Crystallography Open Database (COD): an open-access collection of crystal structures and platform for world-wide collaboration

Using an open-access distribution model, the Crystallography Open Database (COD, http://www.crystallography.net) collects all known ‘small molecule / small to medium sized unit cell’ crystal structures and makes them available freely on the Internet. As of today, the COD has aggregated ∼150 000 structures, offering basic search capabilities and the possibility to download the whole database, or parts thereof using a variety of standard open communication protocols. A newly developed website provides capabilities for all registered users to deposit published and so far unpublished structures as personal communications or pre-publication depositions. Such a setup enables extension of the COD database by many users simultaneously. This increases the possibilities for growth of the COD database, and is the first step towards establishing a world wide Internet-based collaborative platform dedicated to the collection and curation of structural knowledge

Pulsed electric field effects on the expression of cell wall components in yeast saccharomyces cerevisiae

Yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is eukaryotic unicellular microorganism that have been used in the food industry and in laboratory research as a model organism. In this study, the effect of pulsed electric field on the isogenic strains differing on composition of the cell wall of yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae (WT, MNN4, MNN9) was evaluated. Strains were affected by single square-shaped electric field pulses (E = 0,5 kV/cm; 2 kV/cm; 5 kV/cm; 8 kV/cm) with 300 µs duration. It was established that the amount of colony forming units (CFU) decreases, while the generation time increases by increasing the intensity of the pulsed electric field. Comparison of viability and generation time of strains after pulsed electric field tratment shows a greater decrease in viability and an increase in generation time of MNN4 strain compared to the wild type strain and therefore it can be assumed that mannosylphosphate is associated with a cellular response to stress conditions caused by pulsed electric field. The resistance of the MNN9 strain to the PEF is the greatest. The difference between the strain viability and the generation time after PEF treatment is observed due to different structure of the yeast cell wall and cell to cell interactions. To investigate mannosylphosphate expression after PEF treatment, cells were dyed with cationic dye alcian blue. It has been shown that stress caused by electric field leads to an increased expression of mannosylphosphate in the yeast cell wall. It has been concluded that PEF causes osmotic stress, and the cellular response depends on the composition of the cell wall components

Business models in trade enterprises

The study consists of two parts. The first part is dedicated to the concept of a business model and the analysis of its structural elements, whereas the second one – to specific business models and their applications in trade enterprises. Various business models mentioned in the literature are reviewed, and only those that are applicable by trade enterprises are presented in the paper. The authors of the study also provide their classification. The evolution analysis of the term “business model” is observed and defined that the time evolution is closely related to the dynamic development of trade enterprises. The literature analysis showed that more than 50 structural elements of a business model are met in the concept of the business model. When carrying out the study, the authors selected 7 structural elements suitable for trade enterprises (i.e. people, process, technology, goods, services, sales, marketing). Finally, the authors presented empirical study, where they examined the application’s trend of the business models in trade enterprises. The results showed that the retail-driven multinational trade enterprises, including the application of the business models among international affiliates, apply new business models more actively than national enterprises. Moreover, the study showed the tendencies that trade enterprises are increasingly applying several business models together (talking about emerging business models), which suggests the future research direction.Tyrimą sudaro dvi kryptys. Pirmoji yra skirta verslo modelio sampratos prekybos įmonėse bei jos struktūros elementų analizei; antroji – specifinių verslo modelių prekybos įmonėse įvardinimui ir jų pritaikymui. Straipsnyje, siekiant papildyti kitų autorių tyrimus, nagrinėjami vienpakopiai ir dvipakopiai verslo modeliai bei jų taikymas prekybos įmonėse. Autorės susistemino skirtinguose šaltiniuose pristatytus verslo modelius, atrinko tinkančius prekybos įmonėms bei pasiūlė jų klasifikaciją. Atlikus termino „verslo modelis“ evoliucijos analizę pastebėta, kad minėto termino evoliucija glaudžiai siejasi su dinamišku prekybos įmonių vystymusi. Be to, paaiškėjo, kad mokslinėje literatūroje pateikiama daugiau negu 50 verslo modelio sampratos struktūros elementų. Autorės gilinosi į verslo modelio sampratos struktūros elementus prekybos įmonėse ir atrinko 8 svarbiausius struktūros elementus (t. y. darbuotojai, procesas, technologija, prekės, paslaugos, pardavimai, marketingas). Klasifikuojant verslo modelius, remtasi prekybos sektoriaus vystymosi kryptimis. Autorės įvardino bendresnius verslo modelius, atskleidžiančius esminius skirtumus tarp prekybos įmonių, kurie į siūlomą klasifikaciją įtraukti agreguotu būdu. Empirinio tyrimo metu atskleistos dvipakopių verslo modelių taikymo prekybos įmonėse tendencijos. Dėl straipsnio apimties daugiapakopių verslo modelių praktinis pritaikymas nenagrinėtas; jis galėtų būti nagrinėjamas tolesniuose tyrimuose. Vykdant tyrimą gauti šie vadybos mokslui nauji rezultatai: pateiktos naujos įžvalgos dėl didėjančio prekybos įmonių imlumo naujiems verslo modeliams; išryškinti verslo modeliai, atspindintys esminius prekybos įmonių skirtumus. Tyrimo metu taikyti analizės, statistiniai, palyginamieji ir kiti metodai

Consumer demand: online or retail stores

Consumers’ interest in online trade increases constantly. Therefore, this paper addresses issues of such kind. The study presented contains the following aspects. First, consumer choice models are analysed in the paper. Second, the factors, which describe consumer choice between the online and retail stores, are determined through literature analysis; benefits and limitations for each store are reviewed herein. Third, the decision making tool, which incorporates above mentioned factors, is presented. Multiple criteria evaluation methods used for consumer choice analysis are overviewed, as well. The article is based on comparative and multiple criteria analysis. Multiple criteria evaluation method (COPRAS) is used for the development of a decision making tool. The aim of the research is to propose decision making tool used to make a choice between online and retail store. The proposed tool can be useful for researchers who analyse consumer’s behaviour

Geležinkelio kelias. Projektavimas, tiesimas, eksploatacija ir priežiūra

Vadovėlyje išsamiai išnagrinėti geležinkelio kelio projektavimo, tiesimo, eksploatacijos ir priežiūros klausimai, pateikiama informacija apie standartinės, plačiosios ir sugretintų vėžės pločių geležinkelio kelią. Aptarti ir apžvelgti greitųjų, sunkiųjų traukinių linijų geležinkelio kelio konstrukcijos ir bebalasčio kelio ypatumai. Nepamiršti ir aplinkosaugos, eismo saugumo, gaisrinės saugos reikalavimai bei darbų saugos ir sveikatos užtikrinimo klausimai. Pateiktas sąvokų aiškinamasis žodynas padeda vienodai ir teisingai suprasti vartojamus terminus, jų apibrėžtis, paskirtį ir vartojimo sritį. Knyga skirta geležinkelių sistemos darbuotojams, kurių veikla susijusi su geležinkelio kelio projektavimu, tiesimu, priežiūra, eksploatacija ir remontu, bei siekiantiems kelti kvalifikaciją ir praplėsti žinias. Ji taip pat naudinga asmenims, kurie studijuoja su geležinkelio keliu susijusius kursus aukštosiose ar aukštesniosiose mokyklose

The effect of elevated curing temperatures on high ye\u27elimite calcium sulfoaluminate cement mortars

This study investigated the material properties and hydration characteristics of calcium sulfoaluminate cement (CSA) based mortars cured under 3 different initial curing temperatures. Two CSA cements with different M-values were selected. Obtained experimental results of mechanical properties, dimensional stability, and heat release were explained by hydration characteristics from X-ray diffraction, thermal gravimetric analysis, porosimetry, and thermodynamic modeling. Decomposition of ettringite decreased compressive strength but reformation of ettringite after additional curing at 30 °C helped to recover the strength in CSA cement with a high amount of calcium sulfate. CSA cement with a low amount of calcium sulfate which was designed to predominantly have monosulfate as the main hydration product, showed increased 1-day strength after higher temperature curing but this occurred was at the expense of decreased 28-day strength