Elektronische overheid niet voor alle burgers eenvoudig

De overheid stimuleert de selfservice van burgers, bedrijven en organisaties door haar diensten elektronisch aan te bieden. Tegelijkertijd zijn er groepen in de samenleving die moeite hebben met het gebruik van de elektronische overheid, de ‘digibeten’. Om deze groep van minder digitaalvaardigen te ondersteunen, is de cursus ‘Werken met de e-overheid’ ontwikkeld en beproefd. De resultaten laten zien dat de cursus voorziet in een behoefte. Daarom wordt nu gestart met de opschaling naar een landelijke aanpak met een lokale uitwerking

CARNAVALIZACIÓN Y PRESENCIA BÍBLICA EN EL CUENTO “UN SEÑOR MUY VIEJO CON UNAS ALAS ENORMES”, DE GABRIEL GARCÍA MÁRQUEZ

Este ensayo muestra cómo García Márquez crea a un viejo misterioso con el objeto de dar a conocer, mediante la carnavalización de algunas historias bíblicas, las expresiones y las actitudes cambiantes de una población cercana al mar Caribe. No es un canto espiritual ni lírico, menos una diatriba, sino una forma humorística y dramática de presentar las vivencias, creencias y visiones primitivas (pre modernas) de una población. Aquí, ni los que ejercen cierto poder encuentran respuestas a determinados fenómenos. PALABRAS CLAVES Drama, misterio, carnaval, mito, Biblia, ironía, ficción y humor. ABSTRACT This essay shows how García Márquez creates a mysterious old man with the aim of showing, through carnivalizing some biblical stories, the expressions and changing attitudes of a village near the Caribbean Sea. It is neither a lyric or spiritual chant, nor a diatribe; it is better a humoristic and dramatic way to show experiences, beliefs and primary (pre-modern) visions, of a population. Here, not even those who have the power find the answers to certain phenomena. KEY WORDS Drama, mystery, carnival, myth, Bible, irony, fiction and humor

Multichannel management : de stand van zaken

Dit rapport geeft een overzicht van multichannel management (MCM) vanuit drie verschillende invalshoeken, namelijk vanuit het perspectief van de klant, de organisatie en de technologie. Alvorens elk van de invalshoeken toe te lichten, is er eerst een introductie over MCM op basis van verschillende wetenschappelijke onderzoeksgebieden. Bij het klantperspectief zijn vooral aspecten als kanaalkeuze, gebruik en beïnvloeding van het kanaalgedrag van belang. In het organisatieperspectief staat het huidige beleid van overheidsinstellingen op het gebied van MCM centraal. Tot slot geeft dit rapport een overzicht van de huidige technologische oplossingen voor MCM. Bij elk van deze invalshoeken worden inzichten uit de wetenschap en de praktijk meegenomen

Quantitative Measurable Concepts to Visualize Business Process Improvement

Business process improvement evaluation enables performance indicators to be used alongside process improvement techniques in order to quantitatively compare measurement information between the as-is and to-be processes. Limitations of the present methods of business process improvement indicate there is scope for looking at the problem in a different way. Business processes are commonly modelled as diagrams which at their fundamental level are complex networks. This suggests the question as to whether complex network analysis (CNA) has anything to contribute to business process improvement. We develop a technique of projecting a business process model onto the sub-space of a complex network and identify the measurable concepts that can be useful in business process improvement. The measurable concepts from CNA are combined with Time and Cost metrics from the simulation technique to visualize and track improvement efforts and satisfy improvement requirements

Comparison of genome-wide gene expression profiling by RNA Sequencing versus microarray in bronchial biopsies of COPD patients before and after inhaled corticosteroid treatment:does it provide new insights?

More DEGs are detected by RNA-Seq than microarrays in COPD lung biopsies and are associated with immunological pathways. Performing bulk tissue cell-type deconvolution in microarray lung samples, using the SVR method, reflects RNA-Seq results. https://bit.ly/2N8sY3

The Microbiome in Bronchial Biopsies from Smokers and Ex-Smokers with Stable COPD - A Metatranscriptomic Approach

Current knowledge about the respiratory microbiome is mainly based on 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing. Newer sequencing approaches, such as metatranscriptomics, offer the technical ability to measure the viable microbiome response to environmental conditions such as smoking as well as to explore its functional role by investigating host-microbiome interactions. However, knowledge about its feasibility in respiratory microbiome research, especially in lung biopsies, is still very limited. RNA sequencing was performed in bronchial biopsies from clinically stable smokers (n=5) and ex-smokers (n=6) with COPD not using (inhaled) steroids. The Trinity assembler was used to assemble non-human reads in order to allow unbiased taxonomical and microbial transcriptional analyses. Subsequently, host-microbiome interactions were analyzed based on associations with host transcriptomic data. Ultra-low levels of microbial mass (0.009%) were identified in the RNA-seq data. Overall, no differences were identified in microbiome diversity or transcriptional profiles of microbial communities or individual microbes between COPD smokers and ex-smokers in the initial test dataset as well as a larger replication dataset. We identified an upregulated host gene set, related to the simultaneous presence of Bradyrhizobium, Roseomonas, Brevibacterium.spp., which were related to PERK-mediated unfolded protein response (UPR) and expression of the microRNA-155-5p. Our results show that metatranscriptomic profiling in bronchial biopsy samples from stable COPD patients yields ultra-low levels of microbial mass. Further, this study illustrates the potential of using transcriptional profiling of the host and microbiome to gain more insight into their interaction in the airways

Two Modes of Transcriptional Activation at Native Promoters by NF-κB p65

The NF-κB family of transcription factors is crucial for the expression of multiple genes involved in cell survival, proliferation, differentiation, and inflammation. The molecular basis by which NF-κB activates endogenous promoters is largely unknown, but it seems likely that it should include the means to tailor transcriptional output to match the wide functional range of its target genes. To dissect NF-κB–driven transcription at native promoters, we disrupted the interaction between NF-κB p65 and the Mediator complex. We found that expression of many endogenous NF-κB target genes depends on direct contact between p65 and Mediator, and that this occurs through the Trap-80 subunit and the TA1 and TA2 regions of p65. Unexpectedly, however, a subset of p65-dependent genes are transcribed normally even when the interaction of p65 with Mediator is abolished. Moreover, a mutant form of p65 lacking all transcription activation domains previously identified in vitro can still activate such promoters in vivo. We found that without p65, native NF-κB target promoters cannot be bound by secondary transcription factors. Artificial recruitment of a secondary transcription factor was able to restore transcription of an otherwise NF-κB–dependent target gene in the absence of p65, showing that the control of promoter occupancy constitutes a second, independent mode of transcriptional activation by p65. This mode enables a subset of promoters to utilize a wide choice of transcription factors, with the potential to regulate their expression accordingly, whilst remaining dependent for their activation on NF-κB

Regulation of CCL2 Expression by an Upstream TALE Homeodomain Protein-Binding Site That Synergizes with the Site Created by the A-2578G SNP

CC Chemokine Ligand 2 (CCL2) is a potent chemoattractant produced by macrophages and activated astrocytes during periods of inflammation within the central nervous system. Increased CCL2 expression is correlated with disease progression and severity, as observed in pulmonary tuberculosis, HCV-related liver disease, and HIV-associated dementia. The CCL2 distal promoter contains an A/G polymorphism at position -2578 and the homozygous -2578 G/G genotype is associated with increased CCL2 production and inflammation. However, the mechanisms that contribute to the phenotypic differences in CCL2 expression are poorly understood. We previously demonstrated that the -2578 G polymorphism creates a TALE homeodomain protein binding site (TALE binding site) for PREP1/PBX2 transcription factors. In this study, we identified the presence of an additional TALE binding site 22 bp upstream of the site created by the -2578 G polymorphism and demonstrated the synergistic effects of the two sites on the activation of the CCL2 promoter. Using chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assays, we demonstrated increased binding of the TALE proteins PREP1 and PBX2 to the -2578 G allele, and binding of IRF1 to both the A and G alleles. The presence of TALE binding sites that form inverted repeats within the -2578 G allele results in increased transcriptional activation of the CCL2 distal promoter while the presence of only the upstream TALE binding site within the -2578 A allele exerts repression of promoter activity