Robotic process automation Hofmann, Peter; Samp, Caroline; Urbach, Nils
EM,
03/2020, Letnik:
30, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
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Within digital transformation, which is continuously progressing, robotic process automation (RPA) is drawing much corporate attention. While RPA is a popular topic in the corporate world, the ...academic research lacks a theoretical and synoptic analysis of RPA. Conducting a literature review and tool analysis, we propose – in a holistic and structured way – four traits that characterize RPA, providing orientation as well as a focus for further research. Software robots automate processes originally performed by human work. Thus, software robots follow a choreography of technological modules and control flow operators while operating within IT ecosystems and using established applications. Ease-of-use and adaptability allow companies to conceive and implement software robots through (agile) projects. Organizational and IT strategy, governance structures, and management systems therefore must address both the direct effects of software robots automating processes and their indirect impacts on firms.
Enantiopure α-aryl propionic acids are useful building blocks for pharmaceutical research and can be accessed enzymatically using arylmalonate decarboxylases (AMDases) from the corresponding malonic ...acids. However, the intrinsic instability of malonic acids is a major drawback to this approach in which spontaneous decarboxylation can occur, subsequently eroding enantioselectivity and giving rise to racemic products. This was particularly evident for a panel of N-heterocyclic propionic acids that we wished to access using the approach. Herein, we describe a process to overcome the spontaneous decarboxylation problem in which hydrogenolysis of the corresponding dibenzyl malonates was performed in a biphasic toluene–basic aqueous buffer mixture and telescoped into the subsequent AMDase step. This procedure enabled compounds to be accessed in high enantioselectivities and was successfully demonstrated on 120 g with high yield (76%) and ee (98%).
The melanocortin-4 receptor (MC4R) is a centrally expressed, class A GPCR that plays a key role in the regulation of appetite and food intake. Deficiencies in MC4R signaling result in hyperphagia and ...increased body mass in humans. Antagonism of MC4R signaling has the potential to mitigate decreased appetite and body weight loss in the setting of anorexia or cachexia due to underlying disease. Herein, we report on the identification of a series of orally bioavailable, small-molecule MC4R antagonists using a focused hit identification effort and the optimization of these antagonists to provide clinical candidate 23. Introduction of a spirocyclic conformational constraint allowed for simultaneous optimization of MC4R potency and ADME attributes while avoiding the production of hERG active metabolites observed in early series leads. Compound 23 is a potent and selective MC4R antagonist with robust efficacy in an aged rat model of cachexia and has progressed into clinical trials.
While increasing attention is being paid to the drivers and forms of entrepreneurship in informal economies, much less of this policy and research focus is directed at understanding the links between ...mobility and informality. This report examines the current state of knowledge about this relationship with particular reference to three countries (Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe) and four cities (Cape Town, Harare, Johannesburg and Maputo), identifying major themes, knowledge gaps, research questions and policy implications.
Mean Streets Crush, Jonathan; Chikanda, Abel
11/2015
eBook
This book powerfully demonstrates that some of the most resourceful entrepreneurs in the South African informal economy are migrants and refugees. Yet far from being lauded, they take their life into ...their hands when they trade on South Africa's 'mean streets'. The book draws attention to what they bring to their adopted country through research into previously unexamined areas of migrant entrepreneurship. Ranging from studies of how migrants have created agglomeration economies in Jeppe and Ivory Park in Johannesburg, to guanxi networks of Chinese entrepreneurs, to competition and cooperation among Somali shop owners, to cross-border informal traders, to the informal transport operators between South Africa and Zimbabwe, the chapters in this book reveal the positive economic contributions of migrants. these include generating employment, paying rents, providing cheaper goods to poor consumers, and supporting formal sector wholesalers and retailers. As well, Mean Streets highlights the xenophobic responses to migrant and refugee entrepreneurs and the challenges they face in running a successful business on the streets.
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