Ermittlung optimaler Bauteilorientierung zur Verbesserung der Prozessplanung in der CAD/RP-Kette

Ein wesentlicher Einflussfaktor auf die Bauteilqualität und Prozessgüte bei der generativen Herstellung von Prototypen ist die Orientierung der Bauteile. So kann eine optimierte Ausrichtung den Treppenstufeneffekt (Staircasing) sowie den Curling-Effekt minimieren und somit die Oberflächenqualität bzw. die Bauteilgenauigkeit erhöhen oder die Berücksichtigung von Formtoleranzen (z.B. Rundheit) ermöglichen. Des Weiteren können verschiedene Bauteilausrichtungen unterschiedliche Ausführungen von Stützkonstruktionen bewirken und die Bauteilstabilität beeinflussen. Diese und ähnliche Wechselwirkungen gilt es bei der Auswahl einer geeigneten Bauteilorientierung für RP-Anwendungen zu berücksichtigen. Dieser Vortrag stellt ein generisches System vor, welches unter Berücksichtigung der genannten Einflussfaktoren sowie weiterer Effekte eine rechnergestützte Optimierung der Bauteilorientierung durchführt. Neben der weiterhin notwendigen Erfahrung der Anwender zur endgültigen Festlegung der fallabhängigen Bauteilausrichtung liefert das System Vorschläge auf Basis einer intensiven Geometrieanalyse, die eine entsprechende Datenaufbereitung im Rahmen der Prozessplanung unterstützen.

On Transport Service Selection in Intermodal Rail/Road Distribution Networks

Intermodal rail/road freight transport constitutes an alternative to long-haul road transport for the distribution of large volumes of goods. The paper introduces the intermodal transportation problem for the tactical planning of mode and service selection. In rail mode, shippers either book train capacity on a per-unit basis or charter block trains completely. Road mode is used for short-distance haulage to intermodal terminals and for direct shipments to customers. We analyze the competition of road and intermodal transportation with regard to freight consolidation and service cost on a model basis. The approach is applied to a distribution system of an industrial company serving customers in eastern Europe. The case study investigates the impact of transport cost and consolidation on the optimal modal split.

European veterinary public health specialization: post-graduate training and expectations of potential employers

Residents of the European College of Veterinary Public Health (ECVPH) carried out a survey to explore the expectations and needs of potential employers of ECVPH diplomates and to assess the extent to which the ECVPH post-graduate training program meets those requirements. An online questionnaire was sent to 707 individuals working for universities, government organizations, and private companies active in the field of public health in 16 countries. Details on the structure and activities of the participants' organizations, their current knowledge of the ECVPH, and potential interest in employing veterinary public health (VPH) experts or hosting internships were collected. Participants were requested to rate 22 relevant competencies according to their importance for VPH professionals exiting the ECVPH training. A total of 138 completed questionnaires were included in the analysis. While generic skills such as "problem solving" and "broad horizon and inter-/multidisciplinary thinking" were consistently given high grades by all participants, the importance ascribed to more specialized skills was less homogeneous. The current ECVPH training more closely complies with the profile sought in academia, which may partly explain the lower employment rate of residents and diplomates within government and industry sectors. The study revealed a lack of awareness of the ECVPH among public health institutions and demonstrated the need for greater promotion of this veterinary specialization within Europe, both in terms of its training capacity and the professional skill-set of its diplomates. This study provides input for a critical revision of the ECVPH curriculum and the design of post-graduate training programs in VPH.

Design of SOA services: experiences from industry

Because of the unknown usage scenarios, designing the elementary services of a service-oriented architecture (SOA), which form the basis for later composition, is rather difficult. Various design guide lines have been proposed by academia, tool vendors and consulting companies, but they differ in the rigor of validation and are often biased toward some technology. For that reason a multiple-case study was conducted in five large organizations that successfully introduced SOA in their daily business. The observed approaches are contrasted with the findings from a literature review to derive some recommendations for SOA service design.

Establishing occupational and environmental health design requirements for Lunar and Mars settlements

In a study of Lunar and Mars settlement concepts, an analysis was made of fundamental design assumptions in five technical areas against a model list of occupational and environmental health concerns. The technical areas included the proposed science projects to be supported, habitat and construction issues, closed ecosystem issues, the "MMM" issues--mining, material-processing, and manufacturing, and the human elements of physiology, behavior and mission approach. Four major lessons were learned. First it is possible to relate public health concerns to complex technological development in a proactive design mode, which has the potential for long-term cost savings. Second, it became very apparent that prior to committing any nation or international group to spending the billions to start and complete a lunar settlement, over the next century, that a significantly different approach must be taken from those previously proposed, to solve the closed ecosystem and "MMM" problems. Third, it also appears that the health concerns and technology issues to be addressed for human exploration into space are fundamentally those to be solved for human habitation of the earth (as a closed ecosystem) in the 21st century. Finally, it is proposed that ecosystem design modeling must develop new tools, based on probabilistic models as a step up from closed circuit models. ^

Structural and Institutional Determinants of Influence Reputation: A Comparison of Collaborative and Adversarial Policy Networks in Decision Making and Implementation

The central assumption in the literature on collaborative networks and policy networks is that political outcomes are affected by a variety of state and nonstate actors. Some of these actors are more powerful than others and can therefore have a considerable effect on decision making. In this article, we seek to provide a structural and institutional explanation for these power differentials in policy networks and support the explanation with empirical evidence. We use a dyadic measure of influence reputation as a proxy for power, and posit that influence reputation over the political outcome is related to vertical integration into the political system by means of formal decision-making authority, and to horizontal integration by means of being well embedded into the policy network. Hence, we argue that actors are perceived as influential because of two complementary factors: (a) their institutional roles and (b) their structural positions in the policy network. Based on temporal and cross-sectional exponential random graph models, we compare five cases about climate, telecommunications, flood prevention, and toxic chemicals politics in Switzerland and Germany. The five networks cover national and local networks at different stages of the policy cycle. The results confirm that institutional and structural drivers seem to have a crucial impact on how an actor is perceived in decision making and implementation and, therefore, their ability to significantly shape outputs and service delivery.

Equity Markets, the Money Market, and Long-Run Monetary Neutrality

This paper outlines a process for teaching long-run neutrality of money, drawing an analogy between equity markets and the money market. The key points in the discussion include the following: (1) What is the price of money? (2) Why does the long-run demand for money trace out a rectangular hyperbola? (3) Why does the slow adjustment of goods and service prices to changes in the stock of money lead to a different short-run demand for money? and (4) Why does a successful currency reform generate similar short-run movements in the price of money as movements in equity share prices after a change in the supply of shares? I have used this approach successfully for over 30 years at all levels, wherever I need to discuss the money market in a macroeconomic model.

The Open Door Mission: Measuring and predicting outcomes of one community-based substance abuse treatment program

The objectives of this study were to identify and measure the average outcomes of the Open Door Mission's nine-month community-based substance abuse treatment program, identify predictors of successful outcomes, and make recommendations to the Open Door Mission for improving its treatment program.^ The Mission's program is exclusive to adult men who have limited financial resources: most of which were homeless or dependent on parents or other family members for basic living needs. Many, but not all, of these men are either chemically dependent or have a history of substance abuse.^ This study tracked a cohort of the Mission's graduates throughout this one-year study and identified various indicators of success at short-term intervals, which may be predictive of longer-term outcomes. We tracked various levels of 12-step program involvement, as well as other social and spiritual activities, such as church affiliation and recovery support.^ Twenty-four of the 66 subjects, or 36% met the Mission's requirements for success. Specific to this success criteria; Fifty-four, or 82% reported affiliation with a home church; Twenty-six, or 39% reported full-time employment; Sixty-one, or 92% did not report or were not identified as having any post-treatment arrests or incarceration, and; Forty, or 61% reported continuous abstinence from both drugs and alcohol.^ Five research-based hypotheses were developed and tested. The primary analysis tool was the web-based non-parametric dependency modeling tool, B-Course, which revealed some strong associations with certain variables, and helped the researchers generate and test several data-driven hypotheses. Full-time employment is the greatest predictor of abstinence: 95% of those who reported full time employment also reported continuous post-treatment abstinence, while 50% of those working part-time were abstinent and 29% of those with no employment were abstinent. Working with a 12-step sponsor, attending aftercare, and service with others were identified as predictors of abstinence.^ This study demonstrates that associations with abstinence and the ODM success criteria are not simply based on one social or behavioral factor. Rather, these relationships are interdependent, and show that abstinence is achieved and maintained through a combination of several 12-step recovery activities. This study used a simple assessment methodology, which demonstrated strong associations across variables and outcomes, which have practical applicability to the Open Door Mission for improving its treatment program. By leveraging the predictive capability of the various success determination methodologies discussed and developed throughout this study, we can identify accurate outcomes with both validity and reliability. This assessment instrument can also be used as an intervention that, if operationalized to the Mission’s clients during the primary treatment program, may measurably improve the effectiveness and outcomes of the Open Door Mission.^

Ethnographic and epidemiologic approaches for the programming of prenatal and birth services in Mesa los Hornos, Mexico

The investigator conducted an action-oriented investigation of pregnancy and birth among the women of Mesa los Hornos, an urban squatter slum in Mexico City. Three aims guided the project: (1) To obtain information for improving prenatal and maternity service utilization; (2) To examine the utility of rapid ethnographic and epidemiologic assessment methodologies; (3) To cultivate community involvement in health development.^ Viewing service utilization as a culturally-bound decision, the study included a qualitative phase to explore women's cognition of pregnancy and birth, their perceived needs during pregnancy, and their criteria of service acceptability. A probability-based community survey delineated parameters of service utilization and pregnancy health events, and probed reasons for decisions to use medical services, lay midwives, or other sources of prenatal and labor and delivery assistance. Qualitative survey of service providers at relevant clinics, hospitals, and practices contributed information on service availability and access, and on coordination among private, social security, and public assistance health service sectors. The ethnographic approach to exploring the rationale for use or non-use of services provided a necessary complement to conventional barrier-based assessment, to inform planning of culturally appropriate interventions.^ Information collection and interpretation was conducted under the aegis of an advisory committee of community residents and service agency representatives; the residents' committee formulated recommendations for action based on findings, and forwarded the mandate to governmental social and urban development offices. Recommendations were designed to inform and develop community participation in health care decision-making.^ Rapid research methods are powerful tools for achieving community-based empowerment toward investigation and resolution of local health problems. But while ethnography works well in synergy with quantitative assessment approaches to strengthen the validity and richness of short-term field work, the author strongly urges caution in application of Rapid Ethnographic Assessments. An ethnographic sensibility is essential to the research enterprise for the development of an active and cooperative community base, the design and use of quantitative instruments, the appropriate use of qualitative techniques, and the interpretation of culturally-oriented information. However, prescribed and standardized Rapid Ethnographic Assessment techniques are counter-productive if used as research short-cuts before locale- and subject-specific cultural understanding is achieved. ^

OUT-OF-HOSPITAL CHILDBEARING CENTERS IN THE UNITED STATES: A DESCRIPTIVE STUDY OF THE DEMOGRAPHIC AND MEDICAL-OBSTETRIC CHARACTERISTICS OF WOMEN BEGINNING LABOR THEREIN 1972-1979

There is currently much interest in the appropriate use of obstetrical technology, cost containment and meeting consumers' needs for safe and satisfying maternity care. At the same time, there has been an increase in professionally unattended home births. In response, a new type of service, the out-of-hospital childbearing center (CBC) has been developed which is administratively and structurally separate from the hospital. In the CBC, maternity care is provided by certified nurse-midwives to carefully screened low risk childbearing families in conjunction with physician and hospital back-up.^ It was the purpose of this study to accomplish the following objectives: (1) To describe in a historical prospective study the demographic and medical-obstetric characteristics of patients laboring in eleven selected out-of-hospital childbearing centers in the United States from May 1, 1972, to December 15, 1979. Labor is defined as the onset of regular contractions as determined by the patient. (2) To describe any differences between those patients who require transfer to a back-up hospital and those who do not. (3) To describe administrative and service characteristics of eleven selected out-of-hospital childbearing centers in the United States. (4) To compare the demographic and medical-obstetric characteristics of women laboring in eleven selected out-of-hospital childbearing centers with a national sample of women of similar obstetric risk who according to birth certificates delivered legitimate infants in a hospital setting in the United States in 1972.^ Research concerning CBCs and supportive to the development of CBCs including studies which identified factors associated with fetal and perinatal morbidity and mortality, obstetrical risk screening, and the progress of technological development in obstetrics were reviewed. Information concerning the organization and delivery of care at each selected CBC was also collected and analyzed.^ A stratified, systematic sample of 1938 low risk women who began labor in a selected CBC were included in the study. These women were not unlike those described previously in small single center studies reported in the literature. The mean age was 25 years. Sixty-three per cent were white, 34 per cent Hispanic, 88 per cent married, 45 per cent had completed at least two years of college, nearly one-third were professionals and over a third were housewives. . . . (Author's abstract exceeds stipulated maximum length. Discontinued here with permission of school.) UMI ^

Applying the Strengths Perspective to Increase Safety and Weil-Being: Views from Families and Providers

Consensus about the value of the strengths perspective is developing among child welfare and family service practitioners. Yet, few first-hand reports are available from the perspectives of family members and interdisciplinary service providers about the principles most important for engaging and supporting family members to achieve needed outcomes. This paper briefly highlights principles most often cited as key to application of the strengths perspective and compares first-hand accounts from family members and service providers. These views were elicited through focus groups facilitated by a community-based family support program.Implications for strengths-based practice with families are discussed.

Registry of samples and environmental context from the Ocean Sampling Day 2014

The Ocean Sampling Day (OSD) is a simultaneous sampling campaign of the world's oceans which took place (for the first time) on the summer solstice (June 21st) in the year 2014. These cumulative samples, related in time, space and environmental parameters, provide insights into fundamental rules describing microbial diversity and function and contribute to the blue economy through the identification of novel, ocean-derived biotechnologies. We see OSD data as a reference data set for generations of experiments to follow in the coming decade. The present data set includes a description of each sample collected during the Ocean Sampling Day 2014 and provides contextual environmental data measured concurrently with the collection of water samples for genomic analyses.

Myanmar Sugar SMEs: History, Technology, Location and Government Policy

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) engaged in sugar processing in Myanmar appeared in the last decade of the socialist era. An acute sugar deficit, restricted trade in white sugar, and high demand from the conventional dairy business led to the growth of sugar SMEs by appropriate blending of semi-finished products (syrup) in the fields, which were then processed in vacuum pans and centrifugals to obtain white sugar. This became a tradable commodity and sugar SMEs grew in clusters in big cities. They are family-owned businesses. However, they lack the bagasse-based power generation. In recent years, large modern sugar factories operated by private and military companies have emerged as key players. The current shortage of fuel feedstock and competition for raw materials have become driving forces that shift sugar SMEs from market-oriented to raw material-oriented locations. Internal competition among key players made sugar price highly volatile, too. Being placed on a level playing field, the whole industry should be upgraded in terms of price and quality to become export-oriented.

Corruption in Kazakhstan and the quality of governance

In Kazakhstan, uncover of numerous corruption scandals involving government officials has become almost a normal feature of life. Behind the high-profile acts of waging a battle against corruption, however, is a serious and systemic phenomenon. The most endemic form of corruption is the various transfers of funds in the state structures and national companies which remain opaque and thus unaccounted for. There are questions about the volumes and spending of revenues earned from natural resources, and there is no independent monitoring and control of the flow of funds in national oil and gas companies. The main actors involved in the shadow economy are state officials and informal pressure groups, who distribute resources among themselves, and accumulate wealth by way of legalising informal incomes or obtaining official business using connections. While important decision making is carried out among the close circles of the elite, formal institutions remain weak and ineffective.

Compilation of a regionally-extended inter-country input-output table and its application to global value chain analysis

Studies on the rise of global value chains (GVCs) have attracted a great deal of interest in the recent economics literature. However, due to statistical and methodological challenges, most existing research ignores domestic regional heterogeneity in assessing the impact of joining GVCs. GVCs are supported not only directly by domestic regions that export goods and services to the world market, but also indirectly by other domestic regions that provide parts, components, and intermediate services to final exporting regions. To better understand the nature of a country's position and degree of participation in GVCs, we need to fully examine the role of individual domestic regions. Understanding the domestic components of GVCs is especially important for larger economies such as China, the US, India and Japan, where there may be large variations in economic scale, geography of manufacturing, and development stages at the domestic regional level. This paper proposes a new framework for measuring domestic linkages to global value chains. This framework measures domestic linkages by endogenously embedding a target country's (e.g. China and Japan) domestic interregional input–output tables into the OECD inter-country input–output model. Using this framework, we can more clearly understand how global production is fragmented and extended internationally and domestically.