bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Towards Object Descriptions in Natural Language from Qualitative Models
Authors: Falomir Zoe  , Museros Lledó  , Ródenas Pablo  , Sanz Ismael
Published: February 2025

An approach is presented aimed to produce narrative descriptions of objects within digital images which are understandable by human beings. A context-free grammar is defined based on qualitative models for colour and shape description. This approach was tested using images of the MPEG-7 CE Shape-1 library and images of tile geometric pieces. The results show that a general or detailed narrative description can be obtained from different kinds of images containing one or more objects and they also support the further application of our approach to (i) teach children about shapes by giving them instructions on how play the game known as join-the-dots and (ii) help children with visual impairments to carry out visual oddity tasks in psychological tests.
The Telegraph and the Beginnings of Telemedicine in Australia
Authors: Eikelboom Robert H.
Published: February 2025

The history of telemedicine is at times presented to commence in the 20thcentury. Events in Central Australia in 1874 show that the history goes further back, when the newly constructed telegraph played an important telemedicine role not only in enabling care for a wounded person, but also in uniting a dying man with his wife 2000 kilometres away. Innovation with the tools at hand has proven to be effective to bridge the tyranny of distance in the delivery of health care.
An Information System to Learn Characteristic Sets of Words and to Examine Knowledge in Statistics
Authors: Rasnacs Oskars  , Vitins Maris
Published: February 2025

Health care students and practicing specialists find it difficult to choose appropriate data processing methods when preparing bachelor's theses, master's theses and other scholarly research papers. The main problem here is that there is an insufficient emphasis in the literature on characteristic sets of words in English, and links among these sets are presented in a way which both specialists and students find hard to comprehend and utilise. The authors of this paper have proposed an information system which emphasises characteristic sets of words in English and linkages among same.
An hybrid approach for legal information extraction
Authors: Poudyal Prakash  , Quaresma Paulo
Published: February 2025

A proposal for legal information extraction is described, aiming to automatically populate an ontology. The experiments were performed over a set of legal documents from the European lex site. The proposed approach combines two different processes, namely statistical based and rule-based methodologies, and can be considered an hybrid approach. This methodology showed good results, namely in the precision, recall and f-measure values.
A Unified Change Management of Regulations and their Formal Representations based on the FRBR Framework and the Direct Method
Authors: Szőke Ákos  , Förhécz András  , Strausz György
Published: February 2025

Numerous regulations affect our lives. Compliance with them is quite a challenge. Considering the change management of regulations the situation is even more complex. To propose a solution to this problem we introduce a unified change management of both legislative documents and their formal representations based on the FRBR framework and the direct method of legislative changes. This unified management helps i) tracing legislative changes in formal models, ii) understanding the nature of the changes more deeply and easily, and iii) providing joint management of legal text and their formal representations. To evaluate the approach, we implemented a software prototype and carried out a case study at a large international bank.
Knowledge-base approach to software-process development based on TIL
Authors: Duží Marie  , Košinár Michal  , Kožusznik Jan  , Štolfa Svatopluk
Published: February 2025

Software products in companies are a substantial part of their production and a necessary condition of their business success. However, there is still a problem of software proper specification and verification. We propose a formal specification method for software processes based on Transparent Intensional Logic, TIL. This method is logic-oriented, because logical specification within a rich formal framework makes it possible to explicitly define process resources as well as process logic. Moreover, our novel contribution consists in integrating a knowledge-based method with process dynamic modeling.
Characteristic shear strength values for EC7: Guidelines based on a statistical framework
Authors: Schneider H.R.  , Fitze P.
Published: February 2025

Geotechnical performance of a structure is generally governed by spatial average soil properties, such as the average shear strength along a potential slip surface in a slope. In Eurocode the characteristic soil value is defined as “a cautious estimate of the value affecting the occurrence of the limit state”. In addition it is stated that the selection of this value should be based on, among other factors, “the extent of the zone of ground governing the behavior of the geotechnical structure at the limit state being considered”. A statistical framework is presented to rationally assess the characteristic values according to Eurocode. Three statistical properties are required to quantify the characteristic shear strength values along a failure surface: the arithmetic mean, the variance and the scale of fluctuation. Simplified formulae for the determination of characteristic values are presented along with guidelines of typical input parameters. Stiff soils such as overconsolidated clays and clay shales exhibit brittle stress-strain behavior and are prone to progressive failures due to strain-softening. The shearing resistance first increases and then decreases with increasing displacements, and, as a result, the peak shear strengths of the materials at all points along a slip surface cannot be mobilized simultaneously. For these complex conditions, a pragmatic approach to estimate the characteristic values has been given. In addition, the apparently different definitions of characteristic values for construction materials such as concrete and soils have been presented and explained in a unified approach.
Discussion Session 3.3: Ground reinforcement
Authors: Vaníček Martin
Published: February 2025

Summary of the papers submitted in the Discussion session 3.3 – Ground Reinforcement.
Discussion Session 4.3: Landslides
Authors: Winter M.G.
Published: February 2025

The 17 papers accepted for Discussion Session 4.3 (Landslides) are briefly reviewed and categorised. The majority of papers (11) relate to works on individual or small groups of landslides while two papers consider each of the subjects of regional assessments, experimental and analytical methods, and climate change impacts. Key issues are set out for further debate in the conference session. In addition two issues of particular interest are further developed. Accordingly a classification of landslide management and mitigation actions is presented, and some views on the impacts of climate change on landslides are articulated with a view to promoting discussion.
Deep excavations and retaining structures
Authors: Katzenbach R.  , Bergmann C.  , Clauss F.  , Leppla S.
Published: February 2025

Many large construction projects need excavations and retaining structures for the construction of basements, foundations, pipelines, cables and cut-and-cover tunnels and other. Many different retaining systems are available for excavation pits. The design and construction of deep excavation pits have to regard the ultimate limit state (SLS) and the serviceability limit state (ULS). The ULS is very important if other structures are closely located to the excavation pit. For analyses of the soil-structure-interaction of the subsoil, the retaining structure and closely located structures the Finite-Element-Method (FEM) is an effective tool to compute deformations of the retaining structure and the surrounding surface [1, 2]. For an economic and safe dimensioning and construction of retaining systems a large amount of scientific research is needed [3]. This paper contents the definition of a deep excavation index, the application of the observational method according to EC 7 and examples of deep excavation pits.
Processing Medical Reports to Automatically Populate Ontologies
Authors: Borrego Luís  , Quaresma Paulo
Published: February 2025

Medical reports are, quite often, written and stored in computer systems in a non-structured free text form. As a consequence, the information contained in these reports is not easily available and it is not possible to take it into account by medical decision support systems. We propose a methodology to automatically process and analyze medical reports, identifying concepts and their instances, and populating a new ontology. This methodology is based in natural language processing techniques using linguistic and statistical information. The proposed system was applied successfully to a set of medical reports from the Veterinary Hospital of the University of Évora.
A Systems Theory Classification of EMR Hazards: Preliminary Results
Authors: Mason-Blakley Fieran  , Weber Jens
Published: February 2025

Jurisdictions in Canada, the US, the EU and Australia are struggling with regulation of ever evolving software in medicine. Recently this discussion has had a focus on electronic medical records (EMRs). There is a mountain of evidence that EMRs have actualized potential to lead to the injury of patients through the information they offer to facilitate care. We are undertaking a systematic review of relevant literature in the field to uncover some of the latent hazards. We hypothesize that this exploration, using a variation on Leveson's system theoretic accidents models and processes (STAMP) model as a classification tool, will provide two benefits. First, the model will be sufficient to capture the complexity of the domain and its hazards, thus providing a holistic perspective on the problem. Second, the classification process will provide insight as to what steps might be taken to mitigate the risk that medical errors associated with these software tools will arise in health care systems which employ them. In this continuation of our study we still have not been able to produce evidence which contradicts either hypothesis.
Social Media and Patient Self-Management: Not all Sites are Created Equal
Authors: Ellis Leonie  , Showell Chris  , Turner Paul
Published: February 2025

This paper compares two social media sites that aim to support patients to enhance self-management. The first site, PatientsLikeMe is a well established global site designed to allow peer-to-peer communication between people with similar conditions. The second, HealthShare, is a recently developed site for Australians described as “Australia's Social Health Network”. The comparison conducted examines the purpose, ownership, and design of both sites as well as how the data they collect is used. Analysis highlights that PatientsLikeMe actively facilitates patient self-management, while HealthShare is revealed to be a professionally moderated health information portal presented as a social networking site. While the impetus for the development of PatientsLikeMe is clear, the motives underpinning HealthShare are less obvious. With increasing patient interest in connecting with, and sharing information with one another, awareness of the nature and motivations underpinning sites that provide these services is of increasing relevance.
What Nurses are Talking About: Content and Community within a Nursing Online Forum
Authors: Abrahamson Kathleen  , Fox Rebekah  , Anderson James G.
Published: February 2025

There is little research on the use of online forums by nursing professionals as a way of creating community and exchanging professional knowledge. The purpose of this study is to analyze the content of an online nursing forum to determine the potential of online forums to constitute a community of practice among nurses. We examined one month of thread topics from a nursing focused general discussion forum and categorized (294 discussion threads) according to content. The most frequent topics of discussion were advice regarding career planning and clinical/technical questions. The majority of posts dealt directly with the domain of nursing. The finding that nurses are seeking information about clinical tasks from unverified anonymous online sources raises concerns about the safety culture of health care institutions.
Implications of the Mature Personal Health Record for the Empowered Consumer
Authors: Rohrer Wesley  , Househ Mowafa S.
Published: February 2025

The purpose of this paper is to present a future scenario projecting a fully developed, i.e., mature, personal health record (MPHR) that is instrumental in linking health care services delivery with preventive and wellness activities to provide informed and responsive consumer-driven health care. The legal-regulatory, institutional management, socio-cultural and technological challenges to implementation are discussed to guide future policy development in this area. We conclude that the potential pay-offs for enhancing the individual's health and well-being and protecting and sustaining the public's health overall is worth a considerable investment in policy analysis, technological R&D, partnership building and the expenditure of political capital by influential advocates and decision makers.
Effects on Performance of Individual versus Dyadic Practice during an Avatar-Based Three-Dimensional Virtual Home Safety Simulation
Authors: Andrade Allen D.  , Anam Ramanakumar  , Sun Huaping  , Mintzer Michael J.  , Ruiz Jorge G.
Published: February 2025

This pilot study tests the effects on individual performance of dyadic versus individual practice in a 3D virtual world (VW) home safety assessment. Sixty medical students in three conditions (dyadic spatially separated with paired avatars DPA; individual with avatar IND; and dyadic spatially together with single avatar DSA) participated in a geriatric home safety simulation. The participants, via avatars, conducted an assessment of physical hazards. Participants then worked individually in a separate 3D VW home assessment. Dyadic practice, spatially together with a single avatar (DSA), improved individual performance in the subsequent 3D VW home assessment.
Optimized Image-Based Soft Tissue Deformation Algorithms for Visualization of Haptic Needle Insertion
Authors: Fortmeier Dirk  , Mastmeyer Andre  , Handels Heinz
Published: February 2025

Real-time surgical simulation relies on the fast computation of soft tissue deformations. In this paper, we present image-based algorithms for computing the deformations of a volumetric image during a needle insertion in real-time. The algorithms are based on diffusive and linear elastic finite difference methods as utilized in image registration. For an evaluation, the methods are compared to a finite element simulation of the pre-puncture phase of a needle insertion. Furthermore, the methods are improved and tested; contrary to our assumption, an improved diffusion based approach outperforms a linear elastic approach. The algorithms are used to perform a VR simulation of a needle insertion with visuo-haptic feedback.
Liver Pathology Simulation: Algorithm for Haptic Rendering and Force Maps for Palpation Assessment
Authors: Hamza-Lup Felix G.  , Seitan Adrian  , Popovici Dorin M.  , Bogdan Crenguta M.
Published: February 2025

Pre-operatory gestures include tactile sampling of the mechanical properties of biological tissue for both histological and pathological considerations. Tactile properties used in conjunction with visual cues can provide useful feedback to the surgeon. Development of novel cost effective haptic-based simulators and their introduction in the minimally invasive surgery learning cycle can absorb the learning curve for your residents. Receiving pre-training in a core set of surgical skills can reduce skill acquisition time and risks. We present the integration of a real-time surface stiffness adjustment algorithm and a novel paradigm - force maps - in a visuo-haptic simulator module designed to train internal organs disease diagnostics through palpation.
Stereoscopic Vision-Based Robotic Manipulator Extraction Method for Enhanced Soft Tissue Reconstruction
Authors: Kowalczuk Jędrzej  , Psota Eric  , Pérez Lance C.
Published: February 2025

The availability of digital stereoscopic video feedback on surgical robotic platforms allows for a variety of enhancements through the application of computer vision. Several of these enhancements, such as augmented reality and semi-automated surgery, benefit significantly from identification of the robotic manipulators within the field of view. A method is presented for the extraction of robotic manipulators from stereoscopic views of the operating field that uses a combination of marker tracking, inverse kinematics, and computer rendering. This method is shown to accurately identify the locations of the manipulators within the views. It is further demonstrated that this method can be used to enhance 3D reconstruction of the operating field and produce augmented views.
Development and Validation of VBLaST-PT
Authors: Arikatla Venkata S.  , Sankaranarayanan Ganesh  , Ahn Woojin  , Chellali Amine  , Cao Caroline G.L.  , De Suvranu
Published: February 2025

Peg transfer is one of the five tasks in the Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery (FLS), which is now established as a standard for training minimally invasive surgery. In this paper we report development and preliminary validation of Virtual Basic Laparoscopic Skill Trainer-peg transfer (VBLaST-PT©)simulator. Face validation of the VBLaST-PT©with 34 subjects revealed high scores for all aspects of simulation. A two-tailed Mann-Whitney performed on the total scores on VBLaST-PT©showed significant (p=0.001) difference between the skill groups.
Upper Extremity Reachable Workspace Evaluation with Kinect
Authors: Kurillo Gregorij  , Han Jay J.  , Obdržálek Štěpán  , Yan Posu  , Abresch Richard T.  , Nicorici Alina  , Bajcsy Ruzena
Published: February 2025

We propose a novel low-cost method for quantitative assessment of upper extremity workspace envelope using Microsoft Kinect camera. In clinical environment there are currently no practical and cost-effective methods available to provide arm-function evaluation in three-dimensional space. In this paper we examine the accuracy of the proposed technique for workspace estimation using Kinect in comparison with a motion capture system. The experimental results show that the developed system is capable of capturing the workspace with sufficient accuracy and robustness.
From Body Dissatisfaction to Obesity: How Virtual Reality May Improve Obesity Prevention and Treatment in Adolescents
Authors: Riva Giuseppe  , Gaggioli Andrea  , Dakanalis Antonios
Published: February 2025

Different studies, including longitudinal studies, suggest a link between body dissatisfaction, unhealthful weight-control behaviors and obesity in both male and female adolescents. Here we suggest that body dissatisfaction in obese adolescents may be driven by an allocentric negative body image that is no more updated by contrasting egocentric representations driven by perception. In other words, subjects are locked to an allocentric negative representation of their body (allocentric lock hypothesis - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mehy.2011.10.039) that their sensory inputs are no more able to update even after the dramatic body changes following a successful diet. More, the possible role of virtual reality in the prevention and treatment of obesity in adolescence is presented and discussed.
3D Liver Volume Reconstructed for Palpation Training
Authors: Tibamoso Gerardo  , Perez-Gutierrez Byron  , Uribe-Quevedo Alvaro
Published: February 2025

Virtual Reality systems for medical procedures such as the palpation of different organs, requires fast, robust, accurate and reliable computational methods for providing realism during interaction with the 3D biological models. This paper presents the segmentation, reconstruction and palpation simulation of a healthy liver volume as a tool for training. The chosen method considers the mechanical characteristics and liver properties for correctly simulating palpation interactions, which results appropriate as a complementary tool for training medical students in familiarizing with the liver anatomy.
mHealth Application for Upper Extremity Range of Motion and Reachable Workspace
Authors: Yan Posu  , Kurillo Gregorij  , Bajcsy Ruzena  , Abresch R. Ted  , Nicorici Alina  , Johnson Linda  , Han Jay J.
Published: February 2025

We present mobile health (mHealth) applications utilizing embedded phone sensors as an angle-measuring device for upper-limb range of motion (ROM) and estimation of reachable workspace to assist in evaluation of upper limb functional capacity. Our results show that the phone can record accurate measurements, as well as provide additional functionalities for clinicians.
Personalized Medicine and the Need for Decision Support Systems
Authors: Denecke Kerstin  , Spreckelsen Cord
Published: February 2025

Advances in genomics and human genetics have enabled a more detailed understanding of the impact of genetics in a disease and its treatment. In addition to a patient's clinical signs and symptoms, physicians can now or in near future consider genetic data for their diagnosis and treatment decisions. This new information source based on genome and gene expression analysis makes clinical decision processes even more complex. Beyond, behavioral and environmental aspects should also be considered in order to realize personalized medicine. Given these additional information sources, the need for support in decision making is increasing. In this paper, we introduce a vision how knowledge-based systems or decision support systems can help to realize personalized medicine and we explore the upcoming challenges for clinical decision support in that context.
Structured Knowledge Acquisition for Defining Guideline-Compliant Pathways
Authors: Heiden Katja  , Böckmann Britta
Published: February 2025

Healthcare providers are facing an enormous cost pressure, wherefore the assurance of an efficient care on a high level of quality is of decisive importance. Clinical guidelines and clinical pathways have been established for that purpose. Clinical guidelines offer abstract recommendations for diagnostic and therapeutic issues, while clinical pathways are a road map of patient management. The consideration of clinical guidelines during pathway development is highly recommended. But the transfer of evident knowledge (clinical guidelines) to care processes (clinical pathways) is not straightforward due to different information contents and semantical constructs. This article proposes a model-driven approach in conjunction with a developed knowledge acquisition tool to improve the development of guideline-compliant pathways.
Need to know and obligation to share in NATO Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR)
Authors: Coman C. (Christian)
Published: February 2025

This case study of the Multi-sensor Aerospace-ground Joint Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) Interoperability Coalition (MAJIIC) project is an illustration of how large-scale system-level engineering design can be addressed in a multinational coalition. It is the objective of the engineering design process to align goals, stakeholders and technologies in an effective architecture. The key role of standardisation is illustrated in a distributed environment, and a spiral development process is adopted through different project phases in time.
On the Horn Fragments of Serial Regular Grammar Logics with Converse
Authors: Nguyen Linh Anh  , Szałas Andrzej
Published: February 2025

We study Horn fragments of serial multimodal logics which are characterized by regular grammars with converse. Such logics are useful for reasoning about epistemic states of multiagent systems as well as similarity-based approximate reasoning. We provide the first algorithm with PTIME data complexity for checking satisfiability of a Horn knowledge base in a serial regular grammar logic with converse.
Abstract Test Suite Specification for ACL Communicating Agents
Authors: Bagić Babac Marina  , Jevtić Dragan
Published: February 2025

Although accepted as a standard language for writing test specifications, TTCN-3 has not yet been used for an agent system testing. As TTCN-3 is best suited for black-box conformance testing of communicating systems, agents can be tested for conformance with their standard protocols. Therefore, we provide the abstract test suite for communicating agents exchanging ACL (Agent Communication Language) messages in order to achieve FIPA Request interaction protocol.
A New BDI Architecture To Formalize Cognitive Agent Behaviors Into Simulations
Authors: Le Van-Minh  , Gaudou Benoit  , Taillandier Patrick  , Vo Duc-An
Published: February 2025

Nowadays, agent-based modelling is more and more used to study complex socio-ecological systems. These last years have also seen the development of several agent-based simulation platforms. These platforms allow modelers to easily and quickly develop models with simple agents. However, socio-ecological systems need agents able to make decisions in order to represent human beings and the design of such complex agents is still an open issue: even with these platforms, designing agents able to make complex reasoning is a difficult task, in particular for modelers that have no programming skill. In order to answer the modeler needs concerning complex agent design, we propose a new agent architecture based on the BDI paradigm and integrated into a simulation platform (GAMA). This paradigm allows designing expressive and realistic agents, yet, it is rarely used in simulation context. A reason is that most agent architectures based on the BDI paradigm are complex to understand and to use by non-computer-scientists. Our agent architecture answers this problem by allowing modelers to define complex cognitive agents in a simple way. An application of our architecture on a model concerning forest fire and fire-fighter helicopters is presented.
On Scalable, Event-Oriented Control for Lighting Systems
Authors: Wojnicki Igor  , Kotulski Leszek  , Ernst Sebastian
Published: February 2025

This paper proposes a scalable, multi-agent architecture for control of modern outdoor lighting systems. Most contemporary lighting systems utilize a static control structure, which is based on simple criteria (e.g. date, time of day, weather forecast) and operate on few (two or three) lighting modes of luminaries. Thus, centralized management is sufficient for such systems. Modern lighting control systems take dynamic and fine-grained (often local) conditions into account and operate on more sophisticated equipment, characterized by flexible lighting levels and geometries. These factors cause scalability problems, which may render the system unable to react to incoming events in time. The proposed solution introduces a hierarchy of agents, which allow for distributed control and supervision. Moreover a graph-based model is introduced as a formal representation of the agent's knowledge, which allows it to be processed in parallel by distributed agents.
Agent-Based Simulator for Travelers Multimodal Mobility
Authors: Zargayouna Mahdi  , Zeddini Besma  , Scemama Gérard  , Othman Amine
Published: February 2025

Transport systems are more and more complex and have to evolve to integrate more connected entities (mobile devices, localized vehicles, etc.). It becomes critical to develop micro-simulation tools for mobility policies makers taking into account this fact. In this paper, we propose a multimodal travel simulator that allows for the understanding and the prediction of future status of the networks and allows for testing new online applications. The application simulates the movements of travelers on the different networks while taking into account the changes in travel times and the status of the networks. The considered transport modes include pedestrians, private cars, all public transport modes and ridesharing. The simulator has been developed using the Repast Simphony®multiagent simulation platform.
Ethically Sound Technology? Guidelines for Interactive Ethical Assessment of Personal Health Monitoring
Authors: Palm Elin  , Nordgren Anders  , Verweij Marcel  , Collste Göran
Published: February 2025

Novel care-technologies possess a transformational potential. Future care and support may be provided via monitoring technologies such as smart devices, sensors, actors (robots) and Information and Communication Technologies. Such technologies enable care provision outside traditional care institutions, for instance in the homes of patients. Health monitoring may become “personalized” i.e. tailored to the needs of individual care recipients' but may also alter relations between care providers and care recipents, shape and form the care environment and influence values central to health-care. Starting out from a social constructivist theory of technology, an interactive ethical assessment-model is offered. The suggested model supplements a traditional analysis based on normative ethical theory (top-down approach) with interviews including relevant stakeholders (a bottom-up approach). This method has been piloted by small-scale interviews encircling stakeholder perspectives on three emerging technologies: (1) Careousel, a smart medicine-management device, (2) Robot Giraff, an interactive and mobile communication-device and (3) I-Care, a care-software that combines alarm and register system. By incorporating stakeholder perspectives into the analysis, the interactive ethical assessment model provides a richer understanding of the impact of PHM-technologies on ethical values than a traditional top-down model. If the assessment is conducted before the technology has reached the market – preferably in close interaction with developers and users – ethically sound technologies may be obtained.
Psycho-Social Aspects of Personal Health Monitoring: A Descriptive Literature Review
Authors: Muehlan Holger  , Schmidt Silke
Published: February 2025

We aimed at providing a short review on already published studies addressing psycho-social issues of personal health monitoring (PHM). Both core questions addressed within this review are: What is the impact of PHM on intended psycho-social and health-related outcomes? And which psycho-social issues affected by or related to PHM have already been investigated? This descriptive review based on a literature search using various databases (Psycinfo, Psyndex, Pubmed, SSCI). Resulting 428 abstracts were coded regarding their psycho-social content. Inspection of results was carried out along the relevance of the papers regarding psycho-social issues. Research in PHM focuses on telemonitoring and smart home applications: Tele-monitoring studies are directed to outcome-related questions, smart home studies to feasibility issues. Despite of technological matters, comparability of both systems in psycho-social issues is lacking. Tele-monitoring has been proven for impact on patient groups with chronic diseases, yet smart home still lacks evidence in health-related and psycho-social matters. Smart home applications have been investigated with respect to attitudes, perceptions and concerns of end-users, telemonitoring regarding acceptance and adherence.
A Module for Psycho-Social Assessment of Personal Health Monitoring
Authors: Muehlan Holger  , Rhode Dieter  , Schmidt Silke
Published: February 2025

This contribution to an interdisciplinary methodology on Personal Health Monitoring (PHM) aims at developing a psycho-social module for health technology assessment on PHM applications. It covers important aspects that should be taken into account for conducting a health technology assessment from a psycho-social perspective. As it could be used in addition to other tools within the PHM-Ethics approach to health technology assessment it is considered as a module of the interdisciplinary methodology. As a prerequisite, we provide a conceptual framework on psycho-social issues of PHM applications. From that framework we delineate an integrated module for psycho-social health technology assessment for PHM applications, consisting of a map highlighting selective psycho-social issues that may appear when applying a PHM system. This psycho-social tool is at least twofold in its intention as a sole HTA tool on the one hand and as an integral part of the interdisciplinary PHM methodology on the other hand. It provides a quick overview on potential benefits and risks from the user's point of view.
Thai Syllable Analysis for Rule-Based Text to Speech System
Authors: Narupiyakul Lalita  , Sirinaovakul Booncharoen  , Cercone Nick
Published: February 2025

TTS system initially transforms text input into a sequence of sound symbols. The complexity of Thai requires about several hundred of rules including main and specific rules to derive most pronunciations for the rule-based approach. Our proposed rule-based system is based on the syllable structure analysis. To increase the quality of TTS, an exception dictionary to cover anomalous pronunciations and using rule reference engine to determine sentence structure are included in the system. The phonetic generation and speech generation by mapping table are sequential steps to transform a set of phonetic symbols to speech waveform.
How To See Quasi-scientific Objects in Art Museum
Authors: Akiba Fuminori
Published: February 2025

To exhibit quasi-scientific objects in an art museum is not a new phenomenon. However, both experts and visitors repeat the same behavior familiar to each of them. It causes a deadlock situation. In order to avoid this deadlock, I propose that we must approach such exhibits from the so-called ‘semantic view’ of scientific theories. First, I point out that the problem from M.C. Beardsley's traditional aesthetics comes from his ‘classical’ view of scientific theories. Second, I introduce the ‘semantic’ view of scientific theories and its key concept of model, a concept that solves the problem of the classical view. Then, I show that, if visitors apply the semantic view to quasi-scientific exhibits, visitors could benefit and would be liberated from the deadlock. At the same time, I argue against objections to the semantic view. I also discuss my proposal.
Intelligent Computer Classification of English Writing Errors
Authors: Flanagan Brendan  , Yin Chengjiu  , Suzuki Takahiko  , Hirokawa Sachio
Published: February 2025

An important issue in education systems is the ability to determine the characteristics of learners and then provide intelligent and informed guidance in response. The authors of this paper have a long-term research goal to provide language learners with the ability to determine and improving their weaknesses. However, to achieve this goal a sizable amount of manually classified data is required. The task is both time consuming and labor intensive. In this paper a system was built to help intelligently classify the errors in an English learner's writings into categories (Kroll 1990, Weltig 2004). Using a randomly selected manually classified sample as training data, it was determined that there is a positive correlation between the number of samples for each error category and the effectiveness of the model created by applying SVM machine learning to the writings of language learners on the Lang-8 website. It is intended that the classification results will be used to accelerate the manually process classification and increase the amount of training data available for use.
Gamification in Computer Science
Authors: Uskov Alexander
Published: February 2025

Recent advances in serious games and computer game engines' development as well as successful applications of serious games concepts/mechanics/mechanisms in corporate management, administration, business, marketing, training, learning, education, wellness and ecology initiatives, and healthcare stimulated initial “serious games” (or, “gamification”) research, design and development. The goals of this conceptual paper are to a) describe the current status of gamification, b) provide designed and developed examples of successful applications of serious computer game development technologies to produce quality knowledge and skills in computer science, and c) show that a collaborative work of various specialists in computer science – software engineers, advanced programmers, graphic user interface designers, human-computer interaction experts, specialists in computer graphics, networking, security databases, and artificial intelligence – is necessary to produce quality developers (technologists) of serious games and gamification applications for real-world simulations and education (edutainment).
Context Sensitive Solution for Collaborative Decision Making on Quality Assurance in Software Development Processes
Authors: Kotte Oliver  , Elorriaga Aitor  , Stokic Dragan  , Scholze Sebastian
Published: February 2025

The main objective of the paper is to create context sensitive decision support services within flexible Quality Assurance (QA) of software development projects and their resulting products. The new QA process is supported by an Internet solution composed of several knowledge, context sensitive services based on open standards that is able to detect changes in the scope and requirements of an application (or changes in its development process) and provide the adequate set of assessments as a basis for an accurate measurement of the quality of the process and product at any time and allow for effective decision making within QA. The Internet Services monitor the different stages of the software development process, interoperating with the existing applications and systems to provide quantitative information about the quality of each phase (i.e. project management, requirements gathering, functional and technical design, development and testing), the project as a whole and the resulting product. They also monitor context under which the SW is developed and decisions on QA have to be made. Data obtained in real-time by the monitoring services are used in an indistinctive way by software engineers, designers, developers, testers and managers alike for different collaborative decision making. The paper is one of the first attempts to apply context sensitivity to support decision making in QA for SW development. The approach is assessed in 2 different business cases in order to validate the results under different conditions. The first business case belongs to a large software company developing large Internet projects based on Rational Unified Process methodology. The second business case belongs to a SME developing complex projects based on agile methodologies.
A study on Principal-agent Relationship for Third-party Reverse Logistics Based on EPR
Authors: Xuping Wang  , Zilai Sun  , Jun Zhang
Published: February 2025

In order to implement extended producer responsibility (EPR) and improve the efficiency of recycling as well as benefits, producers (demand-side of logistics) select the third-party to recycle and process waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). The relationship between production enterprises and third-party reverse logistics providers is a principal-agent. Under the constraint that the third-party reverse logistics providers' environmental protection ability and effort level are asymmetric information, the principal-agent models between the production enterprises and third-party reverse logistics providers are established, and then the models are solved as well as influencing factors are analyzed. It is found that the more effort the third party reverse logistics providers (TPRLP) make to recycle waste, the greater the strength factor of incentive pay is and the bigger the cost coefficient of TPRLP is, the smaller the strength factor of incentive pay is.
An Agent Based Modelling approach to Digital Business Models: through a literature review of three complementary Research Areas
Authors: Zutshi Aneesh  , Grilo Antonio  , Jardim-Goncalves Ricardo
Published: February 2025

This paper provides a literature review of three complementary research areas: Business Models, Business Applications of Agent Based Modeling and Digital Business Characteristics. Based on these reviews, a Dynamic Agent Based Modelling Framework (DYNAMOD) is developed for performing Digital Business Simulations. This Framework is customisable and computationally implements key digital business characteristics including network effects, online and offline word of mouth, pricing strategies, amongst other features of the Digital Business Environment. DYNAMOD can be a generic framework for developing a variety of forcasting and simulation models that can provide a new computational approach to Digital Business Modeling and Analysis.
Australia's personally controlled electronic health record and primary healthcare: Generating a framework for implementation and evaluation
Authors: Almond H.  , Cummings E.  , Turner P.
Published: February 2025

The Australian Government launched a personally controlled electronic health record (PCEHR) system in July 2012 committing $466.7m. Currently Australia lacks a clearly articulated implementation and evaluation framework and there remains limited detail on how this system's success will be determined. These problems are especially visible in primary healthcare. The UK and US, have been advocated as models, however they have started to report points of failure arising from their approaches. Evidence suggests that alternatives need to be considered, if mistakes are not to be replicated. Insights from e-health record implementation and evaluation approaches in Denmark and the Netherlands provide Australia with other approaches. The PCEHR requires different and radical thinking around the delivery of health services. Drawing on a range of English language articles identified between 1996 and 2012, the paper generates a conceptual framework for implementation and evaluation of the PCEHR. The generation of a grounded implementation and evaluation framework in primary healthcare will reduce provider scepticism and facilitate complex changes associated with PCEHR uptake.
Iterative refinement of SemLink to enhance patient readability of discharge summaries
Authors: Warren Jim  , Adnan Mehnaz  , Orr Martin
Published: February 2025

A Discharge Summary contains vocabulary that is difficult to understand for health consumers. We used iterative refinements in developing a system, SemLink, which dynamically generate synonyms and hyperlinks to appropriate Internet resources for difficult terms in discharge summary text to make the text more comprehensible to consumers. This paper describes our iterative refinement protocol to enhance the semantic annotation and dynamic hyperlinking algorithms to link topic-specific web pages for difficult terms found occurring in Discharge Summary text.
Using personal health information: Do we manage conflicting interests?
Authors: Whetton Sue
Published: February 2025

The discipline of health informatics is concerned with developing the information systems that facilitate collection, manipulation and dissemination of personal health information. It promotes the benefits of using personal health information for secondary purposes, including policy development, service planning and research. At the same time the health informatics community is a strong advocate of privacy and the need to protect individuals from negative consequences arising from unauthorised use of their personal health information. This creates a dilemma for health informatics professionals since there will be occasions when the rights and interests of individuals conflict with the rights and interests of the public, or particular sections of the public. In such instances, the community as a whole, and individual members, may be required to take a stance on whether to prioritise privacy over public needs and interests. Such instances are likely to increase in the future as demands for access to personal health information increase. This paper considers the way the health informatics community approaches the dilemma. It reports on a study which analysed various perspectives on the issue as expressed in HISA conference proceedings. The study identified six discourses, each of which focuses on different uses of personal health information. The study found that the discourses expressed strong support for expanded use of personal health information where the public interest was convincingly argued, although the interpretation of what constituted public interest varied between the discourses. The study also found that while higher level discussions highlight the potential for negative consequences arising from expanded uses of personal health information, this was not often discussed in the conference texts. It is argued that such concerns should be considered, particularly in the light of discussions around the Commonwealth government's Individual Health Identifier and Personally Controlled Electronic Health Records initiatives.
Designing a diabetes mobile application with social network support
Authors: Chomutare Taridzo  , Tatara Naoe  , Årsand Eirik  , Hartvigsen Gunnar
Published: February 2025

Although mobile applications and social media have emerged as important facets of the Internet, their role in healthcare is still not well-understood. We present design artefacts, inspired by persuasive technology concepts, from a study of social media as part of a diabetes mHealth application. We used the design science approach for mobile application design, and real-life user testing and focus group meetings to test the application over a 12-week period with 7 participants. Based on the System Usability Score (SUS), the mobile application scored an average of 84.6 (SD=13.2), which represents a fairly high usability score compared to the literature. Regression analysis on the daily blood glucose levels showed significant decreases for some patients, and although the study is not powered, the HbA1c showed a promising trend, and self-efficacy marginally increased. Incorporating persuasive elements such as blood glucose tracking and visualisation, and social media access directly from the mobile application produced promising results that warrant a larger study of behaviour change for people with diabetes.
E-health as a life long learning process: How to prepare health professionals for this journey
Authors: Lam Mary K.  , Nguyen Melanie  , Campbell Andrew J.
Published: February 2025

Background: The e-health environment is a rapidly changing one. To effectively engage with technology for healthcare delivery, health professionals must be able to adapt to this constantly evolving environment very quickly. Learning and adapting to new e-health technologies is a life-long learning process.
Home Rehabilitation System Supported by the Safety Model
Authors: Kuusik Alar  , Sarna Külli  , Reilent Enar
Published: February 2025

The paper describes a tele-rehabilitation system for simultaneous motor rehabilitation (post-stroke and post-arthroscopy) and continuous patient's condition assessment with the focus on patient safety observations. Micro-electro-mechanical accelerometer and gyroscope sensors attached to the patient gather information about the performed therapeutic exercises. The measurement data processing of the vital sign sensors and accelerometers is done in the health hub device in real time with the patient feedback. Model verification is used for providing that the specified requirements have been actually fulfilled. By the safety model validation, we supplement clinical evaluation, which means the efficacy of the system is proven by the rules given by the physician for the particular patient.
AsTeRICS
Authors: Drajsajtl Tomáš  , Struk Petr  , Bednárová Alice
Published: February 2025

AsTeRICS - “The Assistive Technology Rapid Integration & Construction Set“ is a construction set for assistive technologies which can be adapted to the motor abilities of end-users.