QUA³CK - A Machine Learning Development Process

Machine learning and data processing are trending topics at the moment. However, there is still alack of a standard process to support a fast, simple, and effective development of machine learningmodels for academia and industry combined. Processes such as KDD or CRISP-DM are highlyspecialized in data mining and business cases. Therefore, engineers often refer to individualapproaches to solve a machine learning problem. Especially in teaching, the lack of a standardprocess is a challenge. Students typically get a better understanding if a systematic approach tosolve problems is given to them. A challenge when formulating a machine learning developmentprocess is to provide standard actions that work on different use-cases. At the same time, it has tobe simple. Complex processes often lead to the wrong approach.The QUA³CK process was created at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology to fill the gap inresearch and industry for a machine learning development process. However, the main focus wasto reach engineering students with an easy-to-remember, didactic way to solve machine learningproblems. This five-stage process starts with a machine learning question (Q), a problem thathas to be solved. Understanding the data (U) comes next. Then, the loop between selecting anAlgorithm (A), Adapting the features (A), and Adjusting the hyperparameters (A) is executeduntil the system is ready for Conclude and compare (C). At last, the Knowledge transfer (K) ofthe given solution can be realized as deployment in hardware or as a documentation.This paper describes the process and all individual steps in detail. Besides, we present severaluse-cases of QUA³CK in academia and research projects

E-Commerce in der Entsorgungsindustrie: Eine E-Commerce-Lösung für Dienstleistungen als Instrument zur Kundenbindung in der Entsorgungsindustrie

Dynamische Märkte mit rasch wandelnden Kundenbedürfnissen, neuen unerwarteten globalen Konkurrenten und raschem technologischen Wandel sind die Effekte der ,informationstechnischen Revolution’ der letzten zwei Jahrzehnte

Abstieg vom Konjunkturgipfel: Thesen zum 40. Kieler Konjunkturgespräch

Die konjunkturelle Expansion in den Industrieländern setzte sich im ersten Halbjahr 1989 zügig fort; die Zuwachsrate des Bruttosozialprodukts betrug etwa 3,5 vH. Allerdings gab es deutliche regionale Unterschiede. Während es in den Vereinigten Staaten, Kanada und dem Vereinigten Königreich zu einer merklichen Abkühlung kam, nahmen Nachfrage und Produktion in den meisten Ländern Westeuropas lebhaft zu. In Japan und in den asiatischen Schwellenländern (Newly Industrializing Economies - NIEs) blieb die Aufwärtsentwicklung trotz leichter Abschwächung gegenüber dem Vorjahr sehr kräftig. Haupttriebfeder der Konjunktur in den Industrieländern war die starke Investitionstätigkeit der Unternehmen. Neben verbesserten Gewinnerwartungen spielte vor allem die hohe Auslastung der Kapazitäten eine Rolle, die inzwischen in den meisten Ländern über der des vorhergehenden konjunkturellen Höhepunktes liegt. Die lebhafte Expansion von Nachfrage und Produktion führte zu einer weiterhin raschen Ausweitung des Welthandels. Mit der deutlich aufwärtsgerichteten Konjunktur stieg die Beschäftigung im ersten Halbjahr 1989 spürbar an. In den meisten Ländern kam es zu einem leichten Rückgang der Arbeitslosenquoten, wobei in Westeuropa die Arbeitslosigkeit nach wie vor vergleichsweise hoch ist. Trotzdem machten sich auch hier vermehrt Engpässe auf dem Arbeitsmarkt bemerkbar. In vielen Ländern hat sich der Lohnkostendruck infolge beschleunigt steigender Löhne und abnehmender Produktivitätszuwachse verstärkt. Das Preisniveau erhöhte sich deutlich rascher als zuvor. Dies ist zwar zum Teil darauf zurückzuführen, daß sich Erdöl nach Produktionsausfällen Anfang 1989 spürbar verteuert hat. Hauptgrund für die ansteigenden Inflationsraten ist aber, daß die Geldpolitik der letzten Jahre sehr expansiv war und einen starken Nachfragesog induziert hat. Dies erleichtert es den Unternehmen, ihre gestiegenen Kosten zu überwälzen. Um der Inflationsgefahr zu begegnen, haben die Notenbanken in den USA und im Vereinigten Königreich schon vor geraumer Zeit einen geldpolitisch restriktiven Kurs eingeschlagen. In Japan und in den meisten Ländern Westeuropas hat sich die Geldmengenausweitung erst in den letzten Monaten deutlich verringert. --

Inverse Vulcanization of Norbornenylsilanes: Soluble Polymers with Controllable Molecular Properties via Siloxane Bonds

The inverse vulcanization produces high sulfur content polymers from alkenes and elemental sulfur. Control over properties such as the molar mass or the solubility of polymers is not well established, and existing strategies lack predictability or require large variations of the composition. Systematic design principles are sought to allow for a targeted design of materials. Herein, we report on the inverse vulcanization of norbornenylsilanes (NBS), with a different number of hydrolysable groups at the silicon atom. Inverse vulcanization of mixtures of NBS followed by polycondensation yielded soluble high sulfur content copolymers (50 wt % S) with controllable weight average molar mass (M$_{W}$), polydispersity (Đ), glass transition temperature (TG), or zero-shear viscosity (η$_{0}$). Polycondensation was conducted in the melt with HCl as a catalyst, abolishing the need for a solvent. Purification by precipitation afforded polymers with a greatly reduced amount of low molar mass species

Quantifying the Grimm Corpus: Transgressive and Transformative Bodies in the Grimms’ Fairy Tales

What do bodies mean in fairy tales? Donald Haase’s engagement with the Grimms’ fairy tales has offered some hints, ranging from his attention to feminist scholarship on the Grimms to his multifaceted review of recent Grimm scholarship that addresses various meanings of bodies in the language and translation of their tales. Inspired by Haase’s work and encouragement, I created a database that lists every mention or description of a body in the Grimms’ tales and in five other European tale collections. I detailed the results of this quantitative investigation in my dissertation, generally treating all the tale collections as part of one large corpus. In this essay, however, to add to the conversation that Haase has generated and curated, I refilter the data to solely examine which body parts (nouns, adjectives, and actions) appear in the Grimm tales. A major thematic focus is transgression and transformation, especially their gendered dimensions

Many-Body Physics with Ultracold Gases

This article reviews recent experimental and theoretical progress on many-body phenomena in dilute, ultracold gases. Its focus are effects beyond standard weak-coupling descriptions, like the Mott-Hubbard-transition in optical lattices, strongly interacting gases in one and two dimensions or lowest Landau level physics in quasi two-dimensional gases in fast rotation. Strong correlations in fermionic gases are discussed in optical lattices or near Feshbach resonances in the BCS-BEC crossover.Comment: revised version, accepted for publication in Rev. Mod. Phy

Implementing sustainability in multi-tier supply chains: strategies and contingencies in managing sub-suppliers

Buying firms must pay increased attention to supply chain sustainability issues, as stakeholders might hold them responsible for non-sustainable supply chain activities. Frequently, sustainability problems occur upstream at the sub-supplier level. Building on the literature on multi-tier supply chains (MSCs), we investigated the sustainability management strategies of buying firms in the food, apparel, packaging, and consumer electronics with regard to second-tier suppliers and beyond. In particular, we analyzed seven cases of global MSCs and found four different characteristic MSC types—open, closed, third party, and “don't bother”. We identified three main factors—supply chain complexity, the sustainability management capabilities of the first-tier supplier, and the type of sustainability in focus (i.e., environmental or social sustainability)—that determine when and how buying firms actually extend their sustainability strategies to their sub-suppliers