Mobile Platforms as Two-sided Markets

Mobile platforms combine state-of-the-art mobile phones, i.e., smartphones, with innovative operating systems and so-called app stores. App stores are a special kind of search and product market. They allow consumers to search, buy and install apps for their smartphone. These apps are built for a specific operating system and provide additional functionality. App developers use the app store to promote and sell their products. Adoption by consumers and developers depends on the platform as a whole. We introduce the notion of two-sided markets to mobile platforms. Apple’s iPhone and App Store as well as Google’s Android phones and market are described as a practical example. Theories of two-sided markets are reviewed and analyzed for their applicability to the mobile platform scenario. We identify and discuss promising aspects, pitfalls and shortcomings of existing models. Open research questions are revealed. We find that Rochet and Tirole’s model of two-sided markets provides a good match. It explains some of the peculiarities observed. However, as other models, it falls short of comprehensively representing the mobile scenario. Hence, we identify what a comprehensive model needs to provide and outline extensions to existing models. Furthermore, we apply the work of Parker and Van Alstyne to motivate the strategic decisions observed in the mobile market

Environmental Monitoring of the Amazon Basin with a Low Cost Small Satellite Constellation in Equatorial LEO

A low cost satellite constellation is presented for environmental monitoring of the Amazon basin with unprecedented performance-to-cost ratio. The constellation design is based on the unique characteristics of the small Brazillian launcher VLM-1. Launched from the near-equatorial Alcantara base, the vehicle allows for direct injection of about 150 kg in equatorial LEO. Such orbital configuration, actually used very seldom because of its limited ground coverage (restricted to equatorial regions only), proves to be ideal for near-continuous monitoring of the Amazon region. We present a possible low cost microsatellite constellation that allows for high quality imaging of the Amazon basin with near-continuous coverage

Assessment of the regionalised demand response potential in Germany using an open source tool and dataset

With the expansion of renewable energies in Germany, imminent grid congestion events occur more often. One approach for avoiding curtailment of renewable energies is to cover excess feed-in by demand response. As curtailment is often a local phenomenon, in this work we determine the regional demand response potential for the 401 German administrative districts. The load regionalisation is based on weighting factors derived from population and employment statistics, locations of industrial facilities, etc. Using periodic and temperature-dependent load profiles and technology specific parameters, load shifting potentials were determined with a temporal resolution of 15 minutes. Our analysis yields that power-to-heat technologies provide the highest potentials, followed by residential appliances, commercial and industrial loads. For the considered 2030 scenario, power-to-gas and e-mobility also contribute a significant potential. The cumulated load increase potential of all technologies ranges from $5 - 470~MW$ per administrative district. The median value is $25~MW$, which would suffice to avoid the curtailment of 8 classical wind turbines. Further, we calculated load shifting cost-potential curves for each district. Industrial processes and power-to-heat in district heating have the lowest load shifting investment cost, due to the largest installed capacities per facility. We distinguished between different size classes of the installed capacity of heat pumps, yielding $23\%$ lower average investment cost for heat pump flexibilisation in the city of Berlin compared to a rural district. The variable costs of most considered load shifting technologies remain under the average compensation costs for curtailment of renewable energies of 110~\text{\euro{}}/MWh. As all results and the developed code are published under open source licenses, they can be integrated into energy system models

The association of the long prostate cancer expressed PDE4D transcripts to poor patient outcome depends on the tumor’s TMPRSS2-ERG fusion status

Objectives: To investigate the added value of assessing transcripts for the long cAMP phosphodiesterase-4D (PDE4D) isoforms, PDE4D5 and PDE4D9, regarding the prognostic power of the ‘CAPRA & PDE4D7’ combination risk model to predict longitudinal postsurgical biological outcomes in prostate cancer. Patients and Methods: RNA was extracted from both biopsy punches of resected tumours (606 patients; RP cohort) and diagnostic needle biopsies (168 patients; DB cohort). RT-qPCR was performed in order to determine PDE4D5, PDE4D7, and PDE4D9 transcript scores in both study cohorts. By RNA sequencing, we determined the TMPRSS2-ERG fusion status of each tumour sample in the RP cohort. Kaplan-Meier survival analyses were then applied to correlate the PDE4D5, PDE4D7 and PDE4D9 scores with postsurgical patient outcomes. Logistic regression was then used to combine the clinical CAPRA score with PDE4D5, PDE4D7, and PDE4D9 scores in order to build a ‘CAPRA & PDE4D5/7/9’ regression model. ROC and decision curve analysis was used to estimate the net benefit of the ‘CAPRA & PDE4D5/7/9’ risk model. Results: Kaplan-Meier survival analysis, on the RP cohort, revealed a significant association of the PDE4D7 score with postsurgical biochemical recurrence (BCR) in the presence of the TMPRSS2-ERG gene rearrangement (logrank p<0.0001), compared to the absence of this gene fusion event (logrank p=0.08). In contrast, the PDE4D5 score was only significantly associated with BCR in TMPRSS2-ERG fusion negative tumours (logrank p<0.0001 vs. logrank p=0.4 for TMPRSS2-ERG+ tumours). This was similar for the PDE4D9 score although less pronounced compared to that of the PDE4D5 score (TMPRSS2ERG- logrank p<0.0001 vs. TMPRSS2ERG+ logrank p<0.005). In order to predict BCR after primary treatment, we undertook ROC analysis of the logistic regression combination model of the CAPRA score with the PDE4D5, PDE4D7, and PDE4D9 scores. For the DB cohort, this demonstrated significant differences in the AUC between the CAPRA and the PDE4D5/7/9 regression model vs. the CAPRA and PDE4D7 risk model (AUC 0.87 vs. 0.82; p=0.049) vs. the CAPRA score alone (AUC 0.87 vs. 0.77; p=0.005). The CAPRA and PDE4D5/7/9 risk model stratified 19.2% patients of the DB cohort to either ‘no risk of biochemical relapse’ (NPV 100%) or the ‘start of any secondary treatment (NPV 100%)’, over a follow-up period of up to 15 years. Decision curve analysis presented a clear, net benefit for the use of the novel CAPRA & PDE4D5/7/9 risk model compared to the clinical CAPRA score alone or the CAPRA and PDE4D7 model across all decision thresholds. Conclusion: Association of the long PDE4D5, PDE4D7, and PDE4D9 transcript scores to prostate cancer patient outcome, after primary intervention, varies in opposite directions depending on the TMPRSS2-ERG genomic fusion background of the tumour. Adding transcript scores for the long PDE4D isoforms, PDE4D5 and PDE4D9, to our previously presented combination risk model of the combined ‘CAPRA & PDE4D7’ score, in order to generate the CAPRA and PDE4D5/7/9 score, significantly improves the prognostic power of the model in predicting postsurgical biological outcomes in prostate cancer patients

Comparison of Open Source Power Grid Models—Combining a Mathematical, Visual and Electrical Analysis in an Open Source Tool

Power grid models are important in relation to several topics and applications, especially the modelling, optimisation and extension of electrical grids. The significance of grid models is heightened by the increase in renewable energy generation and the challenges associated with its integration into the power grid. However, despite their crucial importance, grid models have generally not been made publicly available for scientific studies or technical analyses. Little information has been published about either the details and methods used in the derivation of these models, or their input and output data. Recently, several projects were initiated in an effort to address this by developing open source grid models and associated data. These projects used different approaches and methods, but most are based on the OpenStreetMap database. The goal of this paper is to compare the different available grid models on the basis of the structure and derivation methods used. Therefore, a novel combination of a graph-theoretical, Geographic Information System (GIS)-based and power-related comparison level is introduced using the open source tool AutoGridComp, which was developed by the authors. The grid models considered in this study are the Scientific Grid Model (SciGRID), GridKit and open street map Transmission Grid Model (osmTGmod) models for Germany

Estudo comparativo de boias de listagem em produções de dois sinalizantes surdos paranaenses

Orientador: Prof. Dr. André Nogueira XavierMonografia (graduação) - Universidade Federal do Paraná, Setor de Ciências Humanas, Curso de Licenciatura em Letras LibrasResumo: Liddell (2003), ao pesquisar ASL (Língua de Sinais Americana), identicou cinco tipos de boias, produzidas pela mão não dominante. Ele as chamou assim, porque, em geral, elas perseveram no espaço de sinalização, como se estivessem "boiando no ar". O objetivo deste trabalho é analisar um desses tipos, as chamadas boias de listagem, que consistem no uso dos dedos da mão não dominante para referência de diferentes entidades. Para isso, fiz uma comparação das produções de dois sinalizantes surdos paranenses, um homem e uma mulher, coletadas em vídeos do Youtube e Facebook. Os resultados mostram a ocorrência de diferentes tipos de boias, a saber, fixa, sequencial e mista. Combinados a esses tipos, observei também a ocorrência ou não de perseveração. Apesar de algumas semelhanças, os sujeitos variaram na frequência com que produziram cada tipo e subtipo de boias de listagem

Mission Analysis and Platform Design: A Constellation of Small SAR Satellites to Detect Non-Cooperative Targets

This thesis is aimed at analyze and design a low-cost constellation of small SAR satellites to improve the SIVAM surveillance capability, in order to detect noncooperative targets in Brazilian Amazon borders. The analysis also considers the Brazilian Microsatellite Launcher VLM-1, such as the launcher vehicle from Alcantara Launch Range. Several constellations architectures have been evaluated, in order to satisfy the user’s requirements and constraints, such as spatial resolution needed to detect the targets, frequency of satellite revisit, geographical coverage area, ground stations locations, and launcher interfaces and performance constraints. The mission architecture design includes: the SAR system design that determines parameters such as antenna dimensions, sensor coverage, pulse repetition frequency, radar timing, data rate, power consumption and mode of operation; a study of alternative mission concepts of MTI, in detection of the target, considering the imaging processing on-board and on ground; a coverage analysis in STK software to determine the orbital parameters, the operation time and gaps between operation periods; and a space-time-coverage analysis to identify the number of satellites and the daily surveillance of possible constellations. A small platform equipped with a light SAR payload based on recent technological improvements of inflatable SAR antennas has been designed. The platform, equipped with components on-the-self, offers a suitable performance in terms of power generation, data storage, data transmission and pointing accuracy. Also a detailed representation of internal and external layouts and the satellite assembly with the VLM-1 upper stage inside the fairing are shown, together with the satellite mass budget and the final system performance