Information Management Component Research Articles

Karyotype as code of codes: An inheritance platform to shape the pattern and scale of evolution

Organismal evolution displays complex dynamics in phase and scale which seem to trend towards increasing biocomplexity and diversity. For over a century, such amazing dynamics have been cleverly explained by the apparently straightforward mechanism of natural selection: all diversification, including speciation, results from the gradual accumulation of small beneficial or near-neutral alterations over long timescales. However, although this has been widely accepted, natural selection makes a crucial assumption that has not yet been validated. Specifically, the informational relationship between small microevolutionary alterations and large macroevolutionary changes in natural selection is unclear. To address the macroevolution-microevolution relationship, it is crucial to incorporate the concept of organic codes and particularly the “karyotype code” which defines macroevolutionary changes. This concept piece examines the karyotype from the perspective of two-phased evolution and four key components of information management. It offers insight into how the karyotype creates and preserves information that defines the scale and phase of macroevolution and, by extension, microevolution. We briefly describe the relationship between the karyotype code, the genetic code, and other organic codes in the context of generating evolutionary novelties in macroevolution and imposing constraints on them as biological routines in microevolution. Our analyses suggest that karyotype coding preserves many organic codes by providing system-level inheritance, and similar analyses are needed to classify and prioritize a large number of different organic codes based on the phases and scales of evolution. Finally, the importance of natural information self-creation is briefly discussed, leading to a call to integrate information and time into the relationship between matter and energy.

Information-as-a-thing versus information-as-a-process: the legitimate differences between information resources management and information management

Purpose Information resources management (IRM) and information management (IM) are two distinct terms often used interchangeably in the literature as synonyms, but perhaps, they mean different things. It is worthy of investigation to clarify whether these two related terms are in fact synonyms, and if not, what line of demarcation does them apart, discussion of some underpinning common generalities and issues that compass their misconceptions. This is a significant gap in the literature that needs to be bridged to develop a common ground of what differentiates IRM from IM. Design/methodology/approach It is a general review of the legitimate differences between IRM and IM. Findings Information resources in the ambit of IRM cannot achieve anything except people do something with it either by examining, categorizing or describing it, but in the end, they understood, rebut, alter or do all sorts of manipulation to the data set or information. Meanwhile, all this interpretation and manipulation constitute the hallmark of IM. Originality/value At this point, we need to take note of the fact that IRM is not the same as IM but rather IRM forms part of a holistic framework or components of IM. This is to say that successful IM cannot take place without proper IRM.

Gestión de Información y Gestión de Comunicación en empresas que utilizan normas de comercio seguro

Las empresas que forman parte de la cadena de suministros en el comercio exterior en Ecuador, mantienen su desarrollo organizacional basado en procesos regulados por normas de seguridad en la carga entre las que se encuentran las Basic Alliance for Secure Commerce (BASC) que, utilizan de forma transversal al tratamiento de la información y la comunicación, pero no las declaran de manera explícita. El objetivo de esta investigación fue sistematizar presupuestos teóricos acerca de los componentes de la Gestión de Información (GI); y la Gestión de la Comunicación (GC), que permitan plantear un modelo para su integración en procesos regulados por normas BASC como un recurso coadyuvante. La investigación desarrollada tiene un enfoque cualitativo y el método aplicado es el fenomenográfico apoyado de entrevistas semiestructuradas a expertos a fin de analizar sus procedimientos para tratar la información y la comunicación interna y externa de las empresas. Se encontró que las organizaciones no gestionan adecuadamente la información y la comunicación, pues no aplican principios infocomunicacionales, sino que se enfocan en tratamientos aislados, normativas y en muchos casos únicamente guiados por medios tecnológicos. En consecuencia, se plantea un primer modelo genérico infocomunicacional que permite integrar los componentes de información y la comunicación en beneficio de la gestión organizacional.

Machine Learning Methods of Providing Informational Management Support for Students’ Professional Development

Introduction.Professional development of students requires effective interaction with teachers, scientists, university administrators, students, representatives of professional community and labour market. The effectiveness of this interaction resulted from its information support, based on reliable information, promptly provided to all the members of learning process.The aim of this paper was to study the machine learning methods potential for the effective management of learning process by the example of implementing information support component designed to diagnose and predict the professional development of students based on automatic text analysis.Methodology and research methods. The theoretical basis of the research involved modelling of students’ professional development using the analysis of textual informative and professional relevance in written works of students. To identify the characteristics of professional development, a computer cluster analysis of texts was carried out using the K-means method of clustering. The Bayes method was used to construct a model for classifying students from the standpoint of identified features.Results and scientific novelty. A computer analysis of texts relating to different stages of learning for the evaluation of general and special vocabulary was performed. Regularities in the dynamics of students’ use of general scientific and professional terminology were revealed. Accordingly, the groups with certain trends of educational behaviour of students were formed. It was shown how this differentiation, based on the complex of previously selected dynamic indicators characterising the changes of professional vocabulary, expands the possibilities for diagnostics and forecasting of professional growth of students. The author notes that the efficiency of similar intellectual systems is determined not only by the continued database up-dating, i.e. the amount of data in turn influence the accuracy of model of students’ classification and, consequently, the forecast of students’ professional development. Equally important is the improvement of knowledge base, which contains the criteria of professional development and complies with the requirement of basic dictionaries relevance. In addition, supportive procedures should be carried out with participating of the representatives of professional community.Practical significance. The information support provided for the management of professional development of students can be used both for operational decision making and developing content and technologies for educational process. This means students can evaluate the dynamics of own performance in comparison with earlier works, classmates’ work, target indicators of the use of general scientific and professional terminology. This information management component allows teachers to monitor the content of texts and easily determine the authorship of content of learner’s general frequency vocabulary and the dynamics of its change. The representatives of labour market along with access to information on the current progress of a student can define his or her prospects as a future worker. Heads of educational programmes, university administrators receive objective information about the content of disciplines as their study is reflected in the students’ professional development.

The National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory System

The South African air quality governance cycle (National Framework, 2012) illustrates that informed decision-making is fundamental to good governance, and decisions can only be properly informed if decision-makers have ready access to accurate, relevant, current and complete information. Thus, the information management component of the governance cycle is crucial and it can be defined as the engine that drives the cycle towards continuous improvements in environmental quality. In light of that, the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) has established the South African Air Quality Information System (SAAQIS), which is hosted by the South African Weather Service (SAWS). The information and knowledge management needs of government; as implied in national legislation are being met through the SAAQIS. The SAAQIS is divided into phases; the first being the ambient air quality module, which is also an information repository of all government air quality management documents. There are over a hundred monitoring stations in the country which report ambient air quality monitoring data to the SAAQIS and this enables all stakeholders, including government and the general public, to access verified data showing the state of air quality at any given point in time.

Construction Organizational-Level Information Management Framework

AbstractComprehensive organizational-level information management (IM) performance assessment has the potential to improve IM performance in construction organizations. However, the organizational-level IM components and key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure each component are not adequately developed in construction IM literature. This paper proposes an organizational-level IM framework, which identifies the IM components, IM activities, and KPIs required for comprehensive organizational-level IM performance measurement in construction-owner organizations. The eight IM components (IM processes, ICT resources, practice resources, people resources, IM inputs, IM outputs, IM constraints, and IM objectives) are developed and defined on the basis of the analysis of 55 documents related to IM frameworks published from 1990 to 2010 inclusive. In addition, a total of six IM activities and 40 lagging and leading KPIs are developed and defined on the basis of the analysis and synthesis of IM characteristics...

CAD standards and the institutions of higher education

This paper focuses on the need, development and implementation of CAD standards for institutions of higher education. To efficiently communicate planning, design, construction, and management information among the internal and external parties involved, thousands of these highly complex organizations worldwide are in need of CAD standards. These standards are instrumental in consolidating information; originating from operational and academic units of a university, they constitute the backbone of the Facility Management Information System (FMIS) and eliminate necessary conversions and duplication of efforts. This paper highlights the theoretical underpinnings for standardization and illustrates the strength and weaknesses of various standards and implementations in CAD and their uses in the Design Information Management component of a university FMIS. Although the paper concentrates on design information management, the very same standards are useful both in construction and in management information activities.

A reference architecture for scientific virtual laboratories

Recent advances in the IT can be applied to properly support certain complex requirements in the scientific and engineering domains. In experimental sciences, for instance, researchers should be assisted with conducting their complex scientific experimentation and supporting their collaboration with other scientists. The main requirements identified in such domains include the management of large data sets, distributed collaboration support, and high-performance issues, among others. The virtual laboratory project initiated at the University of Amsterdam aims at the development of a hardware and software reference architecture, and an open, flexible, and configurable laboratory framework to enable scientists and engineers with working on their experimentation problems, while making optimum use of modern information technology approaches. This paper describes the current stage of design of a reference architecture for this scientific virtual laboratory, and focuses further on the cooperative information management component of this architecture, and exemplifying its application to experimentation domain of biology.

Information management in production planning for a virtual enterprise

The information management of a virtual enterprise is a current research challenge. X-CITTIC, a production planning and control system for semiconductor manufacturing virtual enterprises, is an on-going ESPRIT project. A concept for an information management component is proposed for the project, based on object-oriented technology. Its architecture and detailed design are presented in the paper according to Rumbaugh's OMT (Object Modelling Technique). To capture all of its important aspects, three kinds of model object, dynamic and functional are presented to describe it from different viewpoints.

Changes in Information-Seeking Patterns of Medical Students

Fast-paced changes in the health care arena and the growth of medical information through print and electronic resources have made it increasingly apparent that medical students will need active, independent, and lifelong learning skills to supplement their formal medical education. Problem-based learning is taking hold throughout the country's medical schools because its central tenets promote problem-solving skills. At the University of California, Irvine College of Medicine, a sequence of problem-based learning courses have been implemented with a concomitant sequence of information management instruction. This article reports a description of the Patient-Doctor II course in the second-year curriculum with its information management component. Instruction is provided throughout the year and assessment of the impact of the changes indicates significant advances in skill development. Future physician patterns of information-seeking behavior will change dramatically as today's medical students learn the value of information management skills and their positive impact on clinical problem-solving as demonstrated through a problem-based learning curriculum.

Problem‐based learning and libraries: the Canadian experience

Canada is a vast country with a relatively small population of 29 million. There are 16 medical schools and of these 12 have introduced problem‐based learning or some variation of this approach to learning. The libraries supporting these medical schools have taken a variety of approaches to addressing this educational innovation and have specific recommendations to make based on their experiences in working to ensure that they meet the needs of a new curriculum successfully. A number of sites noted that the self‐directed learning component of the new curriculum, and the related emphasis on evidence‐based medicine, are of importance in terms of the impact on library usage. Most of the libraries reported the need to participate on curriculum committees, establish an information management component in the curriculum and have a computer training laboratory in the library.

The role of smart medical systems in the Space Station.

NASA is developing a Health Maintenance Facility to provide medical equipment and supplies requisite for the Space Station to be launched in the late 1990s. An essential component of this medical facility is a computerized Medical Decision Support System which will expedite medical officers' efforts to maintain the crew's health. The computerized system includes four major functions: 1. A data collection and storage system with a self-contained medical expert scheme for performing treatment protocols. The expert system has 'data driven' and 'time driven' capabilities to facilitate automatic decision-making functions. 2. An integrated medical record and medical 'reference' information management component. 3. An inventory management system for medical supplies and pharmaceuticals. 4. Video, audio, and data communications between the medical officer in the Space Station and ground-based medical personnel. This paper discusses the design of such computerized data collection, communications and expert medical systems as will be developed for use in a Space Station Health Maintenance Facility.