System Requirements Analysis for e-learning systems using grid

Until recent years network-based education and grid technologies were two distinct areas. But e-learning systems have been increasingly addressing learning resources sharing (text, images, video, on-line data, etc.) and reuse, interoperability and other more different modes of interactions. E-learning systems consist of complex activities and most of them have been designed based on client-server or peer to peer, and recently web services architecture. These systems have major drawback because of their limitations in scalability, availability, distribution of computing power and storage systems, as well as sharing information between users that contribute to these systems. In this context the use of grid technology reveals its utility and availability, as scalable, flexible coordinated and secure resource sharing among geographically distributed individuals or institutions, in the perspective of e-learning.networked-based, education, grid technologies, e-learning systems,resouce sharing, interoperability, standardisation.

Snapping Graph Drawings to the Grid Optimally

In geographic information systems and in the production of digital maps for small devices with restricted computational resources one often wants to round coordinates to a rougher grid. This removes unnecessary detail and reduces space consumption as well as computation time. This process is called snapping to the grid and has been investigated thoroughly from a computational-geometry perspective. In this paper we investigate the same problem for given drawings of planar graphs under the restriction that their combinatorial embedding must be kept and edges are drawn straight-line. We show that the problem is NP-hard for several objectives and provide an integer linear programming formulation. Given a plane graph G and a positive integer w, our ILP can also be used to draw G straight-line on a grid of width w and minimum height (if possible).Comment: Appears in the Proceedings of the 24th International Symposium on Graph Drawing and Network Visualization (GD 2016

Interference of Periodic and Spread-Spectrum-Modulated Waveforms with Analog and Digital Communications

In this article, the effectiveness and the limitations of spread-spectrum (SS) modulation techniques employed in switching-mode power converters and in digital systems to mitigate interference with communication equipment are analyzed and discussed under the EMC standard perspective and under an information theoretical perspective, with reference to different real-world scenarios. Substantial difference between potential EMI issues in traditional analog radio/TV broadcasting, digital data lines, and digital links featuring advanced channel coding techniques, e.g. in emerging power line communication (PLC) systems, are highlighted. Practical recommendations on the adoption of SS modulations along with a general reflection on the evolution of EMC requirements are finally given

Moving the Implementation Line: A Nursing Home’s Path to Success with IT

Organizations continuously need to both update and upgrade their organizational and technological infrastructure to maintain a competitive edge. However, a traditional goal of information systems development is to satisfy a stable set of requirements rather than evolutionary ones. This article embraces the call to develop evolving systems in continuously emergent organizations and to identify the main factors that can lead to continuous system development—a continuously moving implementation line—from within the organization. In doing so, we draw on a longitudinal analysis of the experience of a typical Western nursing home that, in the past 12 years, has aimed to internally develop a healthcare provision and management system to support its evolving needs. Our analysis shows that four factors enable this concurrent change: (1) the internal appreciation of change, (2) the external appreciation of change, (3) enlightened management, and (4) emancipated employees. By controlling for the latter two factors, managers of long-term care centers can motivate employees to contribute to the development of the system over long periods and limit undesired behaviors with information technology (IT). From a theoretical perspective, this research shows that focusing on the implementation line in data analysis can be a constructive device for research. Although this construction is useful for studies on IT-driven organizational change, it should be mandatory for studies on evolving information systems in emergent organizations

Extra Financial Analysis – EFA: Environmental and financial performances of ABB, Akzo-Nobel and SCA: Picturing the business opportunities and risks associated to stakeholder perceptions and environmental and social prerequisites

External assessment of companies’ environmental aspects often focus on the existence of strategies, commitments, management systems and reporting of firms that concerns environmental aspects. Instead, in line with extra financial analysis, in order to play a role in decision-making, analysis of environmental aspects should incorporate the influence that stakeholders may have on future revenues of the assessed firm and how well advanced corporate strategies are in meeting these threats, turning them into business opportunities. Thereafter, the environmental information financial analysts’ use in their financial analyst reports as well as the relation between environmental and financial performance are illuminated. Three industry sectors, Chemicals, Electrical Equipment and Paper & Forest Products, are specially analysed in this report. Out of almost 4500 analyst reports about 36 percent contain environmental information, but when looking at industry sectors these numbers range from only 3 to up to 79 percent. The type of environmental information that the analysts focus on in their reports are on how firms’ products and product portfolios are adopted to Environmental regulations facing customers/markets, Customer demands and Eco-Efficiency. This product perspective is strongly related to discussions of business opportunities of the firm. In fact, a good 77 % of the financial analyst reports containing environmental information dealt with opportunities linked to environmental aspects. To a lower extent, financial analysts write about company specific risk issues like emissions and litigations while their reports is virtually absent from aspects like environmental strategies, policies, management systems, reporting and auditing. The correlation between corporate financial and environmental performances is illuminated through regression analyses. Industry environmental risk is found to be negatively correlated to corporate return on assets – ROA – (in an static model) while (when applying a dynamic model) corporate environmental performance and ROA have a positive correlation in the short term, which can find support by other studies using different data.Extra financial analysis; EFA; Financial analyst reports; Content analysis; ESG Framework; Return on assets; ROA; Environmental performance; Social performance; financial performance; Financial accounting; Non-financial information

Quality and patient safety in the diagnosis of breast cancer

AbstractThe media, medical legal, and safety science perspectives of a laboratory medical error differ and assign variable levels of responsibility on individuals and systems. We examine how the media identifies, communicates, and interprets information related to anatomic pathology breast diagnostic errors compared to groups using a safety science Lean-based quality improvement perspective. The media approach focuses on the outcome of error from the patient perspective and some errors have catastrophic consequences. The medical safety science perspective does not ignore the importance of patient outcome, but focuses on causes including the active events and latent factors that contribute to the error. Lean improvement methods deconstruct work into individual steps consisting of tasks, communications, and flow in order to understand the affect of system design on current state levels of quality. In the Lean model, system redesign to reduce errors depends on front-line staff knowledge and engagement to change the components of active work to develop best practices. In addition, Lean improvement methods require organizational and environmental alignment with the front-line change in order to improve the latent conditions affecting components such as regulation, education, and safety culture. Although we examine instances of laboratory error for a specific test in surgical pathology, the same model of change applies to all areas of the laboratory

Discovery-led refinement in e-discovery investigations: sensemaking, cognitive ergonomics and system design.

Given the very large numbers of documents involved in e-discovery investigations, lawyers face a considerable challenge of collaborative sensemaking. We report findings from three workplace studies which looked at different aspects of how this challenge was met. From a sociotechnical perspective, the studies aimed to understand how investigators collectively and individually worked with information to support sensemaking and decision making. Here, we focus on discovery-led refinement; specifically, how engaging with the materials of the investigations led to discoveries that supported refinement of the problems and new strategies for addressing them. These refinements were essential for tractability. We begin with observations which show how new lines of enquiry were recursively embedded. We then analyse the conceptual structure of a line of enquiry and consider how reflecting this in e-discovery support systems might support scalability and group collaboration. We then focus on the individual activity of manual document review where refinement corresponded with the inductive identification of classes of irrelevant and relevant documents within a collection. Our observations point to the effects of priming on dealing with these efficiently and to issues of cognitive ergonomics at the human–computer interface. We use these observations to introduce visualisations that might enable reviewers to deal with such refinements more efficiently

Preventive maintenance task balancing with spare parts optimisation via big-bang big-crunch algorithm

Work balancing increasingly plays an important role in both the production and maintenance functions. However, the literature on work balancing problems in transfer line manufacturing systems provides little information on the contributions of maintenance technicians and spare parts with a focus on penalty, technicians’ costs and incentives for staff. Unlike existing reports, the current investigation attempts to solve the maintenance task balancing problem. It combines preventive maintenance technicians’ assignments with product demand and spares utilisation in a transfer line manufacturing system. It uses an optimisation framework that measures the success of post-line balancing solution performance in a system from a holistic perspective. The novelty of the approach lies in the integration of technicians and spare parts theory and the introduction of penalty, technicians’ costs and incentive for staff. The proposed optimisation method was applied to a case study for detergent manufacturing system as a means of testing the effectiveness and robustness of the approach. The results show that the proposed model appears to be effective. Some simulations were also carried out to complement practical result

A Realist Evaluation of the Sustainability of Disease Surveillance Intervention Outcomes in Sub-Saharan Africa

In recent years, the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and to improve disease surveillance has been on the increase. This is in line with the notion that ICTs improve timeliness, availability and quality of public health data. Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is burdened with increasing health challenges and poor health infrastructure. Thus, an explosion of ICT-based health surveillance interventions to curb these challenges. However, despite the implementation of these interventions, important questions around the effectiveness and sustainability still remain. This study proposes a realist evaluation of disease surveillance intervention outcomes from a sustainability perspective to uncover what works, for whom, under what conditions and why? We also discuss how the complex adaptive systems theory and affordance theory provide a lens for investigating this phenomenon. The results of this study will contribute to the evidence based movement for Information Systems (IS) research and practice in SSA

UAS in the NAS: Survey Responses by ATC, Manned Aircraft Pilots, and UAS Pilots

NASA currently is working with industry and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to establish future requirements for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) flying in the National Airspace System (NAS). To work these issues NASA has established a multi-center UAS Integration in the NAS project. In order to establish Ground Control Station requirements for UAS, the perspective of each of the major players in NAS operations was desired. Three on-line surveys were administered that focused on Air Traffic Controllers (ATC), pilots of manned aircraft, and pilots of UAS. Follow-up telephone interviews were conducted with some survey respondents. The survey questions addressed UAS control, navigation, and communications from the perspective of small and large unmanned aircraft. Questions also addressed issues of UAS equipage, especially with regard to sense and avoid capabilities. From the ATC and military ATC perspective, of particular interest is how mixed-operations (manned/UAS) have worked in the past and the role of aircraft equipage. Knowledge gained from this information is expected to assist the NASA UAS in the NAS project in directing research foci thus assisting the FAA in the development of rules, regulations, and policies related to UAS in the NAS