AutoFocus – Ein Werkzeugprototyp zur Entwicklung eingebetteter Systeme

Der Beitrag stellt AutoFocus vor, einen Werkzeugprototyp zur Entwicklung verteilter, eingebetteter Systeme auf der Grundlage formaler Techniken. AutoFocus unterstützt die Systementwicklung mit integrierten, im wesentlichen graphischen Beschreibungstechniken, mit deren Hilfe sowohl unterschiedliche Sichten als auch verschiedene Abstraktionsebenen eines Systems beschrieben werden. Um konsistente und vollst?ndige Beschreibungen sicherzustellen, bietet AutoFocus die M?glichkeit, Konsistenzbedingungen zu formulieren und Systembeschreibungen daraufhin zu überprüfen. Aus ausführbaren Spezifikationen k?nnen Prototypen des entwickelten Systems erzeugt werden und in einer Simulationsumgebung ausgeführt und visualisiert werden. Zur formalen Verifikation von Systemeigenschaften verfügt AutoFocusüber Anbindungen an Modellprüfungswerkzeuge wie -cke oder SMV.     

The 2006 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Life Science presented to Fernando Nottebohm, Ph.D. for demonstration of Central Neurogenesis in Adult Avians, with Concomitant Implications for the Theory of Memory and for the Future of Neurological Repair in Injury and Disease

Nottebohm is noted for his demonstration of Central Neurogenesis in Adult Avians, with Concomitant Implications for the Theory of Memory and for the Future of Neurological Repair in Injury and Disease.     

Knowledge transfer in post-merger integration management: case study of a multinational healthcare company in Greece

Faced with demanding time constraints and the need to compete and communicate across a global market, firms have engaged in mergers and acquisitions (M&As) to accomplish various objectives, including, but not limited to, increasing growth potential and expanding product lines. Given the vital role of knowledge in the M&A context, the aim of this case study is to explore the literature in the area of M&As from a knowledge perspective and to investigate the knowledge variable in the local Hellenic Post-Merger Integration (PMI) of the Roche Consumer Health division acquired by Bayer, both leading multinational pharmaceutical companies. The study focuses on whether the stakeholders think that one specific factor, namely knowledge transfer, has helped them develop towards one high-performance body, and, if so, what were the most significant experiences leading to this development. We followed a number of employees from both. The results of the study provide a better understanding of the key drivers of the knowledge transfer in a PMI. The critical factors (macro and micro) encourage or discourage knowledge transfer in integrating organizations. The assessment took place approximately six months after the contractual completion of the acquisition and was based on the management and co-workers’ perception of how integration at the Greek Bayer company had progressed. The Orton case study was developed as a complement to the theoretical framework on intangible synergies in the M&A context. It provides a practical perspective regarding the complexities and peculiarities involved in each M&A operation by confronting the conceptual framework with field realities.     

New Issues,New Developments and New Challenges for Negotiating the International Rights Contract

A guide to basic contractual provisions and current publishing trends for consideration in negotiating a concise, successful International Rights Contract, which includes: assessing the rights available for sale and ways in which to successfully exploit and maintain those rights.     

Disguises, invisibility and disqualification of the guards of children in French-speaking Switzerland

Various factors oblige today's parents to entrust their children to a child-care worker (CCW), providing services in the domestic sphere, either at the child's parental house or at the day-care worker's (DCW's) own home. Taking this into account, this paper examines job offers and applications for DCWs published in a regional Swiss newspaper as well as other job offers and applications published on a website called bestnounou.ch. The parents often tend to use a variety of terms, which do not point to the child-caring or rearing activity itself, but rather emphasise sociological characteristics of the CCW (age, gender, civil status), requesting, for example, a “lady”, a “grandmother”, a “student”. Thereby, the parents present the child-care work as: (1) a secondary and temporary activity in relation to another major stable activity (motherhood, apprenticeship, retirement); and (2) an activity that does not require professional skills but inborn aptitudes. Moreover, employers use as synonyms distinctive terms, which refer to various categories of CCW and domestic workers, whose schedules of conditions and salaries are regulated and differ. The parents' inclination to use terms designating the most precarious and underpaid CCW underscores the importance of child-care in the domestic sphere. It leads also to a public image of child-care workers as being a fragmented, unstable, little qualified and economically inconsistent workforce, in contrast to the stable and structural need for their specific services, allowing parents to face their familial and professional responsibilities.     

A Discussion on Community Colleges and Global Counterparts Completion Policies

This article is a comparative study of community colleges and global counterparts at 41 institutions in 25 countries. Policies from each country link completion of a college program to career entry and to advancement opportunities. National and institutional policies are being defined, benchmark data is being collected on goals in the process, and specific programs are being offered to increase the likelihood that students finish their educational programs. This article examined the emerging trajectories as defined by those who work in these institutions; and in so doing, it provided a discussion of completion in an international context.     

Kinecting Physics: Conceptualization of Motion Through Visualization and Embodiment

The purpose of this work was to share our findings in using the Kinect technology to facilitate the understanding of basic kinematics with middle school science classrooms. This study marks the first three iterations of this design-based research that examines the pedagogical potential of using the Kinect technology. To this end, we explored the impact of using the Kinect in conjunction with an SDK Physical Virtual Graphing program on students’ understanding of displacement, velocity and acceleration compared to students who conducted more traditional inquiry of the same concepts. Results of this study show that, while there may be some affordances to be gained from integrating this technology, there is a need for a scaffolded approach that helps students to understand the “messiness” of the data collected. Further, meta-cognitive activities, such as reflective opportunities, should be integrated into the inquiry experiences in order to scaffold student learning and reinforce concepts being presented. While the Kinect did work to generate large-scale visualization and embodied interactions that served as a mechanism for student understanding, this study also suggests that a complementary approach that includes both the use of hands-on inquiry and the use of the Kinect sensor, with each activity informing the other, could be a powerful technique for supporting students’ learning of kinematics.