Analysing customer contact sequences of private customers during the pre- purchase phase for automobiles in Germany

"Customer contact sequences" (CCS) known as "customer journey" provide insights for consumer behaviour. Limited research is present where every interaction with a brand is analysed within the automobile purchase decision. Thus, the paper aims to analyse CCS, their influential factors and outcomes to develop a theoretical model for automobile purchases in Germany. A qualitative study is conducted with 20 in-depth interviews of recent car buyers. Findings reveal influential factors like "product related", "subjective norm", "purchase frequency" or "psychological influence" and show the existence of CCS especially within the period of targeted information search. The integration of emotional arousal and cognitive evaluation in the CCS model was found to be of high value. However, further studies must evaluate CCS on high sample sizes using a longitudinal research design. Therewith, new theory findings are generated which are likely to affect the traditional models of purchase behaviour

SOEP-RV: Linking German Socio-Economic Panel Data to Pension Records

The aim of the project SOEP-RV is to link data from participants in the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) survey to their individual Deutsche Rentenversicherung (German Pension Insurance) records. For all SOEP respondents who give explicit consent to record linkage, SOEP-RV creates a linked dataset that combines the comprehensive multi-topic SOEP data with detailed cross-sectional and longitudinal data on social security pension records covering the individual’s entire insurance history. This article provides an overview of the record linkage project, highlights potentials for analysis of the linked data, compares key SOEP and pension insurance variables, and suggests a re-weighting procedure that corrects for selectivity. It concludes with details on the process of obtaining the data for scientific use

Spleen tyrosine kinase mediates innate and adaptive immune crosstalk in SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccination

Durable cell-mediated immune responses require efficient innate immune signaling and the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines. How precisely mRNA vaccines trigger innate immune cells for shaping antigen specific adaptive immunity remains unknown. Here, we show that SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccination primes human monocyte-derived macrophages for activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome. Spike protein exposed macrophages undergo NLRP3-driven pyroptotic cell death and subsequently secrete mature interleukin-1β. These effects depend on activation of spleen tyrosine kinase (SYK) coupled to C-type lectin receptors. Using autologous cocultures, we show that SYK and NLRP3 orchestrate macrophage-driven activation of effector memory T cells. Furthermore, vaccination-induced macrophage priming can be enhanced with repetitive antigen exposure providing a rationale for prime-boost concepts to augment innate immune signaling in SARS-CoV-2 vaccination. Collectively, these findings identify SYK as a regulatory node capable of differentiating between primed and unprimed macrophages, which modulate spike protein-specific T cell responses

Comparative genomics and transcriptomics of lineages I, II, and III strains of Listeria monocytogenes

BACKGROUND: Listeria monocytogenes is a food-borne pathogen that causes infections with a high-mortality rate and has served as an invaluable model for intracellular parasitism. Here, we report complete genome sequences for two L. monocytogenes strains belonging to serotype 4a (L99) and 4b (CLIP80459), and transcriptomes of representative strains from lineages I, II, and III, thereby permitting in-depth comparison of genome- and transcriptome -based data from three lineages of L. monocytogenes. Lineage III, represented by the 4a L99 genome is known to contain strains less virulent for humans. RESULTS: The genome analysis of the weakly pathogenic L99 serotype 4a provides extensive evidence of virulence gene decay, including loss of several important surface proteins. The 4b CLIP80459 genome, unlike the previously sequenced 4b F2365 genome harbours an intact inlB invasion gene. These lineage I strains are characterized by the lack of prophage genes, as they share only a single prophage locus with other L. monocytogenes genomes 1/2a EGD-e and 4a L99. Comparative transcriptome analysis during intracellular growth uncovered adaptive expression level differences in lineages I, II and III of Listeria, notable amongst which was a strong intracellular induction of flagellar genes in strain 4a L99 compared to the other lineages. Furthermore, extensive differences between strains are manifest at levels of metabolic flux control and phosphorylated sugar uptake. Intriguingly, prophage gene expression was found to be a hallmark of intracellular gene expression. Deletion mutants in the single shared prophage locus of lineage II strain EGD-e 1/2a, the lma operon, revealed severe attenuation of virulence in a murine infection model. CONCLUSION: Comparative genomics and transcriptome analysis of L. monocytogenes strains from three lineages implicate prophage genes in intracellular adaptation and indicate that gene loss and decay may have led to the emergence of attenuated lineages

Energy Informatics - Current and Future Research Directions

Due to the increasing importance of producing and consuming energy more sustainably, Energy Informatics (EI) has evolved into a thriving research area within the CS/IS community. The arti- cle attempts to characterize this young and dynamic field of research by de- scribing current EI research topics and methods and provides an outlook of how the field might evolve in the fu- ture. It is shown that two general re- search questions have received the most attention so far and are likely to dominate the EI research agenda in the coming years: How to leverage infor- mation and communication technol- ogy (ICT) to (1) improve energy effi- ciency, and (2) to integrate decentral- ized renewable energy sources into the power grid. Selected EI streams are reviewed, highlighting how the re- spective research questions are broken down into specific research projects and how EI researchers have made con- tributions based on their individual academic background

Die Reaktivierung von Schienenstrecken als Strategie der integrierten Raumentwicklung: Chancen nutzen und Hemmnisse überwinden

Der Ausbau von Schienennetzen für den Personen- und Güterverkehr durch die Reaktivierung stillgelegter Strecken ist ein Gebot der Stunde! Schienenstrecken ermöglichen nachhaltige Mobilität, gesellschaftliche Teilhabe und die Schaffung gleichwertiger Lebensverhältnisse. Hierzu bedarf es einer grundsätzlich neuen und integrierten Ausrichtung der Raum- und Verkehrsplanung. Neben der dringend gebotenen Trassensicherung durch die Raumordnung müssen stillgelegte Schienenstrecken bezüglich ihrer Potenziale für die Orts- und Regionalentwicklung erkannt und reaktiviert werden. Stationen an Schienenstrecken können insbesondere in ländlichen Räumen wesentliche Entwicklungsimpulse erzeugen und als Mobilitätsdrehscheiben fungieren. Dabei gilt es, bisherige Hindernisse zu überwinden, indem beispielsweise neue volkswirtschaftliche Bewertungsmaßstäbe angesetzt und neue Finanzierungsmodelle eingeführt werden.The expansion of rail networks for passenger and cargo services by reactivating disused rail lines is an urgent need of the hour! Rail lines enable sustainable mobility, social participation and the creation of equal living conditions. This requires a fundamentally new and integrated approach to spatial and transport planning. In addition to the urgent need to secure routes by means of spatial planning, disused railway lines must be recognized with regard to their potential for local and regional development and be reactivated. Stations on railway lines can generate significant development impulses, particularly in rural areas, and act as mobility hubs. Previous obstacles must be overcome, for example by applying new economic evaluation standards and introducing new financing models

Approaches to fattening dairy calves

Innovative organic producers have developed alternative systems for fattening calves, bulls and steers from dairy farming. This technical guide presents the systems and shows what to pay attention to when fattening calves

Acute mountain sickness.

Acute mountain sickness (AMS) is a clinical syndrome occurring in otherwise healthy normal individuals who ascend rapidly to high altitude. Symptoms develop over a period ofa few hours or days. The usual symptoms include headache, anorexia, nausea, vomiting, lethargy, unsteadiness of gait, undue dyspnoea on moderate exertion and interrupted sleep. AMS is unrelated to physical fitness, sex or age except that young children over two years of age are unduly susceptible. One of the striking features ofAMS is the wide variation in individual susceptibility which is to some extent consistent. Some subjects never experience symptoms at any altitude while others have repeated attacks on ascending to quite modest altitudes. Rapid ascent to altitudes of 2500 to 3000m will produce symptoms in some subjects while after ascent over 23 days to 5000m most subjects will be affected, some to a marked degree. In general, the more rapid the ascent, the higher the altitude reached and the greater the physical exertion involved, the more severe AMS will be. Ifthe subjects stay at the altitude reached there is a tendency for acclimatization to occur and symptoms to remit over 1-7 days

Differential cross section measurements for the production of a W boson in association with jets in proton–proton collisions at √s = 7 TeV

Measurements are reported of differential cross sections for the production of a W boson, which decays into a muon and a neutrino, in association with jets, as a function of several variables, including the transverse momenta (pT) and pseudorapidities of the four leading jets, the scalar sum of jet transverse momenta (HT), and the difference in azimuthal angle between the directions of each jet and the muon. The data sample of pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV was collected with the CMS detector at the LHC and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 5.0 fb[superscript −1]. The measured cross sections are compared to predictions from Monte Carlo generators, MadGraph + pythia and sherpa, and to next-to-leading-order calculations from BlackHat + sherpa. The differential cross sections are found to be in agreement with the predictions, apart from the pT distributions of the leading jets at high pT values, the distributions of the HT at high-HT and low jet multiplicity, and the distribution of the difference in azimuthal angle between the leading jet and the muon at low values.United States. Dept. of EnergyNational Science Foundation (U.S.)Alfred P. Sloan Foundatio

Penilaian Kinerja Keuangan Koperasi di Kabupaten Pelalawan

This paper describe development and financial performance of cooperative in District Pelalawan among 2007 - 2008. Studies on primary and secondary cooperative in 12 sub-districts. Method in this stady use performance measuring of productivity, efficiency, growth, liquidity, and solvability of cooperative. Productivity of cooperative in Pelalawan was highly but efficiency still low. Profit and income were highly, even liquidity of cooperative very high, and solvability was good