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An essential measure of autonomy in service robots designed to assist humans is adaptivity to the various contexts of human-oriented tasks. These robots may have to frequently execute the same action, but subject to subtle variations in task parameters that determine optimal behaviour. Such actions are traditionally executed by robots using pre-determined, generic motions, but a better approach could utilize robot arm maneuverability to learn and execute different trajectories that work best in each context.
In this project, we explore a robot skill acquisition procedure that allows incorporating contextual knowledge, adjusting executions according to context, and improvement through experience, as a step towards more adaptive service robots. We propose an apprenticeship learning approach to achieving context-aware action generalisation on the task of robot-to-human object hand-over. The procedure combines learning from demonstration, with which a robot learns to imitate a demonstrator’s execution of the task, and a reinforcement learning strategy, which enables subsequent experiential learning of contextualized policies, guided by information about context that is integrated into the learning process. By extending the initial, static hand-over policy to a contextually adaptive one, the robot derives and executes variants of the demonstrated action that most appropriately suit the current context. We use dynamic movement primitives (DMPs) as compact motion representations, and a model-based Contextual Relative Entropy Policy Search (C-REPS) algorithm for learning policies that can specify hand-over position, trajectory shape, and execution speed, conditioned on context variables. Policies are learned using simulated task executions, before transferring them to the robot and evaluating emergent behaviours.
We demonstrate the algorithm’s ability to learn context-dependent hand-over positions, and new trajectories, guided by suitable reward functions, and show that the current DMP implementation limits learning context-dependent execution speeds. We additionally conduct a user study involving participants assuming different postures and receiving an object from the robot, which executes hand-overs by either exclusively imitating a demonstrated motion, or selecting hand-over positions based on learned contextual policies and adapting its motion accordingly. The results confirm the hypothesized improvements in the robot’s perceived behaviour when it is context-aware and adaptive, and provide useful insights that can inform future developments.
An essential measure of autonomy in assistive service robots is adaptivity to the various contexts of human-oriented tasks, which are subject to subtle variations in task parameters that determine optimal behaviour. In this work, we propose an apprenticeship learning approach to achieving context-aware action generalization on the task of robot-to-human object hand-over. The procedure combines learning from demonstration and reinforcement learning: a robot first imitates a demonstrator’s execution of the task and then learns contextualized variants of the demonstrated action through experience. We use dynamic movement primitives as compact motion representations, and a model-based C-REPS algorithm for learning policies that can specify hand-over position, conditioned on context variables. Policies are learned using simulated task executions, before transferring them to the robot and evaluating emergent behaviours. We additionally conduct a user study involving participants assuming different postures and receiving an object from a robot, which executes hand-overs by either imitating a demonstrated motion, or adapting its motion to hand-over positions suggested by the learned policy. The results confirm the hypothesized improvements in the robot’s perceived behaviour when it is context-aware and adaptive, and provide useful insights that can inform future developments.
YAWL (Yet Another Workflow Language) is an open source Business Process Management System, first released in 2003. YAWL grew out of a university research environment to become a unique system that has been deployed worldwide as a laboratory environment for research in Business Process Management and as a productive system in other scientific domains.
Due to the use of fossil fuel resources, many environmental problems have been increasingly growing. Thus, the recent research focuses on the use of environment friendly materials from sustainable feedstocks for future fuels, chemicals, fibers and polymers. Lignocellulosic biomass has become the raw material of choice for these new materials. Recently, the research has focused on using lignin as a substitute material in many industrial applications. The antiradical and antimicrobial activity of lignin and lignin-based films are both of great interest for applications such as food packaging additives. DPPH assay was used to determine the antioxidant activity of Kraft lignin compared to Organosolv lignins from different biomasses. The purification procedure of Kraft lignin showed that double-fold selective extraction is the most efficient confirmed by UV-Vis, FTIR, HSQC, 31PNMR, SEC, and XRD. The antioxidant capacity was discussed regarding the biomass source, pulping process, and degree of purification. Lignin obtained from industrial black liquor are compared with beech wood samples: Biomass source influences the DPPH inhibition (softwood > grass) and the TPC (softwood < grass). DPPH inhibition affected by the polarity of the extraction solvent. Following the trend: ethanol > diethylether > acetone. Reduced polydispersity has positive influence on the DPPH inhibition. Storage decreased the DPPH inhibition but increased the TPC values. The DPPH assay was also used to discuss the antiradical activity of HPMC/lignin and HPMC/lignin/chitosan films. In both binary (HPMC/lignin) and ternary (HPMC/lignin/chitosan) systems the 5% addition showed the highest activity and the highest addition had the lowest. Both scavenging activity and antimicrobial activity are dependent on the biomass source; Organosolv of softwood > Kraft of softwood > Organosolv of grass. Lignins and lignin-containing films showed high antimicrobial activities against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria at 35 °C and at low temperatures (0-7 °C). Purification of Kraft lignin has a negative effect on the antimicrobial activity while storage has positive effect. The lignin leaching in the produced films affected the activity positively and the chitosan addition enhances the activity for both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Testing the films against food spoilage bacteria that grow at low temperatures revealed the activity of the 30% addition on HPMC/L1 film against both B. thermosphacta and P. fluorescens while L5 was active only against B. thermosphacta. In HPMC/lignin/chitosan films, the 5% addition exhibited activity against both food spoilage bacteria.
In 1991 the researchers at the center for the Learning Sciences of Carnegie Mellon University were confronted with the confusing question of “where is AI” from the users, who were interacting with AI but did not realize it. Three decades of research and we are still facing the same issue with the AItechnology users. In the lack of users’ awareness and mutual understanding of AI-enabled systems between designers and users, informal theories of the users about how a system works (“Folk theories”) become inevitable but can lead to misconceptions and ineffective interactions. To shape appropriate mental models of AI-based systems, explainable AI has been suggested by AI practitioners. However, a profound understanding of the current users’ perception of AI is still missing. In this study, we introduce the term “Perceived AI” as “AI defined from the perspective of its users”. We then present our preliminary results from deep-interviews with 50 AItechnology users, which provide a framework for our future research approach towards a better understanding of PAI and users’ folk theories.
In this paper we introduce the Perception for Autonomous Systems (PAZ) software library. PAZ is a hierarchical perception library that allow users to manipulate multiple levels of abstraction in accordance to their requirements or skill level. More specifically, PAZ is divided into three hierarchical levels which we refer to as pipelines, processors, and backends. These abstractions allows users to compose functions in a hierarchical modular scheme that can be applied for preprocessing, data-augmentation, prediction and postprocessing of inputs and outputs of machine learning (ML) models. PAZ uses these abstractions to build reusable training and prediction pipelines for multiple robot perception tasks such as: 2D keypoint estimation, 2D object detection, 3D keypoint discovery, 6D pose estimation, emotion classification, face recognition, instance segmentation, and attention mechanisms.
AErOmAt Abschlussbericht
(2020)
Das Projekt AErOmAt hatte zum Ziel, neue Methoden zu entwickeln, um einen erheblichen Teil aerodynamischer Simulationen bei rechenaufwändigen Optimierungsdomänen einzusparen. Die Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg (H-BRS) hat auf diesem Weg einen gesellschaftlich relevanten und gleichzeitig wirtschaftlich verwertbaren Beitrag zur Energieeffizienzforschung geleistet. Das Projekt führte außerdem zu einer schnelleren Integration der neuberufenen Antragsteller in die vorhandenen Forschungsstrukturen.
Among the celestial bodies in the Solar System, Mars currently represents the main target for the search for life beyond Earth. However, its surface is constantly exposed to high doses of cosmic rays (CRs) that may pose a threat to any biological system. For this reason, investigations into the limits of resistance of life to space relevant radiation is fundamental to speculate on the chance of finding extraterrestrial organisms on Mars. In the present work, as part of the STARLIFE project, the responses of dried colonies of the black fungus Cryomyces antarcticus Culture Collection of Fungi from Extreme Environments (CCFEE) 515 to the exposure to accelerated iron (LET: 200 keV/μm) ions, which mimic part of CRs spectrum, were investigated. Samples were exposed to the iron ions up to 1000 Gy in the presence of Martian regolith analogues. Our results showed an extraordinary resistance of the fungus in terms of survival, recovery of metabolic activity and DNA integrity. These experiments give new insights into the survival probability of possible terrestrial-like life forms on the present or past Martian surface and shallow subsurface environments.
The general method of topological reduction for the network problems is presented on example of gas transport networks. The method is based on a contraction of series, parallel and tree-like subgraphs for the element equations of quadratic, power law and general monotone dependencies. The method allows to reduce significantly the complexity of the graph and to accelerate the solution procedure for stationary network problems. The method has been tested on a large set of realistic network scenarios. Possible extensions of the method have been described, including triangulated element equations, continuation of the equations at infinity, providing uniqueness of solution, a choice of Newtonian stabilizer for nearly degenerated systems. The method is applicable for various sectors in the field of energetics, including gas networks, water networks, electric networks, as well as for coupling of different sectors.
With increasing life expectancy, demands for dental tissue and whole-tooth regeneration are becoming more significant. Despite great progress in medicine, including regenerative therapies, the complex structure of dental tissues introduces several challenges to the field of regenerative dentistry. Interdisciplinary efforts from cellular biologists, material scientists, and clinical odontologists are being made to establish strategies and find the solutions for dental tissue regeneration and/or whole-tooth regeneration. In recent years, many significant discoveries were done regarding signaling pathways and factors shaping calcified tissue genesis, including those of tooth. Novel biocompatible scaffolds and polymer-based drug release systems are under development and may soon result in clinically applicable biomaterials with the potential to modulate signaling cascades involved in dental tissue genesis and regeneration. Approaches for whole-tooth regeneration utilizing adult stem cells, induced pluripotent stem cells, or tooth germ cells transplantation are emerging as promising alternatives to overcome existing in vitro tissue generation hurdles. In this interdisciplinary review, most recent advances in cellular signaling guiding dental tissue genesis, novel functionalized scaffolds and drug release material, various odontogenic cell sources, and methods for tooth regeneration are discussed thus providing a multi-faceted, up-to-date, and illustrative overview on the tooth regeneration matter, alongside hints for future directions in the challenging field of regenerative dentistry.
The temperature of photovoltaic modules is modelled as a dynamic function of ambient temperature, shortwave and longwave irradiance and wind speed, in order to allow for a more accurate characterisation of their efficiency. A simple dynamic thermal model is developed by extending an existing parametric steady-state model using an exponential smoothing kernel to include the effect of the heat capacity of the system. The four parameters of the model are fitted to measured data from three photovoltaic systems in the Allgäu region in Germany using non-linear optimisation. The dynamic model reduces the root-mean-square error between measured and modelled module temperature to 1.58 K on average, compared to 3.03 K for the steady-state model, whereas the maximum instantaneous error is reduced from 20.02 to 6.58 K.
This dataset contains data from two measurement campaigns in autumn 2018 and summer 2019 that were part of the BMWi project "MetPVNet", and serve as a supplement to the paper "Dynamic model of photovoltaic module temperature as a function of atmospheric conditions", published in the special edition of "Advances in Science and Research", the proceedings of the 19th EMS Annual Meeting: European Conference for Applied Meteorology and Climatology 2019.
Data are resampled to one minute, and include:
PV module temperature
Ambient temperature
Plane-of-array irradiance
Windspeed
Atmospheric thermal emission
The data were used for the dynamic temperature model, as presented in the paper
Telepresence robots allow users to be spatially and socially present in remote environments. Yet, it can be challenging to remotely operate telepresence robots, especially in dense environments such as academic conferences or workplaces. In this paper, we primarily focus on the effect that a speed control method, which automatically slows the telepresence robot down when getting closer to obstacles, has on user behaviors. In our first user study, participants drove the robot through a static obstacle course with narrow sections. Results indicate that the automatic speed control method significantly decreases the number of collisions. For the second study we designed a more naturalistic, conference-like experimental environment with tasks that require social interaction, and collected subjective responses from the participants when they were asked to navigate through the environment. While about half of the participants preferred automatic speed control because it allowed for smoother and safer navigation, others did not want to be influenced by an automatic mechanism. Overall, the results suggest that automatic speed control simplifies the user interface for telepresence robots in static dense environments, but should be considered as optionally available, especially in situations involving social interactions.
Miscanthus crops possess very attractive properties such as high photosynthesis yield and carbon fixation rate. Because of these properties, it is currently considered for use in second-generation biorefineries. Here we analyze the differences in chemical composition between M. x giganteus, a commonly studied Miscanthus genotype, and M. nagara, which is relatively understudied but has useful properties such as increased frost resistance and higher stem stability. Samples of M. x giganteus (Gig35) and M. nagara (NagG10) have been separated by plant portion (leaves and stems) in order to isolate the corresponding lignins. The organosolv process was used for biomass pulping (80% ethanol solution, 170 °C, 15 bar). Biomass composition and lignin structure analysis were performed using composition analysis, Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR), ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), size exclusion chromatography (SEC) and pyrolysis gas-chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS) to determine the 3D structure of the isolated lignins, monolignol ratio and most abundant linkages depending on genotype and harvesting season. SEC data showed significant differences in the molecular weight and polydispersity indices for stem versus leaf-derived lignins. Py-GC/MS and hetero-nuclear single quantum correlation (HSQC) NMR revealed different monolignol compositions for the two genotypes (Gig35, NagG10). The monolignol ratio is slightly influenced by the time of harvest: stem-derived lignins of M. nagara showed increasing H and decreasing G unit content over the studied harvesting period (December–April).
Abschlussbericht zum BMBF-Fördervorhaben Enabling Infrastructure for HPC-Applications (EI-HPC)
(2020)
Intelligente Dialogsysteme – Chatbots – werden immer häufiger als virtuelle Ansprechpartner von Unternehmen und Institutionen eingesetzt. Auf Basis einer Wissensdatenbank können Chatbots einen größeren Anteil von Kundenanfragen automatisiert beantworten. Analog ist der Einsatz von Chatbots als digitaler Ansprechpartner öffentlicher Verwaltungen denkbar. Sie könnten Bürgern helfen, sich innerhalb der behördlichen Strukturen zu orientieren und Verwaltungsleistungen effizient und effektiv in Anspruch zu nehmen.
Diese Arbeit überprüft den Einsatz eines Chatbots in der öffentlichen Verwaltung hinsichtlich der entstehenden Kosten und des erwartbaren Nutzens. Auf Basis einer umfangreichen Literaturauswertung und der prototypischen Realisierung eines Chatbots für ein Stadtportal werden dabei Herausforderungen dieser Anwendungsdomäne herausgearbeitet, konkrete Funktionsweise und Implementierungsstrategien von Chatbots erörtert und einige Erfolgsfaktoren formuliert, die den Kern einer Handlungsempfehlung für Entscheidungsträger öffentlicher Verwaltungen bilden.
Failure prognostic builds up on constant data acquisition and processing and fault diagnosis and is an essential part of predictive maintenance of smart manufacturing systems enabling condition based maintenance, optimised use of plant equipment, improved uptime and yield and to prevent safety problems. Given known control inputs into a plant and real sensor outputs or simulated measurements, the model-based part of the proposed hybrid method provides numerical values of unknown parameter degradation functions at sampling time points by the evaluation of equations that have been derived offline from a bicausal diagnostic bond graph. These numerical values are computed concurrently to the constant monitoring of a system and are stored in a buffer of fixed length. The data-driven part of the method provides a sequence of remaining useful life estimates by repeated projection of the parameter degradation into the future based on the use of values in a sliding time window. Existing software can be used to determine the best fitting function and can account for its random parameters. The continuous parameter estimation and their projection into the future can be performed in parallel for multiple isolated simultaneous parametric faults on a multicore, multiprocessor computer.
The proposed hybrid bond graph model-based, data-driven method is verified by an offline simulation case study of a typical power electronic circuit. It can be used to implement embedded systems that enable cooperating machines in smart manufacturing to perform prognostic themselves.
Trust is the lubricant of the sharing economy. This is true especially in peer-to-peer carsharing, in which one leaves a highly valuable good to a stranger in the hope of getting it back unscathed. Nowadays, ratings of other users are major mechanisms for establishing trust. To foster uptake of peer-to-peer carsharing, connected car technology opens new possibilities to support trust-building, e.g., by adding driving behavior statistics to users' profiles. However, collecting such data intrudes into rentees' privacy. To explore the tension between the need for trust and privacy demands, we conducted three focus group and eight individual interviews. Our results show that connected car technologies can increase trust for car owners and rentees not only before but also during and after rentals. The design of such systems must allow a differentiation between information in terms of type, the context, and the negotiability of information disclosure.
Bei genauer Betrachtung heutiger Sharing Plattformen wie AirBnB, Uber, Drivy oder Fairleihen fällt auf, dass diese eines gemein haben. Als Plattformökonomien basieren sie auf mindestens zwei Nutzergruppen, Anbietern und Nachfragern für Güter oder Dienstleistungen. Ein Problem solcher zweioder mehrseitigen Märkte ist jedoch häufig, dass der Wertezuwachs, der durch die Nutzer generiert wird, nicht gleichmäßig unter der Plattform und den aktiven Nutzern verteilt wird, sondern meist ausschließlich als Gewinn an die Plattformen geht. Mit der Blockchain-Technologie könnte dieses Problem gelöst werden, indem der Informations- und Wertetransfer sicher und dezentral organisiert wird und viele Funktionen traditioneller Intermediäre dadurch obsolet werden. Diese Arbeit bietet einen Überblick über Anwendungsfelder und das Grundkonzept der Sharing Economy. Wir zeigen auf, wie sich Geschäftsmodelle und Infrastrukturen in einer Blockchain abbilden lassen, welche Potentiale eine Blockchain-basierte Infrastruktur bietet, wann diese in der Sharing Economy sinnvoll sein kann und welche Probleme dadurch gelöst werden können.
Die Motive für die Einführung von Public Cloud Services liegen oft im Bereich der Kosteneinsparung und Qualitätsverbesserung. Vielfach werden bei der erstmaligen Einführung vermeidbare Fehler gemacht, die im Nachhinein den Erfolg des Vorhabens schmälern. Der Beitrag beschreibt ein aus Sicht der Beratungspraxis bewährtes Vorgehensmodell für die Einführung und Nutzung von Public Cloud Services unter besonderer Berücksichtigung von Microsoft Cloud Services.
Coumarin as a structural component of substrates and probes for serine and cysteine proteases
(2020)
Im Rahmen dieser Forschungsarbeit wurde eine praxisorientierte Methode entwickelt, die es ermöglicht, Bodenproben nach ihrer Entnahme auf dem Feld aufzubereiten und hinsichtlich ihres Mikroplastikgehaltes analysieren zu können. Die Extraktionsmethode wurde bereits für zwei Polymere, PA 12 und PE (Mulchfolienpartikel), mit Wiederfindungsraten von je 100 % für Partikel größer als 0,5 mm validiert. Für Partikel größer als 63 μm liegt die Wiederfindungsrate für PE-Mulchfolienpartikel bei 97 % beziehungs-weise für PA-Partikel bei 86 %. Weiterhin wurden verschiedene spektroskopische Detektions-methoden untersucht und hinsichtlich ihrer Potentiale und Grenzen miteinander verglichen. Dabei wurde festgestellt, dass die Digitalmikroskopie zwar sehr gut geeignet ist, die Farbe, Größe, Form und Anzahl der Partikel zu bestimmen, jedoch stark von der subjektiven Einschätzung abhängig ist. Sie sollte daher in jedem Fall mit einer weiteren Detektionsmethode kombiniert werden. In dieser Arbeit wurde hierzu die ATR-FTIR-Spektroskopie verwendet. Diese ermöglicht zusätzlich die Bestimmung des Polymertyps einzelner Partikel mit einer unteren Nachweisgrenze von 500 μm. Die Methode konnte auf insgesamt fünf landwirtschaftlich genutzten Flächen angewendet werden, wovon zwei konventionell und drei ökologisch bewirtschaftet werden. Um einen ersten Eindruck über die aktuelle Mikroplastik-Belastung von Agrarböden zu erhalten, wurden die mit Hilfe der in dieser Forschungsarbeit entwickelten Methode erhaltenen Ergebnisse extrapoliert und als Emissionskoeffizienten in verschiedenen Einheiten angegeben.
In der heutigen Zeit nimmt die Bedeutung schlanker und effektiver Prozesse in Unternehmen vor dem Hintergrund des Wettbewerbs sowie Kostendrucks stetig zu. Um dieser Herausforderung entgegenzuwirken, fokussieren sich Unternehmen auf die Identifikation neuer innovativer Potenziale. Aufgrund der Tatsache, dass monotone und regelbasierte Prozesse durch Softwareroboter automatisiert werden können, ist das Interesse an Robotic Process Automation (RPA) in den letzten Jahren stetig gestiegen. Bevor sich Unternehmen allerdings für oder gegen den Einsatz von RPA entscheiden, ist es zunächst notwendig, dass die Entscheidungsträger ein Verständnis von RPA erlangen sowie die entsprechenden Einsatzpotenziale und Risiken einschätzen können. Dieser Artikel trägt diesem Bedürfnis Rechnung, indem es diese auf Basis einer Literaturrecherche ermittelt und bewertet. Im Ausblick wird das zukünftige Potenzial von RPA eingeschätzt.
Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) with subsequent chemometric evaluation was performed for the rapid and non-destructive differentiation of seven important meat-associated microorganisms, namely Brochothrix thermosphacta DSM 20171, Pseudomonas fluorescens DSM 4358, Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica sv. Enteritidis DSM 14221, Listeria monocytogenes DSM 19094, Micrococcus luteus DSM 20030, Escherichia coli HB101 and Bacillus thuringiensis sv. israelensis DSM 5724. A simple method for collecting spectra from commercial paper-based SERS substrates without any laborious pre-treatments was used. In order to prepare the spectroscopic data for classification at genera level with a subsequent chemometric evaluation consisting of principal component analysis and discriminant analysis, a pre-processing method with spike correction and sum normalisation was performed. Because of the spike correction rather than exclusion, and therefore the use of a balanced data set, the multivariate analysis of the data is significantly resilient and meaningful. The analysis showed that the differentiation of meat-associated microorganisms and thereby the detection of important meat-related pathogenic bacteria was successful on genera level and a cross-validation as well as a classification of ungrouped data showed promising results, with 99.5 % and 97.5 %, respectively.
The present thesis elucidates the development of (i) a series of small molecule inhibitors reacting in a covalent-irreversible manner with the targeted proteases and (ii) a fluorescently labeled activity-based probe as a pharmacological tool compound for investigation of specific functions of the mentioned enzymes in vitro. Herein, the rational design, organic synthesis and quantitative structure-activity-relationships are described extensively.
Im Rahmen der Arbeit wurde Kraft-Lignin mit Natriumsulfit demethyliert, um den Gehalt an aromatischen Hydroxygruppen zu erhöhen und damit die Reaktivität des Lignins in Bezug auf Polyurethan-Synthesen zu erhöhen. Variiert wurden die Demethylierungstemperatur (72°C, 90°C) sowie der pH-Wert zur Isolierung des Kraft-Lignins (pH 2, 3, 4 und 5). Die Analyse der demethylierten Proben erfolgte mittels differentieller UV-Spektroskopie und der OH-Gehaltbestimmung via automatischer Titration (angelehnt an ISO 14900:2001(E)). Weitere Untersuchungen umfassten Löslichkeitstests sowie Strukturanalysen via FTIR- und UV/Vis-Spektroskopie.
Validierung einer Web-Applikation zum Fern-Monitoring von Belastungs- und Erholungsparametern
(2020)
Simultan zur agilen Entwicklung einer Web-Applikation, die Parameter der Belastungs- und Beanspruchungssteuerung erfasst, wurden die implementierten Belastungs- und Erholungs-parameter an freiwilligen Testern/innen in der Praxis überprüft. Um sowohl die Applikation als auch die z.T. selbst entwickelten Kenngrößen auf ihre externe Validität hin zu bewerten, werden diese regressionsanalytisch bearbeitet.
OSC data
(2020)
An internal model of self-motion provides a fundamental basis for action in our daily lives, yet little is known about its development. The ability to control self-motion develops in youth and often deteriorates with advanced age. Self-motion generates relative motion between the viewer and the environment. Thus, the smoothness of the visual motion created will vary as control improves. Here, we study the influence of the smoothness of visually simulated self-motion on an observer's ability to judge how far they have travelled over a wide range of ages. Previous studies were typically highly controlled and concentrated on university students. But are such populations representative of the general public? And are there developmental and sex effects? Here, estimates of distance travelled (visual odometry) during visually induced self-motion were obtained from 466 participants drawn from visitors to a public science museum. Participants were presented with visual motion that simulated forward linear self-motion through a field of lollipops using a head-mounted virtual reality display. They judged the distance of their simulated motion by indicating when they had reached the position of a previously presented target. The simulated visual motion was presented with or without horizontal or vertical sinusoidal jitter. Participants' responses indicated that they felt they travelled further in the presence of vertical jitter. The effectiveness of the display increased with age over all jitter conditions. The estimated time for participants to feel that they had started to move also increased slightly with age. There were no differences between the sexes. These results suggest that age should be taken into account when generating motion in a virtual reality environment. Citizen science studies like this can provide a unique and valuable insight into perceptual processes in a truly representative sample of people.
Digital Business
(2020)
Digital Business behandelt die Besonderheiten digitaler Geschäftsmodelle, den Umgang mit Daten, erläutert die Funktionsweise digitaler Märkte und deren Auswirkungen auf Servicefunktionen wie HR, Kommunikation, Finanzierung und Marketing. Zudem werden wesentliche Erfolgsfaktoren wie agiles Management und Customer Experience behandelt. Insgesamt haben 30 Experten mit ihrem spezifischem Know How an der Erstellung des praxisorientierten Litello-eBook mitgearbeitet, dass sich auch gut als Basis für einschlägige Lehrveranstaltung anbietet.
This paper aspires to develop a deeper understanding of the sharing/collaborative/platform economy, and in particular of the technical mechanisms upon which the digital platforms supporting it are built. In surveying the research literature, the paper identifies a gap between studies from economical, social or socio-technical angles, and presentations of detailed technical solutions. Most cases study larger, ‘monotechnological’ platforms, rather than local platforms that lend components from several technologies. Almost no literature takes a design perspective. Rooted in Sharing & Caring, an EU COST Action (network), the paper presents work to systematically map out functionalities across domains of the sharing economy. The 145 technical mechanisms we collected illustrate how most platforms are depending on a limited number of functionalities that lack in terms of holding communities together. The paper points to the necessity of a better terminology and concludes by discussing challenges and opportunities for the design of future and more inclusive platforms.
Multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were easily and efficiently functionalised with highly cross-linked polyamines. The radical polymerisation of two bis-vinylimidazolium salts in the presence of pristine MWCNTs and azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN) as a radical initiator led to the formation of materials with a high functionalisation degree. The subsequent treatment with sodium borohydride gave rise to the reduction of imidazolium moieties with the concomitant formation of secondary and tertiary amino groups. The obtained materials were characterised by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), elemental analysis, solid state 13C-NMR, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), potentiometric titration, and temperature programmed desorption of carbon dioxide (CO2-TPD). One of the prepared materials was tested as a heterogeneous base catalyst in C–C bond forming reactions such as the Knoevenagel condensation and Henry reaction. Furthermore, two examples concerning a sequential one-pot approach involving two consecutive reactions, namely Knoevenagel and Michael reactions, were reported.
Eco-InfoVis at Work
(2020)
Alkaline methanol oxidation is an important electrochemical process in the design of efficient fuel cells. Typically, a system of ordinary differential equations is used to model the kinetics of this process. The fitting of the parameters of the underlying mathematical model is performed on the basis of different types of experiments, characterizing the fuel cell. In this paper, we describe generic methods for creation of a mathematical model of electrochemical kinetics from a given reaction network, as well as for identification of parameters of this model. We also describe methods for model reduction, based on a combination of steady-state and dynamical descriptions of the process. The methods are tested on a range of experiments, including different concentrations of the reagents and different voltage range.
Digitale Güter
(2020)
Fundamental hydrogen storage properties of TiFe-alloy with partial substitution of Fe by Ti and Mn
(2020)
TiFe intermetallic compound has been extensively studied, owing to its low cost, good volumetric hydrogen density, and easy tailoring of hydrogenation thermodynamics by elemental substitution. All these positive aspects make this material promising for large-scale applications of solid-state hydrogen storage. On the other hand, activation and kinetic issues should be amended and the role of elemental substitution should be further understood. This work investigates the thermodynamic changes induced by the variation of Ti content along the homogeneity range of the TiFe phase (Ti:Fe ratio from 1:1 to 1:0.9) and of the substitution of Mn for Fe between 0 and 5 at.%. In all considered alloys, the major phase is TiFe-type together with minor amounts of TiFe2 or \b{eta}-Ti-type and Ti4Fe2O-type at the Ti-poor and rich side of the TiFe phase domain, respectively. Thermodynamic data agree with the available literature but offer here a comprehensive picture of hydrogenation properties over an extended Ti and Mn compositional range. Moreover, it is demonstrated that Ti-rich alloys display enhanced storage capacities, as long as a limited amount of \b{eta}-Ti is formed. Both Mn and Ti substitutions increase the cell parameter by possibly substituting Fe, lowering the plateau pressures and decreasing the hysteresis of the isotherms. A full picture of the dependence of hydrogen storage properties as a function of the composition will be discussed, together with some observed correlations.
In dieser vorliegenden Arbeit wurde der photolytische und photokatalytische Abbau von Lignin untersucht. Eine Charakterisierung des verwendeten Photoreaktors wurde mittels Kalium-Ferrioxalat-Aktinometrie durchgeführt. Zur Analyse der abgebauten Lignine wurde eine Optimierung einer bereits bestehenden Methode zur Bestimmung des Hydroxylgehaltes erarbeitet. Die Bestimmung der Hydroxylgehalte erfolgte demnach bei Raumtemperatur nach einer Acetylierungsdauer von 72 h und zeigte eine Abnahme der Hydroxylgehalte mit andauernder UV-Bestrahlung. Selbige Beobachtung konnte mit Hilfe der ATR-IR-Spektroskopie gemacht werden. Zusätzlich konnte die Bildung von Carbonsäuren und der Abbau von aromatischen Strukturen detektiert werden. Der Abbau aromatischer Strukturen konnte ebenfalls durch UV-VIS-Spektroskopie gezeigt werden. Eine Vermutung, dass es sich bei dem Abbauprozess um einen oxidativen Mechanismus handelt, konnte mit dem Abbau von Hydroxylgruppen über eine Bildung von Carbonsäuren zu Kohlenstoffdioxid bestätigt werden. Eine Freisetzung von Kohlenstoffdioxid konnte durch eine Bestimmung des IC festgestellt werden. Die Ergebnisse der Gel-Permeations-Chromatographie zusammen mit einer TOC-Analyse zeigen einen Abbau der molaren Masse des Lignins auf. Es konnten Fragmente mit einer Molmasse ähnlich der Monomere des Lignins gefunden werden. Der eingesetzte Photokatalysator wurde via Röntgenbeugung untersucht und konnte als das hoch photokatalytisch aktive P25 von Degussa identifiziert werden. Trotz des Einsatzes verschiedener Katalysatorkonzentrationen in einem Bereich von 0-0,5 g L^(-1) konnte kein Einfluss des Photokatalysators auf den Abbauprozess des Lignins beobachtet werden.
In der vorliegenden Arbeit wurde Kraft-Lignin als Makromonomer für die Synthese von thermoplastischen Polyurethanen mit hoher molarer Masse durch acide Präzipitation aus Schwarzlauge isoliert. Die Charakterisierung des Rohstoffes bezüglich seiner Ausgangsmolmasse erfolgte mittels Gel-Permeations-Chromatographie mit Polystyren-Polymerstandard, welche sich als sehr hilfreiche Analysemethode erwies. Da das Kraft-Lignin die klassische Polyolkomponente bei der Synthese von Polyurethanen ersetzen sollte, war es notwendig, den Hydroxylgehalt des Kraft-Lignins zu bestimmen. Für diesen Zweck wurde eine bereits etablierte Prozedur zur nasschemischen Bestimmung des Hydroxylgehaltes von Polyolen für die Synthese von Polyurethanen einer Adaption unterzogen. Es wurde die Reaktionsdauer bei der Acetylierung des Kraft-Lignins variiert. Das Ergebnis war, dass die Messgenauigkeit durch eine Erhöhung der Reaktionsdauer von 1 h auf 3 h drastisch von 25,5 % auf 3,6 % reduziert werden konnte. Um abschätzen zu können, ob die erzielte Messgenauigkeit im Rahmen einer nasschemischen Prozedur mit manueller Titration liegt, wurden zusätzlich die Hydroxylgehalte von Ethandiol und Saccharose bestimmt. Diese dienten als Referenzsubstanz mit definierten und bekannten Hydroxylgehalten. Die Ermittlung der Hydroxylgehalte mit diesen Substanzen ergab für Ethandiol eine Messgenauigkeit von 2,2 % und für Saccharose eine Messgenauigkeit von 1,4 %. Eine Messgenauigkeit von 3,6 % ist in Anbetracht des Zeitaufwandes akzeptabel.
Für die Synthese von thermoplastischen Polyurethanen wurde Kraft-Lignin mit Methylendiphenyldiisocyanat in Dimethylacetamid mit Zinnoktoat als Katalysator zur Reaktion gebracht. Es wurde das NCO/OH-Verhältnis und die Reaktionsdauer variiert. Die Analyse der synthetisierten Polyurethane erfolgte mittels Ubbelohde-Kapillarviskosimetrie, Fourier-Transformations-Infrarotspektroskopie und Schmelzpunktbestimmung. Die FTIR-Spektren bestätigte eine erfolgreiche Synthese von Polyurethanen aus Kraft-Lignin und Methylendiphenyldiisocyanat und zeigte, dass die Variation des NCO/OH-Verhältnisses und der Reaktionsdauer keinerlei Einflüsse auf die chemische Grundstruktur des Polyurethans hat. Die Ubbelohde-Kapillarviskosimetrie belegte die thermoplastischen Eigenschaften des synthetisierten Polyurethans, die sich in einem thermoplastischen Nassprozess verarbeiten lassen. Sie zeigte auch die Abhängigkeit der Molmasse der synthetisierten Polyurethane von der Reaktionsdauer und vom NCO/OH-Verhältnis. So steigt die Molmasse des Polyurethans mit steigender Reaktionsdauer und sinkendem NCO/OH-Verhältnis. Letztere Beobachtung ist sogar praktisch hinsichtlich der gesundheitsgefährdenden Eigenschaft von Isocyanaten, da so der Einsatz von Isocyanaten reduziert werden kann. Um die schmelzflüssige Verarbeitbarkeit des synthetisierten Polyurethans zu untersuchen, wurden die Schmelzpunkte der Polymere bestimmt. Es konnte in einem Temperaturbereich von 25 °C-410 °C keine Aggregatzustandsänderung, sondern lediglich eine Zersetzungsreaktion beobachtet werden.
Towards a conceptual framework for sustainable business models in the food and beverage industry
(2020)
4GREAT is an extension of the German Receiver for Astronomy at Terahertz frequencies (GREAT) operated aboard the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA). The spectrometer comprises four different detector bands and their associated subsystems for simultaneous and fully independent science operation. All detector beams are co-aligned on the sky. The frequency bands of 4GREAT cover 491-635, 890-1090, 1240-1525 and 2490-2590 GHz, respectively. This paper presents the design and characterization of the instrument, and its in-flight performance. 4GREAT saw first light in June 2018, and has been offered to the interested SOFIA communities starting with observing cycle 6.
Purpose To investigate how completing vocational re-training influenced income and employment days of working-age people with disabilities in the first 8 years after program admission. The investigation also included the influence of vocational re-training on the likelihood of receiving an earnings incapacity pension and on social security benefit receipt. Methods This retrospective cohort study with 8 years follow up was based on data from 2399 individuals who had completed either a 1-year vocational re-training program (n = 278), or a 2-year vocational re-training program (n = 1754) or who were admitted into re-training but never completed the program (n = 367). A propensity score-based method was used to account for observed differences and establish comparability between program graduates and program dropouts. Changes in outcomes were examined using the inverse probability-weighted regression adjustment method. Results After controlling for other factors, over the 8 years after program admission, graduates of 1-year re-training, on average, were employed for an additional 405 days, 95% CI [249 days, 561 days], and had earned €24,260 more than without completed re-training, 95% CI [€12,805, €35,715]. Two-year program completers, on average, were employed for 441 additional days, 95% CI [349 days, 534 days], and had earned €35,972 more than without completed re-training, 95% CI [€27,743, €44,202]. The programs also significantly reduced the number of days on social-security and unemployment benefits and lowered the likelihood of an earnings incapacity pension. Conclusion Policies to promote the labor market re-integration of persons with disabilities should consider that vocational re-training may be an effective tool for sustainably improving work participation outcomes.
The motor protein myosin drives a wide range of cellular and muscular functions by generating directed movement and force, fueled through adenosine triphosphate (ATP) hydrolysis. Release of the hydrolysis product adenosine diphosphate (ADP) is a fundamental and regulatory process during force production. However, details about the molecular mechanism accompanying ADP release are scarce due to the lack of representative structures. Here we solved a novel blebbistatin-bound myosin conformation with critical structural elements in positions between the myosin pre-power stroke and rigor states. ADP in this structure is repositioned towards the surface by the phosphate-sensing P-loop, and stabilized in a partially unbound conformation via a salt-bridge between Arg131 and Glu187. A 5 Å rotation separates the mechanical converter in this conformation from the rigor position. The crystallized myosin structure thus resembles a conformation towards the end of the two-step power stroke, associated with ADP release. Computationally reconstructing ADP release from myosin by means of molecular dynamics simulations further supported the existence of an equivalent conformation along the power stroke that shows the same major characteristics in the myosin motor domain as the resolved blebbistatin-bound myosin-II·ADP crystal structure, and identified a communication hub centered on Arg232 that mediates chemomechanical energy transduction.
Green infrastructure improves environmental health in cities, benefits human health, and provides habitat for wildlife. Increasing urbanization has demanded the expansion of urban areas and transformation of existing cities. The adoption of compact design in urban planning is a recommended strategy to minimize environmental impacts; however, it may undermine green infrastructure networks within cities as it sets a battleground for urban space. Under this scenario, multifunctionality of green spaces is highly desirable but reconciling human needs and biodiversity conservation in a limited space is still a challenge. Through a systematic review, we first compiled urban green space's characteristics that affect mental health and urban wildlife support, and then identified potential synergies and trade-offs between these dimensions. A framework based on the One Health approach is proposed, synthesizing the interlinkages between green space quality, mental health, and wildlife support; providing a new holistic perspective on the topic. Looking at the human-wildlife-environment relationships simultaneously may contribute to practical guidance on more effective green space design and management that benefit all dimensions.
Das Buch schlägt die Brücke zwischen den betriebswirtschaftlich-organisatorischen Methoden und deren digitaler Umsetzung, denn Prozessmanagement heißt zunehmend Gestaltung betrieblicher Aufgaben. Neben methodischen Grundlagen bietet das Werk viele Praxisbeispiele und Übungen. Das Buch von Prof. Gadatsch gilt mittlerweile als der "aktuelle Klassiker", DAS maßgebliche Standardwerk zur IT-gestützten Gestaltung von Geschäftsprozessen.
Comparative Evaluation of Pretrained Transfer Learning Models on Automatic Short Answer Grading
(2020)
Automatic Short Answer Grading (ASAG) is the process of grading the student answers by computational approaches given a question and the desired answer. Previous works implemented the methods of concept mapping, facet mapping, and some used the conventional word embeddings for extracting semantic features. They extracted multiple features manually to train on the corresponding datasets. We use pretrained embeddings of the transfer learning models, ELMo, BERT, GPT, and GPT-2 to assess their efficiency on this task. We train with a single feature, cosine similarity, extracted from the embeddings of these models. We compare the RMSE scores and correlation measurements of the four models with previous works on Mohler dataset. Our work demonstrates that ELMo outperformed the other three models. We also, briefly describe the four transfer learning models and conclude with the possible causes of poor results of transfer learning models.
Optimization plays an essential role in industrial design, but is not limited to minimization of a simple function, such as cost or strength. These tools are also used in conceptual phases, to better understand what is possible. To support this exploration we focus on Quality Diversity (QD) algorithms, which produce sets of varied, high performing solutions. These techniques often require the evaluation of millions of solutions -- making them impractical in design cases. In this thesis we propose methods to radically improve the data-efficiency of QD with machine learning, enabling its application to design. In our first contribution, we develop a method of modeling the performance of evolved neural networks used for control and design. The structures of these networks grow and change, making them difficult to model -- but with a new method we are able to estimate their performance based on their heredity, improving data-efficiency by several times. In our second contribution we combine model-based optimization with MAP-Elites, a QD algorithm. A model of performance is created from known designs, and MAP-Elites creates a new set of designs using this approximation. A subset of these designs are the evaluated to improve the model, and the process repeats. We show that this approach improves the efficiency of MAP-Elites by orders of magnitude. Our third contribution integrates generative models into MAP-Elites to learn domain specific encodings. A variational autoencoder is trained on the solutions produced by MAP-Elites, capturing the common “recipe” for high performance. This learned encoding can then be reused by other algorithms for rapid optimization, including MAP-Elites. Throughout this thesis, though the focus of our vision is design, we examine applications in other fields, such as robotics. These advances are not exclusive to design, but serve as foundational work on the integration of QD and machine learning.
The encoding of solutions in black-box optimization is a delicate, handcrafted balance between expressiveness and domain knowledge between exploring a wide variety of solutions, and ensuring that those solutions are useful. Our main insight is that this process can be automated by generating a dataset of high-performing solutions with a quality diversity algorithm (here, MAP-Elites), then learning a representation with a generative model (here, a Varia-tional Autoencoder) from that dataset. Our second insight is that this representation can be used to scale quality diversity optimization to higher dimensions-but only if we carefully mix solutions generated with the learned representation and those generated with traditional variation operators. We demonstrate these capabilities by learning an low-dimensional encoding for the inverse kinemat-ics of a thousand joint planar arm. The results show that learned representations make it possible to solve high-dimensional problems with orders of magnitude fewer evaluations than the standard MAP-Elites, and that, once solved, the produced encoding can be used for rapid optimization of novel, but similar, tasks. The presented techniques not only scale up quality diversity algorithms to high dimensions, but show that black-box optimization encodings can be automatically learned, rather than hand designed.
The way solutions are represented, or encoded, is usually the result of domain knowledge and experience. In this work, we combine MAP-Elites with Variational Autoencoders to learn a Data-Driven Encoding (DDE) that captures the essence of the highest-performing solutions while still able to encode a wide array of solutions. Our approach learns this data-driven encoding during optimization by balancing between exploiting the DDE to generalize the knowledge contained in the current archive of elites and exploring new representations that are not yet captured by the DDE. Learning representation during optimization allows the algorithm to solve high-dimensional problems, and provides a low-dimensional representation which can be then be re-used. We evaluate the DDE approach by evolving solutions for inverse kinematics of a planar arm (200 joint angles) and for gaits of a 6-legged robot in action space (a sequence of 60 positions for each of the 12 joints). We show that the DDE approach not only accelerates and improves optimization, but produces a powerful encoding that captures a bias for high performance while expressing a variety of solutions.
Kommunikation gilt nicht ohne Grund als die Königsdisziplin im BGM. Hier gilt es, Mitarbeiter in einem ersten Schritt für das Thema Gesundheit zu sensibilisieren und mit relevanten Materialien zu informieren, um sie letztendlich zur Teilnahme an Gesundheitsangeboten zu motivieren. Diese drei Schritte empfehlen sich ebenfalls für die Kommunikation in digitalen Zeiten. Gesundheitsplattformen und/oder Gesundheits-Apps können die Kommunikation unterstützen. Das richtige Maß an Kommunikation stellt eine weitere Herausforderung in digitalen Zeiten dar, da Informationen in der Flut an E-Mails durchaus untergehen können. Eine Kombination aus Push- und Pull-Kommunikation hat sich hierbei bewährt, um bei Mitarbeitern das nötige Interesse für Gesundheit anzustoßen, damit diese dann eigenständig aus bestehenden Angeboten (Informationen, Kurse usw.) wählen.
It is only a matter of time until autonomous vehicles become ubiquitous; however, human driving supervision will remain a necessity for decades. To assess the drive's ability to take control over the vehicle in critical scenarios, driver distractions can be monitored using wearable sensors or sensors that are embedded in the vehicle, such as video cameras. The types of driving distractions that can be sensed with various sensors is an open research question that this study attempts to answer. This study compared data from physiological sensors (palm electrodermal activity (pEDA), heart rate and breathing rate) and visual sensors (eye tracking, pupil diameter, nasal EDA (nEDA), emotional activation and facial action units (AUs)) for the detection of four types of distractions. The dataset was collected in a previous driving simulation study. The statistical tests showed that the most informative feature/modality for detecting driver distraction depends on the type of distraction, with emotional activation and AUs being the most promising. The experimental comparison of seven classical machine learning (ML) and seven end-to-end deep learning (DL) methods, which were evaluated on a separate test set of 10 subjects, showed that when classifying windows into distracted or not distracted, the highest F1-score of 79%; was realized by the extreme gradient boosting (XGB) classifier using 60-second windows of AUs as input. When classifying complete driving sessions, XGB's F1-score was 94%. The best-performing DL model was a spectro-temporal ResNet, which realized an F1-score of 75%; when classifying segments and an F1-score of 87%; when classifying complete driving sessions. Finally, this study identified and discussed problems, such as label jitter, scenario overfitting and unsatisfactory generalization performance, that may adversely affect related ML approaches.
Listen to Developers! A Participatory Design Study on Security Warnings for Cryptographic APIs
(2020)
Background: 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A lyase deficiency (HMGCLD) is an autosomal recessive disorder of ketogenesis and leucine degradation due to mutations in HMGCL.
Method: We performed a systematic literature search to identify all published cases. Two hundred eleven patients of whom relevant clinical data were available were included in this analysis. Clinical course, biochemical findings and mutation data are highlighted and discussed. An overview on all published HMGCL variants is provided.
Results: More than 95% of patients presented with acute metabolic decompensation. Most patients manifested within the first year of life, 42.4% already neonatally. Very few individuals remained asymptomatic. The neurologic long-term outcome was favorable with 62.6% of patients showing normal development.
Conclusion: This comprehensive data analysis provides a systematic overview on all published cases with HMGCLD including a list of all known HMGCL mutations.
2-methylacetoacetyl-coenzyme A thiolase (beta-ketothiolase) deficiency: one disease - two pathways
(2020)
Background: 2-methylacetoacetyl-coenzyme A thiolase deficiency (MATD; deficiency of mitochondrial acetoacetyl-coenzyme A thiolase T2/ “beta-ketothiolase”) is an autosomal recessive disorder of ketone body utilization and isoleucine degradation due to mutations in ACAT1.
Methods: We performed a systematic literature search for all available clinical descriptions of patients with MATD. Two hundred forty-four patients were identified and included in this analysis. Clinical course and biochemical data are presented and discussed.
Results: For 89.6% of patients at least one acute metabolic decompensation was reported. Age at first symptoms ranged from 2 days to 8 years (median 12 months). More than 82% of patients presented in the first 2 years of life, while manifestation in the neonatal period was the exception (3.4%). 77.0% (157 of 204 patients) of patients showed normal psychomotor development without neurologic abnormalities. Conclusion: This comprehensive data analysis provides a systematic overview on all cases with MATD identified in the literature. It demonstrates that MATD is a rather benign disorder with often favourable outcome, when compared with many other organic acidurias.
The development of metals tailored to the metallurgical conditions of laser-based additive manufacturing is crucial to advance the maturity of these materials for their use in structural applications. While efforts in this regard are being carried out around the globe, the use of high strength eutectic alloys have, so far, received minor attention, although previous works showed that rapid solidification techniques can result in ultrafine microstructures with excellent mechanical performance, albeit for small sample sizes. In the present work, a eutectic Ti-32.5Fe alloy has been produced by laser powder bed fusion aiming at exploiting rapid solidification and the capability to produce bulk ultrafine microstructures provided by this processing technique.
Process energy densities between 160 J/mm³ and 180 J/mm³ resulted in a dense and crack-free material with an oxygen content of ~ 0.45 wt.% in which a hierarchical microstructure is formed by µm-sized η-Ti4Fe2Ox dendrites embedded in an ultrafine eutectic β-Ti/TiFe matrix. The microstructure was studied three-dimensionally using near-field synchrotron ptychographic X-ray computed tomography with an actual spatial resolution down to 39 nm to analyse the morphology of the eutectic and dendritic structures as well as to quantify their mass density, size and distribution. Inter-lamellar spacings down to ~ 30–50 nm were achieved, revealing the potential of laser-based additive manufacturing to generate microstructures smaller than those obtained by classical rapid solidification techniques for bulk materials. The alloy was deformed at 600 °C under compressive loading up to a strain of ~ 30% without damage formation, resulting in a compressive yield stress of ~ 800 MPa.
This study provides a first demonstration of the feasibility to produce eutectic Ti-Fe alloys with ultrafine microstructures by laser powder bed fusion that are suitable for structural applications at elevated temperature.
Describing the elephant: a foundational model of human needs, motivation, behaviour, and wellbeing
(2020)
Models of basic psychological needs have been present and popular in the academic and lay literature for more than a century yet reviews of needs models show an astonishing lack of consensus. This raises the question of what basic human psychological needs are and if this can be consolidated into a model or framework that can align previous research and empirical study. The authors argue that the lack of consensus arises from researchers describing parts of the proverbial elephant correctly but failing to describe the full elephant. Through redefining what human needs are and matching this to an evolutionary framework we can see broad consensus across needs models and neatly slot constructs and psychological and behavioural theories into this framework. This enables a descriptive model of drives, motives, and well-being that can be simply outlined but refined enough to do justice to the complexities of human behaviour. This also raises some issues of how subjective well-being is and should be measured. Further avenues of research and how to continue building this model and framework are proposed.
Are There Extended Cognitive Improvements from Different Kinds of Acute Bouts of Physical Activity?
(2020)
Acute bouts of physical activity of at least moderate intensity have shown to enhance cognition in young as well as older adults. This effect has been observed for different kinds of activities such as aerobic or strength and coordination training. However, only few studies have directly compared these activities regarding their effectiveness. Further, most previous studies have mainly focused on inhibition and have not examined other important core executive functions (i.e., updating, switching) which are essential for our behavior in daily life (e.g., staying focused, resisting temptations, thinking before acting), as well. Therefore, this study aimed to directly compare two kinds of activities, aerobic and coordinative, and examine how they might affect executive functions (i.e., inhibition, updating, and switching) in a test-retest protocol. It is interesting for practical implications, as coordinative exercises, for example, require little space and would be preferable in settings such as an office or a classroom. Furthermore, we designed our experiment in such a way that learning effects were controlled. Then, we tested the influence of acute bouts of physical activity on the executive functioning in both young and older adults (young 16–22 years, old 65–80 years). Overall, we found no differences between aerobic and coordinative activities and, in fact, benefits from physical activities occurred only in the updating tasks in young adults. Additionally, we also showed some learning effects that might influence the results. Thus, it is important to control cognitive tests for learning effects in test-retest studies as well as to analyze effects from physical activity on a construct level of executive functions.
Computers can help us to trigger our intuition about how to solve a problem. But how does a computer take into account what a user wants and update these triggers? User preferences are hard to model as they are by nature vague, depend on the user’s background and are not always deterministic, changing depending on the context and process under which they were established. We pose that the process of preference discovery should be the object of interest in computer aided design or ideation. The process should be transparent, informative, interactive and intuitive. We formulate Hyper-Pref, a cyclic co-creative process between human and computer, which triggers the user’s intuition about what is possible and is updated according to what the user wants based on their decisions. We combine quality diversity algorithms, a divergent optimization method that can produce many, diverse solutions, with variational autoencoders to both model that diversity as well as the user’s preferences, discovering the preference hypervolume within large search spaces.
In optimization methods that return diverse solution sets, three interpretations of diversity can be distinguished: multi-objective optimization which searches diversity in objective space, multimodal optimization which tries spreading out the solutions in genetic space, and quality diversity which performs diversity maintenance in phenotypic space. We introduce niching methods that provide more flexibility to the analysis of diversity and a simple domain to compare and provide insights about the paradigms. We show that multiobjective optimization does not always produce much diversity, quality diversity is not sensitive to genetic neutrality and creates the most diverse set of solutions, and multimodal optimization produces higher fitness solutions. An autoencoder is used to discover phenotypic features automatically, producing an even more diverse solution set. Finally, we make recommendations about when to use which approach.
In complex, expensive optimization domains we often narrowly focus on finding high performing solutions, instead of expanding our understanding of the domain itself. But what if we could quickly understand the complex behaviors that can emerge in said domains instead? We introduce surrogate-assisted phenotypic niching, a quality diversity algorithm which allows to discover a large, diverse set of behaviors by using computationally expensive phenotypic features. In this work we discover the types of air flow in a 2D fluid dynamics optimization problem. A fast GPU-based fluid dynamics solver is used in conjunction with surrogate models to accurately predict fluid characteristics from the shapes that produce the air flow. We show that these features can be modeled in a data-driven way while sampling to improve performance, rather than explicitly sampling to improve feature models. Our method can reduce the need to run an infeasibly large set of simulations while still being able to design a large diversity of air flows and the shapes that cause them. Discovering diversity of behaviors helps engineers to better understand expensive domains and their solutions.
Die Bundesrepublik Deutschland erlebt in jüngster Vergangenheit verstärkt Dieselfahrverbote in Großstädten. Gleichzeitig erfahren Großstädte als Lebensmittelpunkt eine steigende Beliebtheit. Für Verkehrsunternehmen gilt es, der Bevölkerung nachhaltige Mobilitätslösungen zu bieten, die ein Höchstmaß an Flexibilität ermöglichen. Moderne Mobility-as-a-Service-Konzepte und Innovationen in der Mobilität stellen den klassischen, planorientierten, öffentlichen Personennahverkehr und damit auch die Existenz von Bushaltestellen infrage. Mittels qualitativer Experten-Interviews lässt sich feststellen, dass sich die Bushaltestelle in den Innenstädten vor dem Hintergrund zunehmender digitaler Vernetzung von Mobilitätsanbietern und daraus resultierender modernen Mobility-as-a-service-Konzepte verändern wird. Die Ergebnisse deuten darauf hin, dass die Bushaltestelle in den Innenstädten auch in Zukunft bestehen bleibt und um „on demand“-Verkehre ergänzt wird. Ein radikaler Wandel, wie eine flächendeckende Einführung von autonom fahrenden Bussen, könnte langfristig eine Runderneuerung der Haltestelle zur Folge haben.