Configuration Management in Collaborative Writing

Configuration management (CM) is a cooperative task, and needs both technical and organizational support. It is one of the most important disciplines enabling efficient and consistent use of share

Tariffs on U.S. Imports of Dairy Products: A Product Component Analysis

A methodology for dairy product component tariff and price calculation is developed and applied to various products. Since the majority of dairy products are imported for their ingredients, component tariffs need to be considered in evaluating the protection provided by the tariff structure rather than tariffs on end products as listed in the HTS schedule. The results of the Uruguay Round tariffication of dairy products for the United States indicate that implied milk fat and protein AVE's vary substantially among and within product groups. Different tariffs applied to finished products may have unintended impacts on economic incentives due to their impact on the relative prices of imported milk components.International Relations/Trade,

Rekursivität.

Diplomarbeit zum Thema Rekursivität

Implicit Tariffs on Imported Dairy Product Components in the United States

The majority of the dairy products imported by the United States are intermediate products used in food processing. As such, they are demanded for their components such as milk fat and protein. The implications of the U.S. tariff structure for import demand must be viewed in terms of the tariff's effects upon the relative prices of imported milk components. In this article we examine the implications of the current tariff structure and proposed changes under the Doha Round of international trade negotiations at the World Trade Organization. We show that implicit ad valorem equivalent tariffs (AVEs) on components vary substantially under the current tariff schedule. Proposed changes under the Doha Round would lead to not only a reduction in the level of implied tariffs on components, but also a reduction in dispersion. This would help to reduce the possibility of distortions due to significant differences in component prices across intermediate dairy products.dairy, Doha Round, milk components, tariff structure, United States, International Relations/Trade,

EDITORIAL: Functional Food Products & Ingredients For Gut Health

GUEST EDITOR'S COMMENTAR

Migraine-like headache in cerebral venous sinus thrombosis

A 20-year-old female, university student presented with severe, throbbing, unilateral headache, nausea and vomiting that started 2 days ago. The pain was aggravated with physical activity and she had photophobia. She had been taking contraceptive pills due to polycystic ovary for 3 months. Cranial computed tomography was uninformative and she was considered to have the first attack of migraine. She did not benefit from triptan treatment and as the duration of pain exceeded 72h further imaging was done. Cranial MRI and MR venography revealed a central filling defect and lack of flow in the left sigmoid sinus caused by venous sinus thrombosis. In search for precipitating factors besides the use of contraceptive pills, plasma protein C activity was found to be depressed (42%, normal 70–140%), homocystein was minimally elevated (12.7μmol/L, normal 0–12μmol/L) and anti-cardiolipin IgM antibody was close to the upper limit

FACILITATING CO-CONSTRUCTION BY SOCIAL PRACTICE DESIGN: A CASE OF GEODISTRIBUTED EMPLOYEES FACING THE DESIGN OF MODEL-BASED ENTERPRISE SYSTEMS

This paper describes the experiences of practicing social practice design (SPD) activities with user groups, in geographically distributed, collaborating manufacturing companies, struggling with the introduction of model based enterprise systems. Within a European project, we observed and routinely analyzed ongoing development and assessment work of model based technologies and methodologies, in these companies. Based on an ethnographic study of Modelling sessions and Validation sessions, we performed an in depth analysis of people semantic and pragmatic perspectives (a necessary and needed ‘second step back’), and identified core disconnects on modelling concept use and language, and on motivations and goals, between technology designers – modellers - and domain experts – users - clearly hindering project progress -. These disconnects were addressed with user groups in the form of SPD sessions (‘second order’ activities), which consisted mostly in a series of design game and scenario-building workshops, enriched by open conversations and perspective sharing and comparison. The paper describes how these SPD sessions facilitated the creation of sense making and trust, enabling participants to engage and learn, and to act as change agents in the project, opening the way to co-construction of solutions with other actors. Observations of Modelling and Validation sessions showed that participants could not automatically build on a deep understanding of modelling and its trade-offs; they adopted the representational conventions they had learned to use. Lack of sense making and lack of co-construction were observed, along with lack of facilitation for genuinely participative conditions. Modeller-guided Modelling sessions showed no appropriation of object decomposition and relationship structures by domain experts, nor contribution from users to leadership in the modelling process; only imposition of hierarchical structures by modellers, in the midst of a cloud of mistrust and suspicion. Validation sessions of the model-based approach showed that ‘common’ users do not perceive the value of the approach, as they have not been helped to gain a conceptual understanding of modelling, of the tradeoffs of abstractions, and of how a model may productively interact with work practices. In this distributed project, different concepts of various user groups all conflicted with modellers’ concept. The SPD facilitation interventions helped participants in stepping back from the “official view” of the work process created in the course of the project, and in focussing more on their own experiences, opening up for creativity. SPD events were grounded in the belief that, when it comes to one’s own things, people with no special knowledge of the issues to be discussed can contribute something valuable, especially on those matters that they perceive as problems for themselves; it was impressive to witness how people with no management perspective can engage in strategy development within a very short time. The methods were easy enough to adopt without much preparation and rich enough to stimulate learning and valuable insights; people felt comfortable and not at risk at being judged. Participants expressed how important the experience of working creatively on solving “real problems” had been for them. We can understand this also as a result of the longitudinal character of our SPD engagement with people in the project, which had provided us with good knowledge about work practices, potentials and problems on the one hand, allowed trust building on the other hand

Innovation im Mobilitätssharing – Einsatz von partizipativen Methoden

Mobilitätssharing-Modelle sind einer der zentralen Mobilitätstrends des 21. Jahrhunderts. Allerdings gibt es in der praktischen Umsetzung – v.a. von free-floating Systemen – noch Verbesserungsbedarf, da es häufig zu längeren Stehzeiten und einer ungünstigen Verteilung der Fahrzeuge im Stadtgebiet kommt. Es ist wichtig, Nutzerinnen- und Nutzerbedürfnisse und ihr Mobilitätsverhalten zu verstehen, damit Anreizmechanismen –bzw. im engeren Sinne „Nudges“ – möglichst wirkungsvoll implementiert werden können. Nudging bedeutet so viel wie ‚schubsen‘ oder ‚anstoßen‘ und beschreibt die Beeinflussung der Nutzerinnen und Nutzer beigleichzeitigen Verzicht auf die Verwendung von Ge- oder Verboten bzw. monetären Anreizen. Das Projekt REBUTAS (kurz für „Entwicklung eines reaktiven Buchungs- und Tarifsystem für free-floatingFahrzeug-Sharingdienste“) hat zum Ziel, die Auslastung der elektrifizierten Fahrzeuge und die Kundinnen- und Kundenbindung zu verbessern. Es setzt verstärkt auf den Einsatz von innovativen Methoden aus dem Bereich der Co-Creation. Ein Co-Creation-Prozess verlangt kooperationsunterstützende Methoden, die einerseits der Akquirierung relevanter Daten und andererseits einer gemeinsamen Generierung innovativer Lösungsansätze bzw. deren Akzeptanz durch ihre Nutzerinnen und Nutzer helfen. Beispiel hierfür sind u.a. Design-Games. Dieser Beitrag zielt darauf ab die ausgewählte Methode näher zu erläutern und die darausgewonnen „Nudges“ bzw. Anreize darzustellen. Darüber hinaus wird ein erster Überblick zur Integration und Umsetzung in den Feldtests gegeben