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Purpose Cost transparency is of central importance to reach a consensus between supply chain partners. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the instrument of cost analysis which supports the link between buyers and suppliers. Design/methodology/approach Based on a detailed literature review in the area of cost analysis and purchasing, intelligent decision support systems for cost estimation are identified. Subsequently, expert interviews are conducted to determine the application possibilities for managers. The application potential is derived from the synthesis of motivation, identified applications and challenges in the industry. Management recommendations are to be derived by bringing together scientific and practical approaches in the industry. Findings On the one hand, the results of this study show that machine learning (ML) is a complex technology that poses many challenges for cost and purchasing managers. On the other hand, ML methods, especially in combination with expert knowledge and other analytical methods, offer immense added value for cost analysis in purchasing. Originality/value Digital transformation allows to facilitate the cost calculation process in purchasing decisions. In this context, the application of ML approaches has gained increased attention. While such approaches can lead to high cost reductions on the side of both suppliers and buyers, an intelligent cost analysis is very demanding.

Licensed standard software can be replicated millions of times at near zero cost for the supplier and poses immense challenges for purchasing and cost managers. A model is introduced to evaluate the appropriateness of software prices and thus to support the negotiation and decision process regarding suppliers. The model determines the “value to customer” of a software product using conjoint analysis and converts that value into a theoretical license price. In a case study coming from a large Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) it is shown that the developed conjoint model can successfully be used in practice and suggests realistic purchase prices.

Cost calculation systems are increasingly being implemented in original equipment manufacturing as well as in supplying companies. However, the benefits of these systems in terms of cost and time reduction have not yet been scientifically investigated. In an empirical study, different software solutions for product cost calculation in practice are analyzed and potential benefits identified. The results show that software packages based on CAD, ERP or PLM (1) combined with stand-alone calculation tools (2) are a promising way for cost estimation in industrial product development.

Procurement decisions are particularly affected by the digital transformation in many industries. These decisions aim at cost savings as well as value creation of digital products coming from suppliers. The characteristics of digital components differ from conventional ones. Many companies have great difficulties in verifying the procurement costs of software products. Software evaluation becomes a more and more important part of cost engineering in companies. In theory and scientific literature, a distinction is made in software evaluation procedures between cost-, value-, and license-oriented approaches. This paper presents the design and results of an empirical study to find out which of these approaches are currently being pursued and which ones are eyed for the future by companies in different industries.

Familial pancreatic cancer (FPC) is an established but rare inherited tumor syndrome that accounts for approximately 5% of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) cases. No major causative gene defect has yet been identified, but germline mutations in predisposition genes BRCA1/2, CDKN2A and PALB2 could be detected in 10–15% of analyzed families. Thus, the genetic basis of disease susceptibility in the majority of FPC families remains unknown. In an attempt to identify new candidate genes, we performed whole-genome sequencing on affected patients from 15 FPC families, without detecting BRCA1/2, CDKN2A or PALB2 mutations, using an Illumina based platform. Annotations from CADD, PolyPhen-2, SIFT, Mutation Taster and PROVEAN were used to assess the potential impact of a variant on the function of a gene. Variants that did not segregate with pancreatic disease in respective families were excluded. Potential predisposing candidate genes ATM, SUFU, DAB1, POLQ, FGFBP3,&nbsp, MAP3K3 and ACAD9 were identified in 7 of 15 families. All identified gene mutations segregated with pancreatic disease, but sometimes with incomplete penetrance. An analysis of up to 46 additional FPC families revealed that the identified gene mutations appeared to be unique in most cases, despite a potentially deleterious ACAD9 Ala326Thr germline variant, which occurred in 4 (8.7%) of 46 FPC families. Notably, affected PDAC patients within a family carried identical germline mutations in up to three different genes, e.g., DAB1, POLQ and FGFBP3. These results support the hypothesis that FPC is a highly heterogeneous polygenetic disease caused by low-frequency or rare variants.

Die Rekonstruktion der Stadtmitte Potsdams ist Paradebeispiel einer Stadtentwicklung von oben: Diskurse der Ästhetik und Wiederherstellung vergangener Pracht werden geschickt verknüpft mit Strategien der Privatisierung und Verwertung von Stadt. Das Narrativ der schönen und großartigen Stadt wird gebrochen durch Proteste, die sich seit mehreren Jahren gegen den Abriss der sozialistischen Leitbauten und für eine alternative, vielfältige, demokratische Entwicklung der Innenstadt für Alle einsetzen. Der Beitrag skizziert die Durchsetzung der Rekonstruktion der Stadtmitte als preußisches Disneyland, in der diese Alternativen marginalisiert und historische Brüche auslöschend eine feudale Stadtordnung rekonstruiert wird. Eingebunden als Akteure des Protests verknüpfen die Autoren verschiedene Perspektiven der Kritik: sie zeigen Hintergründe und Kontexte der lokalen Wiederaufbau-Allianz, die sich in planerischen und politischen Entscheidungsprozessen durchsetzen konnten.

Aims Risks of catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation and flutter assessed in retrospective studies, registries, and controlled trials may underestimate ‘real world’ conditions. Methods and results To assess complications in a nationwide approach, we included all cases undergoing catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation and atrial flutter in Germany in 2014, using ICD-10-GM-based German Diagnosis Related Group (G-DRG) codes and the well differentiated German Operation and Procedure Classification (OPS) analysing 33 353 in-hospital cases. For left atrial ablations (19 514 cases), the overall complication rate ranged from a mean of 11.7% to 13.8% depending on type and site of applied energy, including major complications ranging from 3.8% to 7.2%. Whereas overall complication rates were lower for atrial flutter ablations (13 871 cases, 10.5%; P 100 vs. ≤100 left atrial ablations annually (12.7% vs. 16.4%; P

We study how carbon emissions from U.S. housing stock change with urban location and associated population density, using data from the U.S. Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS) and American Community Survey (ACS) in a mediation model to quantify direct and indirect effects of population density on carbon emissions. Urban living in the United States today is generally associated with lower levels of residential carbon emissions, with some of the more significant effects being indirect. For example, more densely populated areas are associated with decreased housing size, which in turn decreases carbon emissions. One of the largest indirect effects observed is from the prevalence of natural gas heating in urban areas. We also observe large indirect effects from the urban prevalence of attached and multi-family housing. A policy question is whether emissions-reducing housing choices could be effectively promoted in non-urban areas.

Since the turn of the 21st century, several US cities have witnessed the resurgence of large-scale homeless encampments. This paper explains how and why such encampments emerged during a period of national economic expansion through a comparative study of encampments in Fresno, California and Seattle, Washington. Contrary to the widespread media coverage of tent cities as a consequence of the most recent recession, the paper argues they are instead rooted in penal and welfare urban policies. Precipitating as both protest and containment, durable encampments relieve the fiscal and legitimation crises of criminalization and shelterization for the local state and simultaneously function as preferred safe grounds to the shelter for homeless people in both cities. Rather than contradicting the existing policies and theories of the ongoing punitive exclusion of marginalized populations, the seclusion of the homeless into large encampments compliments its goals of managing marginality across the city.

Synthetic strategies for the preparation of 9,10-dihydro-9,10-oxa-10-phosphaphenanthrene-10-oxide (DOPO) derivatives are of special interest for polymer industry as well as academia involved in development of halogen-free flame retardant additives. In this work, various amino-DOPO derivatives (phosphonamidates) were synthesized by employing three different synthetic methods involving various chlorinating agents. The synthetic methods were compared with regards to purity and yield of the resulting amino-DOPO derivatives. The chlorinating agents that were used in this work are namely CCl4, trichloroisocyanuric acid and sulfuryl chloride. Some compounds, e.g., amine substituted DOPO derivative, could be synthesized using sulfuryl chloride with a yield >94% and a purity >99%. As proof of possible future industrial scale-up, up-scaling laboratory trials at the 500 g scale were also performed for two methods. The synthesized compounds were characterized for their melting point and thermal stability by using the...

In this paper we present our multi-modal information access system for mobile phones. The proposed solution adopts the distributed information access combined with distributed speech recognition (DSR). The paper provides an overview of related standards and gives recommendation for their practical implementation. Discussed are issues related to the efficient implementation of a DSR front-end on mobile phones and the organization of the data transmission. The presented prototype system operates on today's mobile phones in existing GPRS infrastructures. The results of a subjective test demonstrate the usability on the proposed prototype system.