Syed Mahbubhur Rahman’s research while affiliated with Southwest Minnesota State University and other places

By developing an inter-scheme text conversion utility, we have established in (Murshed et al., 1998) that use of non-lossy transformation instead of lossy transformation for sorting Bengali texts in linguistic order has some extra benefit. In this paper we discuss another very important application of non-lossy transformation by developing an efficient spell checking application for Bengali texts based on the internal coding scheme with non-lossy transformation. As usual, the handling of compound letters remains the key area where a Bengali text speller differs from its counterparts in other languages. Here we establish that using of the internal coding scheme in designing the dictionary and developing suggestion generating search engine not only provides a spell checking solution which is independent of any specific primary coding scheme but also assists in designing layered solution for efficient modularization and maintenance of coding. This chapter is organized as follows. In the next section we present the basic properties of Bengali script. For the sake of completeness, some results and algorithms on sorting Bengali texts in linguistic order, developed in (Murshed et al., 1998), are given in the third section. In the fourth section, we discuss various issues of developing an efficient primary coding scheme independent spell checking application based on our solution to linguistically sorting Bengali texts. The final section concludes the paper.

The security of multimedia data is important for multimedia commerce. The encryption algorithms with high security, such as DES and IDEA, may not be suitable for multimedia applications because of large data sizes and real time constraint. This paper proposes a fast encryption algorithm for high throughput multimedia data, called FEA-M. FEA-M is based on Boolean matrix theory. The plaintext and the ciphertext are 64 ´ 64 Boolean matrices while the secret key is also an 64 ´ 64 matrix. The structure of FEA-M is chosen to provide confusion and diffusion and to facilitate both hardware and software implementation.

In this paper an object-based image ranking is performed using both supervised and unsupervised neural networks. The features are extracted based on the moment invariants, the run length, and a composite method. This paper also introduces a likeness parameter, namely a similarity measure using the weights of the neural networks. The experimental results show that the performance of image retrieval depends on the method of feature extraction, types of learning, the values of the parameters of the neural networks, and the databases including query set. The best performance is achieved using supervised neural networks for internal query set.

This chapter provides a comprehensive overview of various methods of fuzzy logic-based image segmentation techniques. Fuzzy image segmentation techniques outperform conventional techniques, as they are able to evaluate imprecise data as well as being more robust in noisy environment. Fuzzy clustering methods need to set the number of clusters prior to segmentation and are sensitive to the initialization of cluster centers. Fuzzy rule-based segmentation techniques can incorporate the domain expert knowledge and manipulate numerical as well as linguistic data. It is also capable of drawing partial inference using fuzzy IF-THEN rules. It has been also intensively applied in medical imaging. These rules are, however, application-domain specific and very difficult to define either manually or automatically that can complete the segmentation alone. Fuzzy geometry and thresholding-based image segmentation techniques are suitable only for bimodal images and can be applied in multimodal images, but they don’t produce a good result for the images that contain a significant amount of overlapping pixels between background and foreground regions. A few techniques on image segmentation based on fuzzy integral and soft computing techniques have been published and appear to offer considerable promise.

Issues on usability, security, and mobility have always been the main concerns for e-commerce implementations that aim to gain widespread public acceptance. Smart Card Agent Environment is designed to address these issues by using a combination of software agent and smart card technology. In this chapter, a functional overview of the proposed environment is presented to illustrate how these two technologies can be integrated to offer e-commerce services with high usability, security, and mobility. To further demonstrate the concept, a prototype implementation of the environment has been carried out. In this implementation, an on-card agent residing in the smart card is capable of storing critical data securely, providing digital ID and signature, and carrying out user authentication. On the other hand, off-card agent would provide various high-level agent services that can be used to carry out e-commerce activities. Before the end of the chapter, practical considerations for issues on security, technology acceptance, infrastructure availability, and standardization will be discussed.

We envision the integration of the concepts of virtual communities, electronic markets, and ubiquitous wireless services into agent-enhanced mobile virtual communities which we call AMV-communities, a set of which form the AMV-community-space. We present concepts for an AMV-community modelled with RM-ODP Enterprise Viewpoint concepts, and outline an architecture of AMV-communities using software agents attached to roles. We also illustrate how we cope with disconnected computing by using agents and meta-policy rules. Purchase this chapter to continue reading all 24 pages >

Agent technologies have proved to provide adequate solutions to some of the challenges posed by the new business models that are arising in the field of electronic commerce. In this chapter, we present some of the key challenges in turning agents’ research into commercial applications, provide an overview of the electronic commerce business models, and discuss how they can benefit from the new developments in agent technologies. We illustrate the discussion with examples of the work that is being developed by projects from the IST research program of the European Union.

Commerce is essentially the exchange of goods and services in various forms between sellers and buyers, together with associated financial transactions. Electronic Commerce (EC) is the process of conducing commerce through electronic means, including any electronic commercial activity supported by IT (information technology) (Adam and Yesha, 1996; Kambil, 1997; Yen, 1998). In this sense, EC is not totally new. Industries have used various EC platforms such as advertising on TV and ordering by telephone or fax. Internet Commerce (IC), or Web Commerce, is a specific type of EC (Maddox, 1998; Minoli D. and Minoli E., 1997). While some traditional EC platforms such as TV and telephone have been used to build “TV-gambling” and “telephone-betting” systems for conducting lottery business, Internet Lottery Commerce (ILC) has been assessed as the most promising type of EC in the foreseeable future. There are many social and moral issues relating to the conduct of lottery business on-line. However, this chapter does not debate these but deals only with business and technology issues. The purpose of this chapter is to provide a structured guide to senior executives and strategic planners who are planning on, or interested in, ILC deployment and operation. The guide consists of several stages: (1) an explanation of the industry segment’s traits, value chain, and current status; (2) an analysis of the competition and business issues in the Internet era and an evaluation of the strategic resources; (3) a planning framework that addresses major infrastructure issues; and (4) recommendations comprising the construction of an ILC model, suggested principles, and an approach to strategic deployment. The chapter demonstrates the case for applying the proposed guideline within the lottery business. Faced with a quickly changing technological context, it pays special attention to constructing a conceptual framework that addresses the key components of an ILC model. ILC fulfils the major activities in a lottery commerce value chain—advertising, selling and delivering products, collecting payments for tickets, and paying prizes. Although the guideline has been devised for lottery businesses, it can be applied to many other industry sectors.

The Internet network is rapidly becoming more and more popular among companies as an avenue to do business. It has made it easy for them to advertise, market their products and services, and communicate with their customers. Advertising and marketing on the Internet offers the promise of huge profits. Sellers, though, are not the only ones to reap benefits from the Internet. Purchasing products over the Net has also become extremely beneficial. It is faster than the traditional process of mail ordering, and various on-line support forums provide advice that is not found in manuals, catalogs, or brochures. Over the last few years, retail and computer experts have called the Internet the hottest marketing trend and the new consumer market. There are a number of benefits which Internet commerce could potentially deliver to consumers—convenience, wide choice of products, better product information, new types of products and services, and even lower prices. Nevertheless, the actual volume of consumer buying on the Internet is still small, a tiny fraction of worldwide consumer purchases. At the heart of this phenomenon of Internet commerce are the most essential concerns of the consumer—trust, confidence, and protection. Trust, itself, represents an evaluation of information, an analysis that requires decisions about the value of specific information in terms of several factors. Methodologies are being constructed to evaluate information more systematically, to generate decisions about increasingly complex and sophisticated relationships. In turn these methodologies about information and trust will strongly influence the growth of the Internet as a medium for commerce. In this new business environment, consumers find themselves increasingly in the driver’s seat, holding a tremendous amount of purchasing power over providers and sellers. They are empowered because they now have access to a worldwide assortment of suppliers—the Web gives them the power to buy from anyone, anywhere, anytime. The consumers, therefore, want to have control over the collection and use of their personal data and to have appropriate redress mechanisms available in the event of a problem.

While there are many proposals to automate the buying and selling process, there has been no actual attempt to automate the tendering process (sealed auction). This chapter contributes toward the steps to move in this direction. In this chapter, the benefits of an on-line tendering system are clarified, the tendering process is analyzed, the current attempts are surveyed, the competency of EDI and on-line auctions approach is criticized, and a framework solution is proposed. Purchase this chapter to continue reading all 20 pages >