The 25 most recently reported publications
Green infrastructure improves environmental health in cities, benefits human health, and provides habitat for wildlife. Increasing urbanization has demanded the expansion of urban areas and transformation of existing cities. The adoption of compact design in urban planning is a recommended strategy to minimize environmental impacts; however, it may undermine green infrastructure networks within cities as it sets a battleground for urban space. Under this scenario, multifunctionality of green spaces is highly desirable but reconciling human needs and biodiversity conservation in a limited space is still a challenge. Through a systematic review, we first compiled urban green space's characteristics that affect mental health and urban wildlife support, and then identified potential synergies and trade-offs between these dimensions. A framework based on the One Health approach is proposed, synthesizing the interlinkages between green space quality, mental health, and wildlife support; providing a new holistic perspective on the topic. Looking at the human-wildlife-environment relationships simultaneously may contribute to practical guidance on more effective green space design and management that benefit all dimensions.
Social cash transfers (SCTs) are considered a priority in least-developed countries, where the gap between the need for basic social protection and existing provisions is greatest. This study represents one of the first comprehensive treatments of the impact of social cash transfers in low-income sub-Saharan Africa, and the first for Zambia's oldest SCT scheme. The results, based on propensity score matching and fully efficient odds-weighted regression, and data from the Kalomo SCT pilot scheme, confirm positive SCT effects on per capita consumption expenditure. We also discover threshold effects with SCT mostly impacting food expenditure among poorer beneficiary households and non-food expenditure among wealthier beneficiaries.
Das Deutsche Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR) führt viele Forschungen und Studien im Bereich der Luft- und Raumfahrt durch. Dabei spielen die Studien für die Gesundheit und Medizin auch eine sehr wichtige Rolle bei der DLR. Zu diesem Zweck führt die DLR die Artificial Gravity bed rest study (AGBRESA) im Auftrag der European Space Agency (esa) und in Kooperation der NASA durch. In dieser Studie werden die negativen Auswirkungen der Schwerelosigkeit auf dem Menschen im Weltall simuliert. Dabei werden Experimente durchgeführt, um die negative Auswirkungen entgegenzuwirken. Die Ergebnisse der Experimente werden in der DLR digital, aber auch auf Papier dokumentiert. In diesem Master-Projekt habe ich nun die Aufgabe, die Papierprotokolle für den Bereich der Blutabnahme und der Labordokumentation in eine digitale Form zu ersetzen.
One of the primary current astrobiological goals is to understand the limits of microbial resistance to extraterrestrial conditions. Much attention is paid to ionizing radiation, since it can prevent the preservation and spread of life outside the Earth. The aim of this research was to study the impact of accelerated He ions (150 MeV/n, up to 1 kGy) as a component of the galactic cosmic rays on the black fungus C. antarcticus when mixed with Antarctic sandstones—the substratum of its natural habitat—and two Martian regolith simulants, which mimics two different evolutionary stages of Mars. The high dose of 1 kGy was used to assess the effect of dose accumulation in dormant cells within minerals, under long-term irradiation estimated on a geological time scale. The data obtained suggests that viable Earth-like microorganisms can be preserved in the dormant state in the near-surface scenario for approximately 322,000 and 110,000 Earth years within Martian regolith that mimic early and present Mars environmental conditions, respectively. In addition, the results of the study indicate the possibility of maintaining traces within regolith, as demonstrated by the identification of melanin pigments through UltraViolet-visible (UV-vis) spectrophotometric approach.
Efficient and comprehensive assessment of students knowledge is an imperative task in any learning process. Short answer grading is one of the most successful methods in assessing the knowledge of students. Many supervised learning and deep learning approaches have been used to automate the task of short answer grading in the past. We investigate why assistive grading with active learning would be the next logical step in this task as there is no absolute ground truth answer for any question and the task is very subjective in nature. We present a fast and easy method to harness the power of active learning and natural language processing in assisting the task of grading short answer questions. A webbased GUI is designed and implemented to incorporate an interactive short answer grading system. The experiments show that active learning saves the time and effort of graders in assessment and reaches the performance of supervised learning with less amount of graded answers for training.
The development of metals tailored to the metallurgical conditions of laser-based additive manufacturing is crucial to advance the maturity of these materials for their use in structural applications. While efforts in this regard are being carried out around the globe, the use of high strength eutectic alloys have, so far, received minor attention, although previous works showed that rapid solidification techniques can result in ultrafine microstructures with excellent mechanical performance, albeit for small sample sizes. In the present work, a eutectic Ti-32.5Fe alloy has been produced by laser powder bed fusion aiming at exploiting rapid solidification and the capability to produce bulk ultrafine microstructures provided by this processing technique.
Process energy densities between 160 J/mm³ and 180 J/mm³ resulted in a dense and crack-free material with an oxygen content of ~ 0.45 wt.% in which a hierarchical microstructure is formed by µm-sized η-Ti4Fe2Ox dendrites embedded in an ultrafine eutectic β-Ti/TiFe matrix. The microstructure was studied three-dimensionally using near-field synchrotron ptychographic X-ray computed tomography with an actual spatial resolution down to 39 nm to analyse the morphology of the eutectic and dendritic structures as well as to quantify their mass density, size and distribution. Inter-lamellar spacings down to ~ 30–50 nm were achieved, revealing the potential of laser-based additive manufacturing to generate microstructures smaller than those obtained by classical rapid solidification techniques for bulk materials. The alloy was deformed at 600 °C under compressive loading up to a strain of ~ 30% without damage formation, resulting in a compressive yield stress of ~ 800 MPa.
This study provides a first demonstration of the feasibility to produce eutectic Ti-Fe alloys with ultrafine microstructures by laser powder bed fusion that are suitable for structural applications at elevated temperature.
Evaluation of a Multi-Layer 2.5D display in comparison to conventional 3D stereoscopic glasses
(2020)
In this paper we propose and evaluate a custom-build projection-based multilayer 2.5D display, consisting of three layers of images, and compare performance to a stereoscopic 3D display. Stereoscopic vision can increase the involvement and enhance game experience, however may induce possible side effects, e.g. motion sickness and simulator sickness. To overcome the disadvantage of multiple discrete depths, in our system perspective rendering and head-tracking is used. A study was performed to evaluate this display with 20 participants playing custom-designed games. The results indicated that the multi-layer display caused fewer side effects than the stereoscopic display and provided good usability. The participants also stated a better or equal spatial perception, while the cognitive load stayed the same.
This work provides a short but technical introduction to the main building blocks of a blockchain. It argues that a blockchain is not a revolutionary technology but rather a clever combination of three fields: cryptography, decentralization and game theory. In addition, it summaries the differences between a public, private and federate blockchain model and the two prominent consensus mechanism Proof-of-Work (POW) and Proof-of-Stake (POS).
This volume of the series Springer Briefs in Space Life Sciences explains the physics and biology of radiation in space, defines various forms of cosmic radiation and their dosimetry, and presents a range of exposure scenarios. It also discusses the effects of radiation on human health and describes the molecular mechanisms of heavy charged particles’ deleterious effects in the body. Lastly, it discusses countermeasures and addresses the vital question: Are we ready for launch?
Written for researchers in the space life sciences and space biomedicine, and for master’s students in biology, physics, and medicine, the book will also benefit all non-experts endeavoring to understand and enter space.
Die 2010er Jahre waren durch einen starken Anstieg der Mieten und der Kaufpreise gerade in den Ballungsräumen gekennzeichnet. Hieraus wird teilweise abgeleitet, dass Wohnen "die soziale Frage unserer Zeit" sei. In dieser Analyse wird auf der Grundlage des Sozio-oekonomischen Panels (SOEP) die Entwicklung der Wohnkostenbelastung im Längs- und Querschnitt analysiert. Außerdem wird die historische Bedeutung der sozialen Frage erläutert. Insgesamt zeigt sich, dass die starke Arbeitsmarktentwicklung in Kombination mit einer Reduktion der Wohnflächen die Wohnkostenbelastung bei vielen Haushalten konstant gehalten hat. Nur bei wenigen Haushalten gibt es tatsächlich einen merklichen Anstieg der Belastung, jedoch bei gleichzeitig gestiegener Zufriedenheit mit der Wohnsituation. Auch wenn Wohnen damit nicht als die soziale Frage unserer Zeit bezeichnet werden kann, brauchen doch zahlreiche Haushalte Unterstützung. Insbesondere aufgrund der virusbedingten Wirtschaftskrise im Jahr 2020 dürfte deren Zahl noch steigen. Die dafür zur Verfügung stehenden Instrumente wie das Wohngeld und Sozialwohnungen sollten gestärkt werden, aber gerade bei Sozialwohnungen sollte darauf geachtet werden, die soziale Treffsicherheit zu verbessern.
In forensic DNA profiling, the occurrence of complex mixed profiles is currently a common issue. Cases involving intimate swabs or skin flake tape liftings are prone to mixed profiles, because of more than one donor contributing to a DNA sample. By DNA profiling of single spermatozoa and skin flakes, problems associated with mixed profile could ideally be overcome. However, PCR is not a sensitive enough method to generate DNA profiles by STRs on single cells. Moreover, high quality intact DNA is required, but is not always available in skin flakes due to degradation. Additionally, single skin flakes are difficult to discriminate from other similar looking particles on tape liftings used to secure DNA samples from evidence. The main purpose of this study was to develop a method that enables DNA profiling of single sperm cells and skin flakes. After studying multiple whole genome amplification (WGA) protocols, REPLI-g Single Cell WGA was selected due to its suitability in the pre-amplification step of template DNA. Micromanipulation was used to isolate single spermatozoa. Furthermore, micromanipulation in combination with REPLI-g Single Cell WGA resulted in successful DNA profiling of single spermatozoa by using autosomal STRs as well as X- and Y-chromosomal STRs. The single spermatozoa DNA profiling method described in this thesis was successfully used to identify male contributors from mock intimate swabs with a mixture of semen from multiple male contributors. Different dyes were analysed to develop a staining method to discriminate skin flakes from other particles including particles such as those from hair cosmetic products. From all dyes tested, Orange G was the only dye which successfully discriminated skin flakes from hair product particles. Also, an alkaline based lysis protocol was developed that allowed PCR to be carried out directly on the lysates of single skin flakes. Furthermore, REPLI-g Single Cell WGA was tested on single skin flakes. In contrast to the single spermatozoa, REPLI-g Single Cell WGA was not successful in DNA profiling of single skin flakes. The single skin flake DNA profiling method described in this thesis was successfully used in correctly identifying contributors from mock mixed DNA evidence. Additionally, a small amplicon-based NGS method was tested on single skin flakes. Compared to the PCR and CE approach, the small amplicon-based NGS method improved DNA profiling of single skin flakes, giving a significant increase in allele recovery. In conclusion, this study shows circumventing mixtures is possible by DNA profiling of single spermatozoa, using micromanipulation and WGA. Furthermore, DNA profiling of single skin flakes has been improved by the staining of tape liftings methodology with Orange G, alkaline lysis, direct-PCR and a small amplicon-based NGS approach. Nonetheless, future work is required to assess the performance of the single spermatozoa method on mock swabs with more diluted semen. Also, commercially available NGS kits should be tested with single skin flakes and compared with the in-house NGS method.
The temperature of photovoltaic modules is modelled as a dynamic function of ambient temperature, shortwave and longwave irradiance and wind speed, in order to allow for a more accurate characterisation of their efficiency. A simple dynamic thermal model is developed by extending an existing parametric steady-state model using an exponential smoothing kernel to include the effect of the heat capacity of the system. The four parameters of the model are fitted to measured data from three photovoltaic systems in the Allgäu region in Germany using non-linear optimisation. The dynamic model reduces the root-mean-square error between measured and modelled module temperature to 1.58 K on average, compared to 3.03 K for the steady-state model, whereas the maximum instantaneous error is reduced from 20.02 to 6.58 K.
Dieses Buch bietet einen leicht verständlichen Einstieg in die Thematik des Data Minings und der Prädiktiven Analyseverfahren. Als Methodensammlung gedacht, bietet es zu jedem Verfahren zunächst eine kurze Darstellung der Theorie und erklärt die zum Verständnis notwendigen Formeln. Es folgt jeweils eine Illustration der Verfahren mit Hilfe von Beispielen, die mit dem Programmpaket R erarbeitet werden.
Zum Abschluss wird eine einfache Möglichkeit präsentiert, mit der die Performancewerte verschiedener Verfahren mit statistischen Mitteln verglichen werden können. Zum Einsatz kommen hierbei geeignete Grafiken und Konfidenzintervalle.
Das Buch verzichtet nicht auf Theorie, es präsentiert jedoch so wenig Theorie wie möglich, aber so viel wie nötig und ist somit optimal für Studium und Selbststudium geeignet.
The development of sustainable, environmentally friendly insulation materials with a reduced carbon footprint is attracting increased interest. One alternative to conventional insulation materials are foamed geopolymers. Similar to foamed concrete, the mechanical properties of geopolymer foams can also be improved by using fibers for reinforcement. This paper presents an overview of the latest research findings in the field of fiber-reinforced geopolymer foam concrete with special focus on natural fibers reinforcement. Furthermore, some basic and background information of natural fibers and geopolymer foams are reported. In most of the research, foams are produced either through chemical foaming with hydrogen peroxide or aluminum powder, or through mechanical foaming which includes a foaming agent. However, previous reviews have not sufficiently addresses the fabrication of geopolymer foams by syntactic foams. Finally, recent efforts to reduce the fiber degradation in geopolymer concrete are discussed along with challenges for natural fiber reinforced-geopolymer foam concrete.
Compliant manipulation is a crucial skill for robots when they are supposed to act as helping hands in everyday household tasks. Still, nowadays, those skills are hand-crafted by experts which frequently requires labor-intensive, manual parameter tuning. Moreover, some tasks are too complex to be specified fully using a task specification. Learning these skills, by contrast, requires a high number of costly and potentially unsafe interactions with the environment. We present a compliant manipulation approach using reinforcement learning guided by the Task Frame Formalism, a task specification method. This allows us to specify the easy to model knowledge about a task while the robot learns the unmodeled components by reinforcement learning. We evaluate the approach by performing a compliant manipulation task with a KUKA LWR 4+ manipulator. The robot was able to learn force control policies directly on the robot without using any simulation.
Long-term variability of solar irradiance and its implications for photovoltaic power in West Africa
(2020)
West Africa is one of the least developed regions in the world regarding the energy availability and energy security. Located close to the equator West Africa receives high amounts of global horizontal irradiance (GHI). Thus, solar power and especially photovoltaic (PV) systems seem to be a promising solution to provide electricity with low environmental impact. To plan and to dimension a PV power system climatological data for global horizontal irradiance (GHI) and its variability need to be taken into account. However, ground based measurements of irradiances are not available continuously and cover only a few discrete locations.
Incoming solar radiation is an important driver of our climate and weather. Several studies (see for instance Frank et al. 2018) have revealed discrepancies between ground-based irradiance measurements and the predictions of regional weather models. In the realm of electricity generation, accurate forecasts of solar photovoltaic (PV)energy yield are becoming indispensable for cost-effective grid operation: in Germany there are 1.6 million PVsystems installed, with a nominal power of 46 GW (Bundesverband Solarwirtschaft 2019). The proliferation of PV systems provides a unique opportunity to characterise global irradiance with unprecedented spatiotemporalresolution, which in turn will allow for highly resolved PV power forecasts.
Renewable energies play an increasingly important role for energy production in Europe. Unlike coal or gas powerplants, solar energy production is highly variable in space and time. This is due to the strong variability of cloudsand their influence on the surface solar irradiance. Especially in regions with large contribution from photovoltaicpower production, the intermittent energy feed-in to the power grid can be a risk for grid stability. Therefore goodforecasts of temporal and spatial variability of surface irradiance are necessary to be able to properly regulate thepower supply.
Due to the policy goals for sustainable energy production, renewable energy plants such as photovoltaics are increasingly in use. The energy production from solar radiation depends strongly on atmospheric conditions. As the weather mostly changes, electrical power generation fluctuates, making technical planning and control of power grids to a complex problem.
