Refine
Departments, institutes and facilities
- Fachbereich Informatik (68)
- Fachbereich Wirtschaftswissenschaften (62)
- Fachbereich Angewandte Naturwissenschaften (33)
- Fachbereich Ingenieurwissenschaften und Kommunikation (33)
- Institute of Visual Computing (IVC) (25)
- Institut für funktionale Gen-Analytik (IFGA) (22)
- Institut für Verbraucherinformatik (IVI) (20)
- Institut für Cyber Security & Privacy (ICSP) (18)
- Präsidium (17)
- Fachbereich Sozialpolitik und Soziale Sicherung (16)
Document Type
- Conference Object (111)
- Article (102)
- Part of a Book (62)
- Book (monograph, edited volume) (19)
- Part of Periodical (17)
- Report (10)
- Contribution to a Periodical (6)
- Conference Proceedings (5)
- Patent (4)
- Working Paper (4)
Year of publication
- 2014 (351) (remove)
Keywords
- Nachhaltigkeit (8)
- Lehrbuch (7)
- Corporate Social Responsibility (3)
- FPGA (3)
- Unternehmen (3)
- education (3)
- parallel breadth-first search (3)
- BFS (2)
- Betriebswirtschaftslehre (2)
- Controlling (2)
Dies ist der Tagungsband zum elften aus einer Reihe erfolgreicher Workshops zum Thema Virtuelle und Erweiterte Realität, die von der Fachgruppe VR/AR der Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V. ins Leben gerufen wurde. Als etablierte Plattform für den Informations- und Ideenaustausch der deutschsprachigen VR/AR-Szene bietet der Workshop den idealen Rahmen, aktuelle Ergebnisse und Vorhaben aus Forschung und Entwicklung im Kreise eines fachkundigen Publikums zur Diskussion zu stellen. Insbesondere wollen wir auch jungen Nachwuchswissenschaftlern die Möglichkeit geben, ihre Arbeiten zu präsentieren.
An apple a day keeps the doctor away’. While it may be true that a balanced diet is a prerequisite for good health, how good is what we eat and drink every day? And is it actually possible to fulfil every customer desire with the vast array of foodstuffs on offer? BSE, dioxin in eggs, EHEC sprouts: in the light of repeated food safety crises, the issue of quality assurance as well as customer-oriented quality management has become of prime importance for the agri-food industry.
Current computer architectures are multi-threaded and make use of multiple CPU cores. Most garbage collections policies for the Java Virtual Machine include a stop-the-world phase, which means that all threads are suspended. A considerable portion of the execution time of Java programs is spent in these stop-the-world garbage collections. To improve this behavior, a thread-local allocation and garbage collection that only affects single threads, has been proposed. Unfortunately, only objects that are not accessible by other threads ("do not escape") are eligible for this kind of allocation. It is therefore necessary to reliably predict the escaping of objects. The work presented in this paper analyzes the escaping of objects based on the line of code (program counter – PC) the object was allocated at. The results show that on average 60-80% of the objects do not escape and can therefore be locally allocated.
Mobbing
(2014)
Case Management
(2014)
Automated parameterization of intermolecular pair potentials using global optimization techniques
(2014)
In this work, different global optimization techniques are assessed for the automated development of molecular force fields, as used in molecular dynamics and Monte Carlo simulations. The quest of finding suitable force field parameters is treated as a mathematical minimization problem. Intricate problem characteristics such as extremely costly and even abortive simulations, noisy simulation results, and especially multiple local minima naturally lead to the use of sophisticated global optimization algorithms. Five diverse algorithms (pure random search, recursive random search, CMA-ES, differential evolution, and taboo search) are compared to our own tailor-made solution named CoSMoS. CoSMoS is an automated workflow. It models the parameters’ influence on the simulation observables to detect a globally optimal set of parameters. It is shown how and why this approach is superior to other algorithms. Applied to suitable test functions and simulations for phosgene, CoSMoS effectively reduces the number of required simulations and real time for the optimization task.
Gene expression and cell growth rely on the intracellular concentration of amino acids, which in metazoans depends on extracellular amino acid availability and transmembrane transport. To investigate the impact of extracellular amino acid concentrations on the expression of a concentrative amino acid transporter, we overexpressed the main kidney proximal tubule luminal neutral amino acid transporter B0AT1-collectrin (SLC6A19-TMEM27) in MDCK cell epithelia. Exogenously expressed proteins co-localized at the luminal membrane and mediated neutral amino acid uptake. However, the transgenes were lost over few cell culture passages. In contrast, the expression of a control transgene remained stable. To test whether this loss was due to inappropriately high amino acid uptake, freshly transduced MDCK cell lines were cultivated either with physiological amounts of amino acids or with the high concentration found in standard cell culture media. Expression of exogenous transporters was unaffected by physiological amino acid concentration in the media. Interestingly, mycoplasma infection resulted in a significant increase in transgene expression and correlated with the rapid metabolism of L-arginine. However, L-arginine metabolites were shown to play no role in transgene expression. In contrast, activation of the GCN2 pathway revealed by an increase in eIF2α phosphorylation may trigger transgene derepression. Taken together, high extracellular amino acid concentration provided by cell culture media appears to inhibit the constitutive expression of concentrative amino acid transporters whereas L-arginine depletion by mycoplasma induces the expression of transgenes possibly via stimulation of the GCN2 pathway.
Residential and commercial buildings are responsible for about 40% of the EU’s total energy consumption. However, conscious, sustainable use of this limited resource is hampered by a lack of visibility and materiality of consumption. One of the major challenges is enabling consumers to make informed decisions about energy consumption, thereby supporting the shift to sustainable actions. With the use of Energy-Management-Systems it is possible to save up to 15%. In recent years, design approaches have greatly diversified, but with the emergence of ubiquitous- and context-aware computing, energy feedback solutions can be enriched with additional context information. In this study, we present the concept “room as a context” for eco-feedback systems. We investigate opportunities of making current state-of-the-art energy visualizations more meaningful and demonstrate which new forms of visualizations can be created with this additional information. Furthermore, we developed a prototype for android-based tablets, which includes some of the presented features to study our design concepts in the wild.
Nachhaltigkeitsökonomie
(2014)
CSR-Handbuch : ein Ratgeber
(2014)
Aus dem Projekt "Förderung angehender weiblicher Führungskräfte in kleinen und mittleren Unternehmen als CSR-Maßnahme"; ein Projekt der Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg im Rahmen des Programms "CSR-Gesellschaftliche Verantwortung im Mittelstand" gefördert durch das Bundesministerium für Arbeit und Soziales und durch den Europäischen Sozialfonds.
Nitrile-type inhibitors are known to interact with cysteine proteases in a covalent-reversible manner. The chemotype of 3-cyano-3-aza-β-amino acid derivatives was designed in which the N-cyano group is centrally arranged in the molecule to allow for interactions with the nonprimed and primed binding regions of the target enzymes. These compounds were evaluated as inhibitors of the human cysteine cathepsins K, S, B, and L. They exhibited slow-binding behavior and were found to be exceptionally potent, in particular toward cathepsin K, with second-order rate constants up to 52 900 × 103 M–1 s–1.
Ausgehend von den Anforderungen der EU-Rechtsprechung untersuchen die Autoren im Rahmen der vom Forschungsinstitut für Glücksspiel und Wetten (Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg, St. Augustin) erstellten Studie alternative Regulierungsmodelle für den Glücks- und Gewinnspielmarkt in Deutschland. Die gegenwärtige Regulierung ist nach ihrer Analyse nicht in der Lage, das dynamische Wachstum des nichtregulierten Glücks- und Gewinnspielmarktes zu begrenzen. Sie führt zur Migration von Spielern vor allem zugunsten der nichtregulierten Märkte, zu Sozialverlusten, da die Spieler auf den nichtregulierten Glücks- und Gewinnspielmärkten nicht wirksam in Konzepte des Spieler- und Jugendschutzes einbezogen werden können, sowie zu Wettbewerbsverzerrungen zwischen verschiedenen Glücks- und Gewinnspielformen. Die Einbeziehung des derzeitigen Graumarktes in die Regulierung sei dringend erforderlich. Dies würde zu einer ökonomisch gebotenen Planungssicherheit führen, fiskalische Mehreinnahmen generieren und einen deutlich effizienteren Spieler- und Konsumentenschutz ermöglichen.
Sustainability is a key issue in current research activities and programs. In this conjunction three major functions of research have been identified: Basic research, knowledge reservoirs, and knowledge transfer. With regard to a transmission to the private sector, knowledge transfer is the most important factor. In this process, universities of applied sciences can play an important part as they typically have a long-standing experience in linking science and business in their teaching and research. Another important agent in the process of knowledge transfer are networks and clusters. Their strength lies integrating the different competencies of its partners and using them to a mutual benefit.
The International Centre for Sustainable Development (IZNE) – with a major focus on responsible business and sustainable food – takes the advantage of being part of a University of Applied Sciences (Bonn-Rhein-Sieg, BRSU), and being a member of several regional and international clusters and networks. These co-operations aim to establish and strengthen linkages between science and business, in particular by investigating research needs for business and business relevant research activities. Moreover, IZNE established and expanded regional and international co-operations of its own to get more transparency about regional and international value-added chains in the food sector and the issue of responsible business.
Hybrid system models exploit the modelling abstraction that fast state transitions take place instantaneously so that they encompass discrete events and the continuous time behaviour for the while of a system mode. If a system is in a certain mode, e.g. two rigid bodies stick together, then residuals of analytical redundancy relations (ARRs) within certain small bounds indicate that the system is healthy. An unobserved mode change, however, invalidates the current model for the dynamic behaviour. As a result, ARR residuals may exceed current thresholds indicating faults in system components that have not happened. The paper shows that ARR residuals derived from a bond graph cannot only serve as fault indicators but may also be used for bond graph model-based system mode identification. ARR residuals are numerically computed in an off-line simulation by coupling a bond graph of the faulty system to a non-faulty system bond graph through residual sinks. In real-time simulation, the faulty system model is to be replaced by measurements from the real system. As parameter values are uncertain, it is important to determine adaptive ARR thresholds that, given uncertain parameters, allow to decide whether the dynamic behaviour in a current system mode is the one of the healthy system so that false alarms or overlooking of true faults can be avoided. The paper shows how incremental bond graphs can be used to determine adaptive mode-dependent ARR thresholds for switched linear time-invariant systems with uncertain parameters in order to support robust fault detection. Bond graph-based hybrid system mode identification as well as the determination of adaptive fault thresholds is illustrated by application to a power electronic system easy to survey. Some simulation results have been analytically validated.
Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is well known as a highly toxic environmental chemical threat. Prolonged exposure to H2S can lead to the formation of pulmonary edema. However, the mechanisms of how H2S facilitates edema formation are poorly understood. Since edema formation can be enhanced by an impaired clearance of electrolytes and, consequently, fluid across the alveolar epithelium, it was questioned whether H2S may interfere with transepithelial electrolyte absorption. Electrolyte absorption was electrophysiologically measured across native distal lung preparations (Xenopus laevis) in Ussing chambers. The exposure of lung epithelia to H2S decreased net transepithelial electrolyte absorption. This was due to an impairment of amiloride-sensitive sodium transport. H2S inhibited the activity of the Na+/K+-ATPase as well as lidocaine-sensitive potassium channels located in the basolateral membrane of the epithelium. Inhibition of these transport molecules diminishes the electrochemical gradient which is necessary for transepithelial sodium absorption. Since sodium absorption osmotically facilitates alveolar fluid clearance, interference of H2S with the epithelial transport machinery provides a mechanism which enhances edema formation in H2S-exposed lungs.
Level-Synchronous Parallel Breadth-First Search Algorithms For Multicore and Multiprocessor Systems
(2014)
Breadth-First Search (BFS) is a graph traversal technique used in many applications as a building block, e.g.,~to systematically explore a search space. For modern multicore processors and as application graphs get larger, well-performing parallel algorithms are favourable. In this paper, we systematically evaluate an important class of parallel BFS algorithms and discuss programming optimization techniques for their implementation. We concentrate our discussion on level-synchronous algorithms for larger multicore and multiprocessor systems. In our results, we show that for small core counts many of these algorithms show rather similar behaviour. But, for large core counts and large graphs, there are considerable differences in performance and scalability influenced by several factors. This paper gives advice, which algorithm should be used under which circumstances.
Informatikerinnen und Informatiker aller Fachrichtungen müssen die grundlegenden Konzepte, Methoden und Verfahren, die der Entwicklung und dem Einsatz von Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologien zugrunde liegen, verstehen und bei der Lösung von Problemen anwenden können. Das Buch stellt die algebraischen und zahlentheoretischen Grundlagen dafür vor und wendet diese bei der Lösung praktischer Problemstellungen, wie modulare Arithmetik, Primzahltests und Verschlüsselung an. Das Verständnis der Begriffe und deren Zusammenhänge und Zusammenwirken wird u.a. durch Lernziele, integrierte Übungsaufgaben mit Musterlösungen und Marginalien unterstützt. Das Buch ist zum Selbststudium gut geeignet.
Die Formelsammlung zeigt die statistischen Formeln auf, die in den Wirtschaftswissenschaften notwendig von Bedarf sind. Sie ist interdisziplinär zielgerichtet und unterstützt sämtliche Bereiche der Ökonomik. Das Verständnis der Formeln und deren praktische Anwendung werden sinnvoll unterstützt durch nützliche Hilfen und Beispiele. Das Buch ist ein unverzichtbares Tool sowohl für den Studierenden als auch für den Verantwortlichen in Wirtschaft, Management, Verwaltung, Politik und Lehre.
Diese Formelsammlung zeigt die mathematischen Formeln auf, die in den
Wirtschaftswissenschaften notwendig von Bedarf sind. Sie ist interdisziplinär
zielgerichtet und unterstützt sämtliche Bereiche der Ökonomik. Das Verständnis der Formeln und deren praktische Anwendung werden sinnvoll unterstützt durch nützliche Hilfen und Beispiele. Das Buch ist ein unverzichtbares Tool sowohl für den Studierenden als auch für den Verantwortlichen in Wirtschaft, Management, Verwaltung, Politik und Lehre.
Auch eine hervorragende Geschäftsidee braucht Zeit, bis sie von potenziellen Kunden bemerkt und honoriert wird. Trotz guter Planung und engagierter Kundenakquisition kann das Auftragsvolumen, auch aufgrund konjunktureller Schwächen, hinter den Erwartungen zurückbleiben. Zudem können sich Schwierigkeiten in der Produktentwicklung, in der Leistungserstellung und in der Auftragsabwicklung einstellen.
Kriminalistik
(2014)
This work describes extensions to the well-known Distributed Coordination Function (DCF) model to account for IEEE802.11n point-to-point links. The developed extensions cover adaptions to the throughput and delay estimation for this type of link as well peculiarities of hardware and implementations within the Linux Kernel. Instead of using simulations, the approach was extensively verified on real-world deployments at various link distances. Additionally, trials were conducted to optimize the CWmin values and the number of retries to maximize throughput and minimize delay. The results of this work can be used to estimate the properties of long-distance 802.11 links beforehand, allowing the network to be planned more accurately.
Psychische Belastungen stehen in ihren negativen Ausprägungen als psychische Fehlbeanspruchungen im Zentrum der Diskussion im Arbeitsschutz. Ihr kontinuierlicher Anstieg sowie die Verbindung mit verschiedenen psychischen und körperlichen Erkrankungen werden durch zahlreiche internationale Studien belegt. Die Herausgeber möchten mit dem Praxishandbuch eine Hilfe für diejenigen bieten, die mit der Aufgabe des Erkennens und der Prävention psychischer Fehlbelastungen konfrontiert sind. Die Anregungen sind für alle Akteure im Bereich der Verhütung arbeitsbedingter Gesundheitgefahren geeignet: Betriebsärzte, Sozialmediziner, Psychologen, Sicherheitsfachkräfte, Führungskräfte, Betriebsräte und sonstige Ansprechpartner, Personalverantwortliche und Sozialpädagogen.
Stress
(2014)
Rehabilitation wirkt
(2014)
Die medizinische Rehabilitation bildet im bundesdeutschen Gesundheitssystem eine wichtige Säule. Sie wird weltweit immer wieder als vorbildlich angesehen und ist im internationalen Vergleich mit Mitteln, Infrastruktur, Know-how und Behandlungsqualität hervorragend ausgestattet. Dies ist gut so, aber ist es gut genug?
Design of a declarative language for task-oriented grasping and tool-use with dextrous robotic hands
(2014)
Apparently simple manipulation tasks for a human such as transportation or tool use are challenging to replicate in an autonomous service robot. Nevertheless, dextrous manipulation is an important aspect for a robot in many daily tasks. While it is possible to manufacture special-purpose hands for one specific task in industrial settings, a generalpurpose service robot in households must have flexible hands which can adapt to many tasks. Intelligently using tools enables the robot to perform tasks more efficiently and even beyond the designed capabilities. In this work a declarative domain-specific language, called Grasp Domain Definition Language (GDDL), is presented that allows the specification of grasp planning problems independently of a specific grasp planner. This design goal resembles the idea of the Planning Domain Definition Language (PDDL). The specification of GDDL requires a detailed analysis of the research in grasping in order to identify best practices in different domains that contribute to a grasp. These domains describe for instance physical as well as semantic properties of objects and hands. Grasping always has a purpose which is captured in the task domain definition. It enables the robot to grasp an object in a taskdependent manner. Suitable representations in these domains have to be identified and formalized for which a domain-driven software engineering approach is applied. This kind of modeling allows the specification of constraints which guide the composition of domain entity specifications. The domain-driven approach fosters reuse of domain concepts while the constraints enable the validation of models already during design time. A proof of concept implementation of GDDL into the GraspIt! grasp planner is developed. Preliminary results of this thesis have been published and presented on the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA).
Das sogenannte „Deutschlandstipendium“ ist 2010 ins Leben gerufen worden. Gemäß den gesetzlichen Vorgaben sollen die Stipendien nach Begabung und Leistung vergeben werden. Darüber hinaus sollen auch gesellschaftliches Engagement oder besondere soziale, familiäre oder persönliche Umstände berücksichtigt werden. Bei der Finanzierung sind die Hochschulen zunächst auf das Einwerben privater Fördermittel angewiesen, die von Bund und Land um denselben Betrag aufgestockt werden. Die privaten Mittelgeber können für die von ihnen anteilig finanzierten Stipendien festlegen, aus welchen Studiengängen ihre Stipendiaten ausgewählt werden sollen. Die Hochschulen haben jedoch darauf zu achten, dass ein Drittel aller zu vergebenden Stipendien ohne eine entsprechende Zweckbindung vergeben werden. Einen direkten Einfluss auf die Auswahl einzelner Kandidaten dürfen die Förderer nicht haben. Vor diesem Hintergrund sind die Hochschulen angehalten, Anreize für private Förderer zu schaffen und parallel Bewerbungs- und Auswahlverfahren zu konzipieren, die die genannten gesetzlichen Vorgaben einhalten. Dadurch entsteht bei den Hochschulen ein erheblicher Verwaltungsaufwand. Zu dessen Reduzierung wird in diesem Artikel ein transparenter, nachvollziehbarer, zeit- und kostensparender Prozess durch einen programmierten Workflow beschrieben.
A cost-efficient alternative to outside-in tracking systems for pointing interaction with large displays is to equip the pointing device with a camera, whose images are matched to display content. This work presents the Dynamic Marker Camera Tracking (DMCT) framework for display-based camera tracking. It accounts for typical display characteristics and uses dynamic on-screen markers overlaid to the display content that follow the camera. An example marker implementation and a tracking recovery method are presented. DMCT can measure pointing locations with sub-millimeter precision in large tracking volumes and computes 6-DoF camera poses for 3D interaction. 60 Hz update rate and 24 ms latency were achieved. DMCT's main limitation is the visible marker interfering with display content. In pointing effciency, the prototype is comparable to an OptiTrack system.
Structure-activity relationships of thiostrepton derivatives: implications for rational drug design
(2014)
The case for basic human needs in coaching: A neuroscientific perspective - The SCOAP Coach Theory
(2014)
Realism and plausibility of computer controlled entities in entertainment software have been enhanced by adding both static personalities and dynamic emotions. Here a generic model is introduced that allows findings from real-life personality studies to be transferred to a computational model. Adaptive behavior patterns are enabled by introducing dynamic event-based emotions. The advantages of this model have been validated using a four-way crossroad in a traffic simulation. Driving agents using the introduced model enhanced by dynamics were compared to agents based on static personality profiles and simple rule-based behavior. The results show that adding a dynamic factor to agents improves perceivable plausibility and realism.
Perception is one of the most important cognitive capabilities of an entity since it determines how an entity perceives its environment. The presented work focuses on providing cost efficient but realistic perceptual processes for intelligent virtual agents (IVAs) or NPCs with the goal of providing a sound information basis for the entities' decision making processes. In addition, an agent-central perception process should rovide a common interface for developers to retrieve data from the IVAs' environment. The overall process is evaluated by applying it to a scenario demonstrating its benefits. The evaluation indicates, that such a realistically simulated perception process provides a powerful instrument to enhance the (perceived) realism of an IVA's simulated behavior.
Automatisierungstechnik
(2014)
Die Automatisierungstechnik wird aus praktischer Sicht mit vielen Beispielen und zahlreichen Bildern veranschaulicht. Studenten ingenieurwissenschaftlicher Fachrichtungen sowie Ingenieure und Techniker in der Ausbildung und der beruflichen Praxis können sich auf dem Stand der Technik selbständig einarbeiten.
Rendering techniques for design evaluation and review or for visualizing large volume data often use computationally expensive ray-based methods. Due to the number of pixels and the amount of data, these methods often do not achieve interactive frame rates. A view direction based rendering technique renders the users central field of view in high quality whereas the surrounding is rendered with a level of detail approach depending on the distance to the users central field of view thus giving the opportunity to increase rendering efficiency. We propose a prototype implementation and evaluation of a focus-based rendering technique based on a hybrid ray tracing/sparse voxel octree rendering approach.
Vor dem Hintergrund knapper Ressourcen, dem zunehmendem Reha-Bedarf und der politischen Diskussion um eine demografische Anpassung der Reha-Budgets gewinnt der Nachweis der Ergebnisqualität medizinischer Reha-Leistungen weiter an zentraler Bedeutung (z. B. Haaf, 2005; Steiner et al., 2009). Die kontinuierliche und klinikvergleichende Überprüfung der Behandlungsergebnisse ist darüber hinaus ein wichtiger Baustein eines funktionierenden Qualitätsmanagements (Schmidt et al., in press). Sie ermöglicht ein "Lernen von den Besten" und führt zu organisatorischen Lernprozessen (Toepler et. al., 2010).
The perceived direction of “up” is determined by gravity, visual information, and an internal estimate of body orientation (Mittelstaedt, 1983; Dyde et al., 2006). Is the gravity level found on other worlds sufficient to maintain gravity’s contribution to this perception? Difficulties in stability reported anecdotally by astronauts on the lunar surface (NASA 1972) suggest that the moon’s gravity may not be, despite this value being far above the threshold for detecting linear acceleration. Knowing how much gravity is needed to provide a reliable orientation cue is required for training and preparing astronauts for future missions to the moon, mars and beyond.
Humans exhibit flexible and robust behavior in achieving their goals. We make suitable substitutions for objects, actions, or tools to get the job done. When opportunities that would allow us to reach our goals with less effort arise, we often take advantage of them. Robots are not nearly as robust in handling such situations. Enabling a domestic service robot to find ways to get a job done by making substitutions is the goal of our work. In this paper, we highlight the challenges faced in our approach to combine Hierarchical Task Network planning, Description Logics, and the notions of affordances and conceptual similarity. We present open questions in modeling the necessary knowledge, creating planning problems, and enabling the system to handle cases where plan generation fails due to missing/unavailable objects.
Die Norm EN ISO 13849-1 stellt explizite Anforderungen an sicherheitsgerichtete SPS-Software. Wie lassen sich diese im Maschinenbau praxisgerecht umsetzen? Mit dieser Frage hat sich ein von der DGUV gefördertes und an der Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg durchgeführtes Projekt beschäftigt. Der Beitrag skizziert die Vorgehensweise zur möglichen Umsetzung der normativen Anforderungen. Diese Vorgehensweise ist unabhängig von der verwendeten Sicherheits-SPS und daher allgemein anwendbar. Es wird auf insgesamt 10 dokumentierte Beispiele und einen ausführlichen Forschungsbericht verwiesen, die downloadbar sind.
This paper gives an overview of the development of Fair Trade in six European countries: Austria, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. After the description of the food retail industry and its market structures in these countries, the main European Fair Trade organizations are analyzed regarding their role within the Fair Trade system. The following part deals with the development of Fair Trade sales in general and with respect to the products coffee, tea, bananas, fruit juice and sugar. An overview of the main activities of national Fair Trade organizations, e.g. public relation activities, completes the analysis. This study shows the enormous upswing of Fair Trade during the last decade and the reasons for this development. Nevertheless, it comes to the conclusion that Fair Trade is still far away from being an essential part of the food retail industry in Europe.
Application systems are often advertised with features, and features are used heavily for requirements man- agement. However, often software manufacturers only have incomplete information about the features of their software. The information is distributed over different sources, such as requirements documents, issue trackers, user manuals, and code. In this paper, we research the occurrence of feature information in open source software engineering data. We report on a case study with three open source systems. We analyze what information about features can be found in issue trackers and user documentation. Furthermore, we study the abstraction levels on which the features are described, how feature information is related, and we discuss the possibility to discover such information semi-automatically. To mirror the diversity of software development contexts, we choose open source systems, which are quite different, e.g., in the rigor of issue tracker usage. The results differ accordingly. One main result is that the user documentation did not provide more accurate information than the issue tracker compared to a provided feature list. The results also give hints on how the management of feature relevant information can be supported.
Breadth-First Search is a graph traversal technique used in many applications as a building block, e.g., to systematically explore a search space or to determine single source shortest paths in unweighted graphs. For modern multicore processors and as application graphs get larger, well-performing parallel algorithms are favorable. In this paper, we systematically evaluate an important class of parallel algorithms for this problem and discuss programming optimization techniques for their implementation on parallel systems with shared memory. We concentrate our discussion on level-synchronous algorithms for larger multicore and multiprocessor systems. In our results, we show that for small core counts many of these algorithms show rather similar performance behavior. But, for large core counts and large graphs, there are considerable differences in performance and scalability influenced by several factors, including graph topology. This paper gives advice, which algorithm should be used under which circumstances.