Panels on Electronic Commerce

Electronic commerce has made unprecedented business transformations. The confluence of new technologies and business models provides significant research opportunities in information systems, enterprise technology, and the economics of information systems. By its very nature electronic commerce research is interdisciplinary, demanding research perspectives that go beyond traditional disciplinary boundaries. What is more, electronic commerce often requires innovative views and business practices to capture its ever changing manifestation

Balancing the Strategic Value and the Operational Value in IT Portfolio Selection

This paper provides a methodological framework in which the problem of IT project portfolio selection is solved by balancing between operational and strategic IT investments. From interviews with CIOs, we found that the interest in IT projects in many firms tends to center on operational benefits, rather than strategic benefits. We examined the impact of strategic IT investments from an IT portfolio perspective. We applied an optimization model for the IT the portfolio selection and developed a computational method to explore the impact of strategic IT investments. We found that, based on a longterm evaluation, IT portfolio selection focusing on both the operational value and the strategic value resulted in greater performance than IT portfolio selection focusing on the operational value alone. In addition, we found that the risk level of the strategic value of IT did not significantly affect the outcome of the IT portfolio in a strategic IT investment

Potential ecological effects of Piriformospora indica, a possible biocontrol agent, in UK agricultural systems

Piriformospora indica (Sebacinaceae), a root endophytic fungus, was originally isolated from an arid sub-tropical soil. P. indica forms mutualistic symbioses with a broad range of host plants, increases biomass production, resistance and tolerance to fungal pathogens and abiotic stresses. These characteristics make it a very attractive component of more sustainable agriculture. So, it is desirable to understand its wider ecosystem effects. We determined how long P. indica could survive in the soil and how it interacts with other soil microorganisms and some important arable weeds. Survival of P. indica in the soil, under winter and summer conditions in the UK was tested by isolating DNA and RNA of P. indica from pots of soil which had been left open to winter-summer weather conditions without host plants, followed by PCR and reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) with P. indica-specific primers. P. indica effects on other soil and root microorganisms were tested by PCR-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis analysis of DNA extracted from soil and roots from pots in which P. indica-infected wheat had been grown. The effect of P. indica on growth of black-grass (Alopecuris myosuroides), wild-oat (Avena fatua) and cleavers (Galium aparine) was tested alone and in competition with wheat. In soil P. indica-mRNA and DNA could still be detected after eight months, but not after 15 months. Soils from P. indica-inoculated pots had distinct fungal and bacterial species communities which were more diverse than non-inoculated controls. P. indica infected A. myosuroides and A. fatua but was not detected in G. aparine. The average above-ground competitiveness of the weeds with wheat was decreased. If applied to field crops in the UK, P. indica would be persistent for up to 15 months and likely to alter competitive relations within vegetation. Increased soil microbial diversity during the first eight weeks after inoculation, although usually desirable, could alter soil composition or functioning

IT Portfolio Management: A Case Study

IT Portfolio Management is increasingly becoming an important topic of research in IS/IT. The number of IT projects in a company can number in the hundreds, and it is difficult for upper level executives to manage this portfolio effectively without using some guiding methodology. This paper focuses on one such methodology that is being developed by a Fortune 100 company. Although many excellent papers have discussed using Real Options in the valuation of IT, there has been relatively little work in using Real Options in the IT Portfolio management context. Furthermore, most of the papers in the main IS journals have used relatively simple option models to evaluate (1) a single investment decision (2) assuming independence between projects. The focus of this paper is on a company that is actually managing IT portfolios of projects, and on some issues that may make exotic option models and more appropriate valuation tools

Mitofusins and OPA1 Mediate Sequential Steps in Mitochondrial Membrane Fusion

Mitochondrial fusion requires the coordinated fusion of the outer and inner membranes. Three large GTPases—OPA1 and the mitofusins Mfn1 and Mfn2—are essential for the fusion of mammalian mitochondria. OPA1 is mutated in dominant optic atrophy, a neurodegenerative disease of the optic nerve. In yeast, the OPA1 ortholog Mgm1 is required for inner membrane fusion in vitro; nevertheless, yeast lacking Mgm1 show neither outer nor inner membrane fusion in vivo, because of the tight coupling between these two processes. We find that outer membrane fusion can be readily visualized in OPA1-null mouse cells in vivo, but these events do not progress to inner membrane fusion. Similar defects are found in cells lacking prohibitins, which are required for proper OPA1 processing. In contrast, double Mfn-null cells show neither outer nor inner membrane fusion. Mitochondria in OPA1-null cells often contain multiple matrix compartments bounded together by a single outer membrane, consistent with uncoupling of outer versus inner membrane fusion. In addition, unlike mitofusins and yeast Mgm1, OPA1 is not required on adjacent mitochondria to mediate membrane fusion. These results indicate that mammalian mitofusins and OPA1 mediate distinct sequential fusion steps that are readily uncoupled, in contrast to the situation in yeast

Topographic determinants of foot and mouth disease transmission in the UK 2001 epidemic

Background A key challenge for modelling infectious disease dynamics is to understand the spatial spread of infection in real landscapes. This ideally requires a parallel record of spatial epidemic spread and a detailed map of susceptible host density along with relevant transport links and geographical features. Results Here we analyse the most detailed such data to date arising from the UK 2001 foot and mouth epidemic. We show that Euclidean distance between infectious and susceptible premises is a better predictor of transmission risk than shortest and quickest routes via road, except where major geographical features intervene. Conclusion Thus, a simple spatial transmission kernel based on Euclidean distance suffices in most regions, probably reflecting the multiplicity of transmission routes during the epidemic