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Raman-microspectroscopy was used for the non-destructive characterization and differentiation of six different meat spoilage associated microorganisms, namely Brochothrix thermosphacta DSM 20171, Micrococcus luteus, Pseudomonas fluorescens DSM 4358, Escherichia coli Top10 and K12 and Pseudomonas fluorescens DSM 50090. To evaluate and classify the Raman-spectroscopic data at species and strain level an adequate preprocessing and subsequent principal component analysis was used. The same procedure was extended to an independent test data set, which could be successfully assigned to the correct bacterial species and even to the right strain. The evaluation was not only successful in differentiation of gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria but also the discrimination between the different bacterial species and strains was possible. This means that the training data set, the preprocessing method and the evaluation of the data lead to a robust principal component analysis. Even the correct assignment of unknown samples is possible. The results show that Raman-microspectroscopy in combination with an appropriate chemometric treatment can be a good tool for a rapid examination and classification of microbial cultures.
Ressourceneffiziente Optimierung von Hohlkörpern aus Kunststoff mittels Multiskalensimulation
(2017)
Die mechanischen Eigenschaften von extrusionsblasgeformten Kunststoffhohlkörpern hängen wesentlich von den vom Verarbeitungsprozess beeinflussten Materialeigenschaften ab. Ziel der dargestellten Untersuchung ist, prozessabhängige Materialkennwerte in Simulationsprogrammen zu berücksichtigen und damit deren Vorhersagegenauigkeit zu erhöhen. Hierzu ist die Schaffung einer Schnittstelle zwischen Prozess- und Bauteilsimulation notwendig. Darüber hinaus wird vorgestellt, wie Simulationen auf Mikroebene (molekulardynamische Simulationen) genutzt werden können, um Materialkennwerte ohne die Durchführung eines Realexperiments zu ermitteln.
Die Erfindung betrifft eine elektrische Insektenabwehrvorrichtung (1) zur Abwehr kriechender Insekten (2) umfassend eine Spannungserzeugungseinrichtung (4a, 4b) zur Erzeugung einer Abwehrspannung sowie umfassend zumindest zwei nebeneinander angeordnete und beabstandet zueinander verlaufende blanke elektrische Leiter (5a, 5b, 5c, 5d), die derart mit der Spannungserzeugungseinrichtung (4a, 4b) verbunden sind, dass die Abwehrspannung zwischen ihnen liegt. Die elektrischen Leiter sind als flache Leiterbahnen (5a, 5b, 5c, 5d) auf oder in der Oberfläche eines gemeinsamen Trägers (12, 13, 50, 60) ausgebildet, so dass ein Insekt (2) bei einem Berühren der Leiterbahnen (5a, 5b, 5c, 5d) einen elektrischen Schlag erhält.
"Bad usability equals no customer" – Mit diesem Zitat bringt Jakob Nielsen die große Bedeutung guter Usability auf den Punkt. Auch wenn Nielsen kommerzielle Unternehmen im Auge hat, so lässt sich auch für Bibliotheken die Relevanz ihres Webauftritts für den Kontakt zu ihren Benutzern oder potentiellen Benutzern nicht leugnen. In diesem Artikel soll dargestellt werden, wie Bibliotheken mit Hilfe von Usability-Tests die Schwächen ihres Webauftritts ermitteln können.
Die Frage, in welcher Umgebung Informationskompetenz in Hochschulbibliotheken erworben wird und wie sich die Gestaltung der Räumlichkeiten auf den Lernprozess auswirken kann, hat bisher in der Forschung wenig Aufmerksamkeit erhalten. Dieser Fragestellung geht die vorliegende Bachelorarbeit nach. Die Leitfrage lautet dabei: Wie kann die Gestaltung von Hochschulbibliotheksräumen den Erwerb von Informationskompetenz fördern?
Diese Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit der Effizienz der Seitenkanal-Kryptanalyse. In Teil II dieser Arbeit demonstrieren wir, wie die Laufzeit der wichtigsten Analysewerkzeuge mit Hilfe der CUDA Plattform erheblich gesteigert werden kann. Zweitens untersuchen wir neue Ansätze der profilierenden Seitenkanal-Kryptanalyse. Der Forschungszweig des maschinellen Lernens kann für deutliche Verbesserungen adaptiert werden, wurde jedoch wenig dahingehend untersucht. In Teil III dieser Arbeit präsentieren wir zwei neue Methoden, die einige Gemeinsamkeiten jedoch auch einige Unterschiede aufbieten, sodass sich Prüfergebnisse in einem vollständigeren Bild zeigen lassen. Darüber hinaus schlagen wir in Teil IV eine Seitenkanalanwendung zum Schutz geistigen Eigentums (IP) vor. In Teil V beschäftigen wir uns tiefergehend mit praktischer Seitenkanal-Kryptanalyse, indem wir Attacken auf einen Sicherheitsmikrokontroller durchführen, der Anwendung in einer, in Deutschland weit verbreiteten, EC Karte findet.
Do remittances and social assistance transfers have different impacts on household’s expenditure patterns? While two separate strands of literature have looked at how social assistance or remittances have been spent, few studies have compared them directly. Using data from a household survey conducted in Moldova in 2011, this paper assesses the impact both types of transfers have on household expenditure patterns. Contrary to the common assumption that money is fungible, we find that social assistance and remittances have different impacts on expenditure patterns (having controlled for potential endogeneity). In other words, where the income comes from can determine how it is spent. As such, different sources of income may have different poverty impacts. In our sample, the two types of transfers are received by different, but slightly overlapping population groups. The fact that the two transfers are spent in different ways means that, to some extent, social assistance and remittances are complements rather than substitutes.
Mutations in SELENBP1, encoding a novel human methanethiol oxidase, cause extraoral halitosis
(2017)
This study deals with the in-situ detection of volume fractions of melt in labradorite and basalt at 0.3 GPa pressure and temperatures ranging from 400–1500 °C. Methods used were frequency dependent electrical conductivity (EC) and energy dispersive X-ray diffraction (EDX). These techniques allowed melt fraction determination under in-situ pressure and temperature conditions, while optical analysis (SEM) was performed on quenched samples. EC allowed detecting melt frac- tions as low as 0.03 due to changes in dielectric properties. Increasing melt fractions caused the formerly isolated melt bubbles to interconnect along grain boundaries, thus increasing the bulk conductivity. Electrical conductivity thus provides a measure for both, the formation of melt (dielectric property) and the degree of interconnection of melt (bulk conductivity). Energy dispersive X-ray diffraction experiments (EDX) provided an additional measure for the volume fraction of melt. EDX diffraction data were used to calculate the volume fraction of melt on the basis of the peak to background ratio. In a final step the experimental data (SEM, EC, EDX) were compared with geometric models of melt distribution, namely the Archie-, cube-, tube-, Hashin-Shtrikman HS + and HS - model. The electrical "polarisability" data closely fit the HS + model, while bulk conductivity data were found to be less sensitive for melt fraction detection.
Auf der Suche nach einem CO2-Filtermaterial für niedrige Partialdrücke wurden Aerogel-Beads aus Chitosan analysiert. Da zahlreiche Publikationen und Reviews auf die Fähigkeit von Aminen CO2 zu adsorbieren hinweisen, wurden diese Beads funktionalisiert, um den Amingehalt im Netzwerk und damit die Adsorptionskapazität zu erhöhen. Die Beads wurden mit Hilfe eines JetCutters hergestellt, mit Polyethylenimin (PEI), p-Phenylendiamin (PPD) und 1,2-Epoxyhexan (EH) funktionalisiert und anschließend überkritisch getrocknet. Die Ansätze wurden bei jeweils unterschiedlichen pH-Werten durchgeführt, um Aussagen über den Einfluss von NaOH auf die Reaktion treffen zu können. Alle Proben wurden mit für Aerogele typischen Methoden charakterisiert und auf ihre CO2-Adsorptionskapazität untersucht. Die Adsorptionskapazität der Chitosan Beads konnte durch Aufpfropfen der oben genannten Stoffe nur leicht verbessert werden, während die Funktionalisierung mit PPD dagegen überraschender Weise negative Auswirkungen hatte. Eine Funktionalisierung findet auch in Abwesenheit von NaOH statt.
Die Erfindung betrifft ein System (1) zum Ausrichten einer Richtfunkantenne (a1) auf eine weitere Richtfunkantenne (a2). Das System weist ein Positioniermittel (P) auf, welches an einem vom Ort der auszurichtenden Richtfunkantenne (a1) und vom Ort der weiteren Richtfunkantenne (a2) verschiedenen Ort positioniert ist, wobei der Ort des Positioniermittels (P) vom Ort der auszurichtenden Richtfunkantenne (a1) aus einsehbar ist. Erfindungsgemäß umfasst das System (1) ferner ein Berechnungsmittel (L), das ausgebildet ist, einen Ausrichtungsfehler (α) der auszurichtenden Richtfunkantenne (a1) zu bestimmen, wobei der Ausrichtungsfehler (α) einen Winkel angibt, der zwischen einer ersten virtuellen Geraden (g1), welche den Ort der auszurichtenden Antenne (a1) und den Ort der weiteren Richtfunkantenne (a2) beinhaltet, und einer zweiten virtuellen Geraden (g2), welche den Ort der auszurichtenden Antenne (a1) und den Ort des Positioniermittels (P) beinhaltet, liegt.
Traditionally automotive UI focusses on the ergonomic design of controls and the user experience in the car. Bringing networked sensors into the car, connected cars can provide additional information to car drivers and owners, for and beyond the driving task. While there already are technological solutions, such as mobile applications commercially available, research on users’ information demands in such applications is scarce. We conducted four focus groups to uncover what kind of information users might be interested in to see on a second dashboard. Our findings show that besides control screens of todays’ dashboards, people are also interested in connected car services providing context information for a current driving situation and allowing strategic planning of driving safety or supporting car management when not driving. Our use cases inform the design of content for secondary dashboards for and especially beyond the driving context with a user perspective.
Das autonome Fahren wird die Mobilität revolutionieren. Um die Auswirkung der Vollautomation auf dieEigenschaften der Verkehrsmittel und die Präferenzen der Nutzer besser zu verstehen, haben wir dieNutzenwerte neuen Verkehrsmodi im Vergleich zu den bestehenden Verkehrsmodi analysiert und imRahmen einer Online-Umfrage von potentiellen Nutzern in Form eines vollständigen Paarvergleichsbewerten lassen. Die Studie zeigt, dass der Privat-PKW, unabhängig davon ob traditionell odervollautomatisiert, zwar nach wie vor das präferierte Verkehrsmittel ist, im direkten Vergleich das Carsharingjedoch viel stärker von der Vollautomation profitiert. Darüber hinaus gibt es Hinweise darauf, dass dasvollautomatisierte Carsharing verstärkt in Konkurrenz zum ÖPNV tritt.
Background and Objectives: In advanced β-cell dysfunction, proinsulin is increasingly replacing insulin as major component of the secretion product. It has been speculated that proinsulin has at least the same adipogenic potency than insulin, leading to an increased tendency of lipid tissue formation in patients with late stage β-cell dysfunction. Methods and Results: Mesenchymal stem cells obtained from liposuction material were grown in differentiation media containing insulin (0.01 μmol), proinsulin (0.01 μmol) or insulin+proinsulin (each 0.005 μmol). Cell culture supernatants were taken from these experiments and an untreated control at weeks 1, 2, and 3, and were stored at -80°C until analysis. Cell differentiation was microscopically supervised and adiponectin concentrations were measured as marker for differentiation into mature lipid cells. This experiment was repeated three times. No growth of lipid cells and no change in adiponectin values was observed in the negative control group (after 7/14/12 days: 3.2±0.5/3.3±0.1/4.4±0.5 ng/ml/12 h). A continuous differentiation into mature adipocytes (also confirmed by Red-Oil-staining) and a corresponding increase in adiponectin values was observed in the experiments with insulin (3.6±1.9/5.1±1.4/13.3±1.5 ng/ml/12 h; p<0.05 week 1 vs. week 3) and proinsulin (3.3±1.2/3.5±0.3/12.2±1.2 ng/ml/12 h; p<0.05). Comparable effects were seen with the insulin/proinsulin combination. Conclusions: Proinsulin has the same adipogenic potential than insulin in vitro. Proinsulin has only 10∼20% of the glucose-lowering effect of insulin. It can be speculated that the adipogenic potential of proinsulin may be a large contributor to the increased body weight problems in patients with type 2 diabetes and advanced β-cell dysfunction.
In dieser Arbeit werden neuartige methodische Erweiterungen der Lattice-Boltzmann-Methode (LBM) entwickelt, die effizientere Simulationen inkompressibler Wirbelströmungen ermöglichen. Diese Erweiterungen beheben zwei Hauptprobleme der Standard-LBM: ihre Instabilität in unteraufgelösten turbulenten Simulationen und ihre Beschränkung auf reguläre Rechengitter. Dazu wird zunächst eine Pseudo-Entropische Stabilisierung (PES) entwickelt. Diese kombiniert Ansätze der Multiple-Relaxation-Time (MRT)-Modelle und der Entropischen LBM zu einem expliziten, lokalen und flexiblen Stabilisierungsoperator. Diese Modifikation des Kollisionsschritts erlaubt selbst auf stark unteraufgelösten Gittern stabile und qualitativ korrekte Simulationen. Zur Erweiterung der LBM auf irreguläre Rechengitter wird zunächst eine moderne Discontinuous-Galerkin-LBM untersucht und um stabilere Zeitintegratoren ergänzt. Diese Studie demonstriert die drastischen Schwächen existierender LBMAnsätze auf irregulären Gittern. Basierend auf den gewonnenen Erkenntnissen gelingt die Formulierung einer neuartigen Semi-Lagrangeschen LBM (SLLBM). Diese ermöglicht in einzigartigerWeise sowohl die Verwendung irregulärer Gitter und großer Zeitschritte als auch eine hohe räumliche Konvergenzordnung. Anhand von Beispielsimulationen wird demonstriert, wieso dieser Ansatz anderen aktuellen Off-Lattice-Boltzmann-Methoden (OLBMs) in Effizienz und Genauigkeit überlegen ist. Weitere neuartige Aspekte dieser Arbeit sind die Entwicklung eines modularen Off-Lattice-Boltzmann-Codes und die Erweiterung der LBM um implizite Mehrschrittverfahren, mit denen eine Erhöhung der zeitlichen Konvergenzordnung gelingt.
As robots are becoming ubiquitous and more capable, the need for introducing solid robot software development methods is pressing to increase robots' task spectrum. This thesis is concerned with improving software engineering of robot perception systems. The presented research employs a model-based approach to provide the means to represent knowledge about robotics software. The thesis is divided into three parts, namely research on the specification, deployment and adaptation of robot perception systems.
Human butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) is a glycoprotein capable of bioscavenging toxic compounds such as organophosphorus (OP) nerve agents. For commercial production of BChE, it is practical to synthesize BChE in non-human expression systems, such as plants or animals. However, the glycosylation profile in these systems is significantly different from the human glycosylation profile, which could result in changes in BChE's structure and function. From our investigation, we found that the glycan attached to ASN241 is both structurally and functionally important due to its close proximity to the BChE tetramerization domain and the active site gorge. To investigate the effects of populating glycosylation site ASN241, monomeric human BChE glycoforms were simulated with and without site ASN241 glycosylated. Our simulations indicate that the structure and function of human BChE are significantly affected by the absence of glycan 241.
Climate change is having drastic effects on various areas of the planet, including extreme impacts on weather and rainfall, in various Sub-Saharan East African countries (Hendrix, C. S., & Glaser, S. M. (2007). The willingness (and need) of a niche market to actively improve the damaged ecosystems in small ways is rising. Weaver and Lawton (2007, p 1170) maintain that ecotourism should satisfy three core criteria: "(1) attractions should be predominantly nature-based; (2) visitor interactions with those attractions should be focused on learning or education, and (3) experience and product management should follow principles and practices associated with ecological, socio-cultural and economic sustainability." In this study, the niche market of active German "tree-planters" is to be defined and the potential willingness to travel to, learn from and invest in the ecosystem through tree-planting, specifically in Kenya, is explored.
“Building Bridges Across Continents” (BBAC) is an intercultural and student-centered project that seeks to promote international communication and helps students develop competencies in entrepreneurship, international trade and global cultural awareness. The project, which is in its fourth phase of implementation, connects students from the United States, Germany, Ghana and Kenya with the help of Information Communication Technologies (ICT) in order to work on a common research assignment for a period of ten calendar weeks. The main ICTs used in the project are Skype, Facebook, wiki, email and WhatsApp. This paper describes and analyzes the background, structure, and results of the project.
This study sought to contribute to knowledge by assessing the moderating effect of industry forces on the relationship between linkage strategies and performance of universities in Kenya. Porter’s five forces model and Resource Based View (RBV) are the main theories anchoring the study. Cross-Sectional survey was adopted as the research design. The population of the study consists of sixtyfive (65) public and private universities incorporated in Kenya. Out of this, a sample of forty seven (47) universities which had undergone at least one graduation cycle was taken. Primary and secondary data was collected using semi-structured questionnaires and review of existing university documents and regulatory bodies websites respectively. The instrument was tested for reliability and found fit. Analysis was undertaken using correlation and regression analyses to test hypotheses. Analysis of variance was also used to determine the differences between group means. Coefficient of variation (C.V) was also used to measure variability and consistency in scores of different universities when standard deviation and arithmetic means are compared. Out of the targeted forty seven (47) respondents from forty seven (47) universities, a total of forty four (44) questionnaires were returned, representing 94% response rate. It was established that there is a moderating effect of industry forces on the relationship between linkage strategies and organizational performance. The results provided rich implications for theory, policy and practice. The significance of industry forces in strategy formulation and implementation requires concentrated attention. The findings offer insights to university authorities and policy makers by answering the question on the influence of industry forces on performance of higher learning institutions. The key recommendation that the study offers to the stakeholders, is the need to consider industry forces as critical determinants during strategy formulation and implementation process in order to enhance university performance. The main limitation of this study is that primary data was collected from only one respondent per university but common methods bias was mitigated through the use of additional secondary data to validate primary data. Thus, the limitation did not affect the credence of the results as presented and discussed. Secondly, although it was not possible to include all the determinants of institutional performance, balanced score card was appropriately used to represent financial and non-financial aspects that constitute performance indicators.
Entrepreneurship Development and New Business Challenges and Prospects for Ghanaian Entrepreneurs’
(2017)
This paper presents a framework for formulating strategies for business start-ups within the context of small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) in diverse industries. Using Ghana as a case study, it addresses how to increase entrepreneurs’ success rate in business ventures in developing countries. The objective of the study is to identify avenues through which entrepreneurs could address the challenges they face, and to take advantage of the emerging opportunities in the domestic and global business environments. The questions addressed are, what challenges face Ghanaian entrepreneurs’ new business start-ups and existing SME’s in developing countries? How could these challenges be addressed appropriately to make the private sector the engine of growth in Ghana’s economy? The methodology is based on the qualitative approach, involving interviews to achieve the study’s objectives. Four main themes emerged as challenges faced by the entrepreneurs business start-ups and operations which include the following: Funding availability & accessibility; Lack of planning, Skilled labour & proper management skills; Lack of competitiveness, technology innovation & customer loyalty; and finally, Legal & regulatory framework & social factors. Recommendations for entrepreneurs, policy makers, and scholars are discussed in the study.
Examining the Effect of Corruption and Bureaucracy on SMEs Growth in the Kumasi Metropolis of Ghana
(2017)
Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are considered a seed-bed of entrepreneurship and innovation in most emerging economies; nevertheless, SMEs sometimes lack an enabling business climate, which hinders their potential growth. This paper examines the effect of corruption and bureaucracy on SMEs growth in the Kumasi Metropolis of Ghana. The study was a quantitative research, and convenience sampling method was employed to select 373 owners/managers as respondents for the study. Employing questionnaire as its main data collection instrument, the study used Gretl version 3.0 Statistical Software for the analysis of data collected. The results of the study revealed that 1% increase in corruption in the SMEs sector leads to 36.12% decline in SMEs growth (sales and employment), and 1% increase in bureaucracy leads to 28.76% decrease in the growth of SMEs. An interesting outcome of the study was that the excessive bureaucratic bottlenecks in the SMEs sector are implied by corruption. We, therefore, conclude that there is a significant negative relationship between corruption and bureaucracy and SMEs growth. It is, therefore, recommended that the government takes a giant-step to fight corruption in the SMEs sector by ensuring transparency and accountability of public officials and also streamline its systems and activities in the sector to reduce the excessive administrative barriers. The present study adds substantial value to the body of research on SMEs as it is the first research to have considered the joint effect of corruption and bureaucracy on SMEs growth in an emerging economy like Ghana.
Gender disproportions have been part and parcel of most African cultures since time immemorial. Demographically, women are over a half population in most of the African countries but their participation in sectors of socio-economic and political spheres have remained inadequately represented. The enduring and biased beliefs on gender roles that view women much less important as compared to men are what forms the basis of concern to the welfare of women and most importantly the women entrepreneurs. This study reveals the long-standing cultural practices that have contributed to gender inequality and goes further to demystify areas in which women have continually experienced inequality and thus affecting their entrepreneurial spirit. Through the desk research methodology, it can be deduced that the following are key areas that pause a threat to women socio-economic and political development and hence the inequality being experienced even today in the twenty first century: harmful marriage, female genital mutilation, wife inheritance and HIV scourge, access to land including land rights and right to property, over-emphasizing patriarchal system of family, and gender violence. These factors compounded together, have resulted for unfortunate experiences that have been witnessed in the education sector, political participation, participation in policy making, gender division of labour and inaccess to credit facility. These experiences have severely thwarted entrepreneurial growth of women. The study therefore recommends that there is imperative need for a paradigm shift in these areas to ensure women are not only liberated and empowered but also their full participation in the entrepreneurship activities are highly strengthened and promoted.
In Africa slowly but steadily a transformation is taking place in the management styles of enterprises. There is a trend towards more precise time management, more precision in dealing with increasingly sophisticated technology, more feedback from the bottom to the top in order to manage the processes properly, more professionalism and independence of the individual worker.
This contribution makes two points: first, neither cultures nor the so-called mental states of individuals are ever static, but always on the move. Second, the force of passion and inspiration by which particular cultural values are endorsed in a particular context makes all the difference in their impact.
The importance of these two propositions comes to the fore, if the concept of an “economic culture” is taken into consideration. The claim of the authors is that the ongoing cultural transformation can be better understood in the dynamic approach of cultural values as proposed here.
This paper focuses on entrepreneurship and private sector development in Ghana with regard to the government’s initiative towards supporting private sector development through the Microfinance & Small Loans Centre (MASLOC) and the National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI) initiatives to support new and existing small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) in diverse industries. The study addresses some of the main problems facing the two government-sponsored initiatives and issues with accessing venture capital for business start-ups in Ghana. The objective of the study is to identify possible strategies through which the MASLOC and NBSSI could be improved to serve the needs of their customers more effectively and efficiently. Enhancing the performance of these public organizations could offer many SMEs in Ghana take advantage of the new opportunities in the domestic and global business environments. The questions to be addressed are; to what extent do the activities of the NBSSI and MASLOC meet the needs of SMEs in Ghana? What challenges are associated with their services and how can management of the two organizations address the challenges they face more appropriately? The methodology is based on the qualitative and quantitative approaches, involving interviews and the administration of questionnaires and surveys to achieve the study’s objectives and goals. Based on the identified challenges, the study concludes with findings and recommendations for the management of NBSSI and MASLOC as well as entrepreneurs engaged in different SMEs in diverse industries and policy makers.
Experiential Learning through the Transformational Incubation Programme: a Ghanaian case study
(2017)
This paper explores experiential learning theory (ELT) from a case study describing the Transformational Incubation Programme for Coventry University Alumni in Ghana. The incubator represents a collaboration between Coventry University and British Council Ghana. The aim of the programme is to embed a blended, experiential learning approach to practice-based entrepreneurship education via an incubator designed to support scalable business start-up and growth. world venture creation, business development and acceleration. The paper offers a generic framework for Transformational entrepreneurship experiential learning in this context. The incubator offers an opportunity to engage with practice-oriented and experience based learning applied to real.
Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) should, on the one hand, provide theoretical and practical knowledge to students and, on the other hand, make valuable contributions to theoretical knowledge and provide new insights by means of research. However, HEIs have to face changing and increasing demands with respect to what they are expected to achieve. Education and research issues are no longer enough, what matters today is the so called “third mission”. A specific example for implementing a third mission is the cooperation between HEIs and business incubators. With this in mind, a local consortium consisting of regional HEIs, e.g. Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences, as well as public and private institutions and partners initiated and established an incubator hub for the region Bonn/Rhein-Sieg in 2016, called “Digital Hub Region Bonn”. This conference contribution reports on our experience with regards to this cooperation approach resulting from the above- mentioned case. Furthermore the pros and cons as well as some issues of this kind of cooperation will be discussed. Last but not least this paper initiates the opportunity to share and compare the experiences of other university business incubators in Africa as well as in Germany. As we will describe, the financial investment of HEIs in a joint-incubator with other public as well as private partners offers substantial benefits, such as mutual know-how transfer from HEIs to the economy and vice versa. This strengthens entrepreneurial mindsets and activities and contributes to the development and growth of the local economy. Consequently, this cooperation sometimes creates challenges at various levels, for example due to differing interests between HEIs and business partners. This conference contribution offers approaches to solve these issues and to support private public partnership in business incubation.
Ghanaian tertiary graduates' perception of entrepreneurship education on employment opportunities
(2017)
This study focuses on whether entrepreneurship education increases entrepreneurial interest in students to set up new businesses. Entrepreneurship is a core course taken in the third year by all students of Ho Technical University. Out of the 1329 population of level 300 students of the 2016/2017 academic year, data were collected by convenience sampling from 325 (217 males and 108 females) with mean age of 24.75 years from 14 departments of four faculties. The students responded to 43-survey items derived from reviewed literature on a 5-Point Likert-Scale. It is concluded that more than 84% of the respondents agreed that entrepreneurship education informed students about entrepreneurship through the acquisition of practical skills, knowledge about acquisition of personal orientation, knowledge about business management principles and the availability of entrepreneurial support agencies. This shows that the students are highly confident of setting up their own businesses through the knowledge acquired. The study therefore has important implications for policy makers, management of tertiary institutions, students and educational evaluators on how to ensure that tertiary graduates set up entrepreneurship ventures in order to partially solve the unemployment problem in Ghana.
Over the years, entrepreneurship has proven to be one of the key roles towards development. The cycle of business start-ups and growth are linked to the socio-economic benefits of the global world at large. With a growing world population of over 7billion people, the existence of universities (both public &private) as well as enterprises has increased globally in the 21st century. The mission and purpose behind Universities, Entrepreneurship and Enterprises thrive on development in the areas of capacity building, skill acquisition, training and knowledge amongst others. Africa alone has a population of over 1.2billion people with about 650 recognized universities and over 140,000 registered businesses (enterprises) in Ghana alone. A case study in Ghana reveals three key drivers towards entrepreneurship and the role university education has played in various business establishments. The drivers are problem statements, resources and research findings. Some of these notions to business include the management of risk, research findings and customer relationship. These are major features that need critical attention and play a role in business and entrepreneurship in Africa. A major success in business and entrepreneurship is the utilization of the human resource population and the lifeline support given to households in terms of income, while a barrier being the limited access to credit support from the financial companies at the inception stages. In conclusion, this conference should develop a practical book guide on business start-ups and entrepreneurship knowledge to be used at the various universities in Africa to enhance development.
With trainings and research oriented towards sustainable development since 2006 (Water and Sanitation, Infrastructure, Renewable Energies and Energy Processes), Foundation 2iE is positioning itself as a reference institute that trains innovative engineers-entrepreneurs for the needs and challenges of Africa’s development. Center of Excellence of the UEMOA and the World Bank, CSR is at the heart of the Strategy of the institute which aims to be a showcase in this field in Africa.
ICT integration by universities teaching professionals is emerging as a major concern, this study demonstrate the need to address the integration problem by encouraging existing metrics use in indexing ICT integration as an ICT governance strategy. Quality of integration depends on quality indexing which also depend on quality of existing metrics and their use. Considering the role that University Information Technology Teaching Professionals’ (UITTPs) continuous improvement indexing can offer, towards autonomic governance of the continuous emerging ICTs in the university teaching, this study examined extent in use of existing ICT integration metrics to index ICT integration by the UITTPs. Six metrics for ICT integration were investigated; time, workshop course content relevance, technical malfunctions, support conditions, support services, and motivation and commitment to student learning and staff professional development metrics. Descriptive survey design was used in which interviews were conducted to UITTPs in three (3) public and three (3) private purposively selected universities in Kenya. The findings were analyzed descriptively and inferentially using Kendall’s correlation of concordance and tested using Chi-square on the extent of concordance and presented with help of frequency tables, figures and percentages. The findings revealed that all the metrics are rarely used for indexing ICT integration (32.8%), and most UITTPs were in discordance on this level of all the six metrics use except for support condition. This implied that the use of metrics for indexing integration has not been formalized across the Kenyan universities. Universities need to be encouraged to identify suitable metrics, formalize them and improve their frequency in use. Secondly, socio based metrics such as content relevance are used more frequently for indexing integration as compared to Technical metrics, socio-technical metrics balance therefore need to be emphasized by the universities management when determining and using metrics for indexing ICT integration.
Forschung@H-BRS
(2017)
Die Hochschule präsentiert mit ihrer neuen Broschüre "Forschung@H-BRS" ausgewählte Projekte von Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftlern aus den Instituten und Fachbereichen in einem ansprechenden Format. Hochschulpräsident Harmtut Ihne blickt zu Anfang der Broschüre auf den Stand der anwendungsorientierten Forschung an der Hochschule und in Deutschland.
Current global challenges such as climate change, lack of resources, desertification, land degradation as well as loss of biodiversity can ultimately be due to human actions. Reasons are excessive production and consumption of goods and services, along with using and consuming natural resources, causing emissions and waste products. Demand in the form of consumption and supply in the form of production are closely intertwined.
Das vorgestellte Buch ist kein Lehrbuch im eigentlichen Sinne. Aus Vorlesungsskripten entstanden, verfolgt es das Ziel, den Studenten der Wirtschaftswissenschaften an Fachhochschulen und Universitäten eine systematische, auf das Wesentliche konzentrierte Lernhilfe mit Übungen zur Vorbereitung auf Prüfungen im Fach „externes Rechnungswesen“ anzubieten. Hierzu wird zunächst auf die Rechnungslegung im handelsrechtlichen Jahresabschluss eingegangen. Dabei wurden die Änderungen durch das Bilanzrichtlinie-Umsetzungsgesetz (BilRUG) berücksichtigt. Die Vorgehensweise folgt dabei mit Ansatz, Ausweis und Bewertung der einzelnen Posten der Systematik der Aufstellung des Jahresabschlusses.
The detection of human skin in images is a very desirable feature for applications such as biometric face recognition, which is becoming more frequently used for, e.g., automated border or access control. However, distinguishing real skin from other materials based on imagery captured in the visual spectrum alone and in spite of varying skin types and lighting conditions can be dicult and unreliable. Therefore, spoofing attacks with facial disguises or masks are still a serious problem for state of the art face recognition algorithms. This dissertation presents a novel approach for reliable skin detection based on spectral remission properties in the short-wave infrared (SWIR) spectrum and proposes a cross-modal method that enhances existing solutions for face verification to ensure the authenticity of a face even in the presence of partial disguises or masks. Furthermore, it presents a reference design and the necessary building blocks for an active multispectral camera system that implements this approach, as well as an in-depth evaluation. The system acquires four-band multispectral images within T = 50ms. Using a machine-learning-based classifier, it achieves unprecedented skin detection accuracy, even in the presence of skin-like materials used for spoofing attacks. Paired with a commercial face recognition software, the system successfully rejected all evaluated attempts to counterfeit a foreign face.
Als weltweit anspruchsvollstes Umweltmanagementsystem trägt EMAS auf Unternehmensebene als Baustein zur Nachhaltigen Entwicklung bei. EMAS ist ein Instrument der Europäischen Union, an dem Organisationen, unabhängig von ihrer Größe und Branche, weltweit auf freiwilliger Basis teilnehmen können. Die geplante EMAS-Validierung der UN-Klimakonferenz (COP 23) in Bonn (06. – 17.11.2017), hat das Interesse der Projektkoordination von „Sustainable Bonn – Konferenzort der Nachhaltigkeit“ geweckt, die EMAS-Einführung bei deren Projektteilnehmern untersuchen zu lassen. Daher liegt der Branchenfokus auf dem Gastgewerbe, aus denen die derzeitigen Teilnehmer des Bonner Projekts überwiegend stammen. Um Branchenspezifika bei EMAS besser zu berücksichtigen hat die Europäische Kommission im April 2016 hat ein Referenzdokument über bewährte Umweltmanagementpraktiken zur Steigerung der Öko-Effektivität mit einschlägigen Indikatoren zur Messung der Umweltleistung mit Richtwerten für die Tourismusbranche veröffentlicht, die im Rahmen einer EMAS-Einführung unter anderem von Gastgewerbebetrieben berücksichtigt werden müssen.
Synthesis of serving policies for objects flow in the system with refillable storage component
(2017)
Current robot platforms are being employed to collaborate with humans in a wide range of domestic and industrial tasks. These environments require autonomous systems that are able to classify and communicate anomalous situations such as fires, injured persons, car accidents; or generally, any potentially dangerous situation for humans. In this paper we introduce an anomaly detection dataset for the purpose of robot applications as well as the design and implementation of a deep learning architecture that classifies and describes dangerous situations using only a single image as input. We report a classification accuracy of 97 % and METEOR score of 16.2. We will make the dataset publicly available after this paper is accepted.
Today, more than 70 million tons of lignin are produced by the pulp and paper industry every year. However, the utilization of lignin as a source for chemical synthesis is still limited due to the complex and heterogeneous lignin structure. The purpose of this study was a selective photodegradation of industrially available kraft lignin in order to obtain appropriate fragments and building block chemicals for further utilization, e.g. polymerization. Thus, kraft lignin obtained from soft wood black liquor by acidification was dissolved in sodium hydroxide and irradiated at a wavelength of 254 nm with and without the presence of titanium dioxide in various concentrations. Analyses of the irradiated products via SEC showed decreasing molar masses and decreasing polydispersity indices over time. At the end of the irradiation period the lignin was depolymerised to form fragments as small as the lignin monomers. TOC analyses showed minimal mineralisation due to the depolymerisation process.
This work presents the analysis of data recorded by an eye tracking device in the course of evaluating a foveated rendering approach for head-mounted displays (HMDs). Foveated rendering methods adapt the image synthesis process to the user’s gaze and exploiting the human visual system’s limitations to increase rendering performance. Especially, foveated rendering has great potential when certain requirements have to be fulfilled, like low-latency rendering to cope with high display refresh rates. This is crucial for virtual reality (VR), as a high level of immersion, which can only be achieved with high rendering performance and also helps to reduce nausea, is an important factor in this field. We put things in context by first providing basic information about our rendering system, followed by a description of the user study and the collected data. This data stems from fixation tasks that subjects had to perform while being shown fly-through sequences of virtual scenes on an HMD. These fixation tasks consisted of a combination of various scenes and fixation modes. Besides static fixation targets, moving tar- gets on randomized paths as well as a free focus mode were tested. Using this data, we estimate the precision of the utilized eye tracker and analyze the participants’ accuracy in focusing the displayed fixation targets. Here, we also take a look at eccentricity-dependent quality ratings. Comparing this information with the users’ quality ratings given for the displayed sequences then reveals an interesting connection between fixation modes, fixation accuracy and quality ratings.
Management der Rehabilitation: Case Management im Handlungsfeld Rehabilitation. Band 1 - Grundlagen
(2017)
Mit dem Paradigmenwechsel im Verständnis von Rehabilitation, weg von der rein defizitorientierten, medizinischen Sichtweise hin zur selbstbestimmten Teilhabe am Leben in der Gesellschaft, der mit dem Inkrafttreten des SGB IX im Jahr 2001 in Deutschland, der Ratifizierung der UN-Behindertenrechtskonvention im Jahr 2009, der Weiterentwicklung des Behindertengleichstellungsrechts und der Verabschiedung des Bundesteilhabegesetztes im Jahr 2016 endgültig vollzogen wurde, haben sich die Anforderungen an die Strukturen und Prozesse derjenigen Institutionen verändert, die mit der Organisation, Durchführung und Finanzierung von Rehabilitation befasst sind. Rehabilitation entwickelt sich damit von einer nachgelagerten (Teil-)Leistung zu einer der Schlüsselstrategien für die gesundheitliche Versorgung und soziale Sicherung.
The Sparse Matrix Vector Multiplication is an important operation on sparse matrices. This operation is the most time consuming operation in iterative solvers and therefore an efficient execution of that operation is of great importance for many applications. Numerous different storage formats that store sparse matrices efficiently have already been established. Often, these storage formats utilize the sparsity pattern of a matrix in an appropiate manner. For one class of sparse matrices the nonzero values occur in small dense blocks and appropriate block storage formats are well suited for such patterns. But on the other side, these formats perform often poor on general matrices without an explicit / regular block structure. In this paper, the newly developed sparse matrix format DynB is introduced. The aim is to efficiently use several optimization approaches and vectorization with current processors, even for matrices without an explicit block structure of nonzero elements. The DynB matrix format uses 2D rectangular blocks of variable size, allowing fill-ins per block of explicit zero values up to a user controllable threshold. We give a simple and fast heuristic to detect such 2D blocks in a sparse matrix. The performance of the Sparse Matrix Vector Multiplication for a selection of different block formats and matrices with different sparsity structures is compared. Results show that the benefit of blocking formats depend – as to be expected – on the structure of the matrix and that variable sized block formats like DynB can have advantages over fixed size formats and deliver good performance results even for general sparse matrices.
In this paper we propose an implement a general convolutional neural network (CNN) building framework for designing real-time CNNs. We validate our models by creating a real-time vision system which accomplishes the tasks of face detection, gender classification and emotion classification simultaneously in one blended step using our proposed CNN architecture. After presenting the details of the training procedure setup we proceed to evaluate on standard benchmark sets. We report accuracies of 96% in the IMDB gender dataset and 66% in the FER-2013 emotion dataset. Along with this we also introduced the very recent real-time enabled guided back-propagation visualization technique. Guided back-propagation uncovers the dynamics of the weight changes and evaluates the learned features. We argue that the careful implementation of modern CNN architectures, the use of the current regularization methods and the visualization of previously hidden features are necessary in order to reduce the gap between slow performances and real-time architectures. Our system has been validated by its deployment on a Care-O-bot 3 robot used during RoboCup@Home competitions. All our code, demos and pre-trained architectures have been released under an open-source license in our public repository.
Ressourcenschutz im Fokus
(2017)
Studienverläufe von Studenten weichen nicht selten vom offiziell geplanten Curriculum ab. Für eine den Studienerfolg verbessernde Planung und Weiterentwicklung von Studiengängen und Curricula fehlen den Verantwortlichen häufig Erkenntnisse über tatsächliche sowie typischerweise erfolgreiche und weniger erfolgreiche Studienverlaufsmuster. Process-Mining-Techniken können helfen, mehr Transparenz bei der Auswertung von Studienverläufen zu schaffen und so die Erkennung typischer Studienverlaufsmuster, die Überprüfung der Übereinstimmung der konkreten Studienverläufe mit dem vorgegebenen Curriculum sowie eine zielgerechte Verbesserung des Curriculums zu unterstützen.
In order to achieve the highest possible performance, the ray traversal and intersection routines at the core of every high-performance ray tracer are usually hand-coded, heavily optimized, and implemented separately for each hardware platform—even though they share most of their algorithmic core. The results are implementations that heavily mix algorithmic aspects with hardware and implementation details, making the code non-portable and difficult to change and maintain.
In this paper, we present a new approach that offers the ability to define in a functional language a set of conceptual, high-level language abstractions that are optimized away by a special compiler in order to maximize performance. Using this abstraction mechanism we separate a generic ray traversal and intersection algorithm from its low-level aspects that are specific to the target hardware. We demonstrate that our code is not only significantly more flexible, simpler to write, and more concise but also that the compiled results perform as well as state-of-the-art implementations on any of the tested CPU and GPU platforms.
Real-World Performance of current Mesh Protocols in a small-scale Dual-Radio Multi-Link Environment
(2017)
Two key questions motivated the work in this paper: What is the impact of different usage schemes for multiple channels in a dual-radio Wireless Mesh Network (WMN), and what is the impact of some popular WMN routing protocols on its performance. These two questions were evaluated in a small and simple real-world scenario. A major concern was reproducibility of the results. We show that it is beneficial to use both radios on different frequencies in a fully meshed environment with four routers. The routing protocols Babel, B.A.T.M.A.N. V, BMX7 and OLSRv2 recognize a saturated channel and prefer the other one. We show that in our scenario all of the protocols perform equally well since the protocol overhead is comparably low not influencing the overall performance of the network.
En el siguiente trabajo se presentan las diferentes alternativas tecnológicas que brindarán soporte para las comunicaciones en el Proyecto Campo Conectado, priorizando el bajo consumo y mantenimiento. Esta plataforma de transmisión proveerá la conectividad necesaria para la recolección y envío de los datos requeridos por los productores agropecuarios, con el fin de mejorar la gestión de los procesos productivos y comerciales. Se comenta además los orígenes del proyecto y los actores involucrados en el mismo, destacándose el trabajo interinstitucional e interdisciplinar que se lleva a cabo.
Comparación de perfiles de ansiedad matemática entre estudiantes mexicanos y estudiantes alemanes
(2017)
Se determinan los perfiles de ansiedad matemática de estudiantes mexicanos y estudiantes alemanes por medio de la aplicación de un cuestionario desarrollado ex profeso. La ansiedad matemática se define en términos de tres descriptores: creencias, actitudes y emociones. Los autores definen un Índice de Ansiedad Matemática, al aplicarlo encuentran que los estudiantes alemanes presentan un valor mayor de dicho Índice, lo que significa que tienen una mayor nivel de ansiedad matemática. Las diferencias en los valores del Índice de Ansiedad Matemática se interpretan en términos de diferencias culturales. La interpretación parece ser consistente con las diferencias culturales y se ajusta a los resultados obtenidos.
Political economic analyses of recent social protection reforms in Asian, African or Latin American countries have increased throughout the last few years. Yet, most contributions focus on one social protection mechanism only and do not provide a comparative approach across policy areas. In addition, most studies are empirical studies, with no or very limited theoretical linkages. The paper aims to explain multiple trajectories of social protection reform processes looking at cash transfers and social health protection policies in Kenya. It develops a taxonomy and suggest a conceptual framework to assess and explain reform dynamics across different social protection pillars. In order to allow for a more differentiated typology and enable us to understand different reform dynamics, the article uses the approach on gradual institutional change. While existing approaches to institutional change mostly focus on institutional change prompted by exogenous shocks or environmental shifts, this approach takes account of both, exogenous and endogenous sources of change.
Biomass in general, wood and grasses in particular represent attractive renewable sources for the fabrication of so-called building block chemicals (1). Thus, environmentally benign antimicrobial nanoparticles based on a silver-infused lignin core were recently reported underlying the high potential for valorization of lignin (2). The contribution presents specific correlations regarding the structural differences of lignins depending on both: source (wood vs. grass) and isolation procedure (Kraft vs. Organosolv). Special focus will be drawn on detailed structure deviations caused by Miscanthus genotypes (M. gigantheus, M. robustus, M. sisnensis).
Recent approaches in scaffold engineering for bone defects feature hybrid hydrogels made of a polymeric network (retains water and provides light and porous structures) and inorganic ceramics (add mechanical strength and improve cell-adhesion). Innovative scaffold materials should also induce bone tissue formation and incorporation of stem cells (osteogenic differentiation) and/or growth factors (inducing/supporting differentiation). Recently, purinergic P2X and P2Y receptors have been found to significantly influence the osteogenic differentiation process of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSC). (1) Aim of this work is to develop polysaccharide (PS) composites to be used as scaffolds containing complementary receptor ligands to enable guided stem cell differentiation towards bone formation.
In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the start-up scene in sub-Saharan Africa. "Silicon Savannah" is today widely used to describe the thriving IT industry in and around Nairobi. Kenya's geographical advantage, its favorable economic reforms, and mature start-up ecosystem makes it stands out positively. Since a lot of hype exists around the start-up scene many investors are drawn to it, but in reality very few start-ups are investment-ready. The increasing start-up requirements and needs force incubators to diversify their offer. In contrast, to traditional incubators, an Innovation Hub (Hub) is characterized based on the concept of open innovation and collaboration. A Hub nurtures an enabling environment where a community of entrepreneurs can grow. At the same time, it serves as a nexus point for the local start-up community, investors, academia, technology companies and the wider private sector. It aims to create a structure where people serendipitously interact with others that they would not typically meet. Considering the great interest for and the large amounts of money invested in Hubs by governments, universities, private companies and other interested parties, not only researchers have been raising the question of the actual benefit of Hubs. This research study aims to investigate to what extent the support offered by the Hubs is tackling the challenges faced by start-ups in Nairobi, Kenya. The analysis can serve as a basis for identifying strength and weaknesses in the Hub models.
Kommentierung zu § 29 BDSG
(2017)
Blended Learning Set up of the Master Programme "Analysis and Design of Social Protection Systems"
(2017)
The master's programme "Analysis and Design of Social Protection Systems" is a newly designed programme. The international Master’s programme is aimed at students who wish to deal with social security systems and who are also interested in intercultural exchange. The on-campus and online phases provide students with the opportunity to develop an international network, while facilitating the combination of studies and professional engagement.
Die Buchreihe Sustainable Development in the 21st Century bietet eine hervorragende Plattform für neuere und innovative Forschungsbeiträge zu wichtigen Aspekten globaler nachhaltiger Entwicklung und Resilienz zu Zeiten rapiden globalen Wandels. Die Reihe beinhaltet ausgewählte Monografien, Sammelbände und Tagungsbände sowie exzellente Dissertationen, Habilitationen und ähnliche Qualifikationsarbeiten. Der herausgeberische Schwerpunkt der Reihe liegt auf der Frage, welche Akteure, Strukturen und Prozesse nachhaltige Entwicklung in der heutigen interdependenten, hochkomplexen Weltlage ermöglichen oder erschweren. Hierzu werden unterschiedliche disziplinäre und diskursive Sichtweisen herangezogen mit dem Ziel, grundlegende Aspekte und Dimensionen nachhaltiger Entwicklung (wie z.B. Politik, Governance und Institutionen, Risiko- und Resilienzforschung, sozial-ökologische Systeme, menschliche Sicherheit, soziales Lernen oder ethische Dimensionen) zu erörtern und auch im Zusammenhang darzustellen. Die Autoren der Buchreihe sind weltweit anerkannte und namhafte Experten sowie herausragende Nachwuchsautoren aus den Sozial- und Geisteswissenschaften, Ökonomie und Rechtslehre, aber auch Praxisvertreter aus Politik und Gesellschaft. Die Reihentitel erscheinen in deutscher oder englischer Sprache.
Kostenrechnung
(2017)
Impact of atmospheric aerosols on photovoltaic energy production - Scenario for the Sahel zone
(2017)
Photovoltaic (PV) energy is one option to serve the rising global energy need with low environmental impact. PV is of particular interest for local energy solutions in developing countries prone to high solar insolation. In order to assess the PV potential of prospective sites, combining knowledge of the atmospheric state modulating solar radiation and the PV performance is necessary. The present study discusses the PV power as function of atmospheric aerosols in the Sahel zone for clear-sky-days. Daily yields for a polycrystalline silicon PV module are reduced by up to 48 % depending on the climatologically-relevant aerosol abundances.
We present a new interface for interactive comparisons of more than two alternative documents in the context of a generative design system that uses generative data-flow networks defined via directed acyclic graphs. To better show differences between such networks, we emphasize added, deleted, (un)changed nodes and edges. We emphasize differences in the output as well as parameters using highlighting and enable post-hoc merging of the state of a parameter across a selected set of alternatives. To minimize visual clutter, we introduce new difference visualizations for selected nodes and alternatives using additive and subtractive encodings, which improve readability and keep visual clutter low. We analyzed similarities in networks from a set of alternative designs produced by architecture students and found that the number of similarities outweighs the differences, which motivates use of subtractive encoding. We ran a user study to evaluate the two main proposed difference visualization encodings and found that they are equally effective.
Simulating eye movements for virtual humans or avatars can improve social experiences in virtual reality (VR) games, especially when wearing head mounted displays. While other researchers have already demonstrated the importance of simulating meaningful eye movements, we compare three gaze models with different levels of fidelity regarding realism: (1) a base model with static fixation and saccadic movements, (2) a proposed simulation model that extends the saccadic model with gaze shifts based on a neural network, and (3) a user's real eye movements recorded by a proprietary eye tracker. Our between-groups design study with 42 subjects evaluates impact of eye movements on social VR user experience regarding perceived quality of communication and presence. The tasks include free conversation and two guessing games in a co-located setting. Results indicate that a high quality of communication in co-located VR can be achieved without using extended gaze behavior models besides saccadic simulation. Users might have to gain more experience with VR technology before being able to notice subtle details in gaze animation. In the future, remote VR collaboration involving different tasks requires further investigation.
Populating virtual worlds with intelligent agents can drastically improve a user's sense of presence. Applying these worlds to virtual training, simulations, or (serious) games, often requires multiple agents to be simulated in real time. The process of generating believable agent behavior starts with providing a plausible perception and attention process that is both efficient and controllable. We describe a conceptual framework for synthetic perception that specifically considers the mentioned requirements: plausibility, real-time performance, and controllability. A sample implementation will focus on sensing, attention, and memory to demonstrate the framework's capabilities in a real-time game engine scenario. A combination of dynamic geometric sensing and false coloring with static saliency information is provided to exemplify the collection of environmental stimuli. The subsequent attention process handles both bottom-up processing and task-oriented, top-down factors. Behavioral results can be influenced by controlling memory and attention The example case is demonstrated and discussed alongside future extensions.
Integration of Multi-modal Cues in Synthetic Attention Processes to Drive Virtual Agent Behavior
(2017)
Service robots performing complex tasks involving people in houses or public environments are becoming more and more common, and there is a huge interest from both the research and the industrial point of view. The RoCKIn@Home challenge has been designed to compare and evaluate different approaches and solutions to tasks related to the development of domestic and service robots. RoCKIn@Home competitions have been designed and executed according to the benchmarking methodology developed during the project and received very positive feedbacks from the participating teams. Tasks and functionality benchmarks are explained in detail.
RoCKIn@Work was focused on benchmarks in the domain of industrial robots. Both task and functionality benchmarks were derived from real world applications. All of them were part of a bigger user story painting the picture of a scaled down real world factory scenario. Elements used to build the testbed were chosen from common materials in modern manufacturing environments. Networked devices, machines controllable through a central software component, were also part of the testbed and introduced a dynamic component to the task benchmarks. Strict guidelines on data logging were imposed on participating teams to ensure gathered data could be automatically evaluated. This also had the positive effect that teams were made aware of the importance of data logging, not only during a competition but also during research as useful utility in their own laboratory. Tasks and functionality benchmarks are explained in detail, starting with their use case in industry, further detailing their execution and providing information on scoring and ranking mechanisms for the specific benchmark.