ITSM Adoption in European SMEs: Transition versus Developed Economies

The goal of this paper is to investigate and better understand the differences in Information Technology Service Management (ITSM) adoption by small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) between transition and developed economies in Europe. This study draws from research conducted among companies from six countries from Central and Eastern Europe within INNOTRAIN IT project financed by European Regional Development Found. The conducted analysis focuses on the comparison of ITSM-related issues between transition and developed countries. The particular issues investigated concentrate on the level of information technology (IT) adoption, strategic role of IT, and awareness and adoption of ITSM concept. The main findings suggest that, regardless of the national economy type, ITSM concepts are to a limited extent known and adopted by SMEs. At the same time, the results illustrate that transition economies lag behind developed economies in all investigated ITSM-related areas

The role of NF-κB transcription factor in cellular response to ionizing radiation

The NF-κB transcription factor is involved in different aspects of the cellular response to stress, including atypical NF-κB pathway activated by damage induced by ionizing radiation. Moreover, NF-κB could be involved in the regulation of genes activated by other stress-responsive factors. Here we aimed to perform the integrative genomics screening to compare subsets of NF-κB-dependent genes induced by a pro-inflammatory stimulus and a high dose of ionizing radiation and also to identify new genes potentially co-regulated by NF-κB and p53 transcription factors in irradiated cells. Methods. The RelA-containing NF-κB dimers were activated by TNFα cytokine (classical proinflammatory pathway) and a single 4 or 10 Gy dose (atypical radiation-induced pathway) in human osteosarcoma cells. NF-κB-dependent and p53-dependent genes were identified using the gene expression profiling (by RNA-Seq) in cells with downregulated RELA or TP53 combined with the global profiling of RelA and p53 binding sites (by ChIP-Seq). Candidate genes were subsequently validated by quantitative PCR. Results: There were 37 NF-κB-dependent protein-coding genes identified: in all cases RelA bound in their regulatory regions upon activation while downregulation of RELA suppressed their stimulus-induced upregulation, which apparently indicated the positive regulation mode (this set of genes included a few “novel” NF-κB-dependent species). The kinetics of the NF-κB activation was slower in cells exposed to radiation than in cytokine-stimulated ones. However, subsets of NF-κB-dependent genes upregulated by both types of stimuli were essentially the same. Moreover, we identified a subset of radiation-modulated genes whose expression was affected by silencing of both TP53 and RELA, and a subset of radiation-upregulated genes where radiation stimulated binding of both p53 and RelA. For three genes an antagonistic effect of both transcription factors was observed: IL4I1 was activated by NF-κB and inhibited by p53, while CDKN1A and SERPINE1 were activated by p53 and inhibited by NF-κB. Moreover, RRAD was putatively co-activated by both factors. Conclusions: One could expect that similar cellular processes resulting from activation of the NF-κB pathway could be induced in cells responding to pro-inflammatory cytokines and in cells where so-called “sterile inflammation” response was initiated by radiation-induced damage. Moreover, certain stress-responsive genes induced by ionizing radiation could be co-regulated by NF-κB and p53.publishedVersio

Scanning probe microscopy studies on the adsorption of selected molecular dyes on titania

Titanium dioxide, or titania, sensitized with organic dyes is a very attractive platform for photovoltaic applications. In this context, the knowledge of properties of the titania–sensitizer junction is essential for designing efficient devices. Consequently, studies on the adsorption of organic dyes on titania surfaces and on the influence of the adsorption geometry on the energy level alignment between the substrate and an organic adsorbate are necessary. The method of choice for investigating the local environment of a single dye molecule is high-resolution scanning probe microscopy. Microscopic results combined with the outcome of common spectroscopic methods provide a better understanding of the mechanism taking place at the titania–sensitizer interface. In the following paper, we review the recent scanning probe microscopic research of a certain group of molecular assemblies on rutile titania surfaces as it pertains to dye-sensitized solar cell applications. We focus on experiments on adsorption of three types of prototypical dye molecules, i.e., perylene-3,4,9,10-tetracarboxylic dianhydride (PTCDA), phtalocyanines and porphyrins. Two interesting heteromolecular systems comprising molecules that are aligned with the given review are discussed as well

RECENT RESEARCH IN VLSI, MEMS AND POWER DEVICES WITH PRACTICAL APPLICATION TO THE ITER AND DREAM PROJECTS

Several MEMS (Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems) devices have been analysed and simulated. The new proposed model of SiC MPS (Merged PIN-Schottky) diodes is in full agreement with the real MPS devices. The real size DLL (Dynamic Lattice Liquid) simulator as well as the research on modelling and simulation of modern VLSI devices with practical applications have been presented. In the basis of experience in the field of ATCA (Advanced Telecommunications Computing Architecture) based systems a proof-of-concept DAQ (data acquisition) system for ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) have been proposed

Fault tolerance through self-configuration in the future nanoscale multiprocessors

This thesis is a contribution at the architectural level to the improvement of fault-tolerance in massively defective multi-core chips fabricated using nanometer transistors. The main idea of this work is that a chip should be organized in a replicated architecture and become as autonomous as possible to increase its resilience against both permanent defects and transient faults occurring at runtime. Therefore, we introduce a new chip self-configuration methodology, which allows detecting and isolating the defective cores, deactivating the isolated cores, configuring the communications and managing the allocation and execution of tasks. The efficiency of the methods is studied as a function of the fraction of defective cores, of defective interconnects and soft error rate.Cette thèse est une contribution au niveau architectural à l'amélioration de la tolérance aux fautes dans les puces multi-coeurs massivement défectueuses fabriquées à partir de transistors nanométriques. L'idée principale de ce travail est qu'une puce devrait être organisée en une architecture réplicative et devenir aussi autonome que possible pour augmenter sa résilience contre les défauts permanents et les erreurs transitoires apparaissant en opération. C'est pourquoi nous introduisons une nouvelle méthodologie d'autoconfiguration de la puce qui permet de détecter et isoler les coeurs défectueux, de désactiver les coeurs isolés, de configurer les communications et de diriger l'allocation et l'exécution des tâches. L'efficacité des méthodes est étudiée en fonction de la fraction de coeurs ou d'interconnections défectueux et du taux d'erreurs transitoires

Tolérance aux fautes par auto-configuration dans les futurs processeurs multi-cœurs

Cette thèse est une contribution au niveau architectural à l amélioration de la tolérance aux fautes dans les puces multi-cœurs massivement défectueuses fabriquées à partir de transistors nanométriques. L idée principale de ce travail est qu une puce devrait être organisée en une architecture réplicative et devenir aussi autonome que possible pour augmenter sa résilience contre les défauts permanents et les erreurs transitoires apparaissant en opération. C est pourquoi nous introduisons une nouvelle méthodologie d autoconfiguration de la puce qui permet de détecter et isoler les coeurs défectueux, de désactiver les coeurs isolés, de configurer les communications et de diriger l allocation et l exécution des tâches. L efficacité des méthodes est étudiée en fonction de la fraction de coeurs ou d interconnections défectueux et du taux d erreurs transitoiresThis thesis is a contribution at the architectural level to the improvement of fault-tolerance in massively defective multi-core chips fabricated using nanometer transistors. The main idea of this work is that a chip should be organized in a replicated architecture and become as autonomous as possible to increase its resilience against both permanent defects and transient faults occurring at runtime. Therefore, we introduce a new chip self-configuration methodology, which allows detecting and isolating the defective cores, deactivating the isolated cores, configuring the communications and managing the allocation and execution of tasks. The efficiency of the methods is studied as a function of the fraction of defective cores, of defective interconnects and soft error rateINIST-CNRS (INIST), under shelf-number: RP 17272 / SudocSudocFranceF

16S rRNAgene-based metagenomic analysis of the gut microbial community associated with the DUI species Unio crassus (Bivalvia: Unionidae)

What factors determine biome richness: genetic or environmental? Sex, phylogeny, and tolerance indicated by other symbionts (e.g., endosymbionts) or simply is it related to local habitat, especially if the gut biome is considered? To answer these questions, we investigated the gut microbial profile of both sexes of three Unio crassus populations, species with unique system of mitochondrial DNA inheritance called doubly uniparental inheritance (DUI), living in different ecological conditions. High-throughput sequencing of the V3-V4 hypervariable regions in the bacterial 16S rRNA gene fragment was performed, which resulted in a total of 1,051,647 reads, with 58,424 reads/65 OTUs (operational taxonomic units) per sample on average. We identified a core microbiome, with all individual mussels sharing 69 OTUs (representing 23% of the total number of OTUs). Proteobacteria was the dominant phylum in all samples, followed by Firmicutes, Actinobacteria, and Bacteroidetes. There were no significant differences in gut microbiome compositions between the two sexes of this species; however, we observed different phyla in geographically isolated populations. A non-metric multidimensional scaling plot and dendrogram showed that the bacterial profile complies with the genetic structure of populations. Although we found differences in microbiomes between populations, their genetic structure suggests that the microbiome is weakly related to habitat, and more strongly to phylogeography (on both F and M mitotypes). We found no significant differences in beta diversity between the individuals of the bacterial communities measured using the Bray-Curtis index. Finally, we also examined whether OTUs were represented by symbiotic bacteria that enable cellulose digestion and by endosymbiotic bacteria that play important functions in the biology of their hosts and also affect microevolutionary processes and population phenomena. With regard to the endosymbionts, however, there was no relation to sex of the studied individuals, which suggests that there are no straightforward relations between DUI and microbiome.Funding Agencies|Polish National Science Centre [NCN DEC-2017/01/X/NZ8/01873]; Swedish Research Councils (Vetenskapsradet) [2017-04951]</p

Fundamentals of the Thermal Analysis of Complex Arrangements of Underground Heat Sources

This paper introduces a new analytical method for the 3-dimensional analysis of heat sources installed underground. Such sources include primarily electric power cables and steam pipes in urban areas. For complex arrangements of the heat sources, the heat transfer and cable rating calculations require the application of numerical methods, which call for high level of expertise and are generally difficult to use. The computational algorithm presented in this paper uses a point sources approach and is an extension of the work published by the authors based on line source modeling, with the goal of simplifying the numerical calculations. The proposed approach is applicable for all heat sources, which are directly buried in a uniform or a partially dried out soil. The method is illustrated by several numerical examples. These examples are used for comparison with the existing standard approach