A directory of public services: Utopian notes

In the context of a general critique of the present system for providing information about public services, librarians are proposed as producers and deliverers of a file of “administrative publicity” for such services—particularly those affording opportunities, as opposed to relief from distress. Political rapport between libraries and other public agencies is seen as essential if maldistribution of information is to be overcome. Fourteen characteristics of an ideal file of administrative publicity are set forth, in an attempt to set standards by which maldistribution and shortcomings of present files may be judged. Practical models for an ideal file include the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance; the structure and indexing of these models are discussed. The essay as a whole is related to recent writings on libraries as community information centers, on cable television and libraries, and on the politics of information in the United States.     

“Saving Lives”: A computer simulation game for public education about emergencies

Abstract

One facet of the Information Revolution in which the nation finds itself involves the utilization of computers, video systems, and a variety of telecommunications capabilities by those who must cope with emergency situations. Such technologies possess a significant potential for performing emergency public education and transmitting key information that is essential for survival. An “Emergency Public Information Competitive Challenge Grant,” under the aegis of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), has sponsored an effort to use computer technology—both large, time‐sharing systems and small personal computers—to develop “computer games” which will help teach techniques of emergency management to the public at large.     

The Dilemmas of External Earnings in Public Sector Scientific Research

Governments in a number of developed countries have repositioned their public research agencies to support economic objectives and to alleviate fiscal pressures. This has been accomplished through various strategies, including private-public partnerships and purchaser-provider arrangements. In the 1980s, the Australian Government introduced external earnings targets of up to 30% per annum for its public research agencies, as a means of strengthening their responsiveness to national economic needs. A case study of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization is presented in this article to discuss the impacts of the external earnings policy. Impacts on the type of research being undertaken by public research agencies, the quality of public research-industry relationships, the nature of scientists' work and the role of stakeholders are considered. A number of dilemmas are raised relating to the role of public scientific research.     

论数字时代学术期刊出版编辑力的提升

[目的]从政府与社会、出版单位和编辑个体三个层面,探索在数字出版时代学术期刊出版编辑力提升的策略与路径。[方法]分析学术期刊的现实困境并指出,复合型人才缺乏,公共出版资源建设不足,出版技术难以转化为出版能力等是数字时代学术期刊出版编辑力没能快速提升的原因。[结果]政府和社会应该从多方面加强政策落实,出版单位应该在坚持传统优势的前提下实施数字发展战略,编辑个体应该加强学习,以积极的心态迎接数字出版的挑战。[结论]学术期刊要抓住政策与环境的机遇,切实加强自身建设,提升出版编辑力,发挥学术期刊对科技文化发展的引领作用。     

Application of microsatellite markers for breeding and genetic conservation of herds of Pantaneiro sheep

BackgroundThe aim of the present study was to assess the genetic diversity of Pantaneiro sheep, using microsatellite markers, in order to assist maintenance and management plans, enhance mating systems and reduce the inbreeding rate. A total of 127 animals were genotyped at eight microsatellite loci. They belonged to populations from the Experimental Farm of the Universidade Federal da Grande Dourados (UFGD) (Dourados/MS/Brazil) and Embrapa Pantanal (Corumbá/MS/Brazil).ResultsThe population of Pantaneiro sheep from the UFGD exhibited a high mean number of alleles (11.13) and allelic richness (10.66). The polymorphic information content was highly informative in the locus studied, resulting in a mean value of 0.71. Observed heterozygosity was lower than expected for all molecular markers assessed. The analysis of molecular variance showed a differentiation rate of 5.2% between populations.ConclusionsThe results of the statistical parameters indicated that populations of Pantaneiro sheep require special attention on herd management, and it's further necessary to implement breeder exchange programs in order to preserve the genetic variability of these populations. Furthermore, the maintenance of those populations in their typical habitats is rather required to allow different responses from the herds to the interactions between genotype and environment.     

Rob Kling and the Irvine School

Abstract

During the Industrial Revolution, manufacturing and related commercial activities led to the evolution of “dense cores” of heavily populated areas. Fundamental to the operation of these industrial‐commercial cores was the development of service activities—banking, risk‐bearing, legal services—which depended on rapid exchange of information or quick “cycle times of information” for effective decision making and allocation of resources. As these cores radiate resources away from the central body toward less populated areas, the need for short cycle times of information in rural areas has become apparent. For example, modem agriculture is an enterprise that requires short time cycles of information exchange. The technology for building computer‐based information networks to facilitate the desired rapid transfer of information exists. However, the installation of hardware linked by reliable, cost‐effective communications networks is only in the beginning stages. One computer‐based information network that has successfully met the challenges of rapid transfer of agricultural management information to farmers is the University of Nebraska's AGNET system.     

Teleports as precursors of the 21st century's information society

Abstract

All national information activities are increasingly interfaced through telecommunications. Today's users stand as witnesses to the formative stages of a totally networked society in the 21st century. Telecommunications technology lies at the root of formal concepts such as Inter‐Information Subjects Networks (IISNs) and National Information Systems (NISs), developed in the last few years. The term teleport refers to the new types of nodes that will form an overall integrated information traffic system. The challenge to all nations in the coming years is to provide or open these teleports to all types of national and social groups. Such teleports will give democracy a finished quality and otherwise bolster freedom by supporting the availability of all types of information.     

The elusive office automation benefits

Abstract

American management is ill‐prepared to enter the information age. Utilizing information technology to cut costs and improve decision‐making requires a great deal more knowledge about administrative activities than top management currently possesses. Historically Americans have been poor administrators. Recently recognizing the problem, management turned to office automation as a solution. The rub is you cannot automate what you can't structurally represent. This article explores past conditions leading to this predicament and suggests a conceptual framework for its resolution.     

The use of information technologies in dutch households

Abstract

In 1985 the Department of Household Sciences conducted research on Dutch households that use information technologies for domestic purposes. This research was part of a six‐nation research programme and was supported by the FAST‐II research activities of the EEC, and the Agricultural University of Wageningen. The use of three types of information technology was surveyed: home computer, Videotext, and Teletext. Analysis of the finding indicates the types of households likely to benefit from information technology in the future and groups households into three classes according to their attitudes to information technology—productivistic, hobbyist, and socially committed.     

Authentication,Privacy, and the Federal E-Government

As federal agencies move toward more sophisticated e-govern- ment offerings, they must consider both policy and operational requirements for electronic authentication (e-authentication). One important consideration in designing and deploying e-authentica- tion solutions is the balance between access, security, authentication, and privacy. Public law and government-wide policy encourage e-government and e-authentication simultaneously with privacy protection, creating policy and operational tensions for e-government efforts. A review of the relevant laws and policies and analyses of the privacy implications of authentication technologies indicates that federal agencies have at least two analytic frameworks for balancing privacy concerns with e-authentication. A framework offered in the 2003 National Research Council report Who Goes There? and the privacy impact analysis requirements of the E-Government Act of 2002 provide e-government projects with the tools for navigating the path between privacy and openness, required by both e-government law and policy.     

Revitalizing Communication and Information Policy Research

Abstract

The network model of organization plays a central role in recent sociological accounts of the information economy. This model is also often presented in organization and information and communication technologies (ICT) literature with an air of enthusiasm that underscores its advantages—flexibility, cooperative culture, innovativeness, and knowledge and technology intensity. Such themes are usually based on a “networking logic” that assumes the trustful cooperation of large and small production firms in a rapidly changing economic environment. We believe that both the logic and the themes based upon it are too narrow to be able to explain the complex dimensions of interorganizational networking. Using Enron as a case study, our goal in this article is to enrich the logic just described and to develop an extended model of the network enterprise. We argue that this is only possible by extending the unit of analysis beyond the production firm, to include, among others, subsidiaries, banks, investors, auditors, and government agencies. The proposed extended model allows the broadening of many of the aforementioned themes, making it possible to arrive at a realistic picture of the complexities of the network enterprise. The managerial advantages of the model are also discussed.     

Telematics and development

Abstract

Developed countries are rapidly evolving into information economies, and given the increasing internationalization of trade and interdependence, developing countries will also have to become information economies if they are to achieve higher economic growth rates. The essence of the information economy is that information is now the main capital input into manufacturing industry and as such is the key input to economic development. The activities of enquiring, communicating, evaluating, and deciding have become the activities absorbing the major proportion of national resources, with the need to know of the business decision‐maker as the main driving force. In developed information economies, industrial firms have become learning systems and a new division of labor in the economic productive system has evolved. The government‐controlled primary information sector is the source of much of the information input and the provider of the means of information transfer. Developing countries must develop their own primary information sectors as an integrated part of the agricultural and manufacturing sectors. The problems of developing countries are highlighted in the isolation on the one hand of their information generating sectors from the productive sector and on the other of the native small firm sector from all sectors of information. Telematics, as the integration of computing, communication, and information services offers the means to integrate national resources with international and supply the required inputs to local agricultural and industrial development.     

Induction of defense-related enzymes in patchouli inoculated with virulent Ralstonia solanacearum

BackgroundDefense-related anti-oxidative response is a vital defense mechanism of plants against pathogen invasion. Ralstonia solanacearum is an important phytopathogen. Bacterial wilt caused by R. solanacearum is the most destructive disease and causes severe losses in patchouli, an important aromatic and medicinal plant in Southeast Asia. The present study evaluated the defense response of patchouli inoculated with virulent R. solanacearum.ResultsResults showed that the basic enzymatic activities differed not only between the leaves and stems but also between the upper and lower parts of the same organ of patchouli. POD, SOD, PPO, and PAL enzymatic activities were significantly elevated in leaves and stems from patchouli inoculated with R. solanacearum compared to those in control. The variation magnitude and rate of POD, PPO, and PAL activities were more obvious than those of SOD in patchouli inoculated with R. solanacearum. PAGE isoenzymatic analysis showed that there were one new POD band and two new SOD bands elicited, and at least two isoformic POD bands and two SOD bands were observably intensified compared to the corresponding control.ConclusionOur results suggest that not only defense-related enzymatic activities were elevated but also the new isoenzymatic isoforms were induced in patchouli inoculated with R. solanacearum.     

Making Sense of Research: The Dynamics of Management Research in France 1

Privacy is universal value. But according to The Economist in 1999 it is finished - killed off by the remarkable capacity of information technology to analyse, trace and re-assemble personal data: affording an unprecedented insight into individual attitudes and activities. Based on the progress made in implementing the OECD Guidelines on Privacy (1980), the author, who chaired the OECD group that devised those Guidelines, reviews their impact, the need to update them and contemporary proposals for new privacy protections suitable to the current technologies. He concludes that the capacity to uphold human values in the context of new technologies, such as informatics and genomics, presents one of the largest ethical questions for the 21st century.     

Geographic dimensions of broadband data uncertainty

Abstract

This article reviews sources of uncertainty in broadband provision data from Federal Communications Commission’s Form 477 database, which is the largest publicly available broadband database for the United States. This uncertainty analysis reveals that reporting thresholds result in understating of broadband in rural areas serviced by smaller providers in the 1999–2004 ZIP code area dataset. In this same time series, the routine used to aggregate data to larger spatial units (i.e., counties) produces variations in the amount of autocorrelation detected by diagnostic spatial statistics. The amount of autocorrelation in the data also varies with the strategy implemented for interpolating suppressed data. This investigation also highlights the value of a spatial approach to visualizing and analyzing the impact of uncertainty on broadband availability.     

Diversity and antimicrobial activity of culturable fungi associated with sea anemone Anthopleura xanthogrammica

BackgroundThe main objective of this study was to isolate fungi associated with Anthopleura xanthogrammica and measure their antimicrobial and enzymatic activities. A total of 93 fungal strains associated with A. xanthogrammica were isolated in this study, of which 32 isolates were identified using both morphological characteristics and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequence analysis. The antibacterial activities of 32 fungal isolates were tested against Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Edwardsiella tarda, Vibrio harveyi, Fusarium oxysporum, and Pyricularia oryzae by agar diffusion assay. Extracellular hydrolytic enzyme activities of the fungal isolates were determined by agar diffusion assays. Enzyme activities were detected from clear halo size.ResultsThe isolated fungi belonged to 18 genera within 7 taxonomic orders of 1 phylum. The genera Aspergillaceae were the most diverse and common. The antimicrobial activities of 32 isolates were evaluated, and 19 (59.4%) of fungi isolate displayed unique antimicrobial activities. All fungal strains displayed at least one enzyme activity. The most common enzyme activities in the fungi isolates were amylase and protease, while the least common were pectinase and xylanase.ConclusionsThis is first report on the sea anemone-derived fungi with antimicrobial and enzyme activities. Results indicated that sea anemone is a hot spot of fungal diversity and a rich resource of bioactive natural products.How to cite: Liu S, Ahmed S, Zhang C, et al. Diversity and antimicrobial activity of culturable fungi associated with sea anemone Anthopleura xanthogrammica. Electron J Biotechnol 2020;44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejbt.2020.01.003     

Remapping the Digital Divide

Abstract

Just as the introduction of advanced information technologies—computers, telecommunications, microform systems, video and audio devices—into the realms of business, agriculture, education, various social services, and science has had a decided impact on those vital activities, so are these “tools” and their related methodologies having an effect on emergency management. The growing complexity of our society is necessitating changes in many institutions and processes, and nowhere is this more apparent than in the four phases of emergency management: mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery. One approach to enhancing governmental preparedness, both at the federal and state‐local levels, is through the selective utilization of devices and networks which facilitate and improve the collection, storage, processing, and dissemination of information vital to those who must anticipate and cope with a range of disasters.     

基于信息质量理论的编辑初审方法

[目的]根据论文的特点,从信息质量理论中提炼出有助于提高编辑初审工作质量的有效方法。[方法]根据Strong D M等人提出的信息质量定义,演绎推理论文信息质量的定义;根据信息质量的PSP/IQ模型,结合论文的特点和初审实践,从中归纳概括论文信息质量的维度,从而形成编辑初审的"论文信息质量5维法"。[结果]提出了学术期刊论文信息质量的概念,并探究了它的5个维度,形成了相应的论文信息质量5维法作为编辑初审的一种新方法。[结论]论文信息质量5维法在事实上和理论上都为编辑初审工作提供了一种可资借鉴的新思路和新方法。     

Information technology in rural emergency management

Abstract

Rural communities face a multitude of hazardous conditions—from blizzards, floods, droughts, and insect infestations caused by nature to hazardous material spills, transportation accidents, and dam failures that result from human activities. Information technology offers to rural emergency managers potentially important tools with which to better plan, alert, and respond to disasters.

Three case studies are presented about uses of different technologies. Each technology is currently in place, but not in widespread use. The first case is the use of a microcomputer in a rural Minnesota county to manage emergency resources, aid planning, and other important tasks. The second case uses cable television as a two‐way alerting link to fire, emergency medical, and police systems. The third case involves the use of satellites to form a statewide communication system among emergency service offices. Each use of information technology clearly contributes to improved emergency management, but widespread application is necessary before the full impact of information technology in rural emergency management can be felt.