<p> Primary users can create a user experience (UX) for others&mdash;secondary users&mdash;when interacting with a system in public. Common ground occurs when people have certain knowledge in common and each knows that they have this shared understanding. This research investigates how designing for a secondary UX improves common ground during a patient-provider first encounter. During formative work, patients and providers participated in telephonic interviews and answered online questionnaires so that their respective information requirements for clinical encounters could be understood. The outcome of the formative work was a smartphone application prototype to be used as the treatment in an experimental study. In a mixed methods study, with a patient role-player using the prototype during a simulated clinical encounter with 12 providers, the impact of the prototype upon secondary user satisfaction and common ground was assessed. The main finding was that the prototype was capable of positively impacting secondary user satisfaction and facilitating common ground in certain instances. Combining the notions of human-computer interaction design, common ground, and smartphone technology improved the efficiency and effectiveness of providers during the simulated face-to-face first encounter with a patient. The investigation substantiated the notion that properly designed interactive systems have the potential to provide a satisfactory secondary UX and facilitate common ground.</p>

<p> Throughout the years, the United States government and local law enforcement has used electronic domestic surveillance for criminal justice purposes. Shortly after World War II, the government began to abuse the power of electronic domestic surveillance for the purposes of gathering intelligence on American citizens. After the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, electronic domestic surveillance focused heavily on American citizens in the name of national security. The government has a duty to protect the United States and American citizens. The use of electronic domestic surveillance is a method for that purpose; however, the infringement of American&rsquo;s Fourth Amendment rights has become a conflict for the government while trying to maintain national security. Along with attempting to keep security for American citizens, the United States government has lacked transparency in their electronic domestic surveillance methods, causing controversy with American citizens. It is a question of how much privacy would Americans sacrifice for their security. The research in this paper focuses on the comparison of the electronic domestic surveillance methods, how these processes affected the Fourth Amendment rights of American citizens, and the response to these programs and violations by Americans and the United States government, respectively. </p>

The aim of this thesis is to define a solution offering end-users seamless mobility in a multi-radio access technology environment. Today an increasing portion of cell phones and PDAs have more than one radio access technology and wireless access networks of various types are commonly available with overlapping coverage. This creates a heterogeneous network environment in which mobile devices can use several networks in parallel. In such environment the device needs to select the best network for each application to use available networks wisely. Selecting the best network for individual applications constitutes a major core problem.The thesis proposes a host-based solution for access network selection in heterogeneous wireless networking environments. Host-based solutions use only information available in mobile devices and are independent of information available in the networks to which these devices are attached. The host-based decision mechanism proposed in this thesis takes a number of constraints into account including network characteristics and mobility patterns in terms of movement speed of the user. The thesis also proposes a solution for network-based mobility management contrasting the other proposals using a host-based approach. Finally, this thesis proposes an architecture supporting mobility for roaming users in heterogeneous environments avoiding the need for scanning the medium when performing vertical handovers.Results include reduced handover latencies achieved by allowing hosts to use multihoming, bandwidth savings on the wireless interface by removing the tunneling overhead, and handover guidance through the usage of directory-based solutions instead of scanning the medium. User-perceived quality of voice calls measured on the MOS (Mean Opinion Score) scale shows no or very little impact from the mobility support procedures proposed in this thesis. Results also include simulation models, real-world prototypes, and testbeds that all could be used in future work. The proposed solutions in this thesis are mainly evaluated using simulations and experiments with prototypes in live testbeds. Analytical methods are used to complement some results from simulations and experiments / Godkänd; 2010; 20100811 (karand); DISPUTATION Ämnesområde: Mobila system/Mobile Systems Opponent: Universitetslektor, docent Marcus Fiedler, Blekinge tekniska högskola Ordförande: Universitetslektor, docent Christer Åhlund, Luleå tekniska universitet Tid: Fredag den 12 november 2010, kl 11.00 Plats: A1514 Demostudion, Luleå tekniska universitet

<p> Since the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997 and the Global Financial Crisis of 2007, members of the Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN) have sought to strengthen ASEAN&rsquo;s regional economies through a digital trade project known as the ASEAN Single Window (ASW). The purpose of this case study was to explore the business strategies that multinational organizational leaders used to overcome business barriers while implementing ASEAN partnership contracts and ASW region-wide projects. This study may be unique in that, at the time of this research, there was no published study in which researchers had explored a single window for a vast, multination geographical region. Data collection was done via in-depth interviews with ASW executives, studying online ASW-related conferences, and examining relevant strategic documents. A 6-phase thematic analysis process based on methodological triangulation corroborated the data and addressed construct validity through data familiarization, generating initial coding, categorizing codes and searching for themes, breaking codes into subcategories, data reduction and defining and naming themes, and report generation. The 4 strategic themes that emerged were business models and processes, public&ndash;private partnerships, project management methodologies, and overlapping themes. The findings offer insights into ways to overcome the ASW&rsquo;s constraints and barriers. These strategic themes developed into a list of critical success factors and a summary list of principle business strategies and best practices. The implication for social change is a regionally collaborative trading environment providing potential economic options that not only impede the deterioration of the regional social fabric but support new opportunities such as trade liberalization and economic stability.</p>

<p> Measuring knowledge management performance was one of, if not the most challenging knowledge management activities. This study suggested using intellectual capital as a proxy for knowledge management performance in evaluating its impact on organizational performance. The Value Added Intellectual Coefficient model was employed to measure intellectual capital. Although being used widely in research, the model had its limitations. Also, for intellectual capital measurement, there was a lack of guidelines supported by empirical evidence or best practices. The present study aimed to test the classic and a modified version of this model, and based on the results, shed light on whether the classic version was good enough or the modified one should be highly recommended. The financial fundamental and market data of 425 randomly selected publicly listed firms were collected, and the structural equation modeling technique was employed to test the models. Chi-square difference test was performed to determine whether there was a statistically significant difference between these two models. The results of the tests indicated that the difference between them was insignificant. Therefore, it was concluded that the classic model is adequate, and it can be used effectively to measure intellectual capital. Adding two new efficiency elements&mdash;research and development efficiency and relational capital efficiency&mdash;in the model did not provide any significant benefit.</p>

<p> The Oman government developed a vision to transform the nation into a sustainable knowledge society by supporting information and communication technologies to improve government services (ITA, n.d.). According to a United Nations (2012) report, Oman ranks 64th worldwide in e-government readiness, the lowest compared to other countries in the region. The goal of this qualitative grounded theory study was to explore processes associated with selected unsuccessful e-government projects in Oman, as well as the driver of failure, and generate a model with recommendations for the role of executives in government organization for successful execution of e-government initiatives. The main findings developed into a theoretical concept for a recommended leadership model for executives in Oman to use for the successful implementation of e-government initiatives. The research was guided by three research questions: &ldquo;How do leadership roles in government organizations in Oman support the success of e-government projects?&rdquo;, &ldquo;What leadership skills do leaders need to possess to achieve successful implementation of e-government projects?&rdquo;, and &ldquo;What model of e-government projects in Oman could explain or account for the value of successful leadership?&rdquo;. Study participants were 25 executives from five government organizations in Oman. Four themes emerged from analyzing research data (a) there is a need for e-government, (b) the e-government creates challenges, (c) challenges require a leader, and (d) a leader with particular skills mitigates challenges and influences the way to success. Four e-government essential leadership skills emerged from the study (a) determined, (b) knowledgeable, (c) communicator, and (d) social. </p>

<p> Mergers and acquisitions are a common form of inorganic growth for many companies; however, the failure rate of those activities remains high with IS&amp;T integration noted as one of the causes of failure. The purpose of this narrative inquiry study was to explore the experience of the IS&amp;T leaders during an M&amp;A IS&amp;T integration to understand how to reduce future failures. Interviews were conducted with eight IS&amp;T leaders who have been involved with M&amp;A IS&amp;T integrations at technology companies. Seven themes emerged from the data analysis of the transcribed interviews. The themes resulting from the study are: incomplete or incorrect technology integration and technology architecture, identification and adherence to technology standards, employee uncertainties and conflict caused as a result of the M&amp;A, a lack of agreement on the M&amp;A strategy across leadership, identification of the end state goals of the IS&amp;T integration, development and consistent use of an M&amp;A IS&amp;T integration process playbook, and communication process across leadership and employees. The recommendations from the findings for IS&amp;T leadership provide three areas of focus. First, the findings reflect the issues impacting M&amp;A IS&amp;T integration failures. Second, the rich experiences of the participants provide leadership with recommendations on how leaders can prepare for M&amp;A integrations to reduce the potential for failures. Third, the findings provide recommendations on performing an M&amp;A IS&amp;T integration resulting in a reduction of failures including gaining an understanding of previous failures, preparing for, planning, and executing an M&amp;A integration.</p>

<p> Some psychotherapy clients have created video game avatars whose lives in virtual worlds include imaginal material and therefore invite depth psychological consideration. Using hermeneutic, alchemical hermeneutic, and artistic-creative methodologies, this thesis expands the conception of the therapeutic container to include these worlds and characters. The research explores how depth psychology can help Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists integrate their clients&rsquo; virtual lives into therapy. A literature review examines the ways computer simulations are different from other activities and describes a postmodern realm where identity is an experiment in a multiplicity of simulations that are both rich and ideological. A multicultural approach is taken in order to treat clients&rsquo; avatars and their worlds with dignity and involves an attempt to understand the cultures of technology, digital systems, and video worlds. The author proposes both an overall attitude toward and specific interventions for incorporating the virtual realm into psychotherapy.</p>

<p> Business organizations are faced with an enormous challenge to improve cyber security, as breeches and lapses through firewalls are increasingly commonplace. The Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) and Information Technology (IT) staff are constantly challenged to identify and purge online and network structural weaknesses. The goal is to reduce overall business risk because unresolved risks are a constant concern to consumers who are uneasy about cyber security failures. The purpose of this general qualitative study was to examine the role and impact of Cyber Security Mentoring (CSM) from the perspectives of the workplace CISO, mentors, and prot&eacute;g&eacute;s, who were randomly polled from various workplace settings across the United States. Mentoring allows IT staff members to learn from their CISOs and from workplace mentor mistakes and successes. Workplace IT staff are also closest to the various attack methodologies used by cyber hackers, and cohort and dyadic mentoring may provide insight into and responding to cyber-attacks and improving cyber defenses. Sixty-eight sets of respondent data relating to field experience, formal education, professional industry cyber security certifications, and mentoring were compared and examined between respondents. The goal was to determine where respondents agreed and disagreed on issues pertaining to cyber security and CSM. The findings suggested that CSM with a qualified mentor could improve cyber security in the workplace; in addition, more time must be devoted to continued professional education. Implications for positive social change included the use of CSM to enhance cyber security through the sharing of incidents, mindsets, procedures and expertise, and improvement of customer-consumer security confidence.</p>

<p> Hackers external to the organization continue to wreak havoc upon the information systems infrastructure of firms through breaches of security defenses, despite constant development of and continual investment in new IS security countermeasures by security professionals and vendors. These breaches are exceedingly costly and damaging to the affected organizations. The continued success of hackers in the face of massive amounts of security investments suggests that the defenders are losing and that the hackers can innovate at a much faster pace. </p><p> Underground hacker communities have been shown to be an environment where attackers can learn new techniques and share tools pertaining to the defeat of IS security countermeasures. This research sought to understand the manner in which hackers diffuse innovations within these communities. Employing a multi-site, positivist case study approach of four separate hacking communities, the study examined how hackers develop, communicate, and eventually adopt these new techniques and tools, so as to better inform future attempts at mitigating these attacks. The research found that three classes of change agents are influential in the diffusion and adoption of an innovation: the developer/introducer of the innovation to the community, the senior member of a community, and the author of tutorials. Additionally, the research found that three innovation factors are key to successful diffusion and adoption: the compatibility of the innovation to the needs of the community, the complexity of the innovation, and the change in image conferred upon the member from adopting the innovation. The research also described the process by which innovations are adopted within the hacking communities and detailed phases in this process which are unique to these communities.</p>