Die Unternehmensarchitektur als Instrument der strategischen Kontrolle

Unternehmen agieren häufig in einem dynamischen Markt. Verändertes Kundenverhalten, neue Wettbewerber oder staatliche (De-)Regulierungen zwingen Unternehmen, ihre strategische Ausrichtung fortlaufend zu überwachen. Ist eine Anpassung der Strategie notwendig, muss sich diese auch in den Geschäftsprozessen des Unternehmens wiederspiegeln. Gegebenenfalls ist dann auch eine Anpassung der unterstützenden IT vorzunehmen. Unternehmensarchitekturen bieten sich dafür als strategisches Steuerungsinstrument an. In einer Unternehmensarchitektur sind fachliche und technische Systemkomponenten eines Unternehmens sowie ihre Beziehungen untereinander abgebildet. Bislang werden Unternehmensarchitekturen häufig nur im IT-Bereich eingesetzt. Daher wird in dieser Arbeit der Einsatz von Unternehmensarchitekturen in der strategischen Kontrolle untersucht. Es wird eine Unternehmensarchitektur entwickelt, welche die strategische Kontrolle in ihren Aufgaben geeignet unterstützen kann, eine prototypische Umsetzung des Konzepts gegeben sowie eine umfangreiche Fallstudie betrachtet

Spezifikation von funktionalen und nichtfunktionalen Systemanforderungen auf Basis von Geschäftsprozessmodellen

Anwendungssysteme unterstützen die Durchführung von Geschäftsprozessen. Daher ist eine enge Abstimmung von dem zu entwickelnden Anwendungssystem mit den unterstützten Geschäftsprozessen notwendig. In diesem Beitrag wird gezeigt, wie sich diese Abstimmung über die Ableitung von funktionalen und nichtfunktionalen Anforderungen an die Anwendungssysteme aus Geschäftsprozessmodellen realisieren lässt. Den gängigen Geschäftsprozessmodellierungssprachen liegt hierzu i. d. R. aufgrund ihres heterogenen Begriffs- und Modellverständnisses kein einheitliches Vorgehen zugrunde. Zur Beschreibung von Geschäftsprozessen wird daher ein allgemeingültiges Aufgabenkonzept verwendet, auf dessen Basis die Spezifikation von Anforderungen allgemein aus Geschäftsprozessmodellen erfolgen kann. Anschließend werden die Elemente von drei gängigen Geschäftsprozessmodellierungssprachen diesem Aufgabenkonzept zugeordnet, um damit konkret angegeben zu können, wie sich Anforderungen aus diesen Modellierungssprachen ableiten lassen

Identification of candidate downstream genes for the homeodomain transcription factor Labial in Drosophila through oligonucleotide-array transcript imaging

Homeotic genes are key developmental regulators that are highly conserved throughout evolution. Their encoded homeoproteins function as transcription factors to control a wide range of developmental processes. Although much is known about homeodomain-DNA interactions, only a small number of genes acting downstream of homeoproteins have been identified. Here we use a functional genomic approach to identify candidate target genes of the Drosophila homeodomain transcription factor Labial

Meta-analysis of Genome-Wide Association Studies for Extraversion: Findings from the Genetics of Personality Consortium

Extraversion is a relatively stable and heritable personality trait associated with numerous psychosocial, lifestyle and health outcomes. Despite its substantial heritability, no genetic variants have been detected in previous genome-wide association (GWA) studies, which may be due to relatively small sample sizes of those studies. Here, we report on a large meta-analysis of GWA studies for extraversion in 63,030 subjects in 29 cohorts. Extraversion item data from multiple personality inventories were harmonized across inventories and cohorts. No genome-wide significant associations were found at the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) level but there was one significant hit at the gene level for a long non-coding RNA site (LOC101928162). Genome-wide complex trait analysis in two large cohorts showed that the additive variance explained by common SNPs was not significantly different from zero, but polygenic risk scores, weighted using linkage information, significantly predicted extraversion scores in an independent cohort. These results show that extraversion is a highly polygenic personality trait, with an architecture possibly different from other complex human traits, including other personality traits. Future studies are required to further determine which genetic variants, by what modes of gene action, constitute the heritable nature of extraversion

Reconstruction of primary vertices at the ATLAS experiment in Run 1 proton–proton collisions at the LHC

This paper presents the method and performance of primary vertex reconstruction in proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment during Run 1 of the LHC. The studies presented focus on data taken during 2012 at a centre-of-mass energy of √s=8 TeV. The performance has been measured as a function of the number of interactions per bunch crossing over a wide range, from one to seventy. The measurement of the position and size of the luminous region and its use as a constraint to improve the primary vertex resolution are discussed. A longitudinal vertex position resolution of about 30μm is achieved for events with high multiplicity of reconstructed tracks. The transverse position resolution is better than 20μm and is dominated by the precision on the size of the luminous region. An analytical model is proposed to describe the primary vertex reconstruction efficiency as a function of the number of interactions per bunch crossing and of the longitudinal size of the luminous region. Agreement between the data and the predictions of this model is better than 3% up to seventy interactions per bunch crossing

Zweifel und Zwänge

Mit Beiträgen von Hans Ulrich Reck, Kendy Garcia Puyen, Solveig Klaßen, Luis Negrón van Grieken, Beate Gütschow, Tobias Hartmann, Milica Lopiči

Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements

Dupilumab but not cyclosporine treatment shifts the microbiome toward a healthy skin flora in patients with moderate‐to‐severe atopic dermatitis

Background: Atopic dermatitis (AD) patients display an altered skin microbiome which may not only be an indicator but also a driver of inflammation. We aimed to investigate associations among AD patients' skin microbiome, clinical data, and response to systemic therapy in patients of the TREATgermany registry. Methods: Skin swabs of 157 patients were profiled with 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing before and after 3 months of treatment with dupilumab or cyclosporine. For comparison, 16s microbiome data from 258 population-based healthy controls were used. Disease severity was assessed using established instruments such as the Eczema Area and Severity Index (EASI). Results: We confirmed the previously shown correlation of Staphylococcus aureus abundance and bacterial alpha diversity with AD severity as measured by EASI. Therapy with Dupilumab shifted the bacterial community toward the pattern seen in healthy controls. The relative abundance of Staphylococci and in particular S. aureus significantly decreased on both lesional and non-lesional skin, whereas the abundance of Staphylococcus hominis increased. These changes were largely independent from the degree of clinical improvement and were not observed for cyclosporine. Conclusions: Systemic treatment with dupilumab but not cyclosporine tends to restore a healthy skin microbiome largely independent of the clinical response indicating potential effects of IL-4RA blockade on the microbiome

Human TLR8 Senses RNA From Plasmodium falciparum-Infected Red Blood Cells Which Is Uniquely Required for the IFN-γ Response in NK Cells

During blood-stage malaria, the innate immune system initiates the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines, including IFN-γ, that are critical to host defense and responsible for severe disease. Nonetheless, the innate immune pathways activated during this process in human malaria remain poorly understood. Here, we identify TLR8 as an essential sensor of Plasmodium falciparum-infected red blood cells (iRBC). In human immune cells, iRBC and RNA purified from iRBC were detected by TLR8 but not TLR7 leading to IFN-γ induction in NK cells. While TLR7 and 9 have been shown to lead to IFN-γ in mice, our data demonstrate that TLR8 was the only TLR capable of inducing IFN-γ release in human immune cells. This unique capacity was mediated by the release of IL-12p70 and bioactive IL-18 from monocytes, the latter via a hitherto undescribed pathway. Altogether, our data are the first reported activation of TLR8 by protozoan RNA and demonstrate both the critical role of TLR8 in human blood-stage malaria and its unique functionality in the human immune system. Moreover, our study offers important evidence that mouse models alone may not be sufficient to describe the human innate immune response to malaria