Thesis (Ph.D.)--Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 104-110). Also available in electronic version.

Thesis (M.A.)--Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, South Hamilton, MA, 2003. / Abstract and vita. A master's project submitted to the Faculty of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Religion.

Thesis (M.Sc.)(Computer Science)--University of Pretoria, 2006 / Includes summary. Includes bibliographical references. Available on the Internet via the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Frankfurt University, 2007. / Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (p. 263-286).

Thesis (M.Com.)(Informatics)--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Includes summary. Includes bibliographical references. Available on the Internet via the World Wide Web.

Thesis (D. Ed.)--Ball State University, 2009. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on Nov. 11, 2009). Includes bibliographical references (p. [115]-132).

<p> The ever increasing prevalence of electronic information online has provided a medium that allows for greater access to a wider range of users. It is important that user groups such as older adults, or individuals with visual impairments or disabilities, have an equal level of access to electronic information as do individuals without visual impairments or disabilities. This study examined whether allowing older adults the ability to customize various aspects of text would improve their reading performance and subjective usability ratings, while reducing the level of reported visual fatigue for online reading. Data from 16 older adult participants (age 49 to 69) and 16 younger adult participants (age 18 to 22) were analyzed. Participants were asked to read text passages using a big or small screen size, and answer reading comprehension questions under conditions where they were able to customize text or not able to customize text. Reading performance and ratings of usability and visual fatigue were obtained. Results showed an interaction between customization condition and age group. In the customized reading conditions, younger adults were more accurate than older adults, but their performance did not differ significantly in the non-customized reading conditions. There was no effect of screen size on any of the dependent measures. Implications of these findings are discussed. </p><p>

<p> The population of people ages 65 and older has increased since the 1960s and current estimates indicate it will double by 2060. Medicare is a federal health insurance program for people 65 or older in the United States. Medicare claims fraud and abuse is an ongoing issue that wastes a large amount of money every year resulting in higher health care costs and taxes for everyone. In this study, an empirical evaluation of several unsupervised machine learning approaches is performed which indicates reasonable fraud detection results. We employ two unsupervised machine learning algorithms, Isolation Forest, and Unsupervised Random Forest, which have not been previously used for the detection of fraud and abuse on Medicare data. Additionally, we implement three other machine learning methods previously applied on Medicare data which include: Local Outlier Factor, Autoencoder, and k-Nearest Neighbor. For our dataset, we combine the 2012 to 2015 Medicare provider utilization and payment data and add fraud labels from the List of Excluded Individuals/Entities (LEIE) database. Results show that Local Outlier Factor is the best model to use for Medicare fraud detection.</p><p>

Social service organisations have integrated information and communications technologies into their daily work in many different ways. Yet, social work literature has tended to frame technology as an externally created driver of neoliberal values and goals that are not necessarily in the best interests of service users or the professional values base. This thesis seeks to expand this narrow framing by reflecting on the mutually shaping relationship between technology and society, which includes social service organisations and social work, using cross-disciplinary perspectives from Science and Technology Studies (STS) and other relevant fields. This thesis begins with a review of existing social work literature, highlighting the fragmentary state of current research. Cross-disciplinary research is used to identify and reframe gaps as potential areas for future collaboration, including examining issues in specific practice contexts, incorporating relevant critical theory, and collaborating with like-minded communities of practice in the IT field. Based on these recommendations, the thesis explores issues in one specific practice context – violence against women shelters – using case study organisations in Ontario, Canada. A discussion of the research design ensues. Two cases studies were researched using critical ethnography methodology. Data was collected using multiple methods, including participant observation, unstructured interviews and documents; and, grounded theory was used to identify key themes. This is followed by a discussion of the history of the shelter movement, and the policy and social contexts impacting shelters’ use of technology. The data is organised according to the guiding research questions, in four analysis chapters. First, the technologies being used in the shelters are discussed. Although social work research suggested technology use was largely caused by external policy and social factors, the data suggested that the shelters actively made decisions about their own use and were engaged in this process for many years. This is followed by a discussion of internal issues within the shelters related to technological values and knowledge, and finally, a discussion of technological issues relevant to their work with service users. This thesis concludes by discussing the benefits of using cross-disciplinary approaches to reframe technology use in social service settings. Throughout the thesis, three broad concepts – the shelters’ agency in the processes of technological decision-making, the materiality of shelter practices and social work, and the changing nature of ‘presence’ in service delivery – are the focus of discussion. This analysis suggests that technology should not be treated, theoretically or practically, as an external force over which social work has no control.

<p> The purpose of this qualitative single case study was to explore the available strategies IT leaders at ABC, a Managed IT Services company in the SME sector in Columbus, Ohio, may use to avoid data breaches in the cloud environment. The security framework established by the Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) provided the conceptual framework for this study. A purposeful sampling strategy was used to select 10 IT leaders to participate in the study. Data were gathered through open-ended, semi-structured individual face-to-face interviews, asynchronous discussions through e-mails, and reviews of company-provided documents. An inductive thematic analysis was used to analyze all the data collected in the study. The following six major themes emerged from the data relating to descriptions of the data security threats and vulnerabilities facing IT leaders in the cloud, and the strategies they may use to avoid a breach of their data: (1) managing the human factor, (2) managing the network environment, (3) types of data security threats, (4) people pose the most significant risk, (5) elements of an effective strategy, and (6) addressing password issues. The results indicated that IT leaders face multifaceted data security threats in the cloud and these could be addressed through a combination of strategies including user education, securing the network, limiting user access to IT resources, and addressing password issues.</p><p>