121 research outputs found

    The new mobility paradigm: transformation of value chain and business models

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    We would like to thank Philipp Schwarz and Julia GĂŒckel for their dedicated support in preparing this paper and our colleagues and students of the School of Engineering and the Business School for our fruitful discussions.Four categories of innovations have been identified by Freeman and Perez: incremental innovations, radical innovations, new technological systems (systemic innovations), and technological revolutions or new techno-economic paradigms. New techno-economic paradigms represent changes in technological systems that are so far-reaching in their effects that they have a major influence on the behaviour of the entire economy. Scarcity of oil and external costs like global warming are the key arguments and the main drivers of the change of the current paradigm. They will affect especially the mobility of individuals and the interlinked business models. Novel business models within newly created markets will raise e.g. extended mobility services, activities aiming at the infrastructure, new opportunities in the field of energy transmission and supply and even new strategies of recycling, reusing or reducing the use of resources in order to address global scarcity issues. Especially for the established players of the automotive industry like original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) or 1st and 2nd tier suppliers this implicates opportunities and risks at the same time. But also new players will get the chance to create and enter new markets with new or extended products or services and lead the new value chain. This paper compiles and evaluates current approaches and business models of selected OEMs together with upcoming players. Additionally their positions within the existing value chain are being analyzed and classified. Bringing together the identified drivers of changes with current trends within the automotive industry the authors also show new concepts of extended business models, e.g. the idea of an ecosystem, that have the potential to cause an additional shift of power within the global mobility value chain

    On the Use of Dependencies in Relation Classification of Text with Deep Learning

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    International audienceDeep Learning is more and more used in NLP tasks, such as in relation classification of texts. This paper assesses the impact of syntactic dependencies in this task at two levels. The first level concerns the generic Word Embedding (WE) as input of the classification model, the second level concerns the corpus whose relations have to be classified. In this paper, two classification models are studied, the first one is based on a CNN using a generic WE and does not take into account the dependencies of the corpus to be treated, and the second one is based on a compositional WE combining a generic WE with syntactical annotations of this corpus to classify. The impact of dependencies in relation classification is estimated using two different WE. The first one is essentially lexical and trained on the Wikipedia corpus in English, while the second one is also syntactical, trained on the same previously annotated corpus with syntactical dependencies. The two classification models are evaluated on the SemEval 2010 reference corpus using these two generic WE. The experiments show the importance of taking dependencies into account at different levels in the relation classification

    Hotspots of Large Rare Deletions in the Human Genome

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    Background: We have examined the genomic distribution of large rare autosomal deletions in a sample of 440 parentparent-child trios from the Quebec founder population (QFP) which was recruited for a study of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Methodology/Principal Findings: DNA isolated from blood was genotyped on Illumina Hap300 arrays. PennCNV combined with visual evaluation of images generated by the Beadstudio program was used to determine deletion boundary definition of sufficient precision to discern independent events, with near-perfect concordance between parent and child in about 98 % of the 399 events detected in the offspring; the remaining 7 deletions were considered de novo. We defined several genomic regions of very high deletion frequency (‘hotspots’), usually of 0.4–0.6 Mb in length where independent rare deletions were found at frequencies of up to 100 fold higher than the average for the genome as a whole. Five of the 7 de novo deletions were in these hotspots. The same hotspots were also observed in three other studies on members of the QFP, those with schizophrenia, with endometriosis and those from a longevity cohort. Conclusions/Significance: Nine of the 13 hotspots carry one gene (7 of which are very long), while the rest contain no known genes. All nine genes have been implicated in disease. The patterns of exon deletions support the proposed roles for some of these genes in human disease, such as NRXN1 and PARKIN, and suggest limited roles or no role at all, for others

    Molecular effects of the consumption of margarine and butter varying in trans fat composition: a parallel human intervention study

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    BACKGROUND Whereas the dietary intake of industrial trans fatty acids (iTFA) has been specifically associated with inflammation, cardiovascular disease, and type 2 diabetes, understanding the impact of dietary fats on human health remains challenging owing to their complex composition and individual effects of their lipid components on metabolism. The aim of this study is to profile the composition of blood, measured by the fatty acid (FAs) profile and untargeted metabolome of serum and the transcriptome of blood cells, in order to identify molecular signatures that discriminate dietary fat intakes. METHODS In a parallel study, the molecular effects of consuming dairy fat containing ruminant TFA (rTFA) or margarine containing iTFA were investigated. Healthy volunteers (n = 42; 45-69 y) were randomly assigned to diets containing margarine without TFA as major source of fat (wTFA control group with 0.4 g TFA per 100 g margarine), margarine with iTFA (iTFA group with 4.1 g TFA per 100 g margarine), or butter with rTFA (rTFA group with 6.3 g TFA per 100 g butter) for 4 weeks. The amounts of test products were individually selected so that fat intake contributed to 30-33% of energy requirements and TFA in the rTFA and iTFA groups contributed to up to 2% of energy intake. Changes in fasting blood values of lipid profiles (GC with flame-ionization detection), metabolome profiles (LC-MS, GC-MS), and gene expression (microarray) were measured. RESULTS Eighteen FAs, as well as 242 additional features measured by LC-MS (185) and GC-MS (54) showed significantly different responses to the diets (PFDR−adjusted_{FDR-adjusted} < 0.05), mainly distinguishing butter from the margarine diets while gene expression was not differentially affected. The most abundant TFA in the butter, i.e. TFA containing (E)-octadec-11-enoic acid (C18:1 t11; trans vaccenic acid), and margarines, i.e. TFA containing (E)-octadec-9-enoic acid (C18:1 t9; elaidic acid) were reflected in the significantly different serum levels of TFAs measured after the dietary interventions. CONCLUSIONS The untargeted serum metabolome differentiates margarine from butter intake although the identification of the discriminating features remains a bottleneck. The targeted serum FA profile provides detailed information on specific molecules differentiating not only butter from margarine intake but also diets with different content of iTFAs in margarine. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00933322

    Molecular effects of the consumption of margarine and butter varying in trans fat composition: a parallel human intervention study.

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    BACKGROUND Whereas the dietary intake of industrial trans fatty acids (iTFA) has been specifically associated with inflammation, cardiovascular disease, and type 2 diabetes, understanding the impact of dietary fats on human health remains challenging owing to their complex composition and individual effects of their lipid components on metabolism. The aim of this study is to profile the composition of blood, measured by the fatty acid (FAs) profile and untargeted metabolome of serum and the transcriptome of blood cells, in order to identify molecular signatures that discriminate dietary fat intakes. METHODS In a parallel study, the molecular effects of consuming dairy fat containing ruminant TFA (rTFA) or margarine containing iTFA were investigated. Healthy volunteers (n = 42; 45-69 y) were randomly assigned to diets containing margarine without TFA as major source of fat (wTFA control group with 0.4 g TFA per 100 g margarine), margarine with iTFA (iTFA group with 4.1 g TFA per 100 g margarine), or butter with rTFA (rTFA group with 6.3 g TFA per 100 g butter) for 4 weeks. The amounts of test products were individually selected so that fat intake contributed to 30-33% of energy requirements and TFA in the rTFA and iTFA groups contributed to up to 2% of energy intake. Changes in fasting blood values of lipid profiles (GC with flame-ionization detection), metabolome profiles (LC-MS, GC-MS), and gene expression (microarray) were measured. RESULTS Eighteen FAs, as well as 242 additional features measured by LC-MS (185) and GC-MS (54) showed significantly different responses to the diets (PFDR-adjusted < 0.05), mainly distinguishing butter from the margarine diets while gene expression was not differentially affected. The most abundant TFA in the butter, i.e. TFA containing (E)-octadec-11-enoic acid (C18:1 t11; trans vaccenic acid), and margarines, i.e. TFA containing (E)-octadec-9-enoic acid (C18:1 t9; elaidic acid) were reflected in the significantly different serum levels of TFAs measured after the dietary interventions. CONCLUSIONS The untargeted serum metabolome differentiates margarine from butter intake although the identification of the discriminating features remains a bottleneck. The targeted serum FA profile provides detailed information on specific molecules differentiating not only butter from margarine intake but also diets with different content of iTFAs in margarine. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00933322

    Un ancien lac au pied de l’<i>oppidum</i> de Gergovie (Puy-de-DĂŽme) : interactions sociĂ©tĂ©s-milieux dans le bassin de SarliĂšve Ă  l’HolocĂšne

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    International audienceZiel der seit 1997 im Becken von SarliĂšve, am Fuß des Oppidums von Gergovia (Puy-de-DĂŽme) durchgefĂŒhrten Studien ist es, die wechselseitigen Beziehungen zwischen Mensch und Umwelt ĂŒber einen langen Zeitraum aus einem systemischen und interdisziplinĂ€ren Blickwinkel zu betrachten. Die Untersuchungen beziehen sich auf ein Niederschlagsgebiet mittlerer GrĂ¶ĂŸe in einer Region von eminenter geschichtlicher Bedeutung. Drei Untersuchungsachsen wurden definiert: ‱die Analyse der Entwicklung der Umwelt im Bereich dieses Niederschlagsgebietes in Hinsicht auf seine unterschiedlichen biophysikalischen Komponenten; ‱die Analyse der Geschichte der FlĂ€chennutzung und der Bewirtschaftung des Beckens durch die sich ablösenden Bevölkerungsgruppen; ‱die Analyse der durch den Menschen hervorgerufenen Umweltbelastung (Pflanzendecke, hydrosedimentĂ€re KrĂ€fte). Die Ergebnisse dieser Forschungen liefern die Elemente fĂŒr die Erstellung eines sozialökologischen Modells, das das von 1970-1980 fĂŒr die Grande Limagne ausgearbeitete Modell ablöst. Eine Abfolge von Agrarzyklen ist deutlich erkennbar. Diese stehen im Zusammenhang mit Phasen starker menschlicher Einflussnahme, die fĂŒr das Mittelneolithikum, die FrĂŒh-und SpĂ€tbronzezeit, die Ă€ltere Eisenzeit, die spĂ€te LatĂšne-und frĂŒhe Kaiserzeit, das Mittelalter und die Neuzeit erkannt wurden. Diese Zyklen sind eng verknĂŒpft nicht nur mit der Entwicklung der Pflanzen und der Sedimentierungsdynamik, sondern auch mit den Schwankungen des Wasserstandes. In der Bronzezeit und im Mittelalter werden Transgressionsphasen mit besonders umfangreichen und einengenden Auswirkungen nachgewiesen. Der niedrige Pegel des PalĂ€osees in der jĂŒngeren Eisenzeit und der frĂŒhen Kaiserzeit begĂŒnstigt dagegen die Besiedlung der Uferregionen und sogar der Sohle des Beckens, das um die Zeitenwende durch ein EntwĂ€sserungssystem vollstĂ€ndig trocken gelegt wird. In der ersten HĂ€lfte des 2. Jh. v. Chr. wird mit der starken Intensivierung der SiedlungstĂ€tigkeit in sĂ€mtlichen topographischen Kontexten eine deutliche quantitative Schwelle ĂŒberschritten. Die Ergebnisse der archĂ€ologischen und palĂ€oökologischen Untersuchungen lassen die methodische Erschließung der fruchtbarsten Böden im Zusammenhang mit einem stetigen wirtschaftlichen und demographischen Wachstum erkennen, das mit dem Bau großer als “zentrale PlĂ€tze“ interpretierter Siedlungen (La Grande Borne in Aulnat, Oppida von Corent, Gergovia und Gondole) zusammenfĂ€llt. In den ersten beiden Jahrhunderten unseres Zeitalters setzt sich diese Tendenz im Rahmen der Ökonomie der villae, die sich infolge der GrĂŒndung von Augustonemetum, der neuen Hauptstadt der avernischen civitas herausbildet, mit der von den GelĂ€ndeformen unabhĂ€ngigen Ausweitung der landwirtschaftlichen Nutzung auf das gesamte Becken fort. In der SpĂ€tantike und im frĂŒhen Mittelalter gewinnt der Sumpf in einem feuchteren Klima wieder an Boden, besonders durch die grundlegenden VerĂ€nderungen in der Art und Weise das Gebiet zu nutzen. Die mittelalterlichen Texte und die neuzeitliche Ikonographie bezeugen die Existenz eines Sees, der zu Beginn des 17. Jh. schließlich endgĂŒltig trockengelegt wird.The aim of the researches conducted since 1997 in the basin of SarliĂšve, at the foot of the oppidum of Gergovia (Puy-de-DĂŽme), is to detect in a systemic and interdisciplinary perspective the longlasting interactions societies/environment on the scale of a mediumsized basin located in a major area from an historical point of view. Three axes have been defined : * the characterization of the evolution of the environment on the scale of the basin inside its various biophysical components ; * the characterization of the history of land occcupation and of the exploitation of environment by successive populations settled in the basin ; * the characterization of the impact of human pressure on the environment (plant cover, hydro-sedimentary dynamics). Results provide elements of a new socioenvironmental model after the model completed in Limagne in the 1970'-1980'. A succession of land cycles has been detected and connected to phases of strong human pressure identified for Middle Neolithic, Early and Late Bronze Age, Early Iron Age, Early Empire, Middle Age and Modern period. These cycles are tightly connected with vegetation evolution and sedimentary dynamics but also with vertical variations of the lake level. Some phases of encroachment, particularly wide and constraining, have been revealed for Bronze Age and Middle Age. The low level of the lake during the Late Iron Age and the Early Empire in the other hand is favourable to the occupation of the edges and even at the bottom of the basin which is entirely drained due to a draining system at the turn of our era. A definite quantitative step, during the first half of the 2nd century BC, is represented by the high densification of the populated area in all kinds of physical units. Archaeological and environmental datas reveal a methodic exploitation of the most fertile lands in a context of continuous economic and demographic environment which coincides with the birth of towns identified as "central places" (such as la Grande Borne at Aulnat and the oppida of Corent at Veyre-Monton, Gergovia at La Roche-Blanche and Gondole at Le Cendre). This tendency goes on during the first two centuries AD, with the generalization of agrosystem to the whole basin, for any kind of relief, in the context of economic estates growing since the foundation of Augustonemetum, the new capital of the Arverni. The return of marsh in Late Antiquity and Early Middle Age is due to a more humid climate and to deep changes in the methods of environmental management. A real lake is attested by medieval sources and modern iconography and is definitely dried out at the beginning of the 17th century.Les recherches conduites depuis 1997 dans le bassin de SarliĂšve, au pied de l'oppidum de Gergovie (Puy-de-DĂŽme), visent Ă  apprĂ©hender, dans une perspective systĂ©mique et interdisciplinaire, les interactions sociĂ©tĂ©s-milieux dans la longue durĂ©e, Ă  l'Ă©chelle d'un bassin-versant de taille moyenne localisĂ© dans une zone de premiĂšre importance sur le plan historique. Trois axes de recherche ont Ă©tĂ© dĂ©finis : * la caractĂ©risation de l'Ă©volution du milieu Ă  l'Ă©chelle du bassin-versant dans ses diffĂ©rentes composantes biophysiques ; * la caractĂ©risation de l'histoire de l'occupation du sol et de l'exploitation du milieu par les populations successives Ă©tablies dans le bassin ; * la caractĂ©risation de l'impact de la pression anthropique sur le milieu (couverture vĂ©gĂ©tale, dynamiques hydrosĂ©dimentaires). Les rĂ©sultats obtenus fournissent les Ă©lĂ©ments d'un modĂšle socio-environnemental qui renouvelle celui Ă©laborĂ© pour la Grande Limagne dans les annĂ©es 1970-1980. Une succession de cycles agraires est clairement mise en Ă©vidence. Ceux-ci sont liĂ©s Ă  des phases de forte pression humaine identifiĂ©es au NĂ©olithique moyen, au Bronze ancien, au Bronze final, au premier Ăąge du Fer, Ă  La TĂšne finale, au Haut-Empire, au Moyen Âge et Ă  l'Ă©poque moderne. Ces cycles sont Ă©troitement corrĂ©lĂ©s avec l'Ă©volution de la vĂ©gĂ©tation et la dynamique sĂ©dimentaire, mais Ă©galement avec les variations verticales du plan d'eau. Des phases de transgression particuliĂšrement amples et contraignantes sont mises en Ă©vidence durant l'Ăąge du Bronze et le Moyen Âge. Le bas niveau du palĂ©olac durant le second Ăąge du Fer et le Haut-Empire est, en revanche, propice Ă  l'occupation des bordures et mĂȘme du fond de la cuvette, qui est complĂštement assĂ©chĂ©e grĂące Ă  un systĂšme de drainage amĂ©nagĂ© aux environs du changement d'Ăšre. Un seuil quantitatif trĂšs net est franchi dans la premiĂšre moitiĂ© du IIe s. av. J.-C., avec la forte densification de l'habitat dans tous les types d'unitĂ©s physiques. Les donnĂ©es archĂ©ologiques et palĂ©oenvironnementales traduisent la mise en valeur mĂ©thodique des sols les plus fertiles, dans un contexte de croissance Ă©conomique et dĂ©mographique continue qui coĂŻncide avec l'apparition de vastes agglomĂ©rations interprĂ©tĂ©es comme des " places centrales " (agglomĂ©ration de la Grande Borne Ă  Aulnat, oppida de Corent Ă  Veyre-Monton, Gergovie Ă  La Roche-Blanche et Gondole au Cendre). Cette tendance se poursuit durant les deux premiers siĂšcles de notre Ăšre, avec la gĂ©nĂ©ralisation de l'agrosystĂšme Ă  l'ensemble du bassin, quels que soient les types de reliefs, dans le cadre de l'Ă©conomie domaniale qui se dĂ©veloppe Ă  la suite de la fondation d'Augustonemetum, nouvelle capitale de la citĂ© arverne. La fin de l'AntiquitĂ© et le haut Moyen Âge voient le retour du marais Ă  la faveur d'un climat plus humide et, surtout, de profonds changements dans les modalitĂ©s de gestion du milieu. Un vĂ©ritable lac est attestĂ© par les textes mĂ©diĂ©vaux et par l'iconographie moderne. Il est dĂ©finitivement assĂ©chĂ© au dĂ©but du XVIIe s

    Establishment and analysis of a reference transcriptome for Spodoptera frugiperda

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    International audienceBackground Spodoptera frugiperda (Noctuidae) is a major agricultural pest throughout the American continent. The highly polyphagous larvae are frequently devastating crops of importance such as corn, sorghum, cotton and grass. In addition, the Sf9 cell line, widely used in biochemistry for in vitro protein production, is derived from S. frugiperda tissues. Many research groups are using S. frugiperda as a model organism to investigate questions such as plant adaptation, pest behavior or resistance to pesticides.ResultsIn this study, we constructed a reference transcriptome assembly (Sf_TR2012b) of RNA sequences obtained from more than 35 S. frugiperda developmental time-points and tissue samples. We assessed the quality of this reference transcriptome by annotating a ubiquitous gene family - ribosomal proteins - as well as gene families that have a more constrained spatio-temporal expression and are involved in development, immunity and olfaction. We also provide a time-course of expression that we used to characterize the transcriptional regulation of the gene families studied.ConclusionWe conclude that the Sf_TR2012b transcriptome is a valid reference transcriptome. While its reliability decreases for the detection and annotation of genes under strong transcriptional constraint we still recover a fair percentage of tissue-specific transcripts. That allowed us to explore the spatial and temporal expression of genes and to observe that some olfactory receptors are expressed in antennae and palps but also in other non related tissues such as fat bodies. Similarly, we observed an interesting interplay of gene families involved in immunity between fat bodies and antennae
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