On the Selection of Measures to Quantify Organisational Performance

In the last decade measuring a company´s performance exclusively financially has been heavily criticised. Consequently, different performance measurement systems including the Balanced Scorecard, the Performance Pyramid, and the Quantum Performance were developed, discussed and implemented in industry. Besides the financial perspective, additional perspectives (e.g. customers, processes, employess, etc) have been considered. Organisational performance is assumed to be a multidimensional phenomenon today. Hence one important aspect of the discussion of several concepts of performance measurement has been the selection of the right measures. This paper focused the problemof measuring multidimensional organisational performance. Based on the multitask agency theory we enhanced the approaches of Holmstrom/milgrom and Austin by introducing extrinsic and intrinsic motivation, cost of measurement and uncertainty of measurement into the model

Editorial: Machine Learning in Natural Complex Systems

International audienc

Microscopic modeling of photoluminescence of strongly disordered semiconductors

A microscopic theory for the luminescence of ordered semiconductors is modified to describe photoluminescence of strongly disordered semiconductors. The approach includes both diagonal disorder and the many-body Coulomb interaction. As a case study, the light emission of a correlated plasma is investigated numerically for a one-dimensional two-band tight-binding model. The band structure of the underlying ordered system is assumed to correspond to either a direct or an indirect semiconductor. In particular, luminescence and absorption spectra are computed for various levels of disorder and sample temperature to determine thermodynamic relations, the Stokes shift, and the radiative lifetime distribution.Comment: 35 pages, 14 figure

Combinatorial omics analysis reveals perturbed lysosomal homeostasis in collagen VII-deficient keratinocytes

The extracellular matrix protein collagen VII is part of the microenvironment of stratified epithelia and critical in organismal homeostasis. Mutations in the encoding gene COL7A1 lead to the skin disorder dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (DEB), are linked to skin fragility and progressive inflammation-driven fibrosis that facilitates aggressive skin cancer. So far, these changes have been linked to mesenchymal alterations, the epithelial consequences of collagen VII loss remaining under- addressed. As epithelial dysfunction is a principal initiator of fibrosis, we performed a comprehensive transcriptome and proteome profiling of primary human keratinocytes to generate global and detailed images of dysregulated epidermal molecular pathways linked to loss of collagen VII. These revealed downregulation of interaction partners of collagen VII on mRNA and protein level, but also increased abundance of S100 pro- inflammatory proteins in primary DEB keratinocytes. Increased TGF-β signaling due to loss of collagen VII was associated with enhanced activity of lysosomal proteases in both keratinocytes and skin of collagen VII-deficient individuals. Thus, loss of a single structural protein, collagen VII, has extra- and intracellular consequences, resulting in inflammatory processes that enable tissue destabilization and promote keratinocyte- driven, progressive fibrosis

An accessible proteogenomics informatics resource for cancer researchers

Proteogenomics has emerged as a valuable approach in cancer research, which integrates genomic and transcriptomic data with mass spectrometry–based proteomics data to directly identify expressed, variant protein sequences that may have functional roles in cancer. This approach is computationally intensive, requiring integration of disparate software tools into sophisticated workflows, challenging its adoption by nonexpert, bench scientists. To address this need, we have developed an extensible, Galaxy-based resource aimed at providing more researchers access to, and training in, proteogenomic informatics. Our resource brings together software from several leading research groups to address two foundational aspects of proteogenomics: (i) generation of customized, annotated protein sequence databases from RNA-Seq data; and (ii) accurate matching of tandem mass spectrometry data to putative variants, followed by filtering to confirm their novelty. Directions for accessing software tools and workflows, along with instructional documentation, can be found at z.umn.edu/canresgithub.publishedVersio

Closely related Campylobacter jejuni strains from different sources reveal a generalist rather than a specialist lifestyle

Background: Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli are human intestinal pathogens of global importance. Zoonotic transmission from livestock animals or animal-derived food is the likely cause for most of these infections. However, little is known about their general and host-specific mechanisms of colonization, or virulence and pathogenicity factors. In certain hosts, Campylobacter species colonize persistently and do not cause disease, while they cause acute intestinal disease in humans. Results: Here, we investigate putative host-specificity using phenotypic characterization and genome-wide analysis of genetically closely related C. jejuni strains from different sources. A collection of 473 fresh Campylobacter isolates from Germany was assembled between 2006 and 2010 and characterized using MLST. A subset of closely related C. jejuni strains of the highly prevalent sequence type ST-21 was selected from different hosts and isolation sources. PCR typing of strain-variable genes provided evidence that some genes differed between these strains. Furthermore, phenotypic variation of these strains was tested using the following criteria: metabolic variation, protein expression patterns, and eukaryotic cell interaction. The results demonstrated remarkable phenotypic diversity within the ST-21 group, which however did not correlate with isolation source. Whole genome sequencing was performed for five ST-21 strains from chicken, human, bovine, and food sources, in order to gain insight into ST-21 genome diversity. The comparisons showed extensive genomic diversity, primarily due to recombination and gain of phage-related genes. By contrast, no genomic features associated with isolation source or host were identified. Conclusions: The genome information and phenotypic data obtained in vitro and in a chicken infection model provided little evidence of fixed adaptation to a specific host. Instead, the dominant C. jejuni ST-21 appeared to be characterized by phenotypic flexibility and high genetic microdiversity, revealing properties of a generalist. High genetic flexibility might allow generalist variants of C. jejuni to reversibly express diverse fitness factors in changing environments

Morphometrical analysis of transbronchial cryobiopsies

The recent introduction of bronchoscopically recovered cryobiopsy of lung tissue has opened up new possibilities in the diagnosis of neoplastic and non-neoplastic lung diseases in various aspects. Most notably the morphological diagnosis of peripheral lung biopsies promises to achieve a better yield with a high quality of specimens. To better understand this phenomenon, its diagnostic options and perspectives, this study morphometrically compares 15 cryobiopsies and 18 transbronchial forceps biopsies of peripheral lung tissue a priori without considering clinical hit ratio or integration of results in the clinical diagnostic processing. Cryotechnically harvested specimens were significantly larger (mean: 17.1 ± 10.7 mm2 versus 3.8 ± 4.0 mm2) and contained alveolar tissue more often. If present, the alveolar part in cryobiopsies exceeded the one of forceps biopsies. The alveolar tissue of crybiopsy specimens did not show any artefacts. Based on these results cryotechnique seems to open up new perspectives in bronchoscopic diagnosis of lung disease

EANM guideline for ventilation/perfusion single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) for diagnosis of pulmonary embolism and beyond

These guidelines update the previous EANM 2009 guidelines on the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism (PE). Relevant new aspects are related to (a) quantification of PE and other ventilation/perfusion defects; (b) follow-up of patients with PE; (c) chronic PE; and (d) description of additional pulmonary physiological changes leading to diagnoses of left ventricular heart failure (HF), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and pneumonia. The diagnosis of PE should be reported when a mismatch of one segment or two subsegments is found. For ventilation, Technegas or krypton gas is preferred over diethylene triamine pentaacetic acid (DTPA) in patients with COPD. Tomographic imaging with V/P-SPECT has higher sensitivity and specificity for PE compared with planar imaging. Absence of contraindications makes V/P-SPECT an essential method for the diagnosis of PE. When V/P-SPECT is combined with a low-dose CT, the specificity of the test can be further improved, especially in patients with other lung diseases. Pitfalls in V/P-SPECT interpretation are discussed. In conclusion, V/P-SPECT is strongly recommended as it accurately establishes the diagnosis of PE even in the presence of diseases like COPD, HF and pneumonia and has no contraindications.Peer reviewe