bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Preoperative Prediction of Ambulatory Status at 6 Months After Total Hip Arthroplasty
Authors: Nankaku Manabu , Tsuboyama Tadao , Akiyama Haruhiko , Kakinoki Ryosuke , Fujita Yasuko , Nishimura Jun , Yoshioka Yuji , Kawai Haruna , Matsuda Shuichi
Published: September 2012

Background

Total hip arthroplasty (THA) is an effective procedure that provides patients with long-term relief from pain and enables them to resume their normal daily activities. Preoperative instruction about the functional outcomes and optimum goal of rehabilitation is helpful for patients undergoing THA.

Objective

The purposes of this study were: (1) to examine the relationships between preoperative physical functions and ambulation following THA and (2) to identify optimal cutoff values for estimating ambulatory status at 6 months after THA.

Design

This was a retrospective study.

Methods

The study participants were 204 patients who underwent a unilateral THA. Hip abductor and knee extensor strength were measured and the Timed “Up & Go” Test (TUG) was conducted preoperatively. The patients were divided into 2 groups according to self-reported walking ability at 6 months postoperatively: an independent ambulation group (n=118) and a cane-assisted ambulation group (n=86). Differences between the 2 groups were examined using an unpaired t test or the chi-square test. A stepwise multiple logistic regression analysis was performed with walking ability at 6 months postoperatively as a dependent variable and age, sex, contralateral hip osteoarthritis (ie, whether a participant had contralateral hip osteoarthritis or not), body mass index, hip abductor strength, knee extensor strength, and TUG score as independent variables. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was used to identify a cutoff point for classifying the participants into the 2 groups.

Results

A stepwise multiple logistic regression analysis selected 3 factors (age, knee extensor strength, and TUG score) as significant variables affecting the midterm ambulatory ability after THA. Moreover, receiver operating characteristic curve analyses revealed that the midterm (ie, 6-month) ambulatory status after THA was more accurately predicted by the patient's TUG score (cutoff point=10 seconds, sensitivity=76.7%, specificity=93.2%, area under the curve=0.93) than by age and knee extensor strength.

Limitations

The categorization of ambulatory status in this study was based solely on self-reported walking ability.

Conclusion

The findings indicate that patients with a preoperative TUG score of less than 10 seconds are likely to walk without an assistive device at 6 months after THA.
New Paradigm for Patient-Reported Outcomes Assessment in Foot & Ankle Research: Computerized Adaptive Testing
Authors: Hung Man , Nickisch Florian , C. Beals Timothy , Greene Tom , O. Clegg Daniel , L. Saltzman Charles
Published: September 2012

Background: Accurately measuring, reporting and comparing outcomes is essential for improving health care delivery. Current challenges with available health status scales include patient fatigue, floor/ceiling effects and validity/reliability. Methods: This study compared Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS)-based Lower Extremity Physical Function Computerized Adaptive Test (LE CAT) and two legacy scales -the Foot and Function Index (FFI) and the sport module from the Foot and Ankle Ability Measure (spFAAM) -for 287 patients scheduled for elective foot and ankle surgery. We documented the time required by patients to complete the instrument, instrument precision, and the extent to which each instrument covered the full range of physical functioning across the patient sample. Results: Average time of test administration: 66 seconds for LE CAT, 130 seconds for spFAAM and 239 seconds for FFI. All three instruments were fairly precise at intermediate physical functioning levels (i.e., Standard Error of Measurement < 0.35), were relatively less precise at the higher trait levels and the LE CAT maintained precision in the lower range while the spFAAM and FFI's had decreased precision. The LE CAT had less floor/ceiling effects than the FFI and the spFAAM. Conclusion: The LE CAT showed considerable advantage compared to legacy scales for measuring patient-reported outcomes in orthopaedic patients with foot and ankle problems. Clinical Relevance: A paradigm shift to broader use of PROMIS-based CATs should be considered to improve precision and reduce patient burden with patient-reported outcome measurement for foot and ankle patients.
Recurrent meningeal sarcoma successfully treated with stereotactic radiosurgery
Authors: Cummings Michael , Chowdhry Varun , Shah Hemangini , Back Jason , Kennedy Gloria A.
Published: September 2012

Primary intracranial meningeal sarcoma is a rare neurological malignancy without strong evidence-based treatment guidelines. The authors describe a boy with primary meningeal sarcoma who symptomatically presented at 10 months of age and was treated with primary resection. The patient had multifocal recurrence approximately 2 years later. Given the location and rapid progression of the disease, the boy was treated with Gamma Knife surgery. He had a complete radiographic response 3 years posttreatment. He attends school full time and enjoys good quality of life. Based on local control and response to radiosurgery, the authors suggest that multifocal meningeal sarcomas not amenable to resection can be effectively managed with stereotactic radiosurgery.
Hasegawa, T., et al. Structure-Odor Relationships of α­Santalol Derivatives with Modified Side Chains. Molecules, 2012, 17, 2259-2270
Authors: Hasegawa Toshio , Izumi Hiroaki , Tajima Yuji , Yamada Hideo
Published: September 2012

The authors are sorry to report that some of the 13C-NMR data reported in their recently published paper [1] were incorrect. While this manuscript was in preparation and pending recording of some 13C-NMR spectra the data of α-santalol was used as a placeholder. Upon revising the manuscript according to the reviewers’ comments, they mistakenly thought that all spectral data had been replaced by the correct measured data. Consequently the authors wish to make at this time the following corrections to the paper. [...]
Development and characterization of 59 polymorphic cDNA‐SSR markers for the edible oil crop Sesamum indicum (Pedaliaceae)
Authors: Wang Linhai , Zhang Yanxin , Qi Xiaoqiong , Gao Yuan , Zhang Xiurong
Published: September 2012

• Premise of the study: Polymorphic simple sequence repeat markers from transcript sequences (cDNA–simple sequence repeat [SSR]) were developed for the edible oil crop Sesamum indicum to facilitate the genetic study of this species.

• Methods and Results: We found 7702 SSR loci in the 60960 unigenes, and 1550 primer pairs were designed and synthesized. In total, 59 primer pairs showed polymorphism within 36 individuals; the number of alleles per locus ranged from two to four, and the expected and observed heterozygosity ranged from 0.05 to 0.74 and 0 to 0.30, respectively.

• Conclusions: These polymorphic markers will greatly facilitate studies of the genetic structure of S. indicum populations as well as the identification and conservation of the species.
Low‐copy nuclear primers and ycf1 primers in Cactaceae
Authors: Franck Alan R. , Cochrane Bruce J. , Garey James R.
Published: September 2012

• Premise of the study: To increase the number of variable regions available for phylogenetic study in the Cactaceae, primers were developed for a portion of the plastid ycf1 gene and intron‐spanning regions of two low‐copy nuclear genes (isi1, nhx1).

• Methods and Results: Primers were tested on several families within Caryophyllales, focusing on the Cactaceae. Gel electrophoresis indicated positive amplification in most samples. Sequences of these three regions (isi1, nhx1, ycf1) from Harrisia exhibited variation similar to or greater than two plastid regions (atpB‐rbcL intergenic spacer and rpl16 intron).

• Conclusions: The isi, nhx, and ycf1 primers amplify phylogenetically useful information applicable to the Cactaceae and other families in the Caryophyllales.
Variable length chloroplast markers for population genetic studies in Acmispon (Fabaceae)
Authors: Wheeler Gregory L. , McGlaughlin Mitchell E. , Wallace Lisa E.
Published: September 2012

• Premise of the study: To estimate genetic structure, chloroplast loci containing length‐variable regions were developed for two legumes, Acmispon argophyllus and A. dendroideus.

• Methods and Results: Primers for 14 chloroplast loci containing repeat regions were developed from the chloroplast genome sequence of the legume Lotus japonicus and tested in Acmispon. Nine loci exhibited polymorphism in Acmispon, with up to six alleles per locus. Gene diversity ranged from 0 to 0.775 in A. argophyllus and 0.142 to 0.766 in A. dendroideus. The primers also amplified in other Acmispon species. Sequencing of the fragments revealed discordance between fragment sizes and underlying sequence for three loci containing complex repeat regions.

• Conclusions: Although genotypes were easily generated and sized, sequencing may be more informative of genetic variation in loci with complex repeat regions. These loci exhibit substantial variation and should be useful for understanding genetic structure associated with seed dispersal in Acmispon.
Regulation of plant gravity sensing and signaling by the actin cytoskeleton
Authors: Blancaflor Elison B.
Published: September 2012

Gravitropism is a process by which plant organs readjust their growth toward or away from the gravity vector when the plant is reoriented. The actin cytoskeleton has often been a significant component of models explaining gravitropism, but its role in this process has become somewhat controversial in light of reports showing that actin inhibitors enhance the gravitropic response. The work with inhibitors implies that actin might function as a negative regulator of gravitropism. In this article, possibilities for how such a role might be accomplished are presented. First, the organization of actin in statocytes is revisited in an attempt to rationalize how compressive forces exerted by statoliths on membranes can lead to enhanced gravity sensing. Second, recent genetic work in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana is discussed, focusing on the potential involvement of the protein degradation machinery in actin‐mediated control of statolith dynamics and on the intriguing possibility that an actin‐regulated, ligand–receptor mechanism for gravity signal transduction might operate in higher plants. Third, modifications in the trafficking of auxin efflux transporters are considered as possible mechanisms for the enhanced gravity responses observed in plant organs when the actin cytoskeleton is disrupted by chemical inhibitors. The various possibilities presented in this review emphasize the large amount of research that remains to be done before we can fully understand how the actin cytoskeleton modulates tropisms in higher plants.
Pays en développement : les enjeux d'une « grande transformation »
Authors: Jacquet Pierre
Published: September 2012

Résumé La crise de 2007-2009, puis la crise de la dette de la zone euro amplifient le basculement déjà engagé du centre de gravité de l’économie mondiale vers les grands pays émergents. Le dynamisme et la croissance semblent aujourd’hui du côté des pays en développement, dont l’hétérogénéité est cependant très marquée. Chaque groupe fait face à des problématiques qui lui sont propres. Plutôt que chercher à inclure les pays en développement dans l’architecture actuelle de la mondialisation, les pays industrialisés doivent être prêts à négocier avec eux les contours d’une nouvelle gouvernance, davantage adaptée à ce renversement de situation et à la défense de biens publics mondiaux essentiels. Ils disposent pour cela d’un instrument, l’aide au développement, qui une fois modernisé peut jeter les bases d’une véritable politique publique mondiale.
Combined Exercise Training and Self-Management Education for Community-Dwelling Older Adults with Diabetes in Korea
Authors: Song Misoon , Park Yeon-Hwan , Song Wook , Cho Be-Long , Lim Jae Young , Kim Seonho , Choi Suyoung
Published: September 2012

This study examined the effect of a combined program of exercise training and self-management education on risk factors for diabetes complications and adherence behavior. A two-group, quasi-experimental study design was used to test the 12-week intervention program with community-dwelling older adults in Korea. Change scores (from baseline to Week 13) of outcome variables were compared between the intervention group (
n
= 21) and the control group (
n
= 16). The change scores in triglyceride levels, body weight, body mass index, and diabetes self-management behavior showed significant differences between groups. However, no significant differences were found in A1C and blood pressure change scores between the groups in this sample, in which these characteristics were relatively well controlled at baseline. The results of this study showed some promising synergistic effects of lowering cardiovascular risk factors from combining the two interventions.
Acute Conjunctivitis Caused by
Ewingella americana
Authors: Maraki Sofia
Published: September 2012

The first case of
Ewingella americana
conjunctivitis in an otherwise healthy child is reported. Cultures of the conjunctival purulent exudate taken from both eyes grew
E. americana
. The infection resolved completely after successful treatment with amoxicillin/clavulanate.
E. americana
should be considered a rare but potential pathogen causing conjunctivitis.
Reducing Use of Restraints and Seclusion to Create a Culture of Safety
Authors: Chandler Genevieve E.
Published: September 2012

The purpose of this article is to describe the structure that empowered staff of a locked community hospital unit to reduce the use of restraints and seclusion to create a culture of safety. Themes garnered from interviews with and observations of key informants fit into the categories of a structural empowerment model, with leadership creating opportunities available for staff to develop new knowledge, information on trauma-informed care, support for feedback, and resources for the unit; thus, relationships with patients flourished. In turn, staff engaged in relationships with patients to provide opportunities to develop new knowledge and offer information, support, and resources.
Apport de l'analyse des réseaux sociaux à l'étude des communautés d'apprentissage en ligne
Authors: Sarré Cédric
Published: September 2012

S'il est vrai que de nombreuses recherches ont porté, ces vingt dernières années, sur l'apport de la communication médiatisée par ordinateur (CMO) à l'acquisition des langues secondes (L2), peu de travaux se sont intéressés à ce jour à la CMO à base orale (audioconférence et visioconférence) et à ses différences et similitudes avec la CMO à base écrite. Cet article se propose d'examiner et de comparer les interactions entre apprenants générées lors de la réalisation de tâches collaboratives en anglais L2 selon trois modes de CMO : le clavardage, la visioconférence et le forum électronique. Les tâches collaboratives ont été proposées aux apprenants dans le cadre du dispositif hybride English for biologists dont l'objectif principal était de favoriser le développement de leur compétence interactionnelle en L2. L'analyse sociométrique des échanges nous permet de mettre en évidence l'influence du mode de CMO utilisé sur la charge interactionnelle (degré de prise en compte de l'autre) et sur la configuration des interactions, ainsi que sur l'efficacité de la télécollaboration. Nous en tirons également des conclusions relatives à l'impact du mode de CMO sur l'entrée des apprenants dans la communauté d'apprentissage qui émerge de chacun des groupes de travail auquel ils appartiennent.
An Evaluation of a Pure Embedded Domain-Specific Language for Strategic Term Rewriting
Authors: Premaratne Shirren , Sloane Anthony M. , Hamey Leonard G. C.
Published: September 2012

Domain-specific languages are often implemented by embedding them in general-purpose programming languages. The Kiama library used in this chapter for the Scala programming language contains a rewriting component that is an embedded implementation of the Stratego term rewriting language. The authors evaluate the trade-offs inherent in this approach and its practicality via a non-trivial case study. An existing Stratego implementation of a compiler for the Apply image processing language was translated into a Kiama implementation. The chapter examines the linguistic differences between the two versions of the Stratego domain-specific language, and compares the size, speed, and memory usage of the two Apply compiler implementations. The authors’ experience shows that the embedded language implementation inflicts constraints that mean a precise duplication of Stratego is impossible, but the main flavor of the language is preserved. The implementation approach allows for writing code of similar size, but imposes a performance penalty. Nevertheless, the performance is still at a practically useful level and scales for large inputs in the same way as the Stratego implementation.
Towards Dynamic Semantics for Synthesizing Interpreted DSMLs
Authors: Clarke Peter J. , Wu Yali , Allen Andrew A. , Hernandez Frank , Allison Mark , France Robert
Published: September 2012

Domain-specific languages (DSLs) provide developers with the ability to describe applications using language elements that directly represent concepts in the application problem domains. Unlike general-purpose languages, domain concepts are embedded in the semantics of a DSL. In this chapter, the authors present an interpreted domain-specific modeling language (i-DSML) whose models are used to specify user-defined communication services, and support the users’ changing communication needs at runtime. These model changes are interpreted at runtime to produce events that are handled by the labeled transition system semantics of the i-DSML. Specifically, model changes are used to produce scripts that change the underlying communication structure. The script-producing process is called synthesis. The authors describe the semantics of the i-DSML called the Communication Modeling Language (CML) and its use in the runtime synthesis process, and briefly describe how the synthesis process is implemented in the Communication Virtual Machine (CVM), the execution engine for CML models.
Creating, Debugging, and Testing Mobile Applications with the IPAC Application Creation Environment
Authors: Kolomvatsos Kostas , Valkanas George , Patelis Petros , Hadjiefthymiades Stathes
Published: September 2012

An important challenge in software development is to have efficient tools for creating, debugging, and testing software components developed for specific business domains. This is more imperative if it is considered that a large number of users are not familiar with popular programming languages. Hence, Application Creation Environments (ACEs) based on specific Domain-Specific Languages (DSLs) can provide an efficient way for creating applications for a specific domain of interest. The provided ACEs should incorporate all the functionality needed by developers to build, debug, and test applications. In this chapter, the authors present their contribution in this domain based on the experience of the IPAC system. The IPAC system provides a middleware and an ACE for developing and using intelligent, context-aware services in mobile nodes. The chapter fully describes the ACE, which is a key part of the overall architecture. The ACE provides two editors (textual, visual), a wide functionality spectrum, as well as a debugger and an application emulator. The ACE is based on an Application Description Language (ADL) developed for IPAC. The ADL provides elements for the description of an application workflow for embedded systems. Through such functionality, developers are capable of efficiently creating and testing applications that will be deployed on mobile nodes.
DSLs in Action with Model Based Approaches to Information System Development
Authors: Lukovic Ivan , Ivancevic Vladimir , Celikovic Milan , Aleksic Slavica
Published: September 2012

In this chapter, the authors give an overview of the evolution of Information System (IS) development methods used in the last few decades and show how model driven approaches and Domain Specific Languages (DSLs) have managed to take an often essential role in the modern IS development process. To present an overall picture, the authors discuss significant breakthroughs, popular approaches, their strong and weak points, along with the examples of their practical use in the domain of IS development and generation of software applications. In order to further support the aforementioned points, the chapter offers a synopsis of Integrated Information Systems CASE Tool (IIS*Case), a model driven software development tool for IS modeling and prototype generation. A special attention is drawn to its evolution and position relative to some of the key changes in IS development approaches in recent history. The authors highlight the significance of DSLs in this context and present a DSL featured in the tool. The DSL was created to provide platform independent model (PIM) IS specifications which can be transformed into executable application prototypes through a chain of model-to-model and model-to-code transformations. Since the authors have developed both a textual DSL, and visual repository-based tools (visual DSLs) for this purpose, a discussion of pros and contras of textual vs. visual DSLs in the context of creating PIM specifications is also included. Furthermore, the chapter communicates practical experiences about creating meta-meta models of PIM concepts by means of attribute grammars and MOF meta-modeling language.
Design and Transformation of a Domain-Specific Language for Reconfigurable Conveyor Systems
Authors: An Kyoungho , Trewyn Adam , Gokhale Aniruddha , Sastry Shivakumar
Published: September 2012

Much of the existing literature on domain-specific modeling languages (DSMLs) focuses on either the DSML design and their use in developing complex software systems (e.g., in enterprise and web applications), or their use in physical systems (e.g., process control). With increasing focus on research and development of cyber-physical systems (CPS) such as autonomous automotive systems and process control systems, which are systems that tightly integrate cyber and physical artifacts, it becomes important to understand the need for and the roles played by DSMLs for such systems. One use of DSMLs for CPS systems is in the analysis and verification of different properties of the system. Many questions arise in this context: How are the cyber and physical artifacts represented in DSMLs? How can these DSMLs be used in analysis? This book chapter addresses these questions through a case study of reconfigurable conveyor systems used as a representative example.
On-Board Unit Hardware and Software Design for Vehicular Ad-Hoc Networks
Authors: Petracca Matteo , Pagano Paolo , Pelliccia Riccardo , Ghibaudi Marco , Salvadori Claudio , Nastasi Christian
Published: September 2012

Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) are a focus of public authorities and research communities in order for them to provide effective solutions for improving citizens’ security and lifestyle. The effectiveness of such systems relies on the prompt processing of the acquired traffic- and vehicle-related information to react to congestion and dangerous situations. To obtain a dynamic and pervasive environment where vehicles are fully integrated in the ITS, low cost technologies (capable of strongly penetrating the market) must be made available by the effort of academic and industrial research. In this chapter, the authors discuss the design and implementation of a prototype vehicular unit capable of interacting with both roadside networks and in-vehicle electronic devices. More in detail, in order to scientifically characterize the solution, the authors start from a clear statement of the requirements that the vehicle equipment should respond to. Then they detail the selection of the off-the-shelf components adopted in the prototyped on-board unit. In the last part of the chapter, the authors discuss several possible applications in which the developed device can be adopted, as well as open issues for future research activities.
User-Centric Vehicular Ad-Hoc Networks and Roadside Units for Public Transports Systems
Authors: Pereira Fábio , Barreto João
Published: September 2012

Public transportation is becoming more and more importance in big urban centers, as it is a key ingredient to sustainable cities. Still, richer and more diverse public transport services imply increased complexity to the users of such services. In this chapter, the authors address the problem of journey planning for public transport users. This problem can be described as finding the best route between two given points in a city taking into account the available public transport services. The authors describe and compare traditional approaches that are already deployed in most cities. They then focus their attention on new and promising alternatives that become possible with the emergence of user-centric vehicular ad-hoc networks, complemented with roadside infrastructure. The authors discuss the benefits and challenges behind this new approach for journey planning in public transportation, and propose directions for possible solutions.
Semantic Web Data Partitioning
Authors: Padiya Trupti , Bhise Minal , Chaudhary Sanjay
Published: September 2012

Semantic Web database is an RDF database due to increased use of Semantic Web in real life applications; one can find heavy growth in RDF database. As there is a tremendous increase in RDF data, performance and scalability issues are of main concern. This chapter discusses improving and scaling up query performance for increasingly growing Semantic Web. It discusses current Semantic Web data storage techniques, which have been found to scale poorly and have poor query performance. It discusses the partitioning techniques vertical and horizontal partitioning to improve query performance. To further improve the query performance, along with these partitioning techniques, various compression techniques can also be used. Relational data offers faster execution of queries as compared to RDF data. To demonstrate these ideas, semantic data is converted to relational data and then query performance improvement techniques are applied. The scaling up of Semantic Web data is also discussed.
Enhancing Information Extraction with Context and Inference
Authors: Assal Hisham , Kurfess Franz , Pohl Kym , Schwarz Emily , Seng John
Published: September 2012

Natural Language Processing (NLP) provides tools to extract explicitly stated information from text documents. These tools include Named Entity Recognition (NER) and Parts-Of-Speech (POS). The extracted information represents discrete entities in the text and some relationships that may exist among them. To perform intelligent analysis on the extracted information a context has to exist in which this information is placed. The context provides an environment to link information that is extracted from multiple documents and offers a big picture of the domain. Analysis can then be provided by adding inference capabilities to the environment. The ODIX platform provides an environment for bringing together information extraction, ontology, and intelligent analysis. The platform design relies on existing NLP tools to provide the information extraction capabilities. It also utilizes a Web crawler to collect text documents from the Web. The context is provided by a domain ontology that is loaded at run time. The ontology offers limited inference capabilities and external intelligent agents offer more advanced reasoning capabilities. User involvement is key to the success of the analysis process. At every step of the process, the user has the opportunity to direct the system, set selection criteria, correct errors, or add additional information.
Exploring Semantic Characteristics of Socially Constructed Knowledge Repository to Optimize Web Search
Authors: Zhu Dengya , Dreher Heinz
Published: September 2012

Short-term queries preferred by most users often result in a list of Web search results with low precision from a user perspective. The purpose of this research is to improve the relevance of Web search results via search-term disambiguation and ontological filtering of search results based on socially constructed search concepts. A Special Search Browser (SSB) is developed where semantic characteristics of the socially constructed knowledge repository are extracted to form a category-document set. kNN is employed with the extracted category-documents as training data to classify Web results. Users’ selected categories are employed to present the search results. Experimental results based on five experts’ judgments over 250 hits from Yahoo! API demonstrate that utilizing the socially constructed search concepts to categorize and filter search results can improve precision by 23.5%, from Yahoo’s 41.7% to 65.2% of SSB based on the results of five selected ambiguous search-terms.
Mining Sentiment Using Conversation Ontology
Authors: Sajja Priti Srinivas , Akerkar Rajendra
Published: September 2012

The research in the field of opinion mining has been ongoing for several years, and many models and techniques have been proposed. One of the techniques that can address the need for automated information monitoring to help to identify the trends and patterns that matter is sentiment mining. Existing approaches enable the analysis of a large number of text documents, mainly based on their statistical properties and possibly combined with numeric data. Most approaches are limited to simple word counts and largely ignore semantic and structural aspects of content. Conversation plays a vital role in expressing and promoting an opinion. In this chapter, the authors discuss the concept of ontology and propose a framework that allows the incorporation of information on conversation structure in the models for sentiment discovery in text.
Ontology-Based Opinion Mining
Authors: Akerkar Rajendra , Aaberge Terje
Published: September 2012

In this chapter, the authors discuss an ontology-based approach to opinion mining exploiting the possibility to represent commonly shared meaning of linguistic relations by ontologies. The ontology definitions are used as a standard to which sentences extracted from texts are compared. Unlike conventional text mining, which is based on objective topics aiming to discover common patterns of user opinions from their textual statements automatically or semi-automatically, it will extract opinion from subjective locations.
An Emotional Student Model for Game-Based Learning
Authors: Muñoz Karla , Mc Kevitt Paul , Lunney Tom , Noguez Julieta , Neri Luis
Published: September 2012

Students’ performance and motivation are influenced by their emotions. Game-based learning (GBL) environments comprise elements that facilitate learning and the creation of an emotional connection with students. GBL environments include Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITSs) to ensure personalized learning. ITSs reason about students’ needs and characteristics (student modeling) to provide suitable instruction (tutor modeling). The authors’ research is focused on the design and implementation of an emotional student model for GBL environments based on the Control-Value Theory of achievement emotions by Pekrun et al. (2007). The model reasons about answers to questions in game dialogues and contextual variables related to student behavior acquired through students’ interaction with PlayPhysics. The authors’ model is implemented using Dynamic Bayesian Networks (DBNs), which are derived using Probabilistic Relational Models (PRMs), machine learning techniques, and statistical methods. This work compares an earlier approach that uses Multinomial Logistic Regression (MLR) and cross-tabulation for learning the structure and conditional probability tables with an approach that employs Necessary Path Condition and Expectation Maximization algorithms. Results showed that the latter approach is more effective at classifying the control of outcome-prospective emotions. Future work will focus on applying this approach to classification of activity and outcome-retrospective emotions.
Analyzing the Level of Inclusion of Digital Educational Objects in Eskola 2.0
Authors: Guenaga Mª Luz , Mentxaka Iratxe , Romero Susana , Eguíluz Andoni
Published: September 2012

The Basque Government has published two calls to create digital educational objects for the programme called Eskola 2.0. After having provided schools with technological equipment, these calls aim to increase the use of learning technology in the classroom. More than 300 didactic sequences have been developed, which vary greatly in visual design, content structure, organization, and pedagogical aspects. Even though accessibility is one of the quality criteria, the reality is that they are hardly accessible and inclusive. DeustoTech Learning research group has carried out a survey of the educational objects approved in these calls up to November 2011. The authors evaluated pedagogical and technological aspects to find out how inclusive they are. In this chapter, they provide the results of the survey and propose a set of guidelines for designing more accessible and inclusive objects in the future.
School Activities Using Handmade Teaching Materials with Dot Codes
Authors: Ikuta Shigeru , Nemoto Fumio , Endo Emi , Kaiami Satomi , Ezoe Takahide
Published: September 2012

Practitioners have been using three communication aids in conducting many school activities at both special needs and regular schools. In the simplest system, voices and sounds are transformed into dot codes, edited with pictures and text, and printed out with an ordinary color printer; the printed dot codes are traced to be decoded into the originals by using a handy tool, Sound Reader. In the most complex system, in addition to audio files, multiple media files such as movies, web pages, html files, and PowerPoint files can be linked to each dot code; just touching the printed dot code with sound or scanner pens reproduces their audio or multimedia, respectively. The present chapter reports the software and hardware used in developing originally handmade teaching materials with dot codes and various school activities performed at both special needs and regular schools.
The Simulator as a University Business School Support Tool
Authors: Liébana-Cabanillas Francisco J. , Martínez-Fiestas Myriam , Viedma-del-Jesús María Isabel
Published: September 2012

The purpose of this chapter is to discuss the use of business management simulators in university teaching, specifically the use of marketing simulators, identifying the main advantages and disadvantages for students. The marketing simulator Simbrand was used and evaluated by 104 students in a general marketing class at the University of Granada. Their responses to a survey about the implications that simulator use has on student attention, motivation, the ability to follow course material and the quality of the classes that use this tool are outlined below. The findings provide solid theoretical evidence of the usefulness and advantages of these tools in university teaching for both students and faculty.
Building Efficient Assessment Applications with Personalized Feedback
Authors: Bodea Constanta-Nicoleta , Dascalu Maria-Iuliana
Published: September 2012

The aim of this chapter is to provide a model for requirement specification, useful in developing efficient e-assessment applications with personalized feedback, which is enhanced by calling a recommender engine. The research was done in the context of using educational technology to facilitate learning processes. The data used to build the requirement model was collected from a set of interviews with the users and creators of an e-assessment application in project management. Requirement analysis assumes human effort and thus introduces uncertainties. To minimize the subjective factor, the data extracted from interviews with the users and the developers of the existing e-assessment application are clustered using a fuzzy logic solution into classes of requirements. These classes are the units of the model. The connections between classes are also mentioned: relations such as “if-then,” “switch,” or” contains” are explained. The requirements analysis conducts a smart set of specifications, obtained in a collaborative manner, useful for the design of e-assessment applications in project management or other similar domains.
Intelligent Techniques in Recommender Systems and Contextual Advertising
Authors: Armano Giuliano , Giuliani Alessandro , Vargiu Eloisa
Published: September 2012

Information Filtering deals with the problem of selecting relevant information for a given user, according to her/his preferences and interests. In this chapter, the authors consider two ways of performing information filtering: recommendation and contextual advertising. In particular, they study and analyze them according to a unified view. In fact, the task of suggesting an advertisement to a Web page can be viewed as the task of recommending an item (the advertisement) to a user (the Web page), and vice versa. Starting from this insight, the authors propose a content-based recommender system based on a generic solution for contextual advertising and a hybrid contextual advertising system based on a generic hybrid recommender system. Relevant case studies have been considered (i.e., a photo recommender and a Web advertiser) with the goal of highlighting how the proposed approach works in practice. In both cases, results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed solutions.
A Fuzzy Clustering Approach for Segmenting Retail Industry
Authors: Hemalatha M.
Published: September 2012

The foremost theme of this chapter is to utilize the subtractive clustering concept for defining the market boundaries in the fuzzy-based segmentation. In this sense, the present work starts by analyzing the importance of segmenting the shoppers on the basis of store image. After reviewing the segmentation literature, the authors performed a segmentation analysis of retail shoppers in India. Researchers often use clustering analysis as a tool in market segmentation studies, the results of which often end with a crisp partitioning form, where one member cannot belong to two or more groups. This indicates that different segments overlap with one another. This chapter integrates the concept of application of subtractive clustering in fuzzy c means clustering for profiling the customers who perceive the retail store based on its image. Fuzzy clustering is also compared with hard clustering solutions. Then the authors predict the model using discriminate analysis. Further, the chapter concentrates on the answer tree model of segmentation to identify the best predictor. Main conclusions with implications for retailing management are shown.
Modelling and Performance Studies of ATM Networks Over Email & FTP
Authors: Sarkar Nurul I. , Nisar Kashif
Published: September 2012

The Advanced Network Technologies is a research that investigates the technology(s) behind today’s modern networks and network infrastructures – one of these technologies being Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM); a technology commonly in place in networks all around the world today. Therefore, this paper focuses its attention on ATM. Dubbed “Modelling and Performance Studies of ATM Networks,” this research looks into the “impact of application segment length on the performance of an ATM network” and the “impact of traffic type data on the performance of an ATM network.” For this research, the authors have used the OPNET Modeler 14.0 Simulation software to create a network model that represents a real-life ATM network. By simulating an ATM network at AUT University New Zealand, the authors can change certain variables, and observe the effects the changes have on performance. As such, one of the impacts that will be explored is the effect that application segment length has on an ATM network. The second impact to be inspected is the impact of different traffic types on an ATM network. For example, Email traffic should theoretically affect an ATM network differently to the way that Voice traffic does. This way of thinking is what will be looked into further.
Anti-drug antibodies
Authors: Warnke Clemens , Hermanrud Christina , Lundkvist Malin , Fogdell-Hahn Anna
Published: September 2012

Biological pharmaceuticals are increasingly used in modern medicine and give remarkable improvements for many different patient groups. Unfortunately, for several of these compounds, undesirable immune reactions are induced against the drug. The resulting anti-drug antibodies modify the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties of the drug and, by blocking the drug-target interaction, reduce the effects of the treatment. Anti-drug antibodies may also increase the risk of hypersensitivity reactions by the formation of immune complexes. Furthermore, by cross-reacting with the endogenous homolog of the drug, the anti-drug antibodies might impair important physiological functions even after treatment cessation. As a consequence, anti-drug antibodies need to be taken in account when estimating the benefit-burden ratio of a treatment for an individual patient, but also when calculating the value of therapeutics on a socio-economic level. In this review we give an overview over the current understanding of the immunogenicity against drugs, exemplified for patients with hemophilia A, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn’s disease. We discuss known and potential risk factors for anti-drug antibody formation and finally outline suggested strategies for prediction and prevention.
An Efficient Sampling Method for Regression-Based Polynomial Chaos Expansion
Authors: Zein Samih , Colson Benoît , Glineur François
Published: September 2012

The polynomial chaos expansion (PCE) is an efficient numerical method for performing a reliability analysis. It relates the output of a nonlinear system with the uncertainty in its input parameters using a multidimensional polynomial approximation (the so-called PCE). Numerically, such an approximation can be obtained by using a regression method with a suitable design of experiments. The cost of this approximation depends on the size of the design of experiments. If the design of experiments is large and the system is modeled with a computationally expensive FEA (Finite Element Analysis) model, the PCE approximation becomes unfeasible. The aim of this work is to propose an algorithm that generates efficiently a design of experiments of a size defined by the user, in order to make the PCE approximation computationally feasible. It is an optimization algorithm that seeks to find the best design of experiments in the D-optimal sense for the PCE. This algorithm is a coupling between genetic algorithms and the Fedorov exchange algorithm. The efficiency of our approach in terms of accuracy and computational time reduction is compared with other existing methods in the case of analytical functions and finite element based functions.
Mass and Volume Conservation in Phase Field Models for Binary Fluids
Authors: Shen Jie , Yang Xiaofeng , Wang Qi
Published: September 2012

The commonly used incompressible phase field models for non-reactive, binary fluids, in which the Cahn-Hilliard equation is used for the transport of phase variables (volume fractions), conserve the total volume of each phase as well as the material volume, but do not conserve the mass of the fluid mixture when densities of two components are different. In this paper, we formulate the phase field theory for mixtures of two incompressible fluids, consistent with the quasi-compressible theory [28], to ensure conservation of mass and momentum for the fluid mixture in addition to conservation of volume for each fluid phase. In this formulation, the mass-average velocity is no longer divergence-free (solenoidal) when densities of two components in the mixture are not equal, making it a compressible model subject to an internal con-straint. In one formulation of the compressible models with internal constraints (model 2), energy dissipation can be clearly established. An efficient numerical method is then devised to enforce this compressible internal constraint. Numerical simulations in confined geometries for both compressible and the incompressible models are carried out using spatially high order spectral methods to contrast the model predictions. Numerical comparisons show that (a) predictions by the two models agree qualitatively in the situation where the interfacial mixing layer is thin; and (b) predictions differ significantly in binary fluid mixtures undergoing mixing with a large mixing zone. The numerical study delineates the limitation of the commonly used incompressible phase field model using volume fractions and thereby cautions its predictive value in simulating well-mixed binary fluids.
Meta-stylesheets: Exploring the Provenance of XSL Transformations
Authors: Clark Ashley
Published: September 2012

When documents are transformed with XSLT, what methods can be used to understand and record those transformations? Though they aren't specifically meant for provenance capture, existing tools and informal practices can be used to manually piece together the provenance of XSLTs. However, a meta-stylesheet approach has the potential to generate provenance information by creating a copy of XSLT stylesheets with provenance-specific instructions. This method is currently being implemented, using the strategies and workflows detailed here. Even with the complications and limitations of the method, XSLT itself enables a surprising amount of provenance capture.
Exploring the Unknown
Authors: Dubinko Micah
Published: September 2012

Large collections of data are getting published and used more frequently, even by non-statisticians, a situation driven by the mainstreaming of big data, linked data, and open data. Often these datasets are in XML format, consisting of an unknown set of elements, attributes, namespaces, and content models. This paper describes an approach for quickly summarizing as well as guiding exploration into a non-indexed XML database. Finally, this paper demonstrates a statistical technique to approximate faceted search over large datasets, without the need of particular index configurations.
Developing Low-Cost Functional Class 3 IETM
Authors: Harvey Betty
Published: September 2012

This paper will describe an approach that was taken by Cobham Mission Systems Division in Orchard Park, New York for delivering a Class 3 Interactive Electronic Technical Manual (IETM). Cobham Mission Systems Division develops life support systems for the aviation industry and NASA.  John Glenn, and every astronaut since, has used Cobham's oxygen pressure-regulator.  The original oxygen pressure-regulator that John Glenn used in his first trip into space is displayed prominently in Cobham's lobby in Orchard Park.   After this presentation a demonstration of the IETM will be provided.
Type Introspection in XQuery
Authors: Holstege Mary
Published: September 2012

Type introspection gives a program the ability to determine the type of object at runtime and manipulate the type of the object as an object in its own right. It can be used as a basis for generic and flexible services, meta-programming, runtime adaptation, and data exploration and discovery. This paper explores providing some type introspection capabilities to XQuery, looking at some design and implementation issues, and demonstrating the application of type introspection in various ways.