bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Control-Based Database Tuning Under Dynamic Workloads
Authors: Tu Yi-Cheng , Ding Gang
Published: May 2011

Database administration (tuning) is the process of adjusting database configurations in order to accomplish desirable performance goals. This job is performed by human operators called database administrators (DBAs) who are generally well-paid, and are becoming more and more expensive with the increasing complexity and scale of modern databases. There has been considerable effort dedicated to reducing such cost (which often dominates the total ownership cost of mission-critical databases) by making database tuning more automated and transparent to users (Chaudhuri et al, 2004; Chaudhuri and Weikum, 2006). Research in this area seeks ways to automate the hardware deployment, physical database design, parameter configuration, and resource management in such systems. The goal is to achieve acceptable performance on the whole system level without (or with limited) human intervention.
On the Role of Public Policies Supporting Free/Open Source Software
Authors: Comino Stefano , Manenti Fabio M. , Rossi Alessandro
Published: May 2011

Governments’ interest in free/open source software is steadily increasing. Several policies aimed at supporting free/open source software have been taken or are currently under discussion all around the world. In this chapter, we review the basic (economic) rationales for such policy interventions and we present some summary statistics on policies taken within the European countries. We claim that in order to evaluate correctly the consequences of such interventions one has to consider both the role and the administrative level at which such decisions are taken as well as the typology of software that is involved. Moreover, we argue that the level playing field cannot be taken for granted in software markets. Therefore, non-intrusive public policies that currently prevail at the European level in terms, for instance, of the promotion of open standards or in terms of campaigns aimed at informing IT decision-makers, are likely to be welfare enhancing.
An Overview of Software Quality Concepts and Management Issues
Authors: April Alain , Laporte Claude Y.
Published: May 2011

This chapter introduces the generally accepted knowledge on software quality that has been included in the (SWEBOK) Software Engineering Body of Knowledge (ISOTR 19759, 2005). One chapter of the SWEBOK is dedicated to software quality (April et al., 2005). It argues that ethics play an important role in applying the quality models and the notions of cost of quality for software engineers. It also describes the minimal content required in a software quality assurance plan. Finally an overview of what to expect in the upcoming international standards on software quality requirements, which transcend the life cycle activities of all IT processes, is presented.
Different Views of Software Quality
Authors: Wong Bernard
Published: May 2011

This chapter examines the different definitions of quality and compares the different models and frameworks for software quality evaluation. It will look at both historical and current literature. The chapter will give special attention to recent research on the Software Evaluation Framework, a framework for software evaluation, which gives the rationale for the choice of characteristics used in software quality evaluation, supplies the underpinning explanation for the multiple views of quality, and describes the areas of motivation behind software quality evaluation. The framework has its theoretical foundations on value-chain models, found in the disciplines of cognitive psychology and consumer research, and introduces the use of cognitive structures as a means of describing the many definitions of quality. The author hopes that this chapter will give researchers and practitioners a better understanding of the different views of software quality, why there are differences, and how to represent these differences.
Approaches to Building High Performance Web Applications
Authors: Goodman Brian , Inampudi Maheshwar , Doran James
Published: May 2011

In this chapter, we introduce five practices to help build scalable, resilient Web applications. In 2004, IBM launched its expertise location system, bringing together two legacy systems and transforming the employee’s ability to find and connect with their extensive network. This chapter reviews five of the many issues that challenge enterprise Web applications: resource contention, managing transactions, application resiliency, geographic diversity, and exception perception management. Using the IBM expertise location system as context, we will present five key methods that mitigate these risks, achieving high availability and high performance goals.
Knowledge Management Software
Authors: Baroni de Carvalho Rodrigo , Tavares Ferreira Marta Araújo
Published: May 2011

Due to the vagueness of the concept of knowledge, the software market for knowledge management (KM) seems to be quite confusing. Technology vendors are developing different implementations of the KM concepts in their software products. Because of the variety and quantity of KM tools available on the market, a typology may be a valuable aid to organizations that are searching and evaluating KM software suitable to their needs. The objective of this article is to present a typology that links software features to knowledge processes described in the SECI (socialization, externalization, combination, internalization) model developed by Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995). KM solutions such as intranet systems, content-management systems (CMSs), groupware, work flow, artificial intelligence- (AI) based systems, business intelligence (BI), knowledge-map systems, innovation support, competitive intelligence (CI) tools, and knowledge portals are discussed in terms of their potential contributions to the processes of socialization, externalization, internalization, and combination.
Motivation in Component-Based Software Development
Authors: Chroust G.
Published: May 2011

Information systems are designed for the people, by the people. The design of software systems with the help of software systems is another aspect of human-computer interfaces. New methods and their (non-)acceptance play an important role. Motivational factors of systems developers considerably influence the type and quality of the systems they develop (Arbaoui, Lonchamp & Montangero, 1999; Kumar & Bjoern-Andersen, 1990). To some extent, the quality of systems is a result of their developers’ willingness to accept new and (supposedly) better technology (Jones, 1995). A typical example is componentbased development methodology (Bachmann et al., 2000; Cheesman & Daniels, 2001). Despite considerable publication effort and public lip service, component-based software development (CBD) appears to be getting a slower start than anticipated and hoped for. One key reason stems from the psychological and motivational attitudes of software developers (Campell, 2001; Lynex & Layzell, 1997). We therefore analyze the attitudes that potentially hamper the adoption of the component-based software development approach. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Need (Boeree, 1998; Maslow, 1943) is used for structuring the motives.
Covert End User Development
Authors: Ferneley Elaine H.
Published: May 2011

End User Development (EUD) of system applications is typically undertaken by end users for their own, or closely aligned colleagues, business needs. EUD studies have focused on activity that is small scale, is undertaken with management consent and will ultimately be brought into alignment with the organisation’s software development strategy. However, due to the increase pace of today’s organisations EUD activity increasing takes place without the full knowledge or consent of management, such developments can be defined as covert rather than subversive, they emerge in response to the dynamic environments in which today’s organisations operate. This paper reports on a covert EUD project where a wide group of internal and external stakeholders worked collaboratively to drive an organisation’s software development strategy. The research highlights the future inevitability of external stakeholders engaging in end user development as, with the emergence of wiki and blog-like environments, the boundaries of organisations’ technological artifacts become increasingly hard to define.
Women in the Free/Libre Open Source Software Development
Authors: Lin Yuwei
Published: May 2011

Free/libre open source software (FLOSS) has become a prominent phenomenon in the ICT field and the wider public domain for the past years. However, according to a FLOSS survey on FLOSS developers in 2002, “women do not play a role in the [FLOSS] development; only 1.1% of the FLOSS sample is female.” (Ghosh, Glott, Krieger, & Robles, 2002). In the mainstream research on FLOSS communities, many researchers also overlook different processes of community-building and diverse experiences of members, and presume a stereotyped maledominated “hacker community” (e.g., Levy, 1984; Raymond, 2001; Himanen, 2001; Thomas, 2002). Moreover, issues around gender inequality are often ignored and/or muted in the pile of FLOSS studies. Female programmers often are rejected ex/implicitly from the software labour market (Levesque & Wilson 2004). The requirements of female users are not respected and consulted either (European Commission, 2001). This feature is opposite to the FLOSS ideal world where users should be equally treated and embraced (op. cit.). While many researchers endeavour to understand the FLOSS development, few found a genderbiased situation problematic. In short, women are almost invisible in current FLOSS-related literature. Most policies targeting at advocating FLOSS are also gender blind.
Managing Intellectual Capital and Intellectual Property within Software Development Communities of Practice
Authors: Williamson Andy , Kennedy David M. , DeSouza Ruth , McNaught Carmel
Published: May 2011

In this article, we will develop a framework for educational software development teams that recognizes the conflicts and tensions that exist between the different professional groups and will assist software teams to recognize the intellectual capital created by individuals and teams. We will do so by recognizing the inherent relationship between the tangible elements of intellectual property and the intangible organizational assets that form the basis of intellectual capital and by discussing how knowledge generated by a project team can become an explicit asset.
Developing Knowledge Management Systems from a Knowledge-Based and Multi-Agent Approach
Authors: Vizcaíno Aurora , Soto Juan Pablo , Portillo-Rodríguez Javier
Published: May 2011

Developing knowledge management systems is a complicated task since it is necessary to take into account how the knowledge is generated, how it can be distributed in order to reuse it, and other aspects related to the knowledge flows. On the other hand, many technical aspects should also be considered such as what knowledge representation or retrieval technique is going to be used. To find a balance between both aspects is important if we want to develop a successful system. However, developers often focus on technical aspects, giving less importance to knowledge issues. In order to avoid this, we have developed a model to help computer science engineers to develop these kinds of systems. In our proposal we first define a knowledge life cycle model that, according to literature and our experience, ponders all the stages that a knowledge management system should give support to. Later, we describe the technology (software agents) that we recommend to support the activities of each stage. The article explains why we consider that software agents are suitable for this end and how they can work in order to reach their goals. Moreover, a prototype that uses these agents is also described.
Designing for Service-Oriented Computing
Authors: Vassiliadis Bill
Published: May 2011

This case describes major management and technology issues which arise when designing advanced service-oriented architectures in distributed networked environments used for e-learning. The organization at hand uses a mixed funding model and is preparing for a large expansion of its services and capacity. This case takes place after the initiation of a project and during the design phase where significant decisions have to be taken about what is feasible, what are the risks and how they can be dealt with and finally, what is to be developed and how. The need to address diverse goals set by business, technology and education right from the start of the project requires new methodologies for documenting development plans, feasibility studies, risk, and human resource management policies. The project manager needs to go beyond traditional project management methods in order to cope with the needs of this use case and most importantly, to manage the risk that arises from many directions.
A Survey of Selected Software Technologies for Text Mining
Authors: Segall Richard S. , Zhang Qingyu
Published: May 2011

This chapter presents background on text mining, and comparisons and summaries of seven selected software for text mining. The text mining software selected for discussion and comparison in this chapter are: Compare Suite by AKS-Labs, SAS Text Miner, Megaputer Text Analyst, Visual Text by Text Analysis International, Inc. (TextAI), Magaputer PolyAnalyst, WordStat by Provalis Research, and SPSS Clementine. This chapter not only discusses unique features of these text mining software packages but also compares the features offered by each in the following key steps in analyzing unstructured qualitative data: data preparation, data analysis, and result reporting. A brief discussion of Web mining and its software are also presented, as well as conclusions and future trends.
Tools for the Study of the Usual Data Sources found in Libre Software Projects
Authors: Robles Gregorio , González-Barahona Jesús M. , Izquierdo-Cortazar Daniel , Erlandson Benjamin E.
Published: May 2011

Due to the open nature of Free/Libre/Open Source software projects, researchers have gained access to a rich set of development-related information. Although this information is publicly available on the Internet, obtaining and analyzing it in a convenient way is not an easy task and many considerations have to be taken into account. In this paper we present the most important data sources that can be found in libre software projects and that are studied by the research community: source code, source code management systems, mailing lists and bug tracking systems. We will give advice for the problems that can be found when retrieving and preparing the data sources for a posterior analysis, as well as provide information about the tools that support these tasks.
Reverse Engineering from an XML Document into an Extended DTD Graph
Authors: Shiu Herbert , Fong Joseph
Published: May 2011

The extensible markup language (XML) has become a standard for persistent storage and data interchange via the Internet due to its openness, self-descriptiveness, and flexibility. This article proposes a systematic approach to reverse engineer arbitrary XML documents to their conceptual schema, extended DTD graphs, which are DTD graphs with data semantics. The proposed approach not only determines the structure of the XML document, but also derives candidate data semantics from the XML element instances by treating each XML element instance as a record in a table of a relational database. One application of the determined data semantics is to verify the linkages among elements. Implicit and explicit referential linkages are among XML elements modeled by the parent-children structure and ID/IDREF(S), respectively. As a result, an arbitrary XML document can be reverse engineered into its conceptual schema in an extended DTD graph format.
VIPER
Authors: Beaumont-Kerridge John
Published: May 2011

Recent developments producing new Internet conferencing (IC) and multipoint desktop conferencing (MDC) systems have emerged, which may supersede text-based and audio/video conferencing (AVC) software. The newer IC or MDC systems also integrate interactive tools and have the advantage of operating at a fraction of the cost when compared to AVC systems. Communication by face to face methods are important within the learning process, but can online methods that incorporate sound, video, and integrated online tools be as effective? AVC systems within higher education (HE) have been available for some time although the quality of such approaches, however, has been open to question. This chapter evaluates an exploratory study of one MDC application, “Voice Café,” in a higher education, business school setting. For commercial distinctiveness, the academic application of this software was called “VIPER” (voice Internet protocol extended reach). Consideration is given to the software itself in terms of its features, pedagogic aspects, and how students and faculty viewed its use.
A Pliant-Based Software Tool for Courseware Development
Authors: Santos Kucharski Marcus Vinicius , Woungang Isaac , Nyongwa Moses
Published: May 2011

The increasing importance of e-learning has been a boosting element for the emergence of Internet-based educational tools. As we move into the information age, tremendous efforts are made in the development of new information and communication technologies for educational purposes. The ultimate goal is to facilitate elearning methodologies and acquisition. The chapter’s contribution is in the area of open source software for technology-enhanced learning. First, we report on the capabilities of Pliant, a novel software framework for Web-based courseware development. Pliant’ design features upon which e-learning capabilities are built are presented, showing that Pliant has some advantages over existing software, including flexibility, efficiency, and universal usability. A case study of the use of Pliant in the project “Multilanguage Database for Localization” developed at the CUSB School of Translation is presented. Second, we present Academia,3 a Pliant-based courseware development Web portal, and its use in translation studies at CUSB.
Electronic Commerce Strategy in the UK Electricity Industry
Authors: Shaw Duncan R. , Holland Christopher P. , Kawalek Peter , Snowdon Bob , Warboys Brian
Published: May 2011

This paper investigates the collective use of a simple modeling technology by highly complex, heterogeneous and numerous groups of stakeholders who heavily depend upon it to mediate their interactions. We use economic theory, design theory, complex systems theory and business process modeling concepts to analyze deregulation and business to business interaction in the UK electricity industry, and the strategic business and IT response of Electric Co, a large electricity supply company. The relevance of this study comes from its investigation of a novel example of the shaping of a whole sector’s ebusiness through regulatory law and thus we are concerned with enterprise and inter-enterprise systems not purely with ERP systems. We focus on model-based business interaction and its effect upon the business and consumer behaviors of a whole country’s electricity sector. This sector is a socio-technical system; so business processes and consumer behaviors are not only shaped by the regulator’s legally enforced business to business process interaction model, but the opinions of businesses and the public also influence how the regulator updates its model. Thus business behaviors, consumer behaviors and the model interact to shape each other. By moving from intra to inter-organizational business processes we seek to demonstrate and explain the value of models in e-business where the complexity of interacting business systems involves many thousands of parameters. We show how developments in technical standards and business process management are related to inter-organizational interaction and coordination.
IT and Software Industry in Vietnam
Authors: Iwasaki Yuko
Published: May 2011

Vietnam has been advancing toward a market economy since 1986. Industrialization has progressed with a high rate of growth. One of the factors of the economic growth of Vietnam has been FDI. Japanese companies are among those that have a strong interest in Vietnam. Japanese companies are recently taking note of Vietnam’s IT and software industries. Now, however, interest is increasing in offshoring as a means for developing in this sector.
Utilizing Semantic Web and Software Agents in a Travel Support System
Authors: Ganzha Maria , Gawinecki Maciej , Paprzycki Marcin , Gasiorowski Rafal , Pisarek Szymon , Hyska Wawrzyniec
Published: May 2011

The use of Semantic Web technologies in e-business is hampered by the lack of large, publiclyavailable sources of semantically-demarcated data. In this chapter, we present a number of intermediate steps on the road toward the Semantic Web. Specifically, we discuss how Semantic Web technologies can be adapted as the centerpiece of an agent-based travel support system. First, we present a complete description of the system under development. Second, we introduce ontologies developed for, and utilized in, our system. Finally, we discuss and illustrate through examples how ontologically demarcated data collected in our system is personalized for individual users.In particular, we show how the proposed ontologies can be used to create, manage, and deploy functional user profiles.
An Empirical Study on the Migration to OpenOffice.org in a Public Administration
Authors: Rossi Bruno , Scotto M. , Sillitti A. , Succi Giancarlo
Published: May 2011

The aim of the article is to report the results of a migration to Open Source Software (OSS) in one public administration. The migration focuses on the office automation field and, in particular, on the OpenOffice.org suite. We have analysed the transition to OSS considering qualitative and quantitative data collected with the aid of different tools. All the data have been always considered from the point of view of the different stakeholders involved, IT managers, IT technicians, and users. The results of the project have been largely satisfactory. However the results cannot be generalised due to some constraints, like the environment considered and the parallel use of the old solution. Nevertheless, we think that the data collected can be of valuable aid to managers wishing to evaluate a possible transition to OSS.
Open Source Software
Authors: Parry David , Parry Emma , Dorji Phurb , Stone Peter
Published: May 2011

This article is organized around a number of sections. The introduction outlines the rationale of the article and deals with some aspects of open source software (OSS) that make it attractive for software development in the health domain for low-income countries. The methodology section then introduces the framework of assessment that is being used. The majority of this article describes a case study of a project run by the authors in Bhutan in the obstetric domain. Critical success factors for such a project are then analyzed and some conclusions are drawn. The discussion covers some of the issues that have arisen from this experience, and articulates some lessons learned.
Teaching Operations Management with Enterprise Software
Authors: LaForge R. Lawrence
Published: May 2011

Enterprise systems technology is used to enhance the teaching of operations management through development and operation of a virtual manufacturing enterprise. An ongoing, real-time simulation is conducted in which operations management issues in the fictitious factory must be addressed on a daily basis. The virtual manufacturing enterprise is integrated into an operations management course to facilitate understanding of the dynamic and interrelated nature of operations planning and control in a complex manufacturing environment. Enterprise software supports the primary learning objective of understanding how operations management decisions affect customer service, capacity, inventory, and costs.
Open Source Software Communities
Authors: Carillo Kevin , Okoli Chitu
Published: May 2011

Open source software (OSS) development has continued to appear as a puzzling and enigmatic phenomenon and has drawn increasing attention as its importance has grown. Relying upon an alternative way to develop and to distribute software, open source communities have been able to challenge and often outperform proprietary software by enabling better reliability, lower costs, shorter development times, and a higher quality of code (Raymond, 2004). Behind the software is a mass of people working together in loose coordination, even portrayed as a rowdy marketplace (Raymond, 2001, p. 1): No quiet, reverent cathedral-building here— rather, the Linux community seemed to resemble a great babbling bazaar of differing agendas and approaches … out of which a coherent and stable system seemingly emerges only by a succession of miracles.
Developing Software in Bicultural Context
Authors: Gotterbarn Don , Clear Tony , Gray Wayne , Houliston Bryan
Published: May 2011

This article introduces the SoDIS process to identify ethical and social risks from software development in the context of designing software for the New Zealand Maori culture. In reviewing the SoDIS analysis for this project, the tensions between two cultures are explored with emphasis on the (in)compatibility between a Maori worldview and the values embedded in the SoDIS process. The article concludes with some reflections upon the key principles informing the professional development of software and ways in which cultural values are embedded in supposedly neutral technologies, and reviews the lessons learned about avoiding colonization while working on a bicultural project.
Project Management in Enterprises
Authors: Orlowski Cezary , Kowalczuk Zdzislaw
Published: May 2011

The article discusses how the knowledge of management and artificial intelligence can be used for controlling the budgets and schedules ofsoftware projects. The first part of this paper gives an outline of the problems involved in software project management regarding the planning and control of processes and project teams. Next, an overview of changes in management is presented, followed by a description of a method for how these ideas can be used to solve software engineering problems. Consequently, an example is presented of a decision-support system, designed to aid project-team managers in planning and controlling budgets and schedules and helping the team members to adjust.
Occurrence and Effects of Leader Delegation in Virtual Software Teams
Authors: Zhang Suling , Tremaine Marilyn , Egan Rich , Milewski Allen , O'Sullivan Patrick , Fjermestad Jerry
Published: May 2011

Virtual teams are an important work structure in software development projects. However, little is known about what constitutes effective virtual software team leadership, in particular, the amount of leader delegation that is appropriate in a virtual software-development environment. This study investigates virtual software team leader delegation and explores the impact of delegation strategies on virtual team performance mediated by team motivation, team flexibility and team satisfaction with the team leader. This research is a report of a pilot study run on student teams carried out to refine and test the research constructs and research model for a larger study run in corporations. The study found that virtual team leaders delegate more to competent virtual teams and that such delegation is positively correlated with team member satisfaction with their leader and with team member motivation. Overall, the work provides important information for software- based organizations interested in developing virtual team leadership skills.
How E-Entrepreneurs Operate in the Context of Open Source Software
Authors: Zutshi Ambika , Zutshi Samar , Sohal Amrik
Published: May 2011

The Internet has become an integral part of our everyday lives and it is often difficult to imagine how we ever functioned without it. This chapter presents experiences of two entrepreneurial companies, one of which has survived the ‘dot-com bubble burst.’ The chapter identifies current and future online business environments especially in light of open source software (OSS) being accepted globally. Unlike proprietary software (such as Windows), OSS comes with its internal implementation details (source code) visible both to its developers and users, along with the freedom to change and redistribute this source. The significant implications of this unique style of software distribution for e-entrepreneurs are examined. Having a flexible strategic plan; possessing management skills; providing excellent service; and having patience are some of the recommendations provided by interviewed eentrepreneurs. When made part of the decisionmaking process, these recommendations would enhance current and future e-entrepreneurs in sustaining their business.
Knowledge Management and Organizational Performance in the Egyptian Software Firms
Authors: Seleim Ahmed , Khalil Omar
Published: May 2011

Management research has often overlooked the role of knowledge and knowledge management (KM) in the analysis of organizations and their performance. Also, the literature on KM is short of empirical evidence on the likely interrelatedness of the KM processes. This investigation adopted a research model and used data from 38 Egyptian software firms to examine: (1) the relationship of the KM processes of knowledge acquisition, documentation, transfer, creation, and application to organizational performance, and (2) a number of relationships within the KM processes themselves. The results suggest that knowledge application influences organizational performance, knowledge acquisition and knowledge creation influence knowledge application, and knowledge acquisition and knowledge transfer influence knowledge creation. Although they provide a limited support to the research mode, the results signify the value of continued examination and enhancement of such a model.
Ethics in Software Engineering
Authors: Kamthan Pankaj
Published: May 2011

As software becomes pervasive in our daily lives, its values from a purely human perspective are brought to light. Ethical conduct is one such human value. There are various reasons for discussing the issue of ethics within a software engineering context. By participating in a software development process, software engineers can influence the final product, namely the software itself, in different ways including those that may be contrary to public interest. In other words, they could engage in an unethical behavior, inadvertently or deliberately. This could lead to personal harm, and potentially result in loss of confidence in software and loss of trust in organizations that own them. This can adversely affect the acceptance of software as a useful product, question the credibility of software engineering as a profession, lead to legal implications, and impact the bottom line of the software industry at-large. This article is organized as follows. We first outline the background necessary for later discussion. This is followed by a proposal for a quality-based framework for addressing ethics, and software quality treatment of a software engineering code of ethics. Next, avenues and directions for future research are outlined, and finally, concluding remarks are given.
Free Access to Law and Open Source Software
Authors: Poulin Daniel , Mowbray Andrew , Lemyre Pierre-Paul
Published: May 2011

Law consists of legislation, judicial decisions, and interpretative material. Public legal information means legal information produced by public bodies that have a duty to produce law and make it public. Such information includes the law itself (so-called primary materials) as well as various secondary (interpretative) public sources such as reports on preparatory work and law reform and resulting from boards of inquiry and available scholarly writing. The free access to law movement is a set of international projects that share a common vision to promote and facilitate open access to public legal information. The objectives of this chapter are to outline the free access to law movement, to set out the philosophies and principles behind this, and to discuss the role that open source software has played both in terms of its use and development.
A Graphical User Interface (GUI) Testing Methodology
Authors: Singhera Zafar , Horowitz Ellis , Shah Abad
Published: May 2011

Software testing in general and graphical user interface (GUI) testing in particular is one of the major challenges in the lifecycle of any software system. GUI testing is inherently more difficult than the traditional and command-line interface testing. Some of the factors that make GUI testing different from the traditional software testing and significantly more difficult are: a large number of objects, different look and feel of objects, many parameters associated with each object, progressive disclosure, complex inputs from multiple sources, and graphical outputs. The existing testing techniques for the creation and management of test suites need to be adapted/enhanced for GUIs, and new testing techniques are desired to make the creation and management of test suites more efficient and effective. In this article, a methodology is proposed to create test suites for a GUI. The proposed methodology organizes the testing activity into various levels. The tests created at a particular level can be reused at higher levels. This methodology extends the notion of modularity and reusability to the testing phase. The organization and management of the created test suites resembles closely to the structure of the GUI under test.
A Genetic Algorithm-Based QoS Analysis Tool for Reconfigurable Service-Oriented Systems
Authors: Yen I-Ling , Gao Tong , Ma Hui
Published: May 2011

Reconfigurability is an important requirement in many application systems. Many approaches have been proposed to achieve static/dynamic reconfigurability. Service-oriented architecture offers a certain degree of reconfigurability due to its support in dynamic composition. When system requirements change, new composition of services can be determined to satisfy the new requirements. However, analysis, especially QoS based analysis, is generally required to make appropriate service selections and service configurations. In this chapter, we discuss the development of QoS-based composition analysis techniques and propose a QoS specification model. The specification model facilitates QoSbased specification of the properties of the Web services and the requirements of the application systems. The composition analysis techniques can be used to analyze QoS tradeoffs and determine the best selections and configurations of the Web services. We develop a composition analysis framework and use the genetic algorithm in the framework for composition decision making. The framework currently supports SOA performance analysis. The details of the genetic algorithm for the framework and the performance analysis techniques are discussed in this chapter.
Social Software Trends in Business
Authors: Burkhardt Peter
Published: May 2011

Social networking and Web 2.0 are the hottest words in technology right now; but is there more than just hype? This chapter will define and describe social software and Web 2.0, separate their true concepts from the marketing and buzz, and follow by identifying what might be next for this dynamic technology space. After establishing the social software and Web 2.0 concepts, this chapter identifies the value that they can bring to a company when used in a business context and the shortcomings or pitfalls. This chapter will set the foundation for subsequent discussions of social software and Web 2.0 for specific industry applications.
Machine Learning and Value-Based Software Engineering
Authors: Zhang Du
Published: May 2011

Software engineering research and practice thus far are primarily conducted in a value-neutral setting where each artifact in software development such as requirement, use case, test case, and defect, is treated as equally important during a software system development process. There are a number of shortcomings of such value-neutral software engineering. Value-based software engineering is to integrate value considerations into the full range of existing and emerging software engineering principles and practices. Machine learning has been playing an increasingly important role in helping develop and maintain large and complex software systems. However, machine learning applications to software engineering have been largely confined to the value-neutral software engineering setting. In this paper, the general message to be conveyed is to apply machine learning methods and algorithms to value-based software engineering. The training data or the background knowledge or domain theory or heuristics or bias used by machine learning methods in generating target models or functions should be aligned with stakeholders’ value propositions. An initial research agenda is proposed for machine learning in value-based software engineering.
Benchmarking in the Semantic Web
Authors: García-Castro Raúl , Gómez-Pérez Asunción
Published: May 2011

The Semantic Web technology needs to be thoroughly evaluated for providing objective results and obtaining massive improvement in its quality; thus, the transfer of this technology from research to industry will speed up. This chapter presents software benchmarking, a process that aims to improve the Semantic Web technology and to find the best practices. The chapter also describes a specific software benchmarking methodology and shows how this methodology has been used to benchmark the interoperability of ontology development tools, employing RDF(S) as the interchange language.
Situated Learning with SketchMap
Authors: Miura Sosuke
Published: May 2011

This chapter presents the SketchMap system, which supports children’s situated learning by their experience of creating maps. In an outdoor environment, each child creates a map in the region of his or her school using a SketchMap client. The map is uploaded to the SketchMap server to be shared with other children who have created maps of different areas. Children can add new information to the maps or can edit them in their classrooms or in their homes. The goal of the SketchMap project is to investigate whether it the integration of outdoor and classroom activities, and the sharing of the children’s experiences through the maps, can actually promote collaborative learning. This system has been used in the classes “safety map” and “nature exploration” in a Japanese elementary school, and an evaluation of the system has also been performed. Some issues that were identified during the educational activities are also described here.
Human Capital and E-Learning
Authors: Fabra M. Eugenia , Camison Cesar
Published: May 2011

Companies are increasingly conscious of the fact that the achieving of their objectives, together with the improvement of their competitive advantages, depends on the appropriate management of the human factor. The dynamism and strong competition that characterize the business world make it increasingly necessary to introduce a system of human resources to allow the exploiting of the knowledge and skills of both people and teams, thus encouraging their learning capacity. In this context, e-learning is becoming established as a flexible and quick way of improving the acquiring of knowledge and skills within a company. The rapid growth and expansion of e-learning, together with the failure of some of its projects, has made the development of various assessment approaches a necessity. Given the importance of this aspect, the aim of this study is to analyze the progress that has been made in the quality of e-learning initiatives.
The Development of Knowledge and Information Networks in Tourism Destinations
Authors: Da Costa Mendes Júlio
Published: May 2011

This chapter looks to analyse new paradigms in the relationship between public and private organisations towards tourism destinations. It proposes new approaches for increased performance both at the competitive and the organisational level. Based on the literature review, this chapter suggests new organisational forms of being and interaction directed at increased customer needs and growing competitiveness on the tourism industry. The development of public-private partnerships and knowledge networking in destinations and in organisations are issues also addressed. Furthermore, the implementation of interorganisational networks in a cooperative environment is important in developing and maintaining an adequate environment with shared objectives and practices in tourist destinations.
E-Government Challenges
Authors: Claver-Cortés E.
Published: May 2011

Government agencies are being pressed to become more efficient. For this reason, e-government strategies result from the expectations from society to be able to use Internet technologies as a strategic means of communications and relationship with its public sector, virtualising the delivery of public services. The aim of this chapter is to identify the main barriers and facilitators affecting the deployment of e-government, and to classify them into dimensions that may help researchers and practitioners to identify and better understand these factors. A literature analysis and empirical research based on the perceptions of the technology managers of Spanish councils with more than 5000 inhabitants and institutional Websites were carried out. The findings disclose some lessons for public managers to take into account when implementing an e-government strategy. However, the ultimate challenge seems to be in the hands of the politicians of the council, who are responsible for developing these e-government strategies.
A Complex Adaptive Systems-Based Enterprise Knowledge Sharing Model
Authors: Sage Andrew P. , Small Cynthia T.
Published: May 2011

This chapter describes a complex adaptive systems (CAS)-based enterprise knowledge-sharing (KnS) model. The CAS-based enterprise KnS model consists of a CAS-based KnS framework and a multi-agent simulation model. Enterprise knowledge sharing is modeled as the emergent behavior of knowledge workers interacting with the KnS environment and other knowledge workers. The CAS-based enterprise KnS model is developed to aid Knowledge Management (KM) leadership and other KnS researchers in gaining an enhanced understanding of KnS behavior and its influences. A premise of this research is that a better understanding of KnS influences can result in enhanced decision-making of KnS interventions that can result in improvements in KnS behavior.
Computational Methods for the Prediction of GPCRs Coupling Selectivity
Authors: Sgourakis Nikolaos G. , Bagos Pantelis G. , Hamodrakas Stavros J.
Published: May 2011

GPCRs comprise a wide and diverse class of eukaryotic transmembrane proteins with well-established pharmacological significance. As a consequence of recent genome projects, there is a wealth of information at the sequence level that lacks any functional annotation. These receptors, often quoted as orphan GPCRs, could potentially lead to novel drug targets. However, typical experiments that aim at elucidating their function are hampered by the lack of knowledge on their selective coupling partners at the interior of the cell, the G-proteins. Up-to-date, computational efforts to predict properties of GPCRs have been focused mainly on the ligand-binding specificity, while the aspect of coupling has been less studied. Here, we present the main motivations, drawbacks, and results from the application of bioinformatics techniques to predict the coupling specificity of GPCRs to G-proteins, and discuss the application of the most successful methods in both experimental works that focus on a single receptor and large-scale genome annotation studies.
The Affymetrix GeneChip® Microarray Platform
Authors: Clevert Djork-Arné , Rasche Axel
Published: May 2011

Readers shall find a quick introduction with recommendations into the preprocessing of Affymetrix GeneChip® microarrays. In the rapidly growing field of microarrays, gene expression, especially the Affymetrix GeneChip arrays, is an established technology present on the market for over ten years. Used in biomedical research, the mass of information demands statistics for its analysis. Here we present the particular design of GeneChip arrays, where much research has already been invested and some validation resources for the comparison of the methods are available. For a basic understanding of the preprocessing, we emphasize the steps, namely: background correction, normalization, perfect match correction, summarization, and couple these with alternative probe-gene assignments. Combined with a recommendation of successful methods a first use of the new technology becomes possible.
Alternative Isoform Detection Using Exon Arrays
Authors: Majewski Jacek
Published: May 2011

Eukaryotic genes have the ability to produce several distinct products from a single genomic locus. Recent developments in microarray technology allow monitoring of such isoform variation at a genome-wide scale. In our research, we have used Affymetrix Exon Arrays to detect variation in alternative splicing, initiation of transcription, and polyadenylation among humans. We demonstrated that such variation is common in human populations and has an underlying genetic component. Here, we use our study to illustrate the use of Exon Arrays to detect alternative isoforms, to outline the analysis involved, and to point out potential problems that may be encountered by researchers using this technology.
Systems Biology Strategies in Studies of Energy Homeostasis In Vivo
Authors: Orešic Matej , Vidal-Puig Antonio
Published: May 2011

In this chapter the authors report on their experience with the analysis and modeling of data obtained from studies of animal models related to obesity and metabolic syndrome. The complex interactions of genetic and environmental factors contributing to the failure of energy balance that lead to obesity, as well as tight systemic regulation to maintain energy homeostasis, require application of the systems biology strategy at the physiological level. In vivo systems offer the possibility of investigating not only the effects of specific genetic modifications or treatments in selected tissues and organs, but also to elucidate compensatory allostatic mechanisms induced to maintain the homeostasis of the whole system. A key challenge for systems biology is to characterize different systems’ responses in the context of activated pathways. One possible strategy is based on reconstruction of tissue specific pathways using lipidomics, or metabolomics in general, in combination with proteomic and transcriptomic profiles. This approach was applied to obese mouse model and revealed activation of multiple liver pathways that may lead to metabolic products, which may impair insulin sensitivity.
Approaching Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus by Systems Biology
Authors: Rasche Axel
Published: May 2011

We acquired new computational and experimental prospects to seek insight and cure for millions of afflicted persons with an ancient malady. Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a complex disease with a network of interactions among several tissues and a multifactorial pathogenesis. Research conducted in human and multiple animal models has strongly focused on genetics so far. High-throughput experimentation technics like microarrays provide new tools at hand to amend current knowledge. By integrating those results the aim is to develop a systems biology model assisting the diagnosis and treatment. Beside experimentation techniques and platforms or rather general concepts for a new term in biology and medicine this chapter joins the conceptions with a rather actual medical challenge. It outlines current results and envisions a possible alley to the comprehension of T2DM.