Context: Quality of Service (QoS) is a major issue in various web service related activities. Quality models have been proposed as the engineering artefact to provide a common framework of understanding for QoS, by defining the quality factors that apply to web service usage. Objective: The goal of this study is to evaluate the current state of the art of the proposed quality models for web ser...

Um Informationen im Krisenfall ergänzen und optimal zwischen Wirtschaft und Behörden austauschen zu können, müssen Informationsbestände bei Netzwerkkoordinatoren bekannt sein und deren Verfügbarkeit für das Krisenmanagement strukturiert dargestellt werden. Eine Reifegradbestimmung nach ISO/IEC 15504 liefert Kennzahlen darüber, in wieweit bestehende Informationsund Kommunikationssysteme im Krise...

Software-Qualität ist ein entscheidender Faktor für den Erfolg eines softwareintensiven Systems. Die Beherrschung der Qualität stellt aber immer noch eine große Herausforderung für Praxis und Forschung dar. Problematisch ist auch die Vielschichtigkeit und Komplexität von Qualität, die zu einer Vielzahl von nicht integrierten Insellösungen geführt hat. Eine umfassende Behandlung von Qualität wir...

Die Dynamik der Informationstechnologie und steigende Komplexität von Informationssystemen schlägt sich auch im Informationssicherheitsmanagement nieder. Informationssicherheitsstandards haben sich als generische Lösungen für eine Vielzahl von Aufgaben etabliert. Inwieweit derartige Standards die benötigte ganzheitliche Betrachtung vorsehen ist bislang nicht geklärt. Im vorliegenden Beitrag wir...

We explore an economy where number of children is endogenously determined and the cost of raising children is determined by the total number of children in the economy. We show that number of children will be too small compared to the social optimum and that the network effect may magnify the decline of “birthrate”. Our analysis demonstrates that public policies to increase birthrate must take ...

Brassinosteroid (BR) is an important plant hormone that is perceived by the BRASSINOSTEROID INSENSITIVE 1 (BRI1) receptor. BRI1 is conserved among dicot and monocot species; however, the molecular mechanism underlying BR perception in monocots is not fully understood. We synthesised two BRs, iso-carbabrassinolide (iso-carbaBL) and 6-deoxoBL, which have different BR activities in Arabidopsis tha...

We investigated the effect of 1.4% isoflurane (ISO) on the development of inflammation and apoptosis caused by zymosan (ZY) in mice. We found that ZY-challenged mice exhibited significant body weight loss, markedly high mortality, and significant lung injury characterized by the deterioration of histopathology, histologic scores, and wet-to-dry ratio after ISO treatment. ISO dramatically attenu...

OBJECTIVE We investigated the effects of angiotensin II (Ang II) on inward rectifier K+ (Kir) channels in small-diameter coronary arterial smooth muscle cells (SCASMCs) of control and isoproterenol (Iso)-induced hypertrophied rabbits. METHODS AND RESULTS Kir current amplitude and Kir channel protein expression were definitely lower in the Iso-induced hypertrophied model than in the control. I...

Preeclampsia is a common pregnancy complication in the latter half of gestation diagnosed by hypertension and proteinuria. A key feature of preeclampsia is an altered placentation with reduced trophoblast invasion. Normal placentation requires controlled invasion of trophoblasts into the maternal uterine wall, with secretion of specific proteolytic enzymes able to degrade basement membranes and...

iso-Migrastatin and related glutarimide-containing polyketides are potent inhibitors of tumor cell migration and their implied potential as antimetastatic agents for human cancers has garnered significant attention. Genome scanning of Streptomyces platensis NRRL 18993 unveiled two candidate gene clusters (088D and mgs); each encodes acyltransferase-less type I polyketide synthases commensurate ...