bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Methodical Spatial Database Design with Topological Polygon Structures
Authors: Mazimpaka Jean Damascène
Published: September 2012

Spatial databases form the foundation for a Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI). For this, a spatial database should be methodically developed to accommodate its role in SDI. It is desirable to have an approach to spatial database development that considers maintenance from the early stage of database design and in a flexible way. Moreover, there is a lack of a mechanism to capture topological relations of spatial objects during the design process. This paper presents an approach that integrates maintenance of topological integrity constraints into the whole spatial database development cycle. The approach is based on the concept of Abstract Data Types. A number of topological classes have been identified and modelling primitives developed for them. Topological integrity constraints are embedded into maintenance functions associated with the topological classes. A semi-automatic transformation process has been developed following the principles of Model Driven Architecture to simplify the design process.
Development and Application of a Spreadsheet-Based Spatial Decision Support System (SDSS)
Authors: Oryspayev Dossay , Sugumaran Ramanathan , DeGroote John
Published: September 2012

Spatial decision support systems (SDSS) are decision support tools which have been used widely in addressing complicated issues involving a spatial component. The use of SDSS has increased greatly over the last few decades especially in fields such as planning, natural resources management, and environmental science. Traditionally, SDSS have been developed with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology as a major component and used in application areas in which the use of GIS technology has been common. GIS software is often expensive and requires significant expertise, which can lead to under-utilization of GIS-based SDSS. In this paper, we describe the development of a freely available SDSS extension developed for Microsoft Excel, a very commonly used spreadsheet application. The purpose of this SDSS is to expand potential SDSS use to a wider potential audience for research, management, and teaching purposes.
OpenStreetMap
Authors: Curran Kevin , Crumlish John , Fisher Gavin
Published: September 2012

OpenStreetMap is a collaborative web-mapping project that collects geospatial data to create and distribute online maps, freely available to anyone with an Internet connection. Once accessed, OpenStreetMap allows Internet users to contribute and edit geospatial data, effectively making it the mapping equivalent of Wikipedia. OpenStreetMap is maintained by volunteer cartographers from around the world who use GPS devices, portable cameras, and laptops for field mapping. Collected data are complemented with digitised open source aerial photography and free maps from the governmental and commercial sources. This report provides a summary of OpenStreetMap as a remarkable example of participatory geographic information systems (GIS).
Describing and Selecting Collections of Georeferenced Media Items in Peer-to-Peer Information Retrieval Systems
Authors: Blank Daniel , Henrich Andreas
Published: September 2012

In this chapter, the authors outline how collections of georeferenced media items can be indexed and searched in P2P IR systems. They discuss different types of P2P IR systems and focus in detail on an approach based on collection description and selection techniques. This approach tries to adequately describe and select collections of georeferenced media items. Finally, the authors discuss its broad applicability in various application fields.
Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis for Identifying a Suitable Location for Groundwater Pumping Wells
Authors: Mimoun D. , Gaur S. , Graillot D.
Published: September 2012

The paper presents the methodology for the combined use of GIS-based multi-criteria analysis and simulation-optimisation modelling for management of the groundwater resources of the Dore river basin in France. The study identifies the suitable location and maximum discharge for the new groundwater pumping wells. The multi-criteria analysis (MCA), with the help of GIS-based geospatial analysis, was performed to identify those areas suitable for pumping wells by considering different criteria, such as hydraulic conductivity, land use, river aquifer exchange, depth to water, and geomorphology. Different criteria were selected with the help of regional experts and stakeholders. For the study area, the groundwater flow model was developed. Further, new pumping wells in the suitable zones, those identified by MCA, were considered and a simulation-optimisation technique was used to identify the maximum discharge from those wells. Finally, the results obtained from both the methods were to finalise the potential zone. The developed methodology proves to be a more realistic approach to identifying new locations for pumping wells.
The Columbia Regional Geospatial Service Center System
Authors: Blackwell P. R. , McDonald Darrel
Published: September 2012

During the past 20 years, the role of geospatial technology in society has increased dramatically. However, the impact of these technologies in rural areas remains minimal. In Texas, a federally funded project called the Columbia Regional Geospatial Service Center System (the System) has emerged as a model for bringing the benefits of geospatial technology to all portions of society. The model involves distributed, academically based Centers, each with regional specializations, linked together into a unified system for addressing critical needs in emergency response, economic development, and natural resource management. The Centers operate on three focus areas, i.e., data, applications, and training. The Columbia Center has been in operation for five years and has demonstrated the practical strength of the System through numerous local and statewide projects, responses to natural disasters, and other geospatial activities.
Mapping the Distribution of Tsetse Flies in Eastern Uganda
Authors: Nakato Teddy , Jegede O. O. , Ayansina Ayanlade , Olaleye V. F. , Olufemi Bolarin
Published: September 2012

This study demonstrates the ability of GIS and Remote Sensing in capturing spatial-temporal data on land use and land cover classes. The nine land cover classes captured were Built-up area, Secondary forests, Savannah, Grasslands, and Shrublands containing herbaceous, Rain-fed shrub crops, Fresh water swamps, Water bodies, and Farmlands. The remote sensed imageries also displayed how the land use and land cover classes changed between 1986 and 2001, while helping to identify the suitability of the land cover classes for tsetse fly habitation. In this paper, the authors demonstrate that GIS and remote sensing coupled with statistical analyses could help immensely in mapping tsetse habitats. Results show that the tsetse fly habitat area in Eastern Uganda has been decreasing with time due to the increase in the Savannah and grassland land cover types and urbanization.
Collaborative Mapping and GIS
Authors: Mac Gillavry Edward
Published: September 2012

The collection and dissemination of geographic information has long been the prerogative of national mapping agencies. Nowadays, location-aware mobile devices could potentially turn everyone into a mapmaker. Collaborative mapping is an initiative to collectively produce models of real-world locations online that people can then access and use to virtually annotate locations in space. This chapter describes the technical and social developments that underpin this revolution in mapmaking. It presents a framework for an alternative geographic information infrastructure that draws from collaborative mapping initiatives and builds on established Web technologies. Storing geographic information in machine-readable formats and exchanging geographic information through Web services, collaborative mapping may enable the “napsterisation” of geographic information, thus providing complementary and alternative geographic information from the products created by national mapping agencies.
Environmental Quality Monitoring, Using GIS as a Tool of Visualization, Management and Decision-Making
Authors: Christophoridis Christophoros , Bizani Erasmia , Fytianos Konstantinos
Published: September 2012

The EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) has established new regulations for the registration and quality monitoring of water bodies. The concept of the directive is to introduce a holistic management approach, which brings together interdisciplinary scientific knowledge for the achievement of high water quality, and to ensure the creation of a harmonized coding system. To achieve this goal, Geographical Information Systems (GIS) provide adequate tools for the management, storage, visualization, and evaluation of environmental quality information, by combining water quality data with the classification of the risk for the water body, according to designated weights of influence of each selected parameter (such as geological morphology, sheer volume of the aquifer, point sources of pollution, and others according to the studied system). Furthermore, the integration of mathematical models in GIS can provide possibilities for the prediction of long term behaviour of a system under various scenarios of anthropogenic pressure. The aim of this chapter is the presentation of the latest applications and research concerning the use of GIS as an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tool for environmental management and water quality purposes.
Semantic Enrichment for Geospatial Information in a Tourism Recommender System
Authors: de la Flor Joan , Borràs Joan , Isern David , Valls Aida , Moreno Antonio , Russo Antonio , Pérez Yolanda , Anton-Clavé Salvador
Published: September 2012

Geospatial information is commonly used in tourism to facilitate activity planning, especially in a context of limited information on the territory, as it is common in the case of complex and heterogeneous tourism destination regions where the constrained spatial activity of visitor is likely to generate inefficiencies in the use of assets and resources, and hinder visitor satisfaction. Because of the large amount of spatial and non-spatial data associated with different resources and activities, it is a logical choice to use geographic information systems (GIS) for storing, managing, analyzing, and visualizing the data. Nevertheless, in order to facilitate personalized recommendations to visitors, interaction with Artificial Intelligence is needed. This chapter presents SigTur/E-Destination, a tourism recommender system based on a semantically-enriched GIS that provides regional tourist organizations and the industry with a new powerful tool for the sustainable management of their destinations. The recommendation system uses innovative Artificial Intelligence techniques, such as a hybrid method that integrates content-based and collaborative filtering and clustering methodologies that improve computational time.
A Query Language for Mobility Data Mining
Authors: Trasarti Roberto , Giannotti Fosca , Nanni Mirco , Pedreschi Dino , Renso Chiara
Published: September 2012

The technologies of mobile communications and ubiquitous computing pervade society. Wireless networks sense the movement of people and vehicles, generating large volumes of mobility data, such as mobile phone call records and GPS tracks. This data can produce useful knowledge, supporting sustainable mobility and intelligent transportation systems, provided that a suitable knowledge discovery process is enacted for mining this mobility data. In this paper, the authors examine a formal framework, and the associated implementation, for a data mining query language for mobility data, created as a result of a European-wide research project called GeoPKDD (Geographic Privacy-Aware Knowledge Discovery and Delivery). The authors discuss how the system provides comprehensive support for the Mobility Knowledge Discovery process and illustrate its analytical power in unveiling the complexity of urban mobility in a large metropolitan area, based on a massive real life GPS dataset.
An Empirical Evaluation of Similarity Coefficients for Binary Valued Data
Authors: Lewis David M. , Janeja Vandana P.
Published: September 2012

In this paper, the authors present an empirical evaluation of similarity coefficients for binary valued data. Similarity coefficients provide a means to measure the similarity or distance between two binary valued objects in a dataset such that the attributes qualifying each object have a 0-1 value. This is useful in several domains, such as similarity of feature vectors in sensor networks, document search, router network mining, and web mining. The authors survey 35 similarity coefficients used in various domains and present conclusions about the efficacy of the similarity computed in (1) labeled data to quantify the accuracy of the similarity coefficients, (2) varying density of the data to evaluate the effect of sparsity of the values, and (3) varying number of attributes to see the effect of high dimensionality in the data on the similarity computed.
Dynamic View Management System for Query Prediction to View Materialization
Authors: Daneshpour Negin , Barfourosh Ahmad Abdollahzadeh
Published: September 2012

On-Line Analytical Processing (OLAP) systems based on data warehouses are the main systems for managerial decision making and must have a quick response time. Several algorithms have been presented to select the proper set of data and elicit suitable structured environments to handle the queries submitted to OLAP systems, which are called view selection algorithms to materialize. As users’ requirements may change during run time, materialization must be viewed dynamically. In this work, the authors propose and operate a dynamic view management system to select and materialize views with new and improved architecture, which predicts incoming queries through association rule mining and three probabilistic reasoning approaches: Conditional probability, Bayes’ rule, and Naïve Bayes’ rule. The proposed system is compared with DynaMat system and Hybrid system through two standard measures. Experimental results show that the proposed dynamic view selection system improves these measures. This system outperforms DynaMat and Hybrid for each type of query and each sequence of incoming queries.
Automatic Item Weight Generation for Pattern Mining and its Application
Authors: Koh Yun Sing , Pears Russel , Dobbie Gillian
Published: September 2012

Association rule mining discovers relationships among items in a transactional database. Most approaches assume that all items within a dataset have a uniform distribution with respect to support. However, this is not always the case, and weighted association rule mining (WARM) was introduced to provide importance to individual items. Previous approaches to the weighted association rule mining problem require users to assign weights to items. In certain cases, it is difficult to provide weights to all items within a dataset. In this paper, the authors propose a method that is based on a novel Valency model that automatically infers item weights based on interactions between items. The authors experiment shows that the weighting scheme results in rules that better capture the natural variation that occurs in a dataset when compared with a miner that does not employ a weighting scheme. The authors applied the model in a real world application to mine text from a given collection of documents. The use of item weighting enabled the authors to attach more importance to terms that are distinctive. The results demonstrate that keyword discrimination via item weighting leads to informative rules.
Review of Regional Workplace Development Cases
Authors: Reiman Arto , Väyrynen Seppo
Published: September 2012

The labour-intensive manufacturing industry faces many working-life challenges in the rural, sparsely populated northern areas of Finland at both operational and strategic levels. These challenges vary, being in interaction with both technical and social systems and their combinations. In this paper, the authors review and evaluate needs, actions and results carried out to improve work and productivity in three regional industrial development cases. The actions discussed in this paper, such as work environment management, change management in general and the sociotechnical approach, are essential for the success of enterprises. Using the results of this research as a basis for developing design knowledge, two guidelines for strategic management purposes are proposed. These guidelines implement sociotechnical aspects into the work environment and its management, and recognise that it is important to focus on human and organisational factors in addition to technical end environmental aspects. A proposal for a specific, unique self-assessment tool for evaluating the level of the quality of the work environment in SMEs is also suggested.
Balancing McLuhan With Williams
Authors: Potts Liza
Published: September 2012

The article titled “Realising Virtual Reality: A Reflection on the Continuing Evolution of New Media,” presented a technological deterministic analysis on the evolution of virtual reality. A major criticism of the technological deterministic viewpoint is that it does not consider context of use and human agency. Looking specifically at the work of Raymond Williams and other British Cultural Studies researchers, this response argues for a more balanced viewpoint of technology, determined more so by cultural use than by technological enforcement.
The Impact of Organisational Politics on the Implementation of IT Strategy
Authors: Iyamu Tiko
Published: September 2012

Through IT strategy, many organisations intend to set out key directions and objectives for the use and management of information, communication and technologies. A shared view among these organisations is that IT strategy allows all parts of the organisation to gain a shared understanding of priorities, goals and objectives for both current and future states as defined in the strategy. It would therefore seem that IT strategy, for the foreseeable future will remain a key aspect of development within organisations. As a result, there has been more focus on how IT strategy is articulated and formulated. What is missing is that there has been less attention on the implementation of the strategy. Also, in most organisations, technical issues are minor compared to the relationship issues. There are many factors which influence the implementation of the IT strategy. This paper focuses on how organisational politics as examined by two underpinning theories, Structuration Theory and Actor-Network Theory, impact the implementation of IT strategy.
Innovative or Indefensible? An Empirical Assessment of Patenting within Standard Setting
Authors: Layne-Farrar Anne
Published: September 2012

Cooperative standard setting may be burdened by “over patenting”. Because standards may convey market power to firms whose patents are implicated, “strategic” patenting may enable opportunistic behaviors. Thus, particular concerns have been raised over patenting that takes place after the first versions of a standard are published, as these patents may be aimed at the acquisition of market power. This is a reasonable concern, but another possibility also may be likely: “ex post” patenting may be driven by genuine innovation. Which is more prevalent? To begin answering this question, the author empirically assesses the patenting that occurs within a standard setting organization. The author rejects the first stage hypothesis that all ex post patenting must be opportunistic and conclude instead that such patenting is likely a mixed bag of (incremental) innovative contributions along with some strategic ones. As a result, standard setting policy prescriptions should proceed with caution so that the good is not eliminated with the bad.
Analysis and Validation of Learning Technology Models, Standards and Specifications
Authors: Pawlowski Jan M. , Kozlov Denis
Published: September 2012

The paper presents a model for the analysis, comparison and validation of standards, specifications and in particular reference models in the field of Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL). The Reference Model Analysis Grid (RMAG) establishes categories of reference models and standards. Based on those categories, a set of criteria for the analysis and validation of standards was elaborated as a part of the ICOPER project that aims at interoperable open content for competency-based TEL. The analysis of standards in this context is targeted at developing a set of validated approaches that lead to a new reference model. Four standards were investigated, taking into account a broad range of aspects like practical and semantic interoperability and integration issues. In the case study, the authors analyzed both, the standards and specifications and the usefulness of the RMAG. The results of this case study can be used for further analyses of TEL standards as well as for reference models targeted at interoperability.
Key Challenges in the Design of Learning Technology Standards
Authors: Cooper Adam R.
Published: September 2012

This paper considers key challenges that learning technology standards must take into account: the inherent connectedness of the information and complexity as a cause of emergent behavior. Some of the limitations of historical approaches to information systems and standards development are briefly considered with generic strategies to tackle complexity and system adaptivity. A consideration of the facets of interoperability—organizational, syntactic and semantic—leads to an outline of a strategy for dealing with environmental complexity in the learning technology standards domain.
Application Profiles and Tailor-Made Conformance Test Systems
Authors: Dahn Ingo , Zimmermann Sascha
Published: September 2012

This article examines the potential of application profiles and domain profiles as means to adapt technical specifications of data structures to particular needs. The authors argue that application profiling is better suited to increase the use of formal specifications than the creation of new specifications. The authors also describe a method to generate specific conformance test systems for machine-readable application profiles. The authors describe the respective tool set of the SchemaProf Application Profiling Tool and the Generic Test System and report on the experience of their usage in developing and introducing the IMS Common Cartridge domain profile.
Dual-Level Attack Detection, Characterization, and Response for Networks under DDoS Attacks
Authors: Sardana Anjali , Joshi Ramesh C.
Published: September 2012

DDoS attacks aim to deny legitimate users of the services. In this paper, the authors introduce dual - level attack detection (D-LAD) scheme for defending against the DDoS attacks. At higher and coarse level, the macroscopic level detectors (MaLAD) attempt to detect congestion inducing attacks which cause apparent slowdown in network functionality. At lower and fine level, the microscopic level detectors (MiLAD) detect sophisticated attacks that cause network performance to degrade gracefully and stealth attacks that remain undetected in transit domain and do not impact the victim. The response mechanism then redirects the suspicious traffic of anomalous flows to honeypot trap for further evaluation. It selectively drops the attack packets and minimizes collateral damage in addressing the DDoS problem. Results demonstrate that this scheme is very effective and provides the quite demanded solution to the DDoS problem.
On Cryptographically Strong Bindings of SAML Assertions to Transport Layer Security
Authors: Kohlar Florian , Schwenk Jörg , Jensen Meiko , Gajek Sebastian
Published: September 2012

In recent research, two approaches to protect SAML based Federated Identity Management (FIM) against man-in-the-middle attacks have been proposed. One approach is to bind the SAML assertion and the SAML artifact to the public key contained in a TLS client certificate. Another approach is to strengthen the Same Origin Policy of the browser by taking into account the security guarantees TLS gives. This work presents a third approach which is of further interest beyond IDM protocols, especially for mobile devices relying heavily on the security offered by web technologies. By binding the SAML assertion to cryptographically derived values of the TLS session that has been agreed upon between client and the service provider, this approach provides anonymity of the (mobile) browser while allowing Relying Party and Identity Provider to detect the presence of a man-in-the-middle attack.
Artificial Higher Order Neural Networks for Modeling Combinatorial Optimization Problems
Authors: Ding Yuxin
Published: September 2012

Traditional Hopfield networking has been widely used to solve combinatorial optimization problems. However, high order Hopfiled networks, as an expansion of traditional Hopfield networks, are seldom used to solve combinatorial optimization problems. In theory, compared with low order networks, high order networks have better properties, such as stronger approximations and faster convergence rates. In this chapter, the authors focus on how to use high order networks to model combinatorial optimization problems. Firstly, the high order discrete Hopfield Network is introduced, then the authors discuss how to find the high order inputs of a neuron. Finally, the construction method of energy function and the neural computing algorithm are presented. In this chapter, the N queens problem and the crossbar switch problem, which are NP-complete problems, are used as examples to illustrate how to model practical problems using high order neural networks. The authors also discuss the performance of high order networks for modeling the two combinatorial optimization problems.
Artificial Polynomial and Trigonometric Higher Order Neural Network Group Models
Authors: Zhang Ming
Published: September 2012

Real world financial data is often discontinuous and non-smooth. Accuracy will be a problem, if we attempt to use neural networks to simulate such functions. Neural network group models can perform this function with more accuracy. Both Polynomial Higher Order Neural Network Group (PHONNG) and Trigonometric polynomial Higher Order Neural Network Group (THONNG) models are studied in this chapter. These PHONNG and THONNG models are open box, convergent models capable of approximating any kind of piecewise continuous function to any degree of accuracy. Moreover, they are capable of handling higher frequency, higher order nonlinear, and discontinuous data. Results obtained using Polynomial Higher Order Neural Network Group and Trigonometric polynomial Higher Order Neural Network Group financial simulators are presented, which confirm that PHONNG and THONNG group models converge without difficulty, and are considerably more accurate (0.7542% - 1.0715%) than neural network models such as using Polynomial Higher Order Neural Network (PHONN) and Trigonometric polynomial Higher Order Neural Network (THONN) models.
High Order Neuro-Fuzzy Dynamic Regulation of General Nonlinear Multi-Variable Systems
Authors: Theodoridis Dimitris C. , Boutalis Yiannis S. , Christodoulou Manolis A.
Published: September 2012

The direct adaptive dynamic regulation of unknown nonlinear multi variable systems is investigated in this chapter in order to address the problem of controlling non-Brunovsky and non-square systems with control inputs less than the number of states. The proposed neuro-fuzzy model acts as a universal approximator. While with the careful selection of a Lyapunov-like function, the authors prove the stability of the proposed control algorithm. Weight updating laws derived from the Lyapunov analysis assure the boundedness of the closed-loop signals incorporating the well-known modified parameter hopping. In addition, the proposed algorithm shows robustness when facing modelling errors, and therefore, the state trajectories present uniform ultimate boundedness. The proposed dynamic controller proved to control those general nonlinear systems, which are difficult or even impossible to control with other algorithms. Simulation results on well-known benchmark problems demonstrate the applicability and effectiveness of the method.
Interdisciplinary Learning from a Student’s Perspective
Authors: Hidalgo Marlene
Published: September 2012

This chapter provides a retrospective look at my experiences during an interdisciplinary course at an urban university. Course format and objectives allowed for a varied experience by combining multiple learning methodologies and opportunities. A focus is given to two class assignments that illustrate the process of integrating insights from disparate disciplines through critical thinking, creativity, and teamwork. Despite the variability and unpredictability of individual experience, the review provides evidence for the unique challenges and distinct advantages of interdisciplinary learning.
STEM Academic Enrichment and Professional Development Programs for K-12 Urban Students and Teachers
Authors: Brown Cecelia Wright , Peters Kevin A.
Published: September 2012

This chapter highlights exemplary STEM programs in an urban school district that can be replicated in K-12 schools. The programs were developed from partnerships established between Urban Higher Education Institutions (UHEIs) and K-12 students and teachers in an urban school district. The key criteria for the assessment of these programs, both quantitative and qualitative, were based on guidelines cited from the Building Engineering and Science Talent (BEST) Commission, the National Science Education Standards, and the National Science Resources Center: (a) challenging content/curriculum; (b) inquiry-based learning; (c) clearly defined outcomes and assessments; and (d) sustained commitment and support. The development of “real-world applications” promoted critical thinking skills and were linked to STEM state and national standards. Teachers were offered STEM professional development that enhanced their content knowledge and pedagogy. Each program case was independent of each other; therefore, they were not compared or contrasted.
Information Hiding Using Interpolation for Audio and Speech Signals
Authors: Iwaki Mamoru
Published: September 2012

In this chapter, a time-domain high-bit-rate information hiding method using interpolation techniques, which can extract embedded data in both informed (non-blind) and non-informed (blind) ways, is proposed. Three interpolation techniques are introduced for the information hiding method, i.e., spline interpolation, Fourier-series interpolation, and linear-prediction interpolation. In performance evaluation, spline interpolation was mainly examined as an example implementation. According to the simulation of information hiding in music signals, the spline interpolation-based method achieved audio-information hiding for CD-audio signals at bit rate of about 2.9 kbps, and about 1.1 kbps under MP3 compression (160 kbps). The objective sound quality measured by the Perceptual Evaluation of Audio Quality (PEAQ) was maintained if the length of interpolation data increased. The objective sound quality was also evaluated for the Fourier series-based implementation and the linear prediction-based one. Fourier series interpolation achieved the same sound quality as spline interpolation did. Linear prediction interpolation required longer interpolation signals to get good sound quality.
Introduction to Image Steganography and Steganalysis
Authors: Niimi Michiharu , Noda Hideki
Published: September 2012

This chapter reviews information hiding methods, with a focus on steganography and steganalysis. First, the authors summarize image data structures and image formats required by computers and the Internet. They then introduce several information hiding methods based on image formats including lossless (non-compression based), limited color-based image data, JPEG, and JPEG2000. The authors describe a steganographic method in detail, which is based on image segmentation using a complexity measure. They also introduce a method for applying this to palette-based image formats, reversible information hiding for grayscale images, and JPEG2000 steganography. The steganographic methods for JPEG and JPEG2000 described in this chapter give particular consideration to the naturalness of cover data. In the steganalysis section, the authors introduce two methods, i.e., a specific steganalysis method for LSB steganography and Bit-Plane Complexity Segmentation (BPCS) stegnography.
Reversible Information Hiding and Its Application to Image Authentication
Authors: Fujiyoshi Masaaki , Kiya Hitoshi
Published: September 2012

This chapter addresses a new class of Reversible Information Hiding (RIH) and its application to verifying the integrity of images. The method of RIH distorts an image once to hide information in the image itself, and it not only extracts embedded information but also recovers the original image from the distorted image. The well-known class of RIH is based on the expansion of prediction error in which a location map, which indicates the pixel block positions of a certain block category, is required to recover the original image. In contrast, the method described in this chapter is free from having to memorize any parameters including location maps. This feature suits the applications of image authentication in which the integrity of extracted information guarantees that of a suspected image. If image-dependent parameters such as location maps are required, the suspected image should first be identified from all possible images. The method described in this chapter reduces such costly processes.
Watermarking for Still Images Using a Computation of the Watermark Weighting Factor and the Human Visual System in the DCT Domain
Authors: Kwon O-Hyung , Park Rae-Hong
Published: September 2012

In this chapter, the authors propose a Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT)-based watermarking method using the calculation of the watermark weighting factor and the Human Visual System (HVS) for the given peak signal to noise ratio of still image as well as the specified length of watermarks to be inserted. Using the energy relationship of the DCT, they derive the equation that directly computes the watermark weighting factor in the DCT domain. In addition, the authors propose a digital watermarking method for still images, in which the HVS is used in the DCT domain. The modulation transfer function of the HVS model is employed to increase the invisibility of the inserted watermark in images. Experimental results show that the proposed watermarking method is an effective objective evaluation method to compare the performances of watermarking algorithms.
ERP Implementation in Kuwait O&G
Authors: Albataineh Firas
Published: September 2012

A project is a complex, no routine, one-time effort limited by time, budget, resources, and performance specifications designed to meet a customer’s needs (Gray & Larson, 2010). Consequently, although projects may seem similar, largely they are different, and each project represents a unique experience reflecting the variations in the projects’ scopes, objectives, specifications, time, budget, resources, constraints, and risks. In line with this, the author’s experience as a consultant in different ERP projects indicates that each project has its own unique issues, concerns, and problems, although some of them are common across different projects. This chapter attempts to examine the nature and causes of issues, problems, and concerns that were observed in one of the author’s Gulf ERP implementations and suggests the introduction of new and enhanced features in ERP system implementation methodologies as a means to cope with potentially damaging issues, problems, and concerns, and prevent them from evolving into malicious risks that could lead to project failures.
ERP Promises in the United Arab Emirates Educational Sector
Authors: Shishakly Rima
Published: September 2012

Implementing Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is one of the major IT innovations in this decade. ERP solutions seek to integrate and modernize business processes and their associated information and work flows. Nonetheless, ERP usage in educational management is still new. Educational institutions for various appropriate factors have begun to implement this technology. The school ERP enterprise solution system offers complete school management software, which covers all the functions related to the smooth functioning of school activities. This chapter provides a complete analysis of ERP solutions in the educational sectors and focuses on ERP usage and utilization in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) public (government) schools.
The Design and Implementation of Paperless Medical System (PMS) for Offshore Operating Company
Authors: Ghalib Nabil
Published: September 2012

Application software development has always been viewed as a massive challenge by companies that view IT services as a support function rather than a core function. The term “core” here implies that IT plays an enabler role to facilitate technology and services that support users to meet set business objectives in an efficient way. Furthermore, IT development is perceived by many managers as a burden; hence, they prefer the fast track implementation of specialized packages to deliver the majority of service levels over the long wait for systems to be built in-house, even though the latter option is more advantageous in the long run, as it offers a much better fit to all user requirements. With this dilemma in mind, this case is an example of how an in-house development solution was implemented. The case touches on positive and negative aspects of the decision to build the application and covers a range of issues encountered during every phase of the development life cycle.
Automating Competency Development Program for Integrating Graduates in EDC Workforce
Authors: Jarrar Moh’d
Published: September 2012

The project aimed at developing a system to manage the development of young university graduates and equip them with the experience and skills necessary for integrating them in the company workforce. The case study focuses on three sections. The first section addresses the development of the Proof Of Concept (POC) that aimed at creating a prototype that was then enhanced in terms of its functional capabilities and data management tasks to meet the set objectives. The second section addresses how the POC was transformed to a fully functional multi-user system that was later utilized by all the divisions within the company. The third section touches on how the experience obtained was later used to help in building a unified system for the oil and gas sector in the country. The case also discusses the challenges, measures, and counter measures taken to address them, and the lessons learned to ensure the project was delivered to stakeholders.
Supply Chain Partner’s Perceptions of Trust & Risk
Authors: Laeequddin Mohd. , Sahay B. S. , Sahay Vinita , Waheed K. Abdul
Published: September 2012

Over many years, researchers from social science and management have argued that to develop sufficient trust between potential supply chain partners, a useful starting point is to develop strategies for encouraging perceptions of trustworthiness. Conversely, marketing theorists and practitioners have called for strategies by industry that aims to reduce risk perceptions for successful relationships. However, it is not clear in the literature which perception is more significant; trust or risk and from which perspective. Identification of such factors plays an important role in supply chain design and operation to decide whether the supply chain members should strive to develop trust perceptions or reduce risk perceptions in relationship. This paper has identified the common perspectives of trust and risk perception to address the issue of which perception is more significant from each perspective. Results of a survey of supply chain member’s trust and risk perceptions of the printing and packaging industry in the United Arab Emirates are presented.
Solving Vehicle Routing Problems Using Constraint Programming and Lagrangean Relaxation in a Metaheuristics Framework
Authors: Guimarans D. , Herrero R. , Ramos J. J. , Padrón S.
Published: September 2012

This paper presents a methodology based on the Variable Neighbourhood Search metaheuristic, applied to the Capacitated Vehicle Routing Problem. The presented approach uses Constraint Programming and Lagrangean Relaxation methods in order to improve algorithm’s efficiency. The complete problem is decomposed into two separated subproblems, to which the mentioned techniques are applied to obtain a complete solution. With this decomposition, the methodology provides a quick initial feasible solution which is rapidly improved by metaheuristics’ iterative process. Constraint Programming and Lagrangean Relaxation are also embedded within this structure to ensure constraints satisfaction and to reduce the calculation burden. By means of the proposed methodology, promising results have been obtained. Remarkable results presented in this paper include a new best-known solution for a rarely solved 200-customers test instance, as well as a better alternative solution for another benchmark problem.
Effects of Vendor-Managed Inventory on the Bullwhip Effect
Authors: Hohmann Susanne , Zelewski Stephan
Published: September 2012

The bullwhip effect means that demand variability increases as one moves up the supply chain. In the following article the bullwhip effect is quantified for each part of the supply chain which is presupposed to consist of a producer, a wholesaler, a retailer, and a consumer. After considering the causes of the bullwhip effect, it will be shown with the help of a nonlinear optimization model to what extent the bullwhip effect can be reduced using vendor-managed inventory (VMI) as one concept of Collaborative Planning, Forecasting and Replenishment (CPFR). In contrast to other studies in this field the reduction of the bullwhip effect will be accurately quantified for each part of the supply chain.
Analysis of Reverse Logistics Operations for a Computer Company
Authors: Tan Albert Wee Kwan , Kumar Arun , Sundarakani Balan
Published: September 2012

As reverse logistics is a relatively new field in supply chain management, especially in Asia, a detailed study is conducted to understand the status of companies practicing reverse logistics to support their Asia Pacific operations. This paper discusses an empirical examination of a company performing reverse logistics in Asia with Singapore being the coordination hub with the United States (US). Data on the transaction volumes and other material information are collected over a period of two years to understand the behaviour and trends of reverse logistics in this company. Statistical tools such as serial correlation, seasonality and trend analysis are performed on the data to understand their behaviour and its managerial implication. The study has shown that there is an upward trend for the return volume and how financial closing has an impact to the return volumes.
How Ants Can Efficiently Solve the Generalized Watchman Route Problem
Authors: Paduch Pawel , Sapiecha Krzysztof
Published: September 2012

This paper presents a new algorithm for solving the generalized watchman problem. It is the problem of mobile robot operators that must find the shortest route for the robot to see the whole area with many obstructions. The algorithm adapts the well-known ant algorithm to the new problem. An experiment where the algorithm is applied to an area containing more than 10 obstructions is described. It proves that efficiency and accuracy of the algorithm are high.
Minimum Span Frequency Assignment Based on a Multiagent Evolutionary Algorithm
Authors: Liu Jing , Li Jinshu , Zhong Weicai , Zhang Li , Liu Ruochen
Published: September 2012

In frequency assignment problems (FAPs), separation of the frequencies assigned to the transmitters is necessary to avoid the interference. However, unnecessary separation causes an excess requirement of spectrum, the cost of which may be very high. Since FAPs are closely related to T-coloring problems (TCP), multiagent systems and evolutionary algorithms are combined to form a new algorithm for minimum span FAPs on the basis of the model of TCP, which is named as Multiagent Evolutionary Algorithm for Minimum Span FAPs (MAEA-MSFAPs). The objective of MAEA-MSFAPs is to minimize the frequency spectrum required for a given level of reception quality over the network. In MAEA-MSFAPs, all agents live in a latticelike environment. Making use of the designed behaviors, MAEA-MSFAPs realizes the ability of agents to sense and act on the environment in which they live. During the process of interacting with the environment and other agents, each agent increases the energy as much as possible so that MAEA-MSFAPs can find the optima. Experimental results on TCP with different sizes and Philadelphia benchmark for FAPs show that MAEA-MSFAPs have a good performance and outperform the compared methods.
Building an Integrated Patient Information System for a Healthcare Network
Authors: Kapoor Bhushan , Kleinbart Martin
Published: September 2012

The recent healthcare reform act provides incentive payments to providers for their ‘meaningful use’ of electronic health records to achieve significant improvements in care. The HITECH Act 2009 provides incentives payments through Medicare and Medicaid to clinicians and hospitals when they achieve specified improvements in care delivery. Citrus Valley Health Partners’ (CVHP) goals are bigger than just to comply with the regulations or simply to qualify for incentives, but rather include transforming their business to the next level in care delivery. They are seeking cooperation from their affiliates to build a community health information exchange that will allow CVHP and the affiliates to share and integrate patient health related information between their medical centers and the private physicians in their community. The integrated system will help community healthcare providers to work as a single operating entity focused and aligned on improving patient care, operational efficiency and cost effectiveness.
Health Care Reform Requires Rethinking on the IT Strategy
Authors: Vo Au , Bhaskar Rahul
Published: September 2012

True Health Care Organization (THC) was a national leading health care organization. Its CEO and the management team were concerned with the implications of multiple laws, aimed at improving health care in the United States, passed that impacted the health care insurance industry including the THC Company. The CEO and the management felt that the company faced many challenges as it looked for solutions to the requirements of the new laws. Their industry was going through an unprecedented change due to the new laws and a general consensus that health care should be improved. They had concluded that the solution to the new challenges faced by their company laid in implementing the new Information Technology systems. The CEO and management were acutely aware that it was not easy to implement these changes by implementing Information Technology systems. The challenges that they were concerned about included skillsets of their work force, the disjointed nature of their current information technology infrastructure and the urgency of implementing all the changes within a short period.