QR code awareness in Stockholm, Sweden

This tech report describes the findings of a street survey on awareness of QR codes (2D barcodes) of the general public in Stockholm, Sweden. 108 passers-by were surveyed. Of these participants, a large majority (77%) did not recognize a QR code, and 8% reported seeing such a code before, but did not know it could be scanned using a mobile phone app. Only 15% knew what the shown QR code was, and that it could be read using a QR code reader on a mobile phone. The awareness of QR codes by the general public could be considered rather low, and their utility in Swedish public settings is currently debatable

Efficient Revenue Sharing and Upper Level Governments: Theory and Application to Germany

Recent literature has emphasized that redistributive grant systems may tend to internalize fiscal externalities arising from tax competition. This paper further explores the conditions under which local grant systems enforced by the state government will enhance efficiency. A system of redistributive grants among governments is introduced into a standard model of tax competition. This basic model is then extended in order to allow for variations in the government objectives at the state level. A subsequent empirical analysis of local tax policy exploits the experience with local fiscal revenue sharing in Germany. The results suggest that attempts of state level governments to extract fiscal resources from the local revenue sharing system exert an upward pressure on tax rates.fiscal equalization, tax competition, fiscal federalism, Germany

Auswirkungen einer Länderfusion auf die öffentlichen Finanzen am Beispiel von Schleswig-Holstein und Hamburg

In diesem Beitrag werden einige finanzwissenschaftliche Anmerkungen zu den Vorteilen einer Länderfusion von Hamburg und Schleswig-Holstein getroffen und in den Kontext der bestehenden Finanzverfassung gestellt. Eine Länderfusion von Hamburg und Schleswig-Holstein verspricht unter anderem Kostenersparnisse, die nach vorliegenden empirischen Untersuchungen bei grob 4% des Budgets (auf Landesebene) anzusetzen sind. Auch im Hinblick auf den Föderalismus wäre ein Zusammengehen vorteilhaft. Jedoch bestraft die föderale Finanzverfassung den Zusammenschluss. Nach den Ergebnissen der Analyse ist mit einem jährlichen Minderbetrag an Einnahmen von insgesamt 1 063,1 Mill. € bzw. 7,5% des Budgets zu rechnen. Um eine Fusion nicht zu gefährden, ist eine Kompensation für höhere Abflüsse in den Finanzausgleich denkbar, in dem Sinne, dass die anderen Bundesländer auf Vorteile in den Transfers zugunsten des fusionierten Bundeslandes verzichten.Öffentliche Finanzwirtschaft, Fusion, Föderalismus, Finanzausgleich, Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein, Deutschland

Using Computer Vision Technologies to Make the Virtual Visible

Mobile Life CentreMobile 2.

Applying Human-Centered Design Methods in Industry – a Field Report

Human-centered design methods are nowadays widely used in the design of consumer products. These methods aim at designing products with a high usability and a positive user experience (UX). However, in the domain of the design of industrial machines, design is often driven by functional requirements mostly neglecting the usability and user experience of products. Together with a medium-sized manufacturer of industrial laundry machines we applied the human-centered design process in an industrial context. In this field report, we describe the human-centered design methods applied in the project, the adaptations we had to make in the process and the challenges and opportunities for applying human-centered design in an industrial environment in general

Excuse Me, Something Is Unfair! - Implications of Perceived Fairness of Service Robots

Fairness is an important aspect for individuals and teams. This also applies for human-robot interaction (HRI). Especially if intelligent robots provide services to multiple humans, humans may feel treated unfairly by robots. Most work in this area deals with the aspects of fair algorithms, task allocation and decision support. This work focuses on a different, yet little explored perspective, which looks at fairness in HRI from a human-centered perspective in human-robot teams. We present an experiment in which a service robot was responsible for distributing resources among competing team members. We investigated how different strategies of distribution influence the perceived fairness and the perception of the robot. Our study shows that humans might perceive technically efficient algorithms as unfair, especially if humans personally experience negative consequences. This also had negative impact on human perception of the robot, which should be considered in the design of future robots

Politisierung des Wissens: Gesellschaftliche Grundlagen und politische Folgen von Wissenskonflikten in polarisierten Welten

Mit der Entwicklung hin zur Wissensgesellschaft gewinnt nicht bloß wissenschaftliches Wissen an Bedeutung, etwa für die Legitimierung politischer Entscheidungen, sondern wird auch zunehmend zum Gegenstand politischer und gesellschaftlicher Konflikte. Vor dem Hintergrund wissenspolitischer Konflikte diskutiert der Beitrag die wissenssoziologischen Implikationen der aktuellen Debatten über einen „antiliberalen Backlash“ und eine „große Regression“, die zunehmende Thematisierung der Politisierung des Wissens als ein multidimensionales Phänomen sowie die politiktheoretischen Implikationen der Wissensproblematik der Politik

Expression of cell cycle regulators and frequency of TP53 mutations in high risk gastrointestinal stromal tumors prior to adjuvant imatinib treatment

Despite of multitude investigations no reliable prognostic immunohistochemical biomarkers in GIST have been established so far with added value to predict the recurrence risk of high risk GIST besides mitotic count, primary location and size. In this study, we analyzed the prognostic relevance of eight cell cycle and apoptosis modulators and of TP53 mutations for prognosis in GIST with high risk of recurrence prior to adjuvant treatment with imatinib. In total, 400 patients with high risk for GIST recurrence were randomly assigned for adjuvant imatinib either for one or for three years following laparotomy. 320 primary tumor samples with available tumor tissue were immunohistochemically analyzed prior to treatment for the expression of cell cycle regulators and apoptosis modulators cyclin D1, p21, p16, CDK4, E2F1, MDM2, p53 and p-RB1. TP53 mutational analysis was possible in 245 cases. A high expression of CDK4 was observed in 32.8% of all cases and was associated with a favorable recurrence free survival (RFS), whereas high expression of MDM2 (12.2%) or p53 (35.3%) was associated with a shorter RFS. These results were independent from the primary KIT or PDGFRA mutation. In GISTs with higher mitotic counts was a significantly increased expression of cyclin D1, p53 and E2F1. The expression of p16 and E2F1 significantly correlated to a non-gastric localization. Furthermore, we observed a significant higher expression of p21 and E2F1 in KIT mutant GISTs compared to PDGFRA mutant and wt GISTs. The overall frequency of TP53 mutations was low (n = 8; 3.5%) and could not be predicted by the immunohistochemical expression of p53. In summary, mutation analysis in TP53 plays a minor role in the subgroup of high-risk GIST before adjuvant treatment with imatinib. Strong expression of MDM2 and p53 correlated with a shorter recurrence free survival, whereas a strong expression of CDK4 correlated to a better recurrence free survival.Peer reviewe