Flexibilität durch Technologieeinsatz? Nutzung und Erfolgswirkung flexibilitätsfördernder Technologien

Flexibilität wird im globalen Wettbewerb immer wichtiger. Viele Kunden erwarten kurze Lieferzeiten bei hoher Termintreue und die Fähigkeit, Produkte kurzfristig an ihre individuellen Wünsche anpassen zu können. In Industrieunternehmen wird daher neben entsprechenden organisatorischen Lösungen der Einsatz flexibilitätsfördernder Technologien als eine wesentliche Voraussetzung für eine wandlungsfähige Produktion wichtiger. Der Einfluss der untersuchten Technologien auf Flexibilitätszielgrößen wie Liefertreue und Kapazitätsauslastung ist uneinheitlich. So wirken sich z. B. Supply Chain Management- und Industrieroboter/Handhabungssysteme positiv auf die Liefertreue aus, während Produktionsplanungs- und -steuerungssysteme den Grad der Kapazitätsauslastung positiv beeinflussen können. Computer Aided Manufacturing scheint dagegen keinen Einfluss auf diese Größen zu haben. Trotz dieser Flexibilitätspotenziale ist die Nutzung der Technologien in verschiedenen Produktionsstrukturennoch stark unterschiedlich. Lediglich PPS- sowie CAM-Konzepte werden von mehr als der Hälfte der Betriebe eingesetzt. Es stellt sich daher die Frage, welche Potenziale durch die geringe Verbreitung etwa von Industrierobotern (etwa ein Drittel der Betriebe) gegebenenfalls verschenkt werden und für welche Einsatz- und Produktionsbedingungen vor diesem Hintergrund zukünftig noch geeignete Lösungen zu konzipieren sind. --

Highly efficient soft x-ray spectrometer for transient absorption spectroscopy with broadband table-top high harmonic sources

We present a novel soft x-ray spectrometer for ultrafast absorption spectroscopy utilizing table-top femtosecond high-order harmonic sources. Where most commercially available spectrometers rely on spherical variable line space gratings with a typical efficiency on the order of 3% in the first diffractive order, this spectrometer, based on a Hettrick–Underwood design, includes a reflective zone plate as a dispersive element. An improved efficiency of 12% at the N K-edge is achieved, accompanied by a resolving power of 890. The high performance of the soft x-ray spectrometer is further demonstrated by comparing nitrogen K-edge absorption spectra from calcium nitrate in aqueous solution obtained with our high-order harmonic source to previous measurements performed at the electron storage ring facility BESSY II

Generalising unit-refutation completeness and SLUR via nested input resolution

We introduce two hierarchies of clause-sets, SLUR_k and UC_k, based on the classes SLUR (Single Lookahead Unit Refutation), introduced in 1995, and UC (Unit refutation Complete), introduced in 1994. The class SLUR, introduced in [Annexstein et al, 1995], is the class of clause-sets for which unit-clause-propagation (denoted by r_1) detects unsatisfiability, or where otherwise iterative assignment, avoiding obviously false assignments by look-ahead, always yields a satisfying assignment. It is natural to consider how to form a hierarchy based on SLUR. Such investigations were started in [Cepek et al, 2012] and [Balyo et al, 2012]. We present what we consider the "limit hierarchy" SLUR_k, based on generalising r_1 by r_k, that is, using generalised unit-clause-propagation introduced in [Kullmann, 1999, 2004]. The class UC, studied in [Del Val, 1994], is the class of Unit refutation Complete clause-sets, that is, those clause-sets for which unsatisfiability is decidable by r_1 under any falsifying assignment. For unsatisfiable clause-sets F, the minimum k such that r_k determines unsatisfiability of F is exactly the "hardness" of F, as introduced in [Ku 99, 04]. For satisfiable F we use now an extension mentioned in [Ansotegui et al, 2008]: The hardness is the minimum k such that after application of any falsifying partial assignments, r_k determines unsatisfiability. The class UC_k is given by the clause-sets which have hardness <= k. We observe that UC_1 is exactly UC. UC_k has a proof-theoretic character, due to the relations between hardness and tree-resolution, while SLUR_k has an algorithmic character. The correspondence between r_k and k-times nested input resolution (or tree resolution using clause-space k+1) means that r_k has a dual nature: both algorithmic and proof theoretic. This corresponds to a basic result of this paper, namely SLUR_k = UC_k.Comment: 41 pages; second version improved formulations and added examples, and more details regarding future directions, third version further examples, improved and extended explanations, and more on SLUR, fourth version various additional remarks and editorial improvements, fifth version more explanations and references, typos corrected, improved wordin

Acclimation in plants – the Green Hub consortium

Acclimation is the capacity to adapt to environmental changes within the lifetime of an individual. This ability allows plants to cope with the continuous variation in ambient conditions to which they are exposed as sessile organisms. Because environmental changes and extremes are becoming even more pronounced due to the current period of climate change, enhancing the efficacy of plant acclimation is a promising strategy for mitigating the consequences of global warming on crop yields. At the cellular level, the chloroplast plays a central role in many acclimation responses, acting both as a sensor of environmental change and as a target of cellular acclimation responses. In this Perspective article, we outline the activities of the Green Hub consortium funded by the German Science Foundation. The main aim of this research collaboration is to understand and strategically modify the cellular networks that mediate plant acclimation to adverse environments, employing Arabidopsis, tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) and Chlamydomonas as model organisms. These efforts will contribute to ‘smart breeding’ methods designed to create crop plants with improved acclimation properties. To this end, the model oilseed crop Camelina sativa is being used to test modulators of acclimation for their potential to enhance crop yield under adverse environmental conditions. Here we highlight the current state of research on the role of gene expression, metabolism and signalling in acclimation, with a focus on chloroplast‐related processes. In addition, further approaches to uncovering acclimation mechanisms derived from systems and computational biology, as well as adaptive laboratory evolution with photosynthetic microbes, are highlighted.Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100001659Peer Reviewe

Efficient acclimation of the chloroplast antioxidant defence of Arabidopsis thaliana leaves in response to a 10- or 100-fold light increment and the possible involvement of retrograde signals

Chloroplasts are equipped with a nuclear-encoded antioxidant defence system the components of which are usually expressed at high transcript and activity levels. To significantly challenge the chloroplast antioxidant system, Arabidopsis thaliana plants, acclimated to extremely low light slightly above the light compensation point or to normal growth chamber light, were moved to high light corresponding to a 100- and 10-fold light jump, for 6 h and 24 h in order to observe the responses of the water–water cycle at the transcript, protein, enzyme activity, and metabolite levels. The plants coped efficiently with the high light regime and the photoinhibition was fully reversible. Reactive oxygen species (ROS), glutathione and ascorbate levels as well as redox states, respectively, revealed no particular oxidative stress in low-light-acclimated plants transferred to 100-fold excess light. Strong regulation of the water–water cycle enzymes at the transcript level was only partly reflected at the protein and activity levels. In general, low light plants had higher stromal (sAPX) and thylakoid ascorbate peroxidase (tAPX), dehydroascorbate reductase (DHAR), and CuZn superoxide dismutase (CuZnSOD) protein contents than normal light-grown plants. Mutants defective in components relevant for retrograde signalling, namely stn7, ex1, tpt1, and a mutant expressing E .coli catalase in the chloroplast showed unaltered transcriptional responses of water–water cycle enzymes. These findings, together with the response of marker transcripts, indicate that abscisic acid is not involved and that the plastoquinone redox state and reactive oxygen species do not play a major role in regulating the transcriptional response at t=6 h, while other marker transcripts suggest a major role for reductive power, metabolites, and lipids as signals for the response of the water–water cycle

Targeting of Basophil and Mast Cell Pro-Allergic Reactivity Using Functionalised Gold Nanoparticles

Calcineurin inhibitors potentially prevent pro-allergic mediator release from basophils and mast cells but are rarely used systemically due to ubiquitous expressions of target signaling proteins. However, specific targeting of allergic effector cells with these inhibitors could circumvent unwanted side effects. We recently demonstrated the biocompatibility of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) as a platform for non-toxic delivery of signaling inhibitors due to unique physicochemical properties of these nanomaterials. Since AuNPs can be conjugated with both anti-allergic drugs and antibodies or other proteins that specifically recognize basophils and mast cells, our aims were to assess specific targeting of allergic effector cell function using AuNPs conjugated with the calcineurin inhibitor ascomycin. Purified human basophils and LAD2 human mast cells were used for investigations with AuNPs conjugated either to CD203c antibodies or containing stem cell factor (SCF), respectively, which were amine-coupled to acidic groups of reduced glutathione (GSH). GSH was also used as a spacer for immobilization of ascomycin on the gold surface. AuNPs conjugated with anti-CD203c and ascomycin strikingly blocked IgE-dependent degranulation of both purified basophils and those present in mixed leukocyte preparations, suggesting specific targeting of these cells. In contrast, LAD2 mast cell responses were not inhibited using anti-CD203c-containing nanoconjugates but were when the conjugates contained SCF. Successful targeting of allergic effector cells using gold nanoconjugates indicates that this technology may have therapeutic potential for the treatment of allergies by specifically delivering highly effective signaling inhibitors with reduced side effects

Compulsive buying and branding phenomena

The purpose of this paper was to explore the impact of brand variables such as brand awareness, brand loyalty, brand attachment, and perceived brand quality on compulsive buying behavior. A self-administered questionnaire, containing demographic items and items related to compulsive buying, brand awareness, brand loyalty, brand attachment and perceived quality, was used to collect data. Participants were 269 US university students at a large mid-western university (138 men, 131 women; mean age = 21.96). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test and MANOVA/ANOVA. Reliability of all scales was acceptable. In the current study, 18% of the participants were classified as compulsive buyers. Women showed higher compulsive buying tendency than men. Participants with greater compulsive buying tendency scored higher on brand attachment and brand loyalty and lower on brand awareness; there was no difference in scores on perceived brand quality. Results support that brand variables such as brand awareness, brand loyalty, and brand attachment are related to compulsive buying behavior. New perceptions and implications for both academicians and practitioners are provided

2019 ARIA Care pathways for allergen immunotherapy

Allergen immunotherapy (AIT) is a proven therapeutic option for the treatment of allergic rhinitis and/or asthma. Many guidelines or national practice guidelines have been produced but the evidence-based method varies, many are complex and none propose care pathways. This paper reviews care pathways for AIT using strict criteria and provides simple recommendations that can be used by all stakeholders including healthcare professionals. The decision to prescribe AIT for the patient should be individualized and based on the relevance of the allergens, the persistence of symptoms despite appropriate medications according to guidelines as well as the availability of good-quality and efficacious extracts. Allergen extracts cannot be regarded as generics. Immunotherapy is selected by specialists for stratified patients. There are no currently available validated biomarkers that can predict AIT success. In adolescents and adults, AIT should be reserved for patients with moderate/severe rhinitis or for those with moderate asthma who, despite appropriate pharmacotherapy and adherence, continue to exhibit exacerbations that appear to be related to allergen exposure, except in some specific cases. Immunotherapy may be even more advantageous in patients with multimorbidity. In children, AIT may prevent asthma onset in patients with rhinitis. mHealth tools are promising for the stratification and follow-up of patients.Peer reviewe