Context Transfer Research Articles

Context Prediction of Mobile Users Based on Time-Inferred Pattern Networks: A Probabilistic Approach

We present a probabilistic method of predicting context of mobile users based on their historic context data. The presented method predicts general context based on probability theory through a novel graphical data structure, which is a kind of weighted directed multigraphs. User context data are transformed into the new graphical structure, in which each node represents a context or a combined context and each directed edge indicates a context transfer with the time weight inferred from corresponding time data. We also consider the periodic property of context data, and we devise a good solution to context data with such property. Through test, we could show the merits of the presented method.

LTE 네트워크에서 비용효과적인 위치 및 서비스 관리 기법의 성능분석

In this paper, we propose a cost-effective location and service management scheme in LTE (Long Term Evolution) networks, which a per-user service proxy is created to serve as a gateway between the mobile user and all client-server applications engaged by the mobile user. The service proxy is always co-located with the mobile user`s location database such that whenever the MU`s location database moves during a location hand-off, a service hand-off also ensues to co-locate the service proxy with the location database. This allows the proxy to know the location of the mobile user all the time to reduce the network communication cost for service delivery. We analyze four integrated location and service management schemes. Our results show that the centralized scheme performs the best when the mobile user`s SMR (service to mobility ratio) is low and (session to mobility ratio) is high, while the fully distributed scheme performs the best when both SMR and are high. In all other conditions, the dynamic anchor scheme is the best except when the service context transfer cost is high under which the static anchor scheme performs the best. Through analytical results, we demonstrate that different users with vastly different mobility and service patterns should adopt different integrated location and service management methods to optimize system performance.

A Novel Group-Based Handover Authentication Scheme with Privacy Preservation for Mobile WiMAX Networks

This letter proposes an efficient group-based handover authentication scheme for mobile WiMAX networks. When the first Mobile Station (MS) of the handover group moves from the service Base Station (BS) to a target BS, the service BS transmits all the handover group members security context to the target BS. Thus the rest of the MSs in the same handover group can bypass the Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) and the security context transfer phases to directly perform the handover authentication, which obviously reduces handover latency. Moreover, the proposed scheme not only meets the essential security requirements in handover authentication semantics (such as mutual authentication and resisting the domino effect) but also achieves privacy preservation.

Pre-Handover Context Transfer Mechanism Based on Warehouse Station Communication Pattern

Pre-Handover Context Transfer Mechanism Based on Warehouse Station Communication Pattern

GHAP: An Efficient Group-based Handover Authentication Mechanism for IEEE 802.16m Networks

IEEE 802.16m is now under consideration by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to become the International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT)-Advanced standard. However, handover authentication is a critical issue in this area. In this paper, we propose an efficient group-based handover authentication mechanism, named as GHAP, for correlated mobile stations (MSs) in IEEE 802.16m networks. In our scheme, the correlated MSs who have the similar Signal to Interference-plus-Noise Ratio and history handover information etc. are divided into the same handover group. When the first MS of the handover group members moves from the service base station (BS) to a target BS, the service BS transmits all the handover group members' security context to the target BS utilizing the security context transfer (SCT) method and then all these MSs in the same handover group can easily perform the handover authentication with the target BS. Different from the conventional SCT schemes, our scheme uses the MSs' security context as a symmetric key of Cipher-based message authentication code (CMAC) but not the key material of deriving new session key. Therefore, the proposed scheme can effectively resist the domino effect existing in the previous SCT schemes. Moreover, security analysis shows that the proposed scheme also meets the other security requirements in handover authentication semantics. Furthermore, performance analysis demonstrates that the proposed scheme is very efficient in reducing average handover latency.

Evaluating the Influence of Goal Setting on Intravenous Catheterization Skill Acquisition and Transfer in a Hybrid Simulation Training Context

Educators often simplify complex tasks by setting learning objectives that focus trainees on isolated skills rather than the holistic task. We designed 2 sets of learning objectives for intravenous catheterization using goal setting theory. We hypothesized that setting holistic goals related to technical, cognitive, and communication skills would result in superior holistic performance, whereas setting isolated goals related to technical skills would result in superior technical performance. We randomly assigned practicing health care professionals to set holistic (n = 14) or isolated (n = 15) goals. All watched an instructional video and studied a list of 9 goals specific to their group. Participants practiced independently in a hybrid simulation (standardized patient combined with an arm simulator). The first and the last practice trials were videotaped for analysis. One-week later, participants completed a transfer test in another hybrid simulation scenario. Blinded experts evaluated performance on all 3 trials using the Direct Observation of Procedural Skills tool. The holistic group scored higher than the isolated group on the holistic Direct Observation of Procedural Skills score for all 3 trials [mean (SD), 45.0 (9.16) vs. 38.4 (9.17); P = 0.01]. The isolated group did not perform better than the holistic group on the technical skills score [10.3 (2.73) vs. 11.6 (3.01); P = 0.11]. Our results suggest that asking learners to set holistic goals did not interfere with their attaining competent holistic and technical skills during hybrid simulation training. This exploratory trial provides preliminary evidence for how to consider integrating hybrid simulation into medical curricula and for the design of learning goals in simulation-based education.

Policy Transfer Over Time: A Case of Growing Complexity

The article indicates that policy transfer has played an important role in the development of policy and legislation in Australia. Indeed, much of what is regarded as Australian policy is borrowed, usually in small part, but sometimes in its entirety, from elsewhere. One of the implications of this view is that Australian policy making processes are often, at least in part, dynamic, policy processes that draw upon a number of sources, both domestic and international. The focus of this article is upon the sources of transfer in the Australian context, both domestic and international, and how the sources drawn upon by Australian state and federal governments have changed over time. The article also indicates that on the evidence available the Australian experience with transfer can be divided into a number of phases. The first, from European colonisation to approximately the middle of the nineteenth century, the second from roughly the middle of the nineteenth century to federation at the beginning of the twentieth century, the third from the establishment of the Australian federation in 1901, to the Second World War, and the fourth phase, from the Second World War to the present.

Professional training as a strategy for staff development

PurposeResearch studies on training‐job relevance continuously discuss the extent of transfer being found limited. This study aims to focus on exploring trainees' perceptions about the effects of a “Western” professional training program on their skill development and how cultural factors specific to Lebanon influence the learning.Design/methodology/approachThis research adopted a mixed method study design. It was conducted in the context of a training services program offered by an HRD department in a large Lebanese financial institution. The sample frame consisted of service employees who were conveniently selected after enrolling in the professional training program. The sample was composed of 120 participants. A total number of 107 questionnaires were completed and 101 questionnaires were usable (82.5 percent response rate). Analysis of the quantitative data was through descriptive statistics. Qualitative data collection was included to corroborate the quantitative data in answering the research questions. The researcher conducted 15 interviews with participants and stakeholders in the training program to get their perceptions of how well the training workshops were helping them develop new skills.FindingsThis study yielded a broad perspective on issues related to formal training and training transfer in the Lebanese context. The issues explored are related to trainees' attitudes towards the training activities they were exposed to, their perceptions of the impact of training activities on their career development, and their attitudes towards work environment that might predict the transfer of training.Practical implicationsWhile professional training programs may lead to motivating trainees to become more committed to work, and enhancing learning skills relevant to individual career development and life‐long learning, such trainings fail to tackle problems specific to a trainee's organizational or cultural needs. In particular, it is often hard to integrate generic training ideas into specific workplace settings.Originality/valueThis paper provides original information on a topic that is not well researched in the Lebanese context. It identifies needs and offers practical help to HRD practitioners and international consultants, and provides theoretical insights to HRD scholars to better understand the field of HRD in international contexts.

Quantifying and Transferring Contextual Information in Object Detection

Context is critical for reducing the uncertainty in object detection. However, context modeling is challenging because there are often many different types of contextual information coexisting with different degrees of relevance to the detection of target object(s) in different images. It is therefore crucial to devise a context model to automatically quantify and select the most effective contextual information for assisting in detecting the target object. Nevertheless, the diversity of contextual information means that learning a robust context model requires a larger training set than learning the target object appearance model, which may not be available in practice. In this work, a novel context modeling framework is proposed without the need for any prior scene segmentation or context annotation. We formulate a polar geometric context descriptor for representing multiple types of contextual information. In order to quantify context, we propose a new maximum margin context (MMC) model to evaluate and measure the usefulness of contextual information directly and explicitly through a discriminant context inference method. Furthermore, to address the problem of context learning with limited data, we exploit the idea of transfer learning based on the observation that although two categories of objects can have very different visual appearance, there can be similarity in their context and/or the way contextual information helps to distinguish target objects from nontarget objects. To that end, two novel context transfer learning models are proposed which utilize training samples from source object classes to improve the learning of the context model for a target object class based on a joint maximum margin learning framework. Experiments are carried out on PASCAL VOC2005 and VOC2007 data sets, a luggage detection data set extracted from the i-LIDS data set, and a vehicle detection data set extracted from outdoor surveillance footage. Our results validate the effectiveness of the proposed models for quantifying and transferring contextual information, and demonstrate that they outperform related alternative context models.

Lightness perception in high dynamic range images: Local and remote luminance effects

We measured the perceived lightness of target patches embedded in high dynamic range checkerboards. We independently varied the luminance of checks immediately surrounding the test and those remote from it. The data establish context transfer functions (CTFs) that characterize perceptual matches across checkerboard contexts. Several features of the CTFs are broadly consistent with previous research: Matched luminance decreases when overall context luminance decreases; matched luminance increases when overall context luminance increases; manipulating context locations near the target has a greater effect than manipulating locations far from the target patch. The measured CTFs are not well described, however, by changes with context in multiplicative gain alone or by changes in both multiplicative and subtractive adaptation parameters. We were able to fit the data with a three-parameter model of adaptation. This allowed us to characterize the CTFs by specifying the luminances that appeared white, black, and gray (white point, black point, and gray point, respectively). The white and black points depended additively on the local and remote contrasts, but accounting for the gray point required an interaction term. Analysis of this effect suggests that the target patch itself must be included in a description of the visual context.

Enhancing international knowledge transfer through information technology: the intervention of communication culture

Nowadays, outsourcing and offshore-partnering activities have become popular business models for leading multinational enterprises. Usually, outsourcing not only helps leading multinational enterprises increase their competitive advantage, but also offers suppliers a great opportunity to learn from their international customers. Hence, it raises the issue of what factors are important for suppliers to successfully manage knowledge transfer in the international context. In the previous studies, little attention has been paid to how information technology (IT) influences cross-border knowledge transfer. In this present study, taken from the supplier’s perspective, we propose that IT can improve the quality and quantity of information exchange, and have a positive influence on cross-border knowledge transfer. Based on a sample site of 206 Taiwanese suppliers and tested by the multivariate adaptive regression splines (MARS) statistical approach, the empirical results reveal that a knowledge management integrated database has a positive impact on technical knowledge transfer. Additionally, when in a low-context communication culture, video conferencing has a positive impact on technical knowledge transfer and instant messaging also has a positive impact on marketing knowledge transfer. Importantly, inter-organisational IT does not have a significant impact on knowledge transfer when in a high-context communication culture.

Decentralised secure handover in IMS-based networks

This paper proposes a decentralised secure handover scheme for service continuity in IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS)-based networks: Decentralised Service Continuity (DSC). The novelty of the DSC is that the Proxy Call and Session Control Function (P-CSCF) in IMS is enhanced as a distributed Application Server (AS) with third-party call control (3PCC) for handling the handover. Moreover, the DSC integrates a secure context transfer mechanism to the P-CSCF to get the context information of a newly attached User Equipment (UE) and guarantee the confidentiality and the integrity. The DSC could shorten the IMS transmission latency significantly and reduce UE power consumption, as compared with the standard IMS-based service continuity and the Mid-Session Macro-Mobility (MSM).

Engineering nature: water, development & the global spread of American environmental expertise

Focusing on globalization in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Jessica Teisch examines the processes by which American water and mining engineers who rose to prominence during and after the California Gold Rush of 1849 exported the United States' growing technical and environmental knowledge and associated social and political institutions. In the frontiers of Australia, South Africa, Hawaii, and Palestine--semiarid regions that shared a need for water to support growing populations and economies--California water engineers applied their expertise in irrigation and mining projects on behalf of foreign governments and business interests. Engineering Nature explores how controlling the vagaries of nature abroad required more than the export of blueprints for dams, canals, or mines; it also entailed the problematic transfer of the new technology's sociopolitical context. Water engineers confronted unforeseen variables in each region as they worked to implement their visions of agrarian settlement and industrial growth, including the role of the market, government institutions, property rights, indigenous peoples, labor, and, not last, the environment. Teisch argues that by examining the successes and failures of various projects as American influence spread, we can see the complex role of globalization at work, often with incredibly disproportionate results. |Teisch examines the processes by which American water and mining engineers exported the United States' growing technical and environmental knowledge and associated social and political institutions to the developing twentieth-century frontiers of Australia, South Africa, Hawaii, and Palestine. Teisch argues that these engineers became early agents of the persistent, uneven spread of technology and wealth to developing nations.

SESSAMO: Session Mobility for Video Streaming Applications

Nowadays, telecom operators are making a remarkable progress in providing a wide offer of broadband access to answer the high demand for high bit rate applications. Nevertheless, user requirements do not stop at providing high rate connection, but exceeds it to ensuring transparent service portability among his equipments. The user would like to choose among his devices those which respond at best his needs and constraints. From small smart phones to large screen devices, the customer enjoys its entertainments or business meetings according to its current situation. Service continuity over different terminals known as session mobility is a challenging operation in terms of handover latency, context transfer and media adaptation. Moreover, this transfer requires synchronization between the involved terminals. In this paper we present “SESSAMO”, a new lightweight session mobility protocol for streaming applications using RTSP. This solution is transparent to the network and does not require any changes in the client or server streaming application. The solution is detailed and a set of measurement results are presented. In addition, we present a new method to renegotiate session parameters following terminal capacities in order to adapt the flow accordingly. Renegotiation proposal is based on the use of SDPng and MPEG-21.

Privacy preserving context transfer schemes for 4G networks

AbstractIn the near future, wireless heterogeneous networks are expected to interconnect in an all‐IP architecture. An open issue towards this direction is the uninterrupted continuation of the received services during handover between networks employing different access technologies. In this context, Mobile IP (MIP) is a protocol that allows fast and secure handovers. However, MIP per se cannot handle all the issues that surface during handovers in certain services, and more specifically, when the information of the current state of a service requires re‐establishment on the new subnet without having to repeat the entire protocol exchange with the mobile host from the outset. A number of methods have been proposed to solve the aforementioned problem, commonly referred to as secure context transfer. However, while such methods do succeed in minimising the disruption caused by security‐related delays, it seems that little has been done to protect the end‐users' privacy as well. In this paper, a number of privacy enhanced (PE) context transfer schemes are presented. The first two of them have been introduced in a previous work of ours while the other two are novel. All schemes are analysed in terms of message exchange and evaluated through simulations. The performance of our schemes is compared with the standard ones proposed by the Seamoby work group (WG). The results demonstrate that the proposed schemes are very efficient in terms of application handover times, while at the same time guarantee the privacy of the end‐user. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

UAE Exchange Centre LLC: business level strategies

Subject area Strategy, competitive analysis, remittance industry. Study level/applicability Undergraduate and postgraduate business and management. Case overview This case study examines the money transfer and foreign exchange industry in the Middle East context particularly United Arab Emirates. It focuses on the strategy making process. Possible business level strategies different firms can employ will be a consideration in the process of strategy making. Also, the stakeholder perspectives in the strategy making process are also dealt with. The characteristic required for cost leadership, differentiation, and focus needs to be matched with the context to arrive at an optimal strategy. The importance of arriving at a strategy to avoid being stuck in the middle during a period of financial crisis is one of the key areas of discussion. Expected learning outcomes This case can be used to teach: the stakeholder perspective, business level strategy, cost leadership, differentiation, remittance industry, foreign exchange business, and strategy process. Supplementary materials A teaching note is available on request.

Transferring More than Learned in Training: Employees' and managers' (over)generalization of skills

Across two studies, we examine the extent to which individuals accurately report their learning and transfer in a training context. In Study 1, we examine self (subordinate) and supervisory estimations of training transfer, 6–12 weeks after employees (subordinates) attended training in an organization in the United States. Using ratings of skills unrelated to training programs attended, we compared managers' and employees' ratings to determine the extent to which respondents report skill overgeneralization. Individual differences and skill visibility were examined as predictors of training transfer overgeneralization. Subordinates, particularly those high on conscientiousness, agreeableness, and emotional stability, are more likely to report transfer in areas not covered in training. Conversely, when managers rate skills, which are used in their subordinates' day‐to‐day activities (more observable, visible, or transparent skills), training transfer estimates are more accurate. In Study 2, we determine that conscientiousness is the main factor driving raters' overgeneralization (for self‐ratings), and we further demonstrate that other personality dimensions – insecurity and perfectionism – accentuate the influence of conscientiousness on trainees' overgeneralization. From a practical standpoint, employers need to be aware of potential for biases in training transfer ratings when evaluating training transfer, particularly for employees with specific personality characteristics and for those who are in jobs with low skill visibility.

Knowledge transfer in academia: an exploratory study on the Not-Invented-Here Syndrome

Today’s society is often claimed to be the “knowledge society”. Knowledge transfer plays a pivotal role in the whole economic system, influencing innovation management in its very core. This study deals with one of the barriers that might hamper knowledge transfer: The Not-Invented-Here Syndrome (NIH). Until now, this phenomenon was mainly analyzed in an industrial context. However, as the universities play an increasingly important role in the knowledge society, the time seems ripe to analyze this barrier of knowledge transfer in an academic context. This paper examines the influence of the research discipline, the scientific output, the attitude towards basic science and the project experience on NIH by analyzing a sample of 166 Austrian professors from the fields of physics and engineering. While we cannot find a significant impact of the first two aspects, we can demonstrate that the latter two do have a significant influence on NIH. Summing up, this study supports results from the existing literature on NIH and sheds light on new aspects providing deeper insights into the comprehension of this complex phenomenon.

IPv6-Based Dynamic Quality of Service Control Strategy for Wireless Network

On the basis of the architecture for fast handover of hierarchical IPv6, a coordinated call admission control mechanism was presented, providing an end-to-end RSVP context transfer for real-time applications to overcome t he weakness of the context transfer protocol which cannot meet the need of end-to-end QoS mechanisms because the contexts were only transferred between the previous and new access routers. The mechanism decreased the delay caused by re-initiate QoS signaling from scratch to reestablish QoS forwarding process, and minimized the handover service disruption. The signaling overhead and handover latencies could be reduced by adopting t he fast handover for hierarchical IPv6 architecture. The approach was compared with the re-initiating RSVP signaling to reestablish QoS states using network simulator ns2. The numerical results showed that the scheme has the less latency and packet loss than that of the re-initiating approach.

Team Perceived Trustworthiness in a Complex Military Peacekeeping Simulation

Antecedents to trust (propensity to trust, perceived trustworthiness) and trust behaviors were examined in relation to team performance in a complex eight-mission military peacekeeping simulation. Teams were colocated or distributed and stayed in the same or transferred to a different context at task transfer. In Experiment 1, an ability and competence factor accounted for most of the variance in perceived trustworthiness and greater perceptions of teammates' abilities/competences predicted posttransfer performance. One's perception of how others perceived one's ability/competence increased over missions. In Experiment 2, propensity to trust did not predict performance; however, trust in others' and one's own ability/competence and trust behaviors predicted performance. At task and/or context transfer, teams produced more monitoring and less cooperating language in their communication.