Engineering the Virtual Enterprise: An Architecture-Driven Modeling Approach

The managerial and organization practices required by an increasingly dynamic competitive manufacturing, business, and industrial environment include the formation of “virtual enterprises.” A major concern in the management of virtual enterprises is the integration and coordination of business processes contributed by partner enterprises. The traditional methods of process modeling currently used for the design of business processes do not fully support the needs of the virtual enterprise. The design of these virtual enterprises imposes requirements that make it more complex than conventional intraorganizational business process design. This paper first describes an architecture that assists in the design of the virtual enterprise. Then it discusses business process reengineering (BPR) as a methodology for modeling and designing virtual organizations. While BPR presents many useful tools, the approach itself and the modeling tools commonly used for redesign have fundamental shortcomings when dealing with the virtual enterprise. However, several innovative modeling approaches provide promise for this problem. The paper discusses some of these innovative modeling approaches, such as object-oriented modeling of business processes, agent modeling of organizational players, and the use of ontological modeling to capture and manipulate knowledge about the players and processes. The paper concludes with a conceptual modeling methodology that combines these approaches under the enterprise architecture for the design of virtual enterprises.     

Identification of mouse langerin/CD207 in Langerhans cells and some dendritic cells of lymphoid tissues.

Human (h)Langerin/CD207 is a C-type lectin of Langerhans cells (LC) that induces the formation of Birbeck granules (BG). In this study, we have cloned a cDNA-encoding mouse (m)Langerin. The predicted protein is 66% homologous to hLangerin with conservation of its particular features. The organization of human and mouse Langerin genes are similar, consisting of six exons, three of which encode the carbohydrate recognition domain. The mLangerin gene maps to chromosome 6D, syntenic to the human gene on chromosome 2p13. mLangerin protein, detected by a mAb as a 48-kDa species, is abundant in epidermal LC in situ and is down-regulated upon culture. A subset of cells also expresses mLangerin in bone marrow cultures supplemented with TGF-beta. Notably, dendritic cells in thymic medulla are mLangerin-positive. By contrast, only scattered cells express mLangerin in lymph nodes and spleen. mLangerin mRNA is also detected in some nonlymphoid tissues (e.g., lung, liver, and heart). Similarly to hLangerin, a network of BG form upon transfection of mLangerin cDNA into fibroblasts. Interestingly, substitution of a conserved residue (Phe(244) to Leu) within the carbohydrate recognition domain transforms the BG in transfectant cells into structures resembling cored tubules, previously described in mouse LC. Our findings should facilitate further characterization of mouse LC, and provide insight into a plasticity of dendritic cell organelles which may have important functional consequences.     

Testing the effect of individual scent compounds on pollinator attraction in nature using quasi-isogenic Capsella lines

Premise

Floral scent, usually consisting of multiple compounds, is a complex trait, and its role in pollinator attraction has received increasing attention. However, disentangling the effect of individual floral scent compounds is difficult due to the complexity of isolating the effect of single compounds by traditional methods.

Methods

Using available quasi-isogenic lines (qILs) that were generated as part of the original mapping of the floral scent volatile-related loci CNL1 (benzaldehyde) and TPS2 (β-ocimene) in Capsella, we generated four genotypes that should only differ in these two compounds. Plants of the four genotypes were introduced into a common garden outside the natural range of C. rubella or C. grandiflora, with individuals of a self-compatible C. grandiflora line as pollen donors, whose different genetic background facilitates the detection of outcrossing events. Visitors to flowers of all five genotypes were compared, and the seeds set during the common-garden period were collected for high-throughput amplicon-based sequencing to estimate their outcrossing rates.

Results

Benzaldehyde and β-ocimene emissions were detected in the floral scent of corresponding genotypes. While some pollinator groups showed specific visitation preferences depending on scent compounds, the outcrossing rates in seeds did not vary among the four scent-manipulated genotypes.

Conclusions

The scent-manipulated Capsella materials constructed using qILs provide a powerful system to study the ecological effects of individual floral scent compounds under largely natural environments. In Capsella, individual benzaldehyde and β-ocimene emission may act as attractants for different types of pollinators.

     

Ultradian cycles in mice: definitions and links with REMS and NREMS

Sleep can be organized in two quite different ways across homeothermic species: either in one block (monophasic), or in several bouts across the 24 h (polyphasic). Yet, the main relationships between variables, as well as regulating mechanisms, are likely to be similar. Correlations and theories on sleep regulation should thus be examined on both types of sleepers. In previous studies on monophasic humans, we have shown preferential links between the number of ultradian cycles and the rapid eye movement sleep (REMS) time, rather than with its counterpart non-rapid eye movement sleep (NREMS). Here, the sleep of 26 polyphasic mice was examined, both to better describe the NREMS distribution, which is far more complex than in humans, and to replicate the analyses performed on humans. As in humans, the strongest links with the number of cycles were with REMS. Links were not significant with NREMS taken as a whole, although positive correlations were found with the NREMS immediately preceding REMS episodes and inversely significant with the residue. This convergence between monophasic and polyphasic patterns supports the central role played by REMS in sleep alternation.     

Electrophysiological maturation of neurons of the lateral geniculate nucleus after lesion of ponto-geniculo-occipital pathways in kittens

Bilateral mesencephalic lesions, which suppress the PGO activity in the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN), were performed at two weeks of age in the kitten, and the effects on the electrophysiological development of this nucleus were analyzed at 6 weeks of age. The latencies of LGN cells after electrical stimulation of the optic chiasma were larger, and the number of the differentiated X cells was smaller than those of age paired controls. However, the response of the ganglion fibers was not modified. These results, compared to those obtained on 30 days old kittens, and on animals with a unilateral lesion, suggest that the suppression of PGO inputs to the LGN induced a delay in the electrophysiological maturation of this nucleus.     

Natural genetic variation drives microbiome selection in the Caenorhabditis elegans gut

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The crop milk: a potential new route for carotenoid-mediated parental effects

Allocation of carotenoid pigments, either through nutritional provisioning or from endogenous reserves, makes up a form of non-genetic parental investment to progeny that may contribute to fitness. To date, carotenoids derived from endogenous reserves have been acknowledged as important vectors in translating only avian female phenotype and environmental conditions experienced prior to laying. Here, we show that in columbidae, crop milk delivered by both parents may provide chicks with a large amount of endogenous carotenoids at the postzygotic stage. Major carotenoids were xanthophylls and beta-carotene, but their concentrations showed large variation among individuals. Interestingly, a large amount of this variation was explained by brood identity, suggesting either environmental influences and/or phenotypic influences on a parent's ability to transfer these biomolecules. Our study therefore illuminates a potential new route for endogenous carotenoid-mediated parental effects.     

Riverscape genetics in brook lamprey: genetic diversity is less influenced by river fragmentation than by gene flow with the anadromous ecotype

Understanding the effect of human-induced landscape fragmentation on gene flow and evolutionary potential of wild populations has become a major concern. Here, we investigated the effect of riverscape fragmentation on patterns of genetic diversity in the freshwater resident European brook lamprey (Lampetra planeri) that has a low ability to pass obstacles to migration. We tested the hypotheses of (i) asymmetric gene flow following water current and (ii) an effect of gene flow with the closely related anadromous river lamprey (L. fluviatilis) ecotype on L. planeri genetic diversity. We genotyped 2472 individuals, including 225 L. fluviatilis, sampled from 81 sites upstream and downstream barriers to migration, in 29 western European rivers. Linear modelling revealed a strong positive relationship between genetic diversity and the distance from the river source, consistent with expected patterns of decreased gene flow into upstream populations. However, the presence of anthropogenic barriers had a moderate effect on spatial genetic structure. Accordingly, we found evidence for downstream-directed gene flow, supporting the hypothesis that barriers do not limit dispersal mediated by water flow. Downstream L. planeri populations in sympatry with L. fluviatilis displayed consistently higher genetic diversity. We conclude that genetic drift and slight downstream gene flow drive the genetic make-up of upstream L. planeri populations whereas gene flow between ecotypes maintains higher levels of genetic diversity in L. planeri populations sympatric with L. fluviatilis. We discuss the implications of these results for the design of conservation strategies of lamprey, and other freshwater organisms with several ecotypes, in fragmented dendritic river networks.Subject terms: Conservation biology, Ecological genetics, Evolutionary genetics, Genetic variation     

Front Cover: Photoacoustic imaging of the human placental vasculature (J. Biophotonics 4/2020)

Successful therapy of twin‐to‐twin transfusion syndrome requires accurate imaging to guide laser photocoagulation of the anastomosing placental vessels. Photoacoustic (PA) imaging is an alternative imaging method that provides contrast for hemoglobin, and in this study, it was used to visualize chorionic superficial and subsurface vasculature in human placentas. The strong potential of PA imaging to guide minimally invasive fetal therapies was demonstrated. Further details can be found in the article by Efthymios Maneas, Rosalind Aughwane, Nam Huynh, et al. ( e201900167 ).