bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
What Happened to Preferences for Next Generation Internet?
Authors: Shiau Wen-Lung , Chung Chen-Yao , Hsu Ping-Yu
Published: May 2011

The growing popularity of the Internet has resulted in attracting many enterprises to do business transactions over the Internet. The current Internet protocol version 4 (IPv4) has been used for over 20 years. Even though IPv4 applications have been quite successful, it faces a problem of shortage in IP addresses, ineffective security mechanisms, and a lack of service quality management, etc. Scientists and engineers have devoted considerable effort to the development of next generation Internet protocol version 6 (IPv6), which is the core component of Next Generation Internet (NGI) to meet the future requirements of the Internet. Even though NGI is technically superior to the traditional Internet and is being established worldwide, few people have transmitted data through it. According to the Innovation Development Process in the Diffusion of Innovation theory, IPv6 is currently in a stage of technological diffusion. The research studies whether educating potential customers with more IPv6 knowledge created in the innovation process can increase their preference for the technology. With surveys collected from 596 undergraduate students, the results show that knowledge of the commercial applications of IPv6 in mobile communications and information appliances significantly contributes to a preference for the IPv6 technology.
Mobile Division Query Processing Incorporating Multiple Non-Collaborative Servers
Authors: Lim Say Ying , Taniar David , Srinivasan Bala
Published: May 2011

The demand of mobile technology is growing and mobile information services including the gathering of information and manipulating them are also becoming more critical in the world of mobile technology. These allow mobile users to download useful data, possibly from multiple sources. In this article, we introduce two basic mobile query processing, namely: (i) mobile device side processing (MDSP), and (ii) server side processing (SSP). Our focus in this article is on performing relational division and multiple division operations using both MDSP and SSP techniques. In addition, walkthrough examples are also illustrated. A series of performance evaluation of our proposed techniques are presented and analyzed.
New Media and Gender in East Africa
Authors: Onyebadi Uche T. , Kalyango Yusuf
Published: May 2011

This study set out to ascertain the use of and dependency on new media technology for political communication by voting- age citizens of the three main East African countries, namely Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania. We learn the importance of new media communication opportunities towards the struggle for liberal democracy, which is demonstrated by the unanimity of respondents’ attitudes that their governments suppress political discourse. But the degree of use and dependence on these new media instruments are not uniform across the region. Gender and level of education are two salient factors that create these differences in the use of and dependency on new media technology for political communication in East Africa. But our findings have no bearing on the authenticity of the messages sent through these new media technological devices, or the extent of divisiveness or unity that such messages might engender among citizens in the region in times of political crises. Our primary contention is that such citizens now depend on these technological devices to serve their informational needs moreso when political and other forms of national emergency situations arise. This dependency phenomenon is partly the consequence of the existence of media laws enacted by governments in the region to hamstring mainstream media houses.
Textualizing the HIV/AIDS Motif in Theater-Against-AIDS Performances in Kenya
Authors: Mwita Mahiri
Published: May 2011

This chapter studies the theatrical and cultural texts that are performed through a Theater for Development (TFD) rubric known as Magnet Theater, which uses theater-based outreaches to mobilize people in low–income communities into forums that discuss HIV/AIDS and how its problems manifest in their localities. Using examples from performances of four theater groups that operate in Nakuru and Mombasa towns of Kenya, the chapter examines how the performances textualize, thematize, and theatise the main issues in HIV/AIDS as seen through the perspective of the performers and how the targeted audience reacts to these “AIDS performances.” Beyond studying the theatrical outreaches, the research for this chapter surveyed communities in which these performances have taken place to further appreciate how the motifs discerned from the theatrical outreaches compare to realizations of the AIDS problem in the communities.
The Role of Mass Mediated Messages and Cultural Identity with Cross-Cultural Communication Failures Resulting from Flawed U.S. Military Policy in Iraq
Authors: Schnell Jim
Published: May 2011

The inability to consider, let alone plan for, cross-cultural ramifications has been a central communication failure that has proven tremendously problematic. The mass media, via traditional channels and new communication technologies, have been keen to report on these matters which, in turn, have modified public understanding of the matters being reported. Mass media messages have been vital in creating, and impacting, this phenomenon. This phenomenon has been equally true among traditional media channels and the new communication technologies.
An Agent for Change
Authors: Yin Jiafei
Published: May 2011

China became the largest Internet user in the world with 420 million of its citizens connected to the new media by June 2010. This chapter investigates the social conditions and ways in which new communication technologies are transforming the politics, culture, and the society in China through analyses of uses of the Internet, differing roles played by the traditional and the new media, Internet regulations in the country, and cases catapulted to the national media spotlight by the online community, and through contrasts with the roles new communication technologies play in Western and African societies. The chapter also attempts to explore the implications of these transformations.
Exporting Hong Kong’s Higher Education to Emerging Asian Markets
Authors: Cheung Alan C. K. , Cheng Y. C. , Yuen Timothy W. W. , Yuen Celeste Y. M.
Published: May 2011

The purpose of this study is to examine the current conditions of higher education services in three Asian markets and to explore effective market strategies and supportive government policies to further promote Hong Kong’s higher education in the region. It is evident from the findings that the visibility of Hong Kong’s higher education in these Asian markets was extremely low. The low visibility of Hong Kong’s higher education in the Asian region was due to a lack of concerted and coordinated effort between the Hong Kong government and higher education institutions in promoting their higher education. The study points to the need for more wide-ranging and coherent marketing strategies and government policies in order to attract the growing number of international students.
Technology in the Development and Teaching of a Literacy Program for XXI Century Education
Authors: Munro John , Verezub Elena
Published: May 2011

A key capacity in twenty-first century markets is being able to convert information to knowledge. This information is frequently a written form in e-text contexts. Individuals able to read, comprehend, and execute the information more effectively can use more efficiently the resources available in the marketplace. The study examined the influence of teaching individuals to read and comprehend hypertext. Its findings contribute to advancement of knowledge in this area and indicate ways in which individuals can improve their capacity to convert e-text to knowledge.
A Multidisciplinary Project Integrating Marketing Research, Art and Spanish Language for Social Sciences
Authors: Cuadrado-García Manuel , Ruiz-Molina María-Eugenia , Hernández-Martín Lourdes
Published: May 2011

In this chapter we describe this interdisciplinary project focusing on the contribution in the teaching-learning process of students at the University of Valencia, in the context of the subject Marketing Research. Specifically, a series of photographs is selected in order to organize an exhibition in London and, to ensure the success of the exhibition, students of the subject Marketing Research have combined sources of secondary and primary data, and have become familiar with databases of business information from the Library of the University of Valencia as well as with the commonly used software for data processing. In general, students have very much appreciated this activity as a facilitator of learning in the field.
The Trends and Challenges of Higher Education in China
Authors: Zhang Shuyi , Zhao Li
Published: May 2011

This case focuses on the challenges and trends of Chinese higher education. It analyzes the challenges that the Chinese higher education faces and discusses a couple of issues of internationalization of higher education, and finally, the case points out the future trends that Chinese higher education might encounter.
Navigating a Pathway to Partnership through Turbulent Seas of Adversity
Authors: Breen Paul , De Stefani Magdalena , Kostoulas Achilleas
Published: May 2011

Many adult professionals no longer have the time or finances to engage in full time, on site study, and as a consequence are seeking flexible alternatives. Some institutions have been slow to react to this change. The organisation described herein has been quicker to react but this movement towards change also poses its own unique issues. These issues are discussed and analysed by three students who have participated in a part-time programme of doctoral studies while embedded in their research context. But, one of the drawbacks of conducting a study such as this though is the contemporary lack of statistics on the actual dichotomy of provision between conventional and alternative modes of teaching in the higher education sector. The reason for this is that higher education organisations in Britain operate in a competitive and individualised manner rather than as a cohesive block.
Introduction to Electronic Government
Authors: Hasin Ahsan Akhter , Kumar Vinod , Kumar Uma , Shareef Mahmud Akhter
Published: May 2011

This chapter is a general introduction to the development and adoption of Electronic-Government or e-government (EG). It addresses the background of EG, its origin and importance, stages of growth, and stakeholders. To be better able to conceptualize the functions, characteristics, and development stages of EG, some related issues, concepts, and paradigms must be understood. This chapter, designed to fill that need, deals with the introductory concepts of EG and related issues. It consists of four sections; section 3 has two sub-sections.
The Demand Side for Development of E-Government Services and Gateway in Turkey
Authors: Medeni D. Tunç , Çetin Yasemin , Balci Asim , Özkan Sevgi
Published: May 2011

Representing the co-authors’ academic and practitioner background, this chapter provides the most-up-to-date information for an ongoing work on citizen-oriented e-government initiatives. The purpose of this work follows the importance, priority, and necessity of paying attention to citizen side, and aims to improve understanding and better address the citizen demands and expectations towards e-government public transformation. The research aims to question and understand better what citizens think regarding the currently available e-government services in Turkey. In response to this purpose and question, this work-in-progress chapter presents secondary information from literature review and context of the ongoing practical and academic works, and primary findings from both a preliminary and a recent study. These presented information and findings mostly represent practitioners’ viewpoint that is mostly based on the authors’ professional, academic, and personal involvement in the various aspects of the Turkey case, and in return are expected to provide certain input for the on-going practical affairs. As the research is a work-in-progress that traces long-lasting development and ongoing operations of e-government in practice, at this point, providing some suggestions and directions rather than concrete practical and theoretical implications is considered to have the most value. As a result, security, trust, ease of use, service, and information quality are determined to be significant for citizens’ perceptions and suggestions as factors that affect their usage of e-government services in Turkey. The resulting chapter first provides a relevant literature review then information about the history and latest developments in e-government from the perspective of citizen side. Following this background information, the preliminary descriptive study on citizen perceptions of demands and expectations conducted last year is reminded. Build upon these ongoing researches on the academic and practical side, latest research findings as a result of analysing citizens suggestions for E-Government Gateway (EGG) in Turkey are also shared. Finally, suggestions for future based on latest work are given.
Governing E-Government (E-Governance)
Authors: Sharan Vedmani
Published: May 2011

Public administrators face considerable challenges in their quest of reforming government. E-government initiatives are tiny steps taken in the above-mentioned direction. Various e-government initiatives have been categorically documented in the IS and NPM literature. However, a majority of these projects are either still underway or have failed due to the lack of a proper governance framework. The existing body of research on governance of e-government largely focuses on technological aspects. It has not put much emphasis on institutional structures such as control and monitoring, accountability, and responsibility that are antecedents to good governance. Moreover, a majority of existing models are conceptual in nature. They do not offer any mechanism whatsoever to operationalize the concept of governance for e-government. In this chapter, the authors propose a framework of operationalizing governance of e-government at the municipal level. The proposed framework is based on the RASCI model prevalent in the practitioner literature of the IS paradigm. Finally, the framework is linked with key performance indicators in order to validate it against set objectives of good governance.
A Study of the Implementation Status of Two E-Governance Projects in Land Revenue Administration in India
Authors: Priya P. Senthil , Mathiyalagan N.
Published: May 2011

This study is an attempt to benchmark two e-governance projects that totally revamped the existing revenue administration system in India. It employs Gartner (2000), Layne and Lee (2001) e-governance maturity models to assess the status of these land administration projects implemented in 15 Indian states. The study traces the current status, pace of implementation, integration of the projects across different levels and different functions of government, its benefits, transparency, accountability, and accessibility of the projects. It also identifies and investigates the gap that exists between the expected outcome and real outcome of the projects. Results shows that in states like Goa, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, where property registration project has been integrated with computerization of land records project, there exists a monitoring mechanism to facilitate genuine land transactions, and land records are automatically managed up-to-date with least human intervention. But, in all other states there is only sub-optimal utilization or non-utilization of assets, even after a decade of implementation.
Multilingual Crisis Knowledge Representation
Authors: Segev Aviv
Published: May 2011

In a crisis, the problem of the lack of a shared platform or similar communication methods among the collaborators usually arises within a few hours. While a crisis requires rapid response of emergency management factors, ontology is generally represented in a static manner. Therefore, an adaptive ontology for crisis knowledge representation is needed to assist in coordinating relief efforts in different crisis situations. This chapter describes a method of ontology modeling that modifies the ontology in real time during a crisis according to the crisis surroundings. The method is based on modeling a basic predefined multilingual ontology while allowing the expansion of the ontology according to the crisis circumstances and the addition of other languages within the crisis time limitations. An example of ontology use based on a sample Katrina crisis blog is presented. Motivation for multilingual ontology use is supplied by the Boxing Day tsunami crisis.
A Unified Localizable Emergency Events Scale
Authors: Rohn Eli , Blackmore Denis
Published: May 2011

Managers of emergencies face challenges of complexity, uncertainty, and unpredictably. Triadic constraints imply requisite parsimony in describing the essence of the emergency, its magnitude and direction of development. Linguistic separation increases as the crisis management organization is more complex and made up of diverse constituents. Therefore, a standard objective emergency scale is vital to quantify and unambiguously communicate the nature of any emergency. Previous work laid the foundations for an objective measurable emergency event scale. This article proposes a unified emergency scale based on a mathematical model, accompanied by several examples spanning local to national events.
Strategies to Prepare Emergency Management Personnel to Integrate Geospatial Tools into Emergency Management
Authors: Toomey Tricia , Frost Eric , Jennex Murray E.
Published: May 2011

Emergency management is a diverse field. Effective disaster management involves knowledge of various subjects as well as work experience in all aspects related to mitigation, planning, response, and recovery efforts. One field not being fully exploited by disaster management is the use of geospatial tools in the form of Geographic Information Systems (GIS), cartography, and geovisualization. One reason for this is that many emergency managers are not fully aware of the assistance GIS can lend to effectively manage disaster situations. All functions of emergency management have a strong geographic component. Where is the earthquake epicenter? Where is the damage? Where does the dam inundation run and who/what is in that path? Where is the area of road closures? The questions asking “where” are endless in effective emergency management and range from the mitigation stage through to the recovery stage. For example, a tsunami may inundate only a certain portion of the region, therefore, it is important to have mitigation and planning efforts concentrated in those regions. It is also important to know what businesses, housing, and populations are in the affected areas. The integration of geospatial tools for risk assessment, mitigation, planning, response, and recovery efforts is emerging as an effective and potentially invaluable resource for answering such questions in regards to emergency management.
Pervasive and Interactive Use of Multimedia Contents via Multi-Technology Location-Aware Wireless Architectures
Authors: Pace Pasquale , Aloi Gianluca
Published: May 2011

Nowadays, due to the increasing demands of the fast-growing Consumer Electronics (CEs) market, more powerful mobile consumer devices are being introduced continuously; thanks to this evolution of CEs technologies, many sophisticated pervasive applications start to be developed and applied to context and location aware scenarios. This chapter explores applications and a real world case-study of pervasive computing by means of a flexible communication architecture well suited for the interactive enjoyment of historical and artistic contents and built on top of a wireless network infrastructure. The designed system and the implemented low cost testbed integrate different communication technologies such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS with the aim of offering, in a transparent and reliable way, a mixed set of different multimedia and Augmented Reality (AR) contents to mobile users equipped with handheld devices. This communication architecture represents a first solid step to provide network support to pervasive context-aware applications pushing the ubiquitous computing paradigm into reality.
Secure Electronic Healthcare Records Distribution in Wireless Environments Using Low Resource Devices
Authors: Belsis Petros , Skourlas Christos , Gritzalis Stefanos
Published: May 2011

The continuous growth of wireless technologies introduces a paradigm shift in the way information may be treated. Especially in the medical domain, Information Systems may gain benefits from the utilization of wireless devices which gain continuously in terms of resources. Existing legislation in US and EU countries introduces a lot of new challenges. Above all else, the information exchanged should be encrypted, and verified to reach the intended recipient. The authors of this chapter discuss the challenges hindering the efforts to disseminate in an accurate and secure manner medical information over wireless infrastructures. They present based on the results of two projects partially funded by the EU, an architecture that allows secure dissemination of electronic healthcare records. The chapter presents the architecture based on software agent technologies and enables query and authentication mechanisms in a transparent to the user manner. The chapter also discusses the security oriented choices of the approach and argues based on experimentation that the architecture efficiently supports a sufficient number of users.
Linux Based Mobile Operating Systems
Authors: Chao Lee
Published: May 2011

In today’s mobile computing, Linux plays a significant role. The Linux kernel has been adopted by a variety of mobile operating systems to handle tasks such as device management, memory management, process management, networking, power management, application interface management, and user interface management. This chapter introduces Linux based mobile operating systems installed on various mobile devices. It first gives a brief introduction of the history of mobile Linux. Then, the chapter introduces the mobile Linux features that can be used to meet the mobile learning requirements. The last part of the chapter presents strategies on selecting a Linux based operating system for a particular mobile learning project.
Mobile Learning Using Mobile Phones in Japan
Authors: Kimura Midori
Published: May 2011

The past ten years has seen remarkable developments in mobile devices, especially mobile phones, and interest in the potential of using mobile phones in an educational setting has intensified recently. The author’s working group, in cooperation with eLPCO (e-learning Professional Competency) at Aoyama Gakuin University in Japan, started a mobile learning project in 2002 to demonstrate model programs of mobile learning using mobile phones (mLearning/MPs), with the findings from all the experiments conducted over the past seven years contributing to the educational process. This chapter first discusses the barriers, such as the psychological, pedagogical, and technological issues, that mLearning/MPs had to overcome. Next, the author introduces findings obtained from four projects carried out on the English language by mobile phones, and then provides suggestions on essential conditions required for a good program for mLearning/MPs. The chapter proposes open source-based mobile services as a way of overcoming barriers faced by mLearning/MPs, and as an effective model for English language learning using mobile phones.
Carrying That Ten Thousand Dollar Lab in a Backsack
Authors: Yuan Dongqing , Zhong Jiling
Published: May 2011

In the past decade, with the development of wireless and other mobile technologies, including mobile computer, cellular phone, and GPS, educational practitioners have had the opportunity to develop a ubiquitous learning environment. This chapter provides a detailed account of developing a mobile network laboratory with a set of open source software (OSS) that allows students to conduct the labs either as an individual or as a group at anytime and anywhere.
Open Source Implementation of Mobile Pair Programming for Java Programming Class
Authors: Chao Lee
Published: May 2011

Pair programming has been used to improve the learning of programming by many computer science educators. Implementing pair programming on the mobile learning platform can significantly improve the availability and collaboration between pair programming partners. This chapter explores a set of open source mobile technologies that can be used to implement mobile pair programming. It shows that mobile pair programming can be implemented entirely with open source or free software.
Accessing Remote Laboratories from Mobile Devices
Authors: Orduña Pablo , García-Zubia Javier , López-de-Ipiña Diego , Irurzun Jaime
Published: May 2011

Remote Laboratories constitute a first order didactic resource in engineering faculties. Its use in mobile devices to increase the availability of the system is a challenge highly coupled to the requirements established by each experiment. This work presents the main strategies for adapting a Remote Laboratory to mobile devices, as well as the experience of a real Remote Laboratory, WebLab-Deusto, in this adaption. These strategies are analyzed and compared in order to detail what strategy is more suitable under certain situations.
Virtual Environments and Mobile Learning
Authors: Reis Rosa , Escudeiro Paula
Published: May 2011

As an answer to these questions, this chapter will define the virtual world concept, distinguish the different types of virtual worlds, and make a comparative analysis between them in order to bring out the features aimed at helping teachers to adopt them in their classes. In particular, we will focus our choice of virtual world environments on open source platforms. As the prevalence of mobile learning increases, this chapter also describes the m-learning scope, its contextualisation and advantages, as well as the learning methods. Finally, the relation of those methods with social virtual worlds is also discussed.
Implement Mobile Learning ?at Open Universities
Authors: Wang Harris
Published: May 2011

Mobile learning (m-learning) provides convenient access to course materials and other relevant information, especially for learners who are often on the move and cannot afford to spend hours and hours in the classroom, often the case at open universities. As such, implementing mobile learning at open universities makes even more sense. In this chapter we will explore a variety of issues, technologies, and challenges associated with implementing mobile learning at open universities. We will begin with an investigation into open universities’ common mandate and their very nature, and then explain the urgency and advantages for implementing mobile learning in their course and program delivery; we then explore the technical requirements of mobile learning, and present some strategies for mobile learning implementation. We will also explore some architectures and technologies for mobile learning systems. We will conclude the chapter by exploring some of the challenges one may have to face when implementing mobile learning at an open university.
Testing the DeLone-McLean Model of Information System Success in an E-Learning Context
Authors: Eom Sean B. , Stapleton James
Published: May 2011

This chapter has two important objectives (a) introduction of structural equation modeling for a beginner; and (b) empirical testing of the validity of the information system (IS) success model of DeLone and McLean (the DM model) in an e-learning environment, using LISREL based structural equation modeling. The following section briefly describes the prior literature on course delivery technologies and e-learning success. The next section presents the research model tested and discussion of the survey instrument. The structural equation modeling process is fully discussed including specification, identification, estimation, testing, and modification of the model. The final section summarizes the test results. To build e-learning theories, those untested conceptual frameworks must be tested and refined. Nevertheless, there has been very little testing of these frameworks. This chapter is concerned with the testing of one such framework. There is abundant prior research that examines the relationships among information quality, system quality, system use, user satisfaction, and system outcomes. This is the first study that focuses on the testing of the DM model in an e-learning context.
How to Design, Develop, and Deliver Successful E-Learning Initiatives
Authors: Holsapple Clyde W. , Lee-Post Anita
Published: May 2011

The purposes of this chapter are three-fold: (1) to present findings in investigating the success factors for designing, developing and delivering e-learning initiatives, (2) to examine the applicability of Information Systems theories to study e-learning success, and (3) to demonstrate the usefulness of action research in furthering understanding of e-learning success. Inspired by issues and challenges experienced in developing an online course, a process approach for measuring and assessing e-learning success is advanced. This approach adopts an Information Systems perspective on e-learning success to address the question of how to guide the design, development, and delivery of successful e-learning initiatives. The validity and applicability of the process approach to measuring and assessing e-learning success is demonstrated in empirical studies involving cycles of action research. Merits of this approach are discussed, and its contributions in paving the way for further research opportunities are presented.
Student Personality and Learning Outcomes in E-Learning
Authors: Kim Eyong B.
Published: May 2011

Web-based courses are a popular format in the e-learning environment. Among students enrolled in Web-based courses, some students learn a lot, while others do not. There are many possible reasons for the differences in learning outcomes (e.g., student’s learning style, satisfaction, motivation, etc.). In the last few decades, students’ personality has emerged as an important factor influencing the learning outcomes in a traditional classroom environment. Among different personality models, the Big-Five model of personality has been successfully applied to help understand the relationship between personality and learning outcomes. Because Web-based courses are becoming popular, the Big-Five model is applied to find out if students’ personality traits play an important role in a Web-based course learning outcomes.
Understanding Graduate Students’ Intended Use of Distance Education Platforms
Authors: Jiménez-Munguía María del Carmen , Luna-Reyes Luis Felipe
Published: May 2011

The objective of this chapter is to use the Unified Theory of the Acceptance and Use of Technology to better understand graduate students’ intended use of distance education platforms, using as a case a distance education platform of a Mexican University, the SERUDLAP system. Four constructs are hypothesized to play a significant role: performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, and attitude toward using technology; the moderating factors were gender and voluntariness of use. Data for the study was gathered through an online survey with a response rate of about 41%. Results suggested that the performance expectancy and attitude towards technology are factors that help us understand graduate students’ intended use of a distance education platform. Future research must consider the impact of some factors, such as previous experiences, age, and facilitating conditions in order to better understand the students’ behavior.
Students’ Perceptions, Interaction and Satisfaction in the Interactive Blended Courses
Authors: Atici Bünyamin , Türel Yalin Kiliç
Published: May 2011

Blended courses that offer several possibilities to students and teachers such as becoming more interactive and more active have become increasingly widespread for both K12 and higher education settings. With the rising of the cutting edge technologies, institutions and instructors have embarked on creating new learning environments with a variety of new delivery methods. At the same time, designing visually impressive and attractive blended settings for students has been easier with extensive learning and content management systems (LMS, CMS, LCMS) such as Blackboard, WebCT, Moodle and virtual classroom environments (VLE) such as Adobe Connect, Dimdim, and WiZiQ. In this study, the authors aimed to investigate students’ perspectives and satisfactions towards designed interactive blended learning settings and to find out the students’ views on both synchronous and asynchronous interactive blended learning environment (IBLE).
Applying GLOBIO at Different Geographical Levels
Authors: Alkemade Rob , Janse Jan , van Rooij Wilbert , Trisurat Yongyut
Published: May 2011

Biodiversity is decreasing at high rates due to a number of human impacts. The GLOBIO3 model has been developed to assess human-induced changes in terrestrial biodiversity at national, regional, and global levels. Recently, GLOBIO-aquatic has been developed for inland aquatic ecosystems. These models are built on simple cause–effect relationships between environmental drivers and biodiversity, based on meta-analyses of literature data. The mean abundance of original species relative to their abundance in undisturbed ecosystems (MSA) is used as the indicator for biodiversity. Changes in drivers are derived from the IMAGE 2.4 model. Drivers considered are land-cover change, land-use intensity, fragmentation, climate change, atmospheric nitrogen deposition, excess of nutrients, infrastructure development, and river flow deviation. GLOBIO addresses (1) the impacts of environmental drivers on MSA and their relative importance; (2) expected trends under various future scenarios; and (3) the likely effects of various policy-response options. The changes in biodiversity can be assessed by the GLOBIO model at different geographical levels. The application depends largely on the availability of future projections of drivers. From the different analyses at the different geographical levels, it can be seen that biodiversity loss, in terms of MSA, will continue, and current policies may only reduce the rate of loss.
Regional Scenarios of Biodiversity State in the Tropical Andes
Authors: Tovar Carolina , Arnillas Carlos Alberto , Peralvo Manuel , Galindo Gustavo
Published: May 2011

Biodiversity assessment represents a baseline for developing conservation strategies, but the assessment of future impact of some policies also requires the development of scenarios. These assessments are particularly important and difficult in areas with high biodiversity such as the Tropical Andes. Therefore three countries were analyzed: Colombia, Ecuador and Peru using the framework of GLOBIO3 to assess the remaining biodiversity for 2000 and for two 2030 scenarios: market forces and policy reforms. The purpose was to identify the most vulnerable areas to biodiversity loss, the most important drivers and the implications of such losses for conservation. Detailed information for each country was used to build the drivers of biodiversity loss (land use/land cover, infrastructure, fragmentation and climate change). The authors discuss the use of this methodology for Andean countries, how the results can be useful for policy and decision makers, and provide suggestions to improve GLOBIO3 at national scales.
Embedding Biodiversity Modelling in the Policy Process
Authors: Trinh Nguyen Dieu , van Rooij Wilbert
Published: May 2011

Biodiversity modeling for supporting policy processes is a relatively new field. Models can help policy makers to get a quick assessment of biodiversity and provide them with answers to some of their key questions on biodiversity. Models also allow them to evaluate the effects of proposed environmental policies on biodiversity and whether the policies are likely to meet their environmental targets and thus allow policies to be revised accordingly to meet the targets. In order to use modeling as a standard tool to support policy makers, it should be embedded in a policy process. The Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) is such a process that is well suited to include biodiversity modeling. Besides, it is forward-looking, has proper scale and timing components, and it needs an integrated approach to link social consequences on land use change and impacts on biodiversity. The modeled impacts on biodiversity can be used in SEA to guide the decision process. The results of the GLOBIO3 application at national level in Vietnam were considered useful for policymakers; however, the tools are not yet properly embedded in a policy context requiring number of conditions to be met to deliver appropriate information to the policy makers.
A Cognitive-Based Approach to Identify Topics in Text Using the Web as a Knowledge Source
Authors: Massey Louis , Wong Wilson
Published: May 2011

This chapter explores the problem of topic identification from text. It is first argued that the conventional representation of text as bag-of-words vectors will always have limited success in arriving at the underlying meaning of text until the more fundamental issues of feature independence in vector-space and ambiguity of natural language are addressed. Next, a groundbreaking approach to text representation and topic identification that deviates radically from current techniques used for document classification, text clustering, and concept discovery is proposed. This approach is inspired by human cognition, which allows ‘meaning’ to emerge naturally from the activation and decay of unstructured text information retrieved from the Web. This paradigm shift allows for the exploitation rather than avoidance of dependence between terms to derive meaning without the complexity introduced by conventional natural language processing techniques. Using the unstructured texts in Web pages as a source of knowledge alleviates the laborious handcrafting of formal knowledge bases and ontologies that are required by many existing techniques. Some initial experiments have been conducted, and the results are presented in this chapter to illustrate the power of this new approach.
Incorporating Correlations among Gene Ontology Terms into Predicting Protein Functions
Authors: Hu Pingzhao , Jiang Hui , Emili Andrew
Published: May 2011

The authors describe a new strategy that has better prediction performance than previous methods, which gives additional insights about the importance of the dependence between functional terms when inferring protein function.
GO-Based Term Semantic Similarity
Authors: Alvarez Marco A. , Qi Xiaojun , Yan Changhui
Published: May 2011

As the Gene Ontology (GO) plays more and more important roles in bioinformatics research, there has been great interest in developing objective and accurate methods for calculating semantic similarity between GO terms. In this chapter, the authors first introduce the basic concepts related to the GO and then briefly review the current advances and challenges in the development of methods for calculating semantic similarity between GO terms. Then, the authors introduce a semantic similarity method that does not rely on external data sources. Using this method as an example, the authors show how different properties of the GO can be explored to calculate semantic similarities between pairs of GO terms. The authors conclude the chapter by presenting some thoughts on the directions for future research in this field.
Mining Parallel Knowledge from Comparable Patents
Authors: Lu Bin , Tsou Benjamin K. , Jiang Tao , Zhu Jingbo , Kwong Oi Yee
Published: May 2011

The extracted parallel sentences and technical terms could be a good basis for further acquisition of term relations and the translation of monolingual ontologies, as well as for statistical machine translation systems and other cross-lingual information access applications.
An Open Source e-Procurement Application Framework for B2B and G2B
Authors: Christos Georgousopoulos , Ziouvelou Xenia , Yovanof Gregory , Ramfos Antonis
Published: May 2011

Since the early 1980s, Open Source Software (OSS) has gained a strong interest and an increased acceptance in the software industry that has to date initiated a “paradigm shift” (O’Reilly, 2004). The Open Source paradigm has introduced wholly new means of software development and distribution, creating a significant impact on the evolution of numerous business processes. In this chapter we examine the impact of the open source paradigm in the e-Procurement evolution and identify a trend towards Open Source e-Procurement Application Frameworks (AFs) which enable the development of tailored e-Procurement Solutions. Anchored in this notion, we present an Open-Source e-Procurement AF with a two-phase generation procedure. The innovative aspect of the proposed model relates to the combination of the Model Driven Engineering (MDE) approach with the Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) paradigm for enabling the cost-effective production of e-Procurement Solutions by facilitating integration, interoperability, easy maintenance, and management of possible changes in the European e-Procurement environment. The assessment process of the proposed AF and its resulting e-Procurement Solutions occurs in the context of G2B in the Western-Balkan European region. Our evaluation yields positive results and further enhancing opportunities for the proposed Open Source e-Procurement AF and its resulting e-Procurement Solutions.
Contact Centers
Authors: Rijo Rui
Published: May 2011

Often, small and medium enterprises consider the possibility of creating their own contact centre as a tool to improve the customer service. They pose some important questions about business and technical aspects: Why should we use a contact center solution? Which technologies, architectures, and solutions are available? Which key issues should be analyzed? The chapter provides specific information and practical guidelines about Contact Centers based on a literature review and interviews made to contact center business consultants specialized in the small and medium enterprises sector. The goal is to help top management and Information Technology responsible in making the best technological choices and methodological approaches.
E-Parking
Authors: Yan Gongjun , Olariu Stephan , Yang Weiming , Rawat Danda B.
Published: May 2011

The advantage of this parking system, from the drivers’ point of view, is the best quality of service. The drivers will be informed the detailed information, i.e. the vacant parking slots and the route to the slot. The drivers can park without searching slots. The parking process is a non-stop experience. From the investor’s view, the electronic parking system proposed in the chapter is an efficient system in utilization of slots and the maintenance cost. More importantly, it is more profitable.
e-marketing
Authors: El-Gohary Hatem
Published: May 2011

The chapter will help researchers and scholars in the field of e-marketing to have a clearer view towards its concept that in turn will contribute to the related accumulated knowledge in the field.
A Computational Intelligence Approach to Supply Chain Demand Forecasting
Authors: Ampazis Nicholas
Published: May 2011

Estimating customer demand in a multi-level supply chain structure is crucial for companies seeking to maintain their competitive advantage within an uncertain business environment. This work explores the potential of computational intelligence approaches as forecasting mechanisms for predicting customer demand at the first level of organization of a supply chain where products are presented and sold to customers. The computational intelligence approaches that we utilize are Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs), trained with the OLMAM algorithm (Optimized Levenberg-Marquardt with Adaptive Momentum), and Support Vector Machines (SVMs) for regression. The effectiveness of the proposed approach was evaluated using public data from the Netflix movie rental online DVD store in order to predict the demand for movie rentals during the critical, for sales, Christmas holiday season.
Generating Supply Chain Ordering Policies using Quantum Inspired Genetic Algorithms and Grammatical Evolution
Authors: McGarraghy Seán , Phelan Michael
Published: May 2011

Contributions to a supply chain’s overall cost function (such as the bullwhip effect) are sensitive to the different players’ ordering policies. This chapter addresses the problem of developing ordering policies which minimise the overall supply chain cost. Evolutionary Algorithms have been used to evolve such ordering policies. The authors of this chapter extend existing research in a number of ways. They apply two more recent evolutionary algorithms to the problem: Grammatical Evolution (GE), using a standard Genetic Algorithm (GA) search engine; and Quantum Inspired Genetic Algorithm (QIGA), used both as a standalone algorithm, and as an alternative search engine for GE. The authors benchmark these against previous work on the linear Beer Game supply chain, and extend our approaches to arborescent supply chains (without gaming), and capacitated inventory. The ordering-policy-generating grammars investigated range from simple — only using the demand presented at that point — to complex — which may incorporate lagged demands, forecasting approaches such as Moving Average or Simple Exponential Smoothing, conditional statements and other operators. The different grammars and search engines are compared for deterministic demand, and various stochastic demand distributions. Overall, GE outperforms other approaches by discovering more efficient ordering policies. However, its performance is sensitive to the choice of grammar: simple grammars do best on deterministic demand, while grammars using conditionals, information sharing and forecasting do better on stochastic demand. GE with a QIGA search engine has similar performance overall to GE with a standard GA search engine: typically QIGA is better if demand follows a Poisson distribution, with GA better for Normal demand.
Relief Distribution Networks
Authors: Ichoua Soumia
Published: May 2011

Logistics area is often recognized as one of the key elements in achieving effective disaster preparedness and response efforts. This chapter presents modeling and solution approaches for both the problem of prepositioning emergency supplies prior to a disaster as well as the problem of their distribution after the disaster onset. Depending on whether uncertainty is taken into account or not, work in these areas will be classified into two major categories: stochastic or deterministic. A distinction will also be made between exact methods and heuristics. In addition, the advantages and limitations of each of these two classes of approaches will be discussed. Am emphasis will be put on the particularities and characteristics of relief distribution networks. More advanced issues in the design and operations of these networks will also be discussed as interesting research avenues.