The Telecommunication Markets in Selected OECD Countries: Market Characteristics and Regulatory Institutions

Telekommunikation, Regulierung, Markt, OECD-Staaten, Vergleich, Telecommunications, Regulation, Market, OECD countries, Comparison

WormBase: A modern Model Organism Information Resource

WormBase (https://wormbase.org/) is a mature Model Organism Information Resource supporting researchers using the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans as a model system for studies across a broad range of basic biological processes. Toward this mission, WormBase efforts are arranged in three primary facets: curation, user interface and architecture. In this update, we describe progress in each of these three areas. In particular, we discuss the status of literature curation and recently added data, detail new features of the web interface and options for users wishing to conduct data mining workflows, and discuss our efforts to build a robust and scalable architecture by leveraging commercial cloud offerings. We conclude with a description of WormBase\u27s role as a founding member of the nascent Alliance of Genome Resources

Caenorhabditis nomenclature

Genetic nomenclature allows the genetic features of an organism to be structured and described in a uniform and systematicway. Genetic features, including genes, variations (both natural and induced), and gene products, are assigned descriptorsthat inform on the nature of the feature. These nomenclature designations facilitate communication among researchers (in publications,presentations, and databases) to advance understanding of the biology of the genetic feature and the experimental utilizationof organisms that contain the genetic feature. The nomenclature system that is used for C. elegans was first employed by Sydney Brenner (1974) in his landmark description of the genetics of this model organism, and then substantially extended and modified in Horvitz et al., 1979. The gene, allele, and chromosome rearrangement nomenclature, described below, is an amalgamation of that from bacteria andyeast, with the rearrangement types from Drosophila. The nomenclature avoids standard words, subscripts, superscripts, and Greek letters and includes a hyphen (-) to separatethe gene name from gene number (distinct genes with similar phenotypes or molecular properties). As described by Jonathan Hodgkin, ‘the hyphen is about 1 mm in length in printed text and therefore symbolizes the 1 mm long worm’. These nomenclature propertiesmake C. elegans publications highly suitable for informatic text mining, as there is minimal ambiguity. From the founding of the CaenorhabditisGenetics Center (CGC) in 1979 until 1992, Don Riddle and Mark Edgley acted as the central repository for genetic nomenclature. Jonathan Hodgkin was nomenclature czar from 1992 through 2013; this was a pivotal period with the elucidation of the genome sequence of C. elegans, and later that of related nematodes, and the inception of WormBase. Thus, under the guidance of Hodgkin, the nomenclature system became a central feature of WormBase and the number and types of genetic features significantly expanded. The nomenclature system remains dynamic, with recentadditions including guidelines related to genome engineering, and continued reliance on the community for input. WormBase assigns specific identifying codes to each laboratory engaged in dedicated long-term genetic research on C. elegans. Each laboratory is assigned a laboratory/strain code for naming strains, and an allele code for naming genetic variation(e.g., mutations) and transgenes. These designations are assigned to the laboratory head/PI who is charged with supervisingtheir organization in laboratory databases and their associated biological reagents that are described on WormBase, in publications, and distributed to the scientific community on request. The laboratory/strain code is used: a) to identifythe originator of community-supplied information on WormBase, which, in addition to attribution, facilitates communicationbetween the community/curators and the originator if an issue related to the information should arise at a later date; andb) to provide a tracking code for activities at the CGC. The laboratory/strain designation consists of 2-3 uppercase letters while the allele designation has 1-3 lowercase letters.The final letter of a laboratory code should not be an “O” or an “I” so as not to be mistaken for the numbers “0” or “1” respectively.Additionally, allele designations should also not end with the letter “l” which could also be mistaken for the number “1.” These codes are listed at the CGC and in WormBase. Investigators generating strains, alleles, transgenes, and/or defining genes require these designations and should applyfor them at [email protected]. Information for several other nematode species, in addition to C. elegans, is curated at WormBase. All species are referred to by their Linnean binomial names (e.g,. Caenorhabditis elegans or C. elegans). Details of all the genomes available at WormBase and the degree of their curation can be found at www.wormbase.org/species/al

Korpuslinguistische Zugänge zu Agonalen Zentren

In der Arbeit wird die Analyse agonaler Zentren, die Felder (2012) vorgelegt hat, überprüft und um korpuslinguistische Herangehensweisen erweitert. Es wird überprüft, inwiefern bestimmte Wortarten in der Lage sind, die Analyse agonaler Zentren unabhängig vom Thema des Diskurses zu unterstützen. Dazu wird die computergestützte Korpusanalyse mit Hilfe von Konnektoren, Präpositionen, Partikeln, Substantiven, Adjektiven und Verben zunächst an einem bereits von Felder (2012) analysierten Korpus getestet und dann an einem weiteren, im Hinblick auf Thema und Textsorten völlig anderen Korpus überprüft. Insbesondere die Konnektoren stellen sich dabei als für die themenunabhängige, computergestützte Korpusanalyse als leistungsstark heraus

Wo steht der elektronische Handel in Deutschland?

Der elektronische Handel bietet erhebliche Einsparpotentiale für die Marktteilnehmer und öffnet neue Aktivitätsfelder. Eine verzögerte Entwicklung dieser Möglichkeiten kann zu erheblichen Verlusten an Wettbewerbsfähigkeit führen. Das ifo Institut versuchte im Rahmen eines internationalen Forschungsprojektes mit Teilnehmern aus Japan, den USA, Frankreich und Großbritannien, die Position Deutschlands in dieser Entwicklung zu bestimmen. Im Ergebnis zeigen sich nur geringe Defizite