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Budgets have historically played a key role in management control, however; recently they have become subject of considerable debate and criticism. Some argue that the budgeting process is fundamentally flawed (Hope and Fraser, 2003a), while others argue that problems with budgeting stem from the way budgets are used (Horngren et al., 2004). Hansen et al. (2003), among others, have called for a systematic examination of these concerns against empirical evidence. This master thesis presents the results of nine interviews with controllers of SMEs, first, to update the literature on SMEs’ budgeting practices and the relating thereto controllers’ functions, second, to collect empirical evidence in order to assess budgetary criticism from the view of controllers, and third, to identify some relevant methods, which help controllers to deal with budgetary challenges. Overall, this Master Thesis indicates that budgeting represents an important instrument for almost all SMEs, whereby its design and use characteristics vary on the basis of the presence of diverse contingency factors. While the findings disclose that controllers are aware of budgetary criticism, revealing some important methods in order to overcome budgetary challenges, this master thesis also shows the importance of controllers for the budgetary process as well as the importance of budgeting for the controller itself in order to increase his standing in the organization., by Sandra Hofer, Masterarbeit Universität Innsbruck 2018

Objectives Using synchronized cultures of Plasmodium falciparum, the time- and concentration-dependent growth changes of erythrocytic parasite stages to DB75, piperaquine, OZ277 and OZ401 were investigated in vitro over a concentration range of ∼1-100× the IC50 of piperaquine, OZ277 and OZ401 and ∼10-1000× the IC50 of DB75. Methods The effects of timed in vitro exposure (1, 6, 12 or 24 h) were monitored by the incorporation of [3H]hypoxanthine into the parasite nucleic acids. Results After 1 h of exposure to the highest concentration of the compound followed by removal of the compound, the growth of all stages of P. falciparum was reduced to <34% for DB75 and 15% for piperaquine, OZ277 and OZ401 compared with untreated control parasites. At this time point, no stage-specific effects were observed at any of the concentrations. Strong inhibition (≤10% growth) of all parasite stages was observed when the parasites were exposed to 10× or 100× the IC50 of OZ277 and OZ401 for ≥6 h. At the 6 h incubation time point, DB75 was more active against mature parasite stages, with the IC50s of young ring forms elevated up to 7-fold. This trend was observed up to 12 h, but was only statistically significant at the lowest concentration. Interestingly, the stage-specific effect of DB75 on ring forms was not detectable when washing procedures were omitted. This indicates a cytostatic action of DB75 on P. falciparum ring forms. Conclusions The current study suggests that P. falciparum ring stages are less susceptible to DB75. A milder and often statistically insignificant stage-specific trend was observed for piperaquine, whereas OZ277 and OZ401 were equally active against the erythrocytic parasite stages

Auf der Suche nach neuen Antitumorwirkstoffen wurde in unsere Arbeitsgruppe eine Reihe von 2-Benzazolylhydrazonderivaten als potentielle Antitumorwirkstoffe synthetisiert. Die neuen Verbindungen wurden am National Cancer Institute (NCI, USA) auf ihre Antitumoraktivität getestet. Ergebnisse dieser NCI-60 Tests bestätigten eine hohe Antitumoraktivität der neuen Hydrazone gegen Leukämie, sowie Lungen-, Kolon-, Ovarial-, Brustkrebszellinien. Aus den Untersuchungen am NCI gingen zwei Leitstrukturen (EPH135/EPH136, GI50= 0,012-0,144 M) hervor, welche besonders zytotoxisch waren. Parallel zu den in-vitro-Studien wurden die neuen chemischen Verbindungen verschiedenen biochemischen Tests zur Aufklärung des Wirkorts unterzogen (wie z. B. Inhibition des Enzyms Ribonukleotidreduktase, Inhibition der DNA-, RNA- und Proteinsynthese, Inhibition von in der Nukleotidsynthese involvierten Enzyme oder Inhibition mehrerer Tyrosinkinasen). Mittels biochemischer Untersuchungen ist es uns jedoch bislang nicht gelungen den molekularen Wirkort ausfindig zu machen, da keines der Testergebnisse positiv war. Ziel dieser Dissertation war es, die chemischen Grundlagen zu schaffen um den biochemischen Wirkmechanismus der Hydrazone aufzuklären zu können. Wäre der molekulare Wirkort bekannt, könnten Substanzen mit verbesserter Antitumoraktivität synthetisiert werden, es könnte so auch nach Verbindungen gescreent werden, welche direkt mit dem Target wechselwirken. Mit der Aufklärung des Wirkorts der 2-Benzazolylhydrazone, könnten diese für klinische Studien als potentielle Antitumorwirkstoffe zugänglich gemacht werden. Eine wichtige chemische Methode zur Identifizierung molekularer Targets in komplexen Proteinmischungen ist das Photo-affinity labelling (PAL). Im Zuge dieser Dissertation wurden neue, nicht radioaktive, PAL-proben zum Herausfischen von Proteinen, an die diese neuen Hydrazone binden, entwickelt. Es wurden dafür Aryl(trifluoromethyl)-diazirine und Arylazidoderivate als adäquate Photo-la, In search of novel antitumor agents, our working group has synthesised a large series of 2-benzazolyhydrazones derived from -N-acyl heteroaromatics. These compounds exhibit antiproliferative activities in the low M to the nM range. Selected compounds were found to be effective proliferation inhibitors of leukaemia, colon, renal, and ovarian cancer cells in the NCI-60 cell disease oriented assay. In vivo antitumor studies further yielded two compounds (EPH135/EPH136) with significant antitumour activity. Systematic structural exploration of EPH135/EPH136 was conducted with the goal of obtaining more efficacious compounds featuring improved pharmacodynamics. The major drawback limiting the further advancement of these compounds as useful antitumour agents is that the mechanism by which they induce cell death in cancer cells is unknown. Identification of the molecular target will ease deciphering the mechanism of action of 2-benzazolyhydrazones. Photo-affinity-labelling represents a useful biochemical strategy for target identification in complex protein mixtures. This PhD thesis describes the development of novel non- radioactive photo-labelling probes, which can be used to fish out the cellular binding macromolecules of these novel anticancer agents. To conduct these studies aryl(trifluoromethyl)diazirine and aryl azido derivatives were chosen as suitable photo- labelling groups. The synthesis of the photo-affinity probes, their antiproliferative activity, and photo-reaction studies are described., vorgelegt von Sandra Hofer, Innsbruck, Univ., Diss., 2015, OeBB, (VLID)779775

In large-scale assessments, it usually does not occur that every item of the applicable item pool is administered to every examinee. Within item response theory (IRT), in particular the Rasch model (1960), this is not really a problem because item calibration works nevertheless. The different test booklets only need to be conceptualized according to a connected incomplete block design. Yet, connectedness of such a design should best be fulfilled severalfold, since deletion of some items in the course of the item pool’s IRT calibration may become necessary. The real challenge, however, is to meet constraints determined by numerous moderator variables such as different response formats and several topics of content – all the more so, if several ability dimensions are under consideration, the testing duration is strongly limited or individual scoring and feedback is an issue. In this article, we offer a report of how to deal with the resulting problems. Experience is based on the governmental project of the Austrian Educational Standards (Kubinger et al., 2007).

Objectives Using synchronized cultures of Plasmodium falciparum, the time- and concentration-dependent growth changes of erythrocytic parasite stages to DB75, piperaquine, OZ277 and OZ401 were investigated in vitro over a concentration range of ∼1-100× the IC50 of piperaquine, OZ277 and OZ401 and ∼10-1000× the IC50 of DB75. Methods The effects of timed in vitro exposure (1, 6, 12 or 24 h) were monitored by the incorporation of [3H]hypoxanthine into the parasite nucleic acids. Results After 1 h of exposure to the highest concentration of the compound followed by removal of the compound, the growth of all stages of P. falciparum was reduced to <34% for DB75 and 15% for piperaquine, OZ277 and OZ401 compared with untreated control parasites. At this time point, no stage-specific effects were observed at any of the concentrations. Strong inhibition (≤10% growth) of all parasite stages was observed when the parasites were exposed to 10× or 100× the IC50 of OZ277 and OZ401 for ≥6 h. At the 6 h incubation time point, DB75 was more active against mature parasite stages, with the IC50s of young ring forms elevated up to 7-fold. This trend was observed up to 12 h, but was only statistically significant at the lowest concentration. Interestingly, the stage-specific effect of DB75 on ring forms was not detectable when washing procedures were omitted. This indicates a cytostatic action of DB75 on P. falciparum ring forms. Conclusions The current study suggests that P. falciparum ring stages are less susceptible to DB75. A milder and often statistically insignificant stage-specific trend was observed for piperaquine, whereas OZ277 and OZ401 were equally active against the erythrocytic parasite stages