Data-driven Modeling and Coordination of Large Process Structures

In the engineering domain, the development of complex products (e.g., cars) necessitates the coordination of thousands of (sub-)processes. One of the biggest challenges for process management systems is to support the modeling, monitoring and maintenance of the many interdependencies between these sub-processes. The resulting process structures are large and can be characterized by a strong relationship with the assembly of the product; i.e., the sub-processes to be coordinated can be related to the different product components. So far, sub-process coordination has been mainly accomplished manually, resulting in high efforts and inconsistencies. IT support is required to utilize the information about the product and its structure for deriving, coordinating and maintaining such data-driven process structures. In this paper, we introduce the COREPRO framework for the data-driven modeling of large process structures. The approach reduces modeling efforts significantly and provides mechanisms for maintaining data-driven process structures

Being a scientist

The begin of my career as a scientist had been in the fi rst part of the 70s of the last century. Thus, I now have nearly 50 years of experience in biomedical research. I had started in a department of biochemistry in Hamburg, went on into various areas of clinical work (i.e., endocrinology, intensive care medicine, gastroenterology, and clinical nutrition) in Hannover and Geneva, took an intermediate step working in a Federal Health Of fi ce in Berlin and finally ended up as a full professor of Human Nutrition in Kiel, where I had worked for the last 23 years. As for many of my colleagues, becoming an expert in clinical nutrition was more or less coincidental for me. My major research focus was and still is on energy metabolism while during the last decades I also became interested in certain aspects of public health nutrition (e.g., prevention of childhood obesity and planetary health)

Is There a Contribution of Structural Brain Phenotypes to the Variance in Resting Energy Expenditure before and after Weight Loss in Overweight Females?

Brain gray (GM) and white matter (WM) are associated with resting energy expenditure (REE). The impact of weight loss on GM and WM masses, as well as on their associations with REE and the ratio between body and brain metabolism, i.e., encephalic measure (EM)), are unknown. Longitudinal data of 69 female Caucasian subjects (age range 19-69 years) with detailed information on fat mass (FM), fat free mas (FFM), GM, WM and REE. Mean weight loss was 14.5 ± 11.9 kg with changes in FM (-12.9 ± 9.8 kg), FFM (-1.7 ± 4.8 kg) and REE (-159 ± 191 kcal/24 h) (all p < 0.05). With weight loss, there were no changes in GM and WM. Before and after weight loss, FFM was the main determinant of REE (r2 = 0.483 and 0.413; p < 0.05). After weight loss, GM added to the variances in REE (3.6%), REEadjFFM (6.1%) and the REE on FFM residuals (6.6%). In addition, before and after weight loss GM explained 25.0% and 10.0% of the variances in EM (p < 0.05). Weight loss had no effect on volumes of GM and WM. After weight loss, both, GM added to the variances of REE, REE on FFM residuals and EM

Weak looking-ahead and its application in computer-integrated process planning

Constraint logic programming has been shown to be a very useful tool for knowledge representation and problem-solving in different areas. Finite Domain extensions of PROLOG together with efficient consistency techniques such as forward-checking and looking-ahead make it possible to solve many discrete combinatorial problems within a short development time. In this paper we present the weak looking-ahead strategy (WLA), a new consistency technique on finite domains combining the computational efficiency of forward-checking with the pruning power of looking-ahead. Moreover, incorporating weak looking-ahead into PROLOG\u27s SLD resolution gives a sound and complete inference rule whereas standard looking-ahead itself has been shown to be incomplete. Finally, we will show how to use weak looking-ahead in a real-world application to obtain an early search-space pruning while avoiding the control overhead involved by standard looking-ahead

Nitrogen Dynamics Following the Break-up of Grassland on Three Different Sandy Soils

Nitrogen (N) is accumulated under grassland depending on factors such as soil type, management, and fertiliser input. Break-up of grassland stimulates mineralisation of organic N and may lead to increased soil mineral N and leaching losses (Lloyd, 1992). The objective of this study was to find out how site factors, e.g. soil, previous management and sward age, the following crop and the new level of N fertiliser affect the amount of inorganic N in autumn and the preceding mineralisation processes when grassland is ploughed in spring

Ratio of CaO/K20 > 2 as evidence of a special Rhenish type of medieval stained glass

The chemical compositions of more than 300 medieval stained glass samples of different local origin have been published so far. Regarding their characteristic components they can be classified into five types. About 80 % of all investigated samples proved to be potash-lime-silica glasses with roughly equal concentration of CaO and K₂O (type 1). But a small group of little more than 20 samples gave a ratio of CaO/K₂0 > 2 (type 2), all but three of which had been taken from two churches of the Rhine region (St. Catherine Church Oppenheim and Cologne Cathedral). Hence, it seems likely that a corresponding recipe was used there, which was nearly unknown elsewhere in Europe. Investigation of further objects of this region might be of interest for the history of technology

Versagt die soziale Marktwirtschaft? Deutsche Irrtümer

Deutschland ist verunsichert. Umfragen belegen, dass das Vertrauen der Bürger in unsere Wirtschaftsordnung seit Jahren schwindet. Die Ursachen hierfür liegen jedoch nicht im System der sozialen Marktwirtschaft begründet. Es ist vielmehr immer wieder so, dass die Politik Versprechungen macht und Erwartungen weckt, die sich als unrealistisch erweisen. Dies führt zwangsläufig zu Enttäuschungen und schädigt das Vertrauen in die Politik nachhaltig. Anders herum: Die mangelnde Entschlossenheit bei der Umsetzung notwendiger Reformen führt schließlich dazu, dass Reformen per se negativ wahrgenommen werden. Die Rolle des Staates als wirtschaftspolitische Ordnungskraft wird gerade auch im Zusammenhang mit der Globalisierung immer wieder unterschätzt. Es trifft aber nicht zu, dass der Staat seine Gestaltungsmöglichkeiten im internationalen Standortwettbewerb um internationale Investoren verloren hat. Beispiele anderer Länder zeigen, dass die Politik nach wie vor über wirtschaftspolitischen Gestaltungsspielraum verfügt. Die globalisierungsbedingten Anpassungen können durch eine entschlossene Reformpolitik durchaus erfolgreich gemeistert werden, wenn der Staat auch für sich den internationalen Wettbewerb akzeptiert und den erforderlichen Strukturwandel durch entschlossene Reformen vorantreibt. Hinter der Befürchtung, der Staat könnte seinen Aufgaben in der globalisierten Welt nicht mehr gerecht werden, stecken im Grunde dieselben Impulse, die auch zu einem Ausufern unserer Sozialsysteme geführt haben: eine tief greifende politisch beförderte Anspruchshaltung der Bürger in Bezug auf staatliche Leistungen und eine zu starke Betonung sozialer Gleichheit. Schon Ludwig Erhard warnte davor, dass der allumfassende Versorgungsstaat Leistungsbereitschaft, persönliche Initiative und das Verantwortungsbewusstsein der Menschen lähme. Dem ursprünglichen Leitbild der sozialen Marktwirtschaft entsprechend sollte der Staat die Regeln des Wettbewerbs festlegen und über deren Einhaltung wachen, selbst aber nicht in das Wirtschaftsgeschehen eingreifen. In diesem Sinne müssen Eigenverantwortung, Eigeninitiative und Risikobereitschaft in unserer Gesellschaft wieder stärker entwickelt werden. Die Rollenverteilung zwischen Wirtschaft, Staat und Bürgern muss neu bestimmt werden. Der Staat sollte sich wieder auf seine wesentliche Aufgabe konzentrieren und die Rahmenbedingungen so setzen, dass sie eine nachhaltig positive Entwicklung von Gesellschaft und Wirtschaft ermöglichen. Es mangelt den Bürgern nicht an Reformwillen, wohl aber an Vertrauen in die politische Reformfähigkeit. Nur mit einem Mentalitätswechsel und in sich schlüssigen Reformen kann es gelingen, das dringend benötigte Vertrauen der Bürger in unser Wirtschaftssystem wiederherzustellen. Die soziale Marktwirtschaft hat nämlich keineswegs versagt. Sie ist und bleibt das beste bekannte Ordnungssystem, in dem soziale Verantwortung mit einem hohen Maß individueller Freiheit möglich ist. --

ICAM G241A polymorphism and soluble ICAM-1 serum levels: Evidence for an active immune process in schizophrenia

Objectives: We have previously reported reduced serum levels of soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1) in schizophrenic patients. A single-nucleotide polymorphism ( SNP) of the ICAM-1 gene was described at position 241. The G --> A SNP results in a nonsynonymous amino acid exchange of the ICAM-1 protein, and the A allele was shown to be also associated with several immunological disorders like rheumatoid arthritis. Methods: We investigated 70 schizophrenic patients and 128 unrelated healthy control persons regarding the relationship between the serum levels of sICAM-1 and the ICAM-1 G214A polymorphism. Results: We were able to replicate our previous finding of reduced sICAM-1 levels in schizophrenia. Healthy control persons carrying the polymorphic A allele showed markedly lower sICAM-1 serum levels than carriers of the homozygous GG wild type ( p < 0.004). In contrast, no significant difference in the sICAM-1 serum levels were seen regarding the G241A genotype distribution in schizophrenic patients. Conclusion: We hypothesize that the biochemical effect of the G241A SNP is masked in schizophrenic patients, indicating a disease-related mechanism leading to reduced levels of sICAM-1 in schizophrenia. Copyright (C) 2005 S. Karger AG, Basel