Main CIO's activities - evidences from a Delphi survey using Q-sort

Nowadays, most organisations depend on information technologies (IT)/information systems (IS) to run their businesses achieve their goals. Knowing how to manage IT/IS is fundamental because it promotes a better use of resources and an increase in quality and productivity. The head of the IT/IS department is the chief information officer (CIO), who plays a central role, carrying out a diversified set of activities essential for the performance of the IS and, consequently, for the business success. This paper presents a Delphi survey, involving CIOs from large organisations, which were asked to identify the most important activities they perform. The findings reveal that the top activities are interacting with the top management, analyse business problems, identify opportunities, design IS solutions, IS planning, making strategic decisions, optimise business processes, evaluate IS performance and plan its optimisation, manage the IT team, and manage IS development and implementation.- (undefined

Deployment and Commissioning of the CERN PS Injection Kicker System for Operation with 2 GeV Beams in Short Circuit Mode

Within the framework of the LHC Injector Upgrade (LIU) project, the feasibility and design of an upgrade of the existing CERN PS proton injection kicker system have been outlined in previous publications already. This paper describes the adjustments of final design choices, testing, and deployment as well as the validation and commissioning of the new 2 GeV injection kicker system. The upgrade pays particular attention to the reduction of pulse reflections unavoidably induced by a magnet in short circuit mode configuration whilst keeping a fast 10⁴ ns rise and fall time. An adapted thyratron triggering system to reduce jitter and enhance thyratron lifetime is outlined. Additionally, improvements to the magnet entry box and the elimination of SF6 gas in the magnet connection box and the associated pulse transmission lines are discussed

Pharmacological modulation of CXCR4 cooperates with BET bromodomain inhibition in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma

Constitutive activation of the chemokine receptor CXCR4 has been associated with tumor progression, invasion, and chemotherapy resistance in different cancer subtypes. Although the CXCR4 pathway has recently been suggested as an adverse prognostic marker in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, its biological relevance in this disease remains underexplored. In a homogeneous set of 52 biopsies from patients, an antibody-based cytokine array showed that tissue levels of CXCL12 correlated with high microvessel density and bone marrow involvement at diagnosis, supporting a role for the CXCL12-CXCR4 axis in disease progression. We then identified the tetra-amine IQS-01.01RS as a potent inverse agonist of the receptor, preventing CXCL12-mediated chemotaxis and triggering apoptosis in a panel of 18 cell lines and primary cultures, with superior mobilizing properties in vivo than those of the standard agent. IQS-01.01RS activity was associated with downregulation of p-AKT, p-ERK1/2 and destabilization of MYC, allowing a synergistic interaction with the bromodomain and extra-terminal domain inhibitor, CPI203. In a xenotransplant model of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, the combination of IQS-01.01RS and CPI203 decreased tumor burden through MYC and p-AKT downregulation, and enhanced the induction of apoptosis. Thus, our results point out an emerging role of CXCL12-CXCR4 in the pathogenesis of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and support the simultaneous targeting of CXCR4 and bromodomain proteins as a promising, rationale-based strategy for the treatment of this disease