Hazards of current concentration-setting practices in environmental toxicology studies.

The setting of concentrations for testing substances in ecotoxicological studies is often based on fractions of the concentrations that cause 50% mortality (LC50 or LD50) rather than environmentally relevant levels. This practice can result in exposures to animals at test concentrations that are magnitudes of order greater than those experienced in the environment. Often, such unrealistically high concentrations may cause non-specific biochemical or morphologic changes that primarily reflect the near-lethal health condition of the animal subjects, as opposed to effects characteristic of the particular test compound. Meanwhile, it is recognized that for many chemicals, the toxicologic mode of action (MOA) responsible for lethality may differ entirely from the MOAs that cause various sublethal effects. One argument for employing excessively high exposure concentrations in sublethal studies is to ensure the generation of positive toxicological effects, which can then be used to establish safety thresholds; however, it is possible that the pressure to produce exposure-related effects may also contribute to false positive outcomes. The purpose of this paper is to explore issues involving some current usages of acute LC50 data in ecotoxicology testing, and to propose an alternative strategy for performing this type of research moving forward. Toward those ends, a brief literature survey was conducted to gain an appreciation of methods that are currently being used to set test concentrations for sublethal definitive studies

Perception of Benefits Achieved by IT Management Accounting in the Public Sector

Information technology (IT) is of high relevance in public administrations. Thus, a systematic management and control of its usage is required. IT management accounting is an instrument addressing this issue. However, public IT-managers do not perceive its supposed benefits due to the way in which it is currently implemented. This leads to a low usage of IT management accounting in public administrations. To analyze the gap between its supposed and perceived benefits, we reviewed literature and conducted a case study in a German public administration. Our findings show that - out of the various benefits of IT management accounting according to the literature - public IT-managers only focus on transparency and support for decision-making as benefits. The findings contribute to a better understanding of IT management accounting in public administrations and support practitioners by designing IT management accounting according to the potential benefits for departmental and cross-departmental IT-managers

Understanding the manifold forms of B2B integration - A transaction cost perspective

This paper investigates the characteristics of federal and modular organizations and elicits conclusions on their requirements for IT controlling through a literature review. The literature review showed that different organizational structures create specific conditions concerning IT and IT controlling. Although experience in the regulation and controlling of IT in large and complex organizations has been reorted, the characteristics of these specific organizational conditions and the resulting requirements for the design of an IT controlling concept have not been extensively researched. Creating the missing link between the characteristics of federal and modular organizations and their requirements regarding IT controlling may serve as a foundation for future research and the development of a comprehensive IT controlling concept which encompasses the characteristics and key drivers of this specific organizational for

A Comprehensive Analysis of E-Government Adoption in the German Household

Much of the prior research on IS adoption recognizes that cultural characteristics of the nations influence their adoption behaviors significantly. In the context of e-government, more empirical research is necessary to understand the adoption behaviors of different nations. Our research focuses on understanding the antecedents of e-government adoption in the German household, which has not been adequately addressed to date. Based on the findings of two representative cross-sectional studies, we derived a comprehensive research model and tested it with 1,000 users in the German household on the specific example of e-filing. While the factors of data protection and security were mentioned as crucial in the descriptive studies, the explanatory analysis with LISREL revealed that compatibility is the main antecedent of e-filing adoption in the German nation, followed by relative advantage and perceived risk. Implications for practice and future research are discussed

The Surprisingly Low Effect of National Culture on E-Government Adoption: A Cross-Cultural Comparison

Governments worldwide are looking for ways to encourage the citizen uptake of online public services. Although some countries are doing better than the others, the vast majority of governments face adoption problems with their electronic services. Other than supply-side barriers, some nations show strong public resistance to government offerings. Drawing on cross-cultural research in IS adoption and diffusion, we posit that differences among adoption behaviors of nations may be attributed to cultural differences. Indeed, national culture shapes the core values and beliefs of individuals, which in turn influence attitudes and behaviors. As being an emerging field of IS, cross-cultural issues in e-government have not received much empirical attention to date. By using nationwide representative samples, we compared two European nations with different cultural profiles and e-government take-up levels. Surprisingly, the results indicate that Germany and Sweden do not differ considerably in their perceptions of enablers and barriers to e-government adoption

Funktionale und stochastische Modelle für das Europäische Dreiecksnetz mit ihrer Bezugnahme auf C. F. GAUSS

Ziel aller wissenschaftlich-geodätischen Betätigung ist die Lösung des Problems der Erdfigur und der Erddimensionen. Da hierbei die Frage nach metrischen Größenbeziehungen gestellt ist, so ergibt sich, daß man ohne Distanzmessungen irgendwelcher Art nicht das aus geometrischen und physikalischen Relationen sich zusammensetzende Modell aufbauen kann, welches die gesuchte Lösung impliziert. Wie weittragend diese Frage der metrischen Aussage unseres geodätischen Systems ist, erkennt man daran, daß auch die kosmischen Längeneinheiten und astronomischen Entfernungsangaben, von den Ausmaßen der Erdumlaufbahn bis hin zum Lichtjahr, sich von den Erddimensionen herleiten, so daß mithin der metrischen Skalierung unseres geodätischen Größensystems, als Teilaufgabe des Erdmessungsproblems, eine Bedeutung zukommt, die weit über die speziellen Belange terrestrischer Vermessungen hinausweist

Using the Case Survey Method for Synthesizing Case Study Evidence in Information Systems Research

A common characteristic of the IS discipline is that the bulk of the empirical evidence is embodied in case studies. However, the ever-growing body of case based evidence also constitutes a major challenge to the IS discipline. Although each case study may provide rich insights into specific phenomena, it is difficult to generalize on the basis of single-N or small-N case studies. What IS research would benefit from is a method that allows for the quantitative inquiry of the vast amount of primarily qualitative case studies. The purpose of this paper is to introduce the case survey method as new mode of inquiry to supplement the rich repertoire of IS review methods. Therefore, we show how the case survey method is embedded in the landscape of review methods used in IS research and what its principal stages, techniques, limitations and potentials are

The Role of Trust in E-Government Adoption: A Literature Review

Citizens’1 decision to use online services is influenced by their trust in technology and the agency involved. Low levels of citizen trust towards e-Government services in Germany create concerns in the Government. However, neither the issue of trust nor its influence on the willingness of citizens for using online public services has been examined thoroughly till now. Literature in similar contexts including e-Commerce and computer mediated transactions has already recognized the importance of considering cultural characteristics in online trust research. This paper reveals results of an extensive literature review screening the existing literature of trust research in e-Government. We conclude that, despite its critical importance, no comprehensive study has been conducted in Germany disclosing the decision making mechanism of citizens for using e-Government services – especially concentrating on the aspect of trust

p14ARF Hypermethylation Is Common but INK4a-ARF Locus or p53 Mutations Are Rare in Merkel Cell Carcinoma

Although the exact molecular mechanisms of Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) tumorigenesis are unknown, they likely involve complex genetic alterations and mutations similar to those seen in many other cancers. In this study, we obtained MCCs from 21 elderly patients (19 women, 2 men) and analyzed their DNA for mutation of exons of interest in several tumor-suppressor genes or oncogenes known to be frequently mutated in skin cancer: p53 (exons 4–8), Ras (exons 1 and 2), c-Kit (exon 11), and the INK4a-ARF locus (encoding p14 and p16) (exons 1 and 2). Direct sequence analysis revealed p53 mutations (that is, at codons 224, 234, and 294) in three tumors (14%) and p16INK4a mutations (that is, at codon 6) in one (5%). No mutations were detected in Ha-Ras, Ki-Ras, N-Ras, c-Kit, or p14ARF. On the other hand, methylation-specific PCR revealed methylation of p14ARF promoter DNA in eight of 19 analyzable tumor samples (42%) and p16INK4a promoter DNA in one of 19 analyzable tumor samples (5%). Together, these findings suggest that p14ARF silencing may be an important mechanism in MCC tumorigenesis, and thus a potential target for therapeutic intervention in this highly aggressive tumor type