bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Development and Application of New Mouse Models To Study the Pathogenesis of
Clostridium perfringens
Type C Enterotoxemias
Authors: Uzal Francisco A. , Saputo Juliann , Sayeed Sameera , Vidal Jorge E. , Fisher Derek J. , Poon Rachael , Adams Vicki , Fernandez-Miyakawa Mariano E. , Rood Julian I. , McClane Bruce A.
Published: October 2009

Clostridium perfringens
type C isolates cause enterotoxemias and enteritis in humans and livestock. While the major disease signs and lesions of type C disease are usually attributed to beta toxin (CPB), these bacteria typically produce several different lethal toxins. Since understanding of disease pathogenesis and development of improved vaccines is hindered by the lack of small animal models mimicking the lethality caused by type C isolates, in this study we developed two mouse models of
C. perfringens
type C-induced lethality. When inoculated into BALB/c mice by intragastric gavage, 7 of 14 type C isolates were lethal, whereas when inoculated intraduodenally, these strains were all lethal in these mice. Clinical signs in intragastrically and intraduodenally challenged mice were similar and included respiratory distress, abdominal distension, and neurological alterations. At necropsy, the small, and occasionally the large, intestine was dilated and gas filled in most mice developing a clinical response. Histological changes in the gut were relatively mild, consisting of attenuation of the mucosa with villus blunting. Inactivation of the CPB-encoding gene rendered the highly virulent type C strain CN3685 avirulent in the intragastric model and nearly nonlethal in the intraduodenal model. In contrast, inactivation of the genes encoding alpha toxin and perfringolysin O only slightly decreased the lethality of CN3685. Mice could be protected against lethality by intravenous passive immunization with a CPB antibody prior to intragastric challenge. This study proves that CPB is a major contributor to the systemic effects of type C infections and provides new mouse models for investigating the pathogenesis of type C-induced lethality.
Critical Role for Interleukin-1β (IL-1β) duringChlamydia muridarumGenital Infection and Bacterial Replication-Independent Secretion of IL-1β in Mouse Macrophages
Authors: Prantner Daniel , Darville Toni , Sikes James D. , Andrews Charles W. , Brade Helmut , Rank Roger G. , Nagarajan Uma M.
Published: October 2009

Recent findings have implicated interleukin-1β (IL-1β) as an important mediator of the inflammatory response in the female genital tract during chlamydial infection. But how IL-1β is produced and its specific role in infection and pathology are unclear. Therefore, our goal was to determine the functional consequences and cellular sources of IL-1β expression during a chlamydial genital infection. In the present study, IL-1β−/−mice exhibited delayed chlamydial clearance and decreased frequency of hydrosalpinx compared to wild-type (WT) mice, implying an important role for IL-1β both in the clearance of infection and in the mediation of oviduct pathology. At the peak of IL-1β secretion in WT mice, the major producers of IL-1β in vivo are F4/80+macrophages and GR-1+neutrophils, but not CD45−epithelial cells. Although elicited mouse macrophages infected withChlamydiamuridarumin vitro secrete minimal IL-1β, in vitro prestimulation of macrophages by Toll-like receptor (TLR) ligands such as lipopolysaccharide (LPS) purified fromEscherichiacoliorC. trachomatisL2 prior to infection greatly enhanced secretion of IL-1β from these cells. By using LPS-primed macrophages as a model system, it was determined that IL-1β secretion was dependent on caspase-1, potassium efflux, and the activity of serine proteases. Significantly, chlamydia-induced IL-1β secretion in macrophages required bacterial viability but not growth. Our findings demonstrate that IL-1β secreted by macrophages and neutrophils has important effects in vivo during chlamydial infection. Additionally, prestimulation of macrophages by chlamydial TLR ligands may account for the elevated levels of pro-IL-1β mRNA observed in vivo in this cell type.
A Heterologous Helper T-Cell Epitope Enhances the Immunogenicity of a Multiple-Antigenic-Peptide Vaccine Targeting the Cryptic Loop-Neutralizing Determinant ofBacillus anthracisProtective Antigen
Authors: Oscherwitz Jon , Yu Fen , Cease Kemp B.
Published: October 2009

We previously showed that a multiple antigenic peptide (MAP) displaying amino acids (aa) 305 to 319 from the 2β2-2β3 loop of protective antigen (PA) can elicit high-titered antibody that neutralizes lethal toxin (LeTx) in vitro and that this loop-neutralizing determinant (LND) specificity is absent in PA-immune rabbits. Some immune rabbits were, however, nonresponders to the MAP. We hypothesized that the immunogen elicited suboptimal major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II-restricted T-cell help and that introduction of a functional helper T-cell epitope would increase MHC-restricted responsiveness and the magnitude and affinity of the antibody responses. In the current study, we characterized the T- and B-cell responses to LND peptides in mice, then designed second-generation MAP immunogens for eliciting LND-specific immunity, and tested them in rabbits. The 305-319 sequence was devoid of helper T-cell epitopes in three strains of mice; however, a T-B peptide comprising aa 305 to 319, colinearly synthesized with the P30 helper epitope of tetanus toxin, elicited robust LeTx-neutralizing immunity in mice. T-B MAPs displaying B-cell epitopes 304 to 319 (MAP304) or 305 to 319 (MAP305) elicited high-titer, durable antibody responses in rabbits which exhibited potent neutralization of LeTx in vitro. All MAP304-immune rabbits demonstrated neutralization titers exceeding that of hyperimmune sera of rabbits immunized with PA in Freund's adjuvant, with peak neutralization titers 23-, 6-, and 3-fold higher than that of the PA antiserum. Overall, immunization with MAPs containing the P30 epitope elicited higher antibody and toxin neutralization titers and peptide-specific affinity than immunization with an LND MAP lacking a helper epitope. P30-containing MAP304 represents a promising LND-specific vaccine for anthrax.
Delayed progressive restenosis of the supraclinoid internal carotid artery treated with percutaneous transluminal angioplasty in a patient with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage
Authors: Hsu D P , Hu Y C , Bambakidis N C
Published: October 2009

Typically occurring between 3 days and 3 weeks post-hemorrhage, cerebral vasospasm in the acute stage after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage is a major contributor to the morbidity and mortality associated with patient outcomes, despite advances in aneurysm treatment and vasospasm management. Though incompletely understood, cerebral vasospasm is well described in the immediate post-hemorrhage patient. Less detailed descriptions exist of delayed or progressive restenosis after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage and resultant vasospasm. We report a case of delayed progressive supraclinoid internal carotid artery restenosis treated with angioplasty 10 weeks after initial hemorrhage.
POSITON, NEGATON, SOLITON AND COMPLEXITON SOLUTIONS TO A FOUR-DIMENSIONAL NONLINEAR EVOLUTION EQUATION
Authors: ZHAQILAO  , LI ZHI-BIN
Published: October 2009

A generalized Wronskian formulation is presented for a four-dimensional nonlinear evolution equation. The representative systems are explicitly solved by selecting a broad set of sufficient conditions which make the Wronskian determinant a solution to the bilinearized four-dimensional nonlinear evolution equation. The obtained solution formulas provide us with a comprehensive approach to construct explicit exact solutions to the four-dimensional nonlinear evolution equation, by which positons, negatons, solitons and complexitons are computed for the four-dimensional nonlinear evolution equation. Applying the Hirota's direct method, multi-soliton, non-singular complexiton, and their interaction solutions of the four-dimensional nonlinear evolution equation are also obtained.
A SIMPLE EVOLUTIONARY MODEL FOR CANCER CELL POPULATION AND ITS IMPLICATIONS ON CANCER THERAPY
Authors: YAO PENG , WEN SHUTANG , LI BAOSHUN , LI YUXIAO
Published: October 2009

We established a simple evolutionary model based on the cancer stem cell hypothesis. By taking cellular interactions into consideration, we introduced the evolutionary games theory into the quasispecies model. The fitness values are determined by both genotypes and cellular interactions. In the evolutionary model, a cancer cell population can evolve in different patterns. For single peak intrinsic fitness landscape, the evolution pattern can transit with increasing differentiation probability from malignant cells to benign cells in four different modes. For a large enough value of differentiation probability, the evolution is always the case that the malignant cells extinct ultimately, which might give some implications on cancer therapy.
MODELING THE DIELECTRIC RESPONSE IN HETEROGENEOUS MATERIALS USING 3D RC NETWORKS
Authors: HUANG MING , YANG JINGJING , XIAO ZHE , SUN JUN , PENG JINHUI
Published: October 2009

A model of 3D RC networks was developed to describe the dielectric response of heterogeneous materials and was compared with the results of the 2D RC network model. We show that the "universal dielectric response" (UDR) of heterogeneous materials is a common feature of both 2D and 3D very large networks with randomly positioned resistors and capacitors, and that the percolation threshold of the 2D and 3D bond network are close to 0.5 and 0.25, respectively. In addition, it was found that the percolation threshold of the 3D network is in good agreement with the result of the coherent potential (CP) formula.
AN EMPIRICAL STUDY OF THE PROBABILITY DENSITY FUNCTION OF HF NOISE (PART II)
Authors: GIESBRECHT J.
Published: October 2009

The impetus for investigating the probability density function of high-frequency (HF) noise arises from the requirement for a better noise model for automatic modulation recognition techniques. Many current modulation recognition methods still assume Gaussian noise models for the transmission medium. For HF communications this can be an incorrect assumption. Whereas a previous investigation [1] focuses on the noise density function in an urban area of Adelaide Australia, this work studies the noise density function in a remote country location east of Adelaide near Swan Reach, South Australia. Here, the definition of HF noise is primarily of natural origins – it is therefore impulsive – and excludes man-made noise sources. A new method for measuring HF noise is introduced that is used over a 153 kHz bandwidth at various frequencies across the HF band. The method excises man-made signals and calculates the noise PDF from the residue. Indeed, the suitability of the Bi-Kappa distribution at modeling HF noise is found to be even more compelling than suggested by the results of the earlier investigation.
FLUCTUATIONS INDUCE TRANSITIONS IN FRUSTRATED SPARSE NETWORKS
Authors: BARRA ADRIANO
Published: October 2009

With the aim of describing a general benchmark for several complex systems, we analyze, by means of statistical mechanics, a sparse network with random competitive interactions among dichotomic variables pasted on the nodes. The model is described by an infinite series of order parameters (the multi-overlaps) and has two tunable degrees of freedom: the noise level and the connectivity (the averaged number of links). We show that there are no multiple transition lines, one for every order parameter, as a naive approach would suggest, but just one corresponding to ergodicity breaking. We explain this scenario within a novel and simple mathematical technique via a driving mechanism such that, as the first order parameter (the two replica overlap) becomes different from zero due to a real second order phase transition (with properly associated diverging rescaled fluctuations), it enforces all the other multi-overlaps toward positive values thanks to the strong correlations which develop among themselves and the two replica overlap at the critical line.
NON-UNIFORM SCALING BEHAVIOR IN SELF-POTENTIAL EARTHQUAKE-RELATED SIGNALS
Authors: TELESCA LUCIANO , LOVALLO MICHELE , RAMIREZ-ROJAS ALEJANDRO , ANGULO-BROWN FERNANDO
Published: October 2009

The scaling properties of the time dynamics of self-potential data (in the frequency range between 0 and 0.125Hz) observed in 1995 at Acapulco station in Mexico were investigated. On the basis of detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA), which is a powerful method to detect scaling in nonstationary time series, deviations from uniform power-law scaling were identified and quantified. Our results suggest that an evident non-uniform scaling behavior in self-potential data could be related to the occurrence on September 14, 1995 of the strongest earthquake. These first results could be useful in the framework of earthquake prediction studies.
AN EFFICIENT METHOD FOR CORRECTION OF ECTOPIC BEATS IN R-R INTERVALS
Authors: COLAK OMER H.
Published: October 2009

This study presents an efficient method based on principal component analysis (PCA) to remove ectopic beats in R-R intervals. The method is focused on variation of slopes at each time steps and reconstruction of new time values using initial eigenvectors and new slope values. Obtained results and LF (low frequency) and HF (high frequency) energy distributions were compared with outputs of integral pulse frequency modulation (IPFM) method and sliding window average filter (SWAF).
ACCURACY ISSUES OF ON-WAFER MICROWAVE NOISE MEASUREMENTS
Authors: CHEN CHIH-HUNG
Published: October 2009

The accuracy issues of on-wafer noise characterization for a linear noisy two-port are presented in this paper. It starts with the description of a microwave noise measurement system and the possible source of error due to the microwave power meter in the measurement system. With the description of noise characterization techniques, this paper reviews a couple of methods for noise parameter extraction to handle the errors in the measured noise powers, noise factors, and source admittances. It also presents the methods to extract the physical noise parameters and to take care of different source admittances in the hot and cold states for accuracy enhancement.
BRANES AND QUANTIZATION FOR AN A-MODEL COMPLEXIFICATION OF EINSTEIN GRAVITY IN ALMOST KÄHLER VARIABLES
Authors: VACARU SERGIU I.
Published: October 2009

The general relativity theory is redefined equivalently in almost Kähler variables: symplectic form, θ[g], and canonical symplectic connection, [Formula: see text] (distorted from the Levi–Civita connection by a tensor constructed only from metric coefficients and their derivatives). The fundamental geometric and physical objects are uniquely determined in metric compatible form by a (pseudo) Riemannian metric g on a manifold V enabled with a necessary type nonholonomic 2 + 2 distribution. Such nonholonomic symplectic variables allow us to formulate the problem of quantizing Einstein gravity in terms of the A-model complexification of almost complex structures on V, generalizing the Gukov–Witten method [1]. Quantizing [Formula: see text], we derive a Hilbert space as a space of strings with two A-branes which for the Einstein gravity theory are nonholonomic because of induced nonlinear connection structures. Finally, we speculate on relation of such a method of quantization to curve flows and solitonic hierarchies defined by Einstein metrics on (pseudo) Riemannian spacetimes.
GAUGE CONSERVATION LAWS IN A GENERAL SETTING: SUPERPOTENTIAL
Authors: SARDANASHVILY G.
Published: October 2009

The fact that the conserved current of a gauge symmetry is reduced to a superpotential is proved in a very general setting.
ON THE WELL-FORMULATION OF THE INITIAL VALUE PROBLEM OF METRIC-AFFINE f(R)-GRAVITY
Authors: CAPOZZIELLO S. , VIGNOLO S.
Published: October 2009

We study the well-formulation of the initial value problem of f(R)-gravity in the metric-affine formalism. The problem is discussed in vacuo and in presence of perfect-fluid matter, Klein–Gordon and Yang–Mills fields. Adopting Gaussian normal coordinates, it can be shown that the problem is always well-formulated. Our results refute some criticisms to the viability of f(R)-gravity recently appeared in literature.
AN EXCEPTIONAL E8 GAUGE THEORY OF GRAVITY IN D = 8, CLIFFORD SPACES AND GRAND UNIFICATION
Authors: CASTRO CARLOS
Published: October 2009

A candidate action for an Exceptional E8 gauge theory of gravity in 8D is constructed. It is obtained by recasting the E8 group as the semi-direct product of GL(8,R) with a deformed Weyl–Heisenberg group associated with canonical-conjugate pairs of vectorial and antisymmetric tensorial generators of rank two and three. Other actions are proposed, like the quarticE8 group-invariant action in 8D associated with the Chern–Simons E8 gauge theory defined on the 7-dim boundary of a 8D bulk. To finalize, it is shown how the E8 gauge theory of gravity can be embedded into a more general extended gravitational theory in Clifford spaces associated with the Cl(16) algebra and providing a solid geometrical program of a grand unification of gravity with Yang–Mills theories. The key question remains if this novel gravitational model based on gauging the E8 group may still be renormalizable without spoiling unitarity at the quantum level.
An Interview with George Sadowsky
Authors: staff Ubiquity
Published: October 2009

Internet governance and policy expert George Sadowsky on using information and communication technologies to encourage economic development
An Interview with Nicholas G. Carr
Authors: Ubiquity staff
Published: October 2009

Nicholas G. Carr talks about capitalizing on the commoditization trend by spending less on technology but getting better, more reliable systems. His suggestion that CEOs step away from the cutting edge has defenders and detractors in the IT community.
Software-based computing security and fault tolerance
Authors: Saha Goutam Kumar
Published: October 2009

This article delineates a software approach to establish computing security and fault tolerance in various computing systems. This low-cost approach is useful to tolerate malicious code modifications and transient faults without additional costs for hardware and extra software versions.
An Interview with Aza Raskin
Authors: Ubiquity staff
Published: October 2009

Aza Raskin talks about The Humane Environment, his father (inventor of the Macintosh), and challenging the status quo. This apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
Adaptation in large-scale enterprise systems
Authors: Delic Kemal A. , Dayal Umeshwar
Published: October 2009

Deep analytics technologies and the rise of the intelligent enterprise
An Interview with Jon H. Larson
Authors: Ubiquity staff
Published: October 2009

By weaving technology into the fabric of academic culture, Jon H. Larson forwards the idea that a small college can compete with larger institutions in the area of using technology for learning purposes.
Reflecting on the profession
Authors: Yong Su-Ting
Published: October 2009

Sure, they can fix a computer or write a software program, but today's IT pros must be well schooled in more than the technology basics.
Ergonomic soft mouse and armrest mouse pad
Authors: Gupta Bhaskar
Published: October 2009

In this paper, it is shown that a teddy bear skin spongy mouse is a better option than a conventional plastic mouse design and that a portable arm rest mouse pad platform is far better than the conventional mouse platform placed to the side of the keyboard tray. Both designs help reducing arm abduction and related discomfort, pain, fatigue and soreness. Ten people voluntarily participated in the task and completed a series of psychophysical questions (Borg RPE [Rate of Perceived Exertion] Scale was used to evaluate). Results indicate a much smaller perception of pain and discomfort on palm and wrist with the spongy mouse rather than conventional designs, especially to palmar aponeurosis and ulna muscles. The mouse pad greatly reduced all the pressure points of hand and added comfort on wrist and forearm (e.g. flexor retinaculum (FR) and palmaris longus muscle area).
An Interview with Ramesh Jain
Authors: Ubiquity staff
Published: October 2009

The vast amount of information on the internet is growing every day -- it's enough to gag a google search. Researcher Ramesh Jain offers up new strategies for information retrival.
Computing or Humanities?
Authors: Jessop Martyn
Published: October 2009

The application of computing to research problems in the humanities is not new...
Pete Burke on Cybersecurity and the Law
Authors: Ubiquity staff
Published: October 2009

Edmund B. (Pete) Burke, interviewed here, is an attorney whose special experience is in the areas of software and technology law and e-commerce.
Review of Activity-Centered Design
Authors: Bedingfield Carl
Published: October 2009

With new insights to a well-documented topic, this book offers an excellent incentive and useful tools for system designers to pursue activity-centered design.
Technology footnotes
Authors: Abad al-Hameed Muhammad
Published: October 2009

In the days of hot type, magazine content was set in film. This writer offered "intriguing" suggestions for making publications more appealing to international audiences.
Czerwinski on Vizualization
Authors: Ubiquity staff
Published: October 2009

Mary Czerwinski is Senior Researcher and Group Manager Visualization and Interaction Research Group at Microsoft Research.
What makes users unhappy
Authors: Rushinek Avi , Rushinek Sara
Published: October 2009

Computer & Internet Security is very important but sometimes it is so confusing and frustrating that it makes users very unhappy to a point where the system is so secure that it cannot be used by its most legitimate users, like system administrators
Review of 'Einstein's Dreams'
Authors: Stuckey John
Published: October 2009

John Stuckey reviews the book 'Einstein's Dreams,' by Alan Lightman: Warner Books Edition, Pantheon Books, Random House, NYC, NY, 1994.
Leonard and Swap on 'Deep Smarts'
Authors: Ubiquity staff
Published: October 2009

An interview with Dorothy Leonard and Walter Swap: The first issue that any organization has to face is the identification of the deep smarts. Dorothy Leonard and Walter Swap are co-authors of the new book 'Deep Smarts: How to Cultivate and Transfer Enduring Business Wisdom.' Leonard is a professor emerita at the Harvard Business School and Swap is a professor of psychology emeritus at Tufts, where he was also dean of the college.
Ken Robinson on Telecom Policy
Authors: Ubiquity staff
Published: October 2009

Ken Robinson is a communications attorney in Washington, having worked at the Departments of Justice and Commerce, the FCC, and the Office of Telecommunications Policy during the Nixon Administration. He is editor of the weekly publication 'Telecommunications Policy Review.'
Manpower retention in IT
Authors: Tadwalkar Sunil , Sen Manjira
Published: October 2009

Retention of people should be considered a business goal rather than a damage control measure.
Taking Information Technology to the Heart of India
Authors: Kumar V. Lalith , Suseela A. L. , Aharma Akashdeep
Published: October 2009

'Today we truly live in a global village, but it is a village with elite information 'haves' and many information 'have-nots.' With the new technologies available to us we have an opportunity to change this.' The following article is a student paper.
Science and Engineering of Large-Scale Complex Systems
Authors: Delic Kemal A.
Published: October 2009

The world's economy can be seen as a an excellent playing field for the multiple, multi-faceted scientific disciplines and scientists. But for various reasons and causes, they are or disregarded or sometimes even carefully avoided. Kemal Delic, a lab scientist with Hewlett-Packard's R&D operations and a senior enterprise architect, explains.
Microsoft's Hong-Jiang Zhang
Authors: Ubiquity staff
Published: October 2009

"If you're working on actual products you can't say that 90 percent is good enough and just move to something else."
An Interview with F-H Hsu
Authors: Ubiquity staff
Published: October 2009

Feng-Hsiung Hsu, whose book "Behind Deep Blue" told the story of world chess champion Garry Kasparov was defeated by the IBM computer known as Deep Blue, is now a senior manager and researcher at Microsoft Research Asia.
The E2B machine translation
Authors: Saha Goutam Kumar
Published: October 2009

This article describes a new approach to machine translator that translates English text into Bangla text with disambiguation. The translated Bengali text in English scripts is also useful for learning Bengali or Bangla language as a foreign language. At the same time the Bengali rural people who do not know English language well can understand the English matter with the translated output. The proposed approach is a new one that uses both the rule-based and transformation-based machine translation schemes along with three level parsing approaches. This is a significant contribution towards creation of a low-cost Human Language Technology (HLT). About two hundred million people in the West Bengal, Tripura (two states in India) and in Bangladesh (a country), speak and write Bangla as their first language. This English to Bangla (E2B)-ANUBAD or translator system or E2B takes a paragraph of English sentences as input sentences and produces equivalent Bangla sentences. The E2B-ANUBAD system compries of a preprocessor, morphological parser, semantic parser using English word ontology for context disambiguation, an electronic lexicon associated with grammatical information and a discourse processor. It also employs a lexical disambiguation analyzer. This system does not rely on a stochastic approach. Rather, it is based on a special kind of hybrid architecture of transformer and rule-based NLE architectures along with various linguistic knowledge components of both English and Bangla for creation of a low-cost HLT.
Mailbag
Authors: Ubiquity staff
Published: October 2009

In his article 'Artificial and Biological Intelligence,' Subhash Kak of Louisiana State University asks if 'humans will eventually create silicon machines with minds that will slowly spread all over the world, and the entire universe will eventually become a conscious machine?' These are some comments on his paper.
Software-Based Fault Tolerant Computing
Authors: Saha Goutam Kumar
Published: October 2009

This paper describes how to design a software-based fault tolerant application using microprocessor (MP), in order to tolerate the burst errors in memory. This approach may be called a single -- version scheme (SVS). The SVS relies on a single version application program which is enhanced with self-checking code redundancy to tolerate memory burst errors that are difficult to correct during the run-time of an application. Conventionally, the other software based approaches can detect a few bit errors (in memory) only towards fail-stop kind of fault tolerance against transient bit errors. Reed Solomon codes are mainly effective for burst errors in coding of audio Compact Disks at offline only. The proposed online technique does not need multiple versions of software and multiple machines. This approach employs only two copies of the application software running on one machine only. Two copies of the enhanced version version of an application are used here for online error detection and tolerance thereof as well. This is an effective low-cost online tool for hardening a microprocessor-based industrial computing system or for on-chip DRAM applications using an affordable code and time redundancy against the burst errors in processor memory. The SVS aims to provide a non-fail-stop kind of fault tolerance against burst errors. This approach supplements the Error Correcting Codes (ECC) in memory system also, against both the transient and permanent bit errors in memory.
An Interview with William P. Dunk
Authors: Ubiquity staff
Published: October 2009

Management consultant and futurist William P. Dunk says, "What collaboration is about is distributed intelligence, and I think that systems and governments and companies are all in such a degree of gridlock now that we desperately need to have broad-based intelligence coming into play everywhere."
An Interview with Alan Lenton
Authors: Ubiquity staff
Published: October 2009

Noted U.K. game designer Alan Lenton talks about his award-winning multi-player game Federation and discusses the sociology and psychology of gaming.
Information security
Authors: Jesan John Peter
Published: October 2009

Nowadays, information is one of the very important assets in almost all organizations. Once the internal networks of those organizations are connected to the Internet, it becomes a potential target for cyber attacks. In order to secure the systems and information, each company or organization should conduct a self-hacking-audit, analyze the threats and eliminate it beforegetting any problem. This paper explains about the main goals of information security, its major threats and some suggestions to prevent the systems from major threats.
A comparison the performances of linear and planar array of the four patchs antennas by the software matlab
Authors: Latif A. , Oulad-Said A. , Ouahman A. Ait
Published: October 2009

A linear array is a simple configuration and commonly used, however it is essential to investigate its performances.There are four basic factors that influence on performances of an array patches antennas: spacing between patches, number of patches in the array, amplitude distribution, and excitation phase, all these parameters will be varied to find the optimal configuration.This paper is consecrated to the variation of the excitation phase, and the other factors are fixed, what is going to permit us to scanning the radiation pattern of a linear array of four rectangular patches microstrip antennas in the E-plane and in the H-plane, without resorting to a mechanical displacement of this array [1]. The effect on the direction of the main beam of those arrays (linear and planar) will be studied. We are going to compare our theory used and programmed in MATLAB by one simulations executed in the PCAAD (Personal Computer Aided Antennas Design) software [2].However, we are going to explore the radiation pattern by the variation of the excitation phase of patches of a square array for four rectangular microstrip patches antennas array, as we takes the same elements of the previous linear array[3], [4], and we are going to put them under shape of a planar square array.
Service oriented architecture (SOA) a new paradigm to implement dynamic e-business solutions
Authors: Bih Joseph
Published: October 2009

Software development has undergone various stages of paradigms - the very last one is called Object-Oriented (O-O) paradigm. Typical of this paradigm has been culminated by several OO programming languages such as C++, Java and VB. With the advent of Internetworking and evolvement of web technologies, business needs, especially isolated service requests/components, put a new demand on new software architecture. Existing models are examined in the light of their constraints and limitations to meet these constant changing business requirements. Service-oriented Architecture (SOA), as the next generation software architecture and through the utilization of the web service, XML and other related technologies provides viable working solution to implement dynamic e-business. This paper discusses SOA model and how it fits into implementing dynamic e-business solutions.
Mosquito attack optimization
Authors: Bandyopadhyay Samir Kumar , Bhattacharyya Debnath , Das Poulami
Published: October 2009

Ant Colony Optimization and Swarm Optimization are the classical areas of researches in the field of Computer Science. Computer Scientists are trying to map the Biological and Natural Solution with the Artificial one, since last 2 decades. Finally, Genetic Algorithm (GA), Genetic Programming (GP) and Artificial Neural Network (ANN), ACO[13], etc were derived from the Biological, Genetical and Natural characteristics of the living organisms.We have developed a population based stochastic optimization technique inspired by social behavior of Mosquito (Female). This research will open a new side of 'Particle Swarm Optimization', in future.
Secure delivery of handwritten signature
Authors: Bandyopadhyay Samir Kumar , Bhattacharyya Debnath , Pal Anindya Jyoti
Published: October 2009

A number of researchers have proposed using digital marks to provide ownership (watermarking) identification for the property. One way of data hiding is digital signature, copyright label or digital watermark that completely characterizes the person who applies it and, therefore, marks it as being his property. Digital Watermarking is the process that embeds data called a watermark into an object such that watermark can be detected and extracted later to make an assertion about the object. Watermarking is either "visible" or "invisible". Although visible and invisible are visual terms watermarking is not limited to images, it can also be used to protect other types of multimedia object. Our research work is on watermarking techniques in particular.Many of these proposed techniques share three specific weaknesses: complexity of copy detection, vulnerability to mark removal after revelation for ownership verification, and mark integrity issues due to partial mark removal. This paper presents a method for watermarking Handwritten Signature that achieves robustness by responding to these three weaknesses. The key techniques involve using secure functions to generate and embed image marks that is more detectable, verifiable, and secure than existing protection and detection techniques.
Software fault avoidance issues
Authors: Saha Goutam Kumar
Published: October 2009

This article aims to discuss various issues of software fault avoidance. Software fault avoidance aims to produce fault free software through various approaches having the common objective of reducing the number of latent defects in software programs.
Business decision making, management and information technology
Authors: Kumar B. Pradeep , Selvam John , Meenakshi V. S. , Kanthi K. , Suseela A. L. , Kumar V. Lalith
Published: October 2009

"Information technology is no longer a business resource; it is the business environment." His statement is not far from truth. Ongoing advances in information technology (IT), along with increasing global competition, are adding complexity and uncertainty of several orders of magnitude to the organizational environment.

Information technology management (or IT management) is a combination of two branches of study, information technology and management. This aims at achieving the goals and objectives of an organization through computers.

Also called IT management, this name is a common business function within corporations. Strictly speaking, there are two incarnations to this definition. One implies the management of a collection of systems, infrastructure, and information that resides on them. Another implies the management of information technologies as a business function.

The first definition is the subject of technical manuals and publications of various information technologies providers; while the second definition stems from the discussion and formation of the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL).

The ITIL has been in practice throughout regions of the world mainly conducted by IT service providers consulting companies. The relative paucity in the use of the best practice set can be attributed to lack awareness among IT practitioners. However the lack of ready-to-use tools also presents a significant barrier.

Some organizations that value such practices tend to engage consultants to introduce the practice. Such implementations can conflict with the home-grown culture due to a lack of internal buy-in. Other organizations implement the practices by spending resources to develop in-house tools. Most in-house developed tools tend to focus on one or a few specific areas where the organizations feel the most pains. To reap the full advantages, tools will need to be integrated with the organization's IT data in the center.

One notable mention is a relatively small but integrated tool on the market that seems to be developing in this direction
RKPianGraphSort
Authors: Pal Rajat K.
Published: October 2009

Sorting is a well-known problem frequently used in many aspects of the world of computational applications. Sorting means arranging a set of records (or a list of keys) in some (increasing or decreasing) order. In this paper, we propose a graph based comparison sorting algorithm, designated as RKPianGraphSort, that takes time Θ(
n
2
) in the worst-case, where
n
is the number of records in the given list to be sorted.
Computational foundations of image interpolation algorithms
Authors: Acharya Tinku , Tsai Ping-Sing
Published: October 2009

Image interpolation is an important image processing operation applied in diverse areas ranging from computer graphics, rendering, editing, medical image reconstruction, to online image viewing. Image interpolation techniques are referred in literature by many terminologies, such as image resizing, image resampling, digital zooming, image magnification or enhancement, etc. Basically, an image interpolation algorithm is used to convert an image from one resolution (dimension) to another resolution without loosing the visual content in the picture. Image interpolation algorithms can be grouped in two categories, non-adaptive and adaptive. The computational logic of an adaptive image interpolation technique is mostly dependent upon the intrinsic image features and contents of the input image whereas computational logic of a non-adaptive image interpolation technique is fixed irrespective of the input image features. In this paper, we review the progress of both non-adaptive and adaptive image interpolation techniques. We also proposed a new algorithm for image interpolation in discrete wavelet transform domain and shown its efficacy. We describe the underlying computational foundations of all these algorithms and their implementation techniques. We present some experimental results to show the impact of these algorithms in terms of image quality metrics and computational requirements for implementation.
When it comes to E-learning
Authors: Bih Joseph
Published: October 2009

E-learning is fast becoming a major learning and skills delivery method within larger companies as a staff development tool. Survey shows that among American colleges and universities in 2002, 11% of students took an online course, 97 % of public institutions offered at least one online or blended course, 49% offered an online degree program, and 67% considering e-learning a critical long-term strategy for their institution. The questions about e-learning have become "how", "why" and "with what outcomes.
Understanding dependable computing concepts
Authors: Saha Goutam Kumar
Published: October 2009

This work aims to visually describe the important concepts of a dependable computing system and the relationships between the concepts. The concept map here for dependable computing system concepts would help us for easier and meaningful understanding of this emerging important research topic of computer science and engineering. Readers here won't feel tired of reading long text horizontally lines after lines for conceptualizing this much research and interesting topic.
A guide for project-based manufacturers and secrets for software buyers
Authors: Pal Sanjay Kumar
Published: October 2009

Most systems have their heritage in the Material Requirements Planning (MRP) philosophy developed in the 1960s. This concept utilized computer power to calculate time-phased material requirements. It later evolved into MRPII promoted by APICS and Ollie Wight during the 1980s, and further evolved to the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems available today.

The original premise of all of these systems is that material planning is the center of the universe. The typical manufacturing system was designed with an MRP process at the heart of the system. The emphasis of such systems is on standard bills and routings and standard costs.

Companies in the ETO world have different requirements. Designing and building complex products to exact customer specifications frequently involves long lead times and heavy engineering content. To win business, you must provide accurate estimates and quotations to a demanding customer base. Unlike the majority of manufacturers, capital equipment manufacturers typically purchase material to a specific project or job. You need to do progress billing and collect actual costs to projects. Often, you will not receive payment for a project until it is installed and operating at a customer's site. So, cash management is of vital importance. And after the sale, you need to track warranty information and provide aftermarket services, including the sale of spare parts that may constitute a significant share of your company's business.
Unleashing Web 2.0
Authors: Vossen Gottfried , Hagemann Stephan
Published: October 2009

Vossen is both an IS & CS Professor at the University of Muenster, and also served as European Editor-in-Chief for Elseviers international information systems journal. Hagemann is his PhD student whose area of research is Web technology.
Techniques of persuasive communication
Authors: Yaffe Philip
Published: October 2009

What you are about to read will probably sound familiar. Indeed, it has been said many times before. However, I believe this formulation is original and may help you better apply it in your marketing communication. I immodestly call it Yaffes Law.
An approach for conducting enterprise resource planning assessment
Authors: Pal Sanjay Kumar , Pal Anindya Jyoti
Published: October 2009

The failure to plan will lead to results that fall short of expectations. The same thing can be said of companies and their search for a new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. All companies undertake the search for a new system because they believe there is an opportunity to improve the organization, either by improving the revenue, decreasing costs or both.

But far too often, companies undertake this effort without having a plan on how to select a new ERP system. They fall victim selecting the product with the best sales presentation or the best cost proposal. There is not quantitative evidence that this new system will actually achieve the goals of improving the revenue or decreasing the cost.

So put an evaluation plan in place. No two plans will be the same but all should have the same basic concepts.
Serial port data communication using MODBUS protocol
Authors: Naskar Saptarshi , Basuli Krishnendu , Sarma Samar Sen
Published: October 2009

Serial communication is the process of sending data sequentially one bit at a time, over a communication channel or computer bus [5,6,7]. RS-232 is a standard for serial binary data transfer between a data terminal equipment (DTE) and a data circuit-terminating equipment (DCE), commonly used in computer serial ports.
How many Americans does it take to change a light bulb?
Authors: Stuckey John
Published: October 2009

I changed a light bulb yesterday. Or, rather, I had the thing changed. I told an Egyptian friend I had a couple of bulbs burnt out and was assuming I could pick some up at one of the larger new supermarkets. He looked at me with barely concealed pity for my ignorance. No, he said. They don't carry light bulbs in a market. Later, in e-mail, he would spell it "light pulp," which is an image I find quite intriguing. Where's Einstein when you need him? Might light pulp be what glows inside the glass, I wonder?
Understanding software testing concepts
Authors: Saha Goutam Kumar
Published: October 2009

Software testing concepts have been briefly described in this article. Readers would find it easier to understand fundamental concepts of software testing by going through a concept map thereof. Software testing is itself a discipline as well as a process. Software development is nothing but a process of coding functionality in order to meet the defined end-user requirements. We can think of software testing as an iterative process, which consists of Tests Designing, Tests Execution, Problems Identifying and Problem Fixing, for validating functionality and as well as for attempting the software break. Software testing aims to find problems and to fix them for improving software quality. Software testing may represent 40% of a software development budget. Basic methods of performing software testing include Manual Testing and Automated Testing. Manual software testing is the process of manually testing software (having the possible forms for example, user interfaces navigation, information submission, or attempt to hack the software or database etc.), carried out by an individual or individuals. Manual software testing is labor-intensive and slow. On the other hand, automated software testing is a process of creating test scripts, which can be run then automatically, repetitively, and through a number of iterations. Automated software testing helps us to minimize the variability of results, speed up the testing process, increase test coverage (that is, the number of different things tested), and ultimately provide greater confidence in the quality of the software being tested.
Hermeneutics facing the
Authors: Capurro Rafael
Published: October 2009

The origin of this paper goes back to the International Conference "Phenomenology and Technology" held at the Philosophy and Technology Studies Center, Polytechnic University (New York), October 2- 4, 1986 which was organized by Wolfgang Schirmacher and Carl Mitcham. After thirteen years, obviously, things have changed and I have done some further work too. My book Hermeneutik der Fachinformation was published in 1986 and since then I have written some articles on this subject as well as another book Leben im Informationszeitalter (Capurro 1995). Some of the articles as well as a list of publications can be found in my homepage (http://www.capurro.de). The present text is an enriched version of the original one. I have added some later insights without changing the basic ideas which I still think are valuable and can also be of help when reflecting, for instance, about the nature of communicating and searching for information in the Internet.
ERP system replacement criteria
Authors: Pal Sanjay Kumar
Published: October 2009

An ERP system is our information backbone and reaches into all areas of our business and value-chain. Replacing it can open unlimited business opportunities. The cornerstone of this effort is finding the right partner and specialist. Our long-term business strategy will form the basis of the criteria for our selection of an ERP system replacement. Our ERP provider must be part of our vision. It is the duty of a software provider to help us to get there by doing their part to make sure our next system will be our last ERP system replacement. Some of the criteria that allow us to identify and select the solution that will meet these expectations.
Developing operating procedures for projects involving multiple organizations using a linear responsibility chart
Authors: Clark Tom
Published: October 2009

One of the difficulties of managing projects that involve several (perhaps many) organizations is that the group has no pre-established procedures for handling actions that cross organizational boundaries.
Is a worldwide common language just over the horizon?
Authors: Yaffe Philip
Published: October 2009

I am an American living in Belgium since 1974. Ever since arriving here, I have been hearing the mantra To be a good European, you should learn several languages. Almost from the very beginning, I suggested going the other way: To be a good European, everyone should learn a single common language.