204 research outputs found
Proceedings of the First Karlsruhe Service Summit Workshop - Advances in Service Research, Karlsruhe, Germany, February 2015 (KIT Scientific Reports ; 7692)
Since April 2008 KSRI fosters interdisciplinary research in order to support and advance the progress in the service domain. KSRI brings together academia and industry while serving as a European research hub with respect to service science. For KSS2015 Research Workshop, we invited submissions of theoretical and empirical research dealing with the relevant topics in the context of services including energy, mobility, health care, social collaboration, and web technologies
Assessment of technological options and economical feasibility for cyanophycin biopolymer and high-value amino acid production
Major transitions can be expected within the next few decades aiming at the reduction of pollution and global warming and at energy saving measures. For these purposes, new sustainable biorefinery concepts will be needed that will replace the traditional mineral oil-based synthesis of specialty and bulk chemicals. An important group of these chemicals are those that comprise N-functionalities. Many plant components contained in biomass rest or waste stream fractions contain these N-functionalities in proteins and free amino acids that can be used as starting materials for the synthesis of biopolymers and chemicals. This paper describes the economic and technological feasibility for cyanophycin production by fermentation of the potato waste stream Protamylasseâą or directly in plants and its subsequent conversion to a number of N-containing bulk chemicals
Globally altered epigenetic landscape and delayed osteogenic differentiation in H3.3-G34W-mutant giant cell tumor of bone
Production of cyanophycin in Rhizopus oryzae through the expression of a cyanophycin synthetase encoding gene
Cyanophycin or cyanophycin granule peptide is a protein that results from non-ribosomal protein synthesis in microorganisms such as cyanobacteria. The amino acids in cyanophycin can be used as a feedstock in the production of a wide range of chemicals such as acrylonitrile, polyacrylic acid, 1,4-butanediamine, and urea. In this study, an auxotrophic mutant (Rhizopus oryzae M16) of the filamentous fungus R. oryzae 99-880 was selected to express cyanophycin synthetase encoding genes. These genes originated from Synechocystis sp. strain PCC6803, Anabaena sp. strain PCC7120, and a codon optimized version of latter gene. The genes were under control of the pyruvate decarboxylase promoter and terminator elements of R. oryzae. Transformants were generated by the biolistic transformation method. In only two transformants both expressing the cyanophycin synthetase encoding gene from Synechocystis sp. strain PCC6803 was a specific enzyme activity detected of 1.5Â mU/mg protein. In one of these transformants was both water-soluble and insoluble cyanophycin detected. The water-soluble fraction formed the major fraction and accounted for 0.5% of the dry weight. The water-insoluble CGP was produced in trace amounts. The amino acid composition of the water-soluble form was determined and constitutes of equimolar amounts of arginine and aspartic acid
Drug-perturbation-based stratification of blood cancer
As new generations of targeted therapies emerge and tumor genome sequencing discovers increasingly comprehensive mutation repertoires, the functional relationships of mutations to tumor phenotypes remain largely unknown. Here, we measured ex vivo sensitivity of 246 blood cancers to 63 drugs alongside genome, transcriptome, and DNA methylome analysis to understand determinants of drug response. We assembled a primary blood cancer cell encyclopedia data set that revealed disease-specific sensitivities for each cancer. Within chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), responses to 62% of drugs were associated with 2 or more mutations, and linked the B cell receptor (BCR) pathway to trisomy 12, an important driver of CLL. Based on drug responses, the disease could be organized into phenotypic subgroups characterized by exploitable dependencies on BCR, mTOR, or MEK signaling and associated with mutations, gene expression, and DNA methylation. Fourteen percent of CLLs were driven by mTOR signaling in a non-BCR-dependent manner. Multivariate modeling revealed immunoglobulin heavy chain variable gene (IGHV) mutation status and trisomy 12 as the most important modulators of response to kinase inhibitors in CLL. Ex vivo drug responses were associated with outcome. This study overcomes the perception that most mutations do not influence drug response of cancer, and points to an updated approach to understanding tumor biology, with implications for biomarker discovery and cancer care.Peer reviewe
A gravitational-wave standard siren measurement of the Hubble constant
On 17 August 2017, the Advanced LIGO 1 and Virgo 2 detectors observed the gravitational-wave event GW170817-a strong signal from the merger of a binary neutron-star system 3 . Less than two seconds after the merger, a Îł-ray burst (GRB 170817A) was detected within a region of the sky consistent with the LIGO-Virgo-derived location of the gravitational-wave source 4-6 . This sky region was subsequently observed by optical astronomy facilities 7 , resulting in the identification 8-13 of an optical transient signal within about ten arcseconds of the galaxy NGC 4993. This detection of GW170817 in both gravitational waves and electromagnetic waves represents the first 'multi-messenger' astronomical observation. Such observations enable GW170817 to be used as a 'standard siren' 14-18 (meaning that the absolute distance to the source can be determined directly from the gravitational-wave measurements) to measure the Hubble constant. This quantity represents the local expansion rate of the Universe, sets the overall scale of the Universe and is of fundamental importance to cosmology. Here we report a measurement of the Hubble constant that combines the distance to the source inferred purely from the gravitational-wave signal with the recession velocity inferred from measurements of the redshift using the electromagnetic data. In contrast to previous measurements, ours does not require the use of a cosmic 'distance ladder' 19 : the gravitational-wave analysis can be used to estimate the luminosity distance out to cosmological scales directly, without the use of intermediate astronomical distance measurements. We determine the Hubble constant to be about 70 kilometres per second per megaparsec. This value is consistent with existing measurements 20,21 , while being completely independent of them. Additional standard siren measurements from future gravitationalwave sources will enable the Hubble constant to be constrained to high precision
Multi-messenger observations of a binary neutron star merger
On 2017 August 17 a binary neutron star coalescence candidate (later designated GW170817) with merger time 12:41:04 UTC was observed through gravitational waves by the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo detectors. The Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor independently detected a gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) with a time delay of ~1.7 s with respect to the merger time. From the gravitational-wave signal, the source was initially localized to a sky region of 31 deg2 at a luminosity distance of 40+8-8 Mpc and with component masses consistent with neutron stars. The component masses were later measured to be in the range 0.86 to 2.26 Mo. An extensive observing campaign was launched across the electromagnetic spectrum leading to the discovery of a bright optical transient (SSS17a, now with the IAU identification of AT 2017gfo) in NGC 4993 (at ~40 Mpc) less than 11 hours after the merger by the One- Meter, Two Hemisphere (1M2H) team using the 1 m Swope Telescope. The optical transient was independently detected by multiple teams within an hour. Subsequent observations targeted the object and its environment. Early ultraviolet observations revealed a blue transient that faded within 48 hours. Optical and infrared observations showed a redward evolution over ~10 days. Following early non-detections, X-ray and radio emission were discovered at the transientâs position ~9 and ~16 days, respectively, after the merger. Both the X-ray and radio emission likely arise from a physical process that is distinct from the one that generates the UV/optical/near-infrared emission. No ultra-high-energy gamma-rays and no neutrino candidates consistent with the source were found in follow-up searches. These observations support the hypothesis that GW170817 was produced by the merger of two neutron stars in NGC4993 followed by a short gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) and a kilonova/macronova powered by the radioactive decay of r-process nuclei synthesized in the ejecta
Comparative Analysis of American and Spanish Cruise Passenger's Behavioral Intentions
[EN] Earlier studies of cross-national differences in consumer behavior in different consumption sectors
have verified that cultural differences have a strong influence on consumers. Despite the importance of
cross-national analysis, no studies in the literature examine the moderating effects of nationality on the
construction of behavioral intentions and their antecedents among cruise line passengers. This study
investigates the moderating effects of nationality on the relationships between perceived value, satisfaction,
trust and behavioral intentions among Spanish and (U.S.) American passengers of cruise lines
that use Barcelona as home port and port-of-call. A theoretical model was tested with a total of 968 surveys.
Structural equation models (SEMs) were used, by means of a multigroup analysis. Results of this
study indicated that Spaniards showed stronger relationships between trust and behavioral intentions,
and between emotional value and satisfaction. Americans presented stronger relations.[PT] Estudos em distintos setores de consumo verificaram que as diferenças culturais tĂȘm uma forte
influĂȘncia sobre os consumidores. Apesar da importĂąncia da anĂĄlise transnacional, nĂŁo hĂĄ estudos
na literatura que examinem os efeitos da nacionalidade na construção das intençÔes de comportamento
e seus antecedentes entre os passageiros de cruzeiros. Esta pesquisa investiga os efeitos
moderadores da nacionalidade nas relaçÔes entre valor percebido, satisfação, confiança e intençÔes
de comportamento entre passageiros espanhĂłis e norte-americanos. Realizaram-se 968 enquetes
para provar o modelo teórico, que foi analisado com modelos de equaçÔes estruturais, mediante uma
anålise multigrupo. Os resultados indicam que os espanhóis mostraram relaçÔes mais fortes entre
confiança e intençÔes de comportamento, e entre valor emocional e satisfação. Ao contrårio dos norte-americanos,
que apresentaram relaçÔes mais fortes entre qualidade de serviço e satisfação, e entre
qualidade de serviço e intençÔes de comportamento.[ES] Algunos estudios anteriores de diferencias observadas entre paĂses respecto de las conductas de los
consumidores de diferentes sectores de consumo verificaron que las diferencias culturales ejercen
una poderosa influencia sobre los consumidores. A pesar de la importancia de los anĂĄlisis transnacionales,
no hay en la literatura estudios que analicen los efectos moderadores de la nacionalidad
sobre la construcciĂłn de intenciones de conducta y sus antecedentes entre pasajeros de cruceros.
Este estudio investiga los efectos moderadores de la nacionalidad sobre las relaciones entre el valor
percibido, la satisfacción, la confianza y las intenciones de conducta entre los pasajeros españoles y
norteamericanos (EE. UU.) de cruceros, que utilizan a Barcelona como puerto de origen y puerto de
escala. Se probĂł un modelo teĂłrico con un total de 968 encuestas. Se emplearon modelos de ecuaciones
estructurales (SEM por su sigla en inglés), a través de un anålisis multigrupo. Los resultados
de este estudio indicaron que los españoles mostraron relaciones mås sólidas entre la confianza y las
intenciones de comportamiento y entre el valor emocional y la satisfacciĂłn. Los americanos evidenciaron
relaciones mĂĄs sĂłlidas entre la calidad del servicio y la satisfacciĂłn y entre la calidad del servicio
y las intenciones de conducta.Forgas-Coll, S.; Palau-Saumell, R.; Sanchez-Garcia, J.; Garrigós Simón, FJ. (2016). Comparative Analysis of American and Spanish Cruise Passenger's Behavioral Intentions. RAE-Revista de Administração de Empresas. 56(1):87-100. doi:10.1590/S0034-759020160108S8710056
A gravitational-wave standard siren measurement of the Hubble constant
The detection of GW170817 (ref. 1) heralds the age of gravitational-wave multi-messenger astronomy, with the observations of gravitational-wave and electromagnetic emission from the same transient source. On 17 August 2017 the network of Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO)2 and Virgo3 detectors observed GW170817, a strong signal from the merger of a binary neutron-star system. Less than two seconds after the merger, a Îł-ray burst event, GRB 170817A, was detected consistent with the LIGOâVirgo sky localization region4â6). The sky region was subsequently observed by optical astronomy facilities7, resulting in the identification of an optical transient signal within about 10 arcseconds of the galaxy NGC 4993 (refs 8â13). GW170817 can be used as a standard siren14â18, combining the distance inferred purely from the gravitational-wave signal with the recession velocity arising from the electromagnetic data to determine the Hubble constant. This quantity, representing the local expansion rate of the Universe, sets the overall scale of the Universe and is of fundamental importance to cosmology. Our measurements do not require any form of cosmic âdistance ladderâ19; the gravitational-wave analysis directly estimates the luminosity distance out to cosmological scales. Here we report H0 = kilometres per second per megaparsec, which is consistent with existing measurements20,21, while being completely independent of them
Multi-messenger Observations of a Binary Neutron Star Merger
On 2017 August 17 a binary neutron star coalescence candidate (later
designated GW170817) with merger time 12:41:04 UTC was observed through
gravitational waves by the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo detectors.
The Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor independently detected a gamma-ray
burst (GRB 170817A) with a time delay of ⌠1.7 {{s}} with respect to
the merger time. From the gravitational-wave signal, the source was
initially localized to a sky region of 31 deg2 at a
luminosity distance of {40}-8+8 Mpc and with
component masses consistent with neutron stars. The component masses
were later measured to be in the range 0.86 to 2.26 {M}ÈŻ
. An extensive observing campaign was launched across the
electromagnetic spectrum leading to the discovery of a bright optical
transient (SSS17a, now with the IAU identification of AT 2017gfo) in NGC
4993 (at ⌠40 {{Mpc}}) less than 11 hours after the merger by the
One-Meter, Two Hemisphere (1M2H) team using the 1 m Swope Telescope. The
optical transient was independently detected by multiple teams within an
hour. Subsequent observations targeted the object and its environment.
Early ultraviolet observations revealed a blue transient that faded
within 48 hours. Optical and infrared observations showed a redward
evolution over âŒ10 days. Following early non-detections, X-ray and
radio emission were discovered at the transientâs position ⌠9
and ⌠16 days, respectively, after the merger. Both the X-ray and
radio emission likely arise from a physical process that is distinct
from the one that generates the UV/optical/near-infrared emission. No
ultra-high-energy gamma-rays and no neutrino candidates consistent with
the source were found in follow-up searches. These observations support
the hypothesis that GW170817 was produced by the merger of two neutron
stars in NGC 4993 followed by a short gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) and
a kilonova/macronova powered by the radioactive decay of r-process
nuclei synthesized in the ejecta.</p
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