• Asia pacific journal of information systems
• /
• v.22 no.3
• /
• pp.53-74
• /
• 2012

A challenge in fostering virtual communities is the continuous supply of knowledge, namely members' willingness to contribute knowledge to their communities. Previous research argues that giving away knowledge eventually causes the possessors of that knowledge to lose their unique value to others, benefiting all except the contributor. Furthermore, communication within virtual communities involves a large number of participants with different social backgrounds and perspectives. The establishment of mutual understanding to comprehend conversations and foster knowledge contribution in virtual communities is inevitably more difficult than face-to-face communication in a small group. In spite of these arguments, evidence suggests that individuals in virtual communities do engage in social behaviors such as knowledge contribution. It is important to understand why individuals provide their valuable knowledge to other community members without a guarantee of returns. In virtual communities, knowledge is inherently rooted in individual members' experiences and expertise. This personal nature of knowledge requires social interactions between virtual community members for knowledge transfer. This study employs the social capital theory in order to account for interpersonal relationship factors and identity theory for individual and group factors that may affect knowledge contribution. First, social capital is the relationship capital which is embedded within the relationships among the participants in a network and available for use when it is needed. Social capital is a productive resource, facilitating individuals' actions for attainment. Nahapiet and Ghoshal (1997) identify three dimensions of social capital and explain theoretically how these dimensions affect the exchange of knowledge. Thus, social capital would be relevant to knowledge contribution in virtual communities. Second, existing research has addressed the importance of identity in facilitating knowledge contribution in a virtual context. Identity in virtual communities has been described as playing a vital role in the establishment of personal reputations and in the recognition of others. For instance, reputation systems that rate participants in terms of the quality of their contributions provide a readily available inventory of experts to knowledge seekers. Despite the growing interest in identities, however, there is little empirical research about how identities in the communities influence knowledge contribution. Therefore, the goal of this study is to better understand knowledge contribution by examining the roles of social capital and identity in virtual communities. Based on a theoretical framework of social capital and identity theory, we develop and test a theoretical model and evaluate our hypotheses. Specifically, we propose three variables such as cohesiveness, reciprocity, and commitment, referring to the social capital theory, as antecedents of knowledge contribution in virtual communities. We further posit that members with a strong identity (self-presentation and group identification) contribute more knowledge to virtual communities. We conducted a field study in order to validate our research model. We collected data from 192 members of virtual communities and used the PLS method to analyse the data. The tests of the measurement model confirm that our data set has appropriate discriminant and convergent validity. The results of testing the structural model show that cohesion, reciprocity, and self-presentation significantly influence knowledge contribution, while commitment and group identification do not significantly influence knowledge contribution. Our findings on cohesion and reciprocity are consistent with the previous literature. Contrary to our expectations, commitment did not significantly affect knowledge contribution in virtual communities. This result may be due to the fact that knowledge contribution was voluntary in the virtual communities in our sample. Another plausible explanation for this result may be the self-selection bias for the survey respondents, who are more likely to contribute their knowledge to virtual communities. The relationship between self-presentation and knowledge contribution was found to be significant in virtual communities, supporting the results of prior literature. Group identification did not significantly affect knowledge contribution in this study, inconsistent with the wealth of research that identifies group identification as an important factor for knowledge sharing. This conflicting result calls for future research that examines the role of group identification in knowledge contribution in virtual communities. This study makes a contribution to theory development in the area of knowledge management in general and virtual communities in particular. For practice, the results of this study identify the circumstances under which individual factors would be effective for motivating knowledge contribution to virtual communities.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
• /
• v.33 no.5
• /
• pp.1915-1933
• /
• 2013

In this study, the virtual fixed point analysis and 3D fully modeling analysis for bent pile structures are conducted by considering various influencing factors and the applicability of the virtual fixed point theory is discussed. Also, the optimized column-pile length ratio is analyzed for supplementing virtual fixed point design and examining a more exact behavior of bent pile structures by taking into account the major influencing parameters such as pile length, column and pile diameter, reinforcement ratio and soil conditions. To obtain the detailed information, the settlement and lateral deflection of the virtual fixed point theory are smaller than those of 3D fully modeling analysis. On the other hand, the virtual fixed point analysis overestimates the axial force and bending moment compared with 3D fully modeling analysis. It is shown that the virtual fixed point analysis cannot adequately predict the real behavior of bent pile structures. Therefore, it is necessary that 3D fully modeling analysis is considered for the exact design of bent pile structures. In this study, the emphasis is on quantifying an improved design method (optimized column-pile length ratio) of bent pile structures developed by considering the relation between the column-pile length ratio and allowable lateral deflection criteria. It can be effectively used to perform a more economical and improved design of bent pile structures.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information Security & Cryptology
• /
• v.20 no.3
• /
• pp.9-21
• /
• 2010

Recently, famous online shopping websites were hit by hacking attack, and many users' personal information such as ID, password, account number, personal number, credit card number etc. were compromised. Hackers are continuing to attack online shopping websites, and the number of victims of these hacking is increasing. Especially, the exposure of credit card numbers is dangerous, because hackers maliciously use disclosed card numbers to gain money. In 2007 Financial Cryptography Conference, Ian Molly et al. firstly proposed dynamic card number generator, but it doesn't meet reuse resistant. In this paper, we analyzed security weaknesses of Ian Molly's scheme, and we proposed a new one-time virtual card number generator using a mobile device which meets security requirements of one-time virtual card numbers. Then, we propose one-time credit card number generation and transaction protocol using Integrated Authentication Center for user convenience and security enhancement.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
• /
• v.9 no.1 s.31
• /
• pp.57-67
• /
• 2007

Many researches have recently discussed about the film thickness as a good substitute or supplement for VMA or other volumetric criteria in the design procedure. Some researchers have not only proposed the specific number for the recommended film thickness, but also introduced the new calculation procedures or concepts. Each model (index model and the virtual model) has its own advantages and disadvantages in terms of the ability to account for the volumetric properties of the mixture. In this paper, the modified virtual model was proposed to combine advantages from both models. However, it cannot be disregarded the way to determine the appropriate particle shape factors for different sources and sizes of aggregates. In order to evaluate the different calculation methods, mixtures with two aggregate sources and eight gradations were designed based on the dominant aggregate size range (DASR) porosity concept. Superpave indirect tensile test (IDT) and asphalt pavement analyzer (AEA) test were used to describe the performance of mixtures. Test results indicated that the virtual model, which is the same to the modified virtual model for sphere 1:1 case, is better than the conventional standard model to define the range of the film thickness to have better performance of asphalt mixtures.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
• /
• v.29 no.7
• /
• pp.57-74
• /
• 2013

In this study, the virtual fixed point analysis and 3D full-modeling analysis for pile bent structures are conducted by considering various influencing factors and the applicability of the virtual fixed point theory is discussed. Also, a discrete analysis calculating separately both the superstructure and substructure of pile bent structures is performed on the basis of an equivalent base spring model by taking into account the major influencing parameters such as soil conditions, combined loading and pile diameter. The results show that the settlement and lateral deflection of the virtual fixed point theory are smaller than those of 3D full-modeling analysis. On the other hand, the virtual fixed point analysis overestimates the axial force and bending moment compared with 3D full-modeling analysis. It is shown that the virtual fixed point analysis cannot adequately predict the real behavior of pile bent structures. It is also found that discrete analysis gives similar results of lateral deflection and bending moment to those of unified analysis. Based on this study, it is found that discrete analysis considering column-pile interaction conditions is capable of predicting reasonably well the behavior of pile bent structures. It can be effectively used to perform a more economical design of pile bent structures.

• Steel and Composite Structures
• /
• v.23 no.5
• /
• pp.597-610
• /
• 2017

This paper presents a mathematical model for fixed-end moments of I-sections with straight haunches for the general case (symmetrical and/or non-symmetrical) subjected to a concentrated load localized anywhere on beam taking into account the bending deformations and shear, which is the novelty of this research. The properties of the cross section of the beam vary along its axis "x", i.e., the flange width "b", the flange thickness "t", the web thickness "e" are constant and the height "d" varies along of the beam, this variation is linear type. The compatibility equations and equilibrium are used to solve such problems, and the deformations anywhere of beam are found by the virtual work principle through exact integrations using the software "Derive" to obtain some results. The traditional model takes into account only bending deformations, and others authors present tables considering the bending deformations and shear, but are restricted. A comparison between the traditional model and the proposed model is made to observe differences, and an example of structural analysis of a continuous highway bridge under live load is resolved. Besides the effectiveness and accuracy of the developed models, a significant advantage is that fixed-end moments are calculated for any cross section of the beam "I" using the mathematical formulas.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.67 no.3
• /
• pp.219-232
• /
• 2018

This paper deals with the static bending of various types of FGM sandwich plates resting on two-parameter elastic foundations in hygrothermal environment. The elastic foundation is modeled as Pasternak's type, which can be either isotropic or orthotropic and as a special case, it converges to Winkler's foundation if the shear layer is neglected. The present FGM sandwich plate is assumed to be made of a fully ceramic core layer sandwiched by metal/ceramic FGM coats. The governing equations are derived from principle of virtual displacements based on a shear and normal deformations plate theory. The present theory takes into account both shear and normal strains effects, thus it predicts results more accurate than the shear deformation plate theories. The results obtained by the shear and normal deformation theory are compared with those available in the literature and also with those obtained by other shear deformation theories. It is concluded that the present results are slightly deviated from other results because the normal deformation effect is taken into account. Numerical results are presented to show the effects of the different parameters, such as side-to-thickness ratio, foundation parameters, aspect ratio, temperature, moisture, power law index and core thickness on the stresses and displacements of the FG sandwich plates.

• Smart Structures and Systems
• /
• v.26 no.2
• /
• pp.253-262
• /
• 2020

In this paper, a new higher order shear deformation model is developed for static analysis of functionally graded beams with considering porosities that may possibly occur inside the functionally graded materials (FGMs) during their fabrication. The model account for higher-order variation of transverse shear strain through the depth of the beam and satisfies the zero traction boundary conditions on the surfaces of the beam without using shear correction factors. The present work aims to study the effect of the distribution forms of porosity on the bending of simply supported FG beam. Based on the present higher-order shear deformation model, the equations of motion are derived by the principle of virtual works. Navier type solution method was used to obtain displacement and stresses, and the numerical results are compared with those available in the literature. A comprehensive parametric study is carried out to assess the effects of volume fraction index, porosity fraction index, and geometry on the bending of imperfect FG beams. It can be concluded that the proposed model is simple and precise for the resolution of the behavior of flexural FGM beams while taking into account the shape of distribution of the porosity.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.51 no.5
• /
• pp.867-891
• /
• 2014

An equivalent single layer trigonometric shear deformation theory taking into account transverse shear deformation effect as well as transverse normal strain effect is presented for static flexure of cross-ply laminated composite and sandwich plates. The inplane displacement field uses sinusoidal function in terms of thickness coordinate to include the transverse shear deformation effect. The cosine function in thickness coordinate is used in transverse displacement to include the effect of transverse normal strain. The kinematics of the present theory is much richer than those of the other higher order shear deformation theories, because if the trigonometric term (involving thickness coordinate z) is expanded in power series, the kinematics of higher order theories (which are usually obtained by power series in thickness coordinate z) are implicitly taken into account to good deal of extent. Governing equations and boundary conditions of the theory are obtained using the principle of virtual work. The closed-form solutions of simply supported cross-ply laminated composite and sandwich plates have been obtained. The results of present theory are compared with those of the classical plate theory (CPT), first order shear deformation theory (FSDT), higher order shear deformation theory (HSDT) of Reddy and exact three dimensional elasticity theory wherever applicable. The results predicted by present theory are in good agreement with those of higher order shear deformation theory and the elasticity theory.

• International Journal of Railway
• /
• v.2 no.2
• /
• pp.50-59
• /
• 2009

Numerous train operating companies provide training by means of driving simulators. A detailed analysis in the course of the rail research project 2TRAIN has shown that the simulation technology, the purposes of training and the overall concept of simulator-based training are rather diverse (Schmitz & Maag, 2008). A joint factor however are weak assessment capabilities and the fact that the simulator training is often not embedded into the overall competence management. This fact hinders an optimal use of the simulators. Therefore, 2TRAIN aims at the development of enhanced training and assessment tools. Taking into account that several simulators are already in use, the focus lays on the extension of existing simulation technology instead of developing entirely new systems. This extension comprises (1) a common data simulation interface (CDSI), (2) a rule-based expert system (ExSys), (3) a virtual instructor (VI), and (4) an _assessment database (AssDB). The foundation of this technical development is an assessment concept (PERMA concept) that is based on performance markers. The first part of the paper presents this assessment concept and a process model for the two major steps of driver performance assessment, i.e. (1) the specification of exercise and assessment and (2) the assessment algorithm and execution of the assessment. The second part describes the rationale and the functionalities of the simulator add-on tools. Finally, recommendations for further technical improvement and appropriate usage are given. based on the results of a pilot study.