bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Le bassin-versant comme territoire des possibles
Authors: Vitali Delphine
Published: May 2011

Water management is the manifestation of territorialized politics par excellence. Application of the water law of January 1992 was the result of the creation of the organization SAGE and also the reflection involved on crafting a policy at the scale of the basin side. Behind the strong determination to initiate an overall management, what is the regulatory approach of state services to the management of risks ? Where does one place territory in a problematic as complex as this one ?
Action anthropique et érosion des sols dans le Chaâl-Tarfaoui (plaine de Sfax, Tunisie)
Authors: Fehri Noômène
Published: May 2011

Encouraged by the decree of 8 February 1892 and initiated by associations of French capitalists and Sfaxian planters, the monoculture of olive trees has, after several decades, completely overwhelmed the agrarian landscape of the Sfax plain. An impact study of soil degradation shows a narrowing of pastoral space on the plain and an increase of anthropic impact on lands unfavorable to olive cultivation. Then study also shows that the overgrazing and soil compaction by local populations and their flocks have given free reign to water erosion on these lands. In the olive groves, retreat of the steppe and repetitive plowing have notably worsened the fragility and stability of the soil structure with the result that wind erosion is today quite active there.
Conséquences de la tectonique plio-pléistocène sur la morphologie de la plaine du Roussillon : apport de l'approche morphostructurale
Authors: Carozza Jean-Michel
Published: May 2011

Une approche multi-source, combinant image satellite, photographies aériennes, modèle numérique de terrain et cartographie géomorphologique intégrés dans un SIG, est utilisée pour mettre en évidence des anomalies de l'organisation géomorphologique de la plaine du Roussillon. Dans cet article, les données issues de l'organisation du drainage sont plus particulièrement utilisées. Les résultats issus de cette approche sont ensuite comparés à ceux des mesures in situ de microfracturation affectant les terrains pliocènes. Un schéma d'évolution du drainage est proposé, qui intègre les données morphostructurales. La part de la néotectonique pléistocène dans l'apparition des formes actuelles est débattue. Elle semble mineure comparée aux contrôles climatiques et eustatiques, aucun indice de rupture de surface n'ayant été découvert dans les séries pléistocènes.
Fluctuations du niveau des lacs dans le Jura, les Préalpes françaises du Nord et le Plateau suisse, et variabilité du climat pendant l'Holocène
Authors: Magny Michel
Published: May 2011

A history of Holocene variations in lake levels in the Jura, northern French Prealps, and the Swiss Plateau has been established on the basis of a series of 174 radiocarbon, dendochronological and archaeological dates obtained from sedimentary sequences in 29 lakes. Distribution of these dates over the duration of the Holocene shows distinct groupings, suggesting alternating phases of high and low levels determined by climatic oscillations and the image of a certain climatic variability during the Holocene. Fifteenth high-level phases appear to punctuate this interglacial toward 11250-11050, 10300-10000, 9550-9150, 8300-8050, 7550-7250, 6350-5900, 5650-5200, 4850-4800, 4100-3800, 3500-3100, 2800-2350, 1800-1700, 750-650 BP and after 1394 AD. Comparison of these lake-level fluctuations in temperate Europe with the GISP2- Polar Circulation Index (PCI) record, the North Atlantic ice-rafting debris (IRD) events and the ¹⁴C record suggests teleconnections in a complex cryosphere-ocean-atmosphere system. It also suggests that the variations in solar activity were a determining factor in Holocene climatic variability in the North Atlantic zone.
L'occupation humaine de la vallée de l'Ubaye et les modalités du peuplement de la zone intra-alpine
Authors: Muller André , Jorda Maurice , Gassend Jean-Marie
Published: May 2011

The basin of the Upper Ubaye (situated to the northeast of Alpes-de-Hautes-Provence) is well known for its erosional phenomena and for network of rushing streams which has shaped its relief and the profiles of lateral valleys since the last glaciation. Relief is marked by the legacy of natural phenomena and humanization of the environment. The authors present the state of knowledge in geomorphology and archaeology of these mountain environments. Prospecting results on the part of geomorphologists and archeologists are compared point by point in order to try to understand the different phases of prehistory, history, medieval and modern settlement and their interactions with the mountain environment. They demonstrate the impact of human activities with the appearance of man in this unstable and mishandled landscape by the vagaries of climate.
Les flux de matières en suspension de trois fleuves côtiers vers l'étang de Berre (Bouches-du-Rhône)
Authors: Fiandino Mirabelle
Published: May 2011

Les trois principaux cours d'eau se jetant dans l'étang de Berre ont été soumis à des campagnes de prélèvements d'eau, en crue et en basses eaux, de septembre 1998 à décembre 2000. Ce suivi hydrosédimentaire a permis la quantification des flux de matières en suspension à partir des concentrations mesurées sur les échantillons d'eau. La méthode de calcul retenue pour la période des mesures met en œuvre une approche à pas de temps variable qui utilise tous les points de l'hydrogramme ayant servi à l'évaluation des écoulements. Afin d'étendre les calculs de flux dans le temps, les flux journaliers ont ensuite été corrélés à un indice Iq, établi à partir des données hydrologiques, qui traduit l'agressivité érosive potentielle au cours de la journée considérée. Une seconde approche, fondée sur les données pluviométriques (indice Ip), a été appliquée afin d'extrapoler les données mensuelles sur une période plus longue. Ainsi sur la période 1961-2000, les flux de MES évalués à partir des données pluviométriques atteignent 35,5 t/km²/an pour l'Arc, 17,4 t/km²/an pour la Touloubre et 47,7 t/km²/an pour la Cadière. Les quantités annuelles moyennes de MES apportées à l'étang de Berre par les cours d'eau avoisinent 40000 tonnes.
Intraannular photoreactions in pseudo-geminally substituted [2.2]paracyclophanes
Authors: Hopf Henning , Raev Vitaly , Jones Peter G
Published: May 2011

The photoisomerization of the pseudo-geminal tetraene 11 furnishes the cyclooctadiene derivatives 13 and 15 with a completely new type of molecular bridge for a [2.2]paracyclophane which promise many interesting novel applications; the same is true for the photoisomerization of 22 to 23 and 24. The structures of these new hydrocarbons were established by X-ray crystallography and spectroscopic analysis; among the noteworthy structural features of 13 and 15 are unusually long carbon–carbon single bonds (>1.64 Å).
Electronic Money and Payment Systems
Authors: Misra Santosh K. , Sounderpandian Jayavel
Published: May 2011

This chapter describes the demands on any acceptable type of money or payment system and examines how well the existing electronic money and payment systems satisfy those demands. Certain weaknesses in security and performance still remain in these systems and they need to be overcome before the systems can be completely accepted. It is also not clear what kind or government regulations may be brought to bear on these systems. Even with these weaknesses and uncertainties, a variety of systems are thriving, and their details are given in this chapter.
Using Logic for Querying XML Data
Authors: Bassiliades Nick , Vlahavas Ioannis , Sampson Dimitros
Published: May 2011

In this chapter, we propose the use of first-order logic, in the form of deductive database rules, as a query language for XML data, and we present X-Device, an extension of the deductive object-oriented database system Device, for storing and querying XML data. XML documents are stored into the OODB by automatically mapping the DTD to an object schema. XML elements are treated either as classes or attributes based on their complexity, without loosing the relative order of elements in the original document. Furthermore, this chapter describes the extension of the system’s deductive rule query language with second-order variables, general path and ordering expressions, for querying over the stored, tree-structured XML data and constructing XML documents as a result. The extensions were implemented by translating all the extended features into the basic, first-order deductive rule language of Device using meta-data about stored XML objects.
Protecting Datasources Over the Web
Authors: Castano Silvana , Ferrari Eena
Published: May 2011

Since the Web is becoming the main means of disseminating information in private and public organizations, both at internal and external levels, several applications at Internet and intranet level need mechanisms supporting a selective access to data available over the Web. Through XML, the document exchange and acquisition processes, which can be very frequent in Web-based systems, are simplified and standardized. The development of suitable security policies for both access control and information release and distribution are relevant research topics in the security field, and XML compatibility is an important requirement for Web datasource protection. This chapter covers the issues related to the definition of security policies, models and mechanisms for access control and dissemination of Web data, and is organized in two parts. In the first part, we introduce the general issues and requirements related to the definition of different types of security policies for access control and for information release in Web datasources. Then, we present security policies and mechanisms specifically devoted to the protection of XML data. In the second part, we describe the use of XML for the specification of security relevant information, focusing on security policies, subject credentials, and content protection.
A Framework for Managing Knowledge in Requirements Identification
Authors: Al-Karaghouli Wafi , Alshawi Sarmad , Fitzgerald Guy
Published: May 2011

This chapter reflects on experiences when traditional IT approaches were used to design large IT systems and ended in failure (Etheridge, 2001). The main reflections focus on the reasons for system failure and how they relate to the diversity of knowledge, managing knowledge, and the understanding gaps that may exist between the business and the system developers. The study reveals that the understanding gaps mainly result from lack of knowledge of business operations on the developer side, matched by lack of technical appreciation and knowledge on the user side. To help address the knowledge gap problem, a Knowledge Requirement Framework (KRF), employing soft-systems, diagramming and set mapping techniques, is proposed and d
Applications of Data-Driven Modelling and Machine Learning in Control of Water Resources
Authors: Solomatine D. P.
Published: May 2011

Traditionally, management and control of water resources is based on behavior-driven or physically based models based on equations describing the behavior of water bodies. Since recently models built on the basis of large amounts of collected data are gaining popularity. This modeling approach we will call data-driven modeling; it borrows methods from various areas related to computational intelligence—machine learning, data mining, soft computing, etc. The chapter gives an overview of successful applications of several data-driven techniques in the problems of water resources management and control. The list of such applications includes: using decision trees in classifying flood conditions and water levels in the coastal zone depending on the hydrometeorological data, using artificial neural networks (ANN) and fuzzy rule-based systems for building controllers for real-time control of water resources, using ANNs and M5 model trees in flood control, using chaos theory in predicting water levels for ship guidance, etc. Conclusions are drawn on the applicability of the mentioned methods and the future role of computational intelligence in modeling and control of water resources.
On Measuring the Attributes of Evolutionary Algorithms
Authors: Fernandez-Villacanas Martin J.-L. , Marrow P. , Shackleton M.
Published: May 2011

In this chapter we compare the performance of two contrasting evolutionary algorithms addressing a similar problem, of information retrieval. The first, BTGP, is based upon genetic programming, while the second, MGA, is a genetic algorithm. We analyze the performance of these evolutionary algorithms through aspects of the evolutionary process they undergo while filtering information. We measure aspects of the variation existing in the population undergoing evolution, as well as properties of the selection process. We also measure properties of the adaptive landscape in each algorithm, and quantify the importance of neutral evolution for each algorithm. We choose measures of these properties because they appear generally important in evolution. Our results indicate why each algorithm is effective at information retrieval, however they do not provide a means of quantifying the relative effectiveness of each algorithm. We attribute this difficulty to the lack of appropriate measures available to measure properties of evolutionary algorithms, and suggest some criteria for useful evolutionary measures to be developed in the future.
Design Wind Speeds Using Fast Fourier Transform
Authors: Ismail Z. , Ramli N. H. , Ibrahim Z. , Majid T. A. , Sundaraj G. , Badaruzzaman W. H.W.
Published: May 2011

In this chapter, a study on the effects of transforming wind speed data, from a time series domain into a frequency domain via Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), is presented. The wind data is first transformed into a stationary pattern from a non-stationary pattern of time series data using statistical software. This set of time series is then transformed using FFT for the main purpose of the chapter. The analysis is done through MATLAB software, which provides a very useful function in FFT algorithm. Parameters of engineering significance such as hidden periodicities, frequency components, absolute magnitude and phase of the transformed data, power spectral density and cross spectral density can be obtained. Results obtained using data from case studies involving thirty-one weather stations in Malaysia show great potential for application in verifying the current criteria used for design practices.
Standards of Knowledge Communities
Authors: Afele John S.C.
Published: May 2011

Ironically, the sector that was expected to define and lead the global economy into the new growth era of the new millennium would be the first casualty of a global economic slowdown and a diminishing capitalization of new products and ideas at the very beginning of that millennium. This contraction in the information technology sector in 2001 may have created further doubts in the minds of those who are unable to conceptualize the relationship among the rapid development and diffusion of IT, nurturing and interlinking knowledge cells into knowledge communities, and the empowerment of communities in the traditional non-industrialized economies.
Splicing Modern Knowledge and Ancestral Wisdom
Authors: Afele John S.C.
Published: May 2011

Communications channels with and within the developing world, hence, should be considered in light of the transition of such economies into knowledge societies. The transition from abject poverty to humanly secure is getting shorter, and the tools to foster brain convergence in development planning have become significantly more powerful, more user-defined, more flexible, more abundant, and cheaper. Canada became a country only 133 years ago, and Malaysia and Ghana only in 1957. Yet, at the time of Canada’s 133rd Birthday on July 1, 2000, the United Nations had ranked Canada as the nation with the highest quality of life for the seventh consecutive time (Globe and Mail, 2000). And although Malaysia and Ghana became independent from Britain in 1957, today the two nations are not at the same level of human security. Providing human security relates to optimization of multiple factors that interact nonlinearly; therefore nations in comparable agro-ecological zones that would have been ruled by the same colonial authorities might not achieve the same development status upon being granted political independence; the environment may be suitable for the cultivation of the same crop species, but land management and other inputs and farm practices would determine the yield that each obtained. However, a common feature among nations that have evolved a higher quality of life is probably the development of strategic national goals that are based on increasing the knowledge component of economic and socio-political attributes, and the design of mechanisms to implement and continuously monitor strategies and their effects on society.
Globalization and Frameworks for Digital Opportunities
Authors: Afele John S.C.
Published: May 2011

Globalization may have already become entrenched, and developing countries may not have the power to reverse the phenomenon. Instead, given that activities remotely could affect the majority in a local environment, including poor communities that are not even aware of global economic regimes, managers of developing countries’ institutions are faced with the burden of developing effective interventions to minimize negative impacts of globalization of capital while enhancing the opportunities for their citizens. The influence of the Information Age on a nation’s wealth creation may be through its ability to create new competitive advantages in which the nation-state acts as a sink to pull global knowledge and capital flows. Development of human resources and establishment of the facilitating business environment in developing countries are therefore essential in creating the fertile environment that can attract the flow of capital and know-how toward building the Information Age in these countries. This would in turn nurture their knowledge economies and lead to sustainable economic and social progress. Developing countries need to design creative means to divert some of the global wealth and knowledge resources toward their issues. This needs to be done in a manner that could be mutually beneficial to the North and South, without being parasitic of the North or allowing themselves to be exploited by such capital and knowledge flows.
A Systemic Approach for the Formalization of the Information Systems Concept
Authors: Mora Manuel , Gelman Ovsei , Cervantes Francisco , MejIa Marcelo , Weitzenfeld Alfredo
Published: May 2011

In the new economic context, based on Information and Knowledge resources, the concepts of Information Systems and Information Technology (IS&IT) are fundamental to understand the organizational and managerial process in all levels: strategic, tactic and operational. From an academic and practitioner perspective, we pose that the correct use of the concept of IS&IT, and in specific of Information Systems, is critical. First ones need to study the same object and second ones need to use the same common conceptual knowledge about what are Information Systems. Nevertheless, uniquely informal and semiformal definitions of Information Systems have been reported in the literature and thus a formal definition based on core systemic foundations is missing. For these reasons, the conceptualization and formal definition of what are Information Systems acquires a relevant research and praxis status. This chapter addresses this problematic situation posing a formal definition of the term Information Systems based on core theoretical principles of the Systems Approach. For that, we firstly review the foundations of Systems Approach to establish the basis for our conceptual development. Then, an updated formal definition of the core concept System originally developed by Gelman and Garcia (1989) and that incorporates new insights from other systemic researchers is presented. With these theoretical bases, we proceed to review the contributions and limitations of main informal and semiformal definitions of the term Information Systems reported at the literature. Then the new formal definition of this term is developed using the updated formal definition of the term System. We continue with a discussion of how the definition posed formalizes systemic concepts of previous definitions, of how these are partial cases of the new definition and of how it can be used to model and study Information Systems in organizations. Finally, we conclude with main remarks and implications of this definition and with directions for further research.
The Information System within the Organization
Authors: Campbell Bruce R. , McGrath G. Mike
Published: May 2011

There is considerable evidence that many information systems (IS) projects fail because of organizational, “softer” or “people-related” issues. Considerable effort has been expended in efforts to design improved development methodologies that incorporate these softer aspects. Less attention, however, has been directed towards approaches that increase our understanding of the interaction of the implemented IS with the wider organizational environment. Our thesis is that system dynamics (SD) has much to offer here and, in this chapter, we illustrate the utility of the SD approach in this context through presentation of a field study.
Implementation of Collaborative Technologies as a Learning Process
Authors: Bondarouk Tatyana , Sikkel Klaus
Published: May 2011

Nowadays, more and more information and communication technologies (ICT) gain the characteristics of groupware as they strive to support different aspects of collaborative work. These types of ICT become progressively intertwined in the infrastructures of companies and therefore their implementation deserves as much attention as their design and development. However the literature keeps on providing examples of failures of groupware projects. In this paper we propose a novel theoretical perspective to understand implementation of such technologies based on learning theories. A technology implementation process is regarded as a learning process. The model describes two levels of the implementation process: the user level (individuals and groups) and the organisational level. At the group level it is based on five steps of collaborative learning within a group of users. At the organisational level it is related to the learning climate. By means of the longitudinal case study we have operationalized the constructs from the model towards concrete user-group and managerial activities that advance implementation of groupware. The discussion leads us to conjecture that a better organisational learning climate could promote successful implementation of groupware through group learning. Ultimately the insights derived from the model should lead to the tangible ways to foster the learning climate.
XML-Based Toolkits for the Interoperability of Web Information Systems
Authors: Nicolle Christophe , Yetongnon Kokou
Published: May 2011

This chapter presents a methodology and tools framework, called X-TIME, to support data integration via web sites. It is a data model translator toolkit based on a metamodel and XML technology that is aimed at facilitating the design of wrappers, semantic reconciliators or mediators. X-TIME is an adaptable semantics-oriented metamodel approach that takes into account important characteristics of interoperable information systems, including extensibility and composability. Extensibility requires a translation scheme that can easily integrate new data models while composability, which is the ability of an application to define dynamically the subset of data sources it needs, requires on-demand translation among a subset of data models. To meet these requirements, X-TIME is based on an extensible metamodel that defines a set of metatypes for representing meta-level semantic descriptors of data models that can be found in web sites. The metatypes are organized in a generalization hierarchy to capture semantic similarities between modeling concepts and correlate constituent data models of interoperable systems.
The Use of GIS and Remote Sensing in Schistosomiasis Control in China
Authors: Seto Edmund Y.W. , Xu Bing , Wu Weiping , Davis George , Qiu Dongchuan , Gu Xueguang
Published: May 2011

Despite considerable achievements in the control of schistosomiasis in China, it remains one of the country’s most serious public health problems. Geographic information systems and remote sensing provide new tools for better understanding the spatial epidemiology of disease transmission. We present applications of these technologies at both the regional and local scale. At the regional scale, we compare remote sensing approaches for mapping snail intermediate host habitat in the mountainous environment and the flood basins of the upper and lower Yangtze River, respectively. At the local scale, we present the use of global positioning systems and geocoding of routinely collected field data. High-resolution IKONOS imagery is used to identify landscape characteristics associated with disease transmission at the village level. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of these technologies for improved disease control.
Bacterial Source Tracking of Nonpoint Source Pollution Using GIS and DNA Fingerprinting Technologies
Authors: Folkoff M. E. , Venso E. A. , Harris D. W. , Frana M. F. , Scott M. S.
Published: May 2011

This study is only the second to use DNA fingerprinting technology in Maryland to identify fecal coliform sources in order to guide the implementation of water pollution control practices in a watershed with bacterial impairment. By combining the use of digital air photos and GPS with GIS, fieldwork is planned and conducted more efficiently because sample sites can be selected that accurately represent the physical environment of the study area. We can also return to the field and find our sample sites or locate new ones, even in the remotest part of the study area. It is also possible to more accurately map the data directly in the context of its physical environment, greatly increasing the quality of analysis. The integration of DNA fingerprinting techniques with GIS shows great promise for extending our capabilities to identify the controls on water quality and point sources of waterborne health hazards.
Location Based Services
Authors: Mitchell Kirk , Whitmore Mark
Published: May 2011

Location based services (LBS) are considered by some to be the ‘golden child” of wireless data services and one of the few areas where users would be willing to pay a premium for usage. Mobile Operators however are yet to be convinced, and despite acknowledging location services as strategic, have not considered it a priority. Recent LBS deployments however focusing on a holistic view of user behaviour are showing positive signs of success. These deployments focus on providing services that integrate different content from multiple sources to provide users with a coherent and logically connected flow of application options. These applications are called “Find it, Route it, Share it & Buy it. Importantly this model maximises return on investment (ROI) by motivating user to undertake multiple transactions. The challenge for those within the LBS industry is to convince mobile operators that LBS is viable and can deliver a strong ROI. Indeed, the future success of LBS is as much dependant on locating the money as it is about locating the subscribers.
Location-Based Services
Authors: Astroth Joe
Published: May 2011

This chapter provides an overview of location-based services and insight into the pivotal importance of location-sensitivity to the success of wireless data services. This chapter argues that mass-market adoption of wireless data services will only occur if these services enhance productivity and/or convenience for end-users; transforming novelty into a “must-have.” It is the author’s view that m-commerce is inextricably linked to location and that the incorporation of location-sensitivity will transform these transactions into a relevant, personalized and actionable experience for the user, thereby encouraging the kind of uptake required to fulfill market potential and bring revenue to carriers. The author will provide examples of location-sensitive wireless data servces in consumer and enterprise environments. A specific case study showcasing a next generation solution jointly developed by TargaSys, a division of Fiat Auto and Autodesk Location Services will describe key elements of a successful model for location-based services. Future directions, revenue models, and key technology enablers for successful deployment will also be discussed.
Knowledge Management Support for Decision Making in the Pharmaceutical Industry
Authors: Gibson Rick
Published: May 2011

The purpose of this chapter is to explore the practical application of knowledge management as an aid to decision making by pharmaceutical firms which comprise an industry that seems very well suited for knowledge management investigation. Although researchers assert that knowledge management has moved beyond fad status to become mainstream, practitioners remain skeptical and express major concerns regarding the ambiguity surrounding the sub-discipline associated with the management of knowledge. The major players in the pharmaceutical industry have already implemented knowledge management systems and therefore may experience a competitive advantage over other pharmaceutical companies. No attempt will be made in this chapter to suggest how the lessons learned from the pharmaceutical industry can be generalized to other industries.
Executive Information Systems in Spain
Authors: Roldan Jose L. , Leal Antonio
Published: May 2011

Executive Information Systems (EIS) began to become popular in Spain in the 1990s. This chapter offers a primary descriptive study of EIS in Spain, bearing in mind two aims: to study the EIS usage in Spain and undertake a comparative analysis with reference to previous research. In this way, starting from the recognized EIS development framework of Watson, Rainer and Koh (1991), the authors focus on the structural perspective of the EIS elements and the development process. The study is based on a survey involving 70 organizations. The results show both parallelisms with preceding studies and new contributions to the current knowledge in the EIS field. Finally, the chapter identifies future trends in the executive information system concept.
Knowledge Management and Sharing
Authors: Yew Bee K. , Ho WeiXiong , Troutt Marvin D.
Published: May 2011

The knowledge economy is driven by growth and development of intellectual capital in organizations. Knowledge is defined to be reusable abstractions that can produce new knowledge and modify existing knowledge. Decision making, which includes task solving, is a common feature of the working organization, and it requires good knowledge as input. This chapter provides a review of the knowledge management (KM) concepts and perspectives, with an introduction to the knowledge management Systems (KMS) and its related technologies. The importance of a knowledge base for KM and knowledge sharing (KS) activities is illustrated for Callisma, a consulting firm. Models for knowledge cycle and conversions are covered to provide further theory for KM research. KS, in particular, is an important concern for a knowledge organization as it is believed that effective knowledge sharing or better knowledge utilization can result in increased organizational capabilities as defined by competitiveness, efficiency, competency, and creativity. The inquiring models based on Kant, Hegel, Locke and Liebnitz mental models are presented to provide an analytical framework for knowledge creating and sharing activities.
Architectures for Cognitive and A-Life Agents
Authors: Davis Darryl N.
Published: May 2011

In this chapter, research into the nature of drives and motivations in computational agents is visited from a perspective drawing on artificial life and cognitive science. The background to this research is summarized in terms of the possibility of developing artificial minds. A particular cognitive architecture is described in terms of control states. Steps toward producing an implementation of this architecture are described by means of experimentation into the nature of specific control states. The design of a simple a-life architecture for a predator–prey scenario is described using a transition state diagram. This architecture is then used as a platform with which to develop an agent with drives. This second architecture is used to develop an agent with explicit motivations. The discussion of these (and other) experiments shows how these simple architectures can help to provide some answers to difficult research questions in cognitive science.
SoFAR
Authors: Moreau Luc , Zaini Norliza , Cruickshank Don , De Roure David
Published: May 2011

SoFAR, the Southampton Framework for Agent Research, is a versatile multiagent framework designed for Distributed Information Management tasks. SoFAR embraces the notion of proactivity as the opportunistic reuse of the services provided by other agents, and it provides the means to enable agents to locate suitable service providers. The contribution of SoFAR is to combine ideas from the distributed computing community with the performative-based communications used in other agent systems: communications in SoFAR are based on the startpoint/endpoint paradigm, a powerful abstraction that can be mapped onto multiple communication layers. SoFAR also adopts an XML-based declarative approach for specifying ontologies and agents, providing a clear separation with their implementation.
Challenges and Opportunities with IT-Enabled and Assisted Customerships
Authors: Puhakainen Jussi
Published: May 2011

The purpose of this chapter is to illustrate challenges and opportunities related to IT-enabled and assisted customerships. The chapter begins by defining the term digitization and illustrates what can be digitized and to what extent. Next we illustrate how IT (and digitization) can assist in various types of interactions or create new types of interactions. Digitization and interactions form a fulcrum for the rest of the chapter, which deals with IT-assisted and -enabled marketing activities and customerships. We will make a clear distinction between classical relationship marketing and IT-enabled techno-relationship marketing. Finally we focus on a single marketing activity, namely customer service.
Towards Collaborative Customer-Supplier Relationships in Global Building Product Businesses
Authors: Huovinen Pekka , Hawk David L.
Published: May 2011

Our aim is to enhance management of collaborative customer-supplier relationships among globally operating building product suppliers. Three key concerns are: (1) how best to manage achieving effective collaborative customer-supplier relationships in a global building product business (2) how best to create and manage a supplier’s relationships with its primary customers across the globe and (3) how best can suppliers and customers both advance collaboration in global building product businesses? We apply aspects of Rappaport’s (1952) collaborative approach to the baseline strategic game of prisoner’s dilemma, as articulated by Axelrod (1984). Prisoner’s dilemma has long been used as a guide for formulating strategic collaboration positions. Herein it is used to help readers understand how a building product supplier can select between customers as: nonessential, essential but untrustworthy, and finally as essential and to be trusted. For management responsible for a supplier’s relations with customers, this implies a mental progression from dependence, through greater independence, to acceptance of the advantages of continuous interdependence between parties. We advocate the adoption, deepening and continuous renewal of such collaborative relationships among suppliers and customers across global building product businesses. We will focus on the context of a large Finland-based supplier who is setting business objectives for global operations. This discussion on customer-supplier collaboration, in terms of its conditions and benefits, may well be applicable to global business contexts involving building product suppliers based in the U.S., UK, other EU countries and Japan.
Integration of Business Systems and Applications in Merger and Alliance
Authors: Hurskainen Jorma
Published: May 2011

The strategy of Metso Corporation and its business units is healthy, profitable growth achieved organically, by acquisitions and by new developments. This strategy means that Metso Automation system architecture will be multiple platforms, multiple sites and multiple applications exchanging information in the global business process. Metso Automation system development is globally coordinated and continues, based on this modular network-centric system structure. Each operative function such as sales (and sales office), manufacturing, product engineering have its own system application. These systems are loosely coupled together with agreed, standardised communication messages like order, invoice and order status. These two company integration cases show that the integration of modular systems can be done in a reasonable timeframe and with limited system technical work, and the main business goal, better service to the customer, can be reached.
Key Customer Management and E-Commerce as Part of Business Development
Authors: Routila Panu
Published: May 2011

The chapter deals with customer relationship management in traditional metal business. It introduces a new concept for handling customer interfaces. Based on the experience gained from this application, the following conclusions may be drawn. Integration of different components of profitability improvement is one of the main potentials of Key Customer Management (KCM). Long-term continuous development process is more important than a huge number of simultaneous and/or successive development projects. The business process and the contents of information systems—especially e-Commerce systems—is more important than the technical solution.
Internet Delivery of Distributed Data Mining Services
Authors: Krishnaswamy Shonali , Zaslavsky Arkady , Loke Seng Wai
Published: May 2011

The recent trend of Application Service Providers (ASP) is indicative of electronic commerce diversifying and expanding to include e-services. The ASP paradigm is leading to the emergence of several Web-based data mining service providers. This chapter focuses on the architectural and technological issues in the construction of systems that deliver data mining services through the Internet. The chapter presents ongoing research and the operations of commercial data mining service providers. We evaluate different distributed data mining (DDM) architectural models in the context of their suitability to support Web-based delivery of data mining services. We present emerging technologies and standards in the e-services domain and discuss their impact on a “virtual marketplace of data mining e-services.”
Navigation in E-Business Web Sites
Authors: Hubscher Roland , Pittarese Tony , Lanford Patricia
Published: May 2011

Two of the most important keys to successful Web sites, including e-business sites, are content and usability (Nielsen, 1999). Yet, many of these sites still suffer from flawed content organization and navigation support. In this chapter, we discuss existing problems and point out a series of important user and task characteristics that need to be considered when designing an online store. We focus on usability issues of content organization and navigation which are inherently intertwined. We will also discuss the checkout process, an important element of many e-business, whose design requires not only the usual usability guidelines but also trust issues.
Design and Analysis of Active Hypertext Views on Databases
Authors: Falquet Gilles , Guyot Jacques , Nerima Luka , Park Seongbin
Published: May 2011

The design and maintenance of data-intensive Web sites is a demanding task. The effort can be significantly lowered by using two verified technologies: databases and hypertexts. The first is well suited to administrate a large amount of data; the second has proven to be an easy to use and efficient means of accessing information. The task can be made even easier by using a declarative approach, i.e., the data structure and hypertext structure are both explicitly defined, and the specification is expressed in terms of structure transformation. In addition to the specification language, we provide a design technique: starting with the database structure, the designer applies refinement heuristics that eventually yield an efficient hypertext structure for the final user. The hypertext thus obtained can be seen as a view on the database. A fully functional hypertextual interface should also enable the user to perform update operations on the database. Our system provides this facility, including mechanisms to tackle the well-known update-through-views problem by providing specific mechanisms. Finally, the nonprocedural approach has a supplementary advantage: it offers the possibility of analyzing the hypertext structure before setting it in production, in particular, analyzing the reachability of information or determining the length of the navigation path.
Designing Hypertext and the Web with the Heart and the Mind
Authors: Theng Yin Leng
Published: May 2011

This chapter reviews continuing usability problems with hypertext and Web applications and highlights new issues, in particular, cultural and ethical, brought about due to internationalisation. It argues for a move away from treatment to prevention, from treating the end-user’s symptoms — themselves a reaction to bad design — to avoiding the bad design. Therefore, the way hypertexts and the Web are designed and built needs to be re-examined. It suggests that new approaches to Web modelling are required to address usability issues that might be due to human errors or design problems. This chapter concludes by suggesting several practical and theoretical contributions to address the deficiencies in current hypertext and Web design.
Feature Selection in Data Mining
Authors: Kim Yong Seong , Street W. Nick , Menczer Filippo
Published: May 2011

Feature subset selection is an important problem in knowledge discovery, not only for the insight gained from determining relevant modeling variables, but also for the improved understandability, scalability, and, possibly, accuracy of the resulting models. The purpose of this chapter is to provide a comprehensive analysis of feature selection via evolutionary search in supervised and unsupervised learning. To achieve this purpose, we first discuss a general framework for feature selection based on a new search algorithm, Evolutionary Local Selection Algorithm (ELSA). The search is formulated as a multi-objective optimization problem to examine the trade-off between the complexity of the generated solutions against their quality. ELSA considers multiple objectives efficiently while avoiding computationally expensive global comparison. We combine ELSA with Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) and Expectation-Maximization (EM) algorithms for feature selection in supervised and unsupervised learning respectively. Further, we provide a new two-level evolutionary algorithm, Meta-Evolutionary Ensembles (MEE), where feature selection is used to promote the diversity among classifiers in the same ensemble.
The Pitfalls of Knowledge Discovery in Databases and Data Mining
Authors: Wang John , Oppenheim Alan
Published: May 2011

Although Data Mining (DM) may often seem a highly effective tool for companies to be using in their business endeavors, there are a number of pitfalls and/or barriers that may impede these firms from properly budgeting for DM projects in the short term. This chapter indicates that the pitfalls of DM can be categorized into several distinct categories. We explore the issues of accessibility and usability, affordability and efficiency, scalability and adaptability, systematic patterns vs. sample-specific patterns, explanatory factors vs. random variables, segmentation vs. sampling, accuracy and cohesiveness, and standardization and verification. Finally, we present the technical challenges regarding the pitfalls of DM.
Mining Free Text for Structure
Authors: Kulyukin Vladimir A. , Burke Robin
Published: May 2011

Knowledge of the structural organization of information in documents can be of significant assistance to information systems that use documents as their knowledge bases. In particular, such knowledge is of use to information retrieval systems that retrieve documents in response to user queries. This chapter presents an approach to mining free-text documents for structure that is qualitative in nature. It complements the statistical and machine-learning approaches, insomuch as the structural organization of information in documents is discovered through mining free text for content markers left behind by document writers. The ultimate objective is to find scalable data mining (DM) solutions for free-text documents in exchange for modest knowledge-engineering requirements. The problem of mining free text for structure is addressed in the context of finding structural components of files of frequently asked questions (FAQs) associated with many USENET newsgroups. The chapter describes a system that mines FAQs for structural components. The chapter concludes with an outline of possible future trends in the structural mining of free text.
Data Mining in Designing an Agent-Based DSS
Authors: Bohm Christian , Galli Maria R. , Chiotti Omar
Published: May 2011

The aim of this work is to present a data-mining application to software engineering. Particularly, we describe the use of data mining in different parts of the design process of an agent-based architecture for a dynamic decision-support system. The work is organized as follows: An introduction section defines the characteristics of a dynamic decision-support system and gives a brief background about the use of data mining and case-based reasoning in software engineering. A second section describes the use of data mining in designing the system knowledge bases. A third section presents the use of data mining in designing the learning process of the dynamic decision-support system. Finally, a fourth section describes the agent-based architecture we propose for the dynamic decision support system. It implements the mechanisms designed by using data mining to satisfy the system functionality.
Project Life-Cycle Planning and Methodologies
Authors: Asprey Len , Middleton Michael
Published: May 2011

This chapter deals with the planning aspects of an IDCM project, including scope, feasibility, and life-cycle development. It reviews the typical project deliverables that may be used during planning and subsequent phases. The objectives are to consider and discuss: • The importance of planning to the successful implementation of an IDCM solution, and the need to distinguish between product development and project life-cycles; • A product development life-cycle that enterprises can use for an IDCM project; • The steps involved in initiating and defining an IDCM project; • An approach to aligning the development of a management framework with requirements for enabling an IDCM solution, including a review of key life-cycle stages; • Development of a project organization structure that may be applicable for an enterprise IDCM project; • Identification of a set of risks to form the basis of a Risk Management Plan; and • Methodologies suitable for an IDCM project.