Revisiting the Use of Customer Information for CRM

For the past decade, customer relationship management (CRM) has been one of the priorities in marketing research and practice. However, many of the CRM systems did not perform as the companies expected. As such shortcoming could be due to inappropriate data input, this study provides a comprehensive overview of the empirical CRM literature. Along the phases of the CRM process, the authors show which kind of data has successfully proven to achieve the CRM objectives. The study provides researchers with a review of the empirical research on CRM and allows practitioners insights on the usability of customer data for CRM. --Customer Relationship Management (CRM),Customer Data

Molecular Genetics of Dupuytren´s Disease

Dupuytren’s disease (DD) is a fibromatosis of connective tissue within the palm of the hands. It is characterised by progressive collagen deposition that leads to hardening and thickening of the connective tissue and results in permanent contraction of affected fingers. The aetiology of Dupuytren’s disease is so far unknown and the pathogenesis is favoured by ageing, genetic predisposition, mechanic trauma and possibly other risk factors. Blood and tissue samples of over 850 German and Swiss DD patients were collected in order to analyse the genetics, gene expression patterns and the in vitro behaviour of disease tissue derived fibroblast in 2-D and 3-D models. A genome wide association study (GWAS) with 565 unrelated DD patients and 1,219 controls was performed. Data for 5,204,451 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs; 186 cases genotyped with Affymetrix Genome-Wide Human SNP Array 6.0 and 379 cases, 1219 controls genotyped with Axiom CEU 1 Array; data imputed with HapMap CEU reference panel) were analyzed for association with DD. SNP rs2290221 on chromosome 7p14, showed the strongest association signal with a p-value of 2.2x10-10 and odds ratio of 2.13. SNP rs2290221 is located intronic of the genes secreted frizzled-related protein 4 (SFRP4) and ependymin related protein 1 (zebrafish) (EPDR1). In addition an integrative replication study with 2,325 Dutch, English and German DD cases and 11,562 controls was performed. It identified nine different susceptibility loci that showed genome-wide significance. Six of these loci contain genes known to be involved in the Wnt/β-catenin signalling pathway. Again the strongest association was seen for the 7p14 locus. Consistent with GWAS findings, a whole genome expression analysis with 12 DD primary disease tissue samples and 12 normal fascia controls revealed upregulation of the Wnt/β-catenin signalling pathway and also changes in mitochondrial function and oxidative stress response in disease tissue. The Wnt signalling pathway is therefore likely to be a key player in the fibromatosis process observed in DD. Primary disease tissue derived fibroblasts at least in part retained their disease associated characteristics in vitro, they exhibited higher proliferation rates and generated strong contraction forces in 3-D collagen gels, and thus present an excellent model for investigating the mechanisms of DD in the context of aging and aging associated diseases

Database of semantically associated and unassociated pairs of everyday objects for the study of memory in children : technical report

The present study aimed at creating a database of standardized pairs of semantically associated and unassociated everyday objects for the use in research in experimental developmental psychology. We had a large sample of 289 German school-aged children rate a set of 300 single objects, 150 semantically related, and 150 unrelated pairs. In a first step, the participants had to name the presented single objects to indicate the expe-rienced level of familiarity for each item. The second part of the study focused on the rating of association strength of the pairs of objects. Here, we used a three-point rating scale to have the participants decide on the magnitude of semantic relatedness. For each single object, a familiarity score and a naming agreement ratio were calculated to quan-tify the degree of the children\u27;s conceptual knowledge and familiarity with the selected objects. The relatedness scores computed for the pairs of objects can be used to divide the pairs into separate categories according to the strength semantic association. These rating procedures yielded a large and well controlled database of modern pictorial ma-terial for experimenters to choose from. It may be helpful for designing experiments in developmental psychology research with clinical and non-clinical populations

Chlamydial genes shed light on the evolution of photoautotrophic eukaryotes

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Chlamydiae are obligate intracellular bacteria of protists, invertebrates and vertebrates, but have not been found to date in photosynthetic eukaryotes (algae and embryophytes). Genes of putative chlamydial origin, however, are present in significant numbers in sequenced genomes of photosynthetic eukaryotes. It has been suggested that such genes were acquired by an ancient horizontal gene transfer from Chlamydiae to the ancestor of photosynthetic eukaryotes. To further test this hypothesis, an extensive search for proteins of chlamydial origin was performed using several recently sequenced algal genomes and EST databases, and the proteins subjected to phylogenetic analyses.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 39 proteins of chlamydial origin were retrieved from the photosynthetic eukaryotes analyzed and their identity verified through phylogenetic analyses. The distribution of the chlamydial proteins among four groups of photosynthetic eukaryotes (Viridiplantae, Rhodoplantae, Glaucoplantae, Bacillariophyta) was complex suggesting multiple acquisitions and losses. Evidence is presented that all except one of the chlamydial genes originated from an ancient endosymbiosis of a chlamydial bacterium into the ancestor of the Plantae before their divergence into Viridiplantae, Rhodoplantae and Glaucoplantae, i.e. more than 1.1 BYA. The chlamydial proteins subsequently spread through secondary plastid endosymbioses to other eukaryotes. Of 20 chlamydial proteins recovered from the genomes of two Bacillariophyta, 10 were of rhodoplant, and 10 of viridiplant origin suggesting that they were acquired by two different secondary endosymbioses. Phylogenetic analyses of concatenated sequences demonstrated that the viridiplant secondary endosymbiosis likely occurred before the divergence of Chlorophyta and Streptophyta.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We identified 39 proteins of chlamydial origin in photosynthetic eukaryotes signaling an ancient invasion of the ancestor of the Plantae by a chlamydial bacterium accompanied by horizontal gene transfer. Subsequently, chlamydial proteins spread through secondary endosymbioses to other eukaryotes. We conclude that intracellular chlamydiae likely persisted throughout the early history of the Plantae donating genes to their hosts that replaced their cyanobacterial/plastid homologs thus shaping early algal/plant evolution before they eventually vanished.</p

Strukturwandel auf den Arbeitsmärkten: Ökonomischer Sachverstand und politische Opportunität

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Genomweite Analyse der Expression von Rezeptortyrosinkinasen bei der akuten myeloischen Leukämie

Ziel der Arbeit war die genomweite Analyse der Expression von Rezeptortyrosinkinasen bei der akuten myeloischen Leukämie mittels Real-time-RT-PCR. Im Vergleich zu CD34+ Stammzellen und normalem Knochenmark ergab sich bei der AML eine signifikante Überexpression der Rezeptoren c-KIT, CSF1R, FLT3, EPHB6 und LTK. Weitere Analysen zeigten in den myeloblastär differenzierten AML Subtypen FAB M1 und M2 eine signifikant höhere Expression von TRK A, IGF1R, c-KIT, EPHB6 und PTK7 als in den monozytär differenzierten Subtypen FAB M4 und M5, in denen CSF1R und EPHB3 stärker exprimiert wurden. Durch Kaplan-Meier-Überlebensanalysen ließ sich eine Korrelation zwischen hoher Expression von CSF1R, DDR1, INSR, AXL und RET und einer schlechten Prognose bei AML feststellen, wohingegen eine hohe c-KIT Expression mit einer signifikant besseren Prognose einherging. Die leukämogene Deletionsmutante deltaTRK A konnte in keiner der 57 mittels konventioneller PCR analysierten AML Proben nachgewiesen werden

Hydrothermal carbonization (HTC): Near infrared spectroscopy and partial least-squares regression for determination of selective components in HTC solid and liquid products derived from maize silage

Near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy was evaluated as a rapid method of predicting fiber components (hemicellulose, cellulose, lignin, and ash) and selective compounds of hydrochar and corresponding process liquor produced by hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) of maize silage. Several HTC reaction times and temperatures were applied and NIR spectra of both HTC solids and liquids were obtained and correlated with concentration determined from van-Soest fiber analysis, IC, and UHPLC. Partial least-squares regression was applied to calculate models for the prediction of selective substances. The model developed with the spectra had the best performance in 3–7 factors with a correlation coefficient, which varied between 0.9275–0.9880 and 0.9364–0.9957 for compounds in solid and liquid, respectively. Calculated root mean square errors of prediction (RMSEP) were 0.42–5.06 mg/kg. The preliminary results indicate that NIR, a widely applied technique, might be applied to determine chemical compounds in HTC solid and liquid

Individual differences in envy experienced through perspective-taking involves functional connectivity of the superior frontal gyrus

Envy is the painful or resentful awareness of another’s advantage combined with a desire to possess that same advantage. Recent neuroscientific research has begun to shed light on the brain regions that process the experience of envy, including regions of the prefrontal cortex involved in emotional processing and social cognition. It is still unclear, however, which regions of the brain are functionally connected during the experience of envy. We recorded functional neuroimaging data while inducing simulated envy in participants, experienced through a perspective-taking hypothetical scenario task. In this task, participants took the perspective of a protagonist portrayed in a written description and compared themselves to either i) a self-similar/superior individual, ii) a self-dissimilar/superior individual, or iii) a self-dissimilar/average individual. During each comparison, participants also reported how much envy they experienced while taking the protagonists perspective. We demonstrate an inverse relationship in the connectivity of the left superior frontal gyrus to both the right supramarginal gyrus and the precuneus with respect to self-reported envy ratings across participants. In other words, we show that the greater the functional connectivity that the left superior frontal gyrus shares with the right supramarginal gyrus and precuneus, the less reported envy a participant experiences. Overall, our results are in line with previous research implicating the superior frontal gyrus in the reappraisal of negative emotions and extend these findings by showing this region is also involved in modulating the simulated experience of the social comparative, negative emotion of envy