Towards a unified conceptual model for surveillance theories

The erosion of values such as privacy can be a critical factor in preventing the acceptance of new innovative technology especially in challenging environments such as the criminal justice system. Erosion of privacy happens through either deliberate or inadvertent surveillance. Since Bentham’s original liberal project in the 1900s, a literature and a whole study area around theories of surveillance has developed. Increasingly this general body of work has focussed on the role of information technology as a vehicle for surveillance activity. Despite an abundance of knowledge, a uni!ed view of key surveillance concepts that is useful to designers of information systems in preventing or reducing unintended surveillance remains elusive. This paper contributes a conceptual model that synthesises the gamut of surveillance theories as a !rst step to a theory building effort for use by Information Systems professionals. The model is evaluated using a design science research paradigm using data from both examples of surveillance and a recently completed research project that developed technology for the UK youth justice system

Colouration in amphibians as a reflection of nutritional status : the case of tree frogs in Costa Rica

Colouration has been considered a cue for mating success in many species; ornaments in males often are related to carotenoid mobilization towards feathers and/or skin and can signal general health and nutrition status. However, there are several factors that can also link with status, such as physiological blood parameters and body condition, but there is not substantial evidence which supports the existence of these relationships and interactions in anurans. This study evaluated how body score and blood values interact with colouration in free-range Agalychnis callidryas and Agalychnis annae males. We found significant associations between body condition and plasmatic proteins and haematocrit, as well as between body condition and colour values from the chromaticity diagram. We also demonstrated that there is a significant relation between the glucose and plasmatic protein values that were reflected in the ventral colours of the animals, and haematocrit inversely affected most of those colour values. Significant differences were found between species as well as between populations of A. callidryas, suggesting that despite colour variation, there are also biochemical differences within animals from the same species located in different regions. These data provide information on underlying factors for colouration of male tree frogs in nature, provide insights about the dynamics of several nutrients in the amphibian model and how this could affect the reproductive output of the animals

Bureaucratization in Public Research Institutions

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the nature of bureaucratization within public research bodies and its relationship to scientific performance, focusing on an Italian case-study. The main finding is that the bureaucratization of the research sector has two dimensions: public research labs have academic bureaucratization since researchers spend an increasing part of their time in administrative matters (i.e., preparing grant applications, managing grants/projects, and so on); whereas universities mainly have administrative bureaucratization generated by the increase over time of administrative staff in comparison with researchers and faculty. In addition, I show that research units with higher bureaucratization have lower scientific performance

Human arrangements: An introduction to sociology

San Diegoxxix, 754 p.: illus.; 26 c

Social change in the modern era /

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