A-2002-1 Tarja Tiainen, Information System Specialist Predispositions.
March 2002.
Abstract.
This dissertation discusses predispositions on two levels: First, three
main types of predispositions are outlined and discussed on a broad level.
Second, predispositions among information system (IS) specialists, in
particular, are made explicit and some dominant types are clarified.
Predispositions are unquestionable assumptions, beliefs that are taken for
granted, common sense and normal ways of behaviour. The central theme on
which this dissertation concentrates is IS specialists' predispositions. IS
specialists are persons who design, create and mediate IS and ICT
(information and communication technology) and so influence the working
environment of others in significant ways.
IS development is group activity in which people from several occupational
groups work together - IS specialists comprise one of those groups. IS
specialists not only work with other occupational groups in IS
development; some of them work with users in their everyday IS use; for
example, when users encounter problems in using an IS or ICT. There are
challenges in multi-occupational groups working together, as several
studies confirm. Predispositions have effects on group activity; it is
easier to work with people who share the same predispositions.
Predispositions have effects on what problems are noticed and on what
possible development paths are identified. Furthermore, predispositions
influence which issues can be negotiated and the negotiation process,
i.e., determining which arguments are relevant.
In this dissertation IS specialists' predispositions are studied by using
an interpretative approach applied to two text sets. Both text sets have
been produced by IS specialists and their topic was envisioning the future.
The first text set includes 31 essays, which were written by computing
pioneers, industry observers, and technical leaders in the IS and ICT
fields. The essays were published in the Communications of the ACM in 1997.
The second text set consists of 24 interviews of Finnish IS specialists.
They describe their visions of the future from several perspectives. The
analysis of the text sets focuses on cultural aspects by using discourse
analysis.
The text sets portray the future from a technology-centred perspective; for
example, technology is presented as the most important - or even the only -
driving force of development. Furthermore, the text sets include a
masculine world view, in which women are presented as problems. In any
case, the text sets portray a one-sided view of people. They do not wholly
ignore people but their view of people is reductionist, underrating
people's knowledge and possibilities. The results not only describe the
individuals' predispositions but also the predispositions of the community
of IS specialists and the IS field, as well.
Key words and phrases: information system, technology shaping, views of technology,
technology-centricity, future visions, predisposition, IS specialists,
computing professionals, masculinity, gender studies, interpretive IS
research.
Ph.D. Dissertation.
A-2002-1 has appeared electronically as
Acta Electronica Universitatis Tamperensis, vol. 163.
A-2002-2 Juha Lehikoinen, Interacting with Wearable
Computers: Techniques and Their Application in Wayfinding Using Digital Maps.
September 2002.
Abstract.
Wearable computers are a special case of mobile computers. They are either
embedded in clothing, or they may even be the clothing. They are very personal
in nature, being always with the user, always on and always ready. The aim in
developing wearable computers is to provide the user with instant and
easy-to-use access to digital information sources anytime, anywhere.
Wearable computers are a potential platform for several location-aware
software applications. One such application is a personal navigation assistant
that is aware of the user's current geographical location, and has access to a
database that contains maps of the current surroundings. Equipped this way, the
assistant can provide the user with easy to understand and real-time
instructions on how to reach a specific destination, and assist in exploring the
environment without getting lost.
This dissertation addresses the issues that arise when personal navigation
assistants for wearable computers are developed. The research comprises eight
studies in the areas of human-map interaction, wearable computing, and
human-computer interaction. Two research methods have been applied: in the
constructive research part, a navigation application, including several
interaction techniques suitable for wearable use, has been developed. In the
empirical research part, the methods and techniques developed have been
evaluated to assess their usability. As a result - in addition to the navigation
application itself - a set of user interaction techniques and interface
components that support the various tasks needed in wayfinding has been
proposed. These include a finger-based interaction technique, an efficient list
searching technique, and a novel pocket-based user interface metaphor. The
results also include guidelines for designing the map behavior while navigating.
Ph.D. Dissertation.
A-2002-2 has appeared electronically as
Acta Electronica Universitatis Tamperensis, vol. 207.
A-2002-3 Markku Siermala, Local Prediction of Secondary Structures of Protein
from Viewpoints of Rare Structure.
May 2002.
Abstract.
This dissertation deals with the local prediction of protein secondary
structure from the viewpoint of rare secondary structures. Protein
three-dimensional structures are needed in the biomedical field because
structures indicate something about the functions of proteins, and
functions are almost everything that happens in a living cell.
Unfortunately, it is difficult to ascertain the structure of a protein,
because the details of the structure are located at the level of atoms.
However, an amino acid sequence is fairly easy to solve and can also be
produced from a DNA sequence. This could be a shortcut to the structure
and function of proteins. We searched for ways to better understand the
prediction challenge of secondary structures. Our research started with
polyproline type II secondary structure prediction. The results showed
that a neural network behaved well when the learning and test sets had a
uniform class distribution. However, the identification of amino acid
sequences that represent a rare class was difficult with class
distribution of the real world. In this context, prediction was hampered
by imbalanced class distribution. We developed spectrum and response
analysis for the neural network which reveal the reasons for a certain
decision. The frequencies of prolines affected a major part of decisions
and this was almost all that a neural network could learn from the data.
Apparently input sequences can take the evolutionary pre-information to
the learning process. With the polyproline II structure this was a
promosing idea and aroused interest in using the method with other
structures and other pre-information types. With hyperspheres we developed
a learning algorithm that achieved excellent prediction accuracy with all
known secondary structure types. Unfortunately, the method leaves cases
unclassified - if uncertain generalization is reduced, hyperspheres can
achieve better prediction accuracies. Finally, for all secondary structure
types we analyzed the space used and found explanations for how the
structure types behave in the sequence space. The results showed that
polyproline II is an exception among other types because of its
sensitivity to the amino acid proline. We were able to show that for half
of sequences the nearest case seek its one's way to the distance as cases
were randomly generated. Therefore, in the sequence space there are no
large clusters. Rather, around the individual case (sequence) there is a
sphere with high probability of achieving the same secondary structure
type.
Key words and phrases: secondary structure prediction, neural network, machine learning
Ph.D. Dissertation.
A-2002-3 has appeared electronically as
Acta Electronica Universitatis Tamperensis, vol. 180.
A-2002-4 Isto Aho, New polynomial time instances to various knapsack type problems.
April 2002.
Abstract.
We describe a special case of the interactive knapsack optimization
problem (motivated by the load clipping problem) solvable in
polynomial time. Given an instance parameterized by k, the
solution can be found in the polynomial time, where the polynomial
has degree k. In the interactive knapsack problem k is connected
to the length induced by an item. A similar construction solves a
special case of the 0-1 multi-dimensional knapsack and the 0-1
linear integer programming problems in polynomial time. In these
problems the parameter determines the width of the restriction
matrix, which is a band matrix. We extend the 0-1
multi-dimensional knapsack solution to 0-n multi-dimensional
knapsack problems (and to 0-n IP problems).
Our algorithms are based on the (resource bounded) shortest
path search: we represent restrictions efficiently in a form of a
graph such that each feasible solution has a path between given
source and target vertices.
Compressed Postscript
A-2002-5 Pekka Ketola, Integrating Usability with Concurrent Engineering in
Mobile Phone Development. June 2002.
Abstract.
The technical complexity of mobile phones is continually increasing due to the introduction
of new functions and technologies. The development organisations face an increasing challenge
in making the products usable and useful. If for any reason an organisation does not apply
user-centred design during the product development phase, the usability engineers may
encounter problems in doing their daily work efficiently and effectively. A practical
solution is to adapt usability engineering to the specific product development process
by applying standard project practices, planning and risk management. The problem studied
is how usability engineering can be integrated with the Concurrent Engineering development
process. The main research activity was to perform usability engineering in a product
development lifecycle during the period 1998-2002. A secondary activity was to assess
how successful the same usability engineering approach was in other development projects
during the same time period.
The main result of this case study is to amend and supplement Concurrent Engineering with
usability engineering activities, reported in the form of Usability Engineering Guidelines.
They enable effective and efficient usability engineering in a complex product development
setting. For this we must understand the limitations and opportunities that Concurrent
Engineering set for usability engineering especially in the context of mobile phone
development, and to provide well-defined tools for improving the effectiveness and
efficiency of usability engineering. The particular activities and products of this
study are Usability Assessment, Usability Plan, and Usability Risk Management. Usability
Assessment is the activity that verifies that the development team has a common
understanding in a very early phase about the challenges for product usability. On a
practical level the Usability Plan identifies what factors are important for the success
of the developed product and by what coordination and execution activities the success
(meeting user requirements) can be verified. Usability Risk Management is a method for
managing and communicating the emerging usability problem areas during the development process.
This dissertation presents Usability Engineering Guidelines for avoiding and minimising the
basic usability engineering problems, namely lack of management support and usability activities
undertaken too late. From the product development perspective this dissertation shows that
usability engineering has an important role in minimizing uncertainties in product design,
building and communicating the overall understanding of the product to be developed, and
in connecting development teams of parallel design areas. The long-term planning of usability
work is a powerful tool especially in organizing and integrating usability work in a complex
organisational setting.
Keywords and phrases: user-centred design, usability engineering, Concurrent Engineering,
smart product, information appliance, mobile phone, product development, action research, innovation.
Ph.D. Dissertation.
A-2002-5 has appeared electronically as
Acta Electronica Universitatis Tamperensis, vol. 185.
A-2002-6 Hannakaisa Isomäki, The Prevailing Conceptions of the Human Being in Information
Systems Development: Systems Designers’ Reflections.
May 2002.
Abstract.
The goal of human-centred information systems development (ISD) is to adjust information systems
(IS) to meet human characteristics and action. This perspective is
in this study referred to as the humanisation of IS. Traditionally, the prevailing argument has
been that the humanisation of IS can be best achieved by utilising human-centred ISD methodologies.
In this study it is argued that it is the prevailing conceptions of IS designers of the user that
are more fundamental. Even if the designers are to use a human-centred methodology the designers’
intentions and design activity will be directed by their conceptions about the nature of those
people that will interact
with the system.
This dissertation investigates the nature and comprehensiveness of information systems (IS) designers’
conceptions of the human being as a user of an IS. Two particular standpoints are taken in the
study. First, the user is defined as a human being. This means that users are conceptualised
according to their fundamental constituents as humans rather than in terms of different
instrumental tasks and purposes which people accomplish with the aid of IS. Second, IS designers’
conceptions of humans as users of an IS are seen as knowledge that reflects IS designers’
competence in humanising IS. Competence is here seen as constituted by the meaning that users
take on for the designers in their experience, which, in turn, reflect partial or more comprehensive
notions of people indicating qualitatively different levels of competence.
An interpretatively oriented approach referred to as phenomenography was adopted in this study. By
drawing on in-depth interviews with 20 Finnish IS designers, 18 qualitatively different conceptions
of the human being were categorised from the IS designers’ descriptions. These conceptions are not
only varied in their conceptualisations of the different human qualities, but also constitute a
hierarchy of competence. This hierarchy can be drawn up in terms of three forms of thought: the
separatist, functional, and holistic forms of thought. The separatist form of thought provides
designers predominantly with technical perspectives and a capacity to objectify matters. The
functional form of thought focuses on external task information and task productivity, nevertheless,
with the help of positive emotions. The holistic form of thought provides designers with competence
in human-centred ISD, although without revealing all aspects of the richness of the human condition.
The study rethinks the conception of the human being in ISD. The empirical results suggest that only
few of the Finnish IS designers have the ability to contribute to the humanisation of IS.
Keywords and phrases: human-centred ISD, information system, conception of the human
being, IS designers, competence, forms of thought, interpretive IS research, phenomenography
Ph.D. Dissertation.
A-2002-6 has appeared electronically as
Acta Electronica Universitatis Tamperensis, vol. 188.
A-2002-7 Marko Helenius, A System to Support the Analysis of Antivirus Products' Virus Detection
Capabilities. June 2002.
Abstract.
Computer viruses have become a threat to computer users and computer antivirus products have been developed to facilitate the
prevention of computer viruses. Unfortunately, computer antivirus products are not perfect solutions and therefore antivirus product
evaluation is needed. One important aspect of computer antivirus product evaluation is analysis of products' virus detection and
prevention capabilities. First an introduction to computer viruses and antivirus products' virus detection analysis is presented.
We will conclude that analysis of computer antivirus products' virus detection capabilities is a difficult task because of the large
number of computer viruses, complex tasks involved with test bed preparation and multiple operations of antivirus products.
The author shows that many tasks supporting the analysis of computer antivirus product's virus detection capabilities can be
made computer-supported.
The author presents a development of computer-supported processes, which have facilitated evaluation of antivirus products'
virus detection capabilities in various operating environments. These include such processes as automatic virus replication in a
controlled environment, automatic evaluation of antivirus programs working actively in the background and automatic processes
developed for Windows environment. The major part of the dissertation is devoted to the development phases and self-assessment
of a system that can be used for automating these subtasks. Since we consider time saving of the processes as the most critical
characteristic, the self-assessment concentrates on efficiency of the processes compared to manually accomplished operations.
Problems with different tasks are addressed and also solutions for the problems are provided. The computer-supported processes
discussed are especially useful for those who are interested in antivirus product evaluation or virus related aspects of antivirus
product quality control. The author shows that the developed processes can save an enormous amount of work and can
improve the quality of the evaluation results.
Ph.D. Dissertation.
A-2002-7 has appeared electronically as
Acta Electronica Universitatis Tamperensis, vol. 190.
A-2002-8 Kati Viikki, Machine Learning on Otoneurological Data:
Decision Trees for Vertigo Diseases.
June 2002.
Abstract.
Expert systems may be characterised as computerised advisory systems that
perform in narrow domains at a level comparable to human experts. The success
of expert systems lies essentially in the knowledge embedded in their knowledge bases.
This study concerns refining and expanding the knowledge base of an otoneurological
expert system ONE. ONE was developed to support decision-making for diseases involving
vertigo. Its knowledge base contains descriptions or patterns for vertigo diseases in
the form of weights and fitness values. The knowledge for the first version of ONE
was elicited from experienced otoneurologists and the literature. In this study,
machine learning is utilised in knowledge acquisition. Decision tree induction is
applied to data collected on otoneurological patients in order to acquire diagnostic
knowledge. Special attention is paid to data pre-processing in order to construct
classifiers for real world diagnostic situations. This work produces a variable
grouping method based on graph theoretic techniques. The method is useful as such,
giving insight into data and, further, it can be used in feature subset selection.
The knowledge acquired by decision trees is used in the refinement of ONE's
knowledge base, in which fitness values learned from data and also different
weighting schemes are studied. The refinement work produces a better performing
knowledge base for real world situations.
Keywords and phrases: Machine learning, decision tree induction,
data pre-processing, feature subset selection, expert systems, knowledge
acquisition, knowledge base refinement, otoneurological data, vertigo
Ph.D. Dissertation.
A-2002-8 has appeared electronically as
Acta Electronica Universitatis Tamperensis, vol. 189.
A-2002-9 Juha Hautamäki, Task-driven framework specialization.
Goal-oriented approach. May 2002.
Abstract.
The importance of reusing approved design solutions is widely recognized in
software engineering. Object-oriented frameworks, design patterns, etc., are
ways to reuse existing knowledge. However, some problems remain, particularly
how to guide the application developer to reuse so that the design is
eventually implemented in a software project.
FRED (FRamework EDitor) is a prototype of a task-driven architecture-oriented
programming environment that can be used to implement architectural solutions.
Architecture-specific instructions are given to the tool as specialization
patterns; these formal specifications make it possible to automatically compute
how to implement design solutions during the software development process.
FRED manages the im-plementation process as a gradually progressing work,
where each step is recorded and may have effects to the steps to come.
This enables, for instance, documentation and source code generation that
uses application-specific names familiar to the application developer. Further,
the application developer can be instantly notified if he violates the
architectural rules embodied by the given specialization patterns.
This thesis describes the FRED environment. A goal-oriented approach is
introduced to model design solutions as a set of specialization patterns.
We also explain the mechanism to produce a sequence of programming tasks
to implement the solution. To experiment with the environment, an
industrial framework was annotated with thirteen specialization patterns.
Keywords and phrases: development environment, framework,
framework adaptation, framework specialization, pattern, software architecture,
software engineering, software reuse.
pdf-file
A-2002-10 Timo Niemi, Lasse Hirvonen and Kalervo Järvelin, Multidimensional data model
and query language for advanced applications. June 2002.
Abstract.
Multidimensional data analysis or OLAP offers a single subject-oriented
source for analysing summary data based on different factors (dimensions).
The OLAP approach gives a promising starting point for advanced analysis
and comparison among summary data collected from an application. At the
moment there is not one precise, commonly accepted logical/conceptual model
for multidimensional analysis. This is due to the fact that the
requirements of applications vary considerably. We develop such a
conceptual/logical multidimensional model on the basis of which it is
possible to define the complex and unpredictable analysing needs typical of
advanced applications. We use informetrics as our advanced sample
application. Summary data are considered in respect to some dimensions and
by changing dimensions the user can make another view to the same summary
data. In the paper we develop a multidimensional query language whose basic
idea is to afford the possibility of defining views in the way which is
natural and intuitive for ordinary users. We show that this view-oriented
query language has a great expressive power and its degree of
declarativeness is greater than in the existing operation-oriented or
SQL-like OLAP query languages.
Keywords and phrases: informetrics, OLAP, multidimensional data model, multidimensional
query language, user interface
A-2002-11 Torsti Rantapuska,
Motivational structure of end-user application developers in organisational learning. August 2002.
Ph.D. Dissertation.
A-2002-11 has appeared electronically as
Acta Electronica Universitatis Tamperensis, vol. 200.
A-2002-12 Marko Niinimäki, Miika Tuisku, and Matti Heikkurinen,
Patters, XML and MDV, a case study. August 2002.
Abstract.
In this paper, we aim to study design patterns in the context of a
software package called MDV (MetaData Visualisation). The development of
this software was relatively fast-paced and performed by a team split into
two physical locations for large part of the most active development period.
The original design documents did not contain any overt use of design
pattern methodology and all of the developers were not familiar with design
patterns. We believe that analysing the design of such a software, starting from
the original forces that drove the requirement specification, can provide a
valuable insight into the general nature of patterns. We will also discuss ways
to measure if the quality and productivity of further development of this kind
of project could be improved by using pattern-based analysis of existing
software.
pdf-file
A-2002-13 Isto Aho,
Interactive knapsacks: Theory and applications. November 2002.
Abstract.
The interactive knapsack problems are generalizations of the
classical knapsack problem. Three different new NP-complete decision problems,
interactive knapsack heuristic decision (IKHD), interactive knapsack
desicion (IKD), and multi-dimensional interactive knapsack (MDIK),
are presented for the interactive knapsack model. The interactions occur
between knapsacks when an item is put into a knapsack. We identify several
natural interaction types. Interactive knapsacks with one item are
closely related to the 0-1 multi-dimensional knapsack problem.
By using interactive knapsacks we model various planning and scheduling
problems in an innovative way. We show interactive knapsacks to have
several applications, for example, in electricity management, single
and multiprocessor scheduling, and packing of two, three and
n-dimensional items to different knapsacks. Many natural problems related to
interactive knapsacks are NP-complete. IKD and MDIK are shown to be strongly
NP-complete.
IKHO and IKO are introduced as optimization versions of IKHD and IKD,
respectively. IKHO and IKO are shown to be APX-hard. Further, we
describe special cases of IKHO and IKO solvable in polynomial time; given an
instance parameterized by k, the solution can be found in
polynomial time, where the polynomial has degree k. A similar construction solves
a special case of the 0-1 multi-dimensional knapsack and the 0-1
linear integer programming problems in polynomial time. We extend the 0-1
multi-dimensional knapsack solution to 0-n multi-dimensional
knapsack problems and to 0-n integer programming problems. Our algorithms
are based on the resource bounded shortest path search: we represent
restrictions efficiently in a form of a graph such that each feasible
solution has a path between given source and target vertices.
We apply interactive knapsacks to load clipping used in electricity
management. Specifically, we implement several heuristic methods,
dynamic programming, enumerative, and genetic algorithms for solving direct
load control problem. The enumerative method and dynamic programming are
slow while the heuristics and genetic algorithms are faster. The dynamic
programming gives best results in reasonable time. Heuristics,
however, are several times faster than the other methods.
Ph.D. Dissertation.
A-2002-13 has appeared electronically as
Acta Electronica Universitatis Tamperensis, vol. 217.
A-2002-14 F.L. Tiplea, E. Mäkinen, D. Trinca, and C. Enea,
Characterization results for time-varying codes. October 2002.
Abstract.
Time-varying associate variable
length code words to letters being encoded
depending on their positions in the input
string. These codes have been introduced
by Tiplea, Mäkinen and Enea as a proper extension
of L-codes.
This paper is devoted to a further study
of time-varying codes. First, we show that
adaptive Huffman encodings are special
cases of encodings by time-varying codes.
Then, we focus on three kinds of
characterization results: characterization
results based on decompositions
over families of sets of words,
a Schutzenberger like criterion,
and a Sardinas-Patterson like
characterization theorem.
All of them extend the corresponding
characterization results known for
classical variable length codes.
pdf-file
A-2002-16 Timo Poranen,
3D polyline grid drawings of graphs with linear crossing number. December 2002.
Abstract.
This article studies the properties of three dimensional visibility
representations of
planar graphs and three dimensional crossing-free polyline grid
drawings of non-planar
graphs with known crossing number.
First, we show how to construct in linear time a three dimensional
polygonal z-visibility representation for planar graph having n vertices
with
volume $\lceil \sqrt{\lfloor 3n/2 \rfloor -3} \rceil \times \lceil
\sqrt{\lfloor 3n/2 \rfloor -3} \rceil \times (n-1)$.
This sharpens earlier results for three dimensional visibility
representations for planar graphs.
Second, we show that a planar graph with n-vertices and m-edges,
without any restrictions concerning its degree, admits a three dimensional
crossing-free polyline grid drawing with volume
$\lceil \sqrt{\lfloor 3n/2 \rfloor -3}
\rceil \times \lceil \sqrt{\lfloor 3n/2 \rfloor -3} \rceil \times
3(n-1)$
having at most 2m total edge bends.
Third, we give a drawing algorithm for non-planar graphs. Let G be
a non-planar graph
with n-vertices and m edges and let $G_p$ be the planarized version
of G with n vertices and n' dummy vertices.
We show how to construct in O(n+n') time three dimensional
crossing-free polyline grid drawing of G with volume
$2 \lceil \sqrt{\lfloor 3(n+n')/2 \rfloor -3} \rceil \times 2 \lceil
\sqrt{\lfloor 3(n+n')/2 \rfloor -3} \rceil \times 3(n+n'-1)$
having at most 4m+19n' edge bends. It follows that a n-vertex
non-planar graph with O(n) crossings admits a three dimensional crossing-free polyline grid
drawing with $O(n^2)$ volume.
pdf-file
A-2002-17 Timo Niemi, Marko Junkkari, Kalervo Järvelin, and
Samu Viita,
Advanced query language for manipulating complex entities. December 2002.
Abstract.
Complex entities are one of the most popular ways to model
relationships
among data. Especially complex entities, known as physical assemblies,
are
popular in several applications. The existing query languages intended
for
manipulating complex entities support only extensional queries.
Likewise,
the user has to master in them the structures of complex entities
completely, which is impossible if a physical assembly consists of a
huge
number of parts. Further, they do not support the manipulation of
documents
related to parts of physical assemblies. In this paper we introduce a
novel, declarative and powerful query language, in which the above
deficiencies have been eliminated. Our query language supports text
information retrieval related to parts and it contains intensional
and
combined extensional-intensional querying primitives. These features
afford
the possibility of making queries of new types. In the paper we give
several sample queries which demonstrate the usefulness of these
query
types. In addition, we show that conventional extensional queries can
be
formulated intuitively and compactly in our query language. Among
others
this is due to our querying primitives allowing removal of the
explicit
specification of navigation from the user.
A-2002-17 is available as paper copy only.
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