Potentiale und Herausforderungen der Anwendung von Big Data in der Versicherungsbranche

Das heutige Zeitalter wird durch eine digitale Revolution und sich stetig verändernde Technologien dominiert. Eine von vielen an Bedeutung zunehmenden Technologien nennt sich Big Data. Big Data ermöglicht die Analyse von extrem grossen Datenmengen, um so zusammenhängende Muster, Trends und Verbindungen in Bezug auf die Verhaltensweisen und die Interaktionen zwischen Kunden und Unternehmen zu erkennen (Hackett, 2016, S. 5). Die Nutzung von Big Data wird in der wirtschaftlichen Diskussion vielfach angepriesen als der Königsweg zu mehr Erfolg in der Realisierung von Zusatzgeschäften mit bestehenden Kunden. Mitunter sind auch Versicherungsunternehmen gezwungen, sich der digitalen Revolution zu stellen und sich mit der Anwendung von Big Data auseinanderzusetzen. Versicherungsgesellschaften versuchen daher anhand von Big Data Mehrwerte für die Kundenbeziehung zu schöpfen und gleichzeitig den daraus resultierenden Herausforderungen gerecht zu werden. Das Ziel der vorliegenden Bachelorarbeit ist es, zu bestimmen, welche Mehrwerte Versicherungsunternehmen mit der Anwendung von Big Data in Bezug auf die Kundenbindung schaffen können und welchen Herausforderungen sie dabei gerecht werden müssen. Dazu werden zwei Forschungsfragen gestellt: 1. Welchen Mehrwert bringt Big Data für die Kundenbindung bei Versicherungsunternehmen? 2. Welchen Herausforderungen müssen Versicherungsunternehmen mit der Anwendung von Big Data gerecht werden, um den anvisierten Mehrwert zu schöpfen

SDS@hd – Scientific Data Storage

SDS@hd (Scientific Data Storage) is a central storage service for hot large-scale scientific data that can be used by researchers from all universities in Baden-Württemberg. It offers fast and secure file system storage capabilities to individuals or groups, e.g. in the context of cooperative projects. Fast data accesses are possible even in case of a high number of small files. User authentication and authorization are implemented in terms of the federated identity management in Baden-Württemberg allowing researchers to use their existing ID of their home institution transparently for this service. Data protection requirements can be fulfilled by data encryption and secure data transfer protocols. The service is operated by the computing center of Heidelberg University

Incidence and Risk Factors of Bisphosphonate-Related Osteonecrosis of the Jaw in Multiple Myeloma Patients Having Undergone Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation

Background: Bisphosphonate-related osteonecrosis of the jaw (BRONJ) is a severe complication of bisphosphonate therapy. Due to their long survival and subsequently high cumulative doses of bisphosphonates, multiple myeloma patients have the highest risk of developing BRONJ of all patients treated with bisphosphonates. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the incidence and risk factors for BRONJ in multiple myeloma patients after high-dose chemotherapy and autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT). Patients and Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the data of 120 multiple myeloma patients after high-dose chemotherapy and ASCT treated with bisphosphonates and assessed the incidence and risk factors of BRONJ. Results: Of the 120 patients, 23 (19%) developed BRONJ. 6 patients suffered several BRONJ events, resulting in a total incidence of 23%. The risk for BRONJ was significantly higher for patients with rheumatism and recent dental manipulations. Furthermore, the number of previous bisphosphonate rotations, the duration of bisphosphonate therapy, and the type and cumulative dose of bisphosphonate used were associated with the incidence of BRONJ. Conclusion: Our study is the first to determine the risk of BRONJ in a homogeneous group of multiple myeloma patients treated with high-dose chemotherapy and ASCT

Macitentan attenuates cardiovascular remodelling in infant rats with chronic lung disease

Background Cardiovascular impairment contributes to increased mortality in preterm infants with chronic lung disease. Macitentan, an endothelin-1 receptor antagonist, has the potential to attenuate pulmonary and cardiovascular remodelling. Methods In a prospective randomized placebo-controlled intervention trial, Sprague–Dawley rats were exposed to 0.21 or 1.0 fraction of inspired oxygen (FiO2) for 19 postnatal days. Rats were treated via gavage with placebo or macitentan from days of life 5 to 19. Alveoli, pulmonary vessels, α-smooth muscle actin content in pulmonary arterioles, size of cardiomyocytes, right to left ventricular wall diameter ratio, and endothelin-1 plasma concentrations were assessed. Results FiO2 1.0 induced typical features of chronic lung disease with significant alveolar enlargement (p = 0.012), alveolar (p = 0.048) and pulmonary vessel rarefaction (p = 0.024), higher α-smooth muscle actin content in pulmonary arterioles (p = 0.009), higher right to left ventricular wall diameter ratio (p = 0.02), and larger cardiomyocyte cross-sectional area (p  0.05). Conclusion The endothelin-1 receptor antagonist macitentan attenuated cardiovascular remodelling in an infant rat model for preterm chronic lung disease. This study underscores the potential of macitentan to reduce cardiovascular morbidity in preterm infants with chronic lung disease

Lung-borne systemic inflammation in mechanically ventilated infant rats due to high PEEP, oxygen, and hypocapnia

Background: Intensive care practice calls for ventilator adjustments due to fast-changing clinical conditions in ventilated critically ill children. These adaptations include positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP), fraction of inspired oxygen (FiO2), and respiratory rate (RR). It is unclear which alterations in ventilator settings trigger a significant systemic inflammatory response. Methods: Fourteen-day old Wistar rat pups were randomized to the following groups: (a) “control” with tidal volume ~8 mL/kg, PEEP 5 cmH2O, FiO2 0.4, RR 90 min-1, (b) “PEEP 1”, (c) “PEEP 9” (d) “FiO2 0.21”, (e) “FiO2 1.0”, (f) “hypocapnia” with RR of 180 min-1, and (g) “hypercapnia” with RR of 60 min-1. Following 120 min of mechanical ventilation, plasma for inflammatory biomarker analyses was obtained by direct cardiac puncture at the end of the experiment. Results: Interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) were driven by FiO2 0.4 and 1.0 (P=0.02, P<0.01, respectively), tissue plasminogen activator inhibitor type-1 (tPAI-1) was increased by high PEEP (9 cmH2O, P<0.05) and hypocapnia (P<0.05), and TNF-α was significantly lower in hypercapnia (P<0.01). Tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP-1), cytokine-induced neutrophil chemoattractant 1 (CINC-1), connective tissue growth factor (CTGF), and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) remained unaffected. Conclusion: Alterations of PEEP, FiO2, and respiratory frequency induced a significant systemic inflammatory response in plasma of infant rats. These findings underscore the importance of lung-protective ventilation strategies. However, future studies are needed to clarify whether ventilation induced systemic inflammation in animal models is pathophysiologically relevant to human infants

Observation of hybrid Tamm-plasmon exciton-polaritons with GaAs quantum wells and a MoSe2 monolayer

This work has been supported by the State of Bavaria. C.S. acknowledges financial support by the European Research Council (unLiMIt-2D project). AK acknowledged the support from the HORIZON 2020 RISE project CoExAn (Grant No. 644076). S.H and A.K acknowledge funding by the EPSRC.Strong light matter coupling between excitons and microcavity photons, as described in the framework of cavity quantum electrodynamics, leads to the hybridization of light and matter excitations. The regime of collective strong coupling arises, when various excitations from different host media are strongly coupled to the same optical resonance. This leads to a well-controllable admixture of various matter components in three hybrid polariton modes. Here, we study a cavity device with four embedded GaAs quantum wells hosting excitons that are spectrally matched to the A-valley exciton resonance of a MoSe2 monolayer. The formation of hybrid polariton modes is evidenced in momentum resolved photoluminescence and reflectivity studies. We describe the energy and k-vector distribution of exciton-polaritons along the hybrid modes by a thermodynamic model, which yields a very good agreement with the experiment.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Substrate engineering for high quality emission of free and localized excitons from atomic monolayers in hybrid architectures

We acknowledge financial support by the State of Bavaria and the European Research Council (Project Unlimit-2D).Atomic monolayers represent a novel class of materials to study localized and free excitons in two dimensions and to engineer optoelectronic devices based on their significant optical response. Here, we investigate the role of the substrate on the photoluminescense response of MoSe2 and WSe2 monolayers exfoliated either on SiO2 or epitaxially grown InGaP substrates. In the case of MoSe2, we observe a significant qualitative modification of the emission spectrum, which is widely dominated by the trion resonance on InGaP substrates. However, the effects of inhomogeneous broadening of the emission features are strongly reduced. Even more strikingly, in sheets of WSe2, we could routinely observe emission lines from localized excitons with linewidths down to the resolution limit of 70 μeV. This is in stark contrast to reference samples featuring WSe2 monolayers on SiO2 surfaces, where the emission spectra from localized defects are widely dominated by spectral diffusion and blinking behaviour. Our experiment outlines the enormous potential of III-V-monolayer hybrid architectures to obtain high quality emission signals from atomic monolayers, which are straight forward to integrate into nanophotonic and integrated optoelectronic devices.PostprintPeer reviewe

Cascaded emission of single photons from the biexciton in monolayered WSe2

This work has been supported by the State of Bavaria and the European Research Council (Project UnLiMIt-2D).Monolayers of transition metal dichalcogenide materials emerged as a new material class to study excitonic effects in solid state, as they benefit from enormous Coulomb correlations between electrons and holes. Especially in WSe2, sharp emission features have been observed at cryogenic temperatures, which act as single photon sources. Tight exciton localization has been assumed to induce an anharmonic excitation spectrum; however, the evidence of the hypothesis, namely the demonstration of a localized biexciton, is elusive. Here we unambiguously demonstrate the existence of a localized biexciton in a monolayer of WSe2, which triggers an emission cascade of single photons. The biexciton is identified by its time-resolved photoluminescence, superlinearity and distinct polarization in micro-photoluminescence experiments. We evidence the cascaded nature of the emission process in a cross-correlation experiment, which yields a strong bunching behaviour. Our work paves the way to a new generation of quantum optics experiments with two-dimensional semiconductors.PostprintPublisher PDFPeer reviewe

The MIIM LCA PH.D. club: Presentation and introduction

During 1998, the number of completed Ph.D.s on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) seemed to be larger than any previous year. In order to mark this achievement, a special series is being published in the International Journal of LCA. In this introductory paper, the Class of MUM outline the results of their research work over the last few years. A number of common points and tendencies have emerged through this work. First of all, the scope-dependency of LCA models: some of us have discerned in particular the need to distinguish between descriptive and change-oriented LCAs. Secondly, a number of the theses focus on the interaction between LCA and decision-making. Thirdly, the benefits of pluralism in impact assessment and allocation have been advocated in some of the theses. Finally, it may be noted that in these theses structuring the management of controversial issues seems to be preferred to eliminating such issues by a process of harmonisation. Future papers will map out the intellectual journeys undertaken in the development of these theses and discuss key findings in more detai

Closed-loop auditory stimulation method to modulate sleep slow waves and motor learning performance in rats

Slow waves and cognitive output have been modulated in humans by phase-targeted auditory stimulation. However, to advance its technical development and further our understanding, implementation of the method in animal models is indispensable. Here, we report the successful employment of slow waves' phase-targeted closed-loop auditory stimulation (CLAS) in rats. To validate this new tool both conceptually and functionally, we tested the effects of up- and down-phase CLAS on proportions and spectral characteristics of sleep, and on learning performance in the single-pellet reaching task, respectively. Without affecting 24 hr sleep-wake behavior, CLAS specifically altered delta (slow waves) and sigma (sleep spindles) power persistently over chronic periods of stimulation. While up-phase CLAS does not elicit a significant change in behavioral performance, down-phase CLAS exerted a detrimental effect on overall engagement and success rate in the behavioral test. Overall CLAS-dependent spectral changes were positively correlated with learning performance. Altogether, our results provide proof-of-principle evidence that phase-targeted CLAS of slow waves in rodents is efficient, safe, and stable over chronic experimental periods, enabling the use of this high-specificity tool for basic and preclinical translational sleep research