The Personal in the Policy Cascade

Policy change can cascade down from law and regulation, but Giddens’ structuration theory argues that it can also flow upward from everyday action. We all have the power to take immediate action in our professional lives to create the policies we want. We use the example of gender equality to show the daily choices that you as an IS academic can make that strengthen or change existing policies. You can enhance the voices of members of undervalued groups, reduce inequities in access to resources and positions of power, and create and enforce rules, regulations, and codes that encourage more equitable outcomes. Policy influences action, but action equally influences policy. Your everyday actions either reinforce existing policies and structures or undermine and change them. We should make these choices mindfully, with an understanding of the power we are wielding, the values we are enacting, and the society we are creating

THEMES OF POWE:R AND TRUST IN EDI RELATIONSHIPS

The findings reported in this research focus on the role of power and trust in adopting and using Electronic Data Interchange (EDI). EDI refers to the use of computer networks to exchange standardized business transactions (e. g., purchase orders) between customers and suppliers. As of December, 1992, there were 161 transaiction sets approved for publication by the American National Standards Institute X. 12 Committee, which is responsible for developing EDI standards in the U.S. The effective use of EDI requires expenditures in the computing and networking infrastructures of participating firms, as well as investments in managerial resources required to facilitate the redesign of information processing procedures and roles. Moreover, current and potential coordination benefits associated with EDI may be related to access methods and data exchange regarded as sensitive. For these reasons, some firms may resist using EDI. Resistance by some market partners has negative economic implications for firms that use EDI: until all partners are EDI partners, redundant information processing systems must be supported. Our investigation sought to provide evidence of the role of power in influencing partners to adopt EDI and the role of trust in information exchange. Data were collected from both telephone interviews and written questionnaires among suppliers of a major chemical company and a large office supply firm. Measures of dependence, power, and level of trust were adopted from items in a previous study (Saunders and Clark 1991). Preliminary analysis shows that among firms adopting EDI, dependence is highly correlated with exercised power (r=.60, p \u3c .01), which is consistent with the findings reported by Prekumar, Ramamurthy, and Nilakanta (1992). More interestingly, perceptions of a continuing relationship are positively related to trust (r=.63, p \u3c .05), and trust is positively related to information sharing (r=.60, p \u3c .05). These findings provide preliminary support for the recommendation that effective EDI implementation, which requires the opportunity for greater information sharing, must be based on trust. The corollary is that when trust is not developed, effective use of EDI, and thus the opportunity for greater coordination benefits, are less likely. More long term relationships with specific market partners are more likely to provide the context for greater information sharing. These preliminary findings suggest that EDI used by customer and supplier firms may more likely support electronic hierarchies (i.e., inter-organizational relationships with specific markets partners), rather than electronic markets (i.e., relationships based on short term opportunities)

How Low Should You Go? Low Response Rates and the Validity of Inference in IS Questionnaire Research

We believe IS researchers can and should do a better of job of improving (assuring) the validity of their findings by minimizing nonresponse error. To demonstrate that there is, in fact, a problem, we first present the response rates reported in six well-regarded IS journals and summarize how nonresponse error was estimated and handled in published IS research. To illustrate how nonresponse error may bias findings in IS research, we calculate its impact on confidence intervals. After demonstrating the impact of nonresponse on research findings, we discuss three post hoc remedies and three preventative measures for the IS researcher to consider. The paper concludes with a general discussion about nonresponse and its implications for IS research practice. In our delimitations section, we suggest directions for further exploring external validity

How Shall We Manage Our Journals in the Future? A Discussion of Richard T. Watson\u27s Proposals at ICIS 2004

Journals are the lifeblood of all academic professions, including information systems. At the 2004 International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS), Rick Watson, then President of the Association for Information Systems (AIS), presented proposals for improving IS journal management that included accrediting reviewers, creating a market for journal articles, and moving our journals to the next level of Internet sophistication. This paper reports on a panel of journal editors convened at ICIS 2005 to discuss the Watson proposals and their implications. The editors were those of the Journal of the Association for Information Systems, the Journal of MIS, and Management Information Systems Quarterly in the United States and the Journal of Information and Technology in the United Kingdom. The paper presents their views and a reply by Watson

De novoframeshift mutation in ASXL3 in a patient with global developmental delay, microcephaly, and craniofacial anomalies

BACKGROUND: Currently, diagnosis of affected individuals with rare genetic disorders can be lengthy and costly, resulting in a diagnostic odyssey and in many patients a definitive molecular diagnosis is never achieved despite extensive clinical investigation. The recent advent and use of genomic medicine has resulted in a paradigm shift in the clinical molecular genetics of rare diseases and has provided insight into the causes of numerous rare genetic conditions. In particular, whole exome and genome sequencing of families has been particularly useful in discovering de novo germline mutations as the cause of both rare diseases and complex disorders. CASE PRESENTATION: We present a six year old, nonverbal African American female with microcephaly, autism, global developmental delay, and metopic craniosynostosis. Exome sequencing of the patient and her two parents revealed a heterozygous two base pair de novo deletion, c.1897_1898delCA, p.Gln633ValfsX13 in ASXL3, predicted to result in a frameshift at codon 633 with substitution of a valine for a glutamine and introduction of a premature stop codon. CONCLUSIONS: We provide additional evidence that, truncating and frameshifting mutations in the ASXL3 gene are the cause of a newly recognized disorder characterized by severe global developmental delay, short stature, microcephaly, and craniofacial anomalies. Furthermore, we expand the knowledge about disease causing mutations and the genotype-phenotype relationships in ASXL3 and provide evidence that rare, nonsynonymous, damaging mutations are not associated with developmental delay or microcephaly

Information elaboration and coopetition : participation in the replacement of legacy systems

Legacy information system (LIS) replacement pro-jects are increasingly complex. Consequently, they require cooperation to integrate different functional knowledge to support organizational business processes. However, cooperation on cross-functional LIS replacement project teams face inherent competition for scarce resources and conflicting functional interests. The common assertion is to reduce or eliminate this competition. We suggest that the potential benefits of competition complement the known benefits of cooperation. Thus, this study explores the extent to which different configurations of simultaneous competition and cooperation (i.e., coopetition) enhance decision-making processes in the context of LIS replacement. Information elaboration theory guides decision-making in the coopetition–performance relationship. We propose a model that relates different patterns of coopetition, based on a two continua approach, to three information elaboration techniques and their impact on system design quality. We test the model using a survey administered to 161 pairs of matched IT executives and managerial leaders knowledgeable about LIS replacement. Analysis indicates that cooperation-centric coopetition (strong cooperation with some competition) best enhances decision-making processes and improves system design quality.http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/RecentIssue.jsp?punumber=17hj2023Informatic

Characterization of a heat resistant beta-glucosidase as a new reporter in cells and mice.

BACKGROUND: Reporter genes are widely used in biology and only a limited number are available. We present a new reporter gene for the localization of mammalian cells and transgenic tissues based on detection of the bglA (SYNbglA) gene of Caldocellum saccharolyticum that encodes a thermophilic beta-glucosidase. RESULTS: SYNbglA was generated by introducing codon substitutions to remove CpG motifs as these are associated with gene silencing in mammalian cells. SYNbglA expression can be localized in situ or detected quantitatively in colorimetric assays and can be co-localized with E. coli beta-galactosidase. Further, we have generated a Cre-reporter mouse in which SYNbglA is expressed following recombination to demonstrate the general utility of SYNbglA for in vivo analyses. SYNbglA can be detected in tissue wholemounts and in frozen and wax embedded sections. CONCLUSIONS: SYNbglA will have general applicability to developmental and molecular studies in vitro and in vivo.RIGHTS : This article is licensed under the BioMed Central licence at http://www.biomedcentral.com/about/license which is similar to the 'Creative Commons Attribution Licence'. In brief you may : copy, distribute, and display the work; make derivative works; or make commercial use of the work - under the following conditions: the original author must be given credit; for any reuse or distribution, it must be made clear to others what the license terms of this work are

Gpr37l1 Modulates Seizure Susceptibility: Evidence from Mouse Studies and Analyses of a Human Gpr37l1 Variant

Progressive myoclonus epilepsies (PMEs) are disorders characterized by myoclonic and generalized seizures with progressive neurological deterioration. While several genetic causes for PMEs have been identified, the underlying causes remain unknown for a substantial portion of cases. Here we describe several affected individuals from a large, consanguineous family presenting with a novel PME in which symptoms begin in adolescence and result in death by early adulthood. Whole exome analyses revealed that affected individuals have a homozygous variant in GPR37L1 (c.1047G \u3e T [Lys349Asn]), an orphan G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) expressed predominantly in the brain. In vitro studies demonstrated that the K349N substitution in Gpr37L1 did not grossly alter receptor expression, surface trafficking or constitutive signaling in transfected cells. However, in vivo studies revealed that a complete loss of Gpr37L1 function in mice results in increased seizure susceptibility. Mice lacking the related receptor Gpr37 also exhibited an increase in seizure susceptibility, while genetic deletion of both receptors resulted in an even more dramatic increase in vulnerability to seizures. These findings provide evidence linking GPR37L1 and GPR37 to seizure etiology and demonstrate an association between a GPR37L1 variant and a novel progressive myoclonus epilepsy

Channel choice complications:Exploring the multiplex nature of citizens' channel choices

Part 2: E-Government Services and Open GovernmentInternational audienceIn spite of massive investment and increased adoption of digital services, citizens continue to use traditional channels to interact with public organizations. The channel choice (CC) field of research tries to understand citizens’ interactions with public authorities to make the interaction more efficient and increase citizen satisfaction. However, most studies have been conducted either as surveys of hypothetical services or in experimental settings, leading to a lack of empirical data from actual use contexts. Therefore, we present the results of a sequential mixed methods study which combines observations of citizen-caseworker interaction in a call center, contextual interviews with callers, and a survey classifying topics from 10,000 telephone calls. We contribute to the CC field and practice with rich empirical data from studies of actual channel choices. Specifically, the study explores the multiplex nature of real-life CC and demonstrate how telephone calls can be part of a process, which occurs across both traditional and digital channels. Moreover, we identify problems, which cause telephone calls related to digital services, and classify these in two groups: information related problems and action related problems