Case study the Mykitchen divestment

The following case study describes the situation faced by the PE investor Munich Equity Group(thereafter MEG)during the process of a potential investment. The structure is divided into a case narrative as well as a teaching note. The narrative outlines the current market situation of the DACH PE market, the process of MEG to establish an indicative offer, the impact of a detailed DD on the valuation, and lastly, the issuance of a binding offer. It further highlights how quickly an investment opportunity can change from a LBO to a restructuring case. The teaching note derives the investment highlights, explains how to set up the valuations and highlights the impact of the DD on the respective valuations

Integrating collaborative tagging and emergent semantics for image retrieval

Trabajo presentado al Workshop de la 15th International World Wide Conference (WWW) celebrado en Edinburgh (Scotland) del 22 al 23 de mayo de 2006.In this paper, we investigate the combination of collaborative tagging and emergent semantics for improved data navigation and search. We propose to use visual features in addition to tags provided by users in order to discover new relationships between data. We show that our method is able to overcome some of the problems involved in navigating databases using tags only, such as synonymy or different languages, spelling mistakes, homonymy, or missing tags. On the other hand, image search based on visual features can be simplified substantially by the use of tags. We present technical details of our prototype system and show some preliminary results.This research was carried out and funded by the Sony Computer Science Laboratory in Paris with additional funding from the EU FET project ECAgents (IST-2003-1940) through the Sony Computer Science Laboratory in Paris.N

Single-trial neurodynamics reveal N400 and P600 coupling in language comprehension

Theories of the electrophysiology of language comprehension are mostly informed by event-related potential effects observed between condition averages. We here argue that a dissociation between competing effect-level explanations of event-related potentials can be achieved by turning to predictions and analyses at the single-trial level. Specifically, we examine the single-trial dynamics in event-related potential data that exhibited a biphasic N400–P600 effect pattern. A group of multi-stream models can explain biphasic effects by positing that each individual trial should induce either an N400 increase or a P600 increase, but not both. An alternative, single-stream account, Retrieval-Integration theory, explicitly predicts that N400 amplitude and P600 amplitude should be correlated at the single-trial level. In order to investigate the single-trial dynamics of the N400 and the P600, we apply a regression-based technique in which we quantify the extent to which N400 amplitudes are predictive of the electroencephalogram in the P600 time window. Our findings suggest that, indeed, N400 amplitudes and P600 amplitudes are inversely correlated within-trial and, hence, the N400 effect and the P600 effect in biphasic data are driven by the same trials. Critically, we demonstrate that this finding also extends to data which exhibited only monophasic effects between conditions. In sum, the observation that the N400 is inversely correlated with the P600 on a by-trial basis supports a single stream view, such as Retrieval-Integration theory, and is difficult to reconcile with the processing mechanisms proposed by multi-stream models

The P600 as a continuous index of integration effort

The integration of word meaning into an unfolding utterance representation is a core operation of incremental language comprehension. There is considerable debate, however, as to which component of the ERP signal—the N400 or the P600—directly reflects integrative processes, with far reaching consequences for the temporal organization and architecture of the comprehension system. Multistream models maintaining the N400 as integration crucially rely on the presence of a semantically attractive plausible alternative interpretation to account for the absence of an N400 effect in response to certain semantic anomalies, as reported in previous studies. The single-stream Retrieval–Integration account posits the P600 as an index of integration, further predicting that its amplitude varies continuously with integrative effort. Here, we directly test these competing hypotheses using a context manipulation design in which a semantically attractive alternative is either available or not, and target word plausibility is varied across three levels. An initial self-paced reading study revealed graded reading timesfor plausibility,suggesting differential integration effort. A subsequent ERP study showed no N400 differences across conditions, and that P600 amplitude is graded for plausibility. These findings are inconsistent with the interpretation of the N400 as an index of integration, as no N400 effect emerged even in the absence of a semantically attractive alternative. By contrast, the link between plausibility, reading times, and P600 amplitude supports the view that the P600 is a continuous index of integration effort. More generally, our results support a single-stream architecture and eschew the need for multi-stream accounts

Retrieval (N400) and integration (P600) in expectation-based comprehension

Expectation-based theories of language processing, such as Surprisal theory, are supported by evidence of anticipation effects in both behavioural and neurophysiological measures. Online measures of language processing, however, are known to be influenced by factors such as lexical association that are distinct from-but often confounded with-expectancy. An open question therefore is whether a specific locus of expectancy related effects can be established in neural and behavioral processing correlates. We address this question in an event-related potential experiment and a self-paced reading experiment that independently cross expectancy and lexical association in a context manipulation design. We find that event-related potentials reveal that the N400 is sensitive to both expectancy and lexical association, while the P600 is modulated only by expectancy. Reading times, in turn, reveal effects of both association and expectancy in the first spillover region, followed by effects of expectancy alone in the second spillover region. These findings are consistent with the Retrieval-Integration account of language comprehension, according to which lexical retrieval (N400) is facilitated for words that are both expected and associated, whereas integration difficulty (P600) will be greater for unexpected words alone. Further, an exploratory analysis suggests that the P600 is not merely sensitive to expectancy violations, but rather, that there is a continuous relation. Taken together, these results suggest that the P600, like reading times, may reflect a meaning-centric notion of Surprisal in language comprehension.SFB 1102, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaf

Vom Weihegefäß zur Drohne

Was wäre Herkules ohne Keule, was Napoleon ohne Zweispitz und Old Shatterhand ohne Henrystutzen? Helden sind angewiesen auf Objekte, die sie als Helden kenntlich machen und ihre Außerordentlichkeit verbürgen. Auch für die Verbreitung ihrer Taten sind Objekte unverzichtbar: Ohne Druckerpresse keine Heldenromane. In Objekten des Kults und der Erinnerung schließlich finden die Praktiken der Heldenverehrung ihren materiellen Ausdruck: Helden setzt man Denkmäler, ihr Konterfei prägt man auf Münzen und Briefmarken, man widmet ihnen Epen oder Fernsehdokumentationen und vermarktet ihren Ruhm durch den Verkauf von Kaffeebechern, T-Shirts und anderem Nippes.Die Beiträge des vorliegenden Bandes nehmen solche Objekte zum Ausgangspunkt, um exemplarisch die Transformationen des Heroischen im Wandel der historischen Zeit nachzuzeichnen. Die Bandbreite der vorgestellten Gegenstände reicht vom antiken Weihegefäß bis zur bewaffneten Drohne im Anti-Terror-Krieg der Gegenwart, von der Gedenkmedaille bis zur Armprothese, von Theaterbauten und Sportstadien bis zum Zauberstab Harry Potters

CRALBP supports the mammalian retinal visual cycle and cone vision

Mutations in the cellular retinaldehyde-binding protein (CRALBP, encoded by RLBP1) can lead to severe cone photoreceptor-mediated vision loss in patients. It is not known how CRALBP supports cone function or how altered CRALBP leads to cone dysfunction. Here, we determined that deletion of Rlbp1 in mice impairs the retinal visual cycle. Mice lacking CRALBP exhibited M-opsin mislocalization, M-cone loss, and impaired cone-driven visual behavior and light responses. Additionally, M-cone dark adaptation was largely suppressed in CRALBP-deficient animals. While rearing CRALBP-deficient mice in the dark prevented the deterioration of cone function, it did not rescue cone dark adaptation. Adeno-associated virus-mediated restoration of CRALBP expression specifically in Müller cells, but not retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells, rescued the retinal visual cycle and M-cone sensitivity in knockout mice. Our results identify Müller cell CRALBP as a key component of the retinal visual cycle and demonstrate that this pathway is important for maintaining normal cone-driven vision and accelerating cone dark adaptation