Anwendung der Choice-Based-Conjoint-Analyse zur Prognose von Kaufentscheidungen im ÖPNV

In dem vorliegenden Beitrag beschreiben wir die exemplarische Anwendung der Choice-Based-Conjoint-Analyse (CBCA) in der ÖPNV-Kaufverhaltensforschung. Ausgehend von den Ergebnissen einer Befragung von mehr als 1000 Abo-Kunden eines deutschen Verkehrsraumes, welche uns von PROBST & CONSORTEN Marketing-Beratung zur Verfügung gestellt wurde, untersuchen wir, ob eine Produktdifferenzierung des derzeitigen Monatskartenabo-Angebotes dazu geeignet ist, den Kundennutzen und die Abo-Fahrgelderlöse zu steigern. Im Rahmen eines Preisexperiments werden hierbei drei Auswahlalternativen berücksichtigt: eine günstige Basisvariante, eine preisintensivere und zugleich mit zusätzlichen Leistungseigenschaften versehene Premiumvariante sowie eine Nicht-Wahl-Alternative. Für die sich anschließende Analyse der Auswahlentscheidungen verwenden wir ein Multinomiales Logit-Modell. Unter Einbeziehung der individualspezifischen Parameter Einkommen, PKW-Verfügbarkeit, derzeit zu entrichtender Abopreis, Geschlecht, Alter, Anzahl Kinder im Haushalt, Anzahl Erwachsene im Haushalt, Fahrten, Mitnahme-und Übertragungshäufigkeit schlussfolgern wir, dass eine Produktdifferenzierung zu einer Steigerung der Fahrgeldeinnahmen im bereits vorhandenen Kundenbestand führt

Window-based Parallel Operator Execution with In-Network Computing

Data parallel processing is a key concept to increase the scalability and elasticity in event streaming systems. Often data parallelism is accomplished in a splitter-merger architecture where the splitter divides incoming streams into partitions and forwards them to parallel operator instances. The splitter performance is a limiting factor to the system throughput and the parallelization degree. This work studies how to leverage novel methods of in-network computing to accelerate the splitter functionality by implementing it as an in-network function. While dedicated hardware for in-network computing has a high potential to enhance the splitter performance, in-network programming models like the P4 language are also highly limited in their expressiveness to support corresponding parallelization models. We propose P4 Splitter Switch (P4SS) which supports overlapping and non-overlapping count-based windows for multiple independent data streams and parallelizes them to a dynamically configurable number of operator instances. We validate in the context of a prototypical implementation our splitting strategy and its scalability in terms of switch resource consumption

Anwendung der Choice-Based-Conjoint-Analyse zur Prognose von Kaufentscheidungen im ÖPNV

In dem vorliegenden Beitrag beschreiben wir die exemplarische Anwendung der Choice-Based-Conjoint-Analyse (CBCA) in der ÖPNV-Kaufverhaltensforschung. Ausgehend von den Ergebnissen einer Befragung von mehr als 1000 Abo-Kunden eines deutschen Verkehrsraumes, welche uns von PROBST & CONSORTEN Marketing-Beratung zur Verfügung gestellt wurde, untersuchen wir, ob eine Produktdifferenzierung des derzeitigen Monatskartenabo-Angebotes dazu geeignet ist, den Kundennutzen und die Abo-Fahrgelderlöse zu steigern. Im Rahmen eines Preisexperiments werden hierbei drei Auswahlalternativen berücksichtigt: eine günstige Basisvariante, eine preisintensivere und zugleich mit zusätzlichen Leistungseigenschaften versehene Premiumvariante sowie eine Nicht-Wahl-Alternative. Für die sich anschließende Analyse der Auswahlentscheidungen verwenden wir ein Multinomiales Logit-Modell. Unter Einbeziehung der individualspezifischen Parameter Einkommen, PKW-Verfügbarkeit, derzeit zu entrichtender Abopreis, Geschlecht, Alter, Anzahl Kinder im Haushalt, Anzahl Erwachsene im Haushalt, Fahrten, Mitnahme-und Übertragungshäufigkeit schlussfolgern wir, dass eine Produktdifferenzierung zu einer Steigerung der Fahrgeldeinnahmen im bereits vorhandenen Kundenbestand führt. --

Detection and Characterisation of Lactobacillus spp. in the Bovine Uterus and Their Influence on Bovine Endometrial Epithelial Cells In Vitro

Bacterial infections and inflammation of the uterus are common in dairy cattle after parturition. In particular, pathogenic bacteria that cause endometritis have been the focus of research in cattle reproduction in the last ten years. The aim of the present study was to identify commensal lactobacilli in the bovine uterus and to examine their influence on the synthesis of pro- inflammatory factors in bovine endometrial epithelial cells in vitro. Lactobacillus species were isolated from healthy bovine uteri and further characterised. Bovine endometrial epithelial cells in the second passage (n = 5 animals) were co-cultured with the autochthonous isolates L. buchneri, L. ruminis and L. amylovorus as well as with a commercially available L. vaginalis in different multiplicities of infection (MOI = 1, 5 and 10, respectively). Endometrial epithelial cells cultured without bacteria served as controls. At distinct points in time (2, 4 and 6 h) total RNA was extracted from co-cultured epithelial cells and subjected to reverse transcription quantitative PCR of pro-inflammatory factors. Furthermore, the release of such factors by co-cultured epithelial cells was measured by ELISA or EIA after 24 and 48 h. L. ruminis and L. amylovorus induced increased interleukin (IL) IL1A, IL6, IL8 and prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase 2 mRNA levels and the release of IL8 and prostaglandin F2α in endometrial epithelial cells compared with control cells. In contrast, L. buchneri did not significantly influence the expression and release of these factors. Toll-like receptors 2 and 6 transcripts were found unchanged in co-cultured and untreated epithelial cells in vitro. However, endometrial epithelial cells of each animal showed individual differences in the response to bacterial load. These results suggest that Lactobacillus species are present in the bovine uterus, revealing immunomodulatory properties

Leveraging PIFO Queues for Scheduling in Time-Sensitive Networks

Time-Sensitive Networking emerged as a convergent Ethernet-based real-time networking standard for industrial applications. To support real-time, jitter-free isochronous traffic the corresponding TSN mechanism denoted Time Aware Shaper requires special hardware support. In this work, we propose a path to building TSN networks on top of programmable switches. Specifically, we show here how to leverage a data structure amenable to programmable data planes known as Push-in First-out (PIFO) queue to support TSN traffic scheduling for isochronous real-time, as well as, best effort traffic

Using of polypropylene fibers for cleaning of industrial waste water from the fat-soluble organic pollutants

The paper shows the perspective of using methods of ion implantation and microwave irradiation for modifying polypropylene fiber by iron (II), lanthanum (II) and iron metal ions. It was shown that this method is very useful in order to obtain a material with a high photocatalytic activity for extracting liposoluble dyes from non-aqueous media under UV and visible light

Enhancing Flexibility for Dynamic Time-Sensitive Network Configurations

Today, Time-Sensitive Networks (TSN) deployments are rather static and limit to a great extend possibilities for dynamicity in real-time networking scenarios. Possible changes in the network configuration need to be accounted for already at the planning stage. Unforeseen changes mostly require complete re-configurations at the cost valuable network uptime. In order to better support dynamic reconfigurations of TSN deployments at run-time the project DynSDN aims to increase the online flexibility of TSN-mechanisms

On the Challenges and Opportunities in Generative AI

The field of deep generative modeling has grown rapidly and consistently over the years. With the availability of massive amounts of training data coupled with advances in scalable unsupervised learning paradigms, recent large-scale generative models show tremendous promise in synthesizing high-resolution images and text, as well as structured data such as videos and molecules. However, we argue that current large-scale generative AI models do not sufficiently address several fundamental issues that hinder their widespread adoption across domains. In this work, we aim to identify key unresolved challenges in modern generative AI paradigms that should be tackled to further enhance their capabilities, versatility, and reliability. By identifying these challenges, we aim to provide researchers with valuable insights for exploring fruitful research directions, thereby fostering the development of more robust and accessible generative AI solutions

Vascular surveillance by haptotactic blood platelets in inflammation and infection

Breakdown of vascular barriers is a major complication of inflammatory diseases. Anucleate platelets form blood-clots during thrombosis, but also play a crucial role in inflammation. While spatio-temporal dynamics of clot formation are well characterized, the cell-biological mechanisms of platelet recruitment to inflammatory micro-environments remain incompletely understood. Here we identify Arp2/3-dependent lamellipodia formation as a prominent morphological feature of immune-responsive platelets. Platelets use lamellipodia to scan for fibrin(ogen) deposited on the inflamed vasculature and to directionally spread, to polarize and to govern haptotactic migration along gradients of the adhesive ligand. Platelet-specific abrogation of Arp2/3 interferes with haptotactic repositioning of platelets to microlesions, thus impairing vascular sealing and provoking inflammatory microbleeding. During infection, haptotaxis promotes capture of bacteria and prevents hematogenic dissemination, rendering platelets gate-keepers of the inflamed microvasculature. Consequently, these findings identify haptotaxis as a key effector function of immune-responsive platelets

Lymphotoxin beta-activated LTBR/NIK/RELB axis drives proliferation in cholangiocarcinoma.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is an aggressive malignancy arising from the intrahepatic (iCCA) or extrahepatic (eCCA) bile ducts with poor prognosis and limited treatment options. Prior evidence highlighted a significant contribution of the non-canonical NF-κB signalling pathway in initiation and aggressiveness of different tumour types. Lymphotoxin-β (LTβ) stimulates the NF-κB-inducing kinase (NIK), resulting in the activation of the transcription factor RelB. However, the functional contribution of the non-canonical NF-κB signalling pathway via the LTβ/NIK/RelB axis in CCA carcinogenesis and progression has not been established. METHODS Human CCA-derived cell lines and organoids were examined to determine the expression of NF-κB pathway components upon activation or inhibition. Proliferation and cell death were analysed using real-time impedance measurement and flow cytometry. Immunoblot, qRT-PCR, RNA sequencing and in situ hybridization were employed to analyse gene and protein expression. Four in vivo models of iCCA were used to probe the activation and regulation of the non-canonical NF-κB pathway. RESULTS Exposure to LTα1/β2 activates the LTβ/NIK/RelB axis and promotes proliferation in CCA. Inhibition of NIK with the small molecule inhibitor B022 efficiently suppresses RelB expression in patient-derived CCA organoids and nuclear co-translocation of RelB and p52 stimulated by LTα1/β2 in CCA cell lines. In murine CCA, RelB expression is significantly increased and LTβ is the predominant ligand of the non-canonical NF-κB signalling pathway. CONCLUSIONS Our study confirms that the non-canonical NF-κB axis LTβ/NIK/RelB drives cholangiocarcinogenesis and represents a candidate therapeutic target