Showing papers by "Alessandro D'Atri published in 2007"

Logistics Management in a Mobile Environment: A Decision Support System Based on Trajectory Mining

Abstract: Location prediction systems have become of interest in several application domains involving ubiquitous systems in the recent years. We propose a novel approach to trajectory prediction, that supports logistics optimization and decision making in a service area of a container terminal at a freight seaport. We devise a prototypical wireless infrastructure which collects historical trajectory data from the movements of containers. The approach consists in the application of a data mining technique for the development of the underlying location-aware prediction model that supports multiple representations and granularities both in space and in time. Also, we devise a path-prediction technique, capable of effectively taking into account inherent peculiarities of moving objects, such as a varying number of trajectories followed by each individual object and possible differences in the length of such trajectories.

Online training for investment in securities: an European network for the improvement of SMEs and professionals financial culture

Abstract: The financial market have undergone substantial changes because of most recent improvements in technology, deregulation of financial services, regulatory changes, and the globalization of the marketplace. Internet, along with high-speed computer systems, has dramatically altered the way in which securities and commodities are bought and sold, almost completely automating the transactions process [1]. On the other hand, the existing training courses brokers and dealers due to their high costs allow only to a limited number of professionals to obtain the necessary specific knowledge about financial markets and get practical skills such as 1) perform the buying and selling of securities and commodities, 2) take orders from clients and try to get the best price for them, 3) constantly keep an eye on market activity, and 4) stay in touch with other traders and brokers to know what prices are being offered. The European project entitled "Online Training for Investment in Securities" (OTIS) is a two year project with a financial support from the European Commission under the "Leonardo da Vinci" Community Vocational Training Programme. It is pointed to Vocational and Educational Training (VET) and aimed to develop and evaluate an accredited online trans-European platform to improve and harmonize skills and competencies in the field of financial markets and investment in securities. This paper presents project's preliminary outcomes and findings including: 1) contents for online learning and training based on a progressive "real world"-based learning concept, 2) self-assessment and testing tool, and 3) online business game for multiple users (a simulator) that uses an innovative learning-by-doing method.

Logistics Management in a Mobile Environment: A decision support system based on trajectory mining

Abstract: Location prediction systems have become of interest in several application domains involving ubiquitous systems in the recent years. We propose a novel approach to trajectory prediction, that supports logistics optimization and decision making in a service area of a container terminal at a freight seaport. We devise a prototypical wireless infrastructure which collects historical trajectory data from the movements of containers. The approach consists in the application of a data mining technique for the development of the underlying location-aware prediction model that supports multiple representations and granularities both in space and in time. Also, we devise a path-prediction technique, capable of effectively taking into account inherent peculiarities of moving objects, such as a varying number of trajectories followed by each individual object and possible differences in the length of such trajectories.

The influence of quality criteria on parents' evaluation of medical web-pages: An Italian randomised trial

Abstract: The aim of this study is to verify the usefulness for parents of a web evaluation framework composed of ten quality criteria to improve their ability to assess the quality level of medical web sites We conducted a randomised controlled trial that included two groups of parents who independently evaluated five paediatric web sites by filling out two distinct questionnaires: group A with the evaluation framework, group B without it 40 volunteers were recruited from parents referring to the General Paediatrics Out-patients Department who satisfied the following eligibility criteria: Internet users, at least 1 child under 12 months old, no professional skill in Internet and medicine The survey was taken between February 2, 2000 and March 22, 2000 Parents evaluated each web site and assigned a score, compared with a gold standard created by a group of experts Suggesting evaluation criteria to parents seem useful for an improvement of their ability to evaluate web sites

Grid-VirtuE: A Layered Architecture for Grid Virtual Enterprises

Abstract: A grid virtual enterprise is a community of independent enterprises concerned with a particular sector of the economy. Its members (nodes) are small or medium size enterprises (SME) engaged in bilateral transactions. An important principle of a grid virtual enterprise is the lack of any global “guiding force”, with each member of the community making its own independent decisions. In this paper we describe Grid-VirtuE, a three-layer architecture for grid virtual enterprises. The top layer of the architecture, representing its ultimate purpose, is an environment in which grid virtual enterprises can be modeled and implemented. This layer is supported by middleware infrastructure for grids, providing a host of grid services, such as node-to-node communication, bilateral transactions, and data collection. The bottom layer is essentially a distributed data warehouse for storing, sharing and analyzing the large amounts of data generated by the grid. Among other functionalities, the warehouse handles the dissemination of data among the members of the grid; it confronts issues of data magnitude with an aging mechanism that aggregates old data at a lower level of detail; and it incorporates privacy-preserving features that retain the confidentiality of individual members. Warehouse information is also used for data and process mining, aimed at analyzing the behavior of the enterprise, and subsequently inducing evolutionary changes that will improve its performance.