A survey of program transformation with special reference to unfold/fold style program development

This paper consists of a survey of current, and past, work on *program transformation* for the purpose of optimization. We first discuss some of the general methodological frameworks for program modification, such as *analogy*, *explanation based learning*, *partial evaluation*, *proof theoretic optimization*, and the *unfold/fold* technique. These frameworks are not mutually exclusive, and the latter, unfold/fold, is certainly the most widely used technique, in various guises, for program transformation. Thus we shall often have occasion to: compare the relative merits of systems that employ the technique in some form, *and*; compare the unfold/fold systems with those that employ alternative techniques. We also include (and compare with unfold/fold) a brief survey of recent work concerning the use of *formal methods* for program transformation

Estimating Moterating effects in PLS-SEM andPLSc-SEM: interaction term gerneration*data treatment

When estimating moderating effects in partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM), researchers can choose from a variety of approaches to model the influence of a moderator on a relationship between two constructs by generating different interaction terms. While prior research has evaluated the efficacy of these approaches in the context of PLS-SEM, the impact of different data treatment options on their performance in the context of standard PLS-SEM and consistent PLS-SEM (PLSc-SEM) is as yet unexplored. Our simulation study addresses these limitations and explores if the choice of approach and data treatment option has a pronounced impact on the methods’ parameter recovery. An empirical application substantiates these findings. Based on our results, we offer recommendations for researchers wishing to estimate moderating effects by means of PLS-SEM and PLSc-SEM

Image watermarking, steganography, and morphological processing

With the fast development of computer technology, research in the fields of multimedia security, image processing, and robot vision have recently become popular. Image watermarking, steganogrphic system, morphological processing and shortest path planning are important subjects among them. In this dissertation, the fundamental techniques are reviewed first followed by the presentation of novel algorithms and theorems for these three subjects. The research on multimedia security consists of two parts, image watermarking and steganographic system. In image watermarking, several algorithms are developed to achieve different goals as shown below. In order to embed more watermarks and to minimize distortion of watermarked images, a novel watermarking technique using combinational spatial and frequency domains is presented. In order to correct rounding errors, a novel technique based on the genetic algorithm (GA) is developed. By separating medical images into Region of Interest (ROI) and non-ROI parts, higher compression rates can be achieved where the ROI is compressed by lossless compression and the non-ROI by lossy compression. The GA-based watermarking technique can also be considered as a fundamental platform for other fragile watermarking techniques. In order to simplify the selection and integrate different watermarking techniques, a novel adjusted-purpose digital watermarking is developed. In order to enlarge the capacity of robust watermarking, a novel robust high-capacity watermarking is developed. In steganographic system, a novel steganographic algorithm is developed by using GA to break the inspection of steganalytic system. In morphological processing, the GA-based techniques are developed to decompose arbitrary shapes of big binary structuring elements and arbitrary values of big grayscale structuring elements into small ones. The decomposition is suited for a parallel-pipelined architecture. The techniques can speed up the morphological processing and allow full freedom for users to design any type and any size of binary and grayscale structuring elements. In applications such as shortest path planning, a novel method is first presented to obtaining Euclidean distance transformation (EDT) in just two scans of image. The shortest path can be extracted based on distance maps by tracking minimum values. In order to record the motion path, a new chain-code representation is developed to allow forward and backward movements. By placing the smooth turning-angle constraint, it is possible to mimic realistic motions of cars. By using dynamically rotational morphology, it is not only guarantee collision-free in the shortest path, but also reduce time complexity dramatically. As soon as the distance map of a destination and collision-free codes have been established off-line, shortest paths of cars given any starting location toward the destination can be promptly obtained on-line

Effect of Transformational and Transactional leadership Style on Employees’ Performance in Lebanese Universities

The effectiveness of individual employee’ performance depends on the leader/supervisor. Effective leader can enhance the individual employee performance through proper leadership style and retain high performance and talent employees within the company. The behavior of leader is very importance to improve job performance and retain skillful employees for longer period in the organization. This study aims to investigate the effect of transformational leadership and transactional leadership styles on employees’ performance in Lebanese Universities. Three main variables consist in conceptual framework. They are independent variables (transformational leadership style, transactional leadership style and dependent variable (employee performance).  A sample of 400 respondents has been randomly selected from top four universities in Lebanon. Sample was selected by using simple random method and primary data was collected through structured questionnaires. Data analysis was conducted by using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS 23.0) and Smart-PLS 3.0. Results showed that both transformational leadership and transactional leadership styles have the significant effect on employees, performance in Lebanese universities. The outcomes of this study offered substantial empirical support to the research framework from a theoretical and managerial perspective

Difficulties observed when implementing Total Productive Maintenance (TPM): empirical evidences from the manufacturing sector

This article analyses the difficulties observed in adopting the Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) program in production systems. The research strategies used for this purpose consisted of a literature review, a panel of experts and a survey with professionals working in manufacturing companies. Altogether, 69 market professionals took part in the survey and the collected data was analyzed through the PLS-SEM technique. Results indicate that there is a causal relationship between difficulties associated with the planning phase of a TPM program and issues associated with its implementation. This is an original research and the results are valuable to business professionals desiring to properly implement TPM, as well for researchers interested in the mechanics of total productive maintenance system’s adoption

Foundations of secure computation

Issued as Workshop proceedings and Final report, Project no. G-36-61

Adaptive User Models for the Design of Intelligent User Interfaces

The objective of this research is to determine the effects over time of a dynamic system that adapts itself to a user\u27s current state of expertise, in terms of the application domain, by constantly monitoring the user throughout use of the system, placing them in appropriate user models when this expertise has changed. A dynamic system, named ER-by-Design version 2.0, is presented, consisting of an inference component, a help system, a help/assistance screen, and user models. The user models are responsible for adapting the system interface to the level of expertise of the user. The system monitors and analyzes a user\u27s interactions in order to evaluate user expertise, placing the user in the most appropriate model based on this evaluation. Through analysis of data collected from participants\u27 sessions with both versions of the system, it is shown that over time, through the use of ER-by-Design version 2.0, users accessed help less often and perceived the system as more beneficial when compared to a system with a static, generic interface. In addition, users who had the least experience with ER modeling concepts created more correct diagrams with ER-by-Design version 2.0 than with a static version of the system

Motivation and leader-member-exchange theories applied to the General Authority of Civil Aviation in Saudi Arabia and their effect on employees' job performance

Motivation and its effect on employees’ performance is a broad, interesting, and important issue particularly for Human Resources Management (HRM). Motivation is the power behind individuals’ actions. For organisations’ high performance and maximum productivity motivation, programmes should be efficiently utilized. Leader Member Exchange (LMX) which is employed as a mediator in this empirical study between employees' motivation and job performance has also its influence on employees' job performance. Researchers have investigated motivation and its effect on job performance and developed theories which indicate and reflect the importance of these topics to organisations. The General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) is the organization of concern in this study. GACA is a public sector organisation which is located in Saudi Arabia. It has about 2500 employees. A quantitative methodology was employed to collect data from GACA's employees where 480 questionnaires were administered to all sectors of GACA in the headquarters in Jeddah, of which 319 were usable to be analysed. Exploratory factor analysis was employed to purify the refine factors of the main constructs, followed by confirmatory factor analysis to verify the factors and determine the constructs' psychometric properties. The hypothesised relationships were tested by employing structural equation modelling based on partial least square procedures. Mediation effects were examined using the Sobel test.The findings indicate that factors were reliable, valid and consistent with the employed motivation and LMX theories. Details of the nineteen factors produced from the five constructs and four dimensions of the conceptual model Figure 3.2 are presented in chapters five and six. All but two hypotheses of this study were supported, the exceptions being (H4: Job security and LMX are positively related, and H8, Work environment and LMX are positively related) which were rejected, as the relationships were not significant. This implies that employees' motivation in its all different forms has strong influence on employees' job performance when properly implemented and utilized. However in regard to GACA, which is a public sector organisation, the respondents' responses suggest that employees are not influenced by the motivation system as there is strong concern about, for example, the opportunities for training and development courses, rewards, incentives, allowances, promotion, HRM practices, etc., which imply that reform is needed and consequently job performance is not high. In reform of the motivation system, the administration or top management should take a strategic approach that is factual, effective and efficient, which would reflect on HRM practices, human resource development, LMX and all related parties. This would structure and constitute a much better and more constructive work environment, conductive to high job performance

Planning Responses From High-Level Goals: Adopting the Respondent\u27s Perspective Cooperative Response Generation

Within the natural-language research community it has long been acknowledged that the conventions and pragmatics of natural-language communication often oblige dialogue systems to consider and address the underlying purposes of queries in their responses rather than answering them literally and without further comment or elaboration. Such systems cannot simply translate their users\u27 requests into transactions on database or expert systems, but must apply many more complex reasoning mechanisms to the task of selecting responses that are both appropriate and useful. This idea has given rise to a broadly-defined program of research in cooperative response generation (CRG). Research in CRG carried on over more than a decade has yielded a substantial body of literature. Analysis of that literature, however, shows that investigators have focused primarily on modeling manifestations of cooperative behavior without directly considering the nature and motivations of the behavior itself. But if we want to develop natural language dialogue systems that are truly to function as cooperative respondents instead of serving only as models of particular kinds of cooperative responses, a different approach is required. I identify two opposing perspectives on the process of cooperative response generation: the questioner-based and the respondent-based perspectives. I argue that past research efforts have largely been questioner-based, and that this view has led to the development of theories that are incompatible and cannot be integrated. I propose the respondent-based view as an alternative, and provide evidence that taking such a perspective might allow several interesting but otherwise poorly-understood aspects of cooperative response behavior to be modeled. The final portion of the dissertation explores the computational implications of a respondent-based perspective. I outline the architecture of a Cooperative Response Planning System, a dialogue system that raises, reasons about, and attempts to satisfy high-level cooperative goals in its responses. This architecture constitutes a first approximation to a theory of how a system might reason from the beliefs it derives from a questioner\u27s utterances to choose a cooperative response. The processing of two sample responses in this framework is described in detail to illustrate the architecture\u27s capabilities

CONCEPTUALISING THE MATURITY OF CITIZENS FOR CONSUMER HEALTH INFORMATICS IN LOW AND MIDDLE-INCOME COUNTRIES EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF CHILE, GHANA, IRAQ, KOSOVO, TURKEY, AND UKRAINE

Einführung: Consumer Health Informatics (ConsHI) ist eine Fachdisziplin, die basierend auf Methoden, Diensten und Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologie-Ausstattung Laien in die Lage versetzt, eine aktive Rolle hinsichtich ihrer Gesundheit sicher zu spielen. ConsHI verspricht, ein Heilmittel für die Myriaden an Gesundheitsherausforderungen zu sein, welche die Welt bedrängen, hauptsächlich nach der Covid – 19 Pandemie. Während Consumer Health Informatics (ConsHI) eine Menge verspricht, besteht ein Mangel an Modellen zur Bewertung der Annahme dieser Konzepte in verschiedenen Ländern, insbesondere Entwicklungsländern. Auch sind die zahlreichen Modelle der Annahme von Technologie und von Gesundheitsfürsorge uneinheitlich und der kritische Bedarf an einem zusammengesetzten Modell ist mehr ausgeprägt denn je. Diese Studie zielt darauf ab, Faktoren zu bewerten, die die Annahme von ConsHI in low-middle income countries (LMICs) zu erleichtern und die vorherrschenden Faktoren zu modellieren, welche Vorhersagen über die Reife ihrer Bürger für die Annahme von ConsHI treffen. Methoden: Wir haben eine umfassende Suche danach durchgeführt, wie Laien in Entwicklungs- wie in entwickelten Ländern IKT für ihre Gesundheit einsetzten und haben aus vielen Optionen drei wesentliche Modelle identifiziert. Die Modelle waren Unified Theory of Acceptance and Utilisation of Technology (UTAUT), Patient Activation Measure (PAM) und Consumer Health Informatics (ConsHI) Modelle, welche die individuelle Annahme und Teilnahme an Technologie und Gesundheitsfürsorge parallel überprüften. Wir haben unter Nutzung dieser drei Modelle ein zusammengesetztes Modell entwickelt. Wir haben es anschließend mittels Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test und Item Response Theory validiert. Wir haben eine mehrstufige ad-hoc-Datensammlung (convenience sampling) durchgeführt, um den Fragebogen 1800 Befragten aus sechs LMICs in einer Querschnittserhebung vorzulegen. Die Befragten waren z.T. gesund, z.T. bei eingeschränkter Gesundheit, 18 Jahre oder älter – der Rücklauf war fast 100%, von einigen fehlenden Daten abgesehen, da die Untersucher die Erhebungsblätter persönlich vorlegten. Die Daten wurden sowohl mit explorativen wie auch konformativen Faktoranalyse-Techniken analysiert, so zum Beispiel partial least square structural equation models in Rstudio und SmartPLS 4.0, je nach Gegebenheit. Unser Datensatz erfüllte alle Grundannahmen der explorativen und konfirmativen Faktorenanalyse ohne signifikante Probleme. Aus der explorativen Faktorenanalyse haben wir Faktoren (e – factors) extrahiert und Fakten aus empirischen Modellen (t – factors) gegenübergestellt. Auch haben wir mittels Strukturgleichungsmodellen Reifefaktoren (m – factors) aus den t – factors zusammengestellt. Ergebnisse: Wir haben zwei hauptsächliche Ergebnisse erzielt. Zunächst, in einer Voruntersuchung, haben wir einen Fragebogen mit 43 Items, gestaltet als 5-Punkt-Likert-Items zusammengestellt und validiert und acht demographische Items hnzugefügt, als Moderatoren der m – factors zur Vorhersage der ConsHI-Reife. Zum zweiten haben wir aus dem Datensatz sechs explorative Faktoren als erleichternde Elemente für ConsHI extrahiert. Die e – factors waren wesentlich durch ein Gestaltexperiment gekennzeichnet und spiegelten die drei theoretischen Faktoren (t – factors) unseres Modells wider. Wir haben auch konfirmative Modellierung höherer Ordnung angewandt, um vier m – factors (Aptitute, Attitude, Confidence und Motivation) als Prädiktoren der Reife von Bürgern in LMICs zusammenzusetzen. Attitude (Haltung) trug am meisten zur Vorhersage der Reife von Bürgern in LMICs bei, aptitude (Eignung) am wenigsten. Die prädiktive Relevanz und Stärke des Modells wurden validiert und waren auf dem 95%-Konfidenzniveau signifikant. Zu beachten ist, dass eine Mehrgruppenanalyse die statistische Signifikanz der beobachteten Heterogenität und den moderierenden Effekt mehrerer demogrpahischer Variablen, wie z.B. Alter, die Vorhersehbarkeit für ConsHI in LMICs bestätigten. Schlüsse: Soweit es uns bekannt ist, ist unsere Studie ein Vorreiter, indem sie ein zusammengesetztes Modell aus UTAUT, PAM und ConsHI erstellt; diese Forschung macht die Notwendigkeit von Politikformulierung zur Maximierung der Technologie in der Gesundheitsversorgung und zur Optimierung eines ausgeweiteten Zugangs zu mobiler Telefonie zum zentralen Thema. Die Studie hat ein prädiktives lineares Modell zur Bestimmung der Reife von Bürgern in LMICs für ConsHI formuliert. Die Ad-Hoc-Datenerhebung war eine wichtige Einschränkung der Studie; als Querschnittstudie, da sich Faktoren mit der Zeit ändern, könnten ihr auch dynamische Umgebungsfaktoren entgangen sein. Wir empfehlen, dass künftige Studien Zufallsstichprobenvefahren anwenden, und Anstrengungen, aktive Techniken in einer Verhaltensstudie zu verwenden, würden auch helfen. Schlüsselwörter: Verbrauchergesundheitsinformatik, Moderatoren, Reife der Bürger von LMICs, Ländern mit niedrigem mittlerem Einkommen und Vorhersagemodell