Big Data and AI – A transformational shift for government: So, what next for research?

Big Data and artificial intelligence will have a profound transformational impact on governments around the world. Thus, it is important for scholars to provide a useful analysis on the topic to public managers and policymakers. This study offers an in-depth review of the Policy and Administration literature on the role of Big Data and advanced analytics in the public sector. It provides an overview of the key themes in the research field, namely the application and benefits of Big Data throughout the policy process, and challenges to its adoption and the resulting implications for the public sector. It is argued that research on the subject is still nascent and more should be done to ensure that the theory adds real value to practitioners. A critical assessment of the strengths and limitations of the existing literature is developed, and a future research agenda to address these gaps and enrich our understanding of the topic is proposed

Advances in the Prediction of Gastrointestinal Absorption: Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationship (QSAR) modelling of PAMPA Permeability

Gastrointestinal absorption (GI absorption) is a key absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME) property when the biological effects of substances are evaluated. The Parallel Artificial Membrane Permeability Assay (PAMPA) has emerged as a primary screen for determining passive transcellular permeability, the dominant GI absorption mechanism for many drugs, thus helping with the prioritisation of the most promising lead compounds for pharmacokinetic studies. Recently the PAMPA assay has attracted increasing interest from various other industrial sectors, including cosmetics, where such non-animal models may provide a crucial source of information for in vitro - in vivo extrapolation. This method is also a reliable source of experimental data for Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationship (QSAR) modelling of GI absorption. In this investigation, published QSAR models for PAMPA were reviewed with the aim to summarise and assess critically the current state of the art. The review indicates a relatively small number of QSARs compared to some endpoints, but much consistency within the models. PAMPA permeability increases with hydrophobicity and decreases with the surface area occupied by hydrogen bond acceptor/donor atoms. The models can be applied to screening for bioactive compounds with the potential to pass the gastrointestinal barrier as well as to design new structures with increased PAMPA permeability, thus with better expectations towards improved in vivo GI absorption

Dimensions of The Work Values

The article represents some results from an empirical cross-cultural study of work values and/or goals with students from Bulgaria, Hawaii (USA) and New Zealand. An adapted version for Bulgarian conditions of Vunderink and Hofstede questionnaire for students work values and/or goals and Gert Hofstede’s Value Survey Module questionnarie (VSM’94) are presented. According to Gert Hofstede theory for the five dimensions of national and/or organizational culture, the Bulgarian students differ with higher indexes of Power distance and Collectivism. 60 By contrast with them, the students from Hawaii show higher index of Masculinity and the students from New Zealand show higher indexes of Uncertainty avoidance and Long term orientation. The results show that liberal thinking and postmodern values are still in a process of mastering from the young Bulgarians after the official accession of the country in the EU.В этой статье представлены результаты крос-культурного, эмпирического исследо- вания ценностей и/или целей в труде студентов в Болгарии, на Гавайских островах (США) и в Новой Зеландии. Используется адаптированная для болгарских условий версия воп- росника Вундеринка и Гофстеде, который предназначен для измерения ценностей и/или поставленных целей в труде у студентов и вопросника Герта Гофстеде для измерения вариаций пяти базисных измерений национальной културы (VSM’94). Применение тео- рии Герта Гофстеде о пятерых измерений национальной и/или организационной културы показывает, что болгарские студенты отличаются более высоким индексом Властового расстояния и Колективизма. В отличии от них, студенты с Гавайских островах (США) имеют более высокого индекса Мужественности, а студенты Новой Зеландии отлича- ется более высоким индексом Избежания неопределенности и Ориентации на будущее. Результаты демонстрируют, что год после присоединения страны к Европейскому союзу, молодые болгары находятся в процессе усвоения либерального мышления и постмодер- ных ценностей

Resurrection and redescription of Varestrongylus alces (Nematoda; Protostrongylidae), a lungworm of the Eurasian moose (Alces alces), with report on associated pathology

Varestrongylus alces, a lungworm in Eurasian moose from Europe has been considered a junior synonym of Varestrongylus capreoli, in European roe deer, due to a poorly detailed morphological description and the absence of a type-series. Methods Specimens used in the redescription were collected from lesions in the lungs of Eurasian moose, from Vestby, Norway. Specimens were described based on comparative morphology and integrated approaches. Molecular identification was based on PCR, cloning and sequencing of the ITS-2 region of the nuclear ribosomal DNA. Phylogenetic analysis compared V. alces ITS-2 sequences to these of other Varestrongylus species and other protostrongylids. Results Varestrongylus alces is resurrected for protostrongylid nematodes of Eurasian moose from Europe. Varestrongylus alces causes firm nodular lesions that are clearly differentiated from the adjacent lung tissue. Histologically, lesions are restricted to the parenchyma with adult, egg and larval parasites surrounded by multinucleated giant cells, macrophages, eosinophilic granulocytes, lymphocytes. The species is valid and distinct from others referred to Varestrongylus, and should be separated from V. capreoli. Morphologically, V. alces can be distinguished from other species by characters in the males that include a distally bifurcated gubernaculum, arched denticulate crura, spicules that are equal in length and relatively short, and a dorsal ray that is elongate and bifurcated. Females have a well-developed provagina, and are very similar to those of V. capreoli. Morphometrics of first-stage larvae largely overlap with those of other Varestrongylus. Sequences of the ITS-2 region strongly support mutual independence of V. alces, V. cf. capreoli, and the yet undescribed species of Varestrongylus from North American ungulates. These three taxa form a well-supported crown-clade as the putative sister of V. alpenae. The association of V. alces and Alces or its ancestors is discussed in light of host and parasite phylogeny and host historical biogeography. Varestrongylus alces is a valid species, and should be considered distinct from V. capreoli. Phylogenetic relationships among Varestrongylus spp. from Eurasia and North America are complex and consistent with faunal assembly involving recurrent events of geographic expansion, host switching and subsequent speciation. Cervidae, Cryptic species, Historical biogeography, ITS-2, Metastrongyloidea, Parasite biodiversity, Varestrongylinae, Varestrongylus capreoli, Verminous pneumoniapublishedVersio

Open Babel: An open chemical toolbox

Background: A frequent problem in computational modeling is the interconversion of chemical structures between different formats. While standard interchange formats exist (for example, Chemical Markup Language) and de facto standards have arisen (for example, SMILES format), the need to interconvert formats is a continuing problem due to the multitude of different application areas for chemistry data, differences in the data stored by different formats (0D versus 3D, for example), and competition between software along with a lack of vendorneutral formats. Results: We discuss, for the first time, Open Babel, an open-source chemical toolbox that speaks the many languages of chemical data. Open Babel version 2.3 interconverts over 110 formats. The need to represent such a wide variety of chemical and molecular data requires a library that implements a wide range of cheminformatics algorithms, from partial charge assignment and aromaticity detection, to bond order perception and canonicalization. We detail the implementation of Open Babel, describe key advances in the 2.3 release, and outline a variety of uses both in terms of software products and scientific research, including applications far beyond simple format interconversion. Conclusions: Open Babel presents a solution to the proliferation of multiple chemical file formats. In addition, it provides a variety of useful utilities from conformer searching and 2D depiction, to filtering, batch conversion, and substructure and similarity searching. For developers, it can be used as a programming library to handle chemical data in areas such as organic chemistry, drug design, materials science, and computational chemistry. It is freely available under an open-source license fro