A Mediation Framework for Mobile Web Service Provisioning

Web Services and mobile data services are the newest trends in information systems engineering in wired and wireless domains, respectively. Web Services have a broad range of service distributions while mobile phones have large and expanding user base. To address the confluence of Web Services and pervasive mobile devices and communication environments, a basic mobile Web Service provider was developed for smart phones. The performance of this Mobile Host was also analyzed in detail. Further analysis of the Mobile Host to provide proper QoS and to check Mobile Host's feasibility in the P2P networks, identified the necessity of a mediation framework. The paper describes the research conducted with the Mobile Host, identifies the tasks of the mediation framework and then discusses the feasible realization details of such a mobile Web Services mediation framework.Comment: Proceedings of 2006 Middleware for Web Services (MWS 2006) Workshop @ 10th International IEEE EDOC Conference "The Enterprise Computing Conference", October 16, 2006, pp. 14-17. IEEE Computer Societ

Long range population prospects of Finland in the European context

The population of Finland is projected along eleven different scenarios assuming widely diverging alternative trends in fertility, mortality and migration up to the year 2100. The definitions of these scenarios follow those of a recent study (Lutz, 1991) on Europe and North America. They range from constant rates to assuming replacement fertility versus a Total Fertility Rate (TFR) of 1.1, mortality stagnation versus a strong increase in life expectancy, and no immigration versus 30,000 migrants per year. The results show that no matter what scenario is chosen, the next 30 years will bring an enormous increase of the population over age 65. The proportion in working age will be relatively stable up to the year 2010 and then strongly decline under all conditions, which is a consequence of the Finnish baby boom of the late 1940s. Projected total population sizes in 2050 will range from 3.5 million in the fertility decline scenario to 6.6 million in the high immigration scenario

Effects of angular shift transformations between movements and their visual feedback on coordination in unimanual circling

Tool actions are characterized by a transformation between movements and their resulting consequences in the environment. This transformation has to be taken into account when tool actions are planned and executed. We investigated how angular shift transformations between circling movements and their visual feedback affect the coordination of this feedback with visual events in the environment. We used a task that required participants to coordinate the visual feedback of a circular hand movement (presented on the right side of a screen) with a circling stimulus (presented on the left side of a screen). Four stimulus-visual feedback relations were instructed: same or different rotations of stimulus and visual feedback, either in same or different y-directions. Visual speed was varied in three levels (0.8, 1, and 1.2 Hz). The movement-visual feedback relation was manipulated using eight angular shifts: (-180, -135, -90, -45, 0, 45, 90, and 135°). Participants were not able to perform the different rotation/different y-direction pattern, but instead fell into the different rotation/same y-direction pattern. The different rotation/same y-direction pattern and the same rotation/same y-direction pattern were performed equally well, performance was worse in the same rotation/different y-direction pattern. Best performance was observed with angular shifts 0 and -45° and performance declined with larger angular shifts. Further, performance was better with negative angular shifts than with positive angular shifts. Participants did not fully take the angular shift transformation into account: when the angular shifts were negative the visual feedback was more in advance, and when angular shifts were positive the visual feedback was less in advance of the stimulus than in 0° angular shift. In conclusion, the presence and the magnitude of angular shift transformations affect performance. Internal models do not fully take the shift transformation into account

Der Wille als Artefakt

"Der freie Wille ist keine Naturtatsache, sondern eine soziale Institution - ein kulturelles Artefakt, das von Menschen für Menschen gemacht ist. Die Institution des freien Willens und die Intuition der Willensfreiheit, die auf ihr beruht, wirken auf die Funktionsarchitektur des menschlichen Geistes zurück. Wie jede andere soziale Institution wirkt auch diese auf das (individuelle und kollektive) Handeln derer ein, die sie anerkennen. Auch wenn der freie Wille keine Naturtatsache ist, folgt deshalb daraus noch lange nicht, dass er eine Illusion ist. Soziale Tatsachen sind nicht minder real als Naturtatsachen." (Autorenreferat

Towards open CSCW systems

Applications designed to support the work of groups will becoming increasingly important to future distributed systems. This paper considers the role of distributed systems within the development of cooperative systems. In particular, we focus on the need to provide Open CSCW systems and their impact on distributed systems. The work currently being undertoken in Open Distributed Systems (ODP) is used to highlight significant trends for future open CSCW systems. It will be shown that the CSCW and ODP community share mutual interests and have complementary aims and goals developed from different perspectives. Within the paper we provide a brief introduction to CSCW highlighting the requirements CSCW places on distributed systems. The development of an environment to support open CSCW systems is introduced and briefly described. Finally, the relationships between requirements and models for Open CSCW systems and the Basic Reference Model of ODP are discussed.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Open CSCW systems: will ODP help?

This paper is concerned with the role of Open Distributed Processing systems within the development of cooperative systems. In particular, we focus on the need to provide Open CSCW systems and their impact on distributed systems. The work currently being undertaken in Open Distributed Systems (ODP) is used to highlight signifcant trends for future open CSCW systems. It will be shown that the CSCW and ODP community share mutual interests and have complementary aims and goals developed from different perspectives. The paper introduces CSCW highlighting the requirements CSCW places on distributed systems. The development of an environment to support open CSCW systems is introduced and briefly described. Finally, the relationships between requirements and models for Open CSCW systems and the Basic Reference Model of ODP are discussed.Peer Reviewe

ERP Effects Prior to Performance Errors in Musicians Indicate Fast Monitoring Processes

Background One central question in the context of motor control and action monitoring is at what point in time errors can be detected. Previous electrophysiological studies investigating this issue focused on brain potentials elicited after erroneous responses, mainly in simple speeded response tasks. In the present study, we investigated brain potentials before the commission of errors in a natural and complex situation. Methodology/Principal Findings Expert pianists bimanually played scales and patterns while the electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were computed for correct and incorrect performances. Results revealed differences already 100 ms prior to the onset of a note (i.e., prior to auditory feedback). We further observed that erroneous keystrokes were delayed in time and pressed more slowly. Conclusions Our data reveal neural mechanisms in musicians that are able to detect errors prior to the execution of erroneous movements. The underlying mechanism probably relies on predictive control processes that compare the predicted outcome of an action with the action goal