Would i use my personal blog for commercial exchange?

As information-based processes are usually independent of the location or even the processor, they can be oftentimes either automated or relocated to foreign sites to profit from differences in wages. Both strategies bear enormous micro-economic potential in terms of cost savings. However, with the main focus on cost reduction, risk due to the uncertain development of effective labor costs or future transaction volumes are oftentimes either inadequately considered or neglected. This systematically leads to false decisions, in particular since the two strategies – relocation and automation – result in different risk profiles. In this paper, we analyze the conditions for automating or relocating parts of business processes and propose a decision model that suggests a risk/return efficient allocation to the alternatives. In particular, we consider how uncertainties of effective labor costs and transaction volumes influence the decision. As shifting tasks to other locations has effects on the workload at the original location, we also take into account costs for social effects. The practicability of our approach is demonstrated with an example that is based on real data of a major financial services provider

Biodiversity recovery of Neotropical secondary forests

Old-growth tropical forests harbor an immense diversity of tree species but are rapidly being cleared, while secondary forests that regrow on abandoned agricultural lands increase in extent. We assess how tree species richness and composition recover during secondary succession across gradients in environmental conditions and anthropogenic disturbance in an unprecedented multisite analysis for the Neotropics. Secondary forests recover remarkably fast in species richness but slowly in species composition. Secondary forests take a median time of ve decades to recover the species richness of old-growth forest (80% recovery after 20 years) based on rarefaction analysis. Full recovery of species composition takes centuries (only 34% recovery after 20 years). A dual strategy that maintains both oldgrowth forests and species-rich secondary forests is therefore crucial for biodiversity conservation in human-modied tropical landscapes

Stress analysis of an agitated particle bed with different particle aspect ratios by the discrete element method

The size distribution, shape and aspect ratio of particles are the common factors that affect their packing in a particle bed. Agitated powder beds are commonly used in the process industry for various applications. The stresses arising as a result of shearing the bed could result in undesirable particle breakage with adverse impact on manufacturability. We report on our work on analysing the stress distribution within an agitated particle bed with several particle aspect ratios by the Discrete Element Method (DEM). Rounded cylinders with different aspect ratios are generated and incorporated into the DEM simulation. The void fraction of the packing of the static and agitated beds with different particle aspect ratios is analysed. Principal and deviatoric stresses are quantified in the regions of interest along the agitating impeller blade for different cases of particle aspect ratios. The relationship between the particle aspect ratio and the stress distribution of the bed over the regions of interest is then established and will be presented

Mechanically Induced Amorphization of Diaqua-bis(Omeprazolate)-Magnesium Dihydrate

The influence of milling diaqua-bis(omeprazolate)-magnesium dihydrate (DABOMD), an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API), was investigated. DABOMD was processed in a planetary ball mill at different milling times, from 1 to 300 min. The milling process resulted in a prominent comminution (size reduction) and amorphization of the API. DABOMD amorphization was identified with various characterization techniques including thermogravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, powder X-ray diffraction, and attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The solid–solid crystalline to amorphous phase transformation is driven by compression, shear stresses, and heat generated in the planetary ball mill. This leads to distortion and breakage of hydrogen bonds, release of water molecules from the crystalline lattice of DABOMD and the accumulation of defects, and eventually a collapse of the crystalline order. Model fitting of the kinetics of comminution and the amorphization of DABOMD revealed a series of events: a rapid comminution at the start of milling driven by crystal cleavage of DABOMD, followed by partial amorphization, which is driven by rapid water diffusion, and subsequently, a slow steady comminution and amorphization

Endotracheal temperature and humidity measurements in laryngectomized patients: intra- and inter-patient variability

This study assesses intra- and inter-patient variability in endotracheal climate (temperature and humidity) and effects of heat and moister exchangers (HME) in 16 laryngectomized individuals, measured repeatedly (N = 47). Inhalation Breath Length (IBL) was 1.35 s without HME and 1.05 s with HME (P < 0.0001). With HME, end-inspiratory (minimum) humidity values increased 5.8 mg H2O/L (P < 0.0001) and minimum temperature values decreased 1.6°C (P < 0.0001). For the temperature and humidity minimums, the inter-patient variability was much smaller than the short- and long-term intra-patient variability. For exhalation breath length and full breath length, the opposite was the case. Conclusions: (1) Because inter-patient variability is smaller than intra-patient variability, investigating endotracheal climate in a limited number of laryngectomized subjects is justified, provided repeated measurements per patient are accomplished; (2) main contributor to intra-patient variability is the positioning of the catheter tip in the trachea; (3) an HME leads to a shortened IBL which enhances the HME effect