bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Learning with Partial Supervision
Authors: Bouchachia Abdelhamid
Published: October 2011

Recently the field of machine learning, pattern recognition, and data mining has witnessed a new research stream that is learning with partial supervision -LPS- (known also as semi-supervised learning). This learning scheme is motivated by the fact that the process of acquiring the labeling information of data could be quite costly and sometimes prone to mislabeling. The general spectrum of learning from data is envisioned in Figure 1. As shown, in many situations, the data is neither perfectly nor completely labeled.

LPS aims at using available labeled samples in order to guide the process of building classification and clustering machineries and help boost their accuracy. Basically, LPS is a combination of two learning paradigms: supervised and unsupervised where the former deals exclusively with labeled data and the latter is concerned with unlabeled data. Hence, the following questions:

Can we improve supervised learning with unlabeled data? 

Can we guide unsupervised learning by incorporating few labeled samples?

Typical LPS applications are medical diagnosis (Bouchachia & Pedrycz, 2006a), facial expression recognition (Cohen et al., 2004), text classification (Nigam et al., 2000), protein classification (Weston et al., 2003), and several natural language processing applications such as word sense disambiguation (Niu et al., 2005), and text chunking (Ando & Zhangz, 2005).

Because LPS is still a young but active research field, it lacks a survey outlining the existing approaches and research trends. In this chapter, we will take a step towards an overview. We will discuss (i) the background of LPS, (iii) the main focus of our LPS research and explain the underlying assumptions behind LPS, and (iv) future directions and challenges of LPS research.
Modern Approaches to Software Engineering in the Compositional Era
Authors: Dogru Ali , Senkul Pinar , Kaya Ozgur
Published: October 2011

The amazing evolution fuelled by the introduction of the computational element has already changed our lives and continues to do so. Initially, the fast advancement in hardware partially enabled an appreciation for software potency. This meant that engineers had to have a better command over this field that was crucial in the solution of current and future problems and requirements. However, software development has been reported as not adequate, or mature enough. Intelligence can help closing this gap. This chapter introduces the historical and modern aspects of software engineering within the artificial intelligence perspective. Also an illustrative example is included that demonstrates a rule-based approach for the development of fault management systems.
Discovering Semantics from Visual Information
Authors: Wang Zhiyong , Feng Dagan
Published: October 2011

Visual information has been immensely used in various domains such as web, education, health, and digital libraries, due to the advancements of computing technologies. Meanwhile, users realize that it has been more and more difficult to find desired visual content such as images. Though traditional content-based retrieval (CBR) systems allow users to access visual information through query-by-example with low level visual features (e.g. color, shape, and texture), the semantic gap is widely recognized as a hurdle for practical adoption of CBR systems. Wealthy visual information (e.g. user generated visual content) enables us to derive new knowledge at a large scale, which will significantly facilitate visual information management. Besides semantic concept detection, semantic relationship among concepts can also be explored in visual domain, other than traditional textual domain. Therefore, this chapter aims to provide an overview of the state-of-the-arts on discovering semantics in visual domain from two aspects, semantic concept detection and knowledge discovery from visual information at semantic level. For the first aspect, various aspects of visual information annotation are discussed, including content representation, machine learning based annotation methodologies, and widely used datasets. For the second aspect, a novel data driven based approach is introduced to discover semantic relevance among concepts in visual domain. Future research topics are also outlined.
From Biomedical Image Analysis to Biomedical Image Understanding Using Machine Learning
Authors: Romero Eduardo , González Fabio
Published: October 2011

This chapter introduces the reader into the main topics covered by the book: biomedical images, biomedical image analysis and machine learning. The general concepts of each topic are presented and the most representative techniques are briefly discussed. Nevertheless, the chapter focuses on the problem of image understanding (i.e., the problem of mapping the low-level image visual content to its high-level semantic meaning). The chapter discusses different important biomedical problems, such as computer assisted diagnosis, biomedical image retrieval, image-user interaction and medical image navigation, which require solutions involving image understanding. Image understanding, thought of as the strategy to associate semantic meaning to the image visual contents, is a difficult problem that opens up many research challenges. In the context of actual biomedical problems, this is probably an invaluable tool for improving the amount of knowledge that medical doctors are currently extracting from their day-to-day work. Finally, the chapter explores some general ideas that may guide the future research in the field.
Dependency Parsing
Authors: Çakici Ruket
Published: October 2011

Annotated data have recently become more important, and thus more abundant, in computational linguistics . They are used as training material for machine learning systems for a wide variety of applications from Parsing to Machine Translation (Quirk et al., 2005). Dependency representation is preferred for many languages because linguistic and semantic information is easier to retrieve from the more direct dependency representation. Dependencies are relations that are defined on words or smaller units where the sentences are divided into its elements called heads and their arguments, e.g. verbs and objects. Dependency parsing aims to predict these dependency relations between lexical units to retrieve information, mostly in the form of semantic interpretation or syntactic structure. Parsing is usually considered as the first step of Natural Language Processing (NLP). To train statistical parsers, a sample of data annotated with necessary information is required. There are different views on how informative or functional representation of natural language sentences should be. There are different constraints on the design process such as: 1) how intuitive (natural) it is, 2) how easy to extract information from it is, and 3) how appropriately and unambiguously it represents the phenomena that occur in natural languages. In this article, a review of statistical dependency parsing for different languages will be made and current challenges of designing dependency treebanks and dependency parsing will be discussed.
Multisensory Presence in Virtual Reality
Authors: Gallace Alberto , Ngo Mary K. , Sulaitis John , Spence Charles
Published: October 2011

Perception in the real world is inherently multisensory, often involving visual, auditory, tactile, olfactory, gustatory, and, on occasion, nociceptive (i.e., painful) stimulation. In fact, the vast majority of life’s most enjoyable experiences involve the stimulation of several senses simultaneously. Outside of the entertainment industry, however, the majority of virtual reality (VR) applications thus far have involved the stimulation of only one, or at most two, senses, typically vision, audition, and, on occasion, touch/haptics. That said, the research that has been conducted to date has convincingly shown that increasing the number of senses stimulated in a VR simulator can dramatically enhance a user’s ‘sense of presence’, their enjoyment, and even their memory for the encounter/experience. What is more, given that the technology has been improving rapidly, and the costs associated with VR systems are continuing to come down, it seems increasingly likely that truly multisensory VR should be with us soon (albeit 50 years after Heilig, 1962, originally introduced Sensorama). However, it is important to note that there are both theoretical and practical limitations to the stimulation of certain senses in VR. In this chapter, after having defined the concept of ‘neurally-inspired VR’, we highlight some of the most exciting potential applications associated with engaging more of a user’s senses while in a simulated environment. We then review the key technical challenges associated with stimulating multiple senses in a VR setting. We focus on the particular problems associated with the stimulation of the senses of touch, smell, and taste. We also highlight the problems associated with the limited bandwidth of human sensory perception and the psychological costs associated with users having to divide their attention between multiple sensory modalities simultaneously. Finally, we discuss how the findings provided by the extant research in the cognitive neurosciences might help to overcome, at least in part, some of the cognitive and technological limitations affecting the development of multisensory VR systems.
Relief Supply Chain Planning
Authors: Banomyong Ruth , Sodapang Apichat
Published: October 2011

The purpose of this chapter is to provide a framework for the development of relief supply chain systems. An illustrative case study is presented in order to help relief supply chain decision makers in their relief supply chain planning process. Developing simulation models to test proposed relief supply chain response plans is much less risky than actually waiting for another disaster to happen and test the proposed relief supply chain model in a real life situation. The simulated outcome can then be used to refine the developed relief supply chain response model.
Designing Post-Disaster Supply Chains
Authors: Kovács Gyöngyi , Matopoulos Aristides , Hayes Odran
Published: October 2011

Post-disaster housing reconstruction projects face several challenges. Resources and material supplies are often scarce; several and different types of organizations are involved, while projects must be completed as quickly as possible to foster recovery. Within this context, the chapter aims to increase the understanding of relief supply chain design in reconstruction. In addition, the chapter is introducing a community based and beneficiary perspective to relief supply chains by evaluating the implications of local components for supply chain design in reconstruction. This is achieved through the means of secondary data analysis based on the evaluation reports of two major housing reconstruction projects that took place in Europe the last decade. A comparative analysis of the organizational designs of these projects highlights the ways in which users can be involved. The performance of reconstruction supply chains seems to depend to a large extent on the way beneficiaries are integrated in supply chain design impacting positively on the effectiveness of reconstruction supply chains.
Service Quality Model Evaluation
Authors: Aisopos Fotis , Kardara Magdalini , Moulos Vrettos , Papaoikonomou Athanasios , Tserpes Konstantinos , Varvarigou Theodora
Published: October 2011

In this chapter, we present the current state-of-the-art technology and methodologies regarding the evaluation of the provided quality of service in service oriented environments. With the emergence of service provisioning infrastructures and the adoption of Service Level Agreements acting as electronic contracts between service providers and customers, the need to control and validate the offered quality has appeared throughout the service lifecycle. This monitoring is performed either in the client side, using the customer’s Quality of Experience and employing trust and reputation mechanisms for the service selection and evaluation phase, or in the provider side, dynamically reconfiguring the service and allocating resources accordingly, in order to optimize the quality metrics guaranteed. The latter, of course, initially requires mapping of the high-level quality parameters, which are closer to the customer perception, to low-level computing terms related to the resource management process. Dynamic resource allocation based on quality monitoring and evaluation can lead to optimizing resource utilization and provider’s profits.
Taxonomy and State of the Art of Service Discovery Mechanisms and Their Relation to the Cloud Computing Stack
Authors: Kousiouris George , Kyriazis Dimosthenis , Varvarigou Theodora , Oliveros Eduardo , Mandic Patrick
Published: October 2011

Service Discovery mechanisms are gaining interest in the last years due to the growing bulk of information available, especially to distributed computing infrastructures like Grids and Clouds. However a vast number of characteristics of these implementations exist, each one suitable for a number of purposes. The aim of this chapter is to extract a taxonomy of these characteristics found in modern Service Discovery systems and produce a categorization of existing implementations in a grouped and comparative way, based on these features. Furthermore, the mapping of these characteristics to the Cloud business model is produced, in order to assist in selecting the suitable solutions for each provider based on his/her location in the value chain or identify gaps in the existing implementations.
Fault Detection and Recovery Mechanisms and Techniques for Service Oriented Infrastructures
Authors: Menychtas Andreas , Konstanteli Kleopatra G.
Published: October 2011

The need for guaranteed QoS and efficient management in Service Oriented Infrastructures is an essential requirement for the deployment, execution, and management of modern business applications. In that frame, the capabilities for fault detection and recovery in all layers of a Service Oriented Infrastructure are essential for the smooth operation of the business applications and the wide adoption of these solutions in the global market. In this chapter, we present the concepts of fault detection and recovery, including terminology, classification of faults, and analysis of the key processes taking place in a system in order to diagnose and recover from failures. The state of the art mechanisms and techniques for fault detection and recovery are also analyzed, while recommendations for applying them in Service Oriented Infrastructure are presented.
e-Matchmaker, e-Matchmaker, Make Me a Match
Authors: Krishnan Archana
Published: October 2011

Indians use the Internet for a host of applications, and some of these uses are culture-specific, like formalized matrimonial searches. This chapter examines the growth of matrimonial websites in India and explicates how Indians have adopted new Web technologies to preserve the traditional hegemony of arranged marriages. This technology has helped older generations of Indians become a part of the Web revolution and has allowed newer generations to adhere to traditional cultural norms on more progressive terms. Some specific items reviewed in relation to this development are the adaptation of arranged marriages to new technology, the growth of matrimonial websites, the success of such sites in niche groups, and the impact of these sites on Indian cultural norms.
Filtering Online Content in China
Authors: Lee Jyh-An
Published: October 2011

This chapter focuses on the Internet filtering mechanism the Chinese government adopted in order to prevent individual users from accessing foreign online content. Based on the case of Internet filtering in China, the author argues that when citizens are regulated by code rather than by the law, they will experience and perceive such code-based controls as natural. From the Chinese case, it should also be noted that the Internet’s effects on politics varies depending upon how its architecture is designed.
Culture, Online Technology and Computer-Mediated Technical Documentation
Authors: Hermeking Marc
Published: October 2011

The global diffusion of technology is increasingly accompanied by both computer-mediated and online communication. Several empirical examples for the influence of culture on the usage of online technology and computer-mediated technical documentation are illustrated with relevant theories from the field of intercultural communication (e.g., Edward T. Hall’s model of low-/high-context in particular). Recent developments and national differences in the global diffusion of mobile phones and the Internet are discussed as examples for culture-specific online communication preferences. Similar cultural influences on computer-mediated technical documentation and operational instructions are demonstrated by online manuals from Southeast Asia and by an aviation control system. Beyond the understanding of cultural communication preferences, consequences for construction and design of such technologies are also discussed.
Communicating in the Age of Web 2.0
Authors: Tunc Tanfer Emin , Oguz Esin Sultan
Published: October 2011

This qualitative study examines the current status of Web 2.0 technologies in Turkey and focuses specifically on the use of such technologies by academics. The main focus of the chapter involves presenting the results of two surveys (using samples of convenience) conducted on faculty members at Hacettepe University (a public research-oriented institution located in Ankara) and Bilkent University (a private research-oriented institution, also located in Ankara). In both universities, the majority of instruction is done in English, and English is the native language or second language of most faculty members. The chapter also examines the applicability of Web 2.0 technologies in the Turkish academic setting and the future implications of these technologies both in Turkey and around the world.
Minimizing Cultural Differences Using Ontology-Based Information Retrieval System
Authors: Yi Myongho
Published: October 2011

Effective global information access is more critical now than ever before. The digital world where users have diverse languages and diverse cultural backgrounds is increasing more rapidly than at any other time in history. This chapter addresses the cause of ineffective international information access from the standpoint of the user as well as from an information and system perspectives. The chapter also describes the traditional and emerging approaches to enhancing global information access and proposes a system that shows how emerging approaches can minimize cultural differences.
Language Abilities and Culture Clashes in Cyberspace
Authors: Harrington Anna M.
Published: October 2011

An increasing number of ESL/EFL students are expected to enroll in hybrid (i.e., mixed on-site and online) mainstream courses populated by a majority of native-English-speaking students. However, due to varying language abilities and cultural clashes, the TESOL community has not yet explored the potential online communication problems for ESL/EFL students. This chapter examines issues of differences in language proficiency and cultural norms, identity, community, and muting that can affect computer-based education. The chapter also provides readers with teaching strategies that can be applied in hybrid mainstream courses that include ESL/EFL students.
Automatic Personalization in E-Learning Based on Recommendation Systems
Authors: Khribi Mohamed Koutheaïr , Jemni Mohamed , Nasraoui Olfa
Published: October 2011

Web based learning environments are being increasingly used at a large scale in the education area. This situation has brought a dramatic growth in the amount of educational resources and services incorporated continuously in these systems, and related access and usage of this educational content by a diversity of learners. However, the delivery of this educational content is generally done in the same way for all learners without giving any special attention to the different consumption styles or differences between their profiles and individual needs. Therefore, providing personalization in e-learning systems has to be considered as a necessity and not an option. Recommending suitable links represents an instance of adaptive navigation support technology. E-learning recommender systems are used to locate relevant educational Web objects that better match the learner’s profile and interests, this requires the ability of a system to predict learner’s needs and preferences. Therefore, recommendation systems need to use Web mining techniques in one or more phases of the recommendation process, especially in the modelling and pattern discovery phase. Most emergent recommendation systems in e-learning tend to rely on automated detection of student’s preferences and needs since it is more efficient and attractive to provide needed support to students without requesting any explicit information from them. In this chapter, we present an overview of personalization in e-learning based on recommendation systems and Web mining techniques.
From “Self-Tested” to “Self-Testing”
Authors: Zhou Mingming
Published: October 2011

This chapter consists of an in-depth analysis and synthesis of the research and development of self-assessment systems for learning. 15 intelligent tutoring systems were reviewed according to the way they support self-assessment during different learning stages – the timing of taking a self-test, the way the test is designed, and the way the feedback is produced upon the test result. The author noted a shift from students’ being self-tested (by the system) to self-testing themselves (by requesting and designing tests). This shift not only highlights the need for learners to exercise agency during learning by experiencing more autonomy for self-assessment but also establishes the pedagogical framework for intelligent tutoring system design. The author proposed a model of directed self-assessment which encompasses two dimensions with one emphasizing students’ initiatives and the other focusing on external scaffold from intelligent self-assessment systems. In this way, learners are greatly encouraged and scaffolded to take a more active part in managing and assessing their own learning.
Cyber Security and Privacy in the Age of Social Networks
Authors: Bhatti Babar
Published: October 2011

Social media is transforming the way we find, create, and share information during the course of our personal life and work. The rapid growth of social media and the ubiquitous sharing and access of information through various digital channels has created new vulnerabilities and cyber threats. This chapter will provide an overview of the security and privacy implications of social networks and communities. The goal of this chapter is to examine and raise awareness about cyber security threats from social media, to describe the state of technology to mitigate security risks introduced by social networks, to shed light on standards for identity and information sharing or lack thereof, and to present new research and development. The chapter will serve as a reference to students, researchers, practitioners, and consultants in the area of social media, cyber security, and Information and Communication technologies (ICT).
Botnets and Cyber Security
Authors: Manasrah Ahmed Mansour , Abouabdalla Omar Amer , Mayeh Moein , Suppiah Nur Nadiyah
Published: October 2011

The Internet, originally designed in a spirit of trust, uses protocols and frameworks that are not inherently secure. This basic weakness is greatly compounded by the interconnected nature of the Internet, which, together with the revolution in the software industry, has provided a medium for large-scale exploitation, for example, in the form of botnets. Despite considerable recent efforts, Internet-based attacks, particularly via botnets, are still ubiquitous and have caused great damage on both national and international levels. This chapter provides a brief overview of the botnet phenomena and its pernicious aspects. Current governmental and corporate efforts to mitigate the threat are also described, together with the bottlenecks limiting their effectiveness in various countries. The chapter concludes with a description of lines of investigation that could counter the botnet phenomenon.
Automated Formal Methods for Security Protocol Engineering
Authors: Pironti Alfredo , Pozza Davide , Sisto Riccardo
Published: October 2011

Designing and implementing security protocols are known to be error-prone tasks. Recent research progress in the field of formal methods applied to security protocols has enabled the use of these techniques in practice. The objective of this chapter is to give a circumstantial account of the state-of-the-art reached in this field, showing how formal methods can help in improving quality. Since automation is a key factor for the acceptability of these techniques in the engineering practice, the chapter focuses on automated techniques and illustrates in particular how high-level protocol models in the Dolev-Yao style can be automatically analyzed and how it is possible to automatically enforce formal correspondence between an abstract high-level model and an implementation.
Embedded Systems Security
Authors: Farooq-i-Azam Muhammad , Ayyaz Muhammad Naeem
Published: October 2011

Not long ago, it was thought that only software applications and general purpose digital systems i.e. computers were prone to various types of attacks against their security. The underlying hardware, hardware implementations of these software applications, embedded systems, and hardware devices were considered to be secure and out of reach of these attacks. However, during the previous few years, it has been demonstrated that novel attacks against the hardware and embedded systems can also be mounted. Not only viruses, but worms and Trojan horses have been developed for them, and they have also been demonstrated to be effective. Whereas a lot of research has already been done in the area of security of general purpose computers and software applications, hardware and embedded systems security is a relatively new and emerging area of research. This chapter provides details of various types of existing attacks against hardware devices and embedded systems, analyzes existing design methodologies for their vulnerability to new types of attacks, and along the way describes solutions and countermeasures against them for the design and development of secure systems.
Molecular Similarity
Authors: Amine Abdelmalek , Elberrichi Zakaria , Simonet Michel , Rahmouni Ali
Published: October 2011

In order to identify new molecules susceptible to become medicines, the pharmaceutical research has more and more resort to new technologies to synthesize big number of molecules simultaneously and to test their actions on given therapeutic target. This data can be exploited to construct the models permitting to predict the properties of molecules not yet tested, even not yet synthesized. Such predictive models are very important because they make it possible to suggest the synthesis of new molecules, and to eliminate very early in the the molecule’s search process the molecules whose properties would prevent their use as medicine. The authors call it virtual sifting. It is within this framework that research by similarity is registered. It is a practical approach to identify molecules candidates (to become medicines) from the data bases or the virtual chemical libraries by comparing the compounds two by two. Many statistical models and learning tools have been developed to correlate the molecule’s structure with their chemical, physical or biological properties. The large majority of these methods start by transforming each molecule in a vector of great dimension (using molecular descriptors), then use a learning algorithm on these vectorial descriptions. The objective of this chapter is to study molecular similarity using a particular type of neural networks: the Kohonen networks (also called “SOM” Self- Organizing Maps), applying the nearest neighbor algorithm to the projection of the molecules (coordinates) in the constructed MAP.
Government Process Reengineering
Authors: Kassahun Asmare Emerie , Molla Alemayehu , Sarkar Pradipta
Published: October 2011

Despite differences between public and private sectors, business process reengineering (BPR) principles have been widely used in reengineering government processes. This has led to a growing body of literature on government process reengineering (GPR). This chapter presents synthesis and analysis of the literature on government process reengineering from 1997 to 2009. It reviews normative studies that examine the nature and characteristics of government process reengineering, challenges and problems of undertaking government process reengineering, and relationships between government process reengineering and IT-especially enterprise resource planning (ERP)-based E-Government. The review also encompasses the methods, techniques and tools for undertaking GPR; analytical and conceptual GPR models and frameworks; and empirical studies that evaluate GPR implementation outcomes and identify the critical success or failure factors. The chapter summarizes the selected articles in terms of research types, methods, theories, and contexts. Based on the review, areas for future research are defined.
E-Government Management Practice
Authors: Thomson John Douglas
Published: October 2011

E-government agencies in developed and developing countries are anticipating efficiency and effectiveness gains from the evolution of new e-business models. Such agencies are attempting to adopt and adapt the new technologies to public e-business in order to achieve the benefits being realised by entities in the private sector. The adoption of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is one of these e-business models. The purpose of this chapter is to explore the adoption of ERP by the Australian Department of Defence through longitudinal action research. This development may be of interest to other public sectors wishing to avoid unnecessary expense and achieve an efficient and effective outcome in minimum time.
The Creation and Management of Online Brand Communities
Authors: Falcone Paola
Published: October 2011

This chapter intends to identify, describe and analyse the main issues concerning their creation and effective management.
Scheduling Healthcare Systems
Authors: Asllani Arben
Published: October 2011

This chapter offers a series of scheduling techniques and their applications in healthcare settings. Healthcare administrators, physicians, and other professionals can use such techniques to achieve their operational goals when resources are limited. Implementing scheduling techniques in healthcare is difficult. Healthcare systems are complex, and the scheduler must be able to connect the scheduling theory with suitable algorithms for implementation. The chapter covers a wide spectrum of scheduling models, from single server and deterministic models to the more difficult ones, those which consider several servers and stochastic variables. A strong emphasis is placed on the practical aspects of scheduling techniques in healthcare.
Electronic Health Record
Authors: Kamath Janine R. A. , Donahoe-Anshus Amerett L.
Published: October 2011

Over the last two decades there has been considerable deliberation, experience, and research in the arena of Health Information Technology (HIT), Electronic Medical Records (EMR), Electronic Health Records (EHR), and more recently, Electronic Personal Health Records (PHR). Despite the challenges involved in adopting these systems and technologies, there is consensus that they bring significant value to the delivery of trusted and affordable healthcare. The investment involved and the impact on customers, clinical and non-clinical staff, and processes are significant and far reaching. This chapter attempts to synthesize the vast amount of information, experience, and implementation perspectives related to Electronic Health Records with the intent of assisting healthcare institutions and key stakeholders make informed choices as they embark on designing, developing, and implementing an EHR. EHR considerations, challenges, opportunities, and future directions are also addressed. The chapter highlights the power of management engineering to facilitate planning, implementation, and sustainability of the EHR, a critical asset for a healthcare organization and the overall healthcare industry.
Electronic Medical Records (EMR)
Authors: Johnson Dean E.
Published: October 2011

For many years the electronic medical record has been the holy grail of hospital system integration. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent in attempts to develop effective electronic medical records (EMR) to provide clinical care for patients. The advantages of an EMR are listed as reducing error, streamlining care, and allowing multiple people to provide simultaneous care. Unfortunately, most current EMR implementations are developed without completely understanding the processes that are being automated. In some implementations, there is an effort to first outline the process, and then try to create software that will facilitate the existing process, but this effort is not typically done systematically or with the discipline of an engineer. We will discuss the areas that management systems engineers can facilitate the design and implementation of the EMR, reducing the errors in the current processes and preparing the healthcare system for further improvements.
Evaluating Patient Flow Based on Waiting Time and Travel Distance for Outpatient Clinic Visits
Authors: Sajjadi S.Reza , Shi Jing , Farahmand Kambiz
Published: October 2011

Patient flow greatly affects the quality of service delivered to the patients. Among various performance measures identified for patient flow, this chapter focuses on the analytical modeling of two key measures, namely, patient waiting time and travel distance. Waiting time is analyzed by a promising yet simple analytical tool – queuing theory. Three queuing models, including single station, multiple serial stations, and network systems are presented. Moreover, patient travel distance is investigated by an analytical model to evaluate the patient flow. For both measures, the applicability of models is illustrated with numerical examples.
Mathematics Bridging Education Using an Online, Adaptive E-Tutorial
Authors: Tempelaar Dirk T. , Rienties Bart , Kaper Wolter , Giesbers Bas , Schim van der Loeff Sybrand , van Gastel Leendert , van de Vrie Evert , van der Kooij Henk , Cuypers Hans
Published: October 2011

This contribution describes and evaluates a postsecondary remediation program in mathematics, aiming to ease the transition from high school to university and to improve the success rates in the first year of bachelor studies. The remediation program consists of the administration of an entry test and the organisation of voluntary bridging education in the format of an online summer course, using the adaptive e-tutorial ALEKS. Participants are prospective students of the university programs business and economics of Maastricht University, and are mostly students with an international background. Effect analysis suggests a strong treatment effect of successful participation in the summer course. However, given the quasi-experimental setup of this study, with non-equivalent groups, selection effects may be responsible for part of that effect. Correction of the treatment effect by applying the propensity score method indicates that indeed a selection effect is present, but that a substantial treatment effect remains, of about 50% the size of the effect of being educated in advanced math versus basic math, in high school.
Developing Teachers’ Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching through Online Collaboration
Authors: Silverman Jason , Clay Ellen L.
Published: October 2011

In this chapter, we discuss our perspective on mathematical knowledge for teaching and present an emerging instructional model for supporting the development of that knowledge through an instructor facilitated online environment. We focus on the ways in which online collaboration can support teachers as they wrestle with, and ultimately make sense of, the mathematical structures that underlie a variety of the school mathematics curriculum. Three cases are provided to highlight the potential that online collaboration hold for supporting teachers’ as they collaborate about specific mathematical ideas and reflect on those collaborations. We believe that these cases can also serve as a starting point for further conversations about supporting online mathematical collaboration and online mathematics teacher development.
Technology to Facilitate the General Education Curriculum
Authors: Sherman Cindy K. , De La Paz Susan
Published: October 2011

Information and Communication Technology is becoming an essential learning tool for teachers and students in the classroom. The use of Information and Communication Technology scaffolds learning in a pedagogically meaningful way and gives students with learning disabilities more equal opportunities in school. This chapter discusses ways in which Information and Communication Technology benefits students with special educational needs, both academically and socially. Various computer applications create greater possibilities for inclusion by fostering collaborative learning and enhancing peer interaction. New technology also allows students more autonomy in the writing process and helps students develop historical thinking skills.
Assistive Technology
Authors: Spillane Mary
Published: October 2011

Current federal legislation requires not only that students with disabilities be educated in the least restrictive setting but also that all students have equal access to a standards based curriculum. Providing this access can be a significant challenge for students who are unable to independently participate in traditional classroom activities. For these students, assistive technology supports may be the key to a successful general education placement. This chapter will discuss the process of designing and implementing assistive technology supports for a 2nd grade student with multiple physical, medical, and communication challenges.
What Do You Do With A Digital Pen?
Authors: Carlson Judith K.
Published: October 2011

This chapter describes an assistive technology device called a digital pen. Digital pens allow notes written to be uploaded to a computer and translated into word processing documents. The new LiveScribe Echo™ provides this feature and also digitally records an audio track to accompany the notes. This technology can be used by students with disabilities for note taking, writing, reading, mathematics, and virtually any content area. Using the pen for augmentative communication, as well as in-class assessment is discussed. Teachers can use a recording digital pen to create a “pencast” of a lecture. The pencast could then be available for repeated viewings by students who require repetition for learning or those not available when the content was covered. The chapter concludes that the recording digital pen’s applications and usage will expand as knowledge of the device increases.
The Technological Advancement of LMS Systems and E-Content Software
Authors: Dzega Dorota , Pietruszkiewicz Wieslaw
Published: October 2011

This chapter will present the practical aspects of Learning Management Systems adoption by describing this process from the perspective of evolution, observed for LMS and e-content software at West Pomeranian Business School. The chapter will address issues and found solutions relating to LMS deployment and evolution, noticed during the management of e-learning studies. In its first part, chapter will explain the requirements for different types of studies and how they influenced the shape of LMS systems. In the following sections, the chapter will analyze different technologies and software used in the e-learning process. This analysis will also describe how efficiently use the functionality of e-learning software in relation to the users’ requirements. The last part of chapter will present SPE - SDART Presentation Engine, being an innovative e-learning presentation engine, developed in form of Rich Internet Application, to overcome the limitations observed for the previously used presentation engines.
LMS Adoption at the University of Genova
Authors: Cerioli Maura , Ribaudo Marina , Rui Marina
Published: October 2011

The last two decades have seen the spread of LMS among schools, universities, and companies to augment the traditional teaching process with ICT and network technologies. This chapter presents the process leading to the adoption of a Moodle based LMS at the University of Genova in the last decade. By analyzing the data collected from the LMS logs and from questionnaires proposed both to students and teachers, we found out that the needs of the stakeholders are largely limited to resource sharing and organizational support, satisfactorily provided by the current service. Further improvements could be achieved by the introduction of a policy encouraging or forcing the teachers to use the provided LMS. A project on instructional design and, as a case study, the evolution of some of the courses involved in it are also presented. Though the redesign of such courses has improved their results, the impact on the overall organization of the degree program has been negative. We infer that this is due to the excessive freedom the students enjoy in taking their exams in Italy.
Aviation Industry and Environment Crisis
Authors: Jafari Mostafa
Published: October 2011

This chapter was prepared based upon an invitation made by the Conference organizers, to be presented by the author as opening keynote speaker to highlight “Aviation Industry and Environment Crisis” and focus on the impacts on the human, urban and natural environments. The importance and various dimensions of the issue have been reported by the IPCC following a request from the ICAO and the Parties to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer in 1999.
Next Generation Surveillance Technology for Airport and ATC Operations
Authors: Langhans Werner , Quilter Tim
Published: October 2011

Conventional ATC concepts in many parts of the world need to be augmented with next generation surveillance technology, in order to keep pace with the required level of safety in those regions. Conventional technologies, such as primary radar and secondary radar, are not able to deliver the required cost-performance ratios for these increasing demands and need to be replaced by multilateration and ADS-B surveillance techniques. This chapter outlines the recent achievements in worldwide operational deployments in the fields of ADS-B and multilateration for airport and air traffic control applications and discusses the integration into larger aviation system applications.
Applying the Certification’s Standards to the Simulation Study Steps
Authors: Al Hadid Issam
Published: October 2011

This chapter presents the certification standards applied with the simulation study steps, in addition to the Confidence Grid which is used to assets the quality (Reliability and Accuracy) of the data and the process of the simulation study step which will be the base for the validation and verification.
Effects of Packet-Loss and Long Delay Cycles on the Performance of the TCP Protocol in Wireless Networks
Authors: Al-Bahadili Hussein , Adarbah Haitham Y.
Published: October 2011

Many analytical models have been developed to evaluate the performance of the transport control protocol (TCP) in wireless networks. This chapter presents a description, derivation, implementation, and comparison of two well-known analytical models, namely, the PFTK and PLLDC models. The first one is a relatively simple model for predicting the performance of the TCP protocol, while the second model is a comprehensive and realistic analytical model. The two models are based on the TCP Reno flavor, as it is one of the more popular implementations on the Internet. These two models were implemented in a user-friendly TCP performance evaluation package (TCP-PEP). The TCP-PEP was used to investigate the effect of packet-loss and long delay cycles on the TCP performance measured in terms of sending rate, throughput, and utilization factor. The results obtained from the PFTK and PLLDC models were compared with those obtained from equivalent simulations carried-out on the widely used NS-2 network simulator. The PLLDC model provides more accurate results (closer to the NS-2 results) than the PFTK model.
The Role of Architecture on Tourism Industry
Authors: Çetin Murat
Published: October 2011

This chapter aims to shed light on the nature of architecture, its technological and cultural ramifications on tourism industry. It elucidates the background of issues regarding the interaction between the fields of cultural production (architecture) and cultural consumption (tourism). The chapter argues that power of tourism industry has reached, under the pressure of global economics, to a capacity to turn even daily architecture into instruments of touristic show. In this context, technology is utilized as an instrument to produce such iconography only as a surface articulation. Thus, architecture becomes a commodity of touristic consumption in this current socio-economic and cultural context. The pressure of tourism industry seems to create a significant split between the architecture and its location in terms of specific cultural roots. This tendency is discussed as a potential threat to sustainability of tourism industry itself since it damages its own very source, that is to say, richness of cultural differences.
Sales Force Technology for the Hospitality Industry
Authors: Rios-Morales Ruth , Crotts John C.
Published: October 2011

Advancements in Sales Force Automation (SFA) is rapidly changing the landscape in how meeting planners and hotel sales professionals do business with one another. This chapter highlights where those changes are occuring, why they are occuring, and what they mean to both buyers and sellers. The intent of this overview is to inform hotel owners and investors who are considering such an investment as to the benefits that can potentially be derived from SFA. Furthermore, our intent is to provide hospitality educators insights as to how SFA is changing the workplace of both meeting planners and hotel sales professionals so they can provide their students a realistic view of the software aids they may need to master to be successful in their careers.
Management of World Heritage Sites
Authors: Chhabra Deepak
Published: October 2011

This study seeks to determine sustainable efforts by the world heritage sites (WHS). By gauging the effectiveness and efforts of the WHS to convey viable social, environmental, and economic use of their resource through the medium of website marketing, effort is made to highlight the extent to which sustainability initiatives are visible in the vision and mission and signature websites. In doing so, it makes a significant contribution in heritage tourism literature and communicates a critical assessment of sustainability initiatives to the WHS management and respective states. Mixed results are presented. Although, the World Heritage Convention supports an exhaustive list of site-centric heritage sustainability initiatives associated with conservation and authenticity, other aspects of sustainability such as host community concerns, social and viable economic impact considerations to date have received less attention.