Complexity impact factors on the integration process of ERP and non ERP systems: a basis for an evaluation instrument

This study shows an expert confirmed initial list of factors which influence the complexity of the integration process of ERP systems and non ERP systems. After a thorough search for complexity factors in scientific literature, a survey amongst 8 experts in a leading European long special steel products company, which was recently composed out of independent international companies, was conducted. The participants confirmed the retrieved list from literature, consisting of 5 quantitative and 21 qualitative factors. The participants added one extra qualitative factor and scored the importance of all factors. Three quantitative factors, i.e. a technology, a business and a project factor, scored highest. When dealing with integration issues, this initial list of factors can provide awareness for organizations to support activities such as planning, control and risk management

Realist Evaluation : an overview

This report summarises the discussions and presentations of the Expert Seminar ‘Realist Evaluation’ with Gill Westhorp, which took place in Wageningen on March 29, 2011. The Expert Seminar was organised by the Wageningen UR Centre for Development Innovation in collaboration with Learning by Design and Context, international cooperation

Local recurrence in rectal cancer : mechanisms of development, patterns of relapse and treatment options

In the Netherlands around 10.000 patients are diagnosed with colorectal carcinoma every year, of who about 2500 have rectal carcinoma (www.oncoline.nl). It is the third most common cancer in men (after prostate and lung cancer) and the second most common in women (after breast cancer). In the treatment of rectal cancer a multi-disciplinary approach is the best way to achieve optimal outcomes. Imaging, (neo)adjuvant therapy, surgery and pathology will be discussed separately to define their role in the treatment of rectal cancer. The principle investigation method of this thesis is the analysis of the patterns of local recurrence of rectal cancer. By determination of the location of locally recurrent rectal cancer on imaging and relating these to patient, treatment and tumor variables, the mechanism of local relapse genesis is reconstructed. By doing this the effect of neoadjuvant treatment, surgery, intra-operative radiotherapy and adjuvant treatment on local control can be quantified. First patterns of local recurrence are described for rectal cancer in general (Chapters 3-5) and then only for locally advanced rectal cancer (Chapters 6-7). Subsequently, the effect of preoperative evaluation of local recurrent rectal cancer on results of the multimodality treatment of local relapse is analyzed (Chapters 8-9).UBL - phd migration 201

Definition of a Novel Pathway Centered on Lysophosphatidic Acid To Recruit Monocytes during the Resolution Phase of Tissue Inflammation.

Blood-derived monocytes remove apoptotic cells and terminate inflammation in settings as diverse as atherosclerosis and Alzheimer's disease. They express high levels of the proresolving receptor ALX/FPR2, which is activated by the protein annexin A1 (ANXA1), found in high abundance in inflammatory exudates. Using primary human blood monocytes from healthy donors, we identified ANXA1 as a potent CD14+CD16- monocyte chemoattractant, acting via ALX/FPR2. Downstream signaling pathway analysis revealed the p38 MAPK-mediated activation of a calcium independent phospholipase A2 with resultant synthesis of lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) driving chemotaxis through LPA receptor 2 and actin cytoskeletal mobilization. In vivo experiments confirmed ANXA1 as an independent phospholipase A2-dependent monocyte recruiter; congruently, monocyte recruitment was significantly impaired during ongoing zymosan-induced inflammation in AnxA1-/- or alx/fpr2/3-/- mice. Using a dorsal air-pouch model, passive transfer of apoptotic neutrophils between AnxA1-/- and wild-type mice identified effete neutrophils as the primary source of soluble ANXA1 in inflammatory resolution. Together, these data elucidate a novel proresolving network centered on ANXA1 and LPA generation and identify previously unappreciated determinants of ANXA1 and ALX/FPR2 signaling in monocytes

Hysteresis and bi-stability by an interplay of calcium oscillations and action potential firing

Many cell types exhibit oscillatory activity, such as repetitive action potential firing due to the Hodgkin-Huxley dynamics of ion channels in the cell membrane or reveal intracellular inositol triphosphate (IP$_3$) mediated calcium oscillations (CaOs) by calcium-induced calcium release channels (IP$_3$-receptor) in the membrane of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). The dynamics of the excitable membrane and that of the IP$_3$-mediated CaOs have been the subject of many studies. However, the interaction between the excitable cell membrane and IP$_3$-mediated CaOs, which are coupled by cytosolic calcium which affects the dynamics of both, has not been studied. This study for the first time applied stability analysis to investigate the dynamic behavior of a model, which includes both an excitable membrane and an intracellular IP$_3$-mediated calcium oscillator. Taking the IP$_3$ concentration as a control parameter, the model exhibits a novel rich spectrum of stable and unstable states with hysteresis. The four stable states of the model correspond in detail to previously reported growth-state dependent states of the membrane potential of normal rat kidney fibroblasts in cell culture. The hysteresis is most pronounced for experimentally observed parameter values of the model, suggesting a functional importance of hysteresis. This study shows that the four growth-dependent cell states may not reflect the behavior of cells that have differentiated into different cell types with different properties, but simply reflect four different states of a single cell type, that is characterized by a single model.Comment: 29 pages, 6 figure