Refinement for Transition Systems with Responses

Motivated by the response pattern for property specifications and applications within flexible workflow management systems, we report upon an initial study of modal and mixed transition systems in which the must transitions are interpreted as must eventually, and in which implementations can contain may behaviors that are resolved at run-time. We propose Transition Systems with Responses (TSRs) as a suitable model for this study. We prove that TSRs correspond to a restricted class of mixed transition systems, which we refer to as the action-deterministic mixed transition systems. We show that TSRs allow for a natural definition of deadlocked and accepting states. We then transfer the standard definition of refinement for mixed transition systems to TSRs and prove that refinement does not preserve deadlock freedom. This leads to the proposal of safe refinements, which are those that preserve deadlock freedom. We exemplify the use of TSRs and (safe) refinements on a small medication workflow.Comment: In Proceedings FIT 2012, arXiv:1207.348

Sharing Yet Caring - Mitigating Moral Hazard in Access-Based Consumption through IS-Enabled Value Co-Capturing with Consumers

The quest for creating smart and sustainable cities entails various substantial challenges, such as environmental degradation and a shortage of space. To negotiate these hurdles, innovative approaches must be implemented. A key aspect in this regard is the shared use of resources via forms of access-based consumption. Owing to advances in the digitalization of contemporary societies, these concepts have recently attracted both consumer and scholarly interest. However, the digitally enabled separation of ownership and use brings along the risk of moral hazard by consumers using resources in careless or wasteful ways, which is detrimental to the sustainability of the overall system. In this study, the authors conceptualize and empirically investigate how these adverse effects can be mitigated by applying the potentials of connectivity and digital data to enable users to participate economically while acting favorably from a collective perspective. The results of the quasi-experimental research design, situated in a carsharing context and comprising data records of 2,983 bookings, indicate that this form of value co-capturing with consumers can significantly motivate users to alter their behavior. From these findings, the authors derive important implications for research on the sustainability of digital business eco-systems in the specific context of smart cities

Entering the Digital Era – The Impact of Digital Technology-related M&As on Business Model Innovations of Automobile OEMs

Digital technologies have reached the sphere of industrial-age, primarily physical industries, thus forcing incumbent firms to digitally innovate their business models. Employing a longitudinal dataset of the world’s largest automobile manufacturers from 2000 to 2013, we found empirical evidence of a positive effect of digital technology–related mergers and acquisitions (M&As) on digital business model innovativeness. Moreover, this effect is enhanced by previous non-digital M&A experience, a diversified M&A history, as well as early experience with digital technology–related M&As. Consequently, our findings reveal that OEMs acquiring complementary and heterogeneous external knowledge on digital technologies and possessing the absorptive capacity to integrate as well as commercialize this type of knowledge are better prepared to master the digital transformation of their business. Furthermore, we find indications of a positive influence of digital business model innovations on the expected future firm performance of automobile manufacturers, thus substantiating the importance of digital transformation

Digital M&A, digital innovation, and firm performance:an empirical investigation

Aiming to support digital innovation endeavours, industrial-age companies increasingly acquire firms that heavily build upon digital technologies. Related research has raised serious concerns regarding the prospects of such plans, yet has not focused the particular context of digital mergers and acquisitions (M&A). Drawing on a knowledge-based perspective as well as the particularities of digital technologies and the context of digital innovation, we theorise the link between digital M&A, a digital knowledge base on the part of the acquirer, and the consequences for digital innovation and firm performance. We employ panel data regressions to a longitudinal dataset of the world's largest automobile manufacturers. Our findings suggest that executing digital M&A contributes to building the digital knowledge base of industrial-age firms, which in turn enables them to drive digital innovation. Our findings further indicate that digital innovation improves firm performance of industrial-age firms. We discuss implications for information systems research about M&A and digital innovation as well as recommendations for managerial practice

Immunomodulatory properties and molecular effects in inflammatory diseases of low-dose X-irradiation

Inflammatory diseases are the result of complex and pathologically unbalanced multicellular interactions. For decades, low-dose X-irradiation therapy (LD-RT) has been clinically documented to exert an anti-inflammatory effect on benign diseases and chronic degenerative disorders. By contrast, experimental studies to confirm the effectiveness and to reveal underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms are still at their early stages. During the last decade, however, the modulation of a multitude of immunological processes by LD-RT has been explored in vitro and in vivo. These include leukocyte/endothelial cell adhesion, adhesion molecule and cytokine/chemokine expression, apoptosis induction, and mononuclear/polymorphonuclear cell metabolism and activity. Interestingly, these mechanisms display comparable dose dependences and dose-effect relationships with a maximum effect in the range between 0.3 and 0.7 Gy, already empirically identified to be most effective in the clinical routine. This review summarizes data and models exploring the mechanisms underlying the immunomodulatory properties of LD-RT that may serve as a prerequisite for further systematic analyses to optimize low-dose irradiation procedures in future clinical practice

Value Co-creation through Network IT Alignment: An Empirical Examination in Regional Networks

IT alignment in intra-organizational contexts has been recognized as an important factor of organizational performance. This paper takes up this stance and translates it to the network level. In order to explain the role of IT in value co-creation, a theoretical model investigating the interconnection between IT alignment in inter-organizational networks and collaboration success is being developed. Moreover, the mode of governance is identified as an important antecedent to network IT alignment. An empirical study is conducted including answers from 165 regional network organizations in Germany. The results give support for the assumption that network IT alignment, first, contributes to the value co-creation in inter-organizational collaboration, and second, can be better achieved by networks with a centralized governance mode. In doing so, this study contributes to the emerging field that tries to understand the role of IT in the functioning of inter-organizational networks

An improved behavioural assay demonstrates that ultrasound vocalizations constitute a reliable indicator of chronic cancer pain and neuropathic pain

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>On-going pain is one of the most debilitating symptoms associated with a variety of chronic pain disorders. An understanding of mechanisms underlying on-going pain, i.e. stimulus-independent pain has been hampered so far by a lack of behavioural parameters which enable studying it in experimental animals. Ultrasound vocalizations (USVs) have been proposed to correlate with pain evoked by an acute activation of nociceptors. However, literature on the utility of USVs as an indicator of chronic pain is very controversial. A majority of these inconsistencies arise from parameters confounding behavioural experiments, which include novelty, fear and stress due to restrain, amongst others.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We have developed an improved assay which overcomes these confounding factors and enables studying USVs in freely moving mice repetitively over several weeks. Using this improved assay, we report here that USVs increase significantly in mice with bone metastases-induced cancer pain or neuropathic pain for several weeks, in comparison to sham-treated mice. Importantly, analgesic drugs which are known to alleviate tumour pain or neuropathic pain in human patients significantly reduce USVs as well as mechanical allodynia in corresponding mouse models.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We show that studying USVs and mechanical allodynia in the same cohort of mice enables comparing the temporal progression of on-going pain (i.e. stimulus-independent pain) and stimulus-evoked pain in these clinically highly-relevant forms of chronic pain.</p

Identification of the Irreversible Redox Behavior of Highly Fluorescent Benzothiadiazoles

Redox switches are applied in various fields of research, including molecular lifts, electronic devices and sensors. Switching the absorbance between UV and Vis/NIR by redox processes is of interest for applications in light harvesting or biomedicine. Here, we present a series of push‐pull benzothiadiazole derivatives with high fluorescence quantum yields in solution and in the crystalline solid state. Spectroelectrochemical analysis reveals the switching of UV‐absorption in the neutral state to Vis/NIR absorption in the reduced state. We identify the partial irreversibility of the switching process, which appears to be reversible on the cyclic voltammetry timescale

A Symmetrical UV to Vis/NIR Benzothiadiazole Redox Switch

Reversibly switching the light absorption of organic molecules by redox processes is of interest for applications in sensors, light harvesting, smart materials, and medical diagnostics. This work presents a symmetrical benzothiadiazole (BTD) derivative with a high fluorescence quantum yield in solution and in the crystalline state and shows by spectroelectrochemical analysis that reversible switching of UV absorption in the neutral state, to broadband Vis/NIR absorption in the 1st oxidized state, to sharp band Vis absorption in the 2nd oxidized state, is possible. For the one‐electron oxidized species, formation of a delocalized radical is confirmed by electron paramagnetic resonance spectroelectrochemistry. Furthermore, our results reveal an increasing quinoidal distortion upon the 1st and 2nd oxidation, which can be used as the leitmotif for the development of BTD based redox switches

Between Aromatic and Quinoid Structure: A Symmetrical UV to Vis/NIR Benzothiadiazole Redox Switch

Reversibly switching the light absorption of organic molecules by redox processes is of interest for applications in sensors, light harvesting, smart materials, and medical diagnostics. This work presents a symmetrical benzothiadiazole (BTD) derivative with a high fluorescence quantum yield in solution and in the crystalline state and shows by spectroelectrochemical analysis that reversible switching of UV absorption in the neutral state, to broadband Vis/NIR absorption in the 1st oxidized state, to sharp band Vis absorption in the 2nd oxidized state, is possible. For the one-electron oxidized species, formation of a delocalized radical is confirmed by electron paramagnetic resonance spectroelectrochemistry. Furthermore, our results reveal an increasing quinoidal distortion upon the 1st and 2nd oxidation, which can be used as the leitmotif for the development of BTD based redox switches. © 2020 The Authors. Published by Wiley-VCH Gmb