09192 Executive Summary -- From Quality of Service to Quality of Experience

From May 05 to May 08, 2009, the Dagstuhl Seminar 09192 ``From Quality of Service to Quality of Experience \u27\u27 was held in Schloss Dagstuhl~--~Leibniz Center for Informatics. The notion of emph{Quality of Service} has served as a central research topic in communication networks for more than a decade, however, usually starting from a rather technical view on service quality. Therefore, recently the notion of emph{Quality of Experience} has emerged, redirecting the focus towards the end user and trying to quantify her subjective experience gained from using a service. The goal of this Dagstuhl seminar is to discuss this important paradigm shift in an interdisciplinary international community of key researchers, to investigate innovative research methodologies and to deepen the scientific understanding of this topic which is highly relevant for the economic success of future mobile and fixed communication services

09192 Abstracts Collection -- From Quality of Service to Quality of Experience

From 05.05. to 08.05.2009, the Dagstuhl Seminar 09192 ``From Quality of Service to Quality of Experience\u27\u27 was held in Schloss Dagstuhl~--~Leibniz Center for Informatics. During the seminar, several participants presented their current research, and ongoing work and open problems were discussed. Abstracts of the presentations given during the seminar as well as abstracts of seminar results and ideas are put together in this paper. The first section describes the seminar topics and goals in general. Links to extended abstracts or full papers are provided, if available

Value Creation in a QoE Environment

User behavior of multimedia services currently undergoes strong changes. This is reflected in several recent trends, e.g. the increase of rich media content consumption, preferences for more individual and personalized services and the higher sensitivity of end users for quality issues. These changes will eventually lead to strong changes in network traffic characteristics: rising congestion in peak times and less availability of bandwidth for the individual user. As a result, the quality as perceived by the end-user will decrease if network operators and service providers do not anticipate the required changes for the network. Measurable network requirements such as available video and speech quality, security and reliability are addressed by technologies that are commonly summed up in the Quality of Service (QoS) concept. However, the end-users' perception of quality is only reflected in the wider concept of Quality of Experience (QoE). This takes the measurable network requirements into account as well as customer needs, wants and preferences. For the implementation of QoE technologies several network components need to be added or changed resulting in high capital expenditures. Yet, it is not clear if these costs can be compensated with efficiency increases. Thus, new revenue streams for the network operator are necessary to incentivize investments in QoE technologies. In this paper we address four new value creation models that can serve as basis for more elaborated business models for network operators and other actors. We show how interest in QoE of the user, the content provider, the service provider and the advertiser induces new revenue streams. These models are embedded in five possible future QoE scenarios that reveal regulation, end user quality sensibility and end-to-end support as major issues for the future. --Business Models,Quality of Experience (QoE),Quality of Service (QoS),Value Creation

Flash-Flood Monitoring and Modeling in Kentucky

This research project focused on the evaluation of hydrologic issue of flash-flooding in the state of Kentucky. The primary objectives of this project were the following:(1) to initiate the establishment of a hydrologic database archive necessary for characterizing rainfall and runoff associated with flash-flooding; (2) identification of appropriate modeling approaches for evaluating site-specific flash-flood runoff behavior. Specific tasks accomplished to meet the objectives include the following:(1) development of a rainfall and streamflow data archive using existing measurement gages and identification of the rain gage data from two sources for preliminary quality control; (2) identification of the spatial and temporal characteristics of rainfall at daily, seasonal, and annual time scales; (3) definition of the characteristics of runoff associated with flash-flooding; and (4) initiation of a review of flash-flood runoff modeling approaches for small watersheds. Flash-flooding is one of the most costly natural hazards nationally each year. In 1990, it resulted in I 09 deaths and damages of $625 million (Kentucky Engineer, 1992) in the United States. In 1992, a single flash-flood event in Bar-Creek, Kentucky resulted in four deaths and displaced approximately 54 families (National Weather Service, 1992). Due to the short response time associated with the watersheds prone to flash flooding, rainfall data must be collected rapidly in real-time and flood estimates computed accurately in order that adequate and timely warnings may be issued. Accurate estimates of flash-flood water levels require site-specific information describing the hydrometeorologic conditions and physiographic characteristics of the watershed for use of high resolution runoff modeling approaches. Monitoring rainfall events that lead to or cause flash-flooding is necessary to identify the rainfall characteristics associated with flooding and flash-flooding. The ultimate objective in a flash-flood warning system is to provide increased warning time to residents to allow them to escape the rapidly rising water. National-level agencies are only beginning to address the issue of real time, high resolution flood forecasts meeting the needs of state agencies and local-area residents. Other issues, beyond the scope of this work, must be addressed and resolved before such a system can be significantly mitigate flash-flood losses. This project addresses the initial step toward establishing such a system by compiling a flash-flood precipitation and runoff database for Kentucky from existing gage networks, and quantitatively defining the behavior of precipitation and runoff

The Impact of Student Support Services on Academic Success at a Select Historically Black College and University

The purpose of this study was to determine and examine the impact of student support services (SSS) on academic success at a historically black college. The study was grounded in the theoretical framework of Astin’s Input-Environment-Outcome Model (IEO), Scholssberg’s theory of marginality, holistic theory , facilitation theory, and the theory of sensory simulation (Dunn, 2002; Anderson et. al., 2011; Dennick, 2014 and Pritchard, 2013) A mixed method approach was used to quantify and explicate triangulated data, which included the N-LSSI survey, archival data, and focus group interviews. The N-LSSI survey used a 7-point Likert Scale, and students from The College completed the instrument. The longitudinal nature of the study meant that the assumption of independent observations required by ANOVA was violated. Therefore, I used MANOVA to analyze SSS and Non-SSS student academic achievement data (i.e., GPA, Accuplacer test scores). This analysis also determined whether significant differences existed between the SSS and Non-SSS student participant groups based on means of the predictors. Qualitative data were organized, evaluated, and interpreted using open, axial and selective coding with MAXQDA, a qualitative data analysis software program. The results of the analyses showed there were no significant differences between the two student groups relative to GPAs. In contrast, Accuplacer math scores, reading scores, and writing scores were significantly different. The retention differences between SSS and Non-SSS students were significant in 2011 and 2012, while graduation data revealed significant differences in 2012. Results from the N-LSSI survey produced no significant difference between SSS and Non-SSS satisfaction with The College, while focus group interviews revealed student satisfaction levels were virtually the same

Study 2: Practitioner perspectives on trauma informed care and the open dialogue approach to mental health care.

Study 1 Abstract - Aim: Open Dialogue (OD) is a family- and social network-based approach to the treatment of psychosis and other serious mental health difficulties. Previous reviews were conducted some time ago and included discussion papers and case composites. A criticism of the literature base with regard to the model has been its lack of focus on primary research. The aim of the present study was to thus provide a current and comprehensive review of OD studies which involved primary data collection. Methods: Studies were identified through electronic searches using Psycinfo, Science Direct, and PubMed, as well as reference harvesting. Following initial screening of irrelevant studies, potentially eligible papers were independently identified by the first and second authors. Study quality assessment tools were also applied to papers selected for inclusion in the review. Results: 15 papers involving 16 studies were identified; 8 studies described OD outcomes, while 8 described qualitative therapeutic process or implementation studies. Reported outcomes were generally positive on a number of key variables such as psychotic symptomatology and service utilisation. Qualitative studies pointed toward a high degree of staff and service user acceptability, and highlighted a number of important process issues, and implementation challenges. Study quality for qualitative studies was generally good, but the quality of outcome studies was assessed as poor. Conclusions: Emerging evidence exists with regard to the effectiveness and acceptability of OD. Therapeutic processes and implementation issues appear well-elucidated. However, it is difficult to make strong conclusions with regard to outcome data due to poor study quality.Study 2 Abstract - Background: In a perspective which has come to be termed Trauma Informed Care (TIC), there is growing recognition that services in which traumatised individuals may be involved should be organised and delivered in a manner which is sensitive to what is known about trauma. Despite tentative conceptual links between the Open Dialogue (OD) approach to mental health care and TIC as well as moves toward implementing TIC awareness in clinician training, little is known about how OD practitioners understand the concept of TIC, or how this understanding, if at all, impacts their work. The aim of the present study was thus to explore OD practitioner perspectives on TIC and OD. Methods: Fourteen OD practitioners across seven countries and six mental health disciplines completed online demographic and service profile questionnaires and participated in semi-structured interviews. Data were analysed using Thematic Analysis. Results: Six key themes were evident in the data; understanding trauma informed care, on the client’s terms, stories not symptoms, using reflections, continuity and consistency, and barriers to dialogism. These represented participants’ understanding of TIC, as well as a number of perceived trauma-sensitive OD elements. Challenges to implementing these trauma sensitive aspects were also highlighted and these appeared most relevant with regard to the interface between network meetings and the wider health and social services system. Conclusions: OD may exhibit some TIC congruent elements, and the fact that clients are free to construe their experiences as trauma related or not, may represent an avenue for client empowerment which is less present in traditional more ‘trauma assumptive’ TIC models. As in other TIC implementations, a whole-systems approach may be needed to fully implement these TIC aligned OD aspects. The associated shift in organisational structures, particularly the non-hierarchical approach advocated in OD may pose a particular barrier to implementation outside of the Finnish context

Telecommunication Economics

This book constitutes a collaborative and selected documentation of the scientific outcome of the European COST Action IS0605 Econ@Tel "A Telecommunications Economics COST Network" which run from October 2007 to October 2011. Involving experts from around 20 European countries, the goal of Econ@Tel was to develop a strategic research and training network among key people and organizations in order to enhance Europe's competence in the field of telecommunications economics. Reflecting the organization of the COST Action IS0605 Econ@Tel in working groups the following four major research areas are addressed: - evolution and regulation of communication ecosystems; - social and policy implications of communication technologies; - economics and governance of future networks; - future networks management architectures and mechanisms

Telecommunication Economics

This book constitutes a collaborative and selected documentation of the scientific outcome of the European COST Action IS0605 Econ@Tel "A Telecommunications Economics COST Network" which run from October 2007 to October 2011. Involving experts from around 20 European countries, the goal of Econ@Tel was to develop a strategic research and training network among key people and organizations in order to enhance Europe's competence in the field of telecommunications economics. Reflecting the organization of the COST Action IS0605 Econ@Tel in working groups the following four major research areas are addressed: - evolution and regulation of communication ecosystems; - social and policy implications of communication technologies; - economics and governance of future networks; - future networks management architectures and mechanisms