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Computers are increasingly used in teams in various contexts, for example in negotiations. Especially when using computer-support for decision making processes, it is an important question whether active collaboration within the team - for example via audio-conference - has additional benefits beyond the supply of full task-relevant information via computer. In team negotiations, team representatives are only able to represent the whole team, if diverse preferences of the team members are aligned prior to the negotiation. In an experimental study with 150 participants, we provided team members with the complete information about each other's preferences during an either collaboratively (computer-mediated) or seperately conducted computer-supported negotiation preparation and subsequently asked them for their priorities as representatives of the team. Our results showed that providing complete task-relevant information via computer is insufficient to compensate for the absence of active collaboration within the team.
Polycaprolactone (PCL) was electrospun with the addition of arginine (Arg), an α-amino acid that accelerates the haeling process. The efficient needleless electrospinning technique was used for the fabrication of the nanofibrous layers. The materials produced consisted mainly of fibers with diameters of between 200 and 400 nm. Moreover, both microfibers and beads were present within the layers. Higher bead sized were observed with the increased addition of arginine.
Today, virtualizing pharma R&D is increasingly related with data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI), technologies that have been developed by software companies outside the healthcare sector. The process of virtualizing pharma R&D is closely related to the technological advancements that result in the generation of large data sets ranging from genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, medical imaging, IoT wearables and large clinical trials, making it necessary for pharma companies to find new ways to store and ultimately analyze information. As a consequence, pharma companies are experimenting with AI in R&D ranging from in-silico drug design to clinical trail participants identification or dosage error reduction.
We report the temperature dependence of metal-enhanced fluorescence (MEF) of individual photosystem I (PSI) complexes from Thermosynechococcus elongatus (T. elongatus) coupled to gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). A strong temperature dependence of shape and intensity of the emission spectra is observed when PSI is coupled to AuNPs. For each temperature, the enhancement factor (EF) is calculated by comparing the intensity of individual AuNP-coupled PSI to the mean intensity of ‘uncoupled’ PSI. At cryogenic temperature (1.6 K) the average EF was 4.3-fold. Upon increasing the temperature to 250 K the EF increases to 84-fold. Single complexes show even higher EFs up to 441.0-fold. At increasing temperatures the different spectral pools of PSI from T. elongatus become distinguishable. These pools are affected differently by the plasmonic interactions and show different enhancements. The remarkable increase of the EFs is explained by a rate model including the temperature dependence of the fluorescence yield of PSI and the spectral overlap between absorption and emission spectra of AuNPs and PSI, respectively.
Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) affect a large number of children both in the Russian Federation and in Germany. Early diagnosis is key for these children, because the sooner parents notice such disorders in a child and the rehabilitation and treatment program starts, the higher the likelihood of his social adaptation. The difficulties in raising such a child lie in the complexity of his learning outside of children's groups and the complexity of his medical care. In this regard, the development of digital applications that facilitate medical care and education of such children at home is important and relevant. The purpose of the project is to improve the availability and quality of healthcare and social adaptation at home of children with ASD through the use of digital technologies.
After more than three decades of electronic design automation, most layouts for analog integrated circuits are still handcrafted in a laborious manual fashion today. This book presents Self-organized Wiring and Arrangement of Responsive Modules (SWARM), a novel interdisciplinary methodology addressing the design problem with a decentralized multi-agent system. Its basic approach, similar to the roundup of a sheep herd, is to let autonomous layout modules interact with each other inside a successively tightened layout zone. Considering various principles of self-organization, remarkable overall solutions can result from the individual, local, selfish actions of the modules. Displaying this fascinating phenomenon of emergence, examples demonstrate SWARM’s suitability for floorplanning purposes and its application to practical place-and-route problems. From an academic point of view, SWARM combines the strengths of procedural generators with the assets of optimization algorithms, thus paving the way for a new automation paradigm called bottom-up meets top-down.
The development and preservation of children’s innate creativity as they enter their professional career has grown in importance due to fundamental changes in today’s economy and society. It is therefore key to understand how teaching strategies can contribute to educational change in the early stages of schooling. Design teaching encompasses a variety of skills that can help schools shift their focus to foster children’s natural ability to “ask why” in their search for learning how to think and create. This article presents the results of an interdisciplinary workshop involving university students aiming to develop new educational approaches to foster children’s creativity through design to be implemented in the elementary school curriculum of the German federal state Baden-Württemberg. To support the workshop participants in providing a holistic concept within a compressed time period, a sustainability framework was included to further articulate their brief. The teams who were composed of chemists, computer scientists, designers, and engineers, followed the Design Thinking process to develop their proposals. A kick-off meeting presenting results of an international qualitative survey with elementary school teachers, as well as expert input during the workshop addressing the relevant topics, provided teams with key information to define their design directions. Concepts designed by each team exhibited a comprehensive solution resulting in both the abstract “education idea” and physical embodiments of the tools. Their outputs included products, interior concepts to be implemented in classrooms, exercises as well as games to support the newly developed educational models. The benefits and limitations of these concepts along with key observations of participants’ interdisciplinary collaboration are presented and discussed herein. Future work will investigate the Design knowledge of German elementary school teachers more in depth and will involve testing the new concepts in German elementary school environments.
The aim of this paper is to examine the impact of sustainability communication in the fashion industry on the customers’ behavior with a focus on consumers’ perception regarding websites with sustainability-specific content. Based on a profound literature review, a projective method in form of two dummy websites is developed. Both websites illustrate sustainability communication with comprehensive and transparent information demonstrating a credible, trustful and serious commitment. Additionally, both sites have the same structure and an appealing, visualized website design as well as a customer oriented communication. While each website consists of almost the same aspects such as Vision & Mission, Value chain, Corporate Commitment, Working Conditions, Environment, Social Commitment and documents such as a Sustainability Report and Code of Conduct, they differ enormously in the sustainability-specific content. For instance, website 1 represents a sustainable and responsible company communicating sustainable issues about eco-friendly materials, fair working conditions, ecological production and their social commitment. It further includes eco-friendly wash and care advices as seen by reformation to remember consumers to take care of the environment, e.g. to wash cold or by using ecological detergents. In contrast, website 2 does not represent a sustainable and responsible fashion brand. It also does not communicate sustainable efforts or a sustainable engagement. Rather it is about offering trendy, low-priced fast- fashion products, produced under unfair working conditions with wages and working hours as usual terms in production countries with a focus on style and design. Regarding website 2, all raw materials have been produced conventionally in developing countries and are therefore not eco-friendly, resulting in a pollution of the environment due to long transport routes. Additionally, the website voices the wish to improve the chances for developing animal protection only minimally, showing that the company is not socially committed. Although website 2 focuses on transparency and a customer-oriented communication, it is not sustainable. Both websites are tested via an online survey. A total of 90 fashion students participated in the sample.
In order to decouple economic growth from global material consumption it is necessary to implement material efficiency strategies at the level of single enterprises and their supply chains, and to implement circular economy aspects. Manufacturing firms face multiple implementation challenges like cost limitations, competition, innovation and stakeholder pressure, and supplier and customer relationships, among others
. An extended evaluation of triggers and barriers to improve material efficiency in manufacturing companies, along the supply chain and concerning circular economy considerations is provided. This paper delivers an extended literature review, a critical discussion of the current situation and resulting challenges concerning material efficiency approaches in manufacturing supply chains. Finally, a conclusion and outlook on further research direction is given.
The surface properties of human meibomian lipids (MGS), the major constituent of the tear film (TF) lipid layer, are of key importance for TF stability. The dynamic interfacial properties of films by MGS from normal eyes (nMGS) and eyes with meibomian gland dysfunction (dMGS) were studied using a Langmuir surface balance. The behavior of the samples during dynamic area changes was evaluated by surface pressure–area isotherms and isocycles. The surface dilatational rheology of the films was examined in the frequency range 10−5 to 1 Hz by the stress-relaxation method. A significant difference was found, with dMGS showing slow viscosity-dominated relaxation at 10−4 to 10−3 Hz, whereas nMGS remained predominantly elastic over the whole range. A Cole–Cole plot revealed two characteristic processes contributing to the relaxation, fast (on the scale of characteristic time τ < 5 s) and slow (τ > 100 s), the latter prevailing in dMGS films. Brewster angle microscopy revealed better spreading of nMGS at the air–water interface, whereas dMGS layers were non-uniform and patchy. The distinctions in the interfacial properties of the films in vitro correlated with the accelerated degradation of meibum layer pattern at the air–tear interface and with the decreased stability of TF in vivo. These results, and also recent findings on the modest capability of meibum to suppress the evaporation of the aqueous subphase, suggest the need for a re-evaluation of the role of MGS. The probable key function of meibomian lipids might be to form viscoelastic films capable of opposing dilation of the air–tear interface. The impact of temperature on the meibum surface properties is discussed in terms of its possible effect on the normal structure of the film.
This book presents an empirical investigation of the efforts that multinational pharmaceutical companies take in order to find a business model that allows for a profitable access to the Bottom of the Pyramid (BoP) markets. The Bottom of the Pyramid in Africa is frequently mentioned as an attractive market due to its sheer size. Yet most companies struggle to access it because of the low price level, difficult physical market access and challenges when it comes to payment.
More specifically, the book investigates the following business model-related questions: Do pharmaceutical companies provide products that meet the needs of the BoP? What characterizes the value generation of the company? What revenue model leads to a profitable business, and what role does a network of partners play in the business model?
Findings reveal that there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ answer to these questions. Providing continuous availability, affordability at a good quality of goods and services, creating health awareness, as well as localizing business to achieve a level of inclusivenessare essential prerequisites for success. In the last chapter this book provides a business model prototype that accounts for these key success factors for business at the Bottom of the Pyramid and points to further research topics.
Stronger than they look
(2019)
Personalized remote healthcare monitoring is in continuous development due to the technology improvements of sensors and wearable electronic systems. A state of the art of research works on wearable sensors for healthcare applications is presented in this work. Furthermore, a state of the art of wearable devices, chest and wrist band and smartwatches available on the market for health and sport monitoring is presented in this paper. Many activity trackers are commercially available. The prices are continuously reducing and the performances are improving, but commercial devices do not provide raw data and are therefore not useful for research purposes.
This chapter presents the diverse facets of sports marketing in Western Europe. It showcases the most important types of sports, most significant leagues, bestknown clubs, most popular athletes and the biggest sporting events in Western Europe while elaborating on the relevant aspects of sports marketing. We examine European sportsconsumers, characterise the sports marketing market in Western Europe an explain the current scientific/academic status of sports marketing. Moreover, we illustrate the motives for the internationalisation taking place in sports marketing. In conclusion, this chapter includes an international case study on the entry of the NFL into the European market.
Power line communications (PLC) reuse the existing power-grid infrastructure for the transmission of data signals. As power line the communication technology does not require a dedicated network setup, it can be used to connect a multitude of sensors and Internet of Things (IoT) devices. Those IoT devices could be deployed in homes, streets, or industrial environments for sensing and to control related applications. The key challenge faced by future IoT-oriented narrowband PLC networks is to provide a high quality of service (QoS). In fact, the power line channel has been traditionally considered too hostile. Combined with the fact that spectrum is a scarce resource and interference from other users, this requirement calls for means to increase spectral efficiency radically and to improve link reliability. However, the research activities carried out in the last decade have shown that it is a suitable technology for a large number of applications. Motivated by the relevant impact of PLC on IoT, this paper proposed a cooperative spectrum allocation in IoT-oriented narrowband PLC networks using an iterative water-filling algorithm.
We analyze economics PhDs’ collaborations in peer-reviewed journals from 1990 to 2014 and investigate such collaborations’ quality in relation to each co-author’s research quality, field and specialization. We find that a greater overlap between co-authors’ previous research fields is significantly related to a greater publication success of co-authors’ joint work and this is robust to alternative specifications. Co-authors that engage in a distant collaboration are significantly more likely to have a large research overlap, but this significance is lost when co-authors’ social networks are accounted for. High quality collaboration is more likely to emerge as a result of an interaction between specialists and generalists with overlapping fields of expertise. Regarding interactions across subfields of economics (interdisciplinarity), it is more likely conducted by co- authors who already have interdisciplinary portfolios, than by co-authors who are specialized or starred in different subfields.
Information Systems in Distributed Environment (ISDE) is becoming a prominent standard in this globalization era due to advancement in information and communication technologies. The advent of the internet has supported Distributed Software Development (DSD) by introducing new concepts and opportunities, resulting in benefits such as scalability, flexibility, interdependence, reduced cost, resource pools, and usage tracking. The distributed development of information systems as well as their deployment and operation in distributed environments impose new challenges for software organizations and can lead to business advantages. In distributed environments, business units collaborate across time zones, organizational boundaries, work cultures and geographical distances, something that ultimately has led to an increasing diversification and growing complexity of cooperation among units. The real-world practice of developing, deployment and operation of information systems in globally distributed projects has been viewed from various perspectives, though technical and engineering in conjunction with managerial and organizational viewpoints have dominated the researcher’s attention so far. Successful participation in distributed environments, however, is ultimately a matter of the participants understanding and exploiting the particularities of their respective local contexts at specific points in time and exploring practical solutions through the local resources available.
This special issue of the Computer standards & interfaces journal therefore includes papers received from the public call for papers and extended and improved versions of those papers that were selected from the best of the International Workshop on Information Systems in Distributed Environment (ISDE 2014). It aims to serve as a forum to bring together academics, researchers, practitioners and students in the field of distributed information system, by presenting novel developments and lesson learned from real world cases, and to promote the exchange of ideas, discussion and advancement in these areas.
The very first International Workshop on Software-intensive Business: Start-ups, Ecosystems and Platforms (SiBW 2018) was held in Espoo (Greater Helsinki), Finland on December 3rd, 2018 – just a day before SLUSH 2018, the world’s biggest startup event. Thanks to the collaboration with the organizers of SLUSH, many of the software-intensive business researchers and practitioners took part also in this event.
The international workshop gathered together 35 registered attendees, from Sweden, Germany, Latvia, Finland, Italy and the Netherlands representing both academia as well as industry. The event itself was sponsored by VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and the workshop was organized by the newly founded Software-intensive Business research community together with Software Startup Research Network (SSRN).
Business process models provide a considerable number of benefits for enterprises and organizations, but the creation of such models is costly and time-consuming, which slows down the organizational adoption of business process modeling. Social paradigms pave new ways for business process modeling by integrating stakeholders and leveraging knowledge sources. However, empirical research about the impact of social paradigms on costs of business process modeling is sparse. A better understanding of their impact could help to reduce the cost of business process modeling and improve decision-making on BPM activities. The paper constributes to this field by reporting about an empirical investigation via survey research on the perceived influence of different cost factors among experts. Our results indicate that different cost components, as well as the use of social paradigms, influence cost.
Social media usage in business-to-business sales : conceptualization, antecedents, and outcomes
(2015)
In recent years, the rise of social media received significant importance in marketing research. Social media applications now provide executives with a raft of new options. Consequently, interfaces to social media platforms have also been integrated into Business to-Business (B2B) salesforce applications, although very little is as yet known about their usage and general impact on B2B sales performance. This paper evaluates 1) the conceptualization of social media usage in a dyadic B2B relationship; 2) the effects of a more differentiated usage construct on customer satisfaction; 3) antecedents of social media usage on multiple levels; and 4) the effectiveness of social media usage for different types of customers. The framework presented here is tested cross-industry against data collected from dyadic buyer seller relationships in the IT service industry. The results elucidate the preconditions and the impact of social media usage strategies in B2B sales relations.
In recent years, the rise of social media received significant importance in marketing research and practice. Consequently, interfaces to social media platforms have also been integrated into Business-to-Business (B2B) salesforce applications, although very little is as yet known about their usage and general impact on B2B sales performance. This paper evaluates 1) the conceptualization of social media usage in dyadic B2B relationships; 2) the effects of a more differentiated usage construct on customer satisfaction; 3) antecedents of social media usage on multiple levels; and 4) the effectiveness of social media usage for different types of cus-tomers. The framework presented here is tested cross-industry against data collected from dyadic buyer-seller relationships in the IT service industry. The results elucidate the precondi-tions and the impact of social media usage strategies in B2B sales relations.
The SDGs give an overview of the world's development challenges of the present and the coming decades and set a new global agenda for more inclusive and sustainable development and growth. These challenges also represent opportunities for social innovations and the creation of scalable and financially self-sustaining solutions by businesses and (social) entrepreneurs. Examples of solutions to social and ecological challenges are for instance providing low-income communities with access to affordable, quality products and services in areas such as water and sanitation, energy, health, education and finance. New business models can meet customer demands by providing solutions and thereby create opportunities for low-income people as employees, suppliers and distributors.
The digital transformation is today’s dominant business transformation having a strong influence on how digital services and products are designed in a service-dominant way. A popular underlying theory of value creation and economic exchange that is known as the service-dominant (S-D) logic can be connected to many successful digital business models. However, S-D logic by itself is abstract. Companies cannot directly use it as an instrument for business model innovation and design in an easy way. To address this a comprehensive ideation method based on S-D logic is proposed, called service-dominant design (SDD). SDD is aimed at supporting firms in the transition to a service- and value-oriented perspective. The method provides a simplified way to structure the ideation process based on four model components. Each component consists of practical implications, auxiliary questions and visualization techniques that were derived from a literature review, a use case evaluation of digital mobility and a focus group discussion. SDD represents a first step of having a toolset that can support established companies in the process of service- and value-orientation as part of their digital transformation efforts.
The transmembrane Ca2+ − activated Cl− channel - human bestrophin-1 (hBest1) is expressed in retinal pigment epithelium and mutations of BEST1 gene cause ocular degenerative diseases colectivelly referred to as “bestrophinopathies”. A large number of genetical, biochemical, biophysical and molecular biological studies have been performed to understand the relationship between structure and function of the hBest1 protein and its pathophysiological significance. Here, we review the current understanding of hBest1 surface organization, interactions with membrane lipids in model membranes, and its association with microdomains of cellular membranes. These highlights are significant for modulation of channel activity in cells.
What might the attendee be able to do after being in your session?
Our work shows how to connect intra-operative devices via IEEE 11073 Service-oriented Device Connectivity (SDC).
Description of the Problem or Gap
Standardized device communication is essential for interoperability, availability of device data, and therefore for the intelligent operating room (OR) and arising solutions. The SDC standard was developed to make information from medical devices available in a uniform manner and enable interoperability. Existing devices are rarely SDC-capable and need interfaces to be interoperable via SDC.
Methods: What did you do to address the problem or gap?
We conceived an SDC-based architecture consisting of a service provider and service consumer. In our concept, the service provider is connected to the medical device and capable to translate the proprietary protocol of the device into SDC and vice versa. The service consumer is used to request or send information via the SDC protocol to the service provider and can function as a uniform bidirectional interface (e.g. for displaying or controlling). This concept was exemplarily demonstrated with the patient monitor MX800 of Philips to retrieve the device data (e.g. vital parameters) via SDC and partly for the operating light marLED X of KLS Martin Group.
Results: What was the outcome(s) of what you did to address the problem or gap?
The patient monitor MX800 was connected to a Raspberry Pi (RPi) via LAN, on which the service provider is running. The python script on the RPi establishes a connection to the monitor and translates incoming and outgoing messages from the proprietary protocol to SDC and vice versa to/from the service consumer. The service consumer is running on a laptop and acts as a simulation for different kinds of systems that want to get vital parameters or other information from the patient monitor. The operating light marLED X was connected to an RPi via USB-to-RS232. A python script on the RPi establishes a connection to the light and makes it possible via proprietary commands to get information of the light (e.g. status) and to control it (e.g. toggle the light, increment the intensity). A translation to SDC is not integrated yet.
Discussion of Results
Our practical implementation shows that medical devices can be accessed via external connections to get device data and control the device via commands. The example SDC implementation of the patient monitor MX800 makes it possible to request its data via the standardized communication protocol SDC. This is also possible for the operating light marLED X if its proprietary protocol is analyzed to be translatable to/from SDC. This would allow to control the device from an external system, or automatically depending on the status of the ongoing procedure. The advantage is, that existing intra-operative devices can be extended by a service provider which is capable of translating the proprietary protocol of the device in SDC and vice versa. This enables interoperability and an intelligent OR that, for example, is aware of all devices, their status, and data and can use this information to optimally support the surgeons and their team (e.g. provision of information, automated documentation). This interoperability allows that future innovations merely need to understand the SDC protocol instead of all vendor-dependent communication protocols.
Conclusion
Standardized device communication is essential to reach interoperability, and therefore intelligent ORs. Our contribution addresses the possibility of subsequently making medical devices SDC-capable. This may eliminate the need of understanding all the different proprietary protocols when developing new innovative solutions for the OR.
Scheduled flexibility and individualization of knowledge transfer in foundations of computer science
(2017)
The opening of the German higher education system for new target groups involves a heterogeneous composition of students as never before and face up the universities to new challenges. Due to different educational biographies, the students don't show a homogeneous level of knowledge. Furthermore, their access to course content and their individual learning methods are very diverse. The existing lack of knowledge and the very unequal study speed have a significant influence on the learning behavior and learning motivation. During the first semesters, the dropout rate is appreciably higher. The reform project gives an overview of a didactic restructuring from a formerly conventional teaching and learning concept to a stronger combination of digital offers, combined with classical lectures in the basic modules of computer science. The teaching content is adjusted to the individual requirements and knowledge. Students with different previous knowledge get the possibility to increase their knowledge in different levels of abstraction. The aim of the reform project has to point out the possibilities, also the challenges of the digital process in higher education. At the same time the question has to be explored, how far does an accompanied and self-directed learning in own speed and in own individual depth of knowledge have a positive impact on the motivation and on the study success of a learner.
Rotating machinery occupies a predominant place in many industrial applications. However, rotating machines are often encountered with severe vibration problems. The measurement of these machines’ vibrations signal is of particular importance since it plays a crucial role in predictive maintenance. When the vibrations are too high, they often cause fatigue failure. They announce an unexpected stop or break and, consequently, a significant loss of productivity or an attack on the personnel’s safety. Therefore, fault identification at early stages will significantly enhance the machine’s health and significantly reduce maintenance costs. Although considerable efforts have been made to master the field of machine diagnostics, the usual signal processing methods still present several drawbacks. This paper examines the rotating machinery condition monitoring in the time and frequency domains. It also provides a framework for the diagnosis process based on machine learning by analyzing the vibratory signals.
The fluorescence of monomeric photosystem II core complexes (mPSIIcc) of the cyanobacterium Thermosynechococcus elongatus, originating from redissolved crystals, is investigated by using single-molecule spectroscopy (SMS) at 1.6 K. The emission spectra of individual mPSIIcc are dominated by sharp zero-phonon lines, showing the existence of different emitters compatible with the F685, F689, and F695 bands reported formerly. The intensity of F695 is reduced in single mPSIIcc as compared to single PSIIcc-dimers (dPSIIcc). Crystal structures show that one of the β-carotene (β-Car) cofactors located at the monomer–monomer interface in dPSIIcc is missing in mPSIIcc. This β-Car in dPSIIcc is in van der Waals distance to chlorophyll (Chl) 17 in the CP47 subunit. We suggest that this Chl contributes to the F695 emitter. A loss of β-Car cofactors in mPSIIcc preparations will lead to an increased lifetime of the triplet state of Chl 17, which can explain the reduced singlet emission of F695 as observed in SMS.
As businesses grow and diversify, they almost inevitably make their range of offerings more complex. Complexity brings costs - but smart use of today’s digital technologies can help companies finesse the trade-offs between complexity´s costs and benefits. Imagine a retailer that has 10 million products and hundreds of variations for each product yet keeps it simple for customers to make a choice. Impossible? Not today. Amazon.com Inc. creates value from its product complexity with simple customer-facing processes, such as search, ratings, reviews and suggestions. Now imagine a diversified high-tech company with locally differentiated products in 60 categories in more than 100 different countries. A mess of internal processes and systems? Not necessarily. Royal Philips creates value by providing locally relevant products to different markets, while keeping the vast majority of its processes standardized on digitized platforms. Until now, managing business complexity has usually involved a trade-off. This trade-off forced companies to compromise between creating value from complexity and benefiting from the efficiencies of simplicity. As businesses entered new geographies, developed new products, opened new channels and added more granular customer segments, they made their offerings more complex with the intention of adding value. But, as an almost inevitable consequence, companies also made it more difficult for customers to interact with the company and more unwieldy for employees to get things done. However, with today´s increased digitization, companies can finesse this trade-off; they can increase valueadding complexity in their product offerings while keeping processes for customers and employees simple. Our research suggests that companies operating in this "complexity sweet spot" outperform their competitors on profitability. In this article, we explain how companies achieve this breakthrough in the digital world.
Ion Mobility Spectrometry (IMS) is a widely used and ‘well-known’ technique of ion separation in the gaseous phase based on the differences of ion mobilities under an electric field. This technique has received increased interest over the last several decades as evidenced by the pace and advances of new IMS devices available. In this review we explore the hyphenated techniques that are used with IMS, specifically mass spectrometry as an identification approach and a multi-capillary column as a pre-separation approach. Also, we will pay special attention to the key figures of merit of the ion mobility spectrum and how data sets are treated, and the influences of the experimental parameters on both conventional drift time IMS (DTIMS) and miniaturized IMS also known as high Field Asymmetric IMS (FAIMS) in the planar configuration. The present review article is preceded by a companion review article which details the current instrumentation and contains the sections that configure both conventional DTIMS and FAIMS devices. These reviews will give the reader an insightful view of the main characteristics and aspects of the IMS technique.
Ion Mobility Spectrometry (IMS) is a widely used and `well-known’ technique of ion separation in the gaseous phase based on the differences in ion mobilities under an electric field. All IMS instruments operate with an electric field that provides space separation, but some IMS instruments also operate with a drift gas flow that provides also a temporal separation. In this review we will summarize the current IMS instrumentation. IMS techniques have received an increased interest as new instrumentation and have become available to be coupled with mass spectrometry (MS). For each of the eight types of IMS instruments reviewed it is mentioned whether they can be hyphenated with MS and whether they are commercially available. Finally, out of the described devices, the six most-consolidated ones are compared. The current review article is followed by a companion review article which details the IMS hyphenated techniques (mainly gas chromatography and mass spectrometry) and the factors that make the data from an IMS device change as a function of device parameters and sampling conditions. These reviews will provide the reader with an insightful view of the main characteristics and aspects of the IMS technique.
Revenue management information systems are very important in the hospitality sector. Revenue decisions can be better prepared based on different information from different information systems and decision strategies. There is a lack of research about the usage of such systems in small and medium-sized hotels and architectural configurations. Our paper empirically shows the current development of revenue information systems. Furthermore, we define future developments and requirements to improve such systems and the architectural base.
On-chip metallization, especially in modern integrated BCD technologies, is often subject to high current densities and pronounced temperature cycles due to heat dissipation from power switches like LDMOS transistors. This paper continues the work on a sensor concept where small sense lines are embedded in the metallization layers above the active area of a switching LDMOS transistor. The sensors show a significant resistance change that correlates with the number of power cycles. Furthermore, influences of sense line layer, geometry and the dissipated energy are shown. In this paper, the focus lies on a more detailed analysis of the observed change in sense line resistance.
Lithographical hotspot (LH) detection using deep learning (DL) has received much attention in the recent years. It happens mainly due to the facts the DL approach leads to a better accuracy over the traditional, state-of-the-art programming approaches. The purpose of ths study is to compare existing data augmentation (DA) techniques for the integrated circuit (IC) mask data using DL methods. DA is a method which refers to the process of creating new samples similar to the training set, thereby helping to reduce the gap between classes as well as improving the performance of the DL system. Experimental results suggest that the DA methods increase overall DL models performance for the hotspot detection tasks.
As long as there have been professional sports, there have been relationships on different levels. For example, sponsorship (or patronage as it was called in the early days) was mostly based on personal relations between the local benefactors and their favourite sports club. Regarding media, clubs always maintained special relationships with selected journalists. The bond between fans and their clubs was always a close and mutually beneficial one. All these relationships existed from the start of the sports business. Therefore, relationship marketing is nothing new in the context of sports. Many sporting organisations always knew to value a deep and good relationship with their stakeholders and practised relationship marketing without being aware of it. Successful sports managers, however, take the old wisdom and turn it into a modern relationship marketing approach by structuring the various relationships in order to make them more effective and profitable for the own sporting organisation and the various stakeholders. This chapter ... illustrates the many facets of relationship marketing and the possibilities it offers in the context of the sports business.
Relationship marketing is an important issue in every business. Knowing the customers and establishing, maintaining and enhancing long-term customer relationships is a key component of long-term business success. Considering that sport is such big business today, it is surprising that this crucial approach to marketing has yet to be fully recognised either in literature or in the sports business itself. Relationship Marketing in Sports aims to fill this void by discussing and reformulating the principles of relationship marketing and by demonstrating how relationship marketing can be successfully applied in practice within a sports context. Written by a unique author team of academic and practitioner experience, the book provides the reader with: the first book to apply the principles of relationship marketing specifically to a sports context case studies from around the world to provide a uniquely global approach applicable worldwide strong pedagogical features including learning outcomes, overviews, discussion questions, glossary, guided reading and web links practical advice for professional, semi-professional and non-professional sporting organisations a companion website providing web links, case studies and PowerPoint slides for lecturers. Relationship Marketing in Sports is crucial reading for both students and professionals alike and marks a turning point in the marketing of sports.
Herein the optimization of the physicochemical properties and surface biocompatibility of polyelectrolyte multilayers of the natural, biocompatible and biodegradable, linear polysaccharides hyaluronan and chitosan by Hofmeister anions was systematically investigated. We demonstrated that there is an interconnection between the bulk and surface properties of HA/Chi multilayers both varying in accordance with the arrangement of the anions in the Hofmeister series. Kosmotropic anions increased the hydration, thickness, micro- and macro-roughness, and hydrophilicity and improved the biocompatibility of the films by reduction (2 orders of magnitude) of the films stiffness and complete anti-thrombogenicity.
The recovery of our body and brain from fatigue directly depends on the quality of sleep, which can be determined from the results of a sleep study. The classification of sleep stages is the first step of this study and includes the measurement of vital data and their further processing. The non-invasive sleep analysis system is based on a hardware sensor network of 24 pressure sensors providing sleep phase detection. The pressure sensors are connected to an energy-efficient microcontroller via a system-wide bus. A significant difference between this system and other approaches is the innovative way in which the sensors are placed under the mattress. This feature facilitates the continuous use of the system without any noticeable influence on the sleeping person. The system was tested by conducting experiments that recorded the sleep of various healthy young people. Results indicate the potential to capture respiratory rate and body movement.
In 2015, the United Nations adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a collection of 17 global objectives to promote economic, social and ecological development in all parts of the world. While the academic discussion on the contribution of companies to the Sustainable Development Goals has recently gained momentum, the role of business-to-business (B2B) partnerships in reaching the SDGs is underexplored, particularly when it comes to North-South relationships. With our research, we aim to fill this gap in the literature by investigating sales partnerships between German manufacturers and their distributors in African markets. Based on a qualitative analysis of 28 interviews with managers of German and African companies, we show that long-term partnerships and job creation, technology transfer, training as well as high standards are significant contributions of companies to achieve the SDGs. While several SDGs such as goals 4,6,13,16 and 17 are addressed by B2B partnership, we also discuss approaches on how the firms’ engagement could be further leveraged and expanded.
Ein wichtiges Qualifikationsziel von heutigen Wirtschaftsingenieurstudien-programmen ist, Studierende dazu zu befähigen, vernetzt, ganzheitlich, interkulturell und interdisziplinär zu denken und zu handeln. Die Lehr- und Lerninnovation Quest 3C fördert durch ein integratives Blended-Learning Format sowohl die Vermittlung von grundlegendem Fachwissen als auch von berufsqualifizierenden Schlüsselkompetenzen.
Employing diffuse reflection ultraviolet visible (UV–Vis) spectroscopy we developed an approach that is capable to quantitatively determine flux residues on a technical copper surface. The technical copper surface was soldered with a no-clean flux system of organic acids. By a post-solder cleaning step with different cleaning parameters, various levels of residues were produced. The surface was quantitatively and qualitatively characterized using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and diffuse reflection UV–Vis spectroscopy. With the use of a multivariate analysis (MVA) we examined the UV–Vis data to create a correlation to the carbon content on the surface. The UV–Vis data could be discriminated for all groups by their level of organic residues. Combined with XPS the data were evaluated by a partial least squares (PLS) regression to establish a model. Based on this predictive model, the carbon content was calculated with an absolute error of 2.7 at.%. Due to the high correlation of predictive model, the easy-to-use measurement and the evaluation by multivariate analysis the developed method seems suitable for an online monitoring system. With this system, flux residues can be detected in a manufacturing cleaning process of technical surfaces after soldering.
Pultrusion of braids
(2016)
Product-Service Systems (PSS) in the fashion industry : an analysis of intra-organizational factors
(2018)
The fashion industry is a vast industry that has grown tremendously over the last decades. This growth causes significant environmental impact since the production of clothes involves high input of energy, water, chemicals and generates great volumes of waste. Even though fashion firms have started to address this challenge by adopting environmental standards, it has turned out that the sole use of eco-friendly material and new manufacturing techniques is insufficient. Instead, sustainable business models are increasingly gaining attention to solve the environmental problems. Offers to rent, swap, repair or redesign clothes are among the most prominent and promising examples. For analytical purposes, these concepts can be assigned to the growing research stream of Product-Service Systems (PSS) that shift the focus from the pure sale of a product toward complementary or substitutional service offers. This decouples customer satisfaction from material consumption, prolongs the garments' lifetime and thus diminishes both material input and appertaining waste. Besides environmental sustainability, PSS imply potential economic benefits for organizations. Particularly in highly competitive industries like the fashion industry, PSS allow firms to differentiate, better compete with cost pressure and mitigate the risk of being imitated by rivels since service is more difficult to replicate. However, fashion PSS are still mainly operated in a niche market by small firms and have yet to be anchored in the mainstream fashion industry.
Context: Currently, most companies apply approaches for product roadmapping that are based on the assumption that the future is highly predicable. However, nowadays companies are facing the challenge of increasing market dynamics, rapidly evolving technologies, and shifting user expectations. Together with the adaption of lean and agile practices it makes it increasingly difficult to plan and predict upfront which products, services or features will satisfy the needs of the customers. Therefore, they are struggling with their ability to provide product roadmaps that fit into dynamic and uncertain market environments and that can be used together with lean and agile software development practices.
Objective: To gain a better understanding of modern product roadmapping processes, this paper aims to identify suitable processes for the creation and evolution of product roadmaps in dynamic and uncertain market environments.
Method: We performed a Grey Literature Review (GLR) according to the guidelines from Garousi et al.
Results: 32 approaches to product roadmapping were identified. Typical characteristics of these processes are the strong connection between the product roadmap and the product vision, an emphasis on stakeholder alignment, the definition of business and customer goals as part of the roadmapping process, a high degree of flexibility with respect to reaching these goals, and the inclusion of validation activities in the roadmapping process. An overall goal of nearly all approaches is to avoid waste by early reducing development and business risks. From the list of the 32 approaches found, four representative roadmapping processes are described in detail.
The properties of polyelectrolyte multilayers are ruled by the process parameters employed during self-assembly. This is the first study in which a design of experiment approach was used to validate and control the production of ultrathin polyelectrolyte multilayer coatings by identifying the ranges of critical process parameters (polyelectrolyte concentration, ionic strength and pH) within which coatings with reproducible properties (thickness, refractive index and hydrophilicity) are created. Mathematical models describing the combined impact of key process parameters on coatings properties were developed demonstrating that only ionic strength and pH affect the coatings thickness, but not polyelectrolyte concentration. While the electrolyte concentration had a linear effect, the pH contribution was described by a quadratic polynomial. A significant contribution of this study is the development of a new approach to estimate the thickness of polyelectrolyte multilayer nanofilms by quantitative rhodamine B staining, which might be useful in all cases when ellipsometry is not feasible due to the shape complexity or small size of the coated substrate. The novel approach proposed here overcomes the limitations of known methods as it offers a low spatial sampling size and the ability to analyse a wide area without restrictions on the chemical composition and shape of the substrate.
The powder coating of wood products as an emerging environmentally sustainable coating technology holds promise in terms of novel product quality features for engineered wood like medium-density fiberboards (MDFs). However, one major limitation currently impeding widespread application of powder coating technology is the availability of MDF panels that are suitable for this process. Typically, special-grade MDF panels are required that are more costly than standard-grade MDF panels to provide reliable coating quality, which makes powder coating economically unattractive for many users. Methods are needed that allow extending the range of available MDF grades. In the present study, three surface pretreatment approaches for MDFs were studied to increase the processability of standard-grade MDF in the powder coating process: atmospheric plasma pretreatment, infrared irradiation, and moisture equilibration in a climate chamber prior to electrostatic powder application. While atmospheric plasma treatment had no beneficial effect on the use of standard-grade MDF panels, both infrared preheating and preconditioning of the panels under controlled temperature–humidity conditions demonstrated that the range of MDF panels suitable for powder coating can be significantly extended by appropriate selection of the pretreatment procedure.