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In Zeiten der Globalisierung und Digitalisierung führen Silodenken und Protektionismus zu Wettbewerbsnachteilen aller Partner eines Wertschöpfungsnetzwerkes. Ineffizienzen zeigen sich zum Beispiel durch hohen Ausschuss und geringe Margen der Zulieferer für die Produktion hochpräziser Produkte. Der Beitrag zeigt auf, wie Kollaboration in der Supply Chain mit unternehmensübergreifenden Qualitätsregelstrategien zur Steigerung der Qualität und Senkung der Qualitätskosten beiträgt.
 
In times of globalization and digitalization, silo thinking and protectionism lead to competitive disadvantages for all partners of the production network. Inefficiencies can be seen, for example, in high reject rates and low supplier margins for the production of high precision products. This article shows how collaboration in the supply chain with cross-company quality control loops contributes to increasing quality and reducing quality costs.

The authors discuss from a pro-Peking viewpoint China's policies in Southeast Asia, socio-political development in Kampuchea under the Pol Pot government, the extent of Peking's influence on this government and the background of the Sino-Vietnamese conflict. The authors criticize various leftist, liberal and conservative analyses of these topics. (DÜI-Sen)

FOR SEVERAL DECADES, NUCLEAR DETERRENCE THEORISTS HAVE DEBATED THE RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF RATIONALITY AND PSYCHOLOGY IN EXPLAINING THE BEHAVIOR OF NATIONAL POLICY MAKERS DURING INTERNATIONAL CRISES. R. HARRISON WAGNER HAS CASTIGATED PSYCHOLOGICAL CRITICS FOR IGNORING RECENT ADVANCES IN GAME THEORY THAT PROVIDE A MEANS TO INCORPORATE MISPERCEPTION AND OTHER PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS INTO RATIONAL MODELS OF DETERRENCE SITUATIONS. IN THIS PAPER, THE AUTHOR CONTESTS WAGNER'S ASSERTION THAT THIS LINK CAN BEST BE ACHIEVED BY SIGNALLING GAME MODELS OF NUCLEAR AND OTHER FORMS OF DETERRENCE. INSTEAD, HE ARGUES THAT CONTINUED RELIANCE ON THESE MODELS WILL WIDEN THE GAP BETWEEN RATIONAL DETERRENCE THEORISTS AND THEIR CRITICS. ALTHOUGH SIGNALLING GAME MODELS CONTRIBUTE TO A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE RATIONAL BASIS OF DETERRENCE THEORY, THESE SAME MODELS DIVERT ATTENTION FROM ALTERNATIVE APPROACHES THAT OFFER MORE PROMISE FOR LINKING FORMAL MODELS AND EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS.

The Max-Planck Outstation in Schlitz was founded in 1949 and scientists at the station have been collecting data ever since from the nearby stream called Breitenbach in its total length. Special focus was put on animal and microorganism occurrence and variation as well as chemical and physical parameters, making the stream probably the best-studied stream on earth. In particular the wealth of long-term data going back more than 50 years is unique and makes it a valuable resource for everyone in the world dealing with stream ecology. Already the data influences the discussion of the `good eco

Step 1 (Veillet et al. 1 ), after a review of the development of the Large Binocular Telescope Observatory (LBTO from the early concepts of the early 80s to mid-2014, outlined a six-year plan (LBT2020) aimed at optimizing LBTO's scientific production while mitigating the consequences of the inevitable setbacks brought on by the considerable complexity of the telescope and the very diverse nature of the LBTO partnership. Step 2 is now focusing on the first two years of implementation of this plan, presenting the encountered obstacles, technical, cultural and political, and how they were overcome. Weather and another incident with one of the Adaptive Secondaries slowed down commissioning activities. All the facility instruments should have been commissioned and offered in binocular mode in early or mid-2016. It will happen instead by the end of 2016. On a brighter side, the first scientific publications using the LBT as a 23-m telescope through interferometry were published in 2015 and the overall number of publications has been raising at a good pace. Three second generation instruments were selected, scheduled to come on the telescope in the next three to five years. They will all use the excellent performance of the LBT Adaptive Optics (AO), which will be even better thanks to an upgrade of the AO to be completed in 2018. Less progress than hoped was made to move the current observing mode of the telescope to a whole LBT-wide queue. In two years from now, we should have a fully operational telescope, including a laser-based Ground Layer AO (GLAO) system, hopefully fully running in queue, with new instruments in development, new services offered to the users, and a stronger scientific production.

Aim: This study investigated the career preferences of medical graduates in Germany with regard to discipline, place and position after the completion of postgraduate training. We also investigated differences in career options according to gender and region of study (former German Federal Republic vs. former German Democratic Republic). Method: The study is based on a standardised postal survey among all last year medical students in the medical faculties of Erlangen, Giessen, Hamburg, Heidelberg, Cologne, Leipzig and Magdeburg in 2009. 2 107 persons were contacted and 1 012 (48%) participated in the survey. Results: 96% of participants stated their intention to pursue a postgraduate training in a medical discipline, and only 0.4% denied such an objective. 7% of the graduates preferred a career towards general practice, and a similar percentage preferred general internal medicine which usually also leads to a primary care activity. 84% aimed at becoming a medical specialist. In total, 28% intended to work in a specialist practice, and 10% in a general practice. Only one-fifth of the latter aimed at working in a countryside setting. 7% aimed at starting postgraduate training outside of Germany, and 8% preferred to work outside Germany after completion of the postgraduate training. In both cases, Switzerland was by far the most preferred country. Conclusions: The results contradict the thesis that young graduates are reluctant to enter clinical medicine. Working abroad is within the scope of less than 10% of the graduates. A dramatic difference between the demand for general practitioners and the career intentions of medical graduates is observed. Measures to increase the attractiveness of primary care, especially in the countryside, are urgently needed.

Background: Malaria elimination is on global agendas following successful transmission reductions. Nevertheless moving from low to zero transmission is challenging. South Africa has an elimination target of 2018, which may or may not be realised in its hypoendemic areas. Methods: The Agincourt Health and Demographic Surveillance System has monitored population health in north-eastern South Africa since 1992. Malaria deaths were analysed against individual factors, socioeconomic status, labour migration and weather over a 21-year period, eliciting trends over time and associations with covariates. Results: Of 13 251 registered deaths over 1.58 million person-years, 1.2% were attributed to malaria. Malaria mortality rates increased from 1992 to 2013, while mean daily maximum temperature rose by 1.5 °C. Travel to endemic Mozambique became easier, and malaria mortality increased in higher socioeconomic groups. Overall, malaria mortality was significantly associated with age, socioeconomic status, labour migration and employment, yearly rainfall and higher rainfall/temperature shortly before death. Conclusions: Malaria persists as a small but important cause of death in this semi-rural South African population. Detailed longitudinal population data were crucial for these analyses. The findings highlight practical political, socioeconomic and environmental difficulties that may also be encountered elsewhere in moving from low-transmission scenarios to malaria elimination.