Disconnected Skeleton: Shape at its Absolute Scale

We present a new skeletal representation along with a matching framework to address the deformable shape recognition problem. The disconnectedness arises as a result of excessive regularization that we use to describe a shape at an attainably coarse scale. Our motivation is to rely on the stable properties of the shape instead of inaccurately measured secondary details. The new representation does not suffer from the common instability problems of traditional connected skeletons, and the matching process gives quite successful results on a diverse database of 2D shapes. An important difference of our approach from the conventional use of the skeleton is that we replace the local coordinate frame with a global Euclidean frame supported by additional mechanisms to handle articulations and local boundary deformations. As a result, we can produce descriptions that are sensitive to any combination of changes in scale, position, orientation and articulation, as well as invariant ones.Comment: The work excluding {\S}V and {\S}VI has first appeared in 2005 ICCV: Aslan, C., Tari, S.: An Axis-Based Representation for Recognition. In ICCV(2005) 1339- 1346.; Aslan, C., : Disconnected Skeletons for Shape Recognition. Masters thesis, Department of Computer Engineering, Middle East Technical University, May 200

Reconsidering extra time-like dimensions

In this study we reconsider the phenomenological problems related to tachyonic modes in the context of extra time-like dimensions. First we reconsider a lower bound on the size of extra time-like dimensions. Next we discuss the issues of spontaneous decay of stable fermions through tachyonic decays and disappearance of fermions due to tachyonic contributions to their self-energies. We find that the tachyonic modes due to extra time-like dimensions are less problematic than the tachyonic modes in the usual 4-dimensional setting because the most troublesome Feynman diagrams are forbidden once the conservation of momentum in the extra time-like dimensions is imposed.Comment: The version to appear in EPJ

Internationalization of E-commerce: A Comparison of Online Shopping Preferences of Turkish and American University Students

While international e-commerce has been as an efficient means of global transaction, it can be improved even more if it is tailored to differences in local markets in terms of economy, infrastructure and culture.  In trying to investigate the internationalization of e-commerce, we examined the online shopping preferences in the US (which has a well-developed market in e-commerce) and Turkey (which has more of a developing market with good potentials).  This empirical study indicated significant cross-national differences in online shopping preferences, particularly on attitude towards online credit card payment and online purchase involvement. It was also concluded that the culture based factors such as website design appeal is also significantly affected by nationality. Keywords: Online shopping; e-commerce; cultural difference

Marketing To Health Information Seekers: A Critical Look At The Principal Assumptions

As the Internet gained more significance in various dimensions of our lives and dealings with others, it was just a matter of time for the world of healthcare to incorporate the Internet-use into its routines.  We are now seeing tangible examples of this use in many facets of healthcare industry.  Both providers and patients have been pursuing Internet-related strategies, remedies, routines, and etc. for a while now.  It has been stated that majority of the Americans who are online are looking for health information.  Healthcare information is accessed more than sports, stocks, and shopping.  Some believe that this growing use of online health information sources is able to bridge the gap between what patients know and what they are told.  In other words, these patients can visit their physicians armed with knowledge obtained on the Web and pursue rather educated discussions with their physicians about their medical issues.  Of course, this is true based on the assumptions that the websites that these patients use provide accurate information and the patients comprehend this information properly.  The purpose of this paper is to very briefly review some of the ongoing trends in this field and review the practicality of the two assumptions listed above.  It is hoped that inquiries like this result in a better understanding of the components required for a proper use of online options to improve the efficiency of healthcare practices

Internet In Global Settings: A New Look At International Marketing

The growing use of e-commerce has opened up a new territory of ongoing communication between consumers and manufacturers around the World. Both parties are now able to target each other regardless of their national boundaries. Accordingly, more and more companies are getting into the international arena and hoping that they can get nicer shares of the potential business volume. Many firms are trying to identify and target specific market segments globally by building a network of Internet sites around the World. While creating a network may just be the beginning, it appears to be a rather successful venture. These businesses are finding out that e-commerce may be a very effective way to reach those markets with similar attributes globally. Considering the continuously increasing speed of technology in the information highway, one can only assume that there will be even more markets attainable in the near future. The question is who will be there first to cover these markets, and more importantly, who will be better prepared to cover them properly

Moving From Intermediaries To Apomediaries: A Study Of The Ongoing Changes In Marketing Channels

As we get to be more comfortable with incorporating our daily routines with interactive options available on the Internet, we get to influence the shapes of the businesses we deal with and the way they operate. It is no surprise that today we feel more comfortable in placing orders online than placing them on the phone. Accordingly, recognizing this trend, many businesses are now offering online options. While some may have thought that this was good enough for those businesses, some have been noticing that most of those businesses have begun to participate in social network sites such as Facebook and other product and/or industry specific blogs. Apparently, having a simple presence on the Internet was not good enough considering the ongoing trends in the marketplace. The purpose of this paper is to examine some of those trends and explore the driving force behind some of those recent online practices. It is hoped that these issues are understood properly so that one can predict the upcoming changes in consumers’ routines and the business practices to cater to them

Maintaining The Security In Internet Marketing: Moving From Biometrics To Behaviometrics

While it is a rather common business practice, Internet marketing is still an area that continues to evolve and adapt. One of the everlasting challenges associated with this field is being able to insure that the online transactions take place in a secure setting. This construct of security appears to be multidimensional since it can include issues associated with secure ordering, hacker protection, firewalls, identity theft, etc. While the privacy of the online consumers has to be protected, it is important for the marketers to identify the users on the Internet to collect a profile of their interests so that they can adjust their site contents accordingly and deliver advertisements that appeal to their specific preferences. Whether the ultimate purpose is to custom-tailor the online messages or offer appropriate product/service options, it is imperative that the identity of the online consumers needs to be authenticated to make sure that there is no security breach in completing the online marketing transactions. This paper reviews some of the ongoing efforts in preventing the potential intrusions in online practices

Spinors in the hyperbolic algebra

The three-dimensional universal complex Clifford algebra is used to represent relativistic vectors in terms of paravectors. In analogy to the Hestenes spacetime approach spinors are introduced in an algebraic form. This removes the dependance on an explicit matrix representation of the algebra.Comment: 9 pages Latex2

Healthcare Marketing On The Internet: A Review Of On-Going Concerns

There is no doubt that the Internet has proven itself to be the most powerful vehicle for distributing information to millions of individuals.  After all, it is interactive, user-controlled, and provides a means for communication detailed information across a vast spectrum of topics.  When the topic is healthcare marketing, its popularity becomes even more eminent.  There are over 25,000 Internet health sites and this number is climbing rapidly.  On the other hand, there are many who are concerned about the healthcare marketing practices on the Internet.  One of the basic premises of these concerns is based on the questionable accuracy of the information on the Internet and the crucial impact of this lack of accuracy when the information is about healthcare.  This paper proposes various research propositions to understand the nature of these concerns and the potential future of healthcare marketing efforts on the Internet.  It is hoped that future inquiries of these propositions and the ones alike provide a better understanding of the required components of the upcoming healthcare marketing strategies

Evolution Of A Consumer Segment: Patient 2.0 Using Web 2.0 Tools In Healthcare

As Internet gets more interactive in its applications, the Internet users have been adapting to this change. While initial users of the Internet have been content with a passive approach of simply surfing the static websites, the current users are more interested in interacting with the website providers in such ways that those websites end up by being completely dynamic. As we move from a general population of Internet users to a smaller group of patients who are online health information seekers, we see a similar transition. Patients who had been using the Internet to access medical information in the past were mostly concerned with being able to find creditable websites to use to learn about their symptoms, cures, medications, etc. Patients who are currently online are concerned with finding websites not only credible to use to learn about their conditions but also interactive enough for them to share their stories with others. By interacting with others, they get more involved, learn, help others to learn, and eventually become a crucial part of the entire process. This paper reviews the term “Patient 2.0” that points to the type of patient who is more empowered, active, IT literate, and informed.