IT investment decision making:Usability of a normative model

This article analyzes the usability of a multi-criteria decision analysis based on a real options AHP (ROAHP) method for IT-investment decisions. The study presents ROAHP to Chief Information Officers (CIO’s) and collects their opinions on prerequisites for usability, strengths and weaknesses. To understand these opinions, the opinions are put in an organizational context by profiling their organization’s strategic decision making process. The study concludes that CIO’s recognize the potential and need of ROAHP but that organizations need much investments in data collection and decision models to make this method useful for its purpose, i.e. increasing IT investment decision rationality. ROAHP lacks usability. Furthermore, this study recommends future research focus on the usability rather than the validity of the method

The adenovirus E4orf4 protein targets PP2A to the ACF chromatin-remodeling factor and induces cell death through regulation of SNF2h-containing complexes

The adenovirus E4 open-reading-frame 4 (E4orf4) protein regulates the progression of viral infection and when expressed individually it induces non-classical apoptosis in transformed cells. Here we show that E4orf4 associates with the ATP-dependent chromatin-remodeling factor ACF that consists of a sucrose non fermenting-2h (SNF2h) ATPase and an Acf1 regulatory subunit. Furthermore, E4orf4 targets protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) to this complex and to chromatin. Obstruction of SNF2h activity inhibits E4orf4-induced cell death, whereas knockdown of Acf1 results in enhanced E4orf4-induced toxicity in both mammalian and yeast cells, and Acf1 overexpression inhibits E4orf4′s ability to downregulate early adenovirus gene expression in the context of viral infection. Knockdown of the Acf1 homolog, WSTF, inhibits E4orf4-induced cell death. Based on these results we suggest that the E4orf4–PP2A complex inhibits ACF and facilitates enhanced chromatin-remodeling activities of other SNF2h-containing complexes, such as WSTF–SNF2h. The resulting switch in chromatin remodeling determines life versus death decisions and contributes to E4orf4 functions during adenovirus infection

ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling shapes the DNA replication landscape.

The eukaryotic DNA replication machinery must traverse every nucleosome in the genome during S phase. As nucleosomes are generally inhibitory to DNA-dependent processes, chromatin structure must undergo extensive reorganization to facilitate DNA synthesis. However, the identity of chromatin-remodeling factors involved in replication and how they affect DNA synthesis is largely unknown. Here we show that two highly conserved ATP-dependent chromatin-remodeling complexes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Isw2 and Ino80, function in parallel to promote replication fork progression. As a result, Isw2 and Ino80 have especially important roles for replication of late-replicating regions during periods of replication stress. Both Isw2 and Ino80 complexes are enriched at sites of replication, suggesting that these complexes act directly to promote fork progression. These findings identify ATP-dependent chromatin-remodeling complexes that promote DNA replication and define a specific stage of replication that requires remodeling for normal function

Objective data on DNA success rates can aid the selection process of crime samples for analysis by rapid mobile DNA technologies

Mobile Rapid-DNA devices have recently become available on the market. These devices can perform DNA analyses within 90 min with an easy ‘sample in–answer out’ system, with the option of performing comparisons with a DNA database or reference profile. However, these fast mobile systems cannot yet compete with the sensitivity of the standard laboratory analysis. For the future this implies that Scene of Crime Officers (SoCOs) need to decide on whether to analyse a crime sample with a Rapid-DNA device and to get results within 2 h or to secure and analyse the sample at the laboratory with a much longer throughput time but with higher sensitivity. This study provides SoCOs with evidence-based information on DNA success rates, which can improve their decisions at the crime scene on whether or not to use a Rapid-DNA device. Crime samples with a high success rate in the laboratory will also have the highest potential for Rapid-DNA analysis. These include samples from e.g. headwear, cigarette ends, articles of clothing, bloodstains, and drinking items

Effects of the residual ammonium concentration on NOB repression during partial nitritation with granular sludge

Partial nitritation was stably achieved in a bench-scale airlift reactor (1.5L) containing granular sludge. Continuous operation at 20 °C treating low-strength synthetic wastewater (50 mg N-NH4 +/L and no COD) achieved nitrogen loading rates of 0.8 g N-NH4 +/(L·d) during partial nitritation. The switch between nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB) repression and NOB proliferation was observed when ammonium concentrations in the reactor were below 2–5 mg N-NH4 +/L for DO concentrations lower than 4 mg O2/L at 20 °C. Nitrospira spp. were detected to be the dominant NOB population during the entire reactor operation, whereas Nitrobacter spp. were found to be increasing in numbers over time. Stratification of the granule structure, with ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) occupying the outer shell, was found to be highly important in the repression of NOB in the long term. The pH gradient in the granule, containing a pH difference of ca. 0.4 between the granule surface and the granule centre, creates a decreasing gradient of ammonia towards the centre of the granule. Higher residual ammonium concentration enhances the ammonium oxidation rate of those cells located further away from the granule surface, where the competition for oxygen between AOB and NOB is more important, and it contributes to the stratification of both populations in the biofilm.Accepted Author ManuscriptBT/Environmental Biotechnolog