Hazards Assessment of Regional Debris Flows Based on Geographic Information Science

Supported by the spatial analysis feature of geographic information science and assessment model of regional debris flows, hazards degrees of the debris flows in the Upper Yangtze River Watershed （UYRW） are divided into five grades based on grid cell. The area of no danger, light danger, medium danger, severe danger and extreme severe danger regions respectively are 278 000, 288 000, 217 000, 127 000, 15 000 km^2. Furthermore, the counties in the UYRW are classified into four classes based on the hazards degrees in each county. The number of severe danger, medium danger, light danger and no danger counties respectively are 49, 82, 77 and 105. The assessment results will be provided for the hazards forecasting and mitigation in the UYRW and ongoing regionalization of Main Function Regions in China as data and technique framework.

An Innovative Soft Design Science Methodology for Improving Development of a Secure Information System in Tanzania Using Multi-Layered Approach

This paper presents an innovative Soft Design Science Methodology for improving information systems security using multi-layered security approach. The study applied Soft Design Science Methodology to address the problematic situation on how information systems security can be improved. In addition, Soft Design Science Methodology was compounded with mixed research methodology. This holistic approach helped for research methodology triangulation. The study assessed security requirements and developed a framework for improving information systems security. The study carried out maturity level assessment to determine security status quo in the education sector in Tanzania. The study identified security requirements gap (IT security controls, IT security measures) using ISO/IEC 21827: Systems Security Engineering-Capability Maturity Model (SSE-CMM) with a rating scale of 0 - 5. The results of this study show that maturity level across security domain is 0.44 out of 5. The finding shows that the implementation of IT security controls and security measures for ensuring security goals are lacking or conducted in ad-hoc. Thus, for improving the security of information systems, organisations should implement security controls and security measures in each security domain (multi-layer security). This research provides a framework for enhancing information systems security during capturing, processing, storage and transmission of information. This research has several practical contributions. Firstly, it contributes to the body of knowledge of information systems security by providing a set of security requirements for ensuring information systems security. Secondly, it contributes empirical evidence on how information systems security can be improved. Thirdly, it contributes on the applicability of Soft Design Science Methodology on addressing the problematic situation in information systems security. The research findings can be used by decision makers and lawmakers to improve existing cyber security laws, and enact laws for data privacy and sharing of open data.

Information Science Roles in the Emerging Field of Data Science

There has long been discussion about the distinctions of library science,information science,and informatics,and how these areas differ and overlap with computer science.Today the term data science is emerging that generates excitement and questions about how it relates to and differs from these other areas of study.

Informational Model of Consciousness: From Philosophic Concepts to an Information Science of Consciousness

On the long and well-worn road of many, but justifiable attempts of human to discover his origin, his trajectory as a species, and a suitable understanding consciousness, his system allowing the connection to the environment and to his own organism, the concepts and models of philosophy enunciated or experienced by millennia, meet today with modern science concepts of physics and of science of information. Based on recent discoveries of quantum physics and astrophysics, revealing a new understanding of our environment and starting from some philosophical concepts on information of matter and of living structures, this work discusses the dynamics of information within the frame of the Informational Model of Consciousness as an informational system of the human body, connected both to the environment and to the body itself, to control the adaptation for survival. It is shown that consciousness is actually an informational projection in the mind of seven informational subsystems, three of which forming the operative system of consciousness for the short-term adaptation, and other three forming the programmed operating system, dedicated to the maintenance of body and to the long-term survival of species, showing various inputs and outputs of information. The seventh subsystem is the information pole, connecting the organism with the external information, especially related to the extra-sensorial properties of the mind, the human body appearing as a bipolar info-matter structure, managed by the brain. The received information is progressively integrated into the informational system of the organism, which absorbs and emanates information as a reactive system for adaptation, able to operate both with matter-related (codified) and non-matter related (virtual) information. As both connections with external and internal environment (body itself) can be described in terms of information, this model opens the gate to investigate consciousness by means of the tools of the information science, offering also answers to the philosophic “mind-body” problem and to the “hard” problem and showing correspondences with some ancient philosophies.

Suitability Evaluation on the Information Service System of "Agricultural Science and Technology 110" in Sichuan Province, China

Method of fuzzy comprehensive evaluation is used to carry out suitability evaluation on the information service system of "Agricultural Science and Technology 110" in Sichuan Province, China. Analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and expert consultation method are used to determine the evaluation index system and index weight. Suitability effect of the information service system of "Agricultural Science and Technology 110" is taken as the target layer. The five indices at criterion layer are the organizational mode of agricultural information service, the support system of agricultural information resources, the agricultural information transfer system, the capital source of agricultural information service, and the support system of agricultural information service. And the index layer includes the talent team of agent service, the interaction between the subject and object, the accuracy of agricultural information, the convenience of agricultural information transfer, the adequacy of fund, the efficiency in the use of fund, the status of information infrastructure and so on. Evaluation result shows that the information service system of "Agricultural Science and Technology 110" in Sichuan Province is suitable for the rural economic development at present. The major factors restricting the information service system are the lack of continuity, the weak infrastructure of agricultural information infrastructure, and the relatively low education level of agricultural producers. Therefore, we should further explore and improve the operation mechanism of agricultural information service, expand the capital source of agricultural information service, strengthen the construction of agricultural infrastructure, and ensure the continuous operation of information service system.

An Introduction to the School of Information Science and Technology of BIT

The School of Information Science and Technology inBeijing Institute of Technology(BIT)was established July 2002by merging the former Department of Computer Science andEngineering, Department of Automatic Control,Department ofOptical Engineering and Department of Electronic Engineering.As a significant organizational reform in the university to fit inwith developments in higher education as well as in science andtechnology;the organizational reform was taken in order to

Construction of Agricultural Information Service System in China——under the Eyeshot of Communication Science

The paper aims to study the current communication condition,configuration,characteristic and regulation of Chinese agricultural information in terms of the eyeshot of communication studies,and provide reference to build Chinese agricultural information service system based on the analysis of their advantages and disadvantages.

What Does Information Science Offer for Data Science Research?:A Review of Data and Information Ethics Literature

This paper reviews literature pertaining to the development of data science as a discipline,current issues with data bias and ethics,and the role that the discipline of information science may play in addressing these concerns.Information science research and researchers have much to offer for data science,owing to their background as transdisciplinary scholars who apply human-centered and social-behavioral perspectives to issues within natural science disciplines.Information science researchers have already contributed to a humanistic approach to data ethics within the literature and an emphasis on data science within information schools all but ensures that this literature will continue to grow in coming decades.This review article serves as a reference for the history,current progress,and potential future directions of data ethics research within the corpus of information science literature.

Information Science Should Take a Lead in Future Biomedical Research

In this commentary, I explain my perspective on the relationship between arti cial intelligence (AI)/data science and biomedicine from a long-range retrospective view. The development of modern biomedicine has always been accelerated by the repeated emergence of new technologies. Since all life systems are basically governed by the information in their own DNA, information science has special importance for the study of biomedicine. Unlike in physics, no (or very few) leading laws have been found in biology. Thus, in biology, the “data-to-knowledge” approach is important. AI has historically been applied to bio- medicine, and the recent news that an AI-based approach achieved the best performance in an interna- tional competition of protein structure prediction may be regarded as another landmark in the eld. Similar approaches could contribute to solving problems in genome sequence interpretation, such as identifying cancer-driving mutations in the genome of patients. Recently, the explosive development of next-generation sequencing (NGS) has been producing massive data, and this trend will accelerate. NGS is not only used for “reading” DNA sequences, but also for obtaining various types of information at the single-cell level. These data can be regarded as grid data points in climate simulation. Both data science and AI will become essential for the integrative interpretation/simulation of these data, and will take a leading role in future precision medicine.

Forecasting Budget Estimated Using Time-Series—Case Study on College of Computer Science and Information Technology

The need for information systems in organizations and economic units increases as there is a great deal of data that arise from doing many of the processes in order to be addressed to provide information that can bring interest to multi-users, the new and distinctive management accounting systems which meet in a manner easily all the needs of institutions and individuals from financial business, accounting and management, which take into account the accuracy, speed and confidentiality of the information for which the system is designed. The paper aims to describe a computerized system that is able to predict the budget for the new year based on past budgets by using time series analysis, which gives results with errors to a minimum and controls the budget during the year, through the ability to control exchange, compared to the scheme with the investigator and calculating the deviation, measurement of performance ratio and the expense of a number of indicators relating to budgets, such as the rate of condensation of capital, the growth rate and profitability ratio and gives a clear indication whether these ratios are good or not. There is a positive impact on information systems through this system for its ability to accomplish complex calculations and process paperwork, which is faster than it was previously and there is also a high flexibility, where the system can do any adjustments required in helping relevant parties to control the financial matters of the decision-making appropriate action thereon.

The Role of Library and Information Science Education in the Development of Community Health Information Services for People Living with HIV/AIDS: Perspectives of Directors and Managers of Public Libraries

This article identifies the role of library and information science (LIS) education in the development of community health information services for people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). Preliminary findings are presented from semi- structured qualitative interviews that were conducted with eleven directors and managers of local branches in the Knox County Public Library (KCPL) System that is located in the East Tennessee region in the United States. Select feedback reported by research participants is summarized in the article about strategies in LIS education that can help local public librarians and others in their efforts to become more responsive information providers to PLWHA. Research findings help better understand the issues and concerns regarding the development of digital and non-digital health information services for PLWHA in local public library institutions.

Expert recommendation system based on analyzing expertise and networks of human resources in National Science & Technology Information Service

This work aims to implement expert and collaborative group recommendation services through an analysis of expertise and network relations NTIS. First of all, expertise database has been constructed by extracting keywords after indexing national R＆D information in Korea （human resources, project and outcome） and applying expertise calculation algorithm. In consideration of the characteristics of national R＆D information, weight values have been selected. Then, expertise points were calculated by applying weighted values. In addition, joint research and collaborative relations were implemented in a knowledge map format through network analysis using national R＆D information.

Information in the Universal Triangle of Reality for Non-living/Living Structures:From Philosophy to Neuro/Life Sciences

With the purpose to understand better the role of information not only in communication systems,but actually in our environmental reality,this paper presented the model of Universal Triangle of Reality,composed by Matter,Energy and Information,as fundamental constitutive components of this reality.Arguments coming from the field of physics,both at the cosmic and microparticles scale are presented,showing undoubtable conclusions that information is a fundamental component of reality in our material world.At the cosmic level,where the unusual high concentration of mass in the black holes constitutes a special state of matter,suitable for analysis of their special properties,the problem of the conservation principle of information is discussed.At the quantum level,the special unusual characteristics derived from the non-localization principle are also highlighted,together with information-involved problems and solutions.The Universal Triangle of Reality in the living systems reveals the high role of the involved information,both as the informational common organization on the entire evolution scale,and as the info-dynamics processes inside of own structure and resulted from interaction with the environment.The relevant advances in the approaching and understanding of the functionality of the living systems from informational point of view are highlighted,showing the high contribution of information concepts in understanding/solving of various older/recent problems in philosophy,neuroscience/neurology/psychiatry,neuro-physics/neuropsychology/behavior sciences,geriatrics/gerontology,biology and life sciences.

Information-Matter Bipolarity of the Human Organism and ItsFundamental Circuits: From Philosophy toPhysics/Neurosciences-Based Modeling

Starting from a philosophical perspective,which states that the living structures are actually a combination between matter and information,this article presents the results on an analysis of the bipolar information-matter structure of the human organism,distinguishing three fundamental circuits for its survival,which demonstrates and supports this statement,as a base for further development of the informational model of consciousness to a general informational model of the human organism.For this,it was examined the Informational System of the Human Body and its components from the perspective of the physics/information/neurosciences concepts,showing specific functions of each of them,highlighting the correspondence of these centers with brain support areas and with their projections in consciousness,which are:Center of Acquisition and Storing of Information(CASI)reflected in consciousness as memory,Center of Decision and Command(CDC)(decision),Info-Emotional Center(IES)(emotions),Maintenance Informational System(MIS)(personal status),Genetic Transmission System(GTS)(associativity/genetic transmission)and Info Genetic Generator(IGG)related by the body development and inherited behaviors.The Info Connection(IC),detected in consciousness as trust and confidence can explain the Near-Death Experiences(NDEs)and associated phenomena.This connection is antientropic and informational,because from the multitude of uncertain possibilities is selected a certain one,helping/supporting the survival and life.The human body appears therefore as a bipolar structure,connected to two poles:information and matter.It is argued that the survival,which is the main objective of the organism,is complied in three main ways,by means of:(i)the reactive operation for adaptation by attitude;(ii)the info-genetic integration of information by epigenetic processes and genetic transmission of information for species survival,both circuits(i)and(ii)being associated to the information pole;(iii)maintenance of the material body(defined as informed matter)and its functions,associated to the matter pole of the organism.It results therefore that the informational system of the human body is supported by seven informational circuits formed by the neuro-connections between the specific zones of the brain corresponding to the informational subsystems,the cognitive centers,the sensors,transducers and execution(motor/mobile)elements.The fundamental informational circuits assuring the survival are the reactive circuit,expressible by attitude,the epigenetic/genetic circuit,absorbing and codifying information to be transmitted to the next generations,and the metabolic circuit,connected to matter(matter pole).The presented analysis allows to extend the informational modeling of consciousness to an Informational Model of Consciousness and Organism,fully describing the composition/functions of the organism in terms of information/matter and neurosciences concepts.

Biomedical and Environmental Sciences INFORMATION FOR AUTHORS

Biomedical and Environmental Sciences, an international journal with emphasis on scientific findings in China, publishes articles dealing with biologic and toxic effects of environmental pollutants on man and other forms of life. The effects may be measured with pharmacological, biochemical, pathological, and immunological techniques. The journal also publishes reports dealing ~ith the entry, transport, and fate of natural and anthropogenic chemicals in the biosphere, and their impact on human health and well-being. Papers describing biochemical, pharmacological, pathological, toxicological and immunological studies of pharmaceuticals （biotechnological products） are also welcome.