bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Study of Friendship Networks and Blogosphere
Authors: Agarwal Nitin , Liu Huan , Zhang Jianping
Published: May 2010

In Golbeck and Hendler (2006), authors consider those social friendship networking sites where users explicitly provide trust ratings to other members. However, for large social friendship networks it is infeasible to assign trust ratings to each and every member so they propose an inferring mechanism which would assign binary trust ratings (trustworthy/non-trustworthy) to those who have not been assigned one. They demonstrate the use of these trust values in e-mail ?ltering application domain and report encouraging results. Authors also assume three crucial properties of trust for their approach to work: transitivity, asymmetry, and personalization. These trust scores are often transitive, meaning, if Alice trusts Bob and Bob trusts Charles then Alice can trust Charles. Asymmetry says that for two people involved in a relationship, trust is not necessarily identical in both directions. This is contrary to what was proposed in Yu and Singh (2003). They assume symmetric trust values in the social friendship network. Social networks allow us to share experiences, thoughts, opinions, and ideas. Members of these networks, in return experience a sense of community, a feeling of belonging, a bonding that members matter to one another and their needs will be met through being together. Individuals expand their social networks, convene groups of like-minded individuals and nurture discussions. In recent years, computers and the World Wide Web technologies have pushed social networks to a whole new level. It has made possible for individuals to connect with each other beyond geographical barriers in a “flat” world. The widespread awareness and pervasive usability of the social networks can be partially attributed to Web 2.0. Representative interaction Web services of social networks are social friendship networks, the blogosphere, social and collaborative annotation (aka “folksonomies”), and media sharing. In this work, we brie?y introduce each of these with focus on social friendship networks and the blogosphere. We analyze and compare their varied characteristics, research issues, state-of-the-art approaches, and challenges these social networking services have posed in community formation, evolution and dynamics, emerging reputable experts and in?uential members of the community, information diffusion in social networks, community clustering into meaningful groups, collaboration recommendation, mining “collective wisdom” or “open source intelligence” from the exorbitantly available user-generated contents. We present a comparative study and put forth subtle yet essential differences of research in friendship networks and Blogosphere, and shed light on their potential research directions and on cross-pollination of the two fertile domains of ever expanding social networks on the Web.
An HL7-Aware Decision Support System for E-Health
Authors: De Meo Pasquale
Published: May 2010

In this chapter we present an information system conceived for supporting managers of Public Health Care Agencies to decide the new health care services to propose. Our system is HL7-aware; in fact, it uses the HL7 (Health Level Seven) standard (Health Level Seven [HL7], 2007) to effectively handle the interoperability among different Public Health Care Agencies. HL7 provides several functionalities for the exchange, the management and the integration of data concerning both patients and health care services. Our system appears particularly suited for supporting a rigorous and scientific decision making activity, taking a large variety of factors and a great amount of heterogeneous information into account.
A Survey of Selected Software Technologies for Text Mining
Authors: Segall Richard S.
Published: May 2010

This chapter presents background on text mining, and comparisons and summaries of seven selected software for text mining. The text mining software selected for discussion and comparison in this chapter are: Compare Suite by AKS-Labs, SAS Text Miner, Megaputer Text Analyst, Visual Text by Text Analysis International, Inc. (TextAI), Magaputer PolyAnalyst, WordStat by Provalis Research, and SPSS Clementine. This chapter not only discusses unique features of these text mining software packages but also compares the features offered by each in the following key steps in analyzing unstructured qualitative data: data preparation, data analysis, and result reporting. A brief discussion of Web mining and its software are also presented, as well as conclusions and future trends.
Web Mining System for Mobile-Phone Marketing
Authors: Wang Miao-Ling , Wang Hsiao-Fan
Published: May 2010

With the ever-increasing and ever-changing flow of information available on the Web, information analysis has never been more important. Web text mining, which includes text categorization, text clustering, association analysis and prediction of trends, can assist us in discovering useful information in an effective and efficient manner. In this chapter, we have proposed a Web mining system that incorporates both online efficiency and off-line effectiveness to provide the “right” information based on users’ preferences. A Bi-Objective Fuzzy c-Means algorithm and information retrieval technique, for text categorization, clustering and integration, was employed for analysis. The proposed system is illustrated via a case involving the Web site marketing of mobile phones. A variety of Web sites exist on the Internet and a common type involves the trading of goods. In this type of Web site, the question to ask is: If we want to establish a Web site that provides information about products, how can we respond quickly and accurately to queries? This is equivalent to asking: How can we design a flexible search engine according to users’ preferences? In this study, we have applied data mining techniques to cope with such problems, by proposing, as an example, a Web site providing information on mobile phones in Taiwan. In order to efficiently provide useful information, two tasks were considered during the Web design phase. One related to off-line analysis: this was done by first carrying out a survey of frequent Web users, students between 15 and 40 years of age, regarding their preferences, so that Web customers’ behavior could be characterized. Then the survey data, as well as the products offered, were classified into different demand and preference groups. The other task was related to online query: this was done through the application of an information retrieval technique that responded to users’ queries. Based on the ideas above the remainder of the chapter is organized as follows: first, we present a literature review, introduce some concepts and review existing methods relevant to our study, then, the proposed Web mining system is presented, a case study of a mobile-phone marketing Web site is illustrated and finally, a summary and conclusions are offered.
Medical Informatics
Authors: Sood Sanjay P. , Keeroo Sandhya , Mbarika Victor W.A. , Prakash Nupur , Seth Ankur
Published: May 2010

It is claimed that seeds of ‘medical informatics’ were sown in 1960s.From this time until the 1990s experts have described the discipline as emerging. This perennial state of advancement can be dedicated to the pioneers of medical informatics who constantly realign its frontiers as the need changes for the rapid developments in the techniques pertaining to organization, processing, management and use of information. During this evolution, researchers and practitioners have made notable attempts to define medical informatics. As a result, today we have a noteworthy collection of peer-reviewed definitions of medical informatics. These definitions not only enlighten us with different perspectives and applications of medical informatics but they also provide a measure of the proliferation of this domain’s content. Many of these definitions of medical informatics are unique and explanatory in their respective inferences and contexts. Hence, collectively they can form a larger picture of medical informatics. Lack of clarity about a domain can prove to be counterproductive for new entrants and may also deflect their energies into relatively unrewarding directions. In order to throw light on various perspectives of ‘medical informatics’ and to understand the evolving meaning of the domain, we carried out a systematic review of formal definitions of medical informatics. An analysis was also performed by mapping 36 peer-reviewed definitions with MeSH (Medical Subject Headings) descriptors relevant to medical informatics. We believe that this research would serve as a handy and an informative resource and may also catalyze further research.
Medical Privacy and the Internet
Authors: Doyle D. John
Published: May 2010

E-health technology has started to become commonplace in the clinical world, with practitioners setting up their own Web sites to disseminate educational information to patients, with physicians and nurses working as team members to access clinical information about a patient using an electronic patient chart, and with patients even conducting their own research to make informed decisions about clinical options.However, these potential benefits must be tempered from the perspective of medical privacy. Ever since the Hippocratic Oath of antiquity, protecting the privacy of patients has been an important precept of medical ethics. With technological developments, however, health information has come into use by many organizations and individuals that may be unsensitized to medical privacy concerns. This report is concerned with these issues.
Pitfalls and Successes of a Web-Based Wellness Program
Authors: Omar Azizah
Published: May 2010

In this chapter the author discusses several marketing principles and issues related to pitfalls and successes of Telehealth application in the case of a Web -based wellness program called Wellness Online Program (WOLP). WOLP takes a holistic approach to health or ‘wellness’ and runs for six weeks. It aims to help individuals to manage and improve their own wellbeing regardless of geographical location. Two groups have been recruited, doctor-referred group (DRG) and self-referred group (SRG). The acceptance of WOLP between the two groups was measured by using the technology acceptance model (TAM) at midway (Week 3) and study exit (Week 6). Findings show that the creation of WOLP to deliver wellness among individuals outside the primary healthcare environment is possibly cheaper, convenient, and more accessible than in the primary healthcare setting. However, issues regarding Web -based wellness program implementation are very important and it is crucial for service providers to thoroughly analyse as this will determine the success of the program.
A Web-Based Application to Exchange Electronic Health Records and Medical Images in Ophthalmology
Authors: de la Torre Díez Isabel
Published: May 2010

This chapter describes a Web -based application to store and exchange Electronic Health Records (EHR) and medical images in Ophthalmology: TeleOftalWeb 3.2. The Web -based system has been built on Java Servlet and Java Server Pages (JSP) technologies. Its architecture is a typical three-layered with two databases. The user and authentication information is stored in a relational database: MySQL 5.0. The patient records and fundus images are achieved in an Extensible Markup Language (XML) native database: dbXML 2.0. The application uses XML-based technologies and Health Level Seven/Clinical Document Architecture (HL7/CDA) specifications. The EHR standardization is carried out. The main application object is the universal access to the diabetic patients EHR by physicians wherever they are.
Electronic Commerce for Health Products Services-Problems- Quality and Future
Authors: Drougas Bill Ag.
Published: May 2010

Internet today is one of the most useful tools for information, education and business or entertainment. It is one of the modern technology tools giving us many applications world wide in various fields. One of the most important applications of the Internet is the e-commerce for quality health and medical products. There are an enormous number of Web sites offering health products with the method of E-commerce but still there are many problems with the quality of these products. To the other side many individuals are not able to choice and to know about the quality of these health products that offered today on line with the Internet companies. There are many serious proposals today in to the direction of the quality of the products in health. In this paper summarized many informations about the on line commerce for health products, some of the most popular products and the methodology to train individuals in to the direction to buy and choose quality products. In this paper also presented and analyzed the characteristics and criteria of one serious Internet health company and its Web site. Also how the different scientific organizations can help people and the electronic health commerce to be more effective in to various fields in the division of the popular health. This will be more effective after training and giving criteria and or educating Internet users for a serious choice in to their on line commerce with the E-Health Commerce Web Organizations.
Agile Patient Care with Distributed M-Health Applications
Authors: Capilla Rafael , del Río Alfonso , Ángel Valero Miguel , Antonio Sánchez José
Published: May 2010

This chapter deals with the conceptualization, design and implementation of an m-health solution to support ubiquitous, integrated and continuous health care in hospitals. As the life expectancy of population grows in modern societies, effective healthcare becomes more and more important as a key social priority. Medical technology and high quality, accessible and efficient healthcare is currently demanded by citizens. Existing technologies from the computer field are widely used to improve patient care but new challenges demand the use of new communication, hardware and software technologies as a way to provide the necessary quality, security and response time at the point of care need. In this scenario, mobile and distributed developments can clearly help to increase the quality of healthcare systems as well as reduce the time needed to react to emerging care demands. In this chapter we will discuss important issues related to m-health systems and we deeply describe a mobile application for hospital healthcare. This application offers a modern solution which makes more agile doctor and nurse rounds on behalf of an instant online access to patient records through wireless networks. We also provide a highly usable application that makes simple patient monitoring with handheld devices.
PACS Based on Open-Source Software Components
Authors: Welfer Daniel
Published: May 2010

This chapter discusses the concept of open-source picture archiving and communication systems (i.e. PACS), which are low cost, and easy to re-configure and to customize for the specific user needs. Opensource PACS are based on relatively low cost computational resources, and are built by integrating opensource software components that implement basic services of a PACS. These services are described in this chapter, as well as how to integrate them. As an illustration, a PACS based on open-source software components for angiographic studies is discussed. Using the open-source approach, we expect to help diffusing the PACS technology by reducing its development and maintenance costs by using components easily available (e.g. desktop PCs).
Virtual Learning Environments in Health
Authors: Ilioudi Stamatia
Published: May 2010

This chapter aims to present various virtual learning environments for medical purposes in the world. More than ever, medical students and healthcare professionals are faced to with floods of data of which the relevant information has to be selected and applied. The internet and the new media are a fertile ground to meet these requirements. More and more physicians unravel e-learning as new tool and as attractive adjunct to the traditional face-to-face teaching in medicine. This chapter describes the most important benefits for all parties of the simulation and learning environments in health sciences.
Collaborative Virtual Environments and Multimedia Communication Technologies in Healthcare
Authors: Rodrigues Maria Andréia F.
Published: May 2010

This chapter shows how recent computing technologies such as collaborative virtual environments, high speed networks and mobile devices can be used for training and learning in healthcare providing an environment with security and quality of service. A number of studies have been conducted so far in these research areas. However, the development of integrated care has proven to be a difficult task. Therefore, we aim also to discuss the promising directions of the current work and growing importance on these subjects. This includes comparative analysis of the most relevant computer systems and applications developed so far that integrate modern computing technologies and health care. We believe this work is considered to be primarily for the benefit of those who are working in the field of computer science and health care, as well academic community, practitioners, and those involved in the development, implementation and study of integrated care using new computing technologies.
Chaotization of Human Systems by Technical Electromagnetic Fields
Authors: Doepp Manfred
Published: May 2010

In our energy diagnostic department we noticed more and more cases with irrational stimulus-reaction- patterns and with a chaotic regulation state of the autonomous systems. We found an explanation by the ‘Switching phenomenon’. However, in addition to earlier results a new cause came up, it is the electrosmog exposure. We used three criteria to clarify the findings: A) a negative reaction on a pulsating magnetic field, B) a positive reaction on a brain synchronization procedure, and C) the frequency distribution analysis of skin resistance values approximated by a lognormal (order) or by a bell curve (chaos). A retrospective evaluation over 4 years (435 patients) was performed. Results: 1) a positive correlation between the criterium A) and a chaotic tendency in C), and 2) a significant difference between reactions before and after the synchronization procedure B). The hypothesis of an electrosmog-induced chaotization of autonomous systems becomes likely.
Demographic Differences in Telehealth Policy Outcomes
Authors: Schmeida Mary , McNeal Ramona
Published: May 2010

This chapter is an analysis of demographic variables influencing policy outcomes with online health information searches in the general U.S. public. This study is based on The Internet and American Life Daily Tracking Survey, August 2006 from the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press. Multivariate regression statistical technique is used to explore changes in individual level behavior following the search for online medical information. The data show individuals in most need of healthcare services (poor, less educated, and minority groups) and those with a recent demand for services, are more likely to make changes to improve their health after accessing online medical information.
Social Networking
Authors: Curran Kevin
Published: May 2010

It is in man’s nature to form communities, and it is also in his nature to communicate. Psychologists hold that man is moved by instincts, desires which can only find full satisfaction in a community and by communication. Social networking (or network theory) is not an exact science and may reasonably be termed a social catalyst in discovering the method in which problems are solved; organisations are run to the degree in which individuals succeed in achieving goals (Freeman, 2004). In the network theory, social relationships are discussed in terms of nodes and ties: the former individual actors, the latter, relationships within networks frequently described diagrammatically where the node is a point, and the ties, lines of social connectivity (Scott, 2000). Such social network diagrams can be used to measure the social capital of individual nodes/actors: a measurement, or determination of the usefulness of the network to the actors individually, as it is that measurement of usefulness to the individual which not only assesses the social capital of actors, but which by extension may shape and expose the very nature of the network as an entity. Loose connections (weak ties) reflect the greater possibility of openness in the network (Granovetter, 2003). This, in turn, is more likely to bring new ideas, new opportunities, and greater scope for innovation than close networks with many redundant ties. It is clear that “the friendly network” composed of friends already have common knowledge, common interests, and common opportunities. Better still, it has access to wider social geographies. Again, the group with links to many networks has potentially greater access to other social arenas and a more extensive field of information, and thus the individuals, have links to a diversity of networks, as opposed to those within a single network, and can exercise more power and exact more influence by acting as brokers between their own and other networks not directly linked. This “polylinkage,” or “filling social holes,” places greater emphasis on the qualities or attributes of individuals. The ability of individuals to influence their success depends largely on the nature and structure of their network. Figure 1 illustrates a social network. Company A is a large fashion design house, a national company.
The Ubiquitous Grid
Authors: Sedlar Patricia
Published: May 2010

The strength of grid computing, namely being able to aggregate distributed computing and data storage capacities for solving larger, more complex problems, can currently only be partially exploited because of difficulties in accessing grid infrastructures, lack of usability, security or legal concerns, and missing performance guarantees or billing mechanisms. In this chapter, we present application scenarios where some of those weaknesses are overcome by presenting the user with transparent, intuitive, location independent access to grid resources using techniques from mobile and pervasive computing. Two approaches are suggested. In the implicit approach, user needs and context information are to be captured by means of smart devices and objects trying to perceive the jobs and tasks users want or need to delegate for computation in the grid. In the user-controlled approach, users explicitly provide meta-information on the type of tasks to be solved and the underlying supporting infrastructure provides the most suitable type of applications as well as mechanisms for returning the results to the user. Both approaches are briefly described in the chapter by means of a specific sample scenario in the field of image analysis. Other application areas for mobile and ubiquitous grids based on our experiences gained in the Austrian grid project are also presented in the paper.
Business Model Typology for Mobile Commerce
Authors: Derballa Volker
Published: May 2010

Mobile technology enables enterprises to invent new business models by applying new forms of organization or offering new products and services. In order to assess these new business models there has to be a methodology that allows classifying mobile commerce business models according to their typical characteristics. For that purpose a business model typology is introduced. Doing so, building blocks in the form of generic business model types are identified, which can be combined to create concrete business models. The business model typology presented is conceptualized as generic as possible to be generally applicable even to business models that are not known today.
Exploring Coverage within Wireless Sensor Networks through Evolutionary Computations
Authors: Habib Sami
Published: May 2010

The evolutionary search approach has demonstrated its effectiveness in many real world applications, such as the coverage problem in wireless sensor networks. It is to place sensor devices in a service area so that the entire service area is covered. We have modeled the coverage problem as two sub-problems: floorplan and placement. The floorplan problem is to partition the service area into well-defined geometric cells, where the placement problem is to assign the sensor devices into a set of cells. Even though the search space has been transformed from continuous into discrete, the complexity of the coverage problem is computationally intensive. The objective function is to maximize the coverage of the service area while not exceeding a given budget. The merged optimization problem has been coded into the genetic algorithm (GA) and the experimental results reveal the versatility of GA to adapt and find a good solution in a short time.
Mobile Image Communication
Authors: Rosenbaum René
Published: May 2010

Imagery must be adequately processed and adapted to be used in mobile environments. This contribution shows that this can be reached by a rigorous combination of all stages of the image communication pipeline to the task at hand. To achieve this, the modern imaging standard JPEG2000 serves as a foundation for compression and streaming. Based on the concept of regions of interest (ROI) and levels of detail (LOD), powerful generic strategies for content handling are proposed. The task is represented by one of three common problems in mobile environments—image browsing, viewer guidance, and content exchange. Besides new ideas to accomplish these tasks on application level, appropriate strategies to combine the respective visual representation with compression and streaming are introduced. In addition to a much better content representation, the achieved results show that the consumed resources can be strongly decreased by the proposed new concepts for mobile image communication using JPEG2000.
Terminals for the Smart Information Retrieval
Authors: Rozinaj Gregor
Published: May 2010

In this chapter we describe a proposal of a metropolitan information system (MIS) for providing various information for inhabitants of the city, as well as for strangers. The main principle is based on a philosophy of accessing data from the Internet and to provide a user-friendly interface to these data using various types of intelligent kiosks. The stress is put to the multimodal human-computer communications in both directions using image audio/speech and text modes. We propose several versions of the intelligent kiosks and various types of communications with MIS. The first version is placed on public places and offer three-dimensional human head displayed on a large display that gives information about city, institutions, weather, and so on. It is a system with integrated microphone array, camera, and touch screen as an input and two displays and loudspeakers as the output. Speech recognized question for some information will be transformed into an answer using database or Internet and then visually and acoustically displayed to the costumer with help of robust multilingual speech synthesizer and powerful graphical engine. The second flexible version, even if with limited functionality, is the concept of mobile phone used as a multimedia terminal for access to different information. The last possibility is to use a regular phone (fixed or mobile) to access MIS via an intelligent speech communication interface. The type of communications depends on the version of the terminal. The stand terminals suppose to have mainly fixed IP connection to MIS, but wireless access can be used as well. The second version of terminals uses WiFi technology to MIS. The last solution, the general phone, can access the MIS using either fixed telecommunication network or GSM.
From Single to Multiplayer Mobile Bluetooth Gaming
Authors: Doolan Daniel C. , Duggan Kevin , Tabirca Sabin , Yang Laurence T.
Published: May 2010

The growth of mobile phone sales is phenomenal, with estimated sales for 2007/2008 expected to be approximately $1 billion. The majority of these devices are Java-enabled, giving rise to a huge market within the realm of computer games. Most of today’s mobile games are designed to execute on as many phones as possible. Thus, they focus on MIDP 1.0 technology; such devices have very limited resources compared to the top-of-the-line phones of today. The primary reason for this is to maximize profits by having the game reach as wide a potential market as possible. Mobile technology is ever advancing, and the capabilities of the lower-end devices will continue to improve. Perhaps in the not-too-distant future, we will see all of the lower-end mobiles Bluetooth-enabled and supporting more advanced Java implementations. This chapter examines the world of mobile gaming. In particular, it looks at what is needed to produce a single-player game and what elements are necessary to modify it to allow for multiplayer gaming over a Bluetooth network. A framework is presented to allow for the rapid transformation of a single-player to multiplayer game, along with a game engine that can be used for the development of the graphical elements, such as the background and sprites. The multiplayer framework makes use of the Mobile Message Passing Interface (MMPI) to simplify the creation of the network connections and interdevice communication.
Enhancing User Experience with Context-Dependent Tasks in Smart Home
Authors: Ni Hongbo , Zhou Xingshe , Yu Zhiwen , Zhang Daqing
Published: May 2010

The vision of pervasive computing is floating into the domain of the household and aims to assist inhabitants (users) to live more conveniently and harmoniously. Due to the dynamic and heterogeneous nature of pervasive computing environments, it is difficult for an average user to obtain right service and information in the right place at the right time. This chapter proposes a context-dependent task approach to address the challenge. The most important component is its task model, which provides an adequate high-level description of user-oriented tasks and their related contexts. Leveraging the model, multiple entities can easily exchange, share, and reuse their knowledge. The conversion of OWL task ontology specifications to the First-Order Logic (FOL) representations is presented. The performance of FOL rule-based deducing in terms of task number, context size, and time is evaluated. Finally, we present a task supporting system (TSS) to aid an inhabitant’s tasks in light of his or her lifestyle and environment conditions in smart home.
Mobile SNS from the Perspective of Human Self-Extension
Authors: Shtykh Roman Y. , Jin Qun , Nakadate Shunichi , Kandou Norihiro , Hayata Takeshi , Ma Jianhua
Published: May 2010

Mobile social networking services (MoSNS) are a yet unexplored environment for human networked socialization. By introducing the concept of self-extension in this chapter, we emphasize the necessity for a human participant to materialize his or her daily pursuits that are partially realized through virtual communication and interaction. We argue that mobile social networking services potentially best fit each participant’s self-extension desire as compared to personal-computer-based ones by describing and analyzing the state of the art of mobile social networking services in Japan and discussing mobile SNS peculiarities to support our view. Further, we envision the emerging of new mobile multimedia with the evolution of mobile SNS and discuss challenges and issues that have to be addressed in order to realize a mobile social networking breakthrough.
Context Aware Collaborative Working Environments
Authors: Reiff-Marganiec Stephan , Hong Yi , Qing Yu Hong , Dustdar Schahram , Dorn Christoph , Schall Daniel
Published: May 2010

Collaborative Work Environments are software systems that allow teams, which are nowadays often distributed in location and organization to which they belong, to achieve certain projects or activities. In recent years, the available computer tools that can support such activities have grown; however, their integration is not necessarily achieved. Furthermore, users of such systems need to typically provide a large amount of setup information as the systems are not context-aware and hence cannot gather information about user activities in a simple way, and almost certainly will falter when the context of users changes. This chapter describes the inContext approach: a collection of novel techniques and a reference architecture to support integration of tools and context information to provide collaborative work environments for the mobile worker of today. We will explore in detail how collaborative services are selected and how context is modeled, and consider the details of team forms.
Creating Successful Mobile Viral Marketing Strategies
Authors: Wiedemann Dietmar G.
Published: May 2010

This chapter introduces the concept of mobile viral marketing as an innovative marketing tool. The outcome of the chapter is a description model including relevant characteristics as well as a typology that includes four standard types of mobile viral marketing. Moreover, a set of eight success factors is presented. With clear reflections of success factors’ significance in different standard types, we structure the relationship between both and develop a success factor framework. As the description model is depicted as a morphological box, practitioners can use it as a creative technique for developing new mobile viral marketing strategies. Additionally, the framework supports marketers in evaluating their strategies. For scholars, our goal is to provide a useful starting point and impetus for further research.
Customizable Viewlets
Authors: Stormer Henrik
Published: May 2010

In the last years, mobile devices have become more and more popular. To further enhance the success of mobile devices, companies in the mobile market are constantly looking for new possible applications. One application with a high potential is the mobile Web. Mobile Web means that people access Web sites using their mobile device. However, due to the limitations of the mobile device compared to stationary devices, mobile Web sites need to be adapted. This chapter presents an approach for creating Web solutions that can be used on all kinds of devices. The main idea is adapted from Web portals, where users can customize their personal sites by choosing different viewlets that present all kinds of content. The approach has been tested using the online shop eSarine.
Software Engineering for Mobile Multimedia
Authors: Mostéfaoui Ghita Kouadri
Published: May 2010

The abstract should be changed to this new abstract: Research on mobile multimedia mainly focuses on improving wireless protocols in order to improve the quality of services. In this chapter, we argue that another perspective should be investigated in more depth in order to boost the mobile multimedia industry. This perspective is software engineering which we believe it will speed up the development of mobile multimedia applications by enforcing reusability, maintenance, and testability. Without any pretense of being comprehensive in its coverage, this chapter identifies important software engineering implications of this technological wave and puts forth the main challenges and opportunities for the software engineering community.
Towards a Taxonomy of Display Styles for Ubiquitous Multimedia
Authors: Ledermann Florian
Published: May 2010

In this chapter, a domain independent taxonomy of sign functions rooted in an analysis of physical signs found in public space is presented. This knowledge is necessary for the construction of future multimedia systems that are capable of automatically generating complex yet legible graphical responses from an underlying abstract information space such as a semantic network. The authors take the presence of a sign in the real world as indication for a demand for the information encoded in that sign, and identify the fundamental types of information that are needed to fulfill various tasks. For the information types listed in the taxonomy, strategies for rendering the information to the user in digital mobile multimedia systems are discussed.
Interrelationships Between Professional Virtual Communities and Social Networks, and the Importance of Virtual Communities in Creating and Sharing Knowledge
Authors: Garrigos Fernando
Published: May 2010

This chapter presents the interrelationships between professional virtual communities and social networks, and analyzes how, and in what ways, these communities play a crucial role in the creation and sharing of knowledge. The chapter begins by outlining how virtual communities are gaining importance in the new environment. It explains what we understand as a professional virtual community and its importance and also the relevance of social networks in today’s Knowledge Management age. The study then analyses how the development of social networks is crucial to the improvement of professional virtual communities, and also how virtual organizations can promote the improvement of social networks. Finally, the study examines how virtual communities are vital as mechanisms for creating and sharing knowledge.
Factors Affecting Mobile Advertising
Authors: Vatanparast Ramin
Published: May 2010

Mobile advertising holds strong promises to become the most highly targeted advertising medium offering new ways to target messages to users. By utilizing mobile advertising, companies can run marketing campaigns targeted to tens of thousands of people with a fraction of the costs and time in comparison to other direct marketing mediums. However, as mobile advertising is a novel approach, many aspects of it still need further investigation. Little is known regarding the effectiveness of mobile advertising campaigns and the factors contributing to their success. This chapter aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the advertising space and its influencing factors. First, the study investigates factors that influence mobile advertising from both the industry’s and consumer’s point of view. Second, based on a review of previous studies in the field, the author proposes a conceptual model for mobile advertising, which categorizes the factors in different groups and provides a holistic view of their impact in the mobile advertising space.
Mobile Store Environment Dynamics
Authors: Vrechopoulos Adam P. , Manganari Emmanouela E. , Siomkos George J.
Published: May 2010

The development and rapid diffusion of m-commerce has attracted lately a great deal of research interest. Researchers from many different disciplines and domains (e.g. Strategic Marketing, Human Computer Interaction, Consumer Behavior, Environmental Psychology, Information Technology, Retailing, E-Commerce, etc.) attempt to examine and better understand this new medium, following different scientific paths. The current chapter constitutes an interdisciplinary research effort on that field placing particular emphasis on the design qualities of the mobile store environment-atmosphere and its effects on users’/consumers’ behavior. To that end, the concept “m-atmospherics” along with a corresponding conceptual model are introduced as the theoretical vehicles that can well support the initiation of future research attempts measuring m-atmospherics effects on consumer behavior.
Analyzing the Forwarding Behavior in Mobile Viral Marketing
Authors: Wiedemann Dietmar G. , Haunstetter Tobias , Pousttchi Key
Published: May 2010

As mobile devices are personal communication tools, they are platforms for word-of-mouth marketing. Mobile viral marketing is tremendously attractive for marketers but neglected by academic research. Surprisingly, relatively few studies are directed at its basic elements, i.e., directed at willingness to forward different mobile viral content, understanding characters of those who forward mobile viral content frequently, and characters of the recipients of this content. This chapter presents the findings of an online survey conducted to empirically investigate the consumers’ intention to forward different kinds of mobile viral content, to identify the primary target groups for the mobile viral marketing in terms of their forwarding behavior, and to analyze to whom mobile viral content is forwarded.
Interactive Customer Retention Management for Mobile Commerce
Authors: Möhlenbruch Dirk , Dölling Steffen , Ritschel Falk
Published: May 2010

Mobile Commerce is of growing interest for vendors and customers and with that its importance within the mix of marketing and distributing channels increases. This is of particular significance when customer retention and improved service are essential success factors. Because of their focus on customer integration the instruments of Web 2.0 offer new interactive possibilities for customer retention management. With a systematization of the new web-based applications linked to an evaluation of existing possibilities of customer retention this chapter offers a reasonable frame of reference for the utilization of Web 2.0 within the success chain of customer retention management in Mobile Commerce. Combined with existing studies of the acceptance of Web 2.0 recommendations for a successful timely order of introduction are offered to reach optimal diffusion and retention rates.
Mobile Business and Mobile TV
Authors: Garito Marco
Published: May 2010

The increasing availability of affordable mobile business services (or “m-services”) across different telecommunication carriers and platform is now a reality that is changing the way customers perceive products and solutions: mobile TV, one of the latest m-services, can be now seen either as a stand-alone channel or in conjunction with other media, thus providing several levels of engagement and interaction. Marketeers are now talking about “experiential marketing” to explain how customers and businesses are now reacting to market stimuli: Philip Kotler talked about “sense and respond” in his book “Marketing moves”. Technology development is now taking a step forward enabling customers to be users and creators of products, services and brand image. This chapter provides and overview about traditional mobile marketing and mobile TV, describing how those interact and how business can be affected in some crucial areas: platform interoperability and revenue models. Some real examples of mobile initiatives are also provided.
Brand Driven Mobile Marketing
Authors: Quente Christopher
Published: May 2010

Despite the fact that the mobile phone is a perfectly suited advertising medium also for brand campaigns a creative perspective is not only desirable but also necessary. Because: Without creativity, the latest mass medium would be swiftly rendered desolate. In the creative conceptual design of brand campaigns it is important above all to carry out advertising not only on the mobile phone but with it. On the basis of five theses it is illustrated how the mobile phone becomes the essential building block within commercial multi-channel concepts. One key issue being the telling of ‘brand stories’, told across various media or ‘stages’. If the stories being told are compelling enough one can convert brand supporters into brand addicts, who in the best case scenario wouldn’t want to miss a single performance of their favorite brand.
Computerizing the Cardiotocogram (CTG)
Authors: Westgate Jenny
Published: May 2010

During pregnancy the fetus requires an adequate supply of oxygen and clearance of carbon dioxide which is a waste product of metabolism. In fetal life, the placenta provides this function. After birth the lungs are aerated and perform this. If there is a failure to transport these chemicals across the placenta, the fetus can become hypoxic and acidotic, which can lead to permanent brain damage. In the neonate this can manifest in a number of ways, but most seriously cerebral palsy. Assessment of the fetal heart rate has been shown to identify fetuses where this maybe occurring. However the inter observer variation amongst clinicians assessing the heart rate monitoring is high and interpretation skills are often not good. Computer assessment of the fetal heart rate has been used and developed. Expert system techniques have been used to develop a system. The systems developed have been shown in studies to perform better than humans and to be able to identify subtleties not seen by the human eye. Future research is further assessing the value of these systems.
Learning for the Future
Authors: Merchant Guy
Published: May 2010

Over the last five years there has been a large scale shift in popular engagement with new media. Virtual worlds and massive multiplayer online games attract increasing numbers, whilst social networking sites have become commonplace. The changing nature of online engagement privileges interaction over information. Web 2.0 applications promote new kinds of interactivity, giving prominence and prestige to new literacies (Lankshear and Knobel, 2006). To date, discussion of the opportunities, and indeed the risks presented by Web 2.0 has been largely confined to social and recreational worlds. The purpose of this chapter is to open up discussion about the relevance of Web 2.0 to educational practice. A central concern in what follows will be to show how the new ways of communicating and collaborating that constitute digital literacy might combine with new insights into learning in ways that transform how we conceive of education (Gee, 2004).
Pedagogical Mashup
Authors: Baird Derek E. , Fisher Mercedes
Published: May 2010

In this chapter we outline how educators are creating a “mash up” of traditional pedagogy with new media to create a 21st Century pedagogy designed to support the digital learning styles of Gen Y students. The research included in this paper is intended as a directional means to help instructors and course designers identify social and new media resources and other emerging technologies that will enhance the delivery of instruction while meeting the needs of today’s digital learning styles. The media-centric Generation Y values its ability to use the web to create self-paced, customized, on-demand learning paths that include using multiple platforms for mobile, interactive, social, and self-publishing experiences. These can include wiki, blogs, podcasts and other developing social platforms like Second Life, Twitter, Yackpack and Facebook. New media provides these hyper-connected students with a medium for understanding, social interaction, idea negotiation, as well as an intrinsic motivation for participation. The active nature of today’s digitally connected student culture is one that more resourcefully fosters idea generation and experience-oriented innovation than traditional schooling models. In addition, we describe our approach to utilizing current and emerging social media to support Gen Y learners, facilitate the formation of learning communities, foster student engagement, reflection, and enhance the overall learning experience for students in synchronous and asynchronous virtual learning environments (VLE).