bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Development of Specific Gamma Secretase Inhibitors
Authors: Ahmed Jessica
Published: May 2011

Secretases are aspartic proteases, which specifically trim important, medically relevant targets such as the amyloid-precursor protein (APP) or the Notch-receptor. Therefore, changes in their activity can lead to dramatic diseases like M. Alzheimer caused by aggregation of peptidic fragments. On the other hand, the secretases are interesting targets for molecular therapy of the multiple myeloma, because the over-expressed Notch-receptor does not emerge into the native conformation until the cleavage by the presenilin, the active and catalytic subunit of the gamma secretase, occurs. Here, we focus on a novel methodology of structure-based drug development, feasible without prior knowledge of the target structure— analogy modeling. This combination of similarity screening, fold recognition, ligand-supported modeling, and docking is exemplarily illustrated for the structure of presenilin and specific inhibitors thereof.
Applications of Metabolic Flux Balancing in Medicine
Authors: Mavituna Ferda , Munoz-Hernandez Raul , de Carvalho Lima Lobato Ana Katerine
Published: May 2011

This chapter summarizes the fundamentals of metabolic flux balancing as a computational tool of metabolic engineering and systems biology. It also presents examples from the literature for its applications in medicine. These examples involve mainly liver metabolism and antibiotic production. Metabolic flux balancing is a computational method for the determination of metabolic pathway fluxes through a stoichiometric model of the cellular pathways, using mass balances for intracellular metabolites. It is a powerful tool to study metabolism under normal and abnormal conditions with a view to engineer the metabolism. Its extended potential in medicine is emphasized in the future trends.
Methods for Reverse Engineering of Gene Regulatory Networks
Authors: Hache Hendrik
Published: May 2011

In this chapter, different methods and applications for reverse engineering of gene regulatory networks that have been developed in recent years are discussed and compared. Inferring gene networks from different kinds of experimental data are a challenging task that emerged, especially with the development of high throughput technologies. Various computational methods based on diverse principles were introduced to identify new regulations among genes. Mathematical aspects of the models are highlighted, and applications for reverse engineering are mentioned.
Automated Image Analysis Approaches in Histopathology
Authors: Foley Ross
Published: May 2011

The field of histopathology has encountered a key transition point with the progressive move towards use of digital slides and automated image analysis approaches. This chapter discusses the various methods and techniques involved in the automation of image analysis in histopathology. Important concepts and techniques are explained in the 5 main areas of workflow within image analysis in histopathology: data acquisition, the digital image, image pre-processing, segmentation, and machine learning. Furthermore, examples of the application of these concepts and techniques in histopathological research are then given.
Background 3
Authors: Augustyniak Piotr , Tadeusiewicz Ryszard
Published: May 2011

This chapter defines the set of standard diagnostic parameters and metadata expected from cardiac examinations. Rest ECG, exercise ECG, and long-term recording techniques are compared with regard to method-appropriate hierarchies of diagnostic results. This summary is approaching the idea of high redundancy in the dataset influencing data transmission and database operations. As far as the paper record was concerned, these spare data were useful in the validation and correction of human errors. Nowadays, automatic error detection and correction codes are widely applied in systems for storage and transmission of digital data. Basic issues about DICOM and HL7, two widespread medical information interchange systems, are presented thereafter. These general-purpose systems integrate multi-modal medical data and offer specialized tools for the storage, retrieval, and management of data. Both standards originate from the efforts of standardizing the description of possibly wide aspects of patient-oriented digital data in the form of electronic health records. Certain aspects of data security are also considered here.
Optimization and Prioritization of Cardiac Messages
Authors: Augustyniak Piotr , Tadeusiewicz Ryszard
Published: May 2011

This chapter presents a proposal of medically justified modulations of the frequency of cardiac reporting, implemented in a client-server distant cooperation model. The supervising center analyzes incoming messages and other conditions, and issues the desired reporting interval back to the remote device. As a result of the authors’ tests and simulations, this method may reduce wireless channel usage and increase remote autonomy up to three times.
Research Linking Corporate Social Capital and Performance in the IT Global Marketplace
Authors: Lee Laurence Lock
Published: May 2011

In this chapter a brief review of the IT industry networks is conducted followed by sections on a suite of novel research techniques that are introduced for analysing the networked market place. The techniques rely on identifying market place alliances, whether they are contractual or market development based. Ultimately they do rely on social network representations applied at the firm level and maximising Corporate Social Capital (SC) for market place actors. In this way they are very different, but complementary to traditional market research techniques. A set of research questions and hypotheses are developed around the concept of Corporate SC.
The Role of Simulation in Business Process Reengineering
Authors: Alkhaldi Firas M. , Olaimat Mohammad
Published: May 2011

This chapter discusses the importance of business process simulation, while illustrating the relationship between business process reengineering (BPR) and change management, it focuses the discussion on the role of simulation in supporting BPR and the effect of simulation on business environment related skills, business management related skills, leadership related skills, employees empowering level, process improvement, ethical issues, and stakeholders’ management skills. The chapter discusses the value of simulation in implementing reengineering strategies and argues the future challenges of business process simulation and describes the limitations of simulation technology in reengineering business processes. Finally, it concludes with a discussion of the characteristics of successful simulation and simulation applications.
Best Practice in Leveraging E-Business Technologies to Achieve Business Agility
Authors: Sabri Ehap H.
Published: May 2011

This chapter explains the best practice in implementing e-business Technologies to achieve business cost reduction and business agility. Many companies started to realize that gaining competitive advantage is no longer feasible by only managing their own organizations; it also requires getting involved in the management of all upstream supply organizations as well as the downstream network. E-business technologies present huge opportunities that are already being tapped by several companies and supply chains. Although the benefits of implementing e-business technologies are clear, enterprises struggle in integrating e-business technologies into supply- chain operations. The author illustrates the strategic and operational impact of e-business technologies on supply chains and explains the performance benefits and challenges firms should expect in implementing these technologies. Also, the author provides the best-practice framework in leveraging e-business applications to support process improvements in order to eliminate nonvalue- added activities and provide real-time visibility and velocity for the supply chain. Finally, this chapter presents the future trends of using e-business in transformation programs.
How Can Internet Service Providers Tap into the Potentially -Lucrative Small Business Market?
Authors: Waikar Avinash
Published: May 2011

Small businesses need Internet service to be competitive, and their spending on IT activities continues to grow. How can Internet Service Providers tap into this potentially lucrative market? This study attempts to identify Internet service features that are important to small businesses. Specifically, it used a survey method to explore the relationships between the importance of various features and organizational characteristics of small businesses, for example, size and type of business. The results show that the size of business affects the perceived importance placed on certain features, while the type of business does not. Implication of this finding for packaging Internet service is discussed.
Different Levels of Information Systems Designers' Forms of Thought and Potential for Human-Centered Design
Authors: Isomäki Hannakaisa
Published: May 2011

This article describes a study clarifying information systems (IS) designers’ conceptions of human users of IS by drawing on in-depth interviews with 20 designers. The designers’ lived experiences in their work build up a continuum of levels of thought from more limited conceptions to more comprehensive ones reflecting variations of the designers’ situated knowledge related to human-centred design. The resulting forms of thought indicate three different but associated levels in conceptualising users. The separatist form of thought provides designers predominantly with technical perspectives and a capability for objectifying things. The functional form of thought focuses on external task information and task productivity, nevertheless, with the help of positive emotions. The holistic form of thought provides designers with competence of humancentred information systems development (ISD). Furthermore, the author hopes that understanding the IS designers’ tendencies to conceptualise human users facilitates the mutual communication between users and designers.
Neo-Symbiosis
Authors: Griffith Douglas , Greitzer Frank L.
Published: May 2011

The purpose of this article is to re-address the vision of human-computer symbiosis as originally expressed by J.C.R. Licklider nearly a half-century ago and to argue for the relevance of this vision to the field of cognitive informatics. We describe this vision, place it in some historical context relating to the evolution of human factors research, and observe that the field is now in the process of re-invigorating Licklider’s vision. A central concept of this vision is that humans need to be incorporated into computer architectures. We briefly assess the state of the technology within the context of contemporary theory and practice, and we describe what we regard as this emerging field of neo-symbiosis. Examples of neo-symbiosis are provided, but these are nascent examples and the potential of neo-symbiosis is yet to be realized. We offer some initial thoughts on requirements to define functionality of neo-symbiotic systems and discuss research challenges associated with their development and evaluation. Methodologies and metrics for assessing neo-symbiosis are discussed.
Developing and Analysing Core Compentencies for Alignment with Strategy
Authors: Sawyer Keith , Gammack John
Published: May 2011

Although it is widely accepted that alignment of knowledge with corporate strategy is necessary, to date there have been few clear statements on what a knowledge strategy looks like and how it may be practically implemented. We argue that current methods and techniques to accomplish this alignment are severely limited, showing no clear description on how the alignment can be achieved. Core competencies, embodying an organisation’s practical know-how, are also rarely linked explicitly to actionable knowledge strategy. Viewing knowledge embedded in core competencies as a strategic asset, the paper uses a case study to show how a company’s core competencies were articulated and verified for either inclusion or exclusion in the strategy. The study is representative of similar studies carried out across a range of organisations using a novel and practically proven method. This method, StratAchieve, was used here in a client situation to show how the core competencies were identified and tested for incorporation or not in the strategy. The paper concludes by considering the value of the approach for managing knowledge.
Data Quality-Based Requirements Elicitation for Decision Support Systems
Authors: Vaisman Alejandro
Published: May 2011

Today, information and timely decisions are crucial for an organization’s success. A decision support system (DSS) is a software tool that provides information allowing its users to make decisions timely and cost effectively. This is highly conditioned by the quality of the data involved, usually stored in a data warehouse, and by a sound and complete requirements analysis. In this chapter we show that conventional techniques for requirements elicitation cannot be used in DSS, and present a methodology denoted DSS-METRIQ, aimed at providing a single data quality-based procedure for complete and consistent elicitation of functional (queries) and nonfunctional (data quality) requirements. The outcomes of the process are a set of requirement documents and a specification of the operational data sources that can satisfy such requirements. We review the state-of-the-art in the field, and show that in spite of the tools and methodologies already proposed for the modeling and design of decision support systems, DSS-METRIQ is the first one that supports the whole process by means of an integral technique.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Metrics
Authors: Shea Timothy , Brown Ahern , White D. Steven , Curran-Kelly Catharine , Griffin Michael
Published: May 2011

Adopting a focus on CRM has been an industry standard for nearly two decades. While evidence suggests that a majority of the attempts to implement CRM systems fail, no single reason for the failures has been identified. Assuming that CRM implementation is an extension of a customeroriented business strategy and assuming successful integration with Enterprise Information Systems such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, the authors contend that the lack of valid and reliable CRM metrics leads to the perception of failed CRM implementation. Only through the development, application, and use of CRM metrics can organizations hope to achieve their CRM goals.
Web Services Management
Authors: Zulkernine Farhana H. , Martin Pat
Published: May 2011

The widespread use and expansion of the World Wide Web has revolutionized the discovery, access, and retrieval of information. The Internet has become the doorway to a vast information base and has leveraged the access to information through standard protocols and technologies like HyperText Markup Language (HTML), active server pages (ASP), Java server pages (JSP), Web databases, and Web services. Web services are software applications that are accessible over the World Wide Web through standard communication protocols. A Web service typically has a Webaccessible interface for its clients at the front end, and is connected to a database system and other related application suites at the back end. Thus, Web services can render efficient Web access to an information base in a secured and selective manner. The true success of this technology, however, largely depends on the efficient management of the various components forming the backbone of a Web service system. This chapter presents an overview and the state of the art of various management approaches, models, and architectures for Web services systems toward achieving quality of service (QoS) in Web data access. Finally, it discusses the importance of autonomic or self-managing systems and provides an outline of our current research on autonomic Web services.
Teaching and Learning Wi-Fi Networking Fundamentals Using Limited Resources
Authors: Siringoringo Wilson
Published: May 2011

Wi-Fi networking has been becoming increasingly popular in recent years, both in terms of applications and as the subject of academic research papers and articles in the IT press. It is important that students grasp the basic concepts of both Wi-Fi networking and wireless propagation measurements. Unfortunately, the underlying concepts of wireless networking often intimidate students with their apparently overwhelming complexity, thereby discouraging the students from learning in-depth this otherwise exciting and rewarding subject. This chapter provides a tutorial on Wi-Fi networking and radio propagation measurements using wireless laptops and access points. Various hands-on learning activities are also discussed.
An Evaluation of U.S. City Government Wireless Networks for Mobile Internet Access
Authors: Coaker Ben , Deans Candace
Published: May 2011

The purpose of this chapter is to provide guidelines for city governments considering implementing large-scale wireless networks to provide Internet access for their citizens and businesses. Case studies of cities in the United States that have implemented wireless networks will be evaluated in the context of opportunities and potential challenges. Some key considerations discussed in this chapter involve free versus fee-based models, security considerations, conflicts with local telecommunications companies, and network support. Opportunities to benefit police and emergency services are examined in terms of potential benefits as well as considerations of security in mission critical situations. Strategy guidelines will be presented as a means for providing structure to this decision-making process.
Software Agent Technology for Supporting Ad Hoc Virtual Enterprises
Authors: Rykowski Jarogniew
Published: May 2011

This chapter introduces a new idea of using software agents for supporting ad hoc virtual enterprises and similar forms of temporal businessto- business collaboration. It seems that current information and telecommunication technologies, based on information interchange and local data processing, are not flexible enough to deal with modern business requirements, especially dynamic and temporal business relations, heterogeneity of hardware, software and communication means, and data complexity. The proposed approach differs in the distribution of both data and programs for data treatment at-the-place and just-in-time. The distributed and remotely executed programs, software agents, are autonomous entities, targeted on obtaining preprogrammed goals, and working in the name and under the authority of their owners. The authors hope that the proposed techniques for agent preparation, distribution, and execution make the whole system safe and secure, providing an efficient environment for a wide spectrum of temporal and ad hoc business collaboration.
Effect of Wireless Channels on the Performance of Ad Hoc Networks
Authors: Nasir Q.
Published: May 2011

Mobile ad hoc (MANET) network is a collection of wireless mobile nodes dynamically forming a temporary network without the use of any existing network infrastructure or centralized administration. To accomplish forwarding a packet to its destination, a routing protocol is used to discover routes between these nodes. This article presents a variety of results for packet-level simulations for the popular protocol—dynamic source routing (DSR)—when different channel models are used. Different radio propagation models representing the wireless channel have been proposed over the years, each one being suitable for a certain situation. The simplest model that represents wireless propagation is the freespace model. Other propagation models are the tworay ground reflection model and the shadowing model. Simulation results show that the performance metrics are highly affected by the channel model used, even the energy left or the number of nodes left alive are also different.
Key Issues in Mobile Marketing
Authors: Barnes Stuart J. , Scornavacca Eusebio
Published: May 2011

The growth and convergence of wireless telecommunications and ubiquitous networks has created a tremendous potential platform for providing business services. In consumer markets, mobile marketing is likely to be a key growth area. The immediacy, interactivity, and mobility of wireless devices provide a novel platform for marketing. The personal and ubiquitous nature of devices means that interactivity can, ideally, be provided anytime and anywhere. However, as experience has shown, it is important to keep the consumer in mind. Mobile marketing permission and acceptance are core issues that marketers have yet to fully explain or resolve. This chapter provides direction in this area. After briefly discussing some background on mobile marketing, the chapter conceptualises key characteristics for mobile marketing permission and acceptance. The chapter concludes with predictions on the future of mobile marketing and some core areas of further research.
Trust Models for Ubiquitous Mobile Systems
Authors: Burmester Mike
Published: May 2011

This chapter introduces the notion of trust as a means to establish security in ubiquitous mobile network systems. It argues that trust is an essential requirement to enable security in any open network environments, and in particular, in wireless ad hoc environments where there is no network topology. In such environments, communication can only be achieved via routes that have to be trusted. In general it may be hard, or even impossible, to establish, recall, and maintain trust relationships. It is therefore important to understand the limitations of such environments and to find mechanisms that may support trust either explicitly or implicitly. We consider several models that can be used to enable trust in such environments, based on economic, insurance, information flow, and evolutionary paradigms.
Conceptual Modeling Solutions for the Data Warehouse
Authors: Rizzi Stefano
Published: May 2011

In the context of data warehouse design, a basic role is played by conceptual modeling, that provides a higher level of abstraction in describing the warehousing process and architecture in all its aspects, aimed at achieving independence of implementation issues. This chapter focuses on a conceptual model called the DFM that suits the variety of modeling situations that may be encountered in real projects of small to large complexity. The aim of the chapter is to propose a comprehensive set of solutions for conceptual modeling according to the DFM and to give the designer a practical guide for applying them in the context of a design methodology. Besides the basic concepts of multidimensional modeling, the other issues discussed are descriptive and cross-dimension attributes; convergences; shared, incomplete, recursive, and dynamic hierarchies; multiple and optional arcs; and additivity.
A Generalized Comparison of Open Source and Commercial Database Management Systems
Authors: Evdoridis Theodoros
Published: May 2011

This chapter attempts to bring to light the field of one of the less popular branches of the open source software family, which is the open source database management systems branch. In view of the objective, the background of these systems will first be briefly described followed by presentation of a fair generic database model. Subsequently and in order to present these systems under all their possible features, the main system representatives of both open source and commercial origins will be compared in relation to this model, and evaluated appropriately. By adopting such an approach, the chapter’s initial concern is to ensure that the nature of database management systems in general can be apprehended. The overall orientation leads to an understanding that the gap between open and closed source database management systems has been significantly narrowed, thus demystifying the respective commercial products.
An XML-Based Database for Knowledge Discovery
Authors: Meo Rosa , Psaila Giuseppe
Published: May 2011

Inductive databases have been proposed as general purpose databases to support the KDD process. Unfortunately, the heterogeneity of the discovered patterns and of the different conceptual tools used to extract them from source data make the integration in a unique framework difficult. In this chapter, we explore the feasibility of using XML as the unifying framework for inductive databases, and propose a new model, XML for data mining (XDM). We show the basic features of the model, based on the concepts of data item (source data and patterns) and statement (used to manage data and derive patterns). We make use of XML namespaces (to allow the effective coexistence and extensibility of data mining operators) and of XML-schema, by means of which we can define the schema, the state and the integrity constraints of an inductive database.
Empowering the OLAP Technology to Support Complex Dimension Hierarchies
Authors: Mansmann Svetlana
Published: May 2011

Comprehensive data analysis has become indispensable in a variety of domains. OLAP (On-Line Analytical Processing) systems tend to perform poorly or even fail when applied to complex data scenarios. The restriction of the underlying multidimensional data model to admit only homogeneous and balanced dimension hierarchies is too rigid for many real-world applications and, therefore, has to be overcome in order to provide adequate OLAP support. We present a framework for classifying and modeling complex multidimensional data, with the major effort at the conceptual level as to transform irregular hierarchies to make them navigable in a uniform manner. The properties of various hierarchy types are formalized and a two-phase normalization approach is proposed: heterogeneous dimensions are reshaped into a set of well-behaved homogeneous subdimensions, followed by the enforcement of summarizability in each dimension’s data hierarchy. Mapping the data to a visual data browser relies solely on metadata, which captures the properties of facts, dimensions, and relationships within the dimensions. The navigation is schema-based, that is, users interact with dimensional levels with ondemand data display. The power of our approach is exemplified using a real-world study from the domain of academic administration.
Rule Discovery from Textual Data
Authors: Sakurai Shigeaki
Published: May 2011

This chapter introduces knowledge discovery methods based on a fuzzy decision tree from textual data. The author argues that the methods extract features of the textual data based on a key concept dictionary, which is a hierarchical thesaurus, and a key phrase pattern dictionary, which stores characteristic rows of both words and parts of speech, and generate knowledge in the format of a fuzzy decision tree. The author also discusses two application tasks. One is an analysis system for daily business reports and the other is an e-mail analysis system. The author hopes that the methods will provide new knowledge for researchers engaged in text mining studies, facilitating their understanding of the importance of the fuzzy decision tree in processing textual data.
Database High Availability
Authors: Radaideh Moh’d A. , Al-Ameed Hayder
Published: May 2011

With the advancement of computer technologies and the World Wide Web, there has been an explosion in the amount of available e-services, most of which represent database processing. Efficient and effective database performance tuning and high availability techniques should be employed to insure that all e-services remain reliable and available all times. To avoid the impacts of database downtime, many corporations have taken interest in database availability. The goal for some is to have continuous availability such that a database server never fails. Other companies require their content to be highly availabile. In such cases, short and planned downtimes would be allowed for maintenance purposes. This chapter is meant to present the definition, the background, and the typical measurement factors of high availability. It also demonstrates some approaches to minimize a database server’s shutdown time.
Identifying Factors for Lack of E-Commerce in Developing Countries
Authors: Sharma Sushil K. , Gupta Jatinder N.D.
Published: May 2011

The past few years have seen a rise in the number of companies’ embracing e-commerce technologies in developing countries and the volume of e-commerce has been growing. However, as compared to developed nations, developing countries still have been lacking in e-commerce. This chapter identifies some of the reasons that may be responsible for lack of e-commerce in developing countries. For the scope of the study, we have limited developing countries to China, India, Indonesia, Philippines and Sri Lanka. The study identifies factors at the macro level to understand why the adoption of e-commerce in developing countries has been not taking off as expected.
E-Commerce Development in China
Authors: Stylianou Antonis C. , Robbins Stephanie S. , Jackson Pamela
Published: May 2011

It is widely recognized that e-commerce represents a critical resource for most business organizations. With over 1.3 billion people and double-digit economic growth, China could potentially emerge as the largest Internet and telecommunications market in the world if certain economic, environmental, and organizational barriers are effectively addressed. This chapter develops a descriptive profile of Chinese business managers with respect to their awareness of the technological infrastructure as well as their perceptions and attitudes regarding e-commerce. Management’s viewpoint on a variety of environmental, organizational, and personal factors provides insight into the future of e-commerce in China within the framework of organizational commitment to e-commerce driven innovation. Findings indicate that firms interested in engaging in e-commerce in China will find a knowledgeable and supportive business climate; however, e-commerce initiatives may be hindered by constraints imposed by the current infrastructure as well as the political environment.
E-Government and Its Impact on E-Commerce in LDCs
Authors: Rabaiah Abdelbaset
Published: May 2011

This chapter illustrates the impact of electronic government (e-government) on electronic commerce (e-commerce) development and implementation in the Less Developed Countries (LDCs). It introduces e-government from a business point of view. We try to assess the capacity of e-government as an enabler to e-commerce. Furthermore, since e-government is about enhancing efficiency and transparency of government operation; we shall explore new perspectives on how and where e-commerce can avail from this shift in government operation paradigm. There are new opportunities for LDCs in particular to utilise new IT offerings to achieve growth, efficiency, and cost reduction. We will discuss some of these towards the end of the chapter. In the process, we will try to draw the connection between e-government and e-commerce in such a way that helps decision makers understand the potential of e-government for a better implementation of e-commerce.
Tasks in Software Engineering Education
Authors: Hazzan Orit , Tomayko Jim
Published: May 2011

The field of software engineering is multifaceted. Accordingly, students must be educated to cope with different kinds of tasks and questions. This chapter describes a collection of tasks that aim at improving students’ skills in different ways. We illustrate our ideas by describing a course about human aspects of software engineering. The course objective is to increase learners’ awareness with respect to problems, dilemmas, ethical questions, and other human-related situations that students may face in the software engineering world. We attempt to achieve this goal by posing different kinds of questions and tasks to the learners, which aim at enhancing their abstract thinking and expanding their analysis perspectives. The chapter is based on our experience teaching the course at Carnegie-Mellon University and at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology.
The Software Enterprise
Authors: Gary Kevin A.
Published: May 2011

“You can’t teach experience” – but you can sure try. At the Polytechnic Campus of Arizona State University, we are developing a learning-by-doing approach for teaching software engineering called the Software Enterprise. The Capstone experience is extended to two one-year projects and serves as the primary teaching and learning vehicle for best practices in software engineering. Several process features are introduced in an attempt to make projects, or more importantly the experience gained from project work, more applicable to industry expectations. At the conclusion of the Software Enterprise students have an applied understanding of how to leverage software process as a tool for successful project evolution. This chapter presents the Software Enterprise, focusing the presentation on three novel aspects: a highly iterative, learner-centered pedagogical model, cross-year mentoring, and multiple projects as a novel means of sequencing learning objectives.
Teaching Software Engineering in a Computer Science Program Using the Affinity Research Group Philosophy
Authors: Roach Steve
Published: May 2011

This chapter describes a two-semester software engineering course that is taught in a computer science program at the University of Texas at El Paso. The course is distinguished from other courses in that it is based on the Affinity Research Group (ARG) philosophy that focuses on the deliberate development of students’ team, professional and technical skills within a cooperative environment. To address the challenge of having to teach professional and team skills as well as software engineering principles, approaches, techniques, and tools in a capstone course, the authors have defined an approach that uses a continuum of instruction, practice, and application with constructive feedback loops. The authors hope that the readers will benefit from the description of the approach and how ARG components are incorporated into the course.
A Framework for Success in Real Projects for Real Clients Courses
Authors: Klappholz David , Almstrum Vicki L. , Modesit Ken , Owen Cherr , Johnson Allen
Published: May 2011

In this chapter, we demonstrate the importance of Real Projects for Real Clients Courses (RPRCCs) in computing curricula. Based on our collective experience, we offer advice for setting up an effective support infrastructure for such courses. We discuss where and how to find clients, the types of projects that we have used, and how to form and train teams. We investigate the variety of standards and work products that we have used in our courses and explore issues related to assessment and evaluation. Finally, we consider the benefits of an RPRCC-centric approach to computing curricula. A course is underway. Students are excited, engaged, eager to apply what they are learning, eager to communicate with one another about their project work, what they need to accomplish, and what they must find out from outside stakeholders. As a lovely bonus, the project the students are developing is more than a toy problem or a product that will gather dust on the back of the shelf — they are writing software that is useful and will be used. This type of course exists and has been successful in many settings, including public and private institutions, small, medium, and large institutions, and Historically Black and Hispanic-Serving institutions (that is, the colleges and universities at which the co-authors teach). In this chapter, we promote the idea of Real Projects for Real Clients Courses (RPRCCs) and discuss key issues related to successfully planning for and executing them in a variety of settings.
Applying Blended Learning in an Industrial Context
Authors: Bunse Christian , Peper Christian , Grützner Ines , Steinbach-Nordmann Silke
Published: May 2011

With the rapid rate of innovation in software engineering, teaching and learning of new technologies have become challenging issues. The provision of appropriate education is a key prerequisite for benefiting from new technologies. Experience shows that typical classroom education is not as effective and efficient as it could be. E-learning approaches seem to be a promising solution but e-learning holds problems such as a lack of social communication or loose control on learning progress. This chapter describes a blended learning approach that mixes traditional classroom education with e-learning and that makes use of tightly integrated coaching activities. The concrete effects and enabling factors of this approach are discussed by means of an industrial case study. The results of the study indicate that following a blended learning approach has a positive impact on learning time, effectiveness and sustainability.
Software Engineering Accreditation in the United States
Authors: McDonald James , Sebern Mark J. , Vallino James R.
Published: May 2011

This chapter provides a brief history of the accreditation of software engineering programs in the United States and describes some of the experiences encountered by programs in achieving their accreditation and by program evaluators in reviewing those programs. It also describes how the accredited programs have addressed the most difficult issues that they have faced during the accreditation process. The authors have served as leaders of the accreditation efforts at their own institutions and as ABET program evaluators at several other academic institutions that have achieved accreditation. The objective of this chapter is to provide those software engineering programs that will be seeking accreditation in the future with some of the experiences of those who are familiar with the process from both the programs’ and the evaluators’ points of view. Leaders of programs that are planning to request an accreditation review will be well prepared for that review if they combine the information contained in this chapter with the recommendations contained in Chapter XIX of this text.
E-Mail Reflection Groups as Collaborative Action Research
Authors: Redmon Jr. Robert J.
Published: May 2011

Departmental e-mail reflection groups promise to help resolve two of the most pressing problems facing the teaching profession, finding time for meaningful, ongoing professional development (Cook, 1997) and the retention of new teachers (Reed, Reuben, & Barbour, 2006). The ultimate goal of teacher research and all other forms of professional development is learning, learning to be a better teacher. Though learning is often defined as lasting change (Driscoll, 2000), little change occurs in a vacuum. One path to professional development for teachers is personal reflection, but its power to generate meaningful change is limited by the individual teacher’s existing knowledge and experience. On the other hand, meaningful change tends to flourish in cultures defined by rich social interaction (Piirto, 1992). Though classroom teachers can and sometimes do draw inspiration and ideas from other educators (Manning, 2006), practical opportunities for this are much too rare (Selwyn, 2000).
ICT and Tourism Enterprise Collaboration in Rural New Zealand
Authors: Milne Simon
Published: May 2011

This chapter examines the development and associated outcomes of two government funded projects designed to support small tourism enterprise (STE) collaboration in rural New Zealand. Following a review of literature on the importance of networks and information and communication technology (ICT) in STE and local development, we discuss “Kiwitrails,” a five-year program designed to develop a Web-based virtual community of businesses in the remote and relatively impoverished East Coast of the country’s North Island. We then review an ICT enabled STE network in Western Southland, a region with a strong farming base. The cases reveal that local “champions” are vital in initiating and sustaining collaborative organizational activity, and in facilitating the environment within which STE networks can flourish. We argue that locality and embedded cultural dimensions must be factored into government and/or community attempts to develop ICT enabled collaborative initiatives in tourism.
Technology Enhanced Collaborative Leadership Development
Authors: Daniel Beverly-Jean , Boyington Wall April
Published: May 2011

This chapter presents a case study of the process of employing technology in a project involving the development and presentation of a unique leadership program for the not-for-profit sector in a major Canadian city. The project relied on telephone and Internet technology as a primary means of communication between the three women developing and delivering this program. The chapter provides a background on the development of the program; the ways in which technology was employed; and the problems and benefits of employing technology in doing this. Finally, it identifies the strategies and interpersonal skills found to be most effective in facilitating technology-enhanced collaboration, and makes recommendations for maximizing the benefits of using technology in the process of creating new approaches to leadership development. The chapter can contribute to the literature in the field of leadership development, collaborative program development and diversity management in the field of leadership.
Test Template for Data Mining Publications
Authors: Lymberopoulos Dimitrios K.
Published: May 2011

The Next Generation Network (NGN) is a very complex environment, where various parties (network operators, services and application providers, integrators, etc.) necessarily cooperate on the provision of advanced converged services. This chapter presents the current status and fundamentals of conventional, converged and bundled valueadded services, and then depicts their transformation into distributed NGN services. The characteristics of NGN services are considered with respect to the architecture of the NGN service stratum and the enterprise framework, both standardized by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). Finally, the implementation and deployment of interoperable NGN services through open interfaces are considered in conjunction with market trends and the standardization efforts of several international organizations or other independent initiatives, forums, alliances, etc.
Novel Multi-Antenna and Smart Antenna Techniques for Next Generation Wireless Communication Networks
Authors: Georgiadis Apostolos , Prades Carles Fernández
Published: May 2011

Multi-antenna systems incorporating smart antenna techniques present numerous advantages compared to their single antenna counterparts including increased capacity and range, by exploring spatial diversity. The current status and novel research directions in the framework of such array systems are presented. Furthermore, the application of nonlinear antenna arrays in the design of novel RF/microwave front-ends, that present compact, low cost and energy efficient solutions for smart antenna array applications is demonstrated. In this manner, the advantages of such systems in terms of their application within next generation networks are highlighted both from the point of view of digital signal processing techniques, as well as alternative analog radio front-end architectures.
Supporting Facilitators in Communities of Practice via Design and Technology
Authors: Tarmizi Halbana , de Vreede Gert-Jan , Zigurs Ilze
Published: May 2011

Organizations have the potential to achieve advantage through communities of practice (COPs) initiatives. However, establishing and sustaining COPs is a challenging task. Facilitation is needed to help COPs overcome difficulties throughout their life stages. Facilitators take on leadership roles within these virtual communities, yet little is known about the challenges related to their roles. This paper contributes in helping to improve leadership in COP by highlighting challenges in facilitating COP and by providing potential solutions addressing those challenges. A recent survey of facilitators reveals challenges faced by facilitators in performing their tasks within COPs. The issue of participation was identified as the main concern in COP facilitation. Several design and technology initiatives are discussed for their potential to help facilitators in coping with the participation issue and providing essential leadership roles within communities of practice.
An Ontology-Based Competence Model for Collaborative Design
Authors: Tarasov Vladimir , Sandkuhl Kurt , Lundqvist Magnus
Published: May 2011

Collaborative design in dispersed groups of engineers creates various kinds of challenges to technology, organization and social environment. This paper presents an approach to description and representation of the competences needed for a planned collaborative design project. The most important competence areas are identified starting from the nature of design work, problem solving in design teams, and working in distributed groups. The competence model is built structuring these areas according to three perspectives: general, cultural, and occupational competences. An ontological representation is proposed to implement the described model for collaborative design competence. Using an ontology language for representation of collaborative design competence models makes it possible to identify those individuals who are best suited for the collaboration by ontology matching. Furthermore, a software design team consisting of two persons was interviewed and competence profiles were created using the developed ontological representation. Modeling of the team members has confirmed that the proposed approach can be applied to modeling competences needed for collaborative design in engineering fields.
Global Digital Divide, Global Justice, Cultures, and Epistemology
Authors: Hongladarom Soraj
Published: May 2011

The problem of global digital divide, namely disparity in Internet access and use among the various regions of the world, is a growing concern. Even though, according to some reports, the gap is getting narrower, this does not mean that the problem is disappearing, because the problem does not just consist in getting more people to become “wired,” so to speak. This chapter investigates the various relationships among the global digital divide, global justice, cultures and epistemology. Very briefly stated, not getting access to the Internet constitutes an injustice because the access is a social good that can lead to various other goods. Furthermore, as information technology is a second-order technology, one that operates on meaning bearing symbols, access to the technology is very much an issue of social epistemology, an attempt to find out the optimal way to distribute knowledge across the social and cultural domains.
Modern Technology and Mass Education
Authors: Ali Ahmed
Published: May 2011

This case study examined the effectiveness and significance of the Internet and interactive video broadcasting as instructional and communication media in a global virtual learning system. The study explored how differences in students’ technology experiences, curriculum, cultures, and access to technology influence learning and student attitude in a technology-based distance education environment. The research also investigated whether the use of online references and materials is adequate and appropriate for successful distance learning. The setting was a virtual campus that linked universities in the U.S., Australia, and Canada with learning centers in different African countries. E-mail and face-toface interviews, observations, and Web-based surveys were utilized to collect the data. The study reveals that students had mixed perceptions about the effectiveness of technology, with positive attitudes exhibited towards interactive video and some anxiety and dissatisfaction with the use of the Internet.