Revitalizing established Industrial Companies: State of the Art and Success Principles of Digital Corporate Incubators

In order to compete with radical digital ideas, more and more large companies are founding corporate incubators. These small and agile companies are designed to accelerate disruptive innovation and transfer it to the parent company. However, it is obvious that the design and work in these newly established units are often efficient and the return of ideas cannot be effectively realized. This paper has collected a list of 131, partly non-public, incubators and evaluated them according to classic design parameters for companies (e.g., location, industry, etc.). In addition, success factors for digital corporate incubators (such as the design of the innovation process) were collected for deriving success principles

Evaluation of serological diagnostic test systems assessing the immune response to Japanese encephalitis vaccination.

A new commercial anti-Japanese encephalitis virus IgM and IgG indirect immunofluorescence test (IIFT) was evaluated for the detection of the humoral immune response after Japanese encephalitis vaccination. The IgM IIFT was compared to two IgM capture ELISAs and the IgG IIFT was analysed in comparison to a plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT50) and an IgG ELISA. Moreover, the course of the immune reaction after vaccination with an inactivated JEV vaccine was examined. For the present study 300 serum samples from different blood withdrawals from 100 persons vaccinated against Japanese encephalitis were used. For the IgM evaluation, altogether 78 PRNT50 positive samples taken 7 to 56 days after vaccination and 78 PRNT50 negative sera were analyzed with the Euroimmun anti-JEV IgM IIFT, the Panbio Japanese Encephalitis – Dengue IgM Combo ELISA and the InBios JE Detect IgM capture ELISA. For the IgG evaluation, 100 sera taken 56 days after vaccination and 100 corresponding sera taken before vaccination were tested in the PRNT50, the Euroimmun anti-JEV IgG IIFT, and the InBios JE Detect IgG ELISA. The Euroimmun IgM IIFT showed in comparison to the Panbio ELISA a specificity of 95% and a sensitivity of 86%. With respect to the InBios ELISA, the values were 100% and 83.9%, respectively. The analysis of the Euroimmun IgG IIFT performance and the PRNT50 results demonstrated a specificity of 100% and a sensitivity of 93.8%, whereas it was not possible to detect more than 6.6% of the PRNT50 positive sera as positive with the InBios JE Detect IgG ELISA. Thus, the IIFT is a valuable alternative to the established methods in detecting anti-JEV antibodies after vaccination in travellers and it might prove useful for the diagnosis of acutely infected persons

Block subsampled randomized Hadamard transform for low-rank approximation on distributed architectures

This article introduces a novel structured random matrix composed blockwise from subsampled randomized Hadamard transforms (SRHTs). The block SRHT is expected to outperform well-known dimension reduction maps, including SRHT and Gaussian matrices, on distributed architectures with not too many cores compared to the dimension. We prove that a block SRHT with enough rows is an oblivious subspace embedding, i.e., an approximate isometry for an arbitrary low-dimensional subspace with high probability. Our estimate of the required number of rows is similar to that of the standard SRHT. This suggests that the two transforms should provide the same accuracy of approximation in the algorithms. The block SRHT can be readily incorporated into randomized methods, for instance to compute a low-rank approximation of a large-scale matrix. For completeness, we revisit some common randomized approaches for this problem such as Randomized Singular Value Decomposition and Nyström approximation, with a discussion of their accuracy and implementation on distributed architectures

High-Gradient Magnetic Separation of Compact Fluorescent Lamp Phosphors: Elucidation of the Removal Dynamics in a Rotary Permanent Magnet Separator

In an ongoing effort towards a more sustainable rare-earth element market, there is a high potential for an efficient recycling of rare-earth elements from end-of-life compact fluorescent lamps by physical separation of the individual phosphors. In this study, we investigate the separation of five fluorescent lamp particles by high-gradient magnetic separation in a rotary permanent magnet separator. We thoroughly characterize the phosphors by ICP-MS, laser diffraction analysis, gas displacement pycnometry, surface area analysis, SQUID-VSM, and Time-Resolved Laser-Induced Fluorescence Spectroscopy. We present a fast and reliable quantification method for mixtures of the investigated phosphors, based on a combination of Time-Resolved Laser-Induced Fluorescence Spectroscopy and parallel factor analysis. With this method, we were able to monitor each phosphors’ removal dynamics in the high-gradient magnetic separator and we estimate that the particles’ removal efficiencies are proportional to (d$^{2}$·χ)$^{1/3}$. Finally, we have found that the removed phosphors can readily be recovered easily from the separation cell by backwashing with an intermittent air–water flow. This work should contribute to a better understanding of the phosphors’ separability by high-gradient magnetic separation and can simultaneously be considered to be an important preparation for an upscalable separation process with (bio)functionalized superparamagnetic carriers

All-electron periodic G0W0G_0W_0 implementation with numerical atomic orbital basis functions: algorithm and benchmarks

We present an all-electron, periodic {\GnWn} implementation within the numerical atomic orbital (NAO) basis framework. A localized variant of the resolution-of-the-identity (RI) approximation is employed to significantly reduce the computational cost of evaluating and storing the two-electron Coulomb repulsion integrals. We demonstrate that the error arising from localized RI approximation can be reduced to an insignificant level by enhancing the set of auxiliary basis functions, used to expand the products of two single-particle NAOs. An efficient algorithm is introduced to deal with the Coulomb singularity in the Brillouin zone sampling that is suitable for the NAO framework. We perform systematic convergence tests and identify a set of computational parameters, which can serve as the default choice for most practical purposes. Benchmark calculations are carried out for a set of prototypical semiconductors and insulators, and compared to independent reference values obtained from an independent $G_0W_0$ implementation based on linearized augmented plane waves (LAPW) plus high-energy localized orbitals (HLOs) basis set, as well as experimental results. With a moderate (FHI-aims \textit{tier} 2) NAO basis set, our $G_0W_0$ calculations produce band gaps that typically lie in between the standard LAPW and the LAPW+HLO results. Complementing \textit{tier} 2 with highly localized Slater-type orbitals (STOs), we find that the obtained band gaps show an overall convergence towards the LAPW+HLO results. The algorithms and techniques developed in this work pave the way for efficient implementations of correlated methods within the NAO framework.Comment: 23 pages, 7 figure

Transmission risk of SARS-CoV-2 to healthcare workers -observational results of a primary care hospital contact tracing.

BACKGROUND The coronavirus disease (COVID)-19 epidemic is evolving rapidly. Healthcare workers are at increased risk for infection, and specific requirements for their protection are advisable to ensure the functioning of the basic healthcare system, including the availability of general practitioners (GPs). Understanding the transmission risk is particularly important for guiding evidence-based protective measures in the primary healthcare setting. METHODS Healthcare worker contacts of an initially undiagnosed COVID-19 case, who were without personal protective equipment, in particular not wearing facemasks, were screened with nasopharyngeal swabs and polymerase chain reaction tests for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), irrespective of respiratory symptoms or fever seven days after initial contact. The details of exposure to the index case were obtained during routine contact investigation after unintentional pathogen exposure. RESULTS Twenty-one healthcare workers reported contacts with the index case. Three healthcare workers reported respiratory symptoms (cough) or low-grade fever within 4 days. None of them tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 at the time of symptom onset. All 21 healthcare workers tested SARS-CoV-2 negative 7 days after initial index case contact, including the three healthcare workers with previous symptoms. Ten of the 21 healthcare workers reported a cumulative exposure time of >15 minutes. Longer cumulative contact times were associated with more individual contacts, reduced contact time per contact and activities with physical patient contact. The closest relative of the index patient tested SARS-CoV-2 positive 2 days after the index case presented at the hospital emergency department. CONCLUSION We found a low risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission in a primary care setting. These findings are compatible with previous reports of the highest transmission probability in household settings with prolonged close contacts. The current protective measures for healthcare workers, including strict adherence to basic standard hygiene and facemasks, offer considerable protection during short periods of contact with symptomatic COVID-19 cases by diminishing the risk of direct and indirect transmission

The Value of Graft Implantation Sequence in Simultaneous Pancreas-Kidney Transplantation on the Outcome and Graft Survival

Background/Objectives: The sequence of graft implantation in simultaneous pancreas-kidney transplantation (SPKT) warrants additional study and more targeted focus, since little is known about the short- and long-term effects on the outcome and graft survival after transplantation. Material and methods: 103 patients receiving SPKT in our department between 1999 and 2015 were included in the study. Patients were divided according to the sequence of graft implantation into pancreas-first (PF, n = 61) and kidney-first (KF, n = 42) groups. Clinicopathological characteristics, outcome and survival were reviewed retrospectively. Results: Donor and recipient characteristics were similar. Rates of post-operative complications and graft dysfunction were significantly higher in the PF group compared with the KF group (episodes of acute rejection within the first year after SPKT: 11 (18%) versus 2 (4.8%); graft pancreatitis: 18 (18%) versus 2 (4.8%), p = 0.04; vascular thrombosis of the pancreas: 9 (14.8%) versus 1 (2.4%), p = 0.03; and delayed graft function of the kidney: 12 (19.6%) versus 2 (4.8%), p = 0.019). The three-month pancreas graft survival was significantly higher in the KF group (PF: 77% versus KF: 92.1%; p = 0.037). No significant difference was observed in pancreas graft survival five years after transplantation (PF: 71.6% versus KF: 84.8%; p = 0.104). Kidney graft survival was similar between the two groups. Multivariate analysis revealed order of graft implantation as an independent prognostic factor for graft survival three months after SPKT (HR 2.6, 1.3–17.1, p = 0.026) and five years (HR 3.7, 2.1–23.4, p = 0.040). Conclusion: Our data indicates that implantation of the pancreas prior to the kidney during SPKT has an influence especially on the early-post-operative outcome and survival rate of pancreas grafts

Quantum critical fluctuations in an Fe-based superconductor

Quantum critical fluctuations may prove to play an instrumental role in the formation of unconventional superconductivity. Here, we show that the characteristic scaling of a marginal Fermi liquid is present in inelastic light scattering data of an Fe-based superconductor tuned through a quantum critical point (QCP) by chemical substitution or doping. From the doping dependence of the imaginary time dynamics we are able to distinguish regions dominated by quantum critical behavior from those having classical critical responses. This dichotomy reveals a connection between the marginal Fermi liquid behavior and quantum criticality. In particular, the overlap between regions of high superconducting transition temperatures and quantum critical scaling suggests a contribution from quantum fluctuations to the formation of superconductivity

Quantum critical fluctuations in an Fe-based superconductor

Quantum critical fluctuations may prove to play an instrumental role in the formation of unconventional superconductivity. Here, we show that the characteristic scaling of a marginal Fermi liquid is present in inelastic light scattering data of an Fe-based superconductor tuned through a quantum critical point (QCP) by chemical substitution or doping. From the doping dependence of the imaginary time dynamics we are able to distinguish regions dominated by quantum critical behavior from those having classical critical responses. This dichotomy reveals a connection between the marginal Fermi liquid behavior and quantum criticality. In particular, the overlap between regions of high superconducting transition temperatures and quantum critical scaling suggests a contribution from quantum fluctuations to the formation of superconductivity