bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Ultraviolet C Irradiation Induces Different Expression of Cyclooxygenase 2 in NIH 3T3 Cells and A431 Cells: The Roles of COX-2 Are Different in Various Cell Lines
Authors: Tai Ming-Hong , Weng Chien-Hui , Mon Dir-Pu , Hu Chun-Yi , Wu Ming-Hsiu
Published: April 2012

Ultraviolet C (UVC) is a DNA damage inducer, and 20 J/m2 of UVC irradiation caused cell growth inhibition and induced cell death after exposure for 24–36 h. The growth of NIH 3T3 cells was significantly suppressed at 24 h after UVC irradiation whereas the proliferation of A431 cells was inhibited until 36 h after UVC irradiation. UVC irradiation increased COX-2 expression and such up-regulation reached a maximum during 3–6 h in NIH 3T3 cells. In contrast, UVC-induced COX-2 reached a maximum after 24–36 h in A431 cells. Measuring prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) level showed a biphasic profile that PGE2 release was rapidly elevated in 1–12 h after UVC irradiation and increased again at 24 h in both cell lines. Treatment with the selective COX-2 inhibitor, SC-791, during maximum expression of COX-2 induction, attenuated the UVC induced-growth inhibition in NIH 3T3 cells. In contrast, SC-791 treatment after UVC irradiation enhanced death of A431 cells. These data showed that the patterns of UVC-induced PGE2 secretion from NIH 3T3 cells and A431 cells were similar despite the differential profile in UVC-induced COX-2 up-regulation. Besides, COX-2 might play different roles in cellular response to UVC irradiation in various cell lines.
DOES TQM SUPPORT INNOVATION PERFORMANCE IN MALAYSIA'S MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY?
Authors: Ooi Keng-Boon , Lin Binshan , Teh Pei-Lee , Chong Alain Yee-Loong
Published: April 2012

This empirical study examines the association of TQM practices (i.e. leadership, customer focus, strategic planning, people management, information analysis and process management) with the innovation performance as perceived by the managers in Malaysia. The research model is constructed on the basis of established theory and on well-known criteria such as Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. Six hypotheses are formulated and tested by multiple regression based on a sample of 206 managers working in the ISO 9001:2000 certified manufacturing firms in Malaysia. The results of this study show that TQM has a significant positive relationship with innovation performance. In particular, the findings of this study show that process management, strategic planning, people management and customer focus have positive relationships with innovation performance of firms surveyed in Malaysia. Therefore, both researchers and practitioners are advised to consider these relevant TQM practices when assessing the innovation performance of an organization. Implications for managers and researchers, as well as study limitations are also discussed.
DESTRUCTION OF COMPOSITE MATERIAL BY SHEAR LOAD AND FORMATION OF ACOUSTIC RADIATION
Authors: Filonenko Sergey , Kalita Viktor , Kosmach Alexandr
Published: April 2012

Some models of the formation of acoustic emission signals by the destruction of composite material by shear load were examined. We have formulated a mathematical description of the quantity of elements that remains in the process of composite destruction and mathematical description of acoustic emission signals. The regularity of changes in acoustic emission signals for a simple model of composite destruction and for a model that takes into account the process of the destruction of the elements of composite material was shown.
Représenter l'intersection
Authors: Jaunait Alexandre , Chauvin Sébastien
Published: April 2012

Résumé La notion d’intersectionnalité forgée aux États-Unis dans les années 1980 cherchait à donner un nom aux dilemmes stratégiques et identitaires rencontrés par des catégories de personnes subissant des formes combinées de domination. Cet article retrace la généalogie de cette notion aux États-Unis et en France depuis les années 1970 et décrit la façon dont son appropriation par les sciences sociales permet de reformuler en principes d’investigation empirique les problèmes normatifs de l’espace politico-juridique. La notion d’intersectionnalité, importée en France dans la deuxième moitié des années 2000, invite ainsi à explorer de nouveaux objets et de nouvelles méthodes de recherche, en particulier en science politique.
A study of saline incursion across an inter‐tidal zone on Anglesey, Wales using airborne conductivity data
Authors: Beamish David
Published: April 2012

This study considers fixed‐wing airborne electromagnetic data obtained by a recent high‐resolution airborne geophysical survey across the island of Anglesey, Wales. The survey detected an extensive (~10 km in length) highly conductive, near‐surface zone across low‐lying marsh and salt‐marsh areas. Four‐frequency electromagnetic survey data enable a continuous assessment of subsurface conductivity variations across the inter‐tidal zone and onshore into Holocene sediments and bedrock. Inshore seawater conductivities exceed 2000 mS/m but reduce across sandbank areas to a range of values, typically exceeding 500 mS/m. Saline incursion onshore is observed largely at lower values and at a range of scales extending to over 10 km. Within defined salt‐marsh areas, a main front of near‐surface incursion can be mapped and extends several hundred metres inshore. The main body of subsurface saltwater incursion is largely confined to a trough containing Holocene deposits above Upper Carboniferous (coal) measures that were historically mined. The main conductive zone becomes more compact, both vertically and laterally, with increasing distance inland. Modelling of the data indicates that, onshore, the major concentrations of dissolved solids are confined to the upper 30 m within undulating subsurface zones. Historical tidal salt loading of the Holocene sediments may account for the main features detected within this low‐lying and fault‐bounded area now protected by tidal gates.
Fuzzy Ontologies Building Platform for Semantic Web
Authors: Ghorbel Hanêne , Bahri Afef , Bouaziz Rafik
Published: April 2012

The unstructured design of Web resources favors human comprehension, but makes difficult the automatic exploitation of the contents of these resources by machines. So, the Semantic Web aims at making the cooperation between human and machine possible, by giving any information a well defined meaning. The first weavings of the Semantic Web are already prepared. Machines become able to treat and understand the data that were accustomed to only visualization, by using ontologies constitute an essential element of the Semantic Web, as they serve as a form of knowledge representation, sharing, and reuse. However, the Web content is subject to imperfection, and crisp ontologies become less suitable to represent concepts with imprecise definitions. To overcome this problem, fuzzy ontologies constitute a promising research orientation. Indeed, the definition of fuzzy ontologies components constitutes an issue that needs to be well treated. It is necessary to have an appropriate methodology of building an operationalization of fuzzy ontological models. This chapter defines a fuzzy ontological model based on fuzzy description logic. This model uses a new approach for the formal description of fuzzy ontologies. This new methodology shows how all the basic components defined for fuzzy ontologies can be constructed.
Semantic Models in Information Retrieval
Authors: Lassalle Edmond , Lassalle Emmanuel
Published: April 2012

Robertson and Spärck Jones pioneered experimental probabilistic models (Binary Independence Model) with both a typology generalizing the Boolean model, a frequency counting to calculate elementary weightings, and their combination into a global probabilistic estimation. However, this model did not consider indexing terms dependencies. An extension to mixture models (e.g., using a 2-Poisson law) made it possible to take into account these dependencies from a macroscopic point of view (BM25), as well as a shallow linguistic processing of co-references. New approaches (language models, for example “bag of words” models, probabilistic dependencies between requests and documents, and consequently Bayesian inference using Dirichlet prior conjugate) furnished new solutions for documents structuring (categorization) and for index smoothing. Presently, in these probabilistic models the main issues have been addressed from a formal point of view only. Thus, linguistic properties are neglected in the indexing language. The authors examine how a linguistic and semantic modeling can be integrated in indexing languages and set up a hybrid model that makes it possible to deal with different information retrieval problems in a unified way.
Modeling of the Economic Development of a Region
Authors: Myšková Renáta , Linkeová Ivana
Published: April 2012

The economic development of a region depends on a number of factors which influence it mainly bases in a macro-economic aspect. Each region has its specific characteristics, thus area-surveyed indicators may not have sufficient predicative potential. In this chapter the authors design two new indicators (Index of Citizens’ Financial Provision and Risk of Regional Economic Development) which enable them to evaluate the financial provision of citizens and the economic risk of a region in more detail. Consequently the authors can, through the course of designing these indicators, determine the rate of their influence on a region or at least predict their development. In order to create and model these indicators the authors used tools from the Microsoft Excel program. The methodology described can be widely utilized, as partial indicators can be substituted and, therefore, it is possible to evaluate other strategic factors of the region under consideration. Indicator Risk of Regional Economic Development was designed with the help of fuzzy sets. The chapter includes two case studies, which are based on official data provided by the Czech Statistical Office. The purpose was to illustrate the construction of indicators, their predicative value and modeling potential.
Institutional Framework for Analyzing Sustainability in European Agriculture and Rural Areas
Authors: Pascucci Stefano , Polman Nico , Slangen Louis
Published: April 2012

The aim of this chapter is to develop an institutional framework for analyzing and improving sustainability. More specifically we discuss (i) developing a framework that consists of different institutional levels and a set of indicators for measuring the relevant features of each institutional level; (ii) investigating what are the dimensions of sustainable agriculture and rural development and related suitable indicators; (iii) the relationship between the institutional framework and sustainability; finally (iv) we tried to design better institutions for improving the sustainability in agriculture and rural areas. The chapter also underlines the relevance of looking at sustainability in a more empirical way. It strongly emphasises the necessity to support the theoretical approach with the use of indicators and reference levels. More specifically, the chapter indicates general and more comprehensive typologies of indicators that are commonly used to evaluate sustainability and sustainable development in agriculture and rural areas.
The Role of M-Government in Western China Development
Authors: Schlæger Jesper
Published: April 2012

This chapter explores the role of m-government in Western China development. Bureaucracy has been identified as a barrier for economic development in Western China. It is discussed how applications of m-government embedded in a larger reform agenda has reduced some of the growth stifling effects of bureaucracy. This chapter describes the content of ideas, institutions, and technologies of m-government to understand how fitting these levels has led to such an improvement in governance. Recommendations are made concerning continued emphasis on simple applications, rethinking government organisation, and increased discussion of the role of private service providers.
Sustainable Tourism Development in India
Authors: Dhiman Mohinder C. , Dubey Arvind Kumar
Published: April 2012

The issues surrounding the understanding and practice of sustainability in tourism are becoming increasingly important to both academicians and tourism planners. For more than two decades the attainment of sustainable development and the protection of touristic assets have been at the forefront of central policy issues in global tourism development. Recently, it has been argued that collaborative and associative forms of governance among tourism stakeholders are growing in importance in the drive for sustainable tourism development. Despite the increasing number of debates on the role of stakeholders in tourism, they are not well supported by empirical studies and how such stakeholders can contribute to the sustainable development of tourism. This study investigates various sustainable tourism development dimensions among tourism stakeholders and whether these dimensions depend on the demographic characteristics of stakeholders. By employing factor analysis, the study reveals that there is a set of sustainable tourism development parameters that is most common. The results also indicate that there is a significant difference among the tourism stakeholders in terms of perceived sustainable tourism development dimensions in India.
Agriculture, Communication, and Socioeconomic Development
Authors: Alozie Emmanuel C.
Published: April 2012

This study explores Nigeria’s e-agriculture policies and those of other African governments. It also proposes what e-agricultural strategies these governments could adopt to enhance their agricultural output by examining the history of agriculture in Nigeria; the current status of Nigerian information and communication technologies and e-government policies with emphasis on agriculture. The analysis addresses the role of communications as instrument of national development. In view of the economic status of African countries, the study calls on Nigeria and other African governments to adopt a cautious approach as they embark on e-agriculture policies and acquisition of information and communication technologies to promote national development. The study calls on African governments to liberalize their agricultural policies, establish agricultural cooperatives, educate rural famers and offer telecommunication services in the rural areas if they hope to raise their agricultural productivity.
Geographical Information Systems for Biomass Estimate and the Search for Renewable Energy Sources
Authors: Borruso Giuseppe
Published: April 2012

In this paper the attention is drawn on GIS as a support for energy choices for a sustainable development. Given the growing pressures for respecting the environment on one side and on limited non-renewable energy sources, mainly oil-based, on the other side, there is a need to evaluate different alternative sources for integrating those already available and to foster energy saving. This paper is focused on biomasses, and particularly on those originating from cattle and swine breeding. An example is given of localization and quantification of energy potential deriving from animal breeding in Friuli Venezia Giulia Region (North Eastern Italy), focusing on cattle and swine ones, from the analysis of local units and animals registered at municipality level. In this stage of the research, the GIS environment is used to analyse statistical data at municipality level and for computing the theoretical output in energy terms, hypothesising different scenarios.
ICT as an Enabler for Small Firm Growth
Authors: Costin Yvonne
Published: April 2012

The advancing pace of women’s entrepreneurial activity across the globe is a promising trend to fuel economic development and social progress (Fitzsimons & O’Gorman, 2005). Analysis of the reasons why women start a new business, the choice of product/service, and industry sector highlight the home-based female entrepreneur. These entrepreneurs constitutes a segment referred to as the mompreneurs—mothers who establish a business operated from home. Thus, although mompreneurs gain benefits of operating their business from home, they also experience additional challenges. One such issue is their dependence on ICT. To succeed and grow, mompreneurs’ businesses must use ICT as a backbone for the business in an integrated manner. In this article, the author examines the adoption and application of ICT in the mompreneur business, as well as the challenges encountered in its effective use. A specific emphasis is placed on the issue of ICT and its use by the mompreneur in undertaking business transactions and as a means of facilitating small firm growth.
Relating Transportation Quality Indicators to Economic Conditions in the South-Central U.S.
Authors: Comer Jonathan C. , Graham Amy K. , Brown Stacey R.
Published: April 2012

Investment in transportation infrastructure is widely assumed to spur economic growth, a belief that persists among both the general public and government officials. However, research has provided inconsistent evidence to date, and many researchers believe that good transportation is a necessary but insufficient condition for regional growth. This study examines the issue from a different perspective than the majority of past research, using spatial regression techniques to explore the relationship between transportation quality and regional economic development at an intermediate spatial resolution. Using federal highway statistics on pavement roughness and bridge quality, this research examines the relationship between measurable results of transportation spending, as evidenced by better quality roads and bridges, and various indicators of economic health. This relationship is examined in the South-Central U.S. (Arkansas, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas) at the county level and uncovers moderate to weak regression coefficients overall but with notable spatial variations across the study area.
Towards Sustainable Development of Energy-Aware Systems
Authors: Petre Luigia , Sere Kaisa
Published: April 2012

Smart devices have pervaded our society and encouraged lifestyles that depend on them. One of the fundamental requirements for a successful dependency is that the general public be aware of the energy limitations of these devices and to stay in control of energy consumption. In this paper, the authors propose a formal specification method that takes energy into account. They propose two development approaches that can use these specifications to develop energy-aware systems in a sustainable manner.
Planning Infrastructure
Authors: Heywood Phil
Published: April 2012

Current rapid increases in the scope of regional development and the reach of technology have combined with the expanding scale of modern settlements to focus growing attention on infrastructure needs. This has included organizational and funding systems, the management of new technologies and regional scale social provisions. In this chapter, the evolution of urban and regional infrastructure is traced from its earliest origins in the growth of organized societies 5,000 years ago. Infrastructure needs and provision are illustrated for the arenas of metropolitan, provincial and rural regions. Rural infrastructure examples and lessons are drawn from global case studies. Recent expansions of the scope of infrastructure are examined and issues of governance and process discussed. Phased planning processes are related to cycles of program adoption, objective formulation, option evaluation and program budgeting. Issues of privatization and public interest are considered. Matters of contemporary global significance are explored, including the current economic contraction and the effects of global climate change. Conclusions are drawn about the role and importance of linking regional planning to coherent regional infrastructure programs and budgets.
Challenges Ahead for European Air Traffic
Authors: Young Dave , Pilon Nadine , Brom Lawrence
Published: April 2012

The complexity and volumes of the projected future traffic require very demanding air traffic management systems and operations, and the perspective of continuing growth have triggered on both sides of the Atlantic initiatives to modernise the Air Traffic Management systems, namely NextGen in the USA and SESAR in Europe. The present European ATM infrastructure must be transformed. It must be propelled into the modern age, industrialised and developed into an integrated ATM Network facilitating the sustainable development of air transport, which will in turn contribute to a strong and sustainable growth of national economies, while enhancing safety and minimising environmental impact. This transformation requires the application of new operational concepts which fully exploit developments in information technology and airborne intelligence, integrated and implemented in a uniform and consistent manner. This chapter summarises the views of many European opinion leaders and actors of the industry captured in a recent study. It does not pretend to address these all in detail, but aims to provide the reader with insight into aspects where research is required, where issues must be confronted and resolved – where the industry’s challenges lie. Whilst the chapter addresses these challenges with a distinct European flavour, it is quite possible that many aspects will find sympathy elsewhere around our increasingly interdependent globe.
Exploiting Social Media Features for Automated Tag Recommendation
Authors: Abbasi Rabeeh Ayaz
Published: April 2012

In today’s social media platforms, when users upload or share their media (photos, videos, bookmarks, etc.), they often annotate it with keywords (called tags). Annotating the media helps in retrieving and browsing resources, and also allows the users to search and browse annotated media. In many social media platforms like Flickr or YouTube, users have to manually annotate their resources, which is inconvenient and time consuming. Tag recommendation is the process of suggesting relevant tags for a given resource, and a tag recommender is a system that recommends the tags. A tag recommender system is important for social media platforms to help users in annotating their resources. Many of the existing tag recommendation methods exploit only the tagging information (Jaschke et al., 2007, Marinho & Schmidt-Thieme, 2008, Sigurbjornsson & van Zwol, 2008). However, many social media platforms support other media features like geographical coordinates. These features can be exploited for improving tag recommendation. In this chapter, a comparison of three types of social media features for tag recommendation is presented and evaluated. The features presented in this chapter include geographical-coordinates, low-level image descriptors, and tags.
Semantic Technology for Improved Email Collaboration
Authors: Scerri Simon
Published: April 2012

Digital means of communications such as email and IM have become a crucial tool for collaboration. Taking advantage of the fact that information exchanged over these media can be made persistent, a lot of research has strived to make sense of the ongoing communication processes in order to support the participants with their management. In this chapter, a workflow-oriented approach is pursued to demonstrate how, coupled with appropriate information extraction techniques, robust knowledge models, and intuitive user interfaces, semantic technology can provide support for email-based collaborative work. While eliciting as much knowledge as possible, the design concept in this chapter imposes little to no changes and/or restrictions to the conventional use of email.
Perspectives on Media Literacy, Digital Literacy and Information Literacy
Authors: Fantin Monica
Published: April 2012

The cultural landscape poses different challenges for teachers. Beyond developing reading and writing skills, it is necessary to emerge in the digital culture and master the different codes of different languages. In this context, media education studies discuss the educational possibilities of interpreting, problematizing, and producing different kinds of texts in critical and creative ways, through the use of all means, languages and technologies available. Considering that media cannot be excluded from literacy programs, it is essential to reflect on the definition of “literate” today. These reflections examine the resignification of concepts like literacy, media literacy, digital literacy and information literacy.
Framework for the Experiences in Digital Literacy in the Spanish Market
Authors: Heredero C. DePablos
Published: April 2012

The information society must be considered, above all, a society composed by people. For that reason, a social priority for the information society development should be centered in the acquisition of knowledge. To be included in the digital literacy means to have the technological capabilities that allow a person surviving in the information society. We try to offer real examples for the development of digital literacy in a variety of areas of application: education, social inclusion and firms. For that reason we describe and analyze the contribution of digital literacy to the following Spanish projects: Educared, which promotes the spread of Internet for innovation and pedagogical training amongst teachers, parents and students in primary and secondary schools; the Dana Project, which identifies good practices to reduce the digital gap based in gender; and Competic, a program offers good practices for the promotion of information and communication technologies in small and medium size firms.
Developing Smart Emergency Applications with Multi-Agent Systems
Authors: Bergenti Federico , Poggi Agostino
Published: April 2012

Multi-agent systems have been importantly contributing to the development of the theory and the practice of complex distributed systems and, in particular, they have shown their potential to meet critical needs in high-speed, mission-critical, content-rich, distributed information applications where mutual interdependencies, dynamic environments, uncertainty, and sophisticated control play a remarkable role. Therefore, multi-agent systems are considered a suitable technology for the realization of e-health applications where the use of loosely coupled and heterogeneous components, the dynamic and distributed management of data, and the remote collaboration among users are often the most relevant requirements. This paper describes some of the main reasons why multi-agent systems are today considered one of the best technologies for the realization and deployment of advances for e-health applications and, in particular, of smart emergency applications. After an introduction on the inherent characteristics of the use of multi-agent systems for e-health, the paper presents the results of EU-scale project CASCOM: a real multi-agent system for the execution of smart emergency tasks.
Telemonitoring System of Neurological Signs in a Health Telematique Network
Authors: Folea Silviu , Avram Camelia , Vidican Sorin , Astilean Adina
Published: April 2012

The paper presents a new, experimental, wireless tremor telemonitoring system composed of an optional variable number of portable devices integrating three-axis acceleration mini-sensors which are connected to very small dimensions acquisition systems with Wi-Fi transmission capabilities. The main advantages of the design system consist of the possibilities to monitor simultaneously many body parts of one or multiple subjects on local or more extended areas both for scheduled assessments and in an everyday life environment. Possible applications of the presented experimental system, considered as a part of a health telematic network, consist of delivering supplementary, consistent sets of data to clinicians in order to reliably assess patients’ state in home and community settings, over longer periods of time. This system consists of delivering new data necessary for differential diagnosis of different types of tremors, or to precise different stages of illness in a health telematic network. The multiple simultaneous measuring capabilities and the extended observation time period could cover eventually neglected aspects related to occasional, temporary, or an intermittent tremor. The Wi-Fi DAQ proposed system’s novelty, in contrast with existing Wi-Fi solutions, is its ultra low power Wi-Fi capability, which makes it suitable for sensing applications where battery power management is critical.
Biosensor Based on Giant Magnetoresistance Material
Authors: Djamal Mitra , Ramli  , Yulkifli  , Suprijadi  , Khairurrijal
Published: April 2012

In recent years, giant magnetoresistance (GMR) sensors have shown a great potential as sensing elements for biomolecule detection. The resistance of a GMR sensor changes with the magnetic field applied to the sensor, so that a magnetically labeled biomolecule can induce a signal. Compared with the traditional optical detection that is widely used in biomedicine, GMR sensors are more sensitive, portable, and give a fully electronic readout. In addition, GMR sensors are inexpensive and the fabrication is compatible with the current VLSI (Very Large Scale Integration) technology. In this regard, GMR sensors can be easily integrated with electronics and microfluidics to detect many different analytes on a single chip. In this article, the authors demonstrate a comprehensive review on a novel approach in biosensors based on GMR material.
Toward Applications of EMG and Preliminary Study in the Next Design of Compact Integrated Bio-Signal Recording System
Authors: Astami Kastam , Aridarma Arga
Published: April 2012

Electromygraph or EMG is a device used to measure and record muscle signal. The developments of microelectronics allow the design and realization of such a device with current off-shelf components. The authors developed system consists of multi-channel analog circuitry and is microcontroller based to facilitate connectivity with a computer or laptop as a recording platform. From this developed system, the authors further improve the system by referring to the previous result. One of the improvements is the user controllable gain of each channel. However, beyond the improvement to the system, the use it in an acupuncture experiment for recording muscle signal during the acupuncture process. This paper also explores the possibility of implementing muscle signal as a control for an assistive system and integrating it for an integrated bio-signal recording system.
Privacy Challenges in the Use of eHealth Systems for Public Health Management
Authors: Raychaudhuri Karpurika , Ray Pradeep
Published: April 2012

Privacy is a major issue in information management for public health needs. For example, the surveillance of infectious diseases, such as HIV, is an important function of public health and it presents major privacy concerns for affected people. While their privacy must be protected, privacy concerns should not come in the way of effective data collection and surveillance. In this paper, the authors present a survey of published work covering privacy challenges in the use of eHealth systems, especially in the context of public health management. The authors identify and present the major privacy challenges, their effects on personal patient privacy and public health management based on the review of research in electronic data privacy and eHealth privacy. The authors also present a survey of privacy-preserving technologies and solutions that address these challenges.
A Framework for Detecting Interactions Between Co-Incident Clinical Processes
Authors: Hinge Kerry , Ghose Aditya K. , Miller Andrew
Published: April 2012

The detection of treatment conflicts between multiple treatment protocols that are co-incident is a difficult and open problem that is particularly exacerbated regarding the treatment of multiple medical conditions co-occurring in aged patients. For example, a clinical protocol for prostate cancer treatment requires the administration of androgen-suppressing medication, which may negatively interact with another, co-incident protocol if the same patient were being treated for renal disease via haemodialysis, where androgen-enhancers are frequently administered. These treatment conflicts are subtle and difficult to detect using automated means. Traditional approaches to clinical decision support would require significant clinical knowledge. In this paper, the authors present an alternative approach that relies on encoding treatment protocols via process models (in BPMN) and annotating these models with semantic effect descriptions, which automatically detects conflicts. This paper describes an implemented tool (ProcessSEER) used for semantic effect annotation of a set of 12 cancer trial protocols and depicts the machinery required to detect treatment conflicts. The authors also argue whether the semantic effect annotations of treatment protocols can be leveraged for other tasks.
Blood Vessel Segmentation in Complex-Valued Magnetic Resonance Images with Snake Active Contour Model
Authors: Handayani Astri , Suksmono Andriyan B. , Mengko Tati L.R. , Hirose Akira
Published: April 2012

Accurate blood vessel segmentation plays a crucial role in non-invasive blood flow velocity measurement based on complex-valued magnetic resonance images. We propose a specific snake active contour model-based blood vessel segmentation framework for complex-valued magnetic resonance images. The proposed framework combines both magnitude and phase information from a complex-valued image representation to obtain an optimum segmentation result. Magnitude information of the complex-valued image provides a structural localization of the target object, while phase information identifies the existence of flowing matters within the object. Snake active contour model, which models the segmentation procedure as a force-balancing physical system, is being adopted as a framework for this work due to its interactive, dynamic, and customizable characteristics. Two snake-based segmentation models are developed to produce a more accurate segmentation result, namely the Model-constrained Gradient Vector Flow-snake (MC GVF-snake) and Stochastic-snake. MC GVF-snake elaborates a prior knowledge on common physical structure of the target object to restrict and guide the segmentation mechanism, while Stochastic-snake implements the simulated annealing stochastic procedure to produce improved segmentation accuracy. The developed segmentation framework has been evaluated on actual complex-valued MRI images, both in noise-free and noisy simulated conditions. Evaluation results indicate that both of the developed algorithms give an improved segmentation performance as well as increased robustness, in comparison to the conventional snake algorithm.
Development of Dual Video Acquisition and Parallel AVI Player with Camera Calibration System for Supporting Dual View Motion Detection
Authors: Nasrulloh Amar Vijai , Mengko Tati L.R. , Apriantono Tommy
Published: April 2012

Human motion capture consists of the recording of human body movements for immediate or delayed analysis and playback. Development of the dual video acquisition methods and continued with dual and parallel AVI player display can visually display dual view motion detection and successfully identify the depth of the motion detection. Times and frames are played together in dual AVI player display. The mouse cursor tags, using markers, every motion manually and records the two view graphics movement of the joints represented by the markers. The software module to find Ln of two camera calibration that connects a 2 dimensional image plane and 3 dimensional world coordinates has been built using Direct Linear Transformation equation with distance error ±0,44 pixels for video camera 1 and ±1,03 pixels for video camera 2.
Current Challenges in Embedded Communication Systems
Authors: Isoaho Jouni , Virtanen Seppo , Plosila Juha
Published: April 2012

This article defines and analyses key challenges met in future embedded systems in networked multimedia and communication applications. Self-awareness, interoperability and embedded security are used to characterize different aspects of designing and implementing next generation embedded systems. The dynamic nature of applications and implementations as well as possible technological faults and variations need to be considered in system verification and modeling. A new design layer needs to be added to current NoC platforms in order to build procedures that take into account dynamic system reconfigurations, fault-tolerance aspects and flexible portability. Increased modularity and networked implementations create a need for trust management mechanisms between system components and technology for analyzing validity and correctness of received application and system configuration information.
System Architecture for 3GPP-LTE Modem using a Programmable Baseband Processor
Authors: Wu Di , Eilert Johan , Asghar Rizwan , Liu Dake , Nilsson Anders , Tell Eric , Alfredsson Eric
Published: April 2012

The evolution of third generation mobile communications toward high-speed packet access and long-term evolution is ongoing and will substantially increase the throughput with higher spectral efficiency. This paper presents the system architecture of an LTE modem based on a programmable baseband processor. The architecture includes a baseband processor that handles processing time and frequency synchronization, IFFT/FFT (up to 2048-p), channel estimation and subcarrier de-mapping. The throughput and latency requirements of a Category four User Equipment (CAT4 UE) is met by adding a MIMO symbol detector and a parallel Turbo decoder supporting H-ARQ, which brings both low silicon cost and enough flexibility to support other wireless standards. The complexity demonstrated by the modem shows the practicality and advantage of using programmable baseband processors for a single-chip LTE solution.
ALSA CHINA
Authors: Cosmen Andrés
Published: April 2012

ALSA began its operations in China in 1984, at the beginning of China´s policy of economic opening to the outside world. In order to become one of the companies of reference in the field of road passenger transport in China, ALSA has made a long process of adaptation of its business management to the characteristics of the country, including the establishment of a knowledge management system
Enhancing Information Retrieval Capabilities of Knowledge Management Systems
Authors: Rathi Dinesh , Lucky Shannon , Shiri Ali
Published: April 2012

User support services face complex problems in the efficient and satisfactory delivery of services to users. Knowledge management (KM) principles can be effectively implemented within this organizational context to support efficient and effective problem solving to improve service delivery to the users. A KM system with good information retrieval capabilities is critical in empowering front line employees to utilize organizational knowledge repositories for better service delivery. The purpose of this chapter is to present different aspects of the major information retrieval techniques that can be used in a user services environment and to propose new models to enhance retrieval capabilities of KM systems. The authors discuss the basic elements that make up an information retrieval system including metadata, controlled, and uncontrolled vocabularies. The authors also propose three experimental search interfaces for enhancing information retrieval capabilities of a KM system. The first uses a thesaurus for enhanced retrieval features through better query formulation and browsing of search results; the second uses the tag cloud concept to present thesaurus terms; and the third combines the structure of a controlled vocabulary with the flexibility of a folksonomy and tag cloud, thus incorporating the beneficial aspects of both uncontrolled and controlled vocabularies to support retrieval within a heterogeneous corporate environment.
Utilizing Open Source Cloud Computing Environments to Provide Cost Effective Support for University Education and Research
Authors: Dreher Patrick , Vouk Mladen
Published: April 2012

This chapter describes an economical and scalable open source cloud computing technology suitable for a university environment where the need is to simultaneously serve a diverse spectrum of educational and research missions. In particular, this chapter reviews a cloud computing technology called Virtual Computing Lab (VCL, http://vcl.ncsu.edu). This open source technology was originally designed and built at North Carolina State University (NCSU), and its seamlessly supports both the electronic teaching and learning needs of the university as well as a robust environment for faculty high performance computing research needs. Extensive data from the NCSU VCL production system show the economic scalability of the solutions. The authors discuss economic viability of the solution and the trade-off analysis that needs to be done to understand how much of the equipment, virtualization, and workload balancing among on-demand and background workloads need to happen.
Cloud Computing
Authors: Marshall Paul Jeffery
Published: April 2012

This chapter presents cloud computing as a way and a solution used for the next generation education. It summarizes cloud computing implemented in education systems. Discussions include interests in and concerns about cloud computing. This chapter also presents scenarios of education system merger and acquisition, and governance and control in cloud computing education systems. It provides examples of how cloud computing can be used to educate and communicate better in the next generation education environment.
Intelligent Clouds
Authors: Paletta Mauricio
Published: April 2012

This chapter describes the similarity of intelligent clouds and multi-agent systems. It also explains why intelligent clouds are useful and important. It gives detailed descriptions on how to incorporate intelligent abilities such as learning, negotiation, collaboration, and communication to cloud systems by using IAs. It also details the application of intelligent clouds in e-learning.
Architecture Design Approaches and Issues in Cross Layer Systems
Authors: Cattoni Andrea F. , Sørensen Troels B. , Mogensen Preben E.
Published: April 2012

However, Cross Layer also carries a risk due to possibly unexpected and undesired effects. In this chapter, the authors provide architecture designers with a set of guidelines synthesized from an analysis of the state of the art, but enriched with the perspective of the development of future generations of communication systems such as Cognitive Radio.
Cross-Layer Design for Network Security Enhancement
Authors: Chen Chi-Yuan , Chao Han-Chieh
Published: April 2012

Cross-Layer Design is useful for wireless communication to improve the performance and efficiency. On the other hand, Cross-Layer Design is also helpful in enhancing network security. With the help of cross-layer information and interactions, the security overhead can be reduced and the security efficiency can be improved. In this chapter, the authors review the existing literature and provide a taxonomy based on their methods and applications. According to their survey, these cross-layer security enhancements could be classified into four categories: 1) security protocol; 2) security policy; 3) key management; 4) intrusion detection. The authors hope to attract more applications and research attention in this direction.
Joint Resource Allocation and Interference Mitigation Techniques for Cooperative Wireless Networks
Authors: de Lamare Rodrigo C. , Clarke Patrick
Published: April 2012

This chapter presents joint interference suppression and power allocation algorithms for DS-CDMA and MIMO networks with multiple hops and amplify-and-forward and Decode-and-Forward (DF) protocols. A scheme for joint allocation of power levels across the relays and linear interference suppression is proposed. The authors also consider another strategy for joint interference suppression and relay selection that maximizes the diversity available in the system. Simulations show that the proposed cross-layer optimization algorithms obtain significant gains in capacity and performance over existing schemes.
Cross-Layer Design, Analysis, and Optimization of QoS-Constrained AMC/ARQ-Based Wireless Networks
Authors: Ramis Jaume , Femenias Guillem
Published: April 2012

In order to provide heterogeneous quality of service guarantees to applications, most wireless communications standards combine the error-correcting capability of (hybrid) automatic repeat request protocols at the data link control layer with the adjustment ability of adaptive modulation and coding strategies at the physical layer. In this chapter, a cross-layer multidimensional discrete-time Markov chain based queuing model is developed to jointly exploit the capabilities of (hybrid) automatic repeat request protocols and adaptive modulation and coding. Based on the stationary state probability distribution of this multidimensional discrete-time Markov chain, closed-form analytical expressions for performance metrics such as throughput, average packet delay, and packet loss rate are derived. Furthermore, the proposed analytical framework is used to formulate multidimensional and simplified two-dimensional constrained cross-layer optimization problems aiming at maximizing the system throughput under prescribed quality of service constraints.
Cross-Layer Techniques for Reliable Wireless Video Communication
Authors: Moinuddin Athar Ali , Khan Mohd Ayyub , Khan Ekram , Ghanbari Mohammed
Published: April 2012

Designing wireless video communication system is a challenging task due to high error rates of wireless channels, limited and dynamically varying bandwidth availability, and low energy and complexity requirements of portable multimedia devices. Scalable video coders having excellent rate-distortion performance are most suited to cope with time varying bandwidth of wireless networks, but encoded bits are extremely sensitive to channel errors. This chapter presents a reliable video communication system exploring opportunities offered by various network layers for improved overall performance, while optimizing the resources. More specifically, cross-layer approach for Unequal Error Protection (UEP) of scalable video bitstream is the main theme of this chapter. In UEP, the important bits are given a higher protection compared to the other bits. Conventionally, UEP is achieved by using Forward Error Correction (FEC) at the application layer. However, UEP can also be provided at the physical layer using hierarchical modulation scheme. In this chapter, the authors discuss cross-layer design methodology for UEP that rely on interaction between the application layer and the physical layer to achieve reliable and high quality end-to-end performance in wireless environments. The discussion is mainly focused for wavelet coded video, but it is applicable to other embedded bitstreams as well.