Ontology and the Semantic Web

This paper discusses the development of a new information representation system embodied in ontology and the Semantic Web. The new system differs from other representation systems in that it is based on a more sophisticated semantic representation of information, aims to go well beyond the document level, and designed to be understood and processed by machine. A common theme underlying these three features, i.e., turning documents into meaningful interchangeable data, reflects a rising use expectation nurtured by modern technology and, at the same time, presents a unique challenge for its enabling technologies

China\u27s Golden Tax Project: A Technological Strategy for Reducing VAT Fraud

Unlike the United States, where sales tax is a common form of indirect tax, almost all countries around the world-both developed and developing alike-now impose a value added tax (VAT). In the early 1990s, as part of its comprehensive economic reform program initiated over 30 years ago, the People\u27s Republic of China implemented a VAT. Monitoring compliance with VAT is a serious challenge in developing countries, and China is no exception in that regard. To address this challenge, China launched a major fiscal reform project called the Golden Tax Project (GTP) which mandates the use of specific sophisticated information technologies to improve compliance with China\u27s VAT laws. Although the Chinese GTP requires the use of information technology which can be considered as a form of e-invoicing, the focus is on creating a centralized matching system under the control of the tax authorities to reduce the incidence of fraud. In the EU, by contrast, the 2009 Report by the Expert Group on e-invoicing focused on strategies for increasing the voluntary adoption of e-invoicing technologies among taxpayers in order to make EU businesses more competitive. The Chinese policy requires stronger central controls than the EU policy, and includes stringent, new mandatory taxpayer duties, so it would not be suitable for use in developed economies with relatively high rates of voluntary compliance. The Chinese GTP strategy might provide a useful model for other developing countries struggling with large-scale, widespread VAT compliance problems, however

Population - Learning Objectives

This document is a list of learning objectives based on the framework of Fink’s taxonomy of significant learning: foundational knowledge, application, integration, human dimension, caring, and learning how to learn. It represents the aspirations for learning that the population is based on

Water - Activities

The document contains activities for students in higher education. These activities are focused on water issues related to sustainability. It is designed for the general engineering or science audience. Its design is based on the framework of the Fink Taxonomy of Significant Learning. Each activity includes a profile that indicates whether the activity involves direct or indirect information sources, whether the experience is doing or observing and whether it involves individual or group reflection. The profile also includes notes for faculty, an estimate of the time investment, a graphic of the developmental aims with respect to the six areas of development within the Fink Taxonomy, and a suggested grading rubric

Taste Perception: Cracking the Code

Our sense of taste begins with taste buds and ends in the brain. Researchers are beginning to unravel the mechanisms and connections that lie in betwee

Transcription of cis-antisense small RNA MtlS in Vibrio cholerae is regulated by transcription of its target gene mtlA

Vibrio cholerae, the facultative pathogen responsible for cholera disease, continues to pose a global health burden. Its persistence can be attributed to a flexible genetic tool kit that allows for adaptation to different environments with distinct carbon sources, including the six-carbon sugar alcohol mannitol. V. cholerae takes up mannitol through the transporter protein MtlA, whose production is downregulated at the posttranscriptional level by MtlS, a cis antisense small RNA (sRNA) whose promoter lies within the mtlA open reading frame. Though it is known that mtlS expression is robust under growth conditions lacking mannitol, it has remained elusive as to what factors govern the steady-state levels of MtlS. Here, we show that manipulating mtlA transcription is sufficient to drive inverse changes in MtlS levels, likely through transcriptional interference. This work has uncovered a cis-acting sRNA whose expression pattern is predominantly controlled by transcription of the sRNA’s target gene

Corporate Environmental Reporting on the Web – An Exploratory Study of Chinese Listed Companies

While the literature has given a considerable attention to internet financial reporting, limitedstudies mainly from developed economies have emerged to explain and predict corporate behaviorrelating to corporate environmental reporting on Websites. This preliminary study attemptsto fill a gap by investigating Internet environmental reporting (IER) in China and examiningthe current IER practice of Chinese top listed companies. This study finds that IER isincreasingly used in China to disclose corporate social and environmental activity and policy.Companies are increasingly using the phrases of ‘sustainability’ and ‘corporate social responsibility’in their IER. Website-specific reporting concerning social and environmental issues,performance and activities has growingly been adopted by Chinese top listed companies as themain approach to IER. Both the quantity of disclosure and the areas of coverage have steadilyincreased. While IER in China is developing, there remains a considerable discrepancy in termsof reporting practices and the levels of social and environmental information disclosed. Thereare no generally accepted standards and guidelines for IER in China, and the data/informationdisclosed are largely incomparable. External auditing of IER remains a problem. Copyright © www.iiste.or