Handling Communication Restrictions and Team Formation in Congestion Games

There are many domains in which a multi-agent system needs to maximize a “system utility” function which rates the performance of the entire system, while subject to communication restrictions among the agents. Such communication restrictions make it difficult for agents that take actions to optimize their own “private” utilities to also help optimize the system utility. In this article we show how previously introduced utilities that promote coordination among agents can be modified to be effective in domains with communication restrictions. The modified utilities provide performance improvements of up to 75 over previously used utilities in congestion games (i.e., games where the system utility depends solely on the number of agents choosing a particular action). In addition, we show that in the presence of severe communication restrictions, team formation for the purpose of information sharing among agents leads to an additional 25 improvement in system utility. Finally, we show that agents’ private utilities and team sizes can be manipulated to form the best compromise between how “aligned” an agent’s utility is with the system utility and how easily an agent can learn that utility.     

Collaboration Within Different Settings: A Study of Co-located and Distributed Multidisciplinary Medical Team Meetings

This paper reports our findings from a study of multidisciplinary team meetings for the treatment and ongoing management of breast cancer patients. The focus of the fieldwork was the meetings within and between a large group of multidisciplinary health professionals from two hospitals in Sydney, a large public teaching hospital and a much smaller private hospital. The paper examines the common work of the meetings and the variation within and between local practices and sites in the doing of this work, both in the local settings of each hospital and in the video-mediated setting when the local meetings are linked. Variations in the physical setup of the meetings, the presentation of the patient cases and the preparation of images used in patient discussion are identified, traced to their various sources and examined within their particular sociotechnical context. This is followed by a discussion of how local variation contributed to the particular challenges of the video-mediated meetings as experienced by the participants and how they might be addressed. Our motivations are to contribute both to the growing case studies of multidisciplinary team meetings within healthcare settings and to the important work being done to generate conceptual and design approaches that can support the development and successful use of CSCW technologies across highly variable local settings.     

Multidisciplinary Medical Team Meetings: An Analysis of Collaborative Working with Special Attention to Timing and Teleconferencing

In this paper we describe the process of a multi-disciplinary medical team meeting (MDTM), its functions and operation in colocated and teleconference discussions. Our goal is to identify the elements and mechanics of operation that enhance or threaten the dependability of the MDTM as a “system” and propose technologies and measures to make this system more reliable. In particular, we assess the effect of adding teleconferencing to the MDTM, and identify strengths and vulnerabilities introduced into the system by the addition of teleconferencing technology. We show that, with respect to the system’s external task environment, rhythms of execution of pre-meeting and post-meeting activities are critical for MDTM success and that the extension of the MDTM to wider geographic locations with teleconferencing might disrupt such rhythms thereby posing potential threats to dependability. On the other hand, an analysis of vocalisation patterns demonstrates that despite difficulties related to coordination and awareness in video-mediated communication (evidenced by increased time spent in case discussion, longer turns, decreased turn frequency and near lack of informal exchanges) the overall case discussion structure is unaffected by the addition of teleconferencing technology into proceedings.     

Communication Scheduling and Remote Estimation With Adversarial Intervention

We study a communication scheduling and remote estimation problem within a worst-case scenario that involves a strategic adversary. Specially, a remote sensing system consisting of a sensor, an encoder and a decoder is configured to observe, transmit, and recover a discrete time stochastic process. At each time step, the sensor makes an observation on the state variable of the stochastic process. The sensor is constrained by the number of transmissions over the time horizon, and thus it needs to decide whether to transmit its observation or not after making each measurement. If the sensor decides to transmit, it sends the observation to the encoder, who then encodes and transmits the observation to the decoder. Otherwise, the sensor and the encoder maintain silence. The decoder is required to generate a real-time estimate on the state variable. The sensor, the encoder, and the decoder collaborate to minimize the sum of the communication cost for the sensor, the encoding cost for the encoder, and the estimation error for the decoder. There is also a jammer interfering with the communication between the encoder and the decoder, by injecting an additive channel noise to the communication channel. The jammer is charged for the jamming power and is rewarded for the estimation error generated by the decoder, and it aims to minimize its net cost. We consider a feedback Stackelberg game with the sensor, the encoder, and the decoder as the composite leader, and the jammer as the follower. Under some technical assumptions, we obtain a feedback Stackelberg solution, which is threshold based for the scheduler, and piecewise affine for the encoder and the decoder. We also generate numerical results to demonstrate the performance of the remote sensing system under the feedback Stackelberg solution.      

Information and Communication Technology in Active and Healthy Ageing: Exploring Risks from Multi-generation Perspective

ABSTRACT

This study investigates risks associated with using information and communication technology (ICT) in elderly care. A qualitative analysis based on grounded theory has been performed using data gathered from various generations of Polish adults (adult children, their parents, and grandparents). The main risks include deterioration of family relationships, inadequate skills needed for software and equipment operation, and unreliability of solutions. The consequences for various stakeholders, such as potential end-users, caregivers, and organizations, have been discussed.     

家校通短信系统的研究与设计

本文主要介绍了家校通短信系统的现实需求、系统功能和网络架构。讨论了如何利用当前先进的信息技术,在学校与家庭之间建立一条沟通渠道,让信息在家长、老师、学生之间相互交流,将学校的课堂教育延伸到家庭。最后,阐述了系统在有关单位的使用效果以及需要进一步改进的有关内容。     

Exploring the Impact of Social Networking on Communication in Organizations

ABSTRACT

Social networking technology has the potential to transform how organizations communicate, cooperate, and connect with key stakeholders. Our research explores how social networking technologies are deployed within organizations and how the use of these technologies is related to effectiveness in organizational communication and promotion. We also identify the facilitating factors and constraints around the use of social networking tools for communication. To examine these questions, we conducted interviews with 131 senior level executives across a broad range of organizations and employed both quantitative and qualitative methods of analysis. The executives were asked to rate numerically and then discuss in narrative form a series of questions about IT strategy and issues affecting social networking in their organization. We find important differences both in the types of tools used as well as how they are used and discuss the implications of our findings for companies seeking to more effectively harness social networking technologies.     

Exploring Relationships among Proactiveness,Risk‐Taking and Innovation Output in Family and Non‐Family Firms

In an empirical investigation of 532 Finnish firms, and using the entrepreneurial orientation (EO) literature to frame our arguments, we demonstrate that relationships among proactivity, risk‐taking and innovation output differ in family and non‐family firms. Specifically, we find evidence that risk‐taking does not affect innovation output in family firms, whereas in non‐family firms, innovation output is increased through risk‐taking. Also, proactive family firms influence their innovation output more positively than proactive non‐family firms do. This study adds important new insights to the growing knowledge of EO, which are discussed in the following for both academic and business audiences.     

Individual Creativity and Team Climate in Software Development Projects: The Mediating Role of Team Decision Processes

This study investigates how individual creativity is related to the quality of team decision processes and team climate, and the mediating role of team decision processes between individual creativity and team climate. A multi‐level theoretical model was proposed and partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS‐SEM) was conducted on a sample of 139 software development projects. The results suggest that: (i) individual creativity improves the quality of team decision processes, (ii) team decision processes are positively associated with four dimensions of team climate (organizational support, innovation orientation, goal orientation and informal structure), and (iii) team decision processes partially mediate between individual creativity and team climate. In particular, the obtained results stress the role of individual creativity in the formation and evolution of a positive climate by means of team decision processes. The study implies that managers should recognize the value of creative individuals as the basic source of competitive advantage and success. It further discusses the managerial implications of the findings as well as limitations and constructive new directions for future studies to improve software development team performance.     

探究网络与通信技术的应用及未来发展

随着科学技术的不断发展和进步,网络通信技术已融入大众生活中的各个角落,广泛应用于大众的生活中,为我国社会经济的稳固发展提供了基础。目前,网络通信技术具有一定的发展前景和开拓空间,大众进入了信息化时代,对于网络通信技术的需求也大大提高,国家也加大了对网络技术和通信技术的投入力度。网络技术和通信技术的发展直接影响着社会经济的发展,也决定了国家的科技程度。笔者针对网络技术和通信技术的应用以及未来发展进行了深入的研究和探讨。     

Virtual Teams and the Appropriation of Communication Technology: Exploring the Concept of Media Stickiness

This paper reports on an exploratory study ofthe evolving use of communication tools by sixglobally distributed teams. The analysissuggest that although teams have similarstart-up conditions they evolve in differentways. We describe these differences as being aresult of the different routine patterns ofmedia use that the team members mutuallyenacted. Based on an analysis of six US-Dutchvirtual teams, we propose the notion of `mediastickiness', a phenomenon the teamsexperienced during the process of structuringmedia-use patterns. We will argue that in thecase of virtual teams, the evolution of mediausage seems to be path dependent. Steps takenby a team in the early stages of its life cycleconstrain later flexibility in terms of mediausage. Media stickiness has severalimplications both for the way to manage virtualteams as well as for the way teams deal withinformation problems that seem to be endemicfor global virtual teams.     

Social Norms and Behavioral Regulation in Asynchronous Communication: The Shift of Attention During Speed Communication

ABSTRACT

Speed communication analysis (Wicklund & Vandekerckhove, 2000 Wicklund, R. A. and Vandekerckhove, M. M. P. 2000. “Delay of gratification in interaction rituals.”. In SIDE issues centre stage: Recent developments in studies of de-individuation in groups, Edited by: Postmes, T., Spears, R., Lea, M. and Reicher, S. 191–202. Amsterdam, , Netherlands: Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen Verhandelingen, Afd. Letterkunde, Nieuwe Reeks, deel 183..  [Google Scholar]) suggests that the interplay between communicative velocity and sensorial bandwidth is fundamental to predict psychological consequences in mediated communication. In line with this viewpoint, Bertacco and Deponte (2005) Bertacco, M. and Deponte, A. 2005. Email as a speed-facilitating device: A contribution to the reduced-cues perspective on communication.. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 10(3) [Google Scholar] found that students using e-mail communication (speedy media) were more concise and less inclined to take the recipient's perspective than were students who communicated by postal letter (slow media). Drawing on speed communication analysis, two experiments were conducted to examine (a) the presence of social norms and (b) behavioral regulation in e-mail versus postal letter communication. In Experiment 1, students anticipated either an e-mail or a postal letter interaction with a fictitious confederate. Results supported the existence of social norms for speed communication because the simple anticipation of an e-mail interaction resulted in a shortfall in the recipient's perspective taking. In Experiment 2, students who were typing either an e-mail or a postal letter were unexpectedly interrupted. Findings were in line with an attentional model of mediated interactions based on the speed communication analysis: Students who wrote a postal letter were (a) more likely to remember the interruption and (b) less sensitive to external stimuli than were e-mail students. Research limits as well as scope for future research are discussed in the conclusions.     

Team workload: Review and conceptualization

Since many tasks are performed through teamwork, team workload becomes a highly concerned issue over time. However, there is still conceptual confusion. The purpose of this paper is to provide a clear and systematic model of the team workload. From the view of resource requirement, system, and interaction perspectives, models and conceptual framework of the team workload are summarized. With a broad perspective, a nominal definition of team workload is proposed as the total effort spent for processes involved in the execution of team tasks. Subsequently, the components and indicators of teamwork are identified from various team processes. This paper constructs team workload in four dimensions, task-focused activities, task-induced team activities, situational response, and team maintenance and development. Finally, the proposed model is compared with the existing models.     

学科交叉融合对计算机基础教学的新挑战

学科交叉融合是现代世界一流大学注重培养的新思路,也越来越受到普通高校教学研究者们的重视。《大学计算机基础》课程则是高校教改的重点和难点。就如何在《大学计算机基础》课程中引入新的教学思路,让学科交叉融合能在高等教育的开展之初就能融入到大学生的学习和研究中,进行部分实践和探索。随着计算机在现代科学研究中的重要性越来越突出,计算机教学改革势在必行。     

The ID-Online Asynchronous Learning Network: a 'Virtual Studio' for Interdisciplinary Design Collaboration

Starting in 1996, the authors, Surya Vanka and Jim Budd developed ID-Online, an Asynchronous Learning Network (ALN) for Industrial Design Education at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The primary objective of ID-Online was to deliver enhanced design instruction via asynchronous access to design resources and enhance network-based communication between instructors and students. This paper provides an historical overview of the development of ID-Online. It discusses two years of development, use and evaluations. It then leads into the authors' recent initiatives to advance the concept of a developing design community in the digital realm. The paper concludes with reflections on the benefit, and pedagogical pros and cons, of the use of asynchronous learning technologies in design education.     

小规模团队的敏捷开发研究

敏捷开发是一种以人为核心、迭代、循序渐进的开发方法,是为了解决项目的复杂性,以最快最科学的方式实现需求的开发方式。软件团队中最常见的一种方式就是小规模团队开发,一般保持在3到5人。在大量的中小规模公司中,只要公司生产的产品需要软件支撑,都组建规模较小的团队进行专门的软件开发。本文通过对敏捷开发的介绍和对小规模团队敏捷开发的应用,介绍如何在开发人数不多的情况下进行高效率、有序的和科学的开发工作,有效地提高团队的生产力和价值。     

创新创业教育在跨专业教学方向的探索

当今社会,需要大量的创新创业人才,尤其是掌握核心技术、前沿技术的跨专业复合型人才。培养这样的人才,必须是校企深度合作,共建人才培养体系。因此,校企合作成立跨专业学习机构势在必行。学创中心的成立,为培养跨专业高端复合型创新创业人才提供了动力保证,能够实现大规模跨专业人才的培养。     

通信中的有线通信与无线通信

随着国家经济水平的提高与科学技术的发展,通信方面投入了大量精力与资金,我国通信行业呈现出空前繁荣的景象。目前,通信技术与人们的生活紧密联系。从古时的快马传书,到现代的一封邮件,通信方式发生着巨大改变。基于无线通信技术与有线通信技术原理的研究,简单分析了通信过程中的有线通信、无线通信以及二者之间的联系。     

The Bivariate Transmuted Family of Distributions: Theory and Applications

The bivariate distributions are useful in simultaneous modeling of two random variables. These distributions provide a way to model models. The bivariate families of distributions are not much widely explored and in this article a new family of bivariate distributions is proposed. The new family will extend the univariate transmuted family of distributions and will be helpful in modeling complex joint phenomenon. Statistical properties of the new family of distributions are explored which include marginal and conditional distributions, conditional moments, product and ratio moments, bivariate reliability and bivariate hazard rate functions. The maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) for parameters of the family is also carried out. The proposed bivariate family of distributions is studied for the Weibull baseline distributions giving rise to bivariate transmuted Weibull (BTW) distribution. The new bivariate transmuted Weibull distribution is explored in detail. Statistical properties of the new BTW distribution are studied which include the marginal and conditional distributions, product, ratio and conditional momenst. The hazard rate function of the BTW distribution is obtained. Parameter estimation of the BTW distribution is also done. Finally, real data application of the BTW distribution is given. It is observed that the proposed BTW distribution is a suitable fit for the data used.