bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Response to CO2 in novice closed-circuit apparatus divers and after 1 year of active oxygen diving at shallow depths
Authors: Eynan Mirit , Arieli Ran , Adir Yochai
Published: December 2004

Elevated arterial Pco2 (hypercapnia) has a major effect on central nervous system oxygen toxicity in diving with a closed-circuit breathing apparatus. The purpose of the present study was to follow up the ability of divers to detect CO2 and to determine the CO2 retention trait after 1 year of active oxygen diving with closed-circuit apparatus. Ventilatory and perceptual responses to variations in inspired CO2 (range: 0–5.6 kPa, 0–42 Torr) during moderate exercise were assessed in Israeli Navy combat divers on active duty. Tests were carried out on 40 divers during the novice oxygen diving phase (ND) and the experienced oxygen diving phase. No significant changes were found between the two phases for the minimal mean inspired Pco2 that could be detected. The mean (with SD in parentheses) end-tidal Pco2 during exposure to an inspired Pco2 of 5.6 kPa (42 Torr) was significantly higher in the novice diving phase than in the experienced diving phase [8.1 kPa (SD 0.7), 62 Torr (SD 5) and 7.8 kPa (SD 0.6), 59 Torr (SD 4), respectively; P ≤ 0.001]. One year of shallow oxygen diving activity with a closed-circuit apparatus does not affect the ability to detect CO2 nor does it lead to increased CO2 retention; rather, it may even bring about a decrease in this trait. This finding suggests that acquiring experience in oxygen diving with a closed-circuit apparatus at shallow depths does not place the diver at a greater risk of central nervous system oxygen toxicity due to CO2 retention.
Barotrauma during air travel: predictions of a mathematical model
Authors: Kanick Stephen Chad , Doyle William J.
Published: December 2004

Middle ear barotrauma during flight is a painful disorder experienced by passengers who cannot properly regulate their middle ear pressure in response to the changing cabin pressures during ascent and descent. Previous reports emphasized the important role of poor eustachian tube function in disease pathogenesis but paid little attention to other moderating factors. Here we describe a mathematical model of middle ear pressure regulation and simulate the pressure response to the changes in cabin pressure experienced over typical flights. The results document buffering mechanisms that decrease the requisite efficiency of active, muscle-assisted eustachian tube opening for disease-free flight. These include the relative difference between destination and departure elevations and the ratio of maximum tympanic membrane volume displacement to middle ear volume, where greater absolute values require lesser efficiencies for disease-free flight. Also, the specific type of functional deficit is important since ears with a completely obstructed eustachian tube can be less susceptible to barotrauma than those with a eustachian tube that passively opens but fails to dilate in response to muscle activity. These buffering systems can explain why some children and adults with poor eustachian tube function do not experience middle ear barotrauma.
Transcriptional profile of a myotube starvation model of atrophy
Authors: Stevenson Eric J. , Koncarevic Alan , Giresi Paul G. , Jackman Robert W. , Kandarian Susan C.
Published: December 2004

Skeletal muscle wasting is a pervasive phenomenon that can result from a wide range of pathological conditions as well as from habitual muscular inactivity. The present work describes a cell-culture condition that induces significant atrophy in skeletal muscle C2C12 myotubes. The failure to replenish differentiation media in mature myotubes leads to rapid atrophy (53% in diameter), which is referred to here as starvation. Affymetrix microarrays were used to develop a transcriptional profile of control (fed) vs. atrophied (nonfed) myotubes. Myotube starvation was characterized by an upregulation of genes involved in translational inhibition, amino acid biosynthesis and transport, and cell cycle arrest/apoptosis, among others. Downregulated genes included several structural and regulatory elements of the extracellular matrix as well as several elements of Wnt/frizzled and TGF-β signaling pathways. Interestingly, the characteristic transcriptional upregulation of the ubiquitin-proteasome system, calpains, and cathepsins known to occur in multiple in vivo models of atrophy were not seen during myotube starvation. With the exception of the downregulation of extracellular matrix genes, serine protease inhibitor genes, and the upregulation of the translation initiation factor PHAS-I, this model of atrophy in cell culture has a transcriptional profile quite distinct from any study published to date with atrophy in whole muscle. These data show that, although the gross morphology of atrophied muscle fibers may be similar in whole muscle vs. myotube culture, the processes by which this phenotype is achieved differ markedly.
Clara cell secretory protein and phospholipase A2activity modulate acute ventilator-induced lung injury in mice
Authors: Yoshikawa Sawako , Miyahara Takashige , Reynolds Susan D. , Stripp Barry R. , Anghelescu Mircea , Eyal Fabien G. , Parker James C.
Published: December 2004

Lung vascular permeability is acutely increased by high-pressure and high-volume ventilation. To determine the roles of mechanically activated cytosolic PLA2(cPLA2) and Clara cell secretory protein (CCSP), a modulator of cPLA2activity, we compared lung injury with and without a PLA2inhibitor in wild-type mice and CCSP-null mice (CCSP−/−) ventilated with high and low peak inflation pressures (PIP) for 2- or 4-h periods. After ventilation with high PIP, we observed significant increases in the bronchoalveolar lavage albumin concentrations, lung wet-to-dry weight ratios, and lung myeloperoxidase in both genotypes compared with unventilated controls and low-PIP ventilated mice. All injury variables except myeloperoxidase were significantly greater in the CCSP−/−mice relative to wild-type mice. Inhibition of cPLA2in wild-type and CCSP−/−mice ventilated at high PIP for 4 h significantly reduced bronchoalveolar lavage albumin and total protein and lung wet-to-dry weight ratios compared with vehicle-treated mice of the same genotype. Membrane phospho-cPLA2and cPLA2activities were significantly elevated in lung homogenates of high-PIP ventilated mice of both genotypes but were significantly higher in the CCSP−/−mice relative to the wild-type mice. Inhibition of cPLA2significantly attenuated both the phospho-cPLA2increase and increased cPLA2activity due to high-PIP ventilation. We propose that mechanical activation of the cPLA2pathway contributes to acute high PIP-induced lung injury and that CCSP may reduce this injury through inhibition of the cPLA2pathway and reduction of proinflammatory products produced by this pathway.
Is postexercise hypotension related to excess postexercise oxygen consumption through changes in leg blood flow?
Authors: Williams Jay T. , Pricher Mollie P. , Halliwill John R.
Published: December 2004

After a single bout of aerobic exercise, oxygen consumption remains elevated above preexercise levels [excess postexercise oxygen consumption (EPOC)]. Similarly, skeletal muscle blood flow remains elevated for an extended period of time. This results in a postexercise hypotension. The purpose of this study was to explore the possibility of a causal link between EPOC, postexercise hypotension, and postexercise elevations in skeletal muscle blood flow by comparing the magnitude and duration of these postexercise phenomena. Sixteen healthy, normotensive, moderately active subjects (7 men and 9 woman, age 20–31 yr) were studied before and through 135 min after a 60-min bout of upright cycling at 60% of peak oxygen consumption. Resting and recovery V̇o2were measured with a custom-built dilution hood and mass spectrometer-based metabolic system. Mean arterial pressure was measured via an automated blood pressure cuff, and femoral blood flow was measured using ultrasound. During the first hour postexercise, V̇o2was increased by 11 ± 2%, leg blood flow was increased by 51 ± 18%, leg vascular conductance was increased by 56 ± 19%, and mean arterial pressure was decreased by 2.2 ± 1.0 mmHg (all P < 0.05 vs. preexercise). At the end of the protocol, V̇o2remained elevated by 4 ± 2% ( P < 0.05), whereas leg blood flow, leg vascular conductance, and mean arterial pressure returned to preexercise levels (all P > 0.7 vs. preexercise). Taken together, these data demonstrate that EPOC and the elevations in skeletal muscle blood flow underlying postexercise hypotension do not share a common time course. This suggests that there is no causal link between these two postexercise phenomena.
High susceptibility of chromosome 16 to radiation-induced chromosome rearrangements in human lymphocytes under in vivo and in vitro exposure
Authors: Camparoto M.L. , Takahashi-Hyodo S.A. , Dauwerse J.G. , Natarajan A.T. , Sakamoto-Hojo E.T.
Published: December 2004

The aim of the present study was to investigate whether chromosome 16p presents breakpoint regions susceptible to radiation-induced rearrangements. The frequencies of translocations were determined by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) using cosmid probes C40 and C55 mapping on chromosome 16p, and a chromosome 16 centromere-specific probe (pHUR195). Peripheral lymphocytes were collected from normal individuals and from seven victims of 137Cs in the Goiania (Brasil) accident (absorbed doses: 0.8–4.6 Gy) 10 years after exposure. In vitro irradiated lymphocytes (3 Gy) were also analyzed. The mean translocation frequency/cell obtained for the 137Cs exposed individuals was 2.4-fold higher than the control value (3.6 × 10–3 ± 0.001), and the in vitro irradiated lymphocytes showed a seven-fold increase. The genomic translocation frequencies (FGs) were calculated by the formula Fp = 2.05 fp(1 – fp)FG (Lucas et al., 1992). For the irradiated lymphocytes and victims of 137Cs, the FGs calculated on the basis of chromosome 16 were 2- to 8-fold higher than those for chromosomes 1, 4 and 12. Our results indicate that chromosome 16 is more prone to radiation-induced chromosome breaks, and demonstrate a non-random distribution of induced aberrations. This information is valuable for retrospective biological dosimetry in case of human exposure to radiation, since the estimates of absorbed doses are calculated by determining the translocation frequency for a sub-set of chromosomes, and the results are extrapolated to the whole genome, assuming a random distribution of induced aberrations. Furthermore, the demonstration of breakpoints on 16p is compatible with the reports about their involvement in neoplasias.
A dense comparative gene map between human chromosome 19q13.3→q13.4 and a homologous segment of swine chromosome 6
Authors: Bosak N. , Yamomoto R. , Fujisaki S. , Faraut T. , Kiuchi S. , Hiraiwa H. , Hayashi T. , Yasue H.
Published: December 2004

The human chromosome (HSA)19q region has been shown to correspond to swine chromosome (SSC) 6q11→q21 by bi-directional chromosomal painting and gene mapping. However, since the precise correspondence has not been determined, 26 genes localized in HSA19q13.3→q13.4 were assigned to the SSC6 region mainly by radiation hybrid (RH) mapping, and additionally, by somatic cell hybrid panel (SCHP) mapping, and fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH). Out of the 26 genes, 24 were assigned to a swine RH map with LOD scores greater than 6 (threshold of significance). The most likely order of the 24 genes along SSC6 was calculated by CarthaGene, revealing that the order is essentially the same as that in HSA19q13.3→q13.4. For AURKC and RPS5 giving LOD scores not greater than 6, SCHP mapping and FISH were additionally performed; SCHP mapping assigned AURKC and RPS5 to SSC6q22→q23 and SSC6q21, respectively, which is consistent with the observation of FISH. Consequently, all the genes (26 genes) examined in the present study were shown to localize in SSC6q12→q23, and the order of the genes along the chromosomes was shown to be essentially the same in swine and human, though several intrachromosomal rearrangements were observed between the species.
Karyotypic conservatism in the suborder Feliformia (Order Carnivora)
Authors: Perelman P.L. , Graphodatsky A.S. , Serdukova N.A. , Nie W. , Alkalaeva E.Z. , Fu B. , Robinson T.J. , Yang F.
Published: December 2004

Multidirectional comparative chromosome painting was used to investigate the karyotypic relationships among representative species from three Feliformia families of the order Carnivora (Viverridae, Hyaenidae and Felidae). Complete sets of painting probes derived from flow-sorted chromosomes of the domestic dog, American mink, and human were hybridized onto metaphases of the spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta, 2n = 40) and masked palm civet (Paguma larvata, 2n = 44). Extensive chromosomal conservation is evident in these two species when compared with the cat karyotype, and only a few events of chromosome fusion, fission and inversion differentiate the karyotypes of these Feliformia species. The comparative chromosome painting data have enabled the integration of the hyena and palm civet chromosomes into the previously established comparative map among the domestic cat, domestic dog, American mink and human and improved our understanding on the karyotype phylogeny of Feliformia species.
Preliminary Study on the Efficacy and Tolerability of Newer Anticonvulsants in a Population of Epileptic Patients
Authors: Guevara J. , Carmona G. , Ortega M.P. , Iglesias A.A.
Published: December 2004

Objective: To study the efficacy and safety of newer antiepileptic drugs. Subjects and Methods: Clinical records of 461 epileptic patients attending the Consorcio General Hospital, Valencia, Spain, were reviewed. Demographic data, adverse reactions and clinical outcome were recorded. Results: One hundred and five patients experienced a total of 151 adverse drug reactions to antiepileptic medications. Adverse drug reactions occurred in the central nervous system (54.9%), skin (17.0%), gastrointestinal tract (13.2%), liver (4.9%), mouth (4.4%) and others (5.6%). The newer anticonvulsants were withdrawn in 19.1% of patients because of side effects, while older drugs were withdrawn in 9.3% of patients. Of the 461 patients, 78 (17.4%) experienced a ≧50% reduction in seizure frequency when one of the newer anticonvulsants was added to their therapy. Older anticonvulsants were better tolerated than newer drugs. Tiagabine was the worst tolerated of all the drugs. Conclusion: Our findings show that patients with simple partial secondary generalized epilepsy had a greater benefit when a newer anticonvulsant was added to the treatment regimen.
Prognostic Factors in the Management of Exacerbation of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease in Kuwait
Authors: Onadeko B.O. , Khadadah M. , Abdella N. , Mukhtar M. , Mourou M. , Qurtom M. , Samad M. , Al-Shayeb A.
Published: December 2004

Objective: To evaluate the clinical presentation and the factors of prognostic importance in the management of exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Subjects and Methods: One hundred and four patients who were hospitalized because of exacerbation of COPD between 1996 and 2000 were selected for further evaluation. Only patients who fulfilled the American Thoracic Society criteria for diagnosis of COPD were included. The factors examined included age, clinical features, duration of symptoms of exacerbation, severity of underlying disease, comorbid diseases, level of consciousness, previous hospitalization, intubation and assisted ventilation, hypercapnia, degree of acidemia and complications. Results: Seventy-four of 104 (71%) hospitalized patients reviewed met the inclusion criteria for COPD. The mean age was 63.68 ± 12.6 years. There was a male:female ratio of 3:1. Fifty-eight patients (78%) had a baseline FEV1 <50% before hospitalization and 45 (64%) had previous hospitalization. Comorbid disease was found in 50% of the cases, while 78% had acidemia and 70% hypercapnia. Fourteen (19%) died on admission. Risk factors identified included severity of disease (p < 0.05); presence of comorbid disease (p < 0.01); acidemia (p < 0.0001); hypercapnia (p < 0.0001); previous hospitalization (p < 0.01), and assisted ventilation (p < 0.001). Conclusion: This study revealed that the presence of comorbid disease, acidemia, previous hospitalization and assisted ventilation significantly contributed to mortality in patients with exacerbation of COPD.
Poststroke Fatigue: Characteristics and Related Factors
Authors: Choi-Kwon Smi , Han Sung W. , Kwon Sun U. , Kim Jong S.
Published: December 2004

Background and Purpose: Poststroke fatigue (PoSF) is a common, but poorly studied problem. The purpose of the present study was to elucidate the characteristics of and the factors associated with PoSF. Methods: We studied 220 consecutive outpatients at an average of 15 months after the onset of stroke. The presence of poststroke depression (PSD) and poststroke emotional incontinence were identified with the use of a standardized questionnaire. The presence of PoSF was assessed using the visual analogue scale and Fatigue Severity Scale. The presence of prestroke fatigue (PrSF) was also assessed. The impact of PoSF on patients’ daily activities was also assessed using the Fatigue Impact Scale. Results: One hundred and twenty-five patients (57%) had PoSF, 83 (38%) had PrSF and 53 (24%) had PSD. Thirty-six percent of the patients without PrSF and 50% of the patients without PSD had PoSF. The impact of PoSF on patients’ daily activities was more severe in the physical domain as compared with the psychological or cognitive domains (p < 0.01). Multivariate analyses showed that the presence of PrSF (p < 0.01, OR 33.5), high modified Rankin scale (MRS; p < 0.05, OR 3.3), PSD (p < 0.05, OR 2.7) were independently associated with PoSF. Cessation of cigarette smoking (p < 0.05) and the presence of PrSF (p < 0.01) were independently related to PoSF in patients without PSD while decrease in sexual activities (p < 0.05) and the presence of dysarthria (p < 0.05) were related to PoSF in patients without PrSF. Conclusions: Fatigue is a fairly common sequela of stroke patients, exerting an impact on their daily activities, especially physical ones. PrSF is the most important factor related to PoSF, followed by high MRS and PSD. Nevertheless, the causes of PoSF appear multifactorial. Strategies to improve the PoSF should be individualized according to the causative factors.
Online Competition and Performance of News and Information Markets in the Netherlands
Authors: van der Wurff Richard
Published: December 2004

Publishers are intermediaries between original content producers, users and advertisers in the information value chain. Internet offers them an additional channel to accomplish these intermediary tasks, next to the traditional print channel. The emergence of this new communication channel threatens the profitable position of incumbent publishers, because internet reduces market entry barriers for new providers of free information. At the same time, internet offers publishers new opportunities to develop stronger relationships with users. Case studies of the online market for news, nice-to-know consumer magazines and need-to-know professional information in the Netherlands suggest that incumbent publishers use these opportunities more aggressively when they face stronger threats from new entrants. The main beneficiaries of the resulting intensified competition between publishers and new entrants are individual information users.
An Immature Medium
Authors: Salaverría Ramón
Published: December 2004

The events which occurred on 11 September 2001 were unprecedented in many ways. This article discusses how online newspapers reported on these events. Applying a descriptive methodology to a sample of 18 online newspapers from nine countries, this article analyses the strengths and weaknesses of online newspapers that could be seen that day. It shows the consolidation of the internet as an important global medium, as well as the impetus for multiple media synergies and for new multimedia formats that emerged from these events. But it also points to the lack of technological readiness of the medium, its editorial immaturity, and its reluctant use of its interactive capabilities. In conclusion, this article uses an important test case for the reporting of breaking news, to present an overview of the editorial strengths and weaknesses of online newspapers at the beginning of the 21st century.
Visualization in information retrieval: a three-level analysis
Authors: Song Min
Published: December 2004

Visualization in information retrieval (IR) is a rapidly emerging area in which human-computer interaction (HCI) is adapted to the design of interfaces for IR systems. There are numerous proposals for the development of new visual IR systems. In parallel with the advent of advanced software and hardware, the attempts to design visualization-based IR systems are stimulated with the promise that information visualization applies visual processing to abstract information. Under this rapid development in the research area, there are few attempts to conceptualize this new field of study. This paper intends to classify the works of visualization for IR system design in a systematic way, by providing a mosaic view of the emerging area of visualization in IR system design. The paper proposes a three-level approach to analyzing visualization in IR system design: (i) component level analysis, (ii) technique level analysis and (iii) interaction level analysis. This three-level approach helps us to understand the state of visualization for the design of IR systems in multiple ways. The three-level approach also enables us in further serious investigation in this emerging field that has been created by the intersection of visualization and IR, by allowing us to look at different layers of visualization in IR that have both technical and theoretical concerns.
Approaches to the measurement of the impact of knowledge management programmes
Authors: Martin William J.
Published: December 2004

There is currently widespread interest in knowledge management, with organisations of all kinds investing in technologies, systems and people to this end. Concurrently, within business and the economy as a whole, intellectual capital or intangible assets are growing in significance in relation to traditional tangible assets such as buildings and equipment. Many organisations are finding that traditional measures of organisational performance are insufficient for the task of managing intangibles. In trying to measure the value of knowledge inputs and outputs, such metrics as return on investment or the practice of consigning intangibles to the accounting category of goodwill need to be supplemented by alternative approaches. This paper looks at the problem of knowledge measurement and, in reviewing some of the current alternatives, argues for the importance of metrics to the overall process of knowledge management. The significance of knowledge measurement to the information science community is emphasised.
Development of a charged-particle nuclear reaction data retrieval system on Intelligent Pad: CONTIP
Authors: Ohbayasi Yosihide , Aoyama Shigeyoshi , Masui Hiroshi , Katô Kiyoshi , Chiba Masaki
Published: December 2004

A newly designed retrieval system of charged-particle nuclear reaction data (CPND) is developed on the IntelligentPad architecture. NRDF (Nuclear Reaction Data File), which is a kind of CPND compilation, is applied as an example. The authors designed the network-based (client-server) retrieval system. The server system is constructed on a UNIX workstation with a relational database; the client system is built on a Microsoft Windows PC using an IntelligentPad software package. The system is called CONTIP, which is an abbreviation of ‘Creative, Cooperative and Cultural Objects for Nuclear data and Tools on IntelligentPad’. CONTIP will be developed to realise effective utilisation of nuclear reaction data: (i) reproduction, re-edit, reuse, (ii) circulation, coordination and evolution and (iii) knowledge discovery.
Science in a small country at a time of globalisation: domestic and international collaboration in new biology research in Israel
Authors: Arunachalam Subbiah , Doss M. Jinandra
Published: December 2004

From an analysis of papers indexed in three years of Biochemistry and Biophysics Citation Index (1992, 1995 and 1998), it is found that 103 institutions in Israel have published 4,112 papers in more than 990 journals and 64 non-journal sources published from 27 countries. More than 16% of papers have appeared in journals with an impact factor (IF) higher than 7.00 and an equal fraction of papers have appeared in journals with an IF of less than 1.00. The sum of the IFs of the journals in which papers have been published has been used as a rough measure to quantify each institution’s research contribution. Hebrew University, the Weizmann Institute and Tel Aviv University are the institutions publishing the largest number of papers, while Rehovot and Jerusalem are the leading cities. Journal of Biological Chemistry, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - USA, FEBS Letters and Biochemistry are the journals most often used by Israeli researchers to publish their work. To overcome the problems of conducting world-class research in a small country, Israel uses collaboration with overseas laboratories to great advantage. More than 42% of papers in the sample involve international collaboration; half of them with laboratories in the USA and some with Germany, France, the UK and Canada. Over 10% of papers have resulted from domestic collaboration. In general, internationally collaborated papers are published in higher-impact journals, but domestically collaborated papers more often appear in lower-impact journals than single-institution papers. While the USA remains the most important partner of Israel, papers co-authored with French and UK collaborators raise the IF value of Israeli contributions more than those with other partner countries.
Information communication networking in rural communities: the case of women in Imo State, Nigeria
Authors: Uhegbu A. N.
Published: December 2004

This research focuses on exploring the existence or otherwise of any interactive information communication networks among women in Imo State. Using questionnaire and oral interview techniques, data were collected from 600 women, purposively chosen, covering the three senatorial zones of the State. Results show the existence of vibrant interactive networks among women, carried out on two levels: (i) diffused or non-restrictive patterns and (ii) restrictive or discriminatory patterns. Social, economic, political and health news and other aspects were found to be the determining information factors. Personal contact and use of liaison or intermediary and institutional frameworks are the means of the interaction. A number of inhibitors of effective interactive networks are identified.
Methods of information retrieval using Web of Science: pulmonary hypertension as a subject example
Authors: Cawkell Tony
Published: December 2004

Discusses search operations using the Web of Science via a server on the World Wide Web. The facilities include the usual Boolean etc., search on subject and bibliographic details; cited reference query; and related records. A search example is presented from the field of pulmonary hypertension, concluding that the combination of Web technology and the use of citation interconnections provides a fast and useful retrieval mechanism.
Bioinformatics applications of information extraction from scientific journal articles
Authors: Humphreys Kevin , Demetriou George , Gaizauskas Robert
Published: December 2004

Information extraction technology, as defined and developed through the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Message Understanding Conferences (MUCs), has proved successful at extracting information primarily from newswire texts and primarily in domains concerned with human activity. In this paper, the application of this technology to the extraction of information from scientific journal papers in the area of molecular biology is considered. In particular, it is described how an information extraction designed to participate in the MUC exercises has been modified for two bioinformatics applications: one concerned with enzyme and metabolic pathways; the other with protein structure. Progress to date provides convincing grounds for believing that information extraction techniques will deliver novel and effective ways for scientists to make use of the core literature which defines their disciplines.
Barriers to the use of patent information in UK small and medium-sized enterprises. Part 2 (1): Results of in-depth interviews
Authors: Hall Matthew , Oppenheim Charles , Sheen Margaret
Published: December 2004

In-depth interviews were carried out in 23 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to explore issues regarding their use or non-use of the patent system and patent information. A semi-structured interview approach was adopted. Among the issues explored were: (i) the level of research and development and propensity to innovate, (ii) patenting behaviour and appropriability, (iii) the way patent information is obtained and expectations of patent information, (iv) the reasons for patent information being used and (v) the impact of the Internet on these issues. A classification to differentiate segments of the SME patent information market is proposed. The three segments are called ‘inept’ or‘irrelevant’, ‘unaware’ and ‘aware’. The latter group can be further broken down into six types: avoiders, off loaders, defenders, learners, checkers and professionals. The paper concludes that approaches to SMEs’ use of patent information hitherto has been too simplistic. A strategy for increasing patent use information among the different segments is recommended.
An agent-based framework for Web query answering
Authors: Wang Huaiqing , Liao Stephen , Liao Lejian
Published: December 2004

The World Wide Web has become a rich information source from which answers to numerous questions can be found. However, there exist discrepancies between the queries by users and the answers provided by the information sources, due to ill-defined requirements and the irregular nature of Web information sources. Thus, the traditional rigid mechanism for database query answering is unsuitable for complex Web mining tasks. A flexible and cooperative query answering mechanism needs to be used to overcome the discrepancies. In this paper, we propose an agent-based framework for such Web query answering. An object-oriented deductive data model and a flexible query language are introduced, and a cooperation mechanism for query answering based on our data model and query language is presented.
A bibliometric analysis of publications by the Chemistry Department, Seoul National University, Korea, 1992-1998
Authors: Kim Mee-Jean , Kim Byong-Ju
Published: December 2004

This study examined research performance of chemists at Seoul National University (SNU), the most prestigious university in Korea, using the numbers of articles appearing in journals and the numbers of citations received by those articles covered by Science Citation Index (SCI) CD-ROM, 1992-1998. A total of 651 papers published by the 29 faculty members of the Chemistry Department at SNU and indexed by SCI during the seven-year period were considered. US and Korean journals published in English were utilised predominantly, followed by UK journals. Major journals used by Korean chemists are Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society (Korea), Tetrahedron Letters (UK), Journal of Physical Chemistry A (USA), Journal of Chemical Physics (USA) and Journal of the American Chemical Society (USA). In addition, half the Korean papers were published in journals having an impact factor of one or more. Among the 651 publications, 388 were cited 2,376 times. Considering the number of citations received by Korean papers, in terms of journal country, papers published in US, UK and Dutch journals have a higher visibility than others. No correlation between the number of papers by a particular chemist and the average number of citations per paper for that chemist was indicated by the study.
The extension triad approach in disseminating agricultural information to extension workers: some experiences from the Southern Highlands Dairy Development Project, Tanzania
Authors: Dulle F. W.
Published: December 2004

The agricultural extension services in developing countries have been widely criticised for their ineffectiveness. The extension triad is considered to be an alternative and promising approach in an attempt to improve the extension services in such countries. This study investigates the information-seeking pattern of extension workers and the ways in which the Southern Highlands Dairy Development Project disseminates information to such workers, as well as the extent to which it addresses some of the common problems reported to hinder the extension services in developing countries. Out of 66 copies of a semi-structured questionnaire distributed to dairy extension supervisors and field extension workers within the Project area, 49 responses (69.7% response rate) were received. The use of personal sources, attendance at professional meetings, seminars, short courses and conferences and the reading of newspapers were found to be the three main information sources consulted by the respondents, while contact with researchers and the use of agricultural libraries were very unpopular. The Project extension services proved superior in comparison to the traditional extension services. For sustainability purposes, it is recommended that the Project, in collaboration with the Government and farmer groups, launches an alternative organisation to pursue activities run by the Project before it comes to an end.
Strategic intelligence and networked business
Authors: Cronin Blaise
Published: December 2004

The chances of firms achieving, or being subjected to, strategic surprise have escalated with the growth of internetworking technologies and the opportunities these afford for various forms of information warfare (IW) and net terrorism. The more a business depends on sophisticated information systems, the greater its vulnerability to stealth attack. Defensive IW will soon become a necessary cost of doing business. In practical terms, this means identifying mission-critical information assets, conducting threat assessments, implementing information systems security procedures and developing strategic intelligence and counter-intelligence capability.
Online information sources: tools of business intelligence?
Authors: Hall Hazel
Published: December 2004

Organisations seek to use information intelligently and to generate business intelligence for future profitable prospects. Although not regarded as business intelligence per se, there is a role for commercially produced online information sources and internally generated intranet resources in business intelligence activity. For example, the human post-coordination of raw data from a commercial source may direct business decisions; Web pages on intranets serve to unify ‘grey’ internal company information; the company intranet serves as a platform for unifying internal and external sources. However, technological and cultural barriers can inhibit the effectiveness of online information sources held on company networks, and other processes, such as the mining of transactional data, offer alternative means of deriving business intelligence. For those involved in the provision of business information, ultimately it is the question of what to provide at the point of application that is most important when attempting to create business intelligence from online information sources.
Social intelligence in the age of networks
Authors: Davenport Elisabeth
Published: December 2004

The author explores the concept of ‘social intelligence’. She suggests that, in the world of digital commerce, it may be defined as ‘insight which is based on collective understanding of work practices’. She offers three scenarios to support the suggestion that the World Wide Web allows new forms of insight to emerge as it greatly extends the toolkit and the content base of business intelligence. The scenarios explore three activities: ‘social browsing’, ‘social formatting’ and ‘social filtering’, that are examples of social intelligence activities in the world of the virtual workplace.
Regional business intelligence: the view from Canada
Authors: Bergeron Pierrette
Published: December 2004

In Canada, as is the case in most industrial countries, business intelligence (BI) has stirred much interest lately. A growing number of organizations, either large or small, nonprofit or government, implement formal BI activities. This paper provides a panorama of trends in BI in Canada. It reports research on environmental scanning, information-seeking behaviour and BI implementation and practice in large organizations and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), as well as in the cultural sector. It describes governmental efforts to support disseminating and implementing BI practices especially in SMEs; in particular, the Québec Government’s Fonds de Partenariat Sectoriel Volet IV: Veilles Concurrentielles, a unique and innovative governmental programme which sponsored the development of BI centres. Finally, it provides an overview of current activities in training and research in BI. It concludes by indicating areas for improvement and development, with an emphasis on the need to develop a better understanding of information-seeking behaviour in SMEs and to develop an information model of organizations specific to SMEs.
The information environment of electronic commerce: information imperatives for the firm
Authors: Rosenbaum Howard
Published: December 2004

Electronic commerce (e-commerce) is an activity which takes place in a social context called the ‘digital information environment’. The advantage of using this concept is its emphasis on the information-intensive character of business conducted on the Web. After a brief discussion of a definition and the current state of e-commerce, the digital information environment of e-commerce is introduced and two of its constitutive elements, rules and resources, are discussed. Attention then shifts to a subset of rules, called ‘information imperatives’, that are critical for e-commerce. The paper concludes with a discussion of the organizational changes that can be expected to accompany the incorporation of these imperatives into the mission and core business processes of e-commerce firms.
Access to electronic commerce sites on the World Wide Web: an analysis of the effectiveness of six Internet search engines
Authors: Spiteri Louise F.
Published: December 2004

The success of electronic commerce (e-commerce) sites that cater to online shopping is dependent upon a number of factors, such as the quality, variety and price of their products, their guarantees, return policies, etc. The success of these sites is predicated upon the more basic assumption that consumers can actually find the sites on the World Wide Web. A major advantage of online shopping is that it enables consumers to engage in comparison shopping with an ease that cannot be replicated easily in the physical world. This paper examines the ways in which six Internet search engines facilitate access to online shopping sites via their hierarchical subject directories. Specifically, the paper examines the internal structure, consistency and orientation of the six subject directories. The findings indicate that the search directories (i) use ambiguous and sometimes misleading categories to organize e-commerce sites, (ii) are only moderately consistent in the way they organize e-commerce sites and (iii) provide relatively few opportunities for comparison shopping.
MI 5, 1909-1945: an information management perspective
Authors: Black Alistair , Brunt Rodney
Published: December 2004

The late-Victorian and Edwardian revolution in information management offers a meaningful lens through which to observe the activities of MI5, Britain’s leading counter-intelligence agency. Established in 1909, MI5 was immediately faced with the huge task of organising the mass of disparate information which its investigations generated. In response to problems thrown up by both the period of international tension which preceded the First World War and the war itself, MI5 developed a relatively efficient, labour-intensive information management infrastructure. The cashing in of the peace dividend after 1918, despite ongoing issues of security arising from the Communist ‘threat’, resulted in a deterioration of information management in MI5 in the inter-war years and the virtual collapse of the organisation’s information system at the start of the Second World War. This presented opportunities for renewal along more mechanised lines, as well as by means of a tightening of existing manual methods. By 1945, MI5’s information management efficiency had been largely restored. The history of information systems in MI5 between 1909 and 1945, as revealed in recently declassified documents in the Public Record Office, adds to the evidence that the formal recognition of the value of information management in organisations occurred well before the onset of the computer age. However, the efficiency of the systems which evolved in MI5’s formative years, although impressive in many respects, was undermined in the long term, it is suggested, by an inward-looking culture which manifested itself in a reluctance, especially between the wars, to look outside the organisation to contemporary practice in business and in library science.
Visual image retrieval: seeking the alliance of concept-based and content-based paradigms
Authors: Enser Peter
Published: December 2004

In the commercial use of picture collections, a heavy dependency continues to be exhibited on a concept-based image retrieval paradigm in which the query is verbalised by the client and resolved as a metadata text-matching operation.

The practical and philosophical challenges posed by the indexing aspect of image metadata construction are significant and frequently expressed. Nevertheless, it has taken image digitisation to bring this particular information retrieval problem to prominence in the research agenda. Metamorphosed into a binary data structure, the digital image offers some enticing processing opportunities which content-based image retrieval techniques are exploiting with developing success.

Drawing on studies of user need, this paper seeks to explain why a heavy dependency will continue to be placed on concept-based rather than content-based image retrieval techniques within archival image collections. In contrast, the promising nature of content-based techniques from the viewpoint of a growing clientele with less traditional visual information needs will also be considered.

The paper concludes by offering the view that, while both concept-based and content-based approaches suffer from operational limitations, the further development of a hybrid image retrieval paradigm which combines the two approaches makes a potentially valuable contribution to the research agenda for visual image retrieval.
The integration of information retrieval techniques within a software reuse environment
Authors: Gibb Forbes , McCartan Colm , O’Donnell Ruairi , Sweeney Niall , Leon Ruben
Published: December 2004

This paper describes the development of an information retrieval (IR) model for the indexing, storage and retrieval of documents created in extensible mark-up language (XML). The application area is the software reuse environment, which involves a broader class of documents than can be processed by conventional IR systems. This includes design and analysis documents in unified modelling language (UML) notation, as well as textual format, source code and textual and source code component interface definitions. XML was selected because it is emerging as the key standard for the representation of structured documents on the World Wide Web (WWW) and incorporates methods for the representation of metadata. A model is described that is easily customisable, since it is based upon an extensible object-oriented framework. This allows the development of an IR architecture that can easily be adapted to cope with the proliferation of XML document type definitions (DTDs) that is likely to be a characteristic of the WWW in the near future.
Information technology in Nigerian federal agencies: problems, impact and strategies
Authors: Tiamiyu M. A.
Published: December 2004

The paper assesses the perceptions of personnel of Nigerian federal public agencies about obstacles to information technology (IT) use, the impact of computers on agency departments and tasks and about approaches to IT human resource development. The analyses are based on data from a questionnaire survey of the personnel of ministries, parastatals and Government-controlled banks who participated in various training programmes of the (Nigerian) National Centre for Economic Management and Administration (NCEMA) during 1997. The survey revealed that due to either lack of computing technologies in most of the agencies or of their ineffective exploitation, the majority of the personnel were, as recently as 1997, still unaware of, or unimpressed by, the productivity potentials of using computers in their agencies. However, they were eager for exposure to computer applications in their work. They also preferred informal and work-related training formats which, in their view, should most appropriately begin with middle-level personnel in the agencies. These and other perceptions suggest that most Nigerian public agencies are in the pre-computing, or very early, stages of the computing culture, hence their focus was more on understanding how to use computers to perform traditional and internal data processing chores than on providing strategic and client-targeted services.
The impact of social class and status on citizenship information need: the results of two national surveys in the UK
Authors: Marcella Rita , Baxter Graeme
Published: December 2004

This paper reports the key results of the Citizenship Information research project funded by the British Library Research and Innovation Centre. This research comprised two large-scale surveys of the citizenship information needs of the UK public. The paper focuses upon the detailed analysis and examination of the results as they related to issues of social class and status. The research revealed that social class and status had an impact upon information need and information seeking behaviour, although the pattern emerging was not a simple one. Certain social classes and status groups were not exploiting public library information resources as effectively as they might; equally, certain groups were less willing (or able) to take advantage of new technologies to access information and participate in democratic activities. Those groups most willing to use a range of information sources were more conscious of disadvantage resulting from a lack of information. The paper concludes that there is a real danger of exclusion for certain groups of the UK population and that information policy must reflect an awareness of the most appropriate patterns of information dissemination in order to overcome barriers to access for each of these.