Global well-posedness for passively transported nonlinear moisture dynamics with phase changes

We study a moisture model for warm clouds that has been used by Klein and Majda as a basis for multiscale asymptotic expansions for deep convective phenomena. These moisture balance equations correspond to a bulk microphysics closure in the spirit of Kessler and of Grabowski and Smolarkiewicz, in which water is present in the gaseous state as water vapor and in the liquid phase as cloud water and rain water. It thereby contains closures for the phase changes condensation and evaporation, as well as the processes of autoconversion of cloud water into rainwater and the collection of cloud water by the falling rain droplets. Phase changes are associated with enormous amounts of latent heat and therefore provide a strong coupling to the thermodynamic equation. In this work we assume the velocity field to be given and prove rigorously the global existence and uniqueness of uniformly bounded solutions of the moisture model with viscosity, diffusion and heat conduction. To guarantee local well-posedness we first need to establish local existence results for linear parabolic equations, subject to the Robin boundary conditions on the cylindric type of domains under consideration. We then derive a priori estimates, for proving the maximum principle, using the Stampacchia method, as well as the iterative method by Alikakos to obtain uniform boundedness. The evaporation term is of power law type, with an exponent in general less or equal to one and therefore making the proof of uniqueness more challenging. However, these difficulties can be circumvented by introducing new unknowns, which satisfy the required cancellation and monotonicity properties in the source terms

Medical students prefer print textbooks for studying but value the e-books’ search function and availability

Since a few years our library has mostly acquired journals only in electronic format, whereas medical textbooks are often provided in print and as e-books. In order to meet the students’ current needs and to reasonably allocate financial means and efforts, we performed a survey about format preferences amongst medical students at the University of Zurich, Switzerland. 94 medical students returned our questionnaire in December 2018 (4.6% response rate). The survey showed that print books were used more often, especially for longer reading, but e-books were also commonly used. Perceived advantages of print books were the possibilities to mark text passages and better eye comfort. E-books were valued for their search function and availability

Study monitoring in the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP)

'Der vorliegende Artikel beschäftigt sich mit study monitoring aus der Perspektive der international vergleichenden Umfrageforschung. Ausgehend von einer Beschreibung der Qualitätsstandards für nationale Umfragen und der Besonderheiten für international vergleichende Umfragen betont der Beitrag die Bedeutung detaillierter und öffentlich zugänglicher Informationen zur methodischen Vorgehensweise solcher Umfragen. Erst dadurch kann die Qualität einer Umfrage bewertet werden. Dieser Artikel gibt keine Empfehlungen hinsichtlich dessen, was unter vergleichenden Gesichtspunkten methodisch akzeptabel ist, sondern beschreibt den derzeitigen state of the art: wie gehen bekannte international vergleichende Umfrageprogramme in Sachen study monitoring vor; insbesondere: was bietet ISSP in dieser Hinsicht an. Study monitoring geht dem Verständnis der Autoren nach über eine reine Studiendokumentation hinaus und dient durch die Offenlegung von Vorzügen, aber auch Schwächen dazu, Vertrauen in Umfragen zu fördern.' (Autorenreferat)'The article discusses study monitoring from a cross-national perspective. It starts from quality standards required for national surveys and then points out what is special for cross-national quantitative surveys. The article stresses the necessary documentation and disclosure of detailed information on cross-national survey methods as a means to evaluate survey quality and enable decisions on comparability. It does not recommend or decide on what is acceptable in terms of comparable methods. The article describes the current state of study monitoring for three important well known cross-national programmes and then goes into more detail of ISSP study monitoring. Study monitoring in the understanding of the authors does not only mean documentation of fielding practice but also promoting trust in survey data.' (author's abstract)

ISSP Study Monitoring 2002: report to the ISSP General Assembly on monitoring work undertaken for the ISSP by ZUMA, Germany

Die ISSP-Codebooks enthalten grundlegende Informationen zu den Forschungsprojekten, die den Datensatz der einzelnen Mitglieder beschreiben. Seit 1995 haben die Mitglieder zudem zum Zweck des Forschungsmonitorings Fragebögen beantwortet, die die Durchführung der Untersuchungen detailliert beschreiben. ZUMA ist seit 1997 für dieses Monitoring verantwortlich und veröffentlicht jährlich einen entsprechenden Bericht über die ISSP-Studien. Diese Berichte umfassen Informationen zu (1) Details zu den beteiligten Einrichtungen und Wissenschaftlern, (2) Stichprobenziehung, (3) Feldphase, (4) Datenkontrolle und -aufbereitung, (5) Kontext der ISSP-Untersuchung und Themenfelder der Befragung sowie (6) Details zur Übersetzung. (ICEÜbers)"ISSP codebooks include study description sheets which provide basic information on each member's dataset. Since the 1995 module, ISSP members have also completed Study Monitoring Questionnaires which record in more detail how they implemented their studies. ZUMA has been in charge of this study monitoring work since 1997 and publishes a general Study Monitoring Report on ISSP studies each year. Each of the Study Monitoring Reports covers: a) details of agencies and researchers involved, b) sampling procedures, c) fieldwork procedures, d) data control and editing, e) context of ISSP survey and question coverage, f) details of translation procedures." (author's abstract

Updating reviews: We discussed best practice at the EAHIL 2022 Conference

We conducted a workshop at the EAHIL 2022 Conference which aimed to identify best practice when updating literature searches for systematic reviews. We prepared a presentation and questions which were discussed in small groups. The potential solutions were evaluated using the “rose, thorn, bud” method, and the results of the workshop are summarised here. The importance of transparently reporting the search strategies, platforms, and changes compared to previous searches were emphasised. Workshop participants preferred to change (and improve) previous strategies rather than repeating faulty searches. They also preferred to re-run searches over the whole time period instead of searching from a time point on, suggesting deduplication methods to manage the records. We hope this discussion will continue at future conferences

Wie verhindern Sie negative Kundenreaktionen bei Produkteliminationen? : Die Rolle der Kommunikation im Produktlinienmanagement

In dieser Studie wird eine zweistufige Kommunikationsmaßnahme entwickelt und der Einfluss dieser Maßnahme auf das Konsumentenverhalten in Produkteliminationssituationen empirisch untersucht. Es ist das Ziel, zu analysieren, wie Kunden im Zuge einer Produktelimination reagieren und wie die innovative Anwendung der Kommunikation eventuelle negative Reaktionen beeinflusst. Die sich ständig ändernden Umweltbedingungen verlangen von Unternehmen einen Innovationsfokus. Das bedeutet, dass Produktportfolien neue Produkte hinzugefügt werden, aber auch dass bestehende Produkte aus dem Sortiment entfernt werden müssen. Bei der Umsetzung dieser Produkteliminationen gilt es nicht nur die unternehmensinterne Perspektive zu betrachten. Von großer Wichtigkeit ist es zudem, die Elimination extern so umzusetzen, dass potenzielle negative Konsumentenreaktionen auf diese gemindert bzw. bestenfalls verhindert werden können. Eine Vernachlässigung der Konsumenten im Produkteliminationsprozess kann zu einer Erosion der Kundenbasis führen und somit den Unternehmenserfolg schmälern. Die Ergebnisse eines Experiments mit 544 Konsumenten zeigen, dass Unternehmen, welche Produkteliminationen vornehmen, durch eine aktive Informationspolitik den Konsumenten gegenüber negativen eliminationsbedingten Konsumentenreaktionen, wie z.B. einer Abnahme der Kaufabsicht oder einer Zunahme des negativen Word-of-Mouth-Verhaltens der Konsumenten, vorbeugen können. Die in der Unternehmenspraxis häufig anzutreffende Passivität von Seiten der eliminierenden Unternehmen wirkt sich hingegen negativ auf das Konsumentenverhalten aus. Ferner zeigen die Ergebnisse, dass ein passives Unternehmensverhalten sich besonders kritisch auswirkt, wenn ein Produkt aus einer hedonistischen Produktkategorie eliminiert wird. Hier fallen die getesteten Konsumenteneaktionen aus Sicht der Unternehmen am negativsten aus

Analysis of the Tool Support for Business Model Innovation

Organizations adapt their business models (BM) frequently to remain competitive. One reason for this is the digitalization of products and services. A change in strategy often brings along an adaption of the BM or a complete business model innovation (BMI). In this context, software tools can support users in the presentation and analysis of their BM by providing methodological knowledge. The assessment of a software tool is influenced by different orientations and functionalities, e.g., for pure BM representation or simulation. This contribution provides a procedure for systematically assessing BMI tools and offers an overview of existing BM tools as well as their support for BMI and a related transformation process. The results show that early phases of BMI are well supported, while later phases are hardly represented. A possible reason for this lies in the complexity of later BMI phases. First steps towards supporting later phases through software are discussed

Evaluating copper isotope fractionation in the metallurgical operational chain: An experimental approach

Until today, raw material information of copper (Cu) objects is mostly gained from impurities and trace elements and not from the Cu itself. This might be obtained using its stable isotopes. However, isotopic fingerprinting requires the absence of fractionation during the smelting process. The Cu isotope evolution during outdoor smelting experiments with Cu sulphide ore was investigated. It is shown that external materials, in particular furnace lining, clay, manure and sand, alter the isotopic composition of the smelting products. Cu isotopes are fractionated within low viscosity slag derived from matte smelting. The produced metallic Cu has a Cu isotope signature close to the ore