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Das Internet gewinnt für das Marketing zunehmend an Bedeutung. Dabei liegt der Fokus auf sogenannten Social-Media-Anwendungen wie Facebook, Twitter oder XING. Für Unternehmen stellt sich die Frage, ob das veränderte Mediennutzungsverhalten der Kunden eine neue Marketinglogik induziert. Eine aktuelle Untersuchung gibt Einblicke in die Chancen und Risiken, Anwendungsbedingungen und Kontextfaktoren für die Nutzung von Social Media im Marketing.
Der Kundenservice bietet für das Marketing umfangreiche Ansätze zur Differenzierung. Dabei zahlen positive Serviceerlebnisse der Kunden auf unterschiedliche Marketingziele ein. Durch Social Media stehen darüber hinaus neue Möglichkeiten für den Servicedialog zur Verfügung. Der vorliegende Beitrag beschreibt die Umsetzung dieser Möglichkeiten bei der Telekom Deutschland GmbH.
Werttreiber Lean Production
(2013)
Steigern Unternehmen, die Lean-Production-Methoden einsetzten, ihren Unternehmenswert, und wenn ja, wie sehr? Das Autorenteam der Hochschule Reutlingen hat das Zusammenspiel der Managementkonzepte Working Capital Management und Wertorientierung untersucht und stellt die ermutigenden Ergebnisse anhand je eines Szenarios für ein Großunternehmen und ein KMU vor.
The capability of the method of Immersion transmission ellipsometry (ITE) (Jung et al. Int Patent WO, 2004/109260) to not only determine three-dimensional refractive indices in anisotropic thin films (which was already possible in the past), but even their gradients along the z-direction (perpendicular to the film plane) is investigated in this paper. It is shown that the determination of orientation gradients in deep-sub-lm films becomes possible by applying ITE in combination with reflection ellipsometry. The technique is supplemented by atomic force microscopy for measuring the film thickness. For a photooriented thin film, no gradient was found, as expected. For a photo-oriented film, which was subsequently annealed in a nematic liquid crystalline phase, an order was found similar to the one applied in vertically aligned nematic displays, with a tilt angle varying along the z-direction. For fresh films, gradients were only detected for the refractive index perpendicular to the film plane, as expected.
Stent graft visualization and planning tool for endovascular surgery using finite element analysis
(2014)
Purpose: A new approach to optimize stent graft selection for endovascular aortic repair is the use of finite element analysis. Once the finite element model is created and solved, a software module is needed to view the simulation results in the clinical work environment. A new tool for Interpretation of simulation results, named Medical Postprocessor, that enables comparison of different stent graft configurations and products was designed, implemented and tested. Methods Aortic endovascular stent graft ring forces and sealing states in the vessel landing zone of three different configurations were provided in a surgical planning software using the Medical Imaging Interaction Tool Kit (MITK) Software system. For data interpretation, software modules for 2D and 3D presentations were implemented. Ten surgeons evaluated the software features of the Medical Postprocessor. These surgeons performed usability tests and answered questionnaires based on their experience with the system.
Results: The Medical Postprocessor visualization system enabled vascular surgeons to determine the configuration with the highest overall fixation force in 16 ± 6 s, best proximal sealing in 56±24 s and highest proximal fixation force in 38 ± 12 s. The majority considered the multiformat data provided helpful and found the Medical Postprocessor to be an efficient decision support system for stent graft selection. The evaluation of the user interface results in an ISONORMconform user interface (113.5 points).
Conclusion: The Medical Postprocessor visualization Software tool for analyzing stent graft properties was evaluated by vascular surgeons. The results show that the software can assist the interpretation of simulation results to optimize stent graft configuration and sizing.
Intra-operative fluoroscopy-guided assistance system for transcatheter aortic valve implantation
(2014)
A new surgical assistance system has been developed to assist the correct positioning of the AVP during transapical TAVI. The developed assistance system automatically defines the target area for implanting the AVP under live 2-D fluoroscopy guidance. Moreover, this surgical assistance system works with low levels of contrast agent for the final deployment of AVP, reducing therefore long-term negative effects, such as renal failure in the elderly and high-risk patients.
Several diseases occur due to asbestos exposure. Until today, asbestos predicted mortality and morbidity will increase because of the long latency period. Actually, the methods to investigate asbestos related disease are mostly invasive. Therefore, the aim of the present paper was to investigate, whether signals in human breath could be correlated to Asbestos related lung diseases using a multi-capillary column (MCC) connected to an ion mobility spectrometer (IMS) as non-invasive method. Here, the breath samples of 10 mL of 25 patients suffering from asbestos related diseases. This group includes patients with asbestos related pleural thickening with and without pulmonary fibrosis. Twelve healthy persons constitute the control group and the breath samples are compared with those of the BK4103 patients. In total 83 peaks are found in the IMS-Chromatogram. A discrimination was possible with p-values <0.001 for two peaks (99.9 %), <0.01 (99 %) for 5 peaks and <0.05 (95 %) for 17 peaks. The most discrimination peaks alpha pinene and 4-ethyltoluol were identified among some others with lower p-values. The corresponding Box-and-Whisker-Plots comparing both groups are presented. In addition, a decision tree including all peaks was created that shows a differentiation with alpha pinene between BK4103 (pleural plaques group) and the control group. In addition, the sensitivity was calculated to 96 %, specificity was 50 %, positive and negative predictive values were 80 % and 86 %. Ion mobility spectrometry was introduced as non-invasive method to separate both groups Asbestos related and healthy. Naturally, the findings need further confirmation on larger population groups, but encourage further investigations, too.
Children undergoing systemic chemotherapy often suffer from severe immunosuppression usually associated to severe neutropenia (neutrophils < 0.5 x 109/l). Clinical courses during those periods range from asymptomatic to septic general conditions. Development of septic symptoms can be very fast and life-threatening. Swift detection of risk factors in those patients is therefore needed. So far no early, rapid and reliable marker or tool exists. Ion-Mobility-Spectrometry coupled with a Multi-Capillary-Column (IMS-MCC) can analyze more than 600 volatile components from exhaled air within a few minutes and hence is a potential, rapid detection-tool. As a proof of concept we measured the exhaled breath of 11 patients with neutropenia and 10 healthy controls ranging from 3 to 18 years of age at the time of measurement. Ten milliliters breath samples were taken at the outpatient clinic and analyzed with an onsite IMS-MCC (BreathDiscovery, B&S Analytik, Dortmund, Germany). Dead-space-volume was adapted to two groups (small 250 ml, large 500 ml). Interestingly 59 differing peaks were measured. Eleven were significantly different (p ≤ 0.05), three of which highly significant (p ≤ 0.01) in Mann-Whitney-Rank-Sum-testing. The corresponding analytes used in the decision tree are 2-Propanol, D-Limonene and Acetone. The analytes with the lowest rank sum identified are 2-Hexanone, Iso-Propylamine and 1-Butanol. Eventually we were able to show a three-step-decision-tree, which discerns the 21 samples except one from each group. Sensitivity was 90 % and specificity was 91 %. Naturally these findings need further confirmation within a bigger population. Our pilot-study proves that Ion-Mobility-Spectrometry coupled with a Multi-Capillary-Column is a feasible rapid diagnostic tool in the setting of a pediatric oncology out-patient clinic for patients 3 years and older. Our first results furthermore encourage additional analysis as to whether patients at risk for septic events during immunosuppression can be diagnosed in advance by rapidly assessing risk factors such as Neutropenia in exhaled breath.
Ion mobility spectrometry coupled to multi capillary columns (MCC/IMS) combines highly sensitive spectrometry with a rapid separation technique. MCC\IMS is widely used for biomedical breath analysis. The identification of molecules in such a complex sample necessitates a reference database. The existing IMS reference databases are still in their infancy and do not allow to actually identify all analytes. With a gas chromatograph coupled to a mass selective detector (GC/MSD) setup in parallel to a MCC/IMS instrumentation we may increase the accuracy of automatic analyte identification. To overcome the time-consuming manual evaluation and comparison of the results of both devices, we developed a software tool MIMA (MS-IMS-Mapper), which can computationally generate analyte layers for MCC/IMS spectra by using the corresponding GC/MSD data. We demonstrate the power of our method by successfully identifying the analytes of a seven-component mixture. In conclusion, the main contribution of MIMA is a fast and easy computational method for assigning analyte names to yet un-assigned signals in MCC/IMS data. We believe that this will greatly impact modern MCC/IMS-based biomarker research by 'giving a name' to previously detected disease-specific molecules.
Online measurement of drug concentrations in patient's breath is a promising approach for individualized dosage. A direct transfer from breath- to blood-concentrations is not possible. Measured exhaled concentrations are following the blood-concentration with a delay in non-steady-state situations. Therefore, it is necessary to integrate the breath-concentration into a pharmacological model. Two different approaches for pharmacokinetic modelling are presented. Usually a 3-compartment model is used for pharmacokinetic calculations of blood concentrations. This 3-compartment model is extended with a 2-compartment model based on the first compartment of the 3-compartment model and a new lung compartment. The second approach is to calculate a time delay of changes in the concentration of the first compartment to describe the lung-concentration. Exemplarily both approaches are used for modelling of exhaled propofol. Based on time series of exhaled propofol measurements using an ion-mobility-spectrometer every minute for 346 min a correlation of calculated plasma and the breath concentration was used for modelling to deliver R2 = 0.99 interdependencies. Including the time delay modelling approach the new compartment coefficient ke0lung was calculated to ke0lung = 0.27 min−1 with R2 = 0.96. The described models are not limited to propofol. They could be used for any kind of drugs, which are measurable in patient's breath.
Die Erwartungen an Management Reporting sind hoch. Es soll immer effizienter und effektiver werden, dabei zugleich stark wachsende Datenmengen und neue komplexe Strukturen berücksichtigen. Unternehmen können auf diese Veränderungen mit unterschiedlichen Strategien reagieren. Drei Szenarien zeigen, wie das Management Reporting der Zukunft aussehen kann.
The analysis of exhaled metabolites has become a promising field of research in recent decades. Several volatile organic compounds reflecting metabolic disturbance and nutrition status have even been reported. These are particularly important for long-term measurements, as needed in medical research for detection of disease progression and therapeutic efficacy. In this context, it has become urgent to investigate the effect of fasting and glucose treatment for breath analysis. In the present study, we used amodel of ventilated rats that fasted for 12 h prior to the experiment. Ten rats per group were randomly assigned for continuous intravenous infusion without glucose or an infusion including 25 mg glucose per 100 g per hour during an observation period of 12 h. Exhaled gas was analysed using multicapillary column ion-mobility spectrometry. Analytes were identified by the BS-MCC/IMS database (version 1209; B & S Analytik, Dortmund, Germany). Glucose infusion led to a significant increase in blood glucose levels (p<0.05 at 4 h and thereafter) and cardiac output (p<0.05 at 4 h and thereafter). During the observation period, 39 peaks were found collectively. There were significant differences between groups in the concentration of ten volatile organic compounds: p<0.001 at 4 h and thereafter for isoprene, cyclohexanone, acetone, p-cymol, 2-hexanone, phenylacetylene, and one unknown compound, and p<0.001 at 8 h and thereafter for 1-pentanol, 1-propanol, and 2-heptanol. Our results indicate that for long-term measurement, fasting and the withholding of glucose could contribute to changes of volatile metabolites in exhaled air.
Engineering of large vascularized adipose tissue constructs is still a challenge for the treatment of extensive high-graded burns or the replacement of tissue after tumor removal. Communication between mature adipocytes and endothelial cells is important for homeostasis and the maintenance of adipose tissue mass but, to date, is mainly neglected in tissue engineering strategies. Thus, new coculture strategies are needed to integrate adipocytes and endothelial cells successfully into a functional construct. This review focuses on the cross-talk of mature adipocytes and endothelial cells and considers their influence on fatty acid metabolism and vascular tone. In addition, the properties and challenges with regard to these two cell types for vascularized tissue engineering are highlighted.
Social and environmental risk management in supply chains : a survey in the clothing industry
(2015)
Almost daily, news indicates that there are environmental and social problems in globally fragmented supply chains. Even though conceptualisations of sustainable supply chain management suggest supplier-related risk management for sustainable products and processes as substantial for companies, research on how risk management for environmental and social issues in supply chains is performed has so far been neglected. This study aims at analysing both why companies in the clothing industry are performing management of social and environmental risks in their supply chain and what kind of action they are taking. Based on the literature on sustainable supply chain management and supply chain risk management as well as 10 expert interviews, a conceptual model for risk management in sustainable supply chains was developed. This model was tested in an empirical study in the clothing industry. The data were analysed by structural equation modelling. Results of the research show high statistical significance for the respective conceptual model. The main driver to perform risk management in environmental and social affairs is pressures and incentives from stakeholders. While companies’ corporate orientation mainly drives social actions, top management drives environmental affairs for differentiating themselves from competitors.
Sunlight has various effects on human health. Several important metabolic processes are only enabled by sunlight. But longtime sun bathing and extended outdoor activities can cause skin irritation, inflammation or even skin cancer due to high radiation dose. We developed in vitro skin models of different complexity to investigate UV-light associated skin damage. Substances and their phototoxic, sun protective or photo-sensitizing potential can be analyzed to prevent white skin cancer.
Planungsprozesse sind komplex und aufwendig. Damit Unternehmen ihre operative Planung schneller und effizienter erstellen können, sollten sie sich an 14 erfolgskritischen Faktoren orientieren. So stellen sie sicher, dass die Planung die strategischen Ziele widerspiegelt, der Aufwand im Rahmen bleibt und die Datenqualität zieladäquat ist.
IOS 2.0 : new aspects on inter-organizational integration through enterprise 2.0 technologies
(2015)
This special theme of „Electronic Markets“ focuses on research concerned with the use of social technologies and "2.0" principles in the interaction between organization (i.e., with "inter-organizational systems (IOS) 2.0"). This theme falls within the larger space of Enterprise 2.0 research, but focuses in particular on inter-organizational use (between enterprises), not intra-organizational use (in a single enterprise). While there is great interest in practice regarding the use of 2.0 technologies to support intra-organizational communication, collaboration and interaction, information systems (IS) research has largely been oblivious to this important use of social technologies.
Intuition ist im Management schon längst kein Randthema mehr. Die fruchtbare Wirkung der Intuition ist jedoch vielfach nachgewiesen worden. Trotzdem schwebt stellenweise der Schleier der Esoterik über diesem Thema. Zu Unrecht. Seinen "guten Riecher" hat der erfolgreiche Spitzenverkäufer doch schon immer benutzt. Eine Studie zur Rolle der Intuition im Verkaufsprozess beleuchtet dieses faszinierende Thema.
Die Kundenprozesse im Blick
(2015)
Die Vorgehensweise im Vertriebsprozess hat sich in den letzten Jahren gewandelt. Zunehmend lässt sich eine Abkehr vom bloßen, preisorientierten Verkaufen hin zu einer Orientierung an Werten beobachten. Dieses Umdenken bringt weitläufige Veränderungen mit sich. Denn auch im Vertriebstraining muss zukünftig anders geschult werden. Diese faszinierende Entwicklung war Gegenstand der nachfolgenden Studie.
Wer mit Argumenten Veränderungen bewirken will, muss seine Ansprechpartner für seine Lösungsansätze gewinnen. Ob dies gelingt, ist heutzutage keine Frage von rhetorischem Talent und Charisma mehr. Denn Techniken des Storylinings und Storytellings machen eine Professionalisierung betriebswirtschaftlicher Argumentation und Gedankenführung für jedermann möglich.
Kennzahlen zur Liquidität
(2016)
Eine gut funktionierende Logistik ist ein wichtiger Wettbewerbsfaktor. Um ihren Beitrag zum Unternehmenserfolg ermitteln zu können, müssen ihre Kosten aber bestimmbar sein. Daran hapert es häufig. Dabei gibt es Ansätze, um Logistikkosten von anderen Kosten abzugrenzen. Unternehmen müssen nur konkrete Regeln für ihren Einsatz berücksichtigen.
Fremdkapital ist aktuell „billig“, doch die Investitionstätigkeit von Unternehmen bleibt zurückhaltend. Wer investieren möchte, muss in erster Linie die Höhe der Kapitalkosten berücksichtigen, die im Gegensatz zu den Zinsen nur leicht gesunken sind. Controller brauchen geeignete Ansätze, um zukünftige Kapitalkosten in Investitionsentscheidungen einzubeziehen.
New drugs serving unmet medical needs are one of the key value drivers of research-based pharmaceutical companies. The efficiency of research and development (R&D), defined as the successful approval and launch of new medicines (output) in the rate of the monetary investments required for R&D (input), has declined since decades. We aimed to identify, analyze and describe the factors that impact the R&D efficiency. Based on publicly available information, we reviewed the R&D models of major research-based pharmaceutical companies and analyzed the key challenges and success factors of a sustainable R&D output. We calculated that the R&D efficiencies of major research-based pharmaceutical companies were in the range of USD 3.2–32.3 billion (2006–2014). As these numbers challenge the model of an innovation-driven pharmaceutical industry, we analyzed the concepts that companies are following to increase their R&D efficiencies: (A) Activities to reduce portfolio and project risk, (B) activities to reduce R&D costs, and (C) activities to increase the innovation potential. While category A comprises measures such as portfolio management and licensing, measures grouped in category B are outsourcing and risk-sharing in late-stage development. Companies made diverse steps to increase their innovation potential and open innovation, exemplified by open source, innovation centers, or crowdsourcing, plays a key role in doing so. In conclusion, research-based pharmaceutical companies need to be aware of the key factors, which impact the rate of innovation, R&D cost and probability of success. Depending on their company strategy and their R&D set-up they can opt for one of the following open innovators: knowledge creator, knowledge integrator or knowledge leverager.
Current techniques for chromosome analysis need to be improved for rapid, economical identification of complex chromosomal defects by sensitive and selective visualisation. In this paper, we present a straightforward method for characterising unstained human metaphase chromosomes. Backscatter imaging in a dark-field setup combined with visible and short near-infrared spectroscopy is used to monitor morphological differences in the distribution of the chromosomal fine structure in human metaphase chromosomes. The reasons for the scattering centres in the fine structure are explained. Changes in the scattering centres during preparation of the metaphases are discussed. FDTD simulations are presented to substantiate the experimental findings. We show that local scattering features consisting of underlying spectral modulations of higher frequencies associated with a high variety of densely packed chromatin can be represented by their scatter profiles even on a sub-microscopic level. The result is independent of the chromosome preparation and structure size. This analytical method constitutes a rapid, costeffective and label-free cytogenetic technique which can be used in a standard light microscope.
The influence of turbidity on the Raman signal strengths of condensed matter is theoretically analyzed and measured with laboratory - scale equipment for remote sensing. The results show the quantitative dependence of back- and forward-scattered signals on the thickness and elastic-scattering properties of matter. In the extreme situation of thin, highly turbid layers, the measured Raman signal strengths exceed their transparent analogs by more than a factor of ten. The opposite behavior is found for thick layers of low turbidity, where the presence of a small amount of scatterers leads to a decrease of the measured signal. The wide range of turbidities appearing in nature is experimentally realized with stacked polymer layers and solid/liquid dispersions, and theoretically modeled by the equation of radiative transfer using the analytical diffusion approximation or random walk simulations.
Purpose: Human breath analysis is proposed with increasing frequency as a useful tool in clinical application. We performed this study to find the characteristic volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the exhaled breath of patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) for discrimination from healthy subjects. Methods: VOCs in the exhaled breath of 40 IPF patients and 55 healthy controls were measured using a multi-capillary column and ion mobility spectrometer. The patients were examined by pulmonary function tests, blood gas analysis, and serum biomarkers of interstitial pneumonia. Results: We detected 85 VOC peaks in the exhaled breath of IPF patients and controls. IPF patients showed 5 significant VOC peaks; p-cymene, acetoin, isoprene, ethylbenzene, and an unknown compound. The VOC peak of p-cymene was significantly lower (p < 0.001), while the VOC peaks of acetoin, isoprene, ethylbenzene, and the unknown compound were significantly higher (p < 0.001 for all) compared with the peaks of controls. Comparing VOC peaks with clinical parameters, negative correlations with VC (r =−0.393, p = 0.013), %VC (r =−0.569, p < 0.001), FVC (r = −0.440, p = 0.004), %FVC (r =−0.539, p < 0.001), DLco (r =−0.394, p = 0.018), and %DLco (r =−0.413, p = 0.008) and a positive correlation with KL-6 (r = 0.432, p = 0.005) were found for p-cymene. Conclusion: We found characteristic 5 VOCs in the exhaled breath of IPF patients. Among them, the VOC peaks of p-cymene were related to the clinical parameters of IPF. These VOCs may be useful biomarkers of IPF.
Newly developed active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) are often poorly soluble in water. As a result the bioavailability of the API in the human body is reduced. One approach to overcome this restriction is the formulation of amorphous solid dispersions (ASDs), e.g., by hot-melt extrusion (HME). Thus, the poorly soluble crystalline form of the API is transferred into a more soluble amorphous form. To reach this aim in HME, the APIs are embedded in a polymer matrix. The resulting amorphous solid dispersions may contain small amounts of residual crystallinity and have the tendency to recrystallize. For the controlled release of the API in the final drug product the amount of crystallinity has to be known. This review assesses the available analytical methods that have been recently used for the characterization of ASDs
and the quantification of crystalline API content. Well established techniques like near- and mid-infrared spectroscopy (NIR and MIR, respectively), Raman spectroscopy, and emerging ones like UV/VIS, terahertz, and ultrasonic spectroscopy are considered in detail. Furthermore, their advantages and limitations are discussed with regard to general practical applicability as process analytical technology (PAT) tools in industrial manufacturing. The review focuses on spectroscopic methods which have been proven as most suitable for in-line and on-line process analytics. Further aspects are spectroscopic techniques that have been or could be integrated into an extruder.
Wege der Gewinnermittlung
(2017)
Macht ein Unternehmen Gewinn, heißt dies nicht notwendigerweise, dass alles „in trockenen Tüchern“ ist. Die entscheidende Frage ist, wie der Gewinn ermittelt wurde, denn nur mit dem richtigen Verfahren erhält man auch den geeigneten Blickwinkel – auf den Erfolg eines einzelnen Geschäfts, auf den Gewinn einer Periode, auf das Betriebsvermögen, auf die Liquidität oder auf die Bilanz.
EBIT & Co.
(2017)
Eine ganze Reihe von Kennzahlen wird in der Betriebswirtschaftslehre zur Ermittlung und Steuerung des Unternehmensgewinns verwendet. Doch nicht alle eignen sich für denselben Zweck. Je nach Fragestellung sollten unterschiedliche Kennzahlen herangezogen werden. Ihre Interpretation muss nicht zuletzt auch branchenspezifisch erfolgen.
Eine realistische Risikoeinschätzung ist Basis von verantwortungsvollen Unternehmensentscheidungen. Doch wie lassen sich Risiken richtig einschätzen? Verschiedene Instrumente des Risiko-Managements erlauben es, Risiken systematisch zu identifizieren, zu quantifizieren, zu bewerten und zu dokumentieren.
Risiken sind per se nichts Schlechtes, wenn der dadurch erzielte Ertrag für das eingegangene Risiko angemessen ist. Dieser Zusammenhang wird allerdings nicht immer verstanden – einer der Gründe für die Finanzkrise von 2008/09. Die in diesem Beitrag vorgestellten Kennzahlen zeigen, wie man Risiken mit erzielten oder möglichen Erträgen ins Verhältnis setzen kann.
Wer in ein Unternehmen investiert, tut dies, um in Zukunft Geld zu verdienen. Er rechnet mit einer risikoadäquaten Rendite. Die Auswahl der Kennzahlen, die diese Wertsteigerung transparent machen, ist allerdings nicht trivial. Denn von ihnen hängt ab, ob die Unternehmensziele richtig vorgegeben und ob die Anreize für das Management richtig gesetzt werden.
Umsatz und Gewinne stagnieren auf hohem Niveau, und dennoch steigen der Aktienkurs und der Gewinn pro Aktie – eine Entwicklung, die sich etwa bei Apple oder Ebay beobachten lässt. Aktionäre sollten wissen, welche Arithmetik sich hinter solchen Entwicklungen verbirgt und mit welchen Verfahren sie den Unternehmenswert am besten ermitteln können.
This paper studies whether a monetary union can be managed solely by a rule based approach. The Five Presidents’ Report of the European Union rejects this idea. It suggests a centralisation of powers. We analyse the philosophy of policy rules from the vantage point of the German economic school of thought. There is evidence that a monetary union consisting of sovereign states is well organised by rules, together with the principle of subsidiarity. The root cause of the euro crisis is rather the weak enforcement of rules, compounded by structural problems. Therefore, we suggest a genuine rule-based paradigm for a stable future of the Economic and Monetary Union.
Die weiterhin hohen Schulden in einigen Staaten der Europäischen Wirtschafts- und Währungsunion lassen nach wie vor staatliche Insolvenzen befürchten. Um die entstandenen Probleme zu bewältigen, aber auch damit eine solche Situation erst gar nicht eintritt, hält der Autor eine staatliche Insovenzordnung – mit Bail-out durch die anderen Mitgliedstaaten nur in Notfällen – für erforderlich. Er schlägt einen staatlichen Abwicklungsmechanismus für überschuldete Euro-Länder vor, der auf einem Konzept des Sachverständigenrates für Wirtschaft von 2016 beruht.
This paper presents an approach for label-free brain tumor tissue typing. For this application, our dual modality microspectroscopy system combines inelastic Raman scattering spectroscopy and Mie elastic light scattering spectroscopy. The system enables marker-free biomedical diagnostics and records both the chemical and morphologic changes of tissues on a cellular and subcellular level. The system setup is described and the suitability for measuring morphologic features is investigated.
To evaluate the quality of sleep, it is important to determine how much time was spent in each sleep stage during the night. The gold standard in this domain is an overnight polysomnography (PSG). But the recording of the necessary electrophysiological signals is extensive and complex and the environment of the sleep laboratory, which is unfamiliar to the patient, might lead to distorted results. In this paper, a sleep stage detection algorithm is proposed that uses only the heart rate signal, derived from electrocardiogram (ECG), as a discriminator. This would make it possible for sleep analysis to be performed at home, saving a lot of effort and money. From the heart rate, using the fast Fourier transformation (FFT), three parameters were calculated in order to distinguish between the different sleep stages. ECG data along with a hypnogram scored by professionals was used from Physionet database, making it easy to compare the results. With an agreement rate of 41.3%, this approach is a good foundation for future research.
In this paper a method for the generation of gSPM with ontology-based generalization was presented. The resulting gSPM was modeled with BPMN/BPMNsix in an efficient way and could be executed with BPMN workflow engines. In the next step the implementation of resource concepts, anatomical structures, and transition probabilities for workflow execution will be realized.
High quality decorative laminate panels typically consist of two major types of components: the surface layers comprising décor and overlay papers that are impregnated with melamine-based resins, and the core which is made of stacks of kraft papers impregnated with phenolic (PF) resin. The PF-impregnated layers impart superior hydrolytic stability, mechanical strength and fire-resistance to the composite. The manufacturing involves the complex interplay between resin, paper and impregnation/drying processes. Changes in the input variables cause significant alterations in the process characteristics and adaptations of the used materials and specific process conditions may, in turn, be required. This review summarizes the main variables influencing both processability and technological properties of phenolic resin impregnated papers and laminates produced therefrom. It is aimed at presenting the main influences from the involved components (resin and paper), how these may be controlled during the respective process steps (resin preparation and paper production), how they influence the impregnation and lamination conditions, how they affect specific aspects of paper and laminate performance, and how they interact with each other
(synergies).
This article provides a general overview of the most promising candidates of bio based materials and deals with the most important issues when it comes to their incorporation into PF resins. Due to their abundance on Earth, much knowledge of lignin-based materials has already been gained and uses of lignin in PF resins have been studied for many decades. Other natural polyphenols that are less frequently considered for impregnation are covered as well, as they do also possess some potential for PF substitution.
Characterisation of porous knitted titanium for replacement of intervertebral disc nucleus pulposus
(2017)
Effective restoration of human intervertebral disc degeneration is challenged by numerous limitations of the currently available spinal fusion and arthroplasty treatment strategies. Consequently, use of artificial biomaterial implant is gaining attention as a potential therapeutic strategy. Our study is aimed at investigating and characterizing a novel knitted titanium (Ti6Al4V) implant for the replacement of nucleus pulposus to treat early stages of chronic intervertebral disc degeneration. Specific knitted geometry of the scaffold with a porosity of 67.67 ± 0.824% was used to overcome tissue integration failures. Furthermore, to improve the wear resistance without impairing original mechanical strength, electro-polishing step was employed. Electro-polishing treatment changed a surface roughness from 15.22 ± 3.28 to 4.35 ± 0.87 μm without affecting its wettability which remained at 81.03 ± 8.5°. Subsequently, cellular responses of human mesenchymal stem cells (SCP1 cell line) and human primary chondrocytes were investigated which showed positive responses in terms of adherence and viability. Surface wettability was further enhanced to super hydrophilic nature by oxygen plasma treatment, which eventually caused substantial increase in the proliferation of SCP1 cells and primary chondrocytes. Our study implies that owing to scaffolds physicochemical and biocompatible properties, it could improve the clinical performance of nucleus pulposus replacement.
Empirical software engineering experts on the use of students and professionals in experiments
(2018)
Using students as participants remains a valid simplification of reality needed in laboratory contexts. It is an effective way to advance software engineering theories and technologies but, like any other aspect of study settings, should be carefully considered during the design, execution, interpretation, and reporting of an experiment. The key is to understand which developer population portion is being represented by the participants in an experiment. Thus, a proposal for describing experimental participants is put forward.
The focus of the developed maturity model was set on processes. The concept of the widespread CMM and its practices has been transferred to the perioperative domain and the concept of the new maturity model. Additional optimization goals and technological as well as networking-specific aspects enable a process- and object-focused view of the maturity model in order to ensure broad coverage of different subareas. The evaluation showed that the model is applicable to the perioperative field. Adjustments and extensions of the maturity model are future steps to improve the rating and classification of the new maturity model.
Background: Internationally, teledermatology has proven to be a viable alternative to conventional physical referrals. Travel cost and referral times are reduced while patient safety is preserved. Especially patients from rural areas benefit from this healthcare innovation. Despite these established facts and positive experiences from EU neighboring countries like the Netherlands or the United Kingdom, Germany has not yet implemented store-and-forward teledermatology in routine care.
Methods: The TeleDerm study will implement and evaluate store-and-forward teledermatology in 50 general practitioner (GP) practices as an alternative to conventional referrals. TeleDerm aims to confirm that the possibility of store-and-forward teledermatology in GP practices is going to lead to a 15% (n = 260) reduction in referrals in the intervention arm. The study uses a cluster-randomized controlled trial design. Randomization is planned for the cluster “county”. The main observational unit is the GP practice. Poisson distribution of referrals is assumed. The evaluation of secondary outcomes like acceptance, enablers and barriers uses a mixed methods design with questionnaires and interviews.
Discussion: Due to the heterogeneity of GP practice organization, patient management software, information technology service providers, GP personal technical affinity and training, we expect several challenges in implementing teledermatology in German GP routine care. Therefore, we plan to recruit 30% more GPs than required by the power calculation. The implementation design and accompanying evaluation is expected to deliver vital insights into the specifics of implementing telemedicine in German routine care.
Historically, research and development (R&D) in the pharmaceutical sector has predominantly been an in-house activity. To enable investments for game changing late-stage assets and to enable better and less costly go/no-go decisions, most companies have employed a fail early paradigm through the implementation of clinical proof-of-concept organizations. To fuel their pipelines, some pioneers started to complement their internal R&D efforts through collaborations as early as the 1990s. In recent years, multiple extrinsic and intrinsic factors induced an opening for external sources of innovation and resulted in new models for open innovation, such as open sourcing, crowdsourcing, public–private partnerships, innovations centres, and the virtualization of R&D. Three factors seem to determine the breadth and depth regarding how companies approach external innovation: (1) the company’s legacy, (2) the company’s willingness and ability to take risks and (3) the company’s need to control IP and competitors. In addition, these factors often constitute the major hurdles to effectively leveraging external opportunities and assets. Conscious and differential choices of the R&D and business models for different companies and different divisions in the same company seem to best allow a company to fully exploit the potential of both internal and external innovations.
Container virtualization evolved into a key technology for deployment automation in line with the DevOps paradigm. Whereas container management systems facilitate the deployment of cloud applications by employing container based artifacts, parts of the deployment logic have been applied before to build these artifacts. Current approaches do not integrate these two deployment phases in a comprehensive manner. Limited knowledge on application software and middleware encapsulated in container-based artifacts leads to maintainability and configuration issues. Besides, the deployment of cloud applications is based on custom orchestration solutions leading to lock in problems. In this paper, we propose a two-phase deployment method based on the TOSCA standard. We present integration concepts for TOSCA-based orchestration and deployment automation using container-based artifacts. Our two-phase deployment method enables capturing and aligning all the deployment logic related to a software release leading to better maintainability. Furthermore, we build a container management system, which is composed of a TOSCA-based orchestrator on Apache Mesos, to deploy container-based cloud applications automatically.