Despite recent interest in the role of trust in Information Systems, the potential of IS to foster trust in business relationships remains largely untapped. In order to better realize this potential, this dissertation examines three areas of IS trust research for which research is particularly limited: (1) the IT artifact as a target of trust, (2) IS-based source credibility as an antecedent of trust, and (3) the effect of anonymity on trust in online environments. The objective of this dissertation is to examine the effects of IS on trust in each of these areas. To do so, a multi-paper dissertation format is adopted in which each area examined constitutes a distinct, though complimentary, study. Together, these studies further research on how IS can enhance trust in business relationships.

Heart failure is the clinical syndrome accompanying the inability of the heart to maintain a cardiac output required to meet the metabolic requirements and accommodate venous return, and is one of the leading causes of mortality in United States. Accurate imaging of the heart and its failure is important for successful patient management and treatment. Multiple cardiac imaging modalities provide complementary information about the heart – LV function and wall motion, anatomy, myocardial viability and ischemia. In many instances, it is necessary for a patient to undergo multiple imaging sessions to obtain diagnostic clinical information with confidence. It would be beneficial to the individual and the health care system if a single imaging modality could yield reliable clinical information about the heart, leading to a reduced cost, anxiety and an increased diagnostic confidence. This thesis proposes methods that would make cardiac MRI perform an improved assessment of LV function, wall motion, and viability, such that cardiac MRI is taken one step closer to being a single stop solution for imaging of heart. Conventional cardiac MR imaging is performed at a temporal resolution of around 40 ms per cardiac phase. While the global left ventricular (LV) function can be reliably established at this temporal resolution, functional metrics characterizing transient function like peak filling and ejection rates are not accurately assessed. A high temporal resolution is necessary to characterize such transient LV function and wall motion mechanics. This thesis proposes methods to acquire cine-images of the heart at a higher temporal resolution (~ 6 ms) and algorithms to acquire the LV volume across all cardiac phases that would yield functional metrics characterizing LV function and wall motion mechanics. The validation of these algorithms was performed on human subjects. Cardiac MR imaging is the current gold standard of myocardial viability imaging, in which scarred regions of the heart following myocardial infarction are visualized. However viability imaging faces image quality challenges in patients with severe arrhythmias and in cases where a higher spatial resolution, and hence a longer acquisition time, is desired. This thesis also proposes an arrhythmia insensitive inversion recovery (AIIR) algorithm that would significantly reduce artifacts that degrade image quality, thereby extending viability imaging to higher spatial resolution and in patients with severe arrhythmia. Simulations, experimental validation on phantoms and clinical verification on patients are performed. Results from high temporal resolution imaging reveal that obtaining cine cardiac MR images at a temporal resolution of 6 ms per cardiac phase is feasible. Appropriate validated algorithms yield LV time-volume curve from which LV functional metrics are reliably extracted. A dependence on temporal resolution is revealed, and a temporal resolution cut-off of 12 ms is proposed to reliably capture the temporal dynamics of the LV. Also, results from cardiac viability imaging show that the AIIR algorithm performs significantly better than conventional imaging methods in both phantoms and human subjects, as shown by the blinded expert scores, leading to a better image quality. In conclusion, this thesis proposes and implements methods that help cardiac MRI yield 1) a better function and wall motion assessment of the heart through high temporal resolution imaging and 2) a better assessment of myocardial viability through the AIIR algorithm.

Cardiac catheterization has for a long time been a valuable way to evaluate the hemodynamics of a patient. One of the benefits is that the entire blood pressure waveform can be recorded and visualized to the cardiologist. These measurements are however disturbed by different phenomenon, such as respiration and the dynamics of the fluid filled catheter, which introduces artifacts in the blood pressure waveform. If these disturbances could be removed, the measurement would be more accurate. This report focuses on the effects of respiratory artifacts in blood pressure signals during cardiac catheterization. Four methods, a standard bandpass filter, two adaptive filters and one wavelet based method are considered. The difference between respiratory artifacts in systolic and diastolic pressure is studied and dealt with during compensation. All investigated methods are implemented in Matlab and validated against blood pressure signals from catheterized patients. The results are algorithms that try to correct for respiratory artifacts. The rate of success is hard to determine since only a few measured blood pressure signals have been available and since the size and appearance of the actual artifacts are unknown.

Abstract The purpose of this study is to explore the organizational culture within the corporation The Body Shop. I have been working with two different question formulations. The first is to answer how the culture can be described. To answer this I have been using Edgar H. Scheins theory of cultural levels. I have been using the two lower levels, artifacts and espoused values. The second question formulation is to answer how the culture within The Body Shop can be reproduced. To my help to answer this I have been using John Van Maanens theory of strategies for socialization. I have been working with a qualitative approach. My data was collected through interviews, observations, printed texts and The Body Shops Swedish and global websites. My results using Scheins cultural levels points out that the culture within The Body Shop, at least outwards, is strong and distinct. The implementation of Van Maanens strategies of socialization indicates that the socialization of new members in the organization tends to have a high congruence with the organization´s culture and values. / Sammanfattning Syftet med den här studien är att undersöka kulturen inom företaget The Body Shop. Jag har arbetat utifrån två frågeställningar. Den första är att besvara hur kulturen kan beskrivas med hjälp av Edgar H. Scheins kulturnivåer. Den andra frågeställningen är att besvara hur kulturen reproduceras med hjälp av John Van Maanens socialisationsstrategier. Studien har gjorts med en kvalitativ ansats. Det insamlade datamaterialet består av två intervjuer med butikschefer inom The Body Shop, tryckta källor samt företagets svenska och globala hemsidor. Beskrivningen av kulturen inom The Body Shop är gjord utifrån Scheins två första kulturnivåer, artefakter och värderingar. Tillämpningen av Van Maanens socialisations­strategier har visat att kulturen inom The Body Shop reproduceras genom socialisationen av nyanställda butiksmedarbetare. Mina resultat tyder på att The Body Shop utåt sett har en tydlig och stark kultur. Resultaten tyder också på att de sätt man socialiserar nyanställda på medför att dessa genom socialisationen uppnår en hög överensstämmelse med företagets kultur och värderingar.

Archaeological conservation is the process by which conservators prevent deterioration of archaeological remains and provide insight into the nature of recovered material. This thesis examines the effect of digital technology upon the ethics of the conservation profession and upon the attitude of the lay-public towards archaeology. The ethical issues raised by the use of digital technology are discussed, particularly the ways in which these issues differ from those raised by traditional conservation methods. Technological advancements, particularly those occurring in the 20th century, changed the way artifacts are conserved and studied. Conservation arose out of a craft-restoration tradition and evolved into a profession which, in addition to necessary artistic and aesthetic considerations, uses a demonstrable scientific method in order to preserve artifacts. The creation of guidelines for practice and various codes of ethics is the turning point in this evolution, marking the point after which conservation became a scientific profession. Advances in computer technology have permitted the widespread use of devices such as 3-D scanners, digital CT scanners, and digital cameras in the conservation of archaeological artifacts. All of these pieces of equipment produced digital files which must be stored. Currently, the pace of technological change renders most data inaccessible within ten years, and data conservation problems such as storage, access, and file format have not been adequately addressed by the professional conservation community. There is a distinct lack of formal ethical guidelines concerning these issues; this thesis concludes that there is an extreme need for measured consideration before digital methods are used in archaeological conservation. The creation of high-fidelity replicas presents a problem for the museum audience. The public connects with artifacts on an emotional level which is altered when a replica is displayed instead of an original. Digital reconstructions abound in popular culture, heavily influencing public opinion, and often resulting in widespread misperception of the information which can be extracted from archaeological evidence. As a result, conservators of the future must be cautious when creating digital artifacts, and must be meticulously careful to make the nature of digital reconstruction clear to the audience, in order to avoid spreading misinformation.

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This thesis describes an automatic evaluation approach for estimating the quality of stereo displays and vision systems using image features. The method is inspired by the human visual system. Display of stereo images is widely used to enhance the viewing experience of three-dimensional (3D) visual displays and communication systems. Applications are numerous and range from entertainment to more specialized applications such as: 3D visualization and broadcasting, robot tele-operation, object recognition, body exploration, 3D teleconferencing, and therapeutic purposes. Consequently, perceived image quality is important for assessing the performance of 3D imaging applications. There is no doubt that subjective testing (i.e., asking human viewers to rank the quality of stereo images) is the most accurate method for quality evaluation. It reflects true human perception. However, these assessments are time consuming and expensive. Furthermore, they cannot be done in real time. Therefore, the goal of this research is to develop an objective quality evaluation methods computational models that can automatically predict perceived image quality) correlating well with subjective predictions that are required in the field of quality assessment. I believe that the perceived distortion and disparity of any stereoscopic display are strongly dependent on local features, such as edge (non-uniform) and non-edge (uniform) areas. Therefore, in this research, I propose a No-Reference (NR) objective quality assessment for coded stereoscopic images based on segmented local features of artifacts and disparity. Local feature information such as edge and non-edge area based relative disparity estimation, as well as the blockiness, blur, and the zero-crossing within the block of images, are evaluated in this method. A block-based edge dissimilarity approach is used for disparity estimation. I use the Toyama stereo images database to evaluate the performance and to compare it with other approaches both qualitatively and quantitatively.

This thesis describes an automatic evaluation approach for estimating the quality of stereo displays and vision systems using image features. The method is inspired by the human visual system. Display of stereo images is widely used to enhance the viewing experience of three-dimensional (3D) visual displays and communication systems. Applications are numerous and range from entertainment to more specialized applications such as: 3D visualization and broadcasting, robot tele-operation, object recognition, body exploration, 3D teleconferencing, and therapeutic purposes. Consequently, perceived image quality is important for assessing the performance of 3D imaging applications. There is no doubt that subjective testing (i.e., asking human viewers to rank the quality of stereo images) is the most accurate method for quality evaluation. It reflects true human perception. However, these assessments are time consuming and expensive. Furthermore, they cannot be done in real time. Therefore, the goal of this research is to develop an objective quality evaluation methods computational models that can automatically predict perceived image quality) correlating well with subjective predictions that are required in the field of quality assessment. I believe that the perceived distortion and disparity of any stereoscopic display are strongly dependent on local features, such as edge (non-uniform) and non-edge (uniform) areas. Therefore, in this research, I propose a No-Reference (NR) objective quality assessment for coded stereoscopic images based on segmented local features of artifacts and disparity. Local feature information such as edge and non-edge area based relative disparity estimation, as well as the blockiness, blur, and the zero-crossing within the block of images, are evaluated in this method. A block-based edge dissimilarity approach is used for disparity estimation. I use the Toyama stereo images database to evaluate the performance and to compare it with other approaches both qualitatively and quantitatively.

Buildings make it possible for people to work together in organizations. In organization studies research, the physical aspects of organizations have been neglected in favor of intangible aspects (Gagliardi, 1996; Strati, 1999). Much of the research in management and organizational studies about physical workplaces concentrates on the instrumental aspects of offices, such as the relationship between open-plan offices and employee attitudes and behaviors (e.g. Hatch, 1987; Oldham, 1988), but it does not address the aesthetic aspects of offices. The physical workplace is part of the field of organizational aesthetics, which encompasses a range of topics and theoretical approaches, from aesthetics as a way of knowing organizations to the arts and related industries. This study explored the importance of aesthetics--beauty or its lack--in the day-to-day lives of people in organizations by exploring individuals' meanings of and experiences of their offices. At the same time, it examined the relationship between aesthetics and instrumentality of the physical workplace. How do office aesthetics matter in the way that work gets done in an organization? This study used Q-methodology (Brown, 1980; Stephenson, 1953) to explore individuals' experiences of their physical workplaces. Aesthetics and instrumentality were connected through site selection. Sites were chosen based on their combination of good/bad aesthetics and good/limited functionality. Twenty-one participants in four locations were interviewed about their offices--what they liked and disliked, and why. From the interviews, a Q-sample of statements was developed, and 19 participants sorted them into a normal distribution from "most like my opinions of my office" to "most unlike my opinions of my office." The sorts were factor analyzed and interpreted using statement content, demographic characteristics of participants, and information about the organizations and participants that was learned through the interviews. The resulting four factors gave four different perspectives on office aesthetics. One group of participants loved their work and saw their offices as an avenue of self-expression, an extension of themselves. Another group experienced considerable emotional distress because their offices did not reflect the quality of their organizations' work. For a third group, functionality was primary. For the last group, the office stood in for the organization as a whole-- their feelings about their workspaces mirrored their feelings about their organization.

This thesis aims at developing a better understanding of the design process and the tools required to support it. Specifically it focuses on the early or conceptual stages of the industrial design process and the role of emerging technology based artifacts in supporting this activity. The starting point for this thesis is that industrial design focuses on discovery of new knowledge and that this process of discovery is reflective in nature. Further designers make use of artifacts throughout the design process to support them in this discovery and their reflection. To reveal the role of artifacts in this process, a study of the interaction between designers and their artifacts has been undertaken. To intensify these relationships this thesis has focused on design review activity undertaken in the early stages of industrial design process. Two ethnographic case studies were conducted which allowed for teams of final year industrial design students to be observed during a conceptual design review. The first case study focused on the student designers interacting with traditional artifacts such as sketches, form studies and illustrations as part of the design review session. In the second case study, the student designers made use of low fidelity digital models which were displayed in a highly immersive virtual reality environment to support the design review. Both case studies captured a time slice of a larger design project which the students were undertaking as part of their university studies. The design project focused on the redesign of a consumer product where the students were required to innovate on an existing design based on a number of technology and market constraints. The design review session which formed the basis of the case study was part of a weekly design critique which required the students to bring to the class all of their design development progress. Students were offered an additional review session which was held in a virtual reality facility to supplement their weekly design review session which formed the basis of the second case study. The objective of the review sessions were for the designers to discuss their progress, identify where they were having difficulty, be challenged on design decision and develop a shared understanding of their direction with the class. The case study approach has allowed for an authentic in situ account of how designers make use of artifacts within the early stages of an industrial design process. It has allowed for a comparison between traditional and technology based artifacts and has revealed how they impact on the nature of discovery and reflection. Through a detailed qualitative analysis of the video data which was captured from the case studies, this thesis makes a number of substantial contributions to the current knowledge gaps on the role of artifacts and to our understanding of this phase of design activity. It substantiates conceptual design activity as a reflective process allowing for new discoveries to be made by representing our existing knowledge and understandings in artifacts which can be reflected upon and extended to create new meaning and innovation. From this grounded perspective it has enabled further understandings into the role of the artifact in supporting the design activity. Artifacts are seen as critical in supporting early stage design activity. However it is the nature of the interaction between the designers and their artifacts within the different settings which have been revealed through this research which is of significance. The affordances of the different artifacts have been shown to alter how the students situate their activity and modify their actions within a design review. page 5 of 171 Further designers are required to make use of additional resources such as gestures and rich design language to supplement their design engagement; and they are required to adapt to the environment where the review is being undertaken to ensure that the objective of the design review can be achieved. This thesis makes its primary contribution in outlining the differences between the various types of artifacts and how they can be used to positively support early stage design activity. It is recommended that both traditional and virtual artifacts have a role in supporting activity, but future approaches should consider them as complimentary and consider ways in which they can be merged. The significance of the research is three fold. Firstly, from a pedagogical perspective, within an educational or practiced based setting, it provides a framework to consider the use of emerging technology based artifacts to support early stage design activity. Secondly, from a technology development perspective the grounded observation in authentic experience of design activity, it provides the foundation to inspire and develop new interfaces to support designer interactions with artifacts. Finally, it makes a substantial contribution to the growing body of design research substantiating and revealing new understanding between designers and their artifacts to support early stage design activity.