Present challenges of research and technology politics

Research and technology in Germany are discussed. The rapid transfer of scientific knowledge and techniques from the laboratory to the manufacturing and industrial communities is identified as a priority. It is recommended that the government give maximum support to the aviation and space flight industries

Beidseitige Informationsasymmetrien in der Arzt-Patient-Beziehung: Implikationen für die GKV

Die vorliegende Arbeit analysiert die Interdependenzen und Informationsstrukturen im Gesundheitswesen. Hauptansatzpunkt ist die beidseitig asymmetrische Information zwischen Arzt und Patient. Der Patient kann i. d. R. weder die Wirkung der Leistungen des Arztes genau einordnen, noch besitzt der Arzt genauere Informationen über das behandlungsbegleitende Verhalten des Patienten. Die Interdependenzen zwischen diesen Handlungen bestimmen das resultierende Gleichgewicht. Die Einführung einer Selbstbeteiligung für den Patienten führt zu einer verbesserten Compliance, das Niveau der medizinischen Leistung hängt von den Interdependenzen ab. Die Implikationen, die sich aus dem Modell ergeben, lassen auf ein Kommunikationsdefizit zwischen Arzt und Patient schließen. Eine Stärkung der Compliance ist zum einen durch verbesserte Information des Arztes, zum anderen durch finanzielle Anreize, insbesondere durch die Einführung einer Selbstbeteiligung, möglich. Die Krankenkassen als ergänzender Sachwalter der Patienten können in der Arzt-Patient-Beziehung vor allem Aufgaben wie Vertragsabschlüsse übernehmen, benötigen dazu jedoch mehr Gestaltungsfreiheit

The expected payoff to Internet auctions

In an Internet auction, the expected payoff acts as a benchmark of the reasonableness of the price that is paid for the purchased item. Since the number of potential bidders is not observable, the expected payoff is difficult to estimate accurately. We approach this problem by considering the bids as a record and 2-record sequence of the potential bidde

3D time series analysis of cell shape using Laplacian approaches

Background: Fundamental cellular processes such as cell movement, division or food uptake critically depend on cells being able to change shape. Fast acquisition of three-dimensional image time series has now become possible, but we lack efficient tools for analysing shape deformations in order to understand the real three-dimensional nature of shape changes. Results: We present a framework for 3D+time cell shape analysis. The main contribution is three-fold: First, we develop a fast, automatic random walker method for cell segmentation. Second, a novel topology fixing method is proposed to fix segmented binary volumes without spherical topology. Third, we show that algorithms used for each individual step of the analysis pipeline (cell segmentation, topology fixing, spherical parameterization, and shape representation) are closely related to the Laplacian operator. The framework is applied to the shape analysis of neutrophil cells. Conclusions: The method we propose for cell segmentation is faster than the traditional random walker method or the level set method, and performs better on 3D time-series of neutrophil cells, which are comparatively noisy as stacks have to be acquired fast enough to account for cell motion. Our method for topology fixing outperforms the tools provided by SPHARM-MAT and SPHARM-PDM in terms of their successful fixing rates. The different tasks in the presented pipeline for 3D+time shape analysis of cells can be solved using Laplacian approaches, opening the possibility of eventually combining individual steps in order to speed up computations