Reference-phase Model for the Transfer Process of Deep Tech Innovations

The term Deep Tech is receiving major attention from start-ups, venture capitalists, and governmental decision makers as this special group of technology does have a strong impact on societies and national innovation systems. In European countries, commercialization and industrialization of Deep Tech-related products lacks behind in international comparison. Nevertheless, academic research about the reasons and circumstances in this field is scarce. To fill this gap in research, a comprehensive Deep Tech transfer reference-phase model is developed based on the current state of knowledge that incorporates the entirety of the technology transfer process from science to industry. Taking Deep Tech characteristics into account, four reference phases are set up and described along three descriptive characteristics (TRL, focus, target state) and four requirement categories (knowledge, resources and infrastructure, financial requirements, actors in focus). The analysis and synthesis show that the requirements within the single phases do highly change due to an adapted focus and target state over the technology transfer process. With the present work, a sound understanding of the technology transfer process for Deep Tech is established which enables future researchers to derive phase-specific key success factors and valid governmental recommendations for the technology transfer of Deep Tech

A continuous speech recognition system integrating additional acoustic knowledge sources in a data-driven beam search algorithm

The paper presents a continuous speech recognition system which integrates an additional acoustic knowledge source into the data-driven beam search algorithm. Details of the object oriented implementation of the beam search algorithm will be given. Integration of additional knowledge sources is treated within the flexible framework of Dempster-Shafer theory. As a first example, a rule-based plosive detector is added to the baseline system

Ancestral state reconstruction reveals multiple independent evolution of diagnostic morphological characters in the "Higher Oribatida" (Acari), conflicting with current classification schemes

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The use of molecular genetic data in phylogenetic systematics has revolutionized this field of research in that several taxonomic groupings defined by traditional taxonomic approaches have been rejected by molecular data. The taxonomic classification of the oribatid mite group Circumdehiscentiae ("Higher Oribatida") is largely based on morphological characters and several different classification schemes, all based upon the validity of diagnostic morphological characters, have been proposed by various authors. The aims of this study were to test the appropriateness of the current taxonomic classification schemes for the Circumdehiscentiae and to trace the evolution of the main diagnostic traits (the four nymphal traits scalps, centrodorsal setae, sclerits and wrinkled cuticle plus octotaxic system and pteromorphs both in adults) on the basis of a molecular phylogenetic hypothesis by means of parsimony, likelihood and Bayesian approaches.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The molecular phylogeny based on three nuclear markers (28S rDNA, <it>ef-1α</it>, <it>hsp82</it>) revealed considerable discrepancies to the traditional classification of the five "circumdehiscent" subdivisions, suggesting paraphyly of the three families Scutoverticidae, Ameronothridae, Cymbaeremaeidae and also of the genus <it>Achipteria</it>. Ancestral state reconstructions of six common diagnostic characters and statistical evaluation of alternative phylogenetic hypotheses also partially rejected the current morphology-based classification and suggested multiple convergent evolution (both gain and loss) of some traits, after a period of rapid cladogenesis, rendering several subgroups paraphyletic.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Phylogenetic studies revealed non-monophyly of three families and one genus as a result of a lack of adequate synapomorphic morphological characters, calling for further detailed investigations in a framework of integrative taxonomy. Character histories of six morphological traits indicate that their evolution followed a rather complex pattern of multiple independent gains (and losses). Thus, the observed pattern largely conflicts with current morphological classifications of the Circumdehiscentiae, suggesting that the current taxonomic classification schemes are not appropriate, apart from a recently proposed subdivision into 24 superfamilies.</p

Assay system to screen for compounds inducing PR-gene expression in grape vine (Vitis spec.)

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Legal Aspects of Safety Designed Software Development, Especially under European Law

International audienceThis lecture deals with the question what has to be done to prevent liability risks stated by European law. In particular, it deals with the question whether the compliance with state-of-the-art safety standards (such as IEC 61508) leads to an exemption from liability for producers and/or suppliers of software. After having defined the terms "product liability" and "producer's liability", we shall point out the legal measures which are necessary for the fulfilment of the manufacturer's organizational and due diligence obligations. Thereby, we shall come to the conclusion that the implementation and application of procedures described in applicable safety standards such as IEC 61508, EN etc. are only some of the minimum core conditions to prevent liability risks stated by European law in connection with defects of software caused by the software's design, development, production and/or distribution process

Controlling the Young’s modulus of a ß-type Ti-Nb alloy via strong texturing by LPBF

The ß-type Ti-42Nb alloy was processed by laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) with an infrared top hat laser configuration aiming to control the Young’s modulus by creating an adapted crystallographic texture. Utilizing a top hat laser, a microstructure with a strong 〈0 0 1〉 texture parallel to the building direction and highly elongated grains was generated. This microstructure results in a strong anisotropy of the Young’s modulus that was modeled based on the single crystal elastic tensor and the experimental texture data. Tensile tests along selected loading directions were conducted to study the mechanical anisotropy and showed a good correlation with the modeled data. A Young’s modulus as low as 44 GPa was measured parallel to the building direction, which corresponds to a significant reduction of over 30% compared to the Young’s modulus of the Gaussian reference samples (67–69 GPa). At the same time a high 0.2% yield strength of 674 MPa was retained. The results reveal the high potential of LPBF processing utilizing a top hat laser configuration to fabricate patient-specific implants with an adapted low Young’s modulus along the main loading direction and a tailored mechanical biofunctionality

Systematisation Approach: Handling Insufficient Data Quality

Current megatrends such as globalisation and digitalisation are increasing complexity, making systems for well-founded and short-term decision support indispensable. A necessary condition for reliable decision-making is high data quality. In practice, it is repeatedly shown that data quality is insufficient, especially in master and transaction data. Moreover, upcoming approaches for data-based decisions consistently raise the required level of data quality. Hence, the importance of handling insufficient data quality is currently and will remain elementary. Since the literature does not systematically consider the possibilities in the case of insufficient data quality, this paper presents a general model and systematic approach for handling those cases in real-world scenarios. The model developed here presents the various possibilities of handling insufficient data quality in a process-based approach as a framework for decision support. The individual aspects of the model are examined in more detail along the process chain from data acquisition to final data processing. Subsequently, the systematic approach is applied and contextualised for production planning and supply chain event management, respectively. Due to their general validity, the results enable companies to manage insufficient data quality systematically