bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Evaluación del comportamiento estructural y de resistencia a la corrosión de armaduras de acero inoxidable austenítico AISI 304 y dúplex AISI 2304 embebidas en morteros de cemento Pórtland
Authors: Medina E. , Cobo A. , Bastidas D. M.
Published: January 2013

Se ha evaluado el comportamiento mecánico y estructural de dos aceros inoxidables corrugados, el austenítico EN 1.4301 (AISI 304) y el dúplex EN 1.4362 (AISI 2304), y se han comparado con el tradicional acero al carbono B500SD. El estudio se ha realizado en tres niveles: a nivel de barra, de sección y de pieza. Las diferentes características mecánicas de los aceros inoxidables condicionan el comportamiento a nivel de sección y de pieza estructural. El estudio del comportamiento frente a la corrosión de los dos aceros inoxidables se ha realizado mediante mediciones electroquímicas monitorizando el potencial de corrosión y la resistencia de polarización de armaduras embebidas en probetas de mortero contaminado con diferentes concentraciones de cloruros durante un tiempo de exposición de un año. Ambos aceros inoxidables permanecen en estado pasivo en las probetas para todos los contenidos de cloruros.
The Role of Emerging Technologies in Developing and Sustaining Diverse Suppliers in Competitive Markets
Authors: Williams Alvin J.
Published: January 2013

As organizations seek to maintain competitiveness in an ever-challenging global economic environment, considerable attention has been focused on rationalizing and realigning supply bases to match market realities. Firms are reducing and restructuring the number and types of suppliers from which they buy goods and services worldwide. This restructuring has a direct impact on minority suppliers. This chapter focuses on how minority suppliers can use technology, with particular focus on electronic procurement systems and related methods, to strengthen performance and attractiveness to potential business-to-business customers. Through the use of e-procurement, electronic auctions, and multiple customer relationship management processes, minority firms can strengthen relationships that lead to long-term success.
Religious Diversity and Technology
Authors: Hunter Charlotte E. , Smith Lyman M.
Published: January 2013

Religious and humanist identity and values, although often invisible, may affect (a) job performance, (b) conduct, and (c) organizational commitment. A 2009 research survey of active-duty service members in the U.S. armed forces investigated religious and humanist identification and values; results revealed areas that may significantly affect a leader’s ability to successfully exercise command. A military leader’s diversity management plan cannot be effective without a means of discerning, then understanding implications to the military mission of religious/humanist beliefs/values present among personnel. This chapter explores the benefits of survey technology in providing military leaders with needed information, implications for leadership policy and future research areas.
Preparing Science Teachers
Authors: Green André M.
Published: January 2013

Pathway to Science (PTS) is a nationally funded project through the National Science Foundation (Award # 0934829) involving a university’s Colleges of Education, Arts and Sciences, and Engineering Departments in partnership with a local school district. All entities involved have a vested interest in increasing the number of certified secondary science teachers as all are interested in producing students who are better prepared in science at both the collegiate and secondary levels. This chapter explores how technology is used in the training of science teachers and how technology is used to retain them as science teachers once they are employed.
Global Status Elevation in Today’s Classroom
Authors: Martin Susan Ferguson
Published: January 2013

This chapter details how technology may be implemented and utilized in K-12 and post-secondary classrooms as a resource for inviting two-way communication between American students and educators and students and educators from other countries, as well as potential expectations and outcomes from such a teaching tool. This model demonstrates going beyond infrequent, rare communication to regular two-way communication as part of the typical curriculum, in an effort to elevate the status of people from other countries through promotion of cultural, linguistic, and interpersonal communication.
Google Unbound
Authors: Mouck Mark
Published: January 2013

This chapter is an exploration of Langer’s Envisioning Literature: Literary Understanding and Literature Instruction in the context of the 21st century. A social-constructivist, Langer identifies five stances that highly literate readers use to interpret a text. Noting that much of Langer’s oeuvre was written prior to the advent of the Internet, the author provides transformational teachers with research-based examples of skills and lessons for using Internet technology to tap into a diversity of voices in the literature classroom. Framed in the context of a society that has recently experienced the democratization of information, where citizens need to be able to quickly interpret a variety of voices, this chapter explores the social construction of knowledge in the classroom and online to prepare them to be participants in the social construction of knowledge in the Information Age.
Teacher Leadership
Authors: Kent Andrea M.
Published: January 2013

This chapter focuses on the metamorphosis of teacher leaders, from the roles, responsibilities, and dispositions of teacher leaders, to teacher leaders using technology for self-professional development as well as leading professional development for the improvement of teaching and learning. The underlying premise is that teacher leaders work with diverse populations of both teachers and public school students who are present in schools today. It is strong leadership at the classroom level that makes a difference with colleagues and students, regardless of ethnicity, gender, or social class, and can ultimately impact an entire school culture. This chapter integrates these core tenants in an effort to guide the reader to understanding the necessity of developing teacher leaders to meet the challenges inherent in 21st century schools and classrooms.
Diversity Leadership in the Community College
Authors: Sterling RaShaunda V. , Williams James R.
Published: January 2013

The chapter examines the disconnection between the diversity of community college students and community college administrators. The history of community colleges in the United States is presented, along with the demographics of the typical community college student. A definition of leadership is provided, and theories of diversity leadership are discussed. Methods of producing greater diversity at the administrative level are also explained. In particular, Kotter’s eight-stage model for organizational change is presented as a means of altering a college’s culture to promote greater diversity leadership. Further, strategies that can be used to increase diversity in community college leadership, with an emphasis on the role that technology can play in promoting diversity leadership, are presented. Directions for future research are shared.
OSS-TMM
Authors: Morasca Sandro , Taibi Davide , Tosi Davide
Published: January 2013

Open Source Software (OSS) products do not usually follow traditional software engineering development paradigms. Specifically, testing activities in OSS development may be quite different from those carried out in Closed Source Software (CSS) development. As testing and verification require a good deal of resources in OSS, it is necessary to have ways to assess and improve OSS testing processes. This paper provides a set of testing guidelines and issues that OSS developers can use to decide which testing techniques make most sense for their OSS products. This paper 1) provides a checklist that helps OSS developers identify the most useful testing techniques according to the main characteristics of their products, and 2) outlines a proposal for a method that helps assess the maturity of OSS testing processes. The method is a proposal of a Maturity Model for testing processes (called OSS-TMM). To show its usefulness, the authors apply the method to seven real-life projects. Specifically, the authors apply the method to BusyBox, Apache Httpd, and Eclipse Test & Performance Tools Platform to show how the checklist supports and guides the testing process of these OSS products.
Modding as an Open Source Approach to Extending Computer Game Systems
Authors: Scacchi Walt
Published: January 2013

This paper examines what is known about the role of open source software development within the world of game mods and modding practices. Game modding has become a leading method for developing games by customizing or creating Open Source Software extensions to game software in general, and particularly to proprietary closed source software games. What, why, and how OSS and closed source software come together within an application system is the subject for this study. Observational and qualitative is used to highlight current practices and issues that can be associated with software engineering and game studies foundations with multiple examples of different game mods and modding practices are identified throughout this study.
ICT Resilience as Dynamic Process and Cumulative Aptitude
Authors: Theron Paul
Published: January 2013

Many definitions of resilience coexist today, whether within the domain of telecommunications or in the vaster world. Is it a process? Is it a production? Is it a learnt aptitude? This debate has been going on in social sciences for decades and ICT revives it in its own ways today. This chapter proposes a definition of resilience founded on three findings: (1) resilience is the aptitude of a sociotechnical system to surmount a crisis; (2) whether in the telecommunication sector or elsewhere, a crisis is an experience of collapse that stems from critical incidents; (3) critical incidents are a complex dynamic phenomenon, and resilience is its counterpart, a dynamic, adaptive attempt to master circumstances, a form of dynamic struggle against adversity. To support this thesis, first the chapter reviews some of the main elements of literature on hand, browsing through different currents of research, including computing science and social sciences. Next, the chapter presents a short analysis of some significant incidents to show their dynamic nature and how systems they affect collapse and react, possibly resiliently. Third, it suggests an articulated definition of resilience, very applicable to ICT and largely discussed with scientists and professionals in the past three years. The chapter concludes that this definition acts as a paradigm that opens new questions for research, standardisation, and change management projects.
Large Scale Physical Disruptions in the Electronic Communication Sector
Authors: Sutton David
Published: January 2013

While small-scale disruptions that affect the electronic communications sector are frequent, their impact is generally relatively low, and recovery can be extremely fast. However, large-scale disruptions that have a major impact on the electronic communications sector are relatively uncommon. It is as a consequence of these two facts that Communications Service Providers (CSPs) place the majority of their effort (where possible) into the planning for prevention of small-scale disruptions, and recovery from those that do occur.
Threats to the Critical Information Infrastructure Protection (CIIP) Posed by Modern Terrorism
Authors: Hadji-Janev Metodi
Published: January 2013

The emergence of new non-state actors in the post Cold War reality has dramatically changed security environment around the globe. Modern terrorism practiced by Al Qaeda and its associated movement (AQAM) has posed serious threat to critical information infrastructure given the trend of connecting control systems that run these infrastructures to the internet. Although AQAM have not been successful to launch a cyber-attack that will cause mass casualties, environment damage, or financial effects, the possibility remains alarming since creativity in the age of globalization never ends. Additionally, by using the so called “dot-com culture,” modern terrorists effectively employ negative effects of globalization to rich to the societies’ remote pockets and Islamic social nomads and thus enlarge their capabilities to affect our critical information infrastructure. Therefore, to effectively protect our CII from modern terrorists we need to consider comprehensive and holistic approach build on direct and indirect mechanisms.
Risk Assessment of Multi-Order Dependencies between Critical Information and Communication Infrastructures
Authors: Kotzanikolaou Panayiotis , Theoharidou Marianthi , Gritzalis Dimitris
Published: January 2013

Assessing risk in information and communication infrastructures is a challenging topic due to the complexity of critical infrastructures (CIs) and of the various dependencies between such infrastructures. This chapter discusses the basic concepts of risk assessment for CIs. Moreover, it describes a recently proposed methodology for criticality assessment. The main goal of this methodology is to assess the risk of an infrastructure (or a sector of critical infrastructures), taking into account the dependencies between CIs and/or sectors. The methodology is compatible with current information systems practices. The basic characteristic of the presented methodology is that it attempts to capture both organization-oriented and society-oriented consequences of possible security events, a feature which is not always embedded in mainstream information security risk assessment methodologies.
Evaluating Security and Resilience of Critical Networked Infrastructures after Stuxnet
Authors: Leszczyna Rafal , Fovino Igor Nai
Published: January 2013

The chapter presents the current configuration of the simulation environment for the evaluations of the security and resilience of critical networked infrastructures, which enables simulations of Stuxnet-like attacks. The configuration includes new features added to the MAlSim – Mobile Agent Malware Simulator after the advent of Stuxnet in reference to the experiments aiming at the security evaluation of a power plant which we conducted in 2007. The attack scenarios developed for the implementation in the new configuration of the laboratory are described.
E-Health and Telemedicine in the Elderly
Authors: Mazzanti Ilaria , Maolo Alessandro , Antonicelli Roberto
Published: January 2013

In the last sixty years, there has been an increase in life expectance especially in females and in industrialized countries. This, along with the reduction of population growth, is leading to a reversal of the population pyramid: a narrow base of adults has to maintain a wide top of elderly people. Old people are often affected by multi-pathologies and comorbidities. Furthermore, the changes in family’s structure, particularly the reduction of the central rule of the Ancients, contribute to create the “frail elderly syndrome.” Geriatric frailty is found in 20-30% of the elderly population over 75 and increases with advancing age. It was reported to be associated with long-term adverse health-related outcomes such as increased risk of geriatric syndromes, dependency, disability, hospitalization, institutional placement, and mortality. Obviously, it is also associated with an increase in healthcare costs. Telemedicine is an innovative healthcare system capable of ensuring both higher efficiency and better cost-effectiveness. It has wide variety of services, relative simplicity of use and moderate-low costs. Currently there is clinical evidence of telemonitoring impact on management of several clinical conditions such us chronic heart failure, arrhythmias, pacemaker and ICD controls, cardiac rehabilitation programs, and cardiovascular risk factors.
Telemedicine, the European Space Agency, and the Support to the African Population for Infectious Disease Problems
Authors: Parentela Giorgio , Mancini Pierluigi , Naccarella Franco , Feng Zhang , Rinaldi Giovanni
Published: January 2013

Telemedicine and the broader field of eHealth as the application of Information and Communication Technology in the health sector offer opportunities for improving health world-wide. The European Space Agency (ESA) is, since 1996, active in this field and has initiated various projects which have demonstrated that satellite communications is a powerful technology for enlarging the reach of Telemedicine services toward geographically isolated regions, especially those with a high burden of diseases, such as many areas in Sub-Saharan Africa. In 2006 the Telemedicine Task Force (TTF) with the mandate to explore the potential of Telemedicine via Satellite for this region has been established on initiative of ESA and the European Commission, with representatives of African stakeholders and the World Health Organization (WHO). After a review of the current situation, the TTF has recommended short-term pilot projects to demonstrate the feasibility of an approach based on user demands, public private partnerships, African ownership, and building on existing successful initiatives. These projects shall begin in 2008, serving selected isolated areas in Sub-Saharan Africa by offering clinical services and eLearning via satellite for infectious diseases, in particular HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria. The projects should and will be presented in China for finding bilateral cooperation between Italian and Chinese Civilian and Military technologies and opportunities present already in the field.
DREAM Programme
Authors: Bartolo Michelangelo , Nucita Andrea
Published: January 2013

This chapter is the description of the authors’ experience in providing healthcare consultation and support in African countries. The project, named DREAM, was developed to provide support to in fighting pandemic diseases such as HIV using telematics for data gathering and remote consultations.
The Effects of Telehealth on Patients with Long-Term Conditions in Routine Healthcare Use and Lessons from Practical Application
Authors: Joseph Victor Vuni
Published: January 2013

There is increasing uptake of telehealth for long-term conditions (LTCs). However, evidence of their effectiveness remains largely inconclusive. Similarly, success factors for implementation of telehealth into routine healthcare practice are not fully understood. The objectives of this chapter are to determine the effectiveness of telehealth; and to update existing checklist on key success factors for implementation of telehealth. Both randomized controlled trial (RCT) and observational study methods were used as case-studies. Analysis was carried out using logistic regression model and summary statistics. There was a statistically significant reduction in hospital admissions in favour of the intervention groups in the RCT, with an odds ratio (OR) of 0.08 (95% CI: 0.01, 0.81); p-value = 0.03, while in the observational study, the mean hospital admission per person reduced from 2.19 (95% CI: 1.67, 2.69) to 1.20 (95% CI: 0.88, 1.52); p-value 0.0004. Key success factors identified were used to update the second version of telehealth checklist tool. Telehealth was effective in reducing hospital admission in patients with COPD, heart failure, and diabetes. Key success factors were updated to support telehealth practitioners in embedding telehealth in routine practice.
Telemedicine Utilization, Availability of Physicians, Distance, and Urbanity
Authors: Leung Ricky C.
Published: January 2013

This study examines the relationship between telemedicine utilization, the availability of physicians, the level of urbanity of a locality, and the physical distance between a locality and an urban health facility at the county level within a rural state in the United States. As an exploratory study, the author conducts correlation analysis and analysis of variance to test if the chosen exploratory variables may account for variations in telemedicine utilization. The author obtained statistically significant results, but recognizes that there are other potential variables to be included in further studies. The results are useful for practitioners and may motivate further studies. The chapter discusses the implications of the study in its conclusion.
Health Services through Digital Terrestrial Television
Authors: Dragoni Aldo Franco
Published: January 2013

This chapter defines a scenario for providing Health Services through the Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT), both for patients (monitoring health parameters) and healthy citizens. A number of services will be provided over DTT, not only by means of informative or interactive applications broadcast and installed on the set-top box, but also as transactional services through the secure return channel. However, much effort has to be spent to guarantee the usability of that new TV-based interface, which is quite different from that of a PC-based Web application.
Sensorized Garments Developed for Remote Postural and Motor Rehabilitation
Authors: Saggio Giovanni , Sabato Valentina , Mugavero Roberto
Published: January 2013

Every day, all around the world, millions of people request postural and/or motor rehabilitation. The rehabilitation process, also known as Tertiary Prevention, intends to be a sort of therapy to restore functionality and self-sufficiency of the patient, and regards not only millions of patients daily, but involves also a huge number of professionals in medical staffs, i.e. specialists, nurses, physiotherapists and therapists, social workers, psychologists, physiatrists. The care is given in hospitals, clinics, geriatric facilities, and with territorial home care. For the large number of patients as well as the medical staff and facilities necessary to support the appropriate postural and motor training, the monetary costs of rehabilitation is so large, it is difficult to estimate. So, every effort towards a simplification of the rehabilitation route is desirable and welcome, and this chapter covers this aspect.
Order Release Strategies for Customer Order Scheduling Problems in Dynamic Environments
Authors: Renna Paolo
Published: January 2013

The research proposes two strategies to release the parts in a job shop environment to handle the customer order-scheduling problem. The first strategy is based on the evaluation of a dynamic conwip level to take the decision. The second strategy tries to anticipate the production of components of a generic order when the utilization of the manufacturing system is low. In this strategy, a fuzzy approach is proposed to decide how many components to release. A simulation environment has been developed to test the proposed approaches. Two benchmark models are used to compare the performance measures: no order release strategy and classical conwip. Moreover, the simulations are conducted in a very dynamic environment. The simulation results show how the fuzzy approach leads to the better results in all conditions tested with a relevant reduction of the inventory level.
New Product Development
Authors: Rassouli Hassanali
Published: January 2013

Intensive global competition of 21st century calls for a systematically aligned set of approaches in all aspects of corporate management including new product development. Success of new products needs the strategic support of corporate executives to establish and deploy coherent policies that are compatible with approaching new paradigms in business and manufacturing. Lean thinking is the widely accepted paradigm in the beginning of 21st century, and this chapter defines challenges and implications that corporate management will face in attempting to adapt to new product development approaches in accordance with the lean thinking perspective. This attempt covers all aspects of the organization in respect to product lifecycle.
Supply Chain Analysis
Authors: Rahman Mohammad Anwar
Published: January 2013

This chapter focuses on supply chain strategies that benefit organizations to meet the global challenges and business success. The chapter supports understanding of functional coordination in supply chain management, importance of supply chain partnership and performance measures, bullwhip cause-effect and consequences, business promotion strategies, and approach to synchronize operation schedule to improve supply chain operations. Bullwhip effect is often seen as a challenge to improve supply chain performances. It also discusses the strategies to reduce bullwhip effect, various well-known contract agreements that are currently practiced by many supply chain organizations, its impact and benefits on supply chain success.
An Examination of the Decision Making Styles of Egyptian Managers
Authors: Abdelsalam Hisham M. , Dawoud Reem H. , ElKadi Hatem A.
Published: January 2013

Many factors play roles in the success of managers. However, the manager’s decision-making style is one factor that highly contributes to that success and, therefore, to the success of their organization. In this chapter, a survey that includes a sample of 138 Egyptian managers in different organizational levels (junior, middle, and senior) is conducted to explore their decision-making styles. The research, then, investigates the relation between the variety of managers’ decision styles and seven variables: gender, age, ethnicity, educational level, educational major, administrative experience, and current position. Based on the findings, this research is able to provide baseline information to improve on the implications of decision-making styles on the selection and design of decision-support systems in Egypt.
The Impact of Virtual Community (Web 2.0) in the Economic, Social, and Political Environment of Traditional Society
Authors: Samanta Irene
Published: January 2013

The chapter enhances the scientific research in the area of ??the new digital era with a focus on diversity created in real society from the influence of social media. Specifically, it reveals the effects of social media on economic, political, and real society affairs. The latest riots in Middle East countries demonstrate that virtual social communities wield an influence on the citizens, and the changes they implemented show these countries will never be the same again. The effects of social media in real society are examined in highly developed countries such as the EU and North America (USA and Canada).
Measuring the Conceptual Variables for E-Services Acceptance
Authors: Sandhu Kamaljeet
Published: January 2013

This case study examines the Web Electronic Service framework for a University in Australia. The department is in the process of developing and implementing a Web-based e-service system. The user experience to use e-services requires insight into the attributes that shape the experience variable. The descriptive data about the attributes that form the experience variable is provided in this study.
Mobile Apps for Learning Vocabulary
Authors: Sweeney Paul , Moore Caroline
Published: January 2013

In this article the authors discuss the potential for mobile devices, mainly smartphones and tablets, to be used for language learning, offering frameworks for users to apply, including the categorisation of the different contexts and applications (apps). They suggest critical success factors, including the importance of the user interface design and a taxonomy of interactivity and mobile “affordances” for publishers, developers, and users to consider when either evaluating existing apps, or developing their own mobile learning materials. The authors illustrate how these frameworks and taxonomies can work by applying them to the area of vocabulary learning. The article includes two case studies of app development projects in which one of the authors has had direct involvement to explore the relative benefits and dis-benefits of re-versioning existing CDROM-based materials against developing an entirely new mobile learning app. Finally, they discuss the potential chasm between those interested in the potential of mobile language learning, including developers with insufficient knowledge of pedagogy, and language teachers who know about pedagogy, but have little interest in mobile learning. The article concludes with recommendations about how to overcome this divide with suggestions on how developers could make their language learning apps more pedagogically useful.
Crowd-Sourcing with the Lingobee App
Authors: Adlard Rebecca , Ottway Tom , Procter-Legg Emma
Published: January 2013

Many practitioners are currently involved in the exploration of the added value of using M-Learning in language acquisition both inside and outside of the formal classroom. The EU-funded SIMOLA consortium, a Lifelong Learning initiative, has developed the LingoBee app from the seeded JISC-funded project Cloudbank in response to both the perceived need and desire for a learner-centered, crowd-sourced repository of language and cultural items which learners are exposed to in-situ, and also for more trials in the context of informal learning as commented on by Frohberg (2006) and Wright and Parchoma (2011). The functionality of the app has been designed around Web 2.0 features. Current field trials are examining the use of the app in both formal and informal settings. Data are being collected through both quantitative and qualitative methods with reference to perceptions of M-Learning, effects on learners and teachers, and a linguistic analysis of language items captured during the field trials. One of the key aims of the project is to explore whether LingoBee makes a demonstrable difference to learners’ awareness and understanding of both the target language and culture.
Introducing Cool School
Authors: Young Mark , Killen Melanie , Lee-Kim Jennie , Park Yoonjung
Published: January 2013

The need to play is primeval in human beings, at least as strong as the urge to fight. While the larger gaming community has traditionally focused on the fairly lucrative potential of exploiting the urge to fight in the form of violent and destructive war games, the “Serious Games” segment has become aware of the power of applying this technology “beyond entertainment” to advance social good. So far most of this work has focused on the areas of civics, health, education and NGO policy advocacy. Relatively little has been explored in the crucial domain of conflict resolution, especially as it pertains to promoting positive social skills in childhood. The authors seek to address this important need by offering a first empirical analysis of the impact that can be had from a new digital game designed to teach conflict resolution to children: Cool School: Where Peace Rules. This enjoyable interactive PC based game has already furnished visible and inspiring evidence of just how games can help children learn not to fight, but rather to negotiate, compromise and consider other perspectives, even at an early age. They hope to inspire further research and reflection in this area, as well as wider distribution of this particular new game.
A Review of Current Approaches of Brain Computer Interfaces
Authors: Yu Lochi , Ureña Cristian
Published: January 2013

Since the first recordings of brain electrical activity more than 100 years ago remarkable contributions have been done to understand the brain functionality and its interaction with environment. Regardless of the nature of the brain-computer interface BCI, a world of opportunities and possibilities has been opened not only for people with severe disabilities but also for those who are pursuing innovative human interfaces. Deeper understanding of the EEG signals along with refined technologies for its recording is helping to improve the performance of EEG based BCIs. Better processing and features extraction methods, like Independent Component Analysis (ICA) and Wavelet Transform (WT) respectively, are giving promising results that need to be explored. Different types of classifiers and combination of them have been used on EEG BCIs. Linear, neural and nonlinear Bayesian have been the most used classifiers providing accuracies ranges between 60% and 90%. Some demand more computational resources like Support Vector Machines (SVM) classifiers but give good generality. Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) classifiers provide poor generality but low computational resources, making them optimal for some real time BCIs. Better classifiers must be developed to tackle the large patterns variability across different subjects by using every available resource, method or technology.
Fluctuation Enhanced Gas Sensing at Modulated Temperature of Gas Sensor
Authors: Kotarski Mateusz , Smulko Janusz
Published: January 2013

Taguchi gas sensors are commonly used to measure gas concentration. The standard detection method utilizes only changes of sensor DC resistance to determine various gases concentration. Unfortunately, such technique leads to false results due to cross-sensitivity of gas sensors at presence of other gases. Such adverse effects can be reduced by applying fluctuation enhanced sensing and temperature modulation of the sensor what allows to gather more information about ambient atmosphere than the sensor DC resistance only. The measurement setup of voltage fluctuations across the gas sensor as well as the selected measurements results of DC resistance under temperature modulation are presented. New indicators of gas detection have been proposed which utilize voltage fluctuations and DC resistance measurements at two selected different temperatures of the gas sensor.
Risk Management in a Pandemic Crisis at a Global Non Profit Health Care Organization
Authors: Sugaretty Drew
Published: January 2013

This paper categorizes the risks experienced and voiced by subject matter experts at a pandemic crises event which unfortunately claimed almost 800 lives before it could be controlled. The project was a case study design using multiple methods. Qualitative data was collected by interviewing 22 front-line multicultural crisis practitioners. The unit of analysis was the constructed meaning of the uncertainty and risk management processes experienced by the participants, while they were attempting to control the global pandemic crisis associated with the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome outbreak during 2003. Several guiding constructs were researched from the literature review. NVIVO was used to analyze the interview transcripts to build a thematic model of constructed meanings. The result was a best-practice model constructed by the practitioners which they felt improved risk control during a significant global pandemic crisis event considering the lead mitigation agency was a nonprofit health care organization.
Modular Assembly Micro-Robots for Natural Orifice Transluminal Endoscopic Surgery, the Future of Minimal Invasive Surgery
Authors: Zygomalas Apollon , Giokas Kostas , Koutsouris Dimitris
Published: January 2013

Surgical operations are progressively being performed using minimally invasive techniques. Natural Orifice Transluminal Endoscopic Surgery (NOTES) is a novel surgical technique that uses the natural orifices of the human body in order to approach the peritoneal cavity. There are two basic types of robotics for NOTES; the external robots that stay outside the patient but act inside the abdominal cavity, and the internal robots that stay and act in the abdomen. The internal robots could only be mini-robots. The development of modular assembling reconfigurable micro-robots is a revolutionary idea for the NOTES. Modular micro-robots consist of small subunits which could be assembled and construct a functional miniature robot. These surgical micro-robots may increase the possibility for true scarless tele-surgery. Although specific applications of intrabdominal surgical micro-robots are still in an early concept stage, the field is rapidly evolving. In the future, patients may be operated by specialized micro-robotic intrabdominal surgeons.
Ob/Gyn EMR Software, a Solution for Obstetricians and Gynecologists
Authors: Bougoulias Konstantinos , Giokas Kostas , Koutsouris Dimitris
Published: January 2013

The increase of computer usage and the cooperation between medicine and informatics has lead to the development of important research and educational activity as well as high quality infrastructure in the field of biomedicine. Concentrating on Health Information Management (HIM) and Health Information Exchange (HIE) systems, Electronic Health Record (EHR), and Electronic Medical Record (EMR) software is being developed in order to provide efficiency in health care and improve patient-doctor relationship. The Ob/Gyn EMR software developed focuses on the needs of small obstetrics and gynecology organizations. The necessary gynecological information was gathered via research concerning the needs of the practice and was organized and categorized according to its importance to the clinicians. Seven different data tabs are provided, including obstetrics, gynecological, surgical, sterilization, and PAP test data, while also offering video and image file storage possibilities and schematic visualization of clinical findings. It is of great importance throughout the whole software that the user can store and manage all the quality information concerning patients and that the software is highly functional. A simple and effective software was created that can offer a reliable solution to the data processing needs of the organizations in concern. The software is autonomous, can be installed directly on the clinician’s PC, and can be accessed at various locations within their clinic.
Round-Table Group Optimization for Sequencing Problems
Authors: Xie Xiao-Feng
Published: January 2013

In this paper, a round-table group optimization (RTGO) algorithm is presented. RTGO is a simple meta-heuristic framework using the insights of research on group creativity. In a cooperative group, the agents work in iterative sessions to search innovative ideas in a common problem landscape. Each agent has one base idea stored in its individual memory, and one social idea fed by a round-table group support mechanism in each session. The idea combination and improvement processes are respectively realized by using a recombination search (XS) strategy and a local search (LS) strategy, to build on the base and social ideas. RTGO is then implemented for solving two difficult sequencing problems, i.e., the flowshop scheduling problem and the quadratic assignment problem. The domain-specific LS strategies are adopted from existing algorithms, whereas a general XS class, called socially biased combination (SBX), is realized in a modular form. The performance of RTGO is then evaluated on commonly-used benchmark datasets. Good performance on different problems can be achieved by RTGO using appropriate SBX operators. Furthermore, RTGO is able to outperform some existing methods, including methods using the same LS strategies.
Risk Budgeted Portfolio Optimization Using an Extended Ant Colony Optimization Metaheuristic
Authors: Pai G. A. Vijayalakshmi
Published: January 2013

Risk Budgeted portfolio optimization problem centering on the twin objectives of maximizing expected portfolio return and minimizing portfolio risk and incorporating the risk budgeting investment strategy, turns complex for direct solving by classical methods triggering the need to look for metaheuristic solutions. This work explores the application of an extended Ant Colony Optimization algorithm that borrows concepts from evolution theory, for the solution of the problem and proceeds to compare the experimental results with those obtained by two other Metaheuristic optimization methods belonging to two different genres viz., Evolution Strategy with Hall of Fame and Differential Evolution, obtained in an earlier investigation. The experimental studies have been undertaken over Bombay Stock Exchange data set (BSE200: July 2001-July 2006) and Tokyo Stock Exchange data set (Nikkei225: July 2001-July 2006). Data Envelopment Analysis has also been undertaken to compare the performance of the technical efficiencies of the optimal risk budgeted portfolios obtained by the three approaches.
A Filter-and-Fan Metaheuristic for the 0-1 Multidimensional Knapsack Problem
Authors: Khemakhem Mahdi , Haddar Boukthir , Chebil Khalil , Hanafi Saïd
Published: January 2013

This paper proposes a new hybrid tree search algorithm to the Multidimensional Knapsack Problem (MKP) that effectively combines tabu search with a dynamic and adaptive neighborhood search procedure. The authors’ heuristic, based on a filter-and-fan (F&F) procedure, uses a Linear Programming-based Heuristic to generate a starting solution to the F&F process. A tabu search procedure is used to try to enhance the best solution value provided by the F&F method that generates compound moves by a strategically truncated form of tree search. They report the first application of the F&F method to the MKP. Experimental results obtained on a wide set of benchmark problems clearly demonstrate the competitiveness of the proposed method compared to the state-of-the-art heuristic methods.
SODAC
Authors: Sallem Amin , Fakhfakh Mourad , Tlelo-Cuautle Esteban , Loulou Mourad
Published: January 2013

It is of common use that analog designers start by optimizing the basic building bloc forming an active circuit in order to ‘optimally’ size the latter. Even though it is known a priori that the overall circuit performances will differ from the expected ones, due to the fact that the performances of the basic cells will (considerably) change because of the surrounding circuitry, such approach is very widely used. This is mainly due to the complexity of these ‘complex’ circuits. It has recently been shown that the simulation based sizing technique is a very interesting spare solution, since it allows avoiding the (very) ‘complex’ modeling task. In this paper the authors propose a simulation based optimizing tool that can handle both mono-objective and multi-objective optimization sizing problems. Viability and benefits of this tool are highlighted through some examples. Obtained results are compared to the ideal expected ones and to the ones that are obtained using the conventional approaches.
Towards Comparative Mining of Web Document Objects with NFA
Authors: Ezeife C. I. , Mutsuddy Titas
Published: January 2013

The process of extracting comparative heterogeneous web content data which are derived and historical from related web pages is still at its infancy and not developed. Discovering potentially useful and previously unknown information or knowledge from web contents such as “list all articles on ’Sequential Pattern Mining’ written between 2007 and 2011 including title, authors, volume, abstract, paper, citation, year of publication,” would require finding the schema of web documents from different web pages, performing web content data integration, building their virtual or physical data warehouse before web content extraction and mining from the database. This paper proposes a technique for automatic web content data extraction, the WebOMiner system, which models web sites of a specific domain like Business to Customer (B2C) web sites, as object oriented database schemas. Then, non-deterministic finite state automata (NFA) based wrappers for recognizing content types from this domain are built and used for extraction of related contents from data blocks into an integrated database for future second level mining for deep knowledge discovery.
Integrating Star and Snowflake Schemas in Data Warehouses
Authors: Garani Georgia , Helmer Sven
Published: January 2013

A fundamental issue encountered by the research community of data warehouses (DWs) is the modeling of data. In this paper, a new design is proposed, named the starnest schema, for the logical modeling of DWs. Using nested methodology, data semantics can be explicitly represented. Part of the design involves providing a translation mechanism from the star/snowflake schemas to a nested representation. The novel schema proposed in this paper is accomplished by converting the fact-dimension schema to a fact-nested dimension schema. The transformation of the denormalized dimension tables to nested dimension tables increases the efficiency of query execution by reducing the number of tuples accessed for query retrieval since dimensional attributes can be used directly in the Group-by clause. In order to facilitate the implementation of the proposed approach, specific algorithms are built based on the starnest schema.
Efficient and Effective Aggregate Keyword Search on Relational Databases
Authors: Li Luping , Petschulat Stephen , Tang Guanting , Pei Jian , Luk Wo-Shun
Published: January 2013

Keyword search on relational databases is useful and popular for many users without technical background. Recently, aggregate keyword search on relational databases was proposed and has attracted interest. However, two important problems still remain. First, aggregate keyword search can be very costly on large relational databases, partly due to the lack of efficient indexes. Second, finding the top-k answers to an aggregate keyword query has not been addressed systematically, including both the ranking model and the efficient evaluation methods. In this paper, the authors tackle these two problems to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of aggregate keyword search on large relational databases. They designed indexes efficient in both size and construction time. The authors propose a general ranking model and an efficient ranking algorithm. They also report a systematic performance evaluation using real data sets.
Weighted Fuzzy-Possibilistic C-Means Over Large Data Sets
Authors: Wan Renxia , Gao Yuelin , Li Caixia
Published: January 2013

Up to now, several algorithms for clustering large data sets have been presented. Most clustering approaches for data sets are the crisp ones, which cannot be well suitable to the fuzzy case. In this paper, the authors explore a single pass approach to fuzzy possibilistic clustering over large data set. The basic idea of the proposed approach (weighted fuzzy-possibilistic c-means, WFPCM) is to use a modified possibilistic c-means (PCM) algorithm to cluster the weighted data points and centroids with one data segment as a unit. Experimental results on both synthetic and real data sets show that WFPCM can save significant memory usage when comparing with the fuzzy c-means (FCM) algorithm and the possibilistic c-means (PCM) algorithm. Furthermore, the proposed algorithm is of an excellent immunity to noise and can avoid splitting or merging the exact clusters into some inaccurate clusters, and ensures the integrity and purity of the natural classes.
Who Plays Games Online?
Authors: Teng Ching-I , Jeng Shih-Ping , Chang Henry Ker-Chang , Wu Soushan
Published: January 2013

Online games have become increasingly popular computer applications, raising the question of who plays them. Thus, the present study investigates the relationship between gamer personality and online game use as well as the potential links between online game use and gamer demographic variables. The sample consisted of 1633 Taiwanese online gamers. This study used confirmatory factor analysis to assess measurement reliability and validity. The hypotheses were tested using regression analyses. Analytical results indicated that online game use is positively related to gamer openness and agreeableness but negatively related to gamer conscientiousness and emotional stability. Moreover, being male and having a high income were associated with higher levels of online game use. The results increase the knowledge on the link between personality and online gaming behaviour.