors in di?usion tensor MRIs. SURE is a new approach to Orthonormal wavelet image denoising. It is an image-domain minimization of an estimate of the mean squared error—Stein’s unbiased risk estimates (SURE). Here, the denoising process can be expressed as a linear combination of elementary denoising processes-linear expansion of thresholds (LET). Different Shrinkage functions such as Soft and Hard and Shrinkage rules and Universal and BayesShrink are used to remove noise and the performance of these results are compared. The algorithm is applied on brain MRIs with different noisy conditions by varying standard deviation of noise. The performance of this approach is compared with performance of the Curvelet transform.
A Cross-Cultural Validation of the Selwyn's Computer Attitude Scale (CAS)
Authors: Teo Timothy
Published: April 2010

This study assesses the factorial validity of the Computer Attitude Scale (CAS) using a sample (N=438) of students from Singapore. Developed by Selwyn (1997), the CAS is a four-factor scale that measures the perceived usefulness, affective, behavioral, perceived control components that were proposed to constitute the multidimensional construct known as computer attitude. The results of this study show an overall positive computer attitude among the students. However, factor analyses reveal multicollinearity among some items and these were removed from further analysis. A confirmatory factor analysis was performed on a proposed 15-item model of the CAS and it was found to have a good fit. Implications for education in the Asian contexts are discussed. Suggestions for future research are offered.
Improving Teachers' Self-Confidence in Learning Technology Skills and Math Education through Professional Development
Authors: Hartsell Taralynn , Herron Sherry S. , Fang Houbin , Rathod Avinash
Published: April 2010

Using technology tools in math instruction can help stimulate problem-solving skills and understanding of math concepts. However, teachers need to be confident in their abilities to use technology tools. This study investigated whether or not a four-week in-service professional development institute that addressed the use of technology in math education helped improved the teachers’ attitude and confidence in applying technology. Findings indicated that as the teachers explored and used the available technology tools relevant to math instruction during the institute, the more proactive and motivated they became to continue their professional development in using technology for classroom instruction. They realized that they were able to use technology and desired to continue their education in this area.
Materials-to-Standards Alignment
Authors: Adamich Tom
Published: April 2010

One way of identifying an effective materials-to-standards relationship (often defined educationally as “alignment”) is through the use of metadata for books, visual media, computer software, educational kits, and manipulative materials. Embedded in the metadata is vocabulary containing standards-based terminology and other elements of educational pedagogy—evidence of an effective materials-to-standards relationship or alignment. This article attempts to define the materials-to-standards alignment process (as it relates to state standards) and its relationship to formative assessment and the use of learning objects—successful strategies being used in today’s educational instruction and testing environment. The article also looks at two statewide examples of the use of metadata reflecting materials-to-standards alignment and identifies both current successes and future challenges associated with the broad use of each.
Enhancing Teaching and Learning with Digital Storytelling
Authors: Wang Shuyan , Zhan Hong
Published: April 2010

This article intends to help educators interested in technology integration in the classroom acquire a firm theoretical foundation, pedagogical applications, and step-by-step technical procedures for infusing digital storytelling into the curriculum. Through illustrations of digital storytelling projects completed in the authors’ undergraduate and graduate classes, this article discusses the benefits along with the challenges for using digital storytelling as a means of engaging students in reflective, active, and personally meaningful learning.
Ontology-Based Shopping Agent for E-Marketing
Authors: Meng Sam Kin , Chatwin C. R.
Published: April 2010

Before Internet consumers make buying decisions, several psychological factors come into effect and reflect individual preferences on products. In this paper, the authors investigate four integrated streams: 1) recognizing the psychological factors that affect Internet consumers, 2) understanding the relationship between businesses’ e-marketing mix and Internet consumers’ psychological factors, 3) designing an ontology mapping businesses’ e-marketing mix with Internet consumers’ decision-making styles, and 4) developing a shopping agent based on the ontology. The relationship between businesses’ e-marketing mix and Internet consumers’ psychological factors is important because it can identify situations where both businesses and Internet consumers benefit. The authors’ ontology can be used to share Internet consumers’ psychological factors, the e-marketing mix of online business and their relationships with different computer applications.
Generating Knowledge-Based System Generators
Authors: Moisan Sabine
Published: April 2010

This article investigates software engineering techniques for designing and reengineering knowledge-based system generators, focusing on inference engines and domain specific languages. Indeed, software development of knowledge-based systems is a difficult task. We choose a software engineering approach to favor code reuse, evolution, and maintenance. We propose a software platform named Lama to design the different elements necessary to produce a knowledge-based system. This platform offers software toolkits (mainly component frameworks) to build interfaces, inference engines, and expert languages. We have used the platform to build several KBS generators for various tasks (planning, classification, model calibration) in different domains. The approach appears well fitted to knowledge-based system generators; it allows developers a significant gain in time, as well as it improves software readability and safeness.
Algorithm for Decision Procedure in Temporal Logic Treating Uncertainty, Plausibility, Knowledge and Interacting Agents
Authors: Rybakov V.
Published: April 2010

Our article studies logic UIALTL, which is a combination of the linear temporal logic LTL, a multi-agent logic with operation for passing knowledge via agents’ interaction, and a suggested logic based on operation of logical uncertainty. The logical operations of UIALTL also include (together with operations from LTL) operations of strong and weak until, agents’ knowledge operations, operation of knowledge via interaction, operation of logical uncertainty, the operations for environmental and global knowledge. UIALTL is defined as a set of all formulas valid at all Kripke-Hintikka like models NC. Any frame NC represents possible unbounded (in time) computation with multi-processors (parallel computational units) and agents’ channels for connections between computational units. The main aim of our article is to determine possible ways for computation logical laws of UIALTL. Principal problems we are dealing with are decidability and the satisfiability problems for UIALTL. We find an algorithm which recognizes theorems of UIALTL (so we show that UIALTL is decidable) and solves satisfiability problem for UIALTL. As an instrument we use reduction of formulas to rules in the reduced normal form and a technique to contract models NC to special non-UIALTL-models, and, then, verification of validity these rules in models of bounded size. The article uses standard results from non-classical logics based on Kripke-Hintikka models.
Provable Security for Outsourcing Database Operations
Authors: Evdokimov Sergei , Fischmann Matthias , Günther Oliver
Published: April 2010

Database outsourcing has become popular in recent years, although it introduces substantial security and privacy risks. In many applications, users may not want to reveal their data even to a generally trusted database service provider. Several researchers have proposed encryption schemes, such as privacy homomorphisms, that allow service providers to process confidential data sets without learning too much about them. In this paper, the authors discuss serious flaws of these solutions. The authors then present a new definition of security for homomorphic database encryption schemes that avoids these flaws and show that it is difficult to build a privacy homomorphism that complies with this definition. As a practical compromise, the authors present a relaxed variant of the security definition and discuss arising security implications. They present a new method to construct encryption schemes for exact selects and prove that the resulting schemes satisfy this notion.
A Host-Based Intrusion Detection System Using Architectural Features to Improve Sophisticated Denial-of-Service Attack Detections
Authors: Tao Ran , Yang Li , Peng Lu , Li Bin
Published: April 2010

Application features like port numbers are used by Network-based Intrusion Detection Systems (NIDSs) to detect attacks coming from networks. System calls and the operating system related information are used by Host-based Intrusion Detection Systems (HIDSs) to detect intrusions toward a host. However, the relationship between hardware architecture events and Denial-of-Service (DoS) attacks has not been well revealed. When increasingly sophisticated intrusions emerge, some attacks are able to bypass both the application and the operating system level feature monitors. Therefore, a more effective solution is required to enhance existing HIDSs. In this article, the authors identify the following hardware architecture features: Instruction Count, Cache Miss, Bus Traffic and integrate them into a HIDS framework based on a modern statistical Gradient Boosting Trees model. Through the integration of application, operating system and architecture level features, the proposed HIDS demonstrates a significant improvement of the detection rate in terms of sophisticated DoS intrusions.
Are Online Privacy Policies Readable?
Authors: Sumeeth M. , Singh R. I. , Miller J.
Published: April 2010

This paper examines the question of are on-line privacy policies understandable to the users of the Internet? This examination is undertaken by collecting privacy policies from the most popular sites on the Internet, and analyzing their readability using a number of readability measures. The study finds that the results are consistent regardless of the readability measure utilized. The authors also compare their findings with the results from previous studies. The authors conclude that, on average, privacy policies are becoming more readable. However, these policies are still beyond the capability of a large section of Internet users, and roughly 20% of the policies require an educational level approaching a post-graduate degree to support comprehension.
A Mergers and Acquisitions Index in Data Envelopment Analysis
Authors: Färe Rolf , Fukuyama Hirofumi , Weber William L.
Published: April 2010

In this paper, a dynamic network DEA model is developed to evaluate the potential gains in final output from a merger of two firms. The two firms are allowed to have different production technologies or share a common technology. In a beginning period each firm uses period specific inputs to produce a final output and an intermediate output that becomes an input in the production of final outputs in a subsequent period. Firms that merge can use the intermediate input of one firm to produce final output for the other firm, leading to gains in final output for the two merged firms over what the firms could have produced individually. The method is applied to study Japanese cooperative Shinkin banks during 2003 to 2007. Mergers between banks in Nagasaki, Kagoshima, and Miyazaki prefectures tend to have the highest potential gains, while mergers between banks within Fukuoka prefecture and other prefectures and within Saga prefecture tend to have the smallest potential gains.
DeLone & McLean IS Success Model in Evaluating Knowledge Transfer in a Virtual Learning Environment
Authors: Halonen Raija , Thomander Heli , Laukkanen Elisa
Published: April 2010

DeLone & McLean’s success model has been actively used since its first introduction in 1992. In this article, the authors extend this model to describe the success of knowledge sharing in an information system that included a part of the knowledge base of a private educational institute. As the supply of private education is increased, it is vital to be aware if the offered educational services support the use of the knowledge base and if the service is perceived satisfactory by the customers. In this descriptive qualitative case study, the authors discuss how the DeLone & McLean’s information system success model can be used to assess educational services when apprenticeships form a salient part of teaching. This paper focuses on issues that interested the target organization.
Multidimensional Assessment of Emerging Technologies
Authors: Neshati Ramin , Daim Tugrul U.
Published: April 2010

The Internet has changed the world in many ways. Online communications, financial and business-to-business transactions, electronic shopping, banking, and entertainment have become the norm in the digital age. The combined package of technologies that comprise the Internet—the information superhighway—have made all of this possible. The aging technological infrastructure that supports these webs of interconnected networks is being stressed to its performance limits. Recent advances in the backbone infrastructure that supports the Internet have helped alleviate some of these problems, but more challenges lie ahead for solving technology-related performance bottlenecks for many online applications, including high-definition interactive gaming. In this paper, the authors developed a technology assessment through multiple perspectives. While different components of the technology such as applications, protocols and network components are identified, other impact areas such as market and management are also evaluated. Elements of user behavior are evaluated within the market perspective. Evaluating technologies through these dimensions concurrently provides a balanced assessment among technical, economical, social and political factors.
Reports from the Field
Authors: Beall Allyson M. , Ford Andrew
Published: April 2010

Since the work of Tansley (1935) and others, many have embraced the concept that an ecosystem is a synergy of its parts. Numerous science-centric approaches have been developed to address ecosystem management, while also taking into account the needs of the public. Participatory environmental modeling using system dynamics is an effective process for facilitating the integration of ecosystem science and social concerns. This integration helps break barriers between disciplines while also identifying important feedbacks between traditionally segregated types of data. Using the art of facilitation and the science of model building, the methodology creates a common language that integrates various types of information into simulation models. This paper describes a diversity of case studies, that have used system dynamics to create platforms through which stakeholders can simultaneously explore their system, stressors to that system, potential tipping points, resilience, and prospective policies that address the environment, social concerns, and long-term sustainability.
Fair Distribution of Efficiency Gains in Supply Networks from a Cooperative Game Theory Point of View
Authors: Zelewski Stephan , Peters Malte L
Published: April 2010

In this paper, the authors address the distribution of efficiency gains among partially autonomous supply network actors in a manner they will accept as fair and as an incentive to cooperation. The problem is economically significant because it requires substantiating efficiency gains in an understandable manner. Moreover, supply networks suffer from a conflict potential because the partially autonomous actors seek to maximize their own shares of the efficiency gain. The method applied appropriates a model from cooperative game theory involving the t-value. The special nature of the t-value ensures that it seems rational to the actors to cooperate in the supply network. The proposed method for the distribution problem offers a fair distribution of efficiency gains in the supply network and ensures that the distribution results can be communicated easily.
An Empirical Investigation of Third Party Logistics Providers in Thailand
Authors: Kritchanchai Duangpun , Tan Albert Wee Kwan , Hosie Peter
Published: April 2010

Third Party Logistics (3PL) in Asia emerged as an important trend in logistical management and Thailand continues to develop in this service rapidly. While a great deal has been written about the dissemination of information technology (IT), few empirical investigations address the use of IT in relation to 3PLs in Thailand. In this article, the authors use an empirical study to investigate the profiles of 3PLs in Thailand and their company strategies for providing logistics service and use of IT. Survey results show that Thailand’s 3PL companies must expend more effort to strengthen basic IT and infrastructure to enhance competitiveness. IT capabilities in Thailand are increasing rapidly and its effective adoption has the potential to significantly enhance the competitiveness of small 3PLs. Still many barriers exist to the successful adoption of IT by these providers. Given the importance of such companies in supply chain management, these issues must be fully understood.
Implement VoIP Based IP Telephony with Open Source Asterisk Architecture
Authors: Gohel Chirag K. , Lakhtaria Kamaljit I.
Published: April 2010

Asterisk is a leading open source telephony software/system, easily implemented over intranet and internet. Asterisk empowers developers and integrators to create advanced communication solutions. An Asterisk system is a low cost type of a traditional PBX system. Any phone controlled by an Asterisk system can call a VoIP or analog phone controlled or managed by a traditional telephone system or by Asterisk telephone system. In this paper, the authors focus on the deployment and testing of various Open Source Asterisk Services in an enterprise level communication system. Selected services are listed in this paper that can be used to implement a telephone system with good Quality of Services (QoS) and good Quality of Experience (QoE) from the personal user to enterprise level users.
Real-Time Query Processing on Live Videos in Networks of Distributed Cameras
Authors: Peng Rui , Aved Alex J. , Hua Kien A.
Published: April 2010

With the proliferation of inexpensive cameras and the availability of high-speed wired and wireless networks, systems of distributed cameras are becoming an enabling technology for a broad range of interdisciplinary applications in domains such as public safety and security, manufacturing, transportation, and healthcare. Today’s live video processing systems on networks of distributed cameras, however, are designed for specific classes of applications. To provide a generic query processing platform for applications of distributed camera networks, the authors designed and implemented a new class of general purpose database management systems, the live video database management system (LVDBMS). The authors view networked video cameras as a special class of interconnected storage devices, and allow the user to formulate ad hoc queries expressed over real-time live video feeds. This paper introduces their system and presents the live video data model, the query language, and the query processing and optimization technique.
Service-Oriented Architecture Adoption
Authors: Ciganek Andrew P. , Haines Marc N.
Published: April 2010

Service-oriented architecture (SOA) have been adopted by organizations in a wide variety of industries, however, best practices have still yet to mature. This article, which is part of a larger study on SOA, develops a normative decision model introducing key factors that influence the timing and approach of adopting a SOA. The decision model is based on the results of multiple case studies of organizations that had either employed or were considering implementing a service-oriented architecture project. The results indicate that there are four main areas an information technology (IT) manager needs to assess to determine when and how to move towards a SOA: the maturity of relevant standards, the technology gap, the organizational gap, and the nature of the benefits expected from a SOA. Analyzing these results suggest that differences in the business environment need to be considered in the decision of when and how an IT manager should pursue the move to a service-oriented architecture.
Teaching Students How to Effectively Work in Virtual Teams
Authors: Kulturel-Konak Sadan , Maurer Clifford R. , Lohin Daniel L.
Published: April 2010

This paper, through the voices of two professors and a student, describes an educational experience that exposed students to virtual teams constructed between Information Technology Project Management classes of two branch campuses of the Pennsylvania State University. This experience focused on overcoming the communication problems of virtual teams in order to strengthen team building dynamics. Since working on virtual teams was the first experience for the students, attempts were made to control some aspects of the virtual team environment by eliminating cultural and time differences. The variable to be in focus was the building of trust in a virtual environment. By eliminating all other variables such as time zones, cultural and disciplinary backgrounds, etc., students could experience the efforts required to build trust in a virtual environment. Students were given pre and post experience surveys. The results indicate that initially many students were very apprehensive about virtual teams; however, after completing the course, most students expressed positive attitudes and a general understanding of techniques to work effectively in virtual teams. In addition, almost all teams commented on how important they felt virtual teams would become in the future as digital technology continues to improve.
Extending the Social Identity of Information Systems
Authors: Datta Pratim , Mbarika Victor W. , Okoli Chitu
Published: April 2010

Although Benbasat and Zmud’s (2003) pronouncement of an “identity crisis” within the information systems (IS) discipline has been mitigated in the industrialized world, the authors are concerned that the crisis still looms large in the developing world. The author’s objective is to theoretically underpin how the discipline can extend its social presence in developing countries to help sustain life. These arguments are contextualized with an in-depth examination of an area for which information systems research has much to offer: telemedicine. Telemedicine is an information systems intensive method concerning the remote delivery of healthcare. Telemedicine is fundamental to any healthcare solution in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)— a capital-starved society, home to 33 of the 48 least developed countries of the world, and suffering from a dire shortage of medical professionals. The social, political, and economic idiosyncrasies of SSA require a different lens to investigate telemedicine to induce social development. This paper proposes a research framework for telemedicine transfer in the context of SSA with propositions pertinent to the developing world. The authors draw on thorough implications of this research agenda as a stepping stone to recreate a social identity in developing nations plagued with more immediate concerns surrounding basic human sustenance.
An Efficient Network Utilization Scheme for Optical Burst Switched Networks
Authors: Randhawa Rajneesh , Sohal J.S. , Garg Amit Kumar , Kaler R. S.
Published: April 2010

Optical Burst Switching (OBS) is one of the most important switching technologies for future IP over wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) networks. In OBS Network, the burst assembly technique is a challenging issue in the implementation of the system. Burst assembly influences burst characteristics, which negatively impacts network performance. In this paper, the authors propose an efficient hybrid burst assembly approach, which is based on approximate queuing network model. To reduce the time complexity, an approximate queuing network model has been considered. Throughput performance has been investigated, taking into account both burst loss probability and time complexity. Simulation results have shown that the proposed hybrid approach based on variable burst length threshold and fixed maximum time limitation provides Simulation results have also shown a good trade-off between burst blocking performance and scheduling time.
Perceived and Actual Web Page Loading Delay
Authors: El Louadi Mohamed , Ben Ali Imen
Published: April 2010

The major complaint users have about using the Web is that they must wait for information to load onto their screen. This is more acute in countries where bandwidth is limited and fees are high. Given bandwidth limitations, Web pages are often hard to accelerate. Predictive feedback information is assumed to distort Internet users’ perception of time, making them more tolerant of low speed. This paper explores the relationship between actual Web page loading delay and perceived Web page loading delay and two aspects of user satisfaction: the Internet user’s satisfaction with the Web page loading delay and satisfaction with the Web page displayed. It also investigates whether predictive feedback information can alter Internet user’s perception of time. The results show that, though related, perceived time and actual time differ slightly in their effect on satisfaction. In this case, it is the perception of time that counts. The results also show that the predictive feedback information displayed on the Web page has an effect on the Internet user’s perception of time, especially in the case of slow Web pages.
Deep Web Information Retrieval Process
Authors: Sharma Dilip Kumar , Sharma A. K.
Published: April 2010

Web crawlers specialize in downloading web content and analyzing and indexing from surface web, consisting of interlinked HTML pages. Web crawlers have limitations if the data is behind the query interface. Response depends on the querying party’s context in order to engage in dialogue and negotiate for the information. In this article, the authors discuss deep web searching techniques. A survey of technical literature on deep web searching contributes to the development of a general framework. Existing frameworks and mechanisms of present web crawlers are taxonomically classified into four steps and analyzed to find limitations in searching the deep web.
Geographic Information Retrieval and Text Mining on Chinese Tourism Web Pages
Authors: Tsou Ming-Cheng
Published: April 2010

The World Wide Web (WWW) offers an enormous wealth of information and data, and assembles a tremendous amount of knowledge. Much of this knowledge, however, comprises either non-structured data or semistructured data. To make use of these unexploited or underexploited resources more efficiently, the management of information and data gathering has become an essential task for research and development. In this paper, the author examines the task of researching a hostel or homestay using the Google search web service as a base search engine. From the search results, mining, retrieving and sorting out location and semantic data were carried out by combining the Chinese Word Segmentation System with text mining technology to find geographic information gleaned from web pages. The results obtained from this particular searching method allowed users to get closer to the answers they sought and achieve greater accuracy, as the results included graphics and textual geographic information. In the future, this method may be suitable for and applicable to various types of queries, analyses, geographic data collection, and in managing spatial knowledge related to different keywords within a document.
A Transfer Learning Approach and Selective Integration of Multiple Types of Assays for Biological Network Inference
Authors: Kato Tsuyoshi , Okada Kinya , Kashima Hisashi , Sugiyama Masashi
Published: April 2010

Inferring the relationship among proteins is a central issue of computational biology and a diversity of biological assays are utilized to predict the relationship. However, as experiments are usually expensive to perform, automatic data selection is employed to reduce the data collection cost. Although data useful for link prediction are different in each local sub-network, existing methods cannot select different data for different processes. This article presents a new algorithm for inferring biological networks from multiple types of assays. The proposed algorithm is based on transfer learning and can exploit local information effectively. Each assay is automatically weighted through learning and the weights can be adaptively different in each local part. The authors’ algorithm was favorably examined on two kinds of biological networks: a metabolic network and a protein interaction network. A statistical test confirmed that the weight that our algorithm assigned to each assay was meaningful.
New Trends in Graph Mining
Authors: Bruno Francesco , Palopoli Luigi , Rombo Simona E.
Published: April 2010

Searching for repeated features characterizing biological data is fundamental in computational biology. When biological networks are under analysis, the presence of repeated modules across the same network (or several distinct ones) is shown to be very relevant. Indeed, several studies prove that biological networks can be often understood in terms of coalitions of basic repeated building blocks, often referred to as network motifs.This work provides a review of the main techniques proposed for motif extraction from biological networks. In particular, main intrinsic difficulties related to the problem are pointed out, along with solutions proposed in the literature to overcome them. Open challenges and directions for future research are finally discussed.
Sustaining Organizational Innovativeness
Authors: Kivijärvi Hannu , Piirainen Kalle , Tuominen Markku
Published: April 2010

This paper aims to provide a conceptual basis for creating semi-virtual communities that facilitate knowledge creation and sharing that seeks to promote organizational innovativeness. In addition, based on the theoretical discussion, the paper proposes a concrete context that supports and stimulates the conversion of personal knowledge into new innovations and organizational decisions. As a methodological means, scenario driven innovation process is employed as a way to enhance creativity and knowledge convergence within an organization. The authors discuss that in its deepest sense knowledge is the capability to make decisions. Scenarios aim to increase that capability, and are thus a piece of organizational knowledge. The practical implementations of the contexts and the experiences with these implementations are evaluated by two real case studies in real life contexts.
A Policy Framework for Developing Knowledge Societies
Authors: Sharma Ravi S. , Ng Elaine W.J. , Dharmawirya Mathias , Samuel Ekundayo M.
Published: April 2010

In this article, the authors explore the definition of a knowledge society and why such a society is desirable in the development of nations. First, this paper reviews the literature on knowledge societies and notes a gap in qualitative approaches which are amenable for framing development knowledge policies. The authors then describe a conceptual framework that depicts a knowledge society in terms of 13 dimensions that span infrastructure, governance, human capital and culture. This framework is validated with published proxy indicators from reputable sources such as the United Nations and the World Bank. In a field exercise, this paper determines the usability of the framework for policy discussion using Singapore, Nigeria, the United States and the United Arab Emirates as the foci of our analysis. The authors conclude by suggesting that such a qualitative framework is useful for policy-makers and other stake-holders to understand that the evolution to a knowledge society is a journey that requires benchmarks, environmental intelligence and an emphasis on the tacit structure of knowledge for sustainable advantage.
"Premierløytnant Bielke"
Authors: Wake Jo Dugstad , Baggetun Rune
Published: April 2010

Developments in mobile phone technology, together with an increased research interest in utilizing computer games to facilitate teaching and learning, are an important catalyst for the emergence of the area of mobile, location-based computer games in schools. This article describes both the design process and an evaluation of Premierløytnant Bielke, a mobile, location-based game for teaching and learning history using mobile phones. We argue that by using the surroundings and milieu that are local to the students in a playful context, we can support the construction of meaning related to the subject of history in a way that is both engaging and worthwhile.
A Mobile Context-Aware Framework for Managing Learning Schedules
Authors: Yau Jane Yin-Kim , Joy Mike
Published: April 2010

Mobile learning applications can be categorized into four generations: non-adaptive, learning-preferences based adaptive, learning-contexts-based adaptive and learning-contexts-aware adaptive. The research on our learning schedule framework is motivated by some of the challenges within the context-aware mobile learning field. These include being able to create and enhance students’ learning opportunities in different locations by considering different learning contexts and using them as the basis for selecting appropriate learning materials. We have adopted a pedagogical approach for evaluating this framework, an exploratory interview study with potential users consisting of 37 university students. The observed interview feedback gives us insights into the use of a pedagogical m-learning suggestion framework deploying a learning schedule subject to the five proposed learning contexts. Our data analysis is described and interpreted leading to a personalized suggestion mechanism for each learner and each scenario and a proposed taxonomy for describing mobile learner preferences.
A Proposed Intelligent Denoising Technique for Spatial Video Denoising for Real-Time Applications
Authors: Sarhan Amany , Faheem Mohamed T. , Mahmoud Rasha Orban
Published: April 2010

With the widespread use of videos in many fields of our lives, it becomes very important to develop new techniques for video denoising. Spatial video denoising using wavelet transform has been the focus of the current research, as it requires less computation and more suitable for real-time applications. Two specific techniques for spatial video denoising using wavelet transform are considered in this work: 2D Discrete Wavelet Transform (2D DWT) and 2D Dual Tree Complex Wavelet Transform (2D DTCWT). We performed an analytical analysis to investigate the performance of each of these techniques. From this analysis, we found out that each of these techniques has its advantages and disadvantages. The first technique gives less quality at high levels of noise but consumes less time, whereas the second gives high quality video while consuming a large amount of time. In this work, we introduce an intelligent denoising system that makes a tradeoff between the quality of the denoised video and the time required for denoising. The system first estimates the noise level in the video frame then chooses the proper denoising technique to apply on the frame. The simulation results show that the proposed system is more suitable for real-time applications where time is critical, while still giving high quality videos at low to moderate levels of noise.
Children's Interaction with Mobile Touch-Screen Devices
Authors: McKnight Lorna , Cassidy Brendan
Published: April 2010

In this article, the authors investigate the usability of mobile touch-screen devices for children. This is a growing area, and as such there is currently a lack of definitive guidelines for mobile device designers. This article reports two studies that investigated input methods for touch-screens with children aged 7-10, concentrating on the interaction between the child and the devices. In the first study, a range of devices were observed in use, in order to gather overall impressions of interaction styles and user experience. In the second study, a more controlled comparison between stylus and finger input is made. The article concludes by offering a set of general design guidelines for the design of mobile devices for children.
Designing for Children's Mobile Storytelling
Authors: Franckel Sonia , Bonsignore Elizabeth , Druin Allison
Published: April 2010

Mobile technologies offer novel opportunities for children to express themselves in-context, seamlessly, without disrupting the flow of their formal learning activities or informal play. Most contemporary mobile devices are equipped with multimedia support that can be used to create multimodal stories that represent the rich life narratives children experience, imagine, and want to share. The authors investigated these issues over a 9-month series of participatory design sessions in the Human-Computer Interaction Lab (HCIL) at the University of Maryland. In this article, the authors describe their work with children in designing mobile tools for story creation and collaboration. Throughout this work, they asked the following questions: What stories do children want to tell, and how do they want to convey them in a mobile context? The findings suggest the need for mobile technology-based applications that support children’s unique storytelling habits, particularly interruptability and multimodality.
Bits and Pieces
Authors: Eisenberg Michael , Buechley Leah , Elumeze Nwanua
Published: April 2010

The reigning portrait of mobile technology for children has, by and large, been founded on a portrait of computing derived from an earlier generation of desktop devices. That is, the recurring image of “mobile computing” employs a full-scale personal computer shrunk down to handheld size (as in a PDA or iPhone). While this image suggests avenues for innovation, it nevertheless reflects a highly constrained view of computing that fails to do justice to the educational possibilities of children’s informal day-to-day activities. This article seeks to challenge the “PDA-centric” view of children’s mobile technology by discussing two major design themes that lead in alternative directions: namely, material computing (endowing physical substrates of various kinds with computational capabilities) and piecewise computing (enhancing mobility through the dissociation of various functional capabilities of traditional computers). In discussing these themes, the authors draw on design projects.
Conceptual and Practical Aspects of the aiNet Family of Algorithms
Authors: de França Fabrício O. , Coelho Guilherme P. , Castro Pablo A.D. , Von Zuben Fernando J.
Published: April 2010

In this paper, a review of the conceptual and practical aspects of the aiNet (Artificial Immune Network) family of algorithms will be provided. This family of algorithms started with the aiNet algorithm, proposed in 2002 for data clustering and, since then, several variations have been developed for data clustering, biclustering and optimization in general. Although the algorithms will be positioned with respect to other pertinent approaches from the literature, the emphasis of this paper will be on the formalization and critical analysis of the set of contributions produced along almost one decade of research in this specific theme, together with the provision of insights for further extensions.
Cognitively Inspired Neural Network for Recognition of Situations
Authors: Ilin Roman , Perlovsky Leonid
Published: April 2010

The authors present a cognitively inspired mathematical learning framework called Neural Modeling Fields (NMF). They apply it to learning and recognition of situations composed of objects. NMF successfully overcomes the combinatorial complexity of associating subsets of objects with situations and demonstrates fast and reliable convergence. The implications of the current results for building multi-layered intelligent systems are also discussed.
Wave Propagation in Filamental Cellular Automata
Authors: Gibbons Alan , Amos Martyn
Published: April 2010

Motivated by questions in biology and distributed computing, the authors investigate the behaviour of particular cellular automata, modelled as one-dimensional arrays of identical finite automata. They investigate what kinds of self-stabilising cooperative behaviour may be induced in terms of waves of cellular state changes along a filament of cells. The authors report the minimum requirements, in terms of numbers of states and the range of communication between automata, for this behaviour to be observed in individual filaments. They also discover that populations of growing filaments may have useful features not possessed by individual filaments, and they report the results of numerical simulations.
Quantum Automata with Open Time Evolution
Authors: Hirvensalo Mika
Published: April 2010

In this paper, a model for finite automaton with an open quantum evolution is introduced, and its basic properties are studied. It is shown that the (fuzzy) languages accepted by open evolution quantum automata obey various closure properties. More importantly, it is shown that major other models of finite automata, including probabilistic, measure once quantum, measure many quantum, and Latvian quantum automata can be simulated by the open quantum evolution automata without increasing the number of the states.
An Analytically Tractable Model of Large Network
Authors: Vakulenko S. , Zimin M.
Published: April 2010

This paper considers specially organized networks of large size. They can serve as models of computer communication systems, economical systems, neural and genetic networks. The topology of this network is simple and the analysis of the network behaviour is an analytically tractable task, while computer simulations are difficult. The authors show that such networks generate any structurally stable attractors in particular chaotic and periodic. They can simulate all Turing machines, that is, perform any computations. In noisy cases, the reliability of such network is exponentially high as a function of network size and has a maximum for an optimal network size.
Boundary Pointwise Control for Diffusion Hopfield Neural Network
Authors: Wang Quan-Fang
Published: April 2010

For a close to practical neural network in biology field, in this paper the author address the diffusion Hopfield neural network (HNN) with boundary pointwise control. In the framework of variational method at Hilbert space, the theoretical study finds and characterizes the boundary optimal control solution. Furthermore, with the numerical approach consist of finite element method (FEM) and conjugate gradient method (CGM), computational demonstration is performed for three neurons in two dimensions case. This approach adequately interpreted the effectiveness and feasibility of the control process in a realistic sense.
Computational Model Based on Evolutionary Primitives
Authors: Granichin Oleg , Vasilev Valentin
Published: April 2010

This paper proposes generalization of Classical Turing machine scheme. New concept generalizes traditional concepts of â€œtapeâ€ and â€œtape cellâ€. In particular, â€œtape cellâ€ represents permanently running model of a dynamical system. â€œNaturalâ€ evolutions of cells proceed with jumpings. This model, for example, can describe systems with variable state spaces. Using this model one can avoid the problem of simulation continuous dynamic in the discrete time environment. Classical Turing machine is an extreme case of the proposed model.
Access Control on Semantic Web Data Using Query Rewriting
Authors: Li Jian , Cheung William K.
Published: April 2010

Semantic Web technologies allow on-line resources to be semantically annotated to support more effective and intelligent online services. However, ontologies sometimes may contain sensitive information. Providing access to them requires proper control to ensure the data protection requirement. Yet, the protection should not be too restrictive to make the access management inflexible. While there has been recent work on policy-based access control, in this paper, the authors present a policy representation specifically for access control on ontology-based data and explain how issues like policy propagation and policy conflict resolution are addressed. The authors present bucket-based query rewriting algorithms for realizing the access control policies to avoid sensitive resources leakage in the context of the Semantic Web. The authors validate the correctness of the proposed mechanisms by going through some illustrative examples in detail.
Appropriation Infrastructure
Authors: Stevens Gunnar , Pipek Volkmar , Wulf Volker
Published: April 2010

End User Development offers technological flexibility to encourage the appropriation of software applications within specific contexts of use. Appropriation needs to be understood as a phenomenon of many collaborative and creative activities. To support appropriation, we propose integrating communication infrastructure into software application that follows an“easy-to-collaborate”-principle. Such an appropriation infrastructure stimulates the experience sharing among a heterogeneous product community and supports the situated development of usages. Taking the case of the BSCWeasel groupware, we demonstrate how an appropriation infrastructure can be realized. Empirical results from the BSCWeasel project demonstrate the impact of such an infrastructure on the appropriation and design process. Based on these results, we argue that the social construction of IT artifacts should be tightly integrated in the material construction of IT artifacts in bridging design and use discourses.
End User Development and Meta-Design
Authors: Fischer Gerhard
Published: April 2010

The first decade of the World Wide Web predominantly enforced a clear separation between designers and consumers. New technological developments, such as the participatory Web 2.0 architectures, have emerged to support social computing. These developments are the foundations for a fundamental shift from consumer cultures (specialized in producing finished goods) to cultures of participation (in which all people can participate actively in personally meaningful activities). End-user development and meta-design provide foundations for this fundamental transformation. They explore and support new approaches for the design, adoption, appropriation, adaptation, evolution, and sharing of artifacts by all participating stakeholders. They take into account that cultures of participation are not dictated by technology alone: they are the result of incremental shifts in human behavior and social organizations. The design, development, and assessment of five particular applications that contributed to the development of our theoretical framework are described and discussed.