TY - CHAP A1 - Buda, Aurel A1 - Schürmann, Volker A1 - Wollert, Jörg T1 - Wireless technologies in factory automation T2 - Factory automation / ed. by Javier Silvestre-Blanes Y1 - 2010 SN - 978-953-7619-42-8 SP - 29 EP - 50 PB - Intech CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ferrein, Alexander A1 - Schiffer, Stefan A1 - Booysen, T. A1 - Stopforth, R. T1 - Why it is harder to run RoboCup in South Africa: Experiences from German South African collaborations JF - International Journal of Advanced Robotic Systems N2 - Robots are widely used as a vehicle to spark interest in science and technology in learners. A number of initiatives focus on this issue, for instance, the Roberta Initiative, the FIRST Lego League, the World Robot Olympiad and RoboCup Junior. Robotic competitions are valuable not only for school learners but also for university students, as the RoboCup initiative shows. Besides technical skills, the students get some project exposure and experience what it means to finish their tasks on time. But qualifying students for future high-tech areas should not only be for students from developed countries. In this article, we present our experiences with research and education in robotics within the RoboCup initiative, in Germany and South Africa; we report on our experiences with trying to get the RoboCup initiative in South Africa going. RoboCup has a huge support base of academic institutions in Germany; this is not the case in South Africa. We present our ‘north–south’ collaboration initiatives in RoboCup between Germany and South Africa and discuss some of the reasons why we think it is harder to run RoboCup in South Africa. Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1729881416662789 SN - 1729-8806 VL - 13 IS - 5 SP - 1 EP - 13 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Block, Franziska A1 - May, Alexander A1 - Wetzel, Katharina A1 - Adels, Klaudia A1 - Elbers, Gereon A1 - Schulze, Margit A1 - Monakhova, Yulia T1 - What is the best spectroscopic method for simultaneous analysis of organic acids and (poly)saccharides in biological matrices: Example of Aloe vera extracts? JF - Talanta Open N2 - Several species of (poly)saccharides and organic acids can be found often simultaneously in various biological matrices, e.g., fruits, plant materials, and biological fluids. The analysis of such matrices sometimes represents a challenging task. Using Aloe vera (A. vera) plant materials as an example, the performance of several spectro-scopic methods (80 MHz benchtop NMR, NIR, ATR-FTIR and UV–vis) for the simultaneous analysis of quality parameters of this plant material was compared. The determined parameters include (poly)saccharides such as aloverose, fructose and glucose as well as organic acids (malic, lactic, citric, isocitric, acetic, fumaric, benzoic and sorbic acids). 500 MHz NMR and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) were used as the reference methods. UV–vis data can be used only for identification of added preservatives (benzoic and sorbic acids) and drying agent (maltodextrin) and semiquantitative analysis of malic acid. NIR and MIR spectroscopies combined with multivariate regression can deliver more informative overview of A. vera extracts being able to additionally quantify glucose, aloverose, citric, isocitric, malic, lactic acids and fructose. Low-field NMR measurements can be used for the quantification of aloverose, glucose, malic, lactic, acetic, and benzoic acids. The benchtop NMR method was successfully validated in terms of robustness, stability, precision, reproducibility and limit of detection (LOD) and quantification (LOQ), respectively. All spectroscopic techniques are useful for the screening of (poly)saccharides and organic acids in plant extracts and should be applied according to its availability as well as information and confidence required for the specific analytical goal. Benchtop NMR spectroscopy seems to be the most feasible solution for quality control of A. vera products. KW - Spectroscopy KW - (Poly)saccharides KW - Organic acids KW - Aloe vera KW - qNMR Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.talo.2023.100220 SN - 2666-8319 VL - 7 IS - Art. No. 100220 SP - 1 EP - 9 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bhattarai, Aroj A1 - Horbach, Andreas A1 - Staat, Manfred A1 - Kowalczyk, Wojciech A1 - Tran, Thanh Ngoc T1 - Virgin passive colon biomechanics and a literature review of active contraction constitutive models JF - Biomechanics N2 - The objective of this paper is to present our findings on the biomechanical aspects of the virgin passive anisotropic hyperelasticity of the porcine colon based on equibiaxial tensile experiments. Firstly, the characterization of the intestine tissues is discussed for a nearly incompressible hyperelastic fiber-reinforced Holzapfel–Gasser–Ogden constitutive model in virgin passive loading conditions. The stability of the evaluated material parameters is checked for the polyconvexity of the adopted strain energy function using positive eigenvalue constraints of the Hessian matrix with MATLAB. The constitutive material description of the intestine with two collagen fibers in the submucosal and muscular layer each has been implemented in the FORTRAN platform of the commercial finite element software LS-DYNA, and two equibiaxial tensile simulations are presented to validate the results with the optical strain images obtained from the experiments. Furthermore, this paper also reviews the existing models of the active smooth muscle cells, but these models have not been computationally studied here. The review part shows that the constitutive models originally developed for the active contraction of skeletal muscle based on Hill’s three-element model, Murphy’s four-state cross-bridge chemical kinetic model and Huxley’s sliding-filament hypothesis, which are mainly used for arteries, are appropriate for numerical contraction numerical analysis of the large intestine. KW - virgin passive KW - strain energy function KW - smooth muscle contraction KW - viscoelasticity KW - damage Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/biomechanics2020013 SN - 2673-7078 VL - 2 IS - 2 SP - 138 EP - 157 PB - MDPI CY - Basel ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Theysohn, Jens M. A1 - Kraff, Oliver A1 - Eilers, Kristina A1 - Andrade, Dorian A1 - Gerwig, Marcus A1 - Timmann, Dagmar A1 - Schmitt, Franz A1 - Ladd, Mark E. A1 - Ladd, Susanne C. A1 - Bitz, Andreas T1 - Vestibular effects of a 7 Tesla MRI examination compared to 1.5 T and 0 T in healthy volunteers JF - PLoS one N2 - Ultra-high-field MRI (7 Tesla (T) and above) elicits more temporary side-effects compared to 1.5 T and 3 T, e.g. dizziness or “postural instability” even after exiting the scanner. The current study aims to assess quantitatively vestibular performance before and after exposure to different MRI scenarios at 7 T, 1.5 T and 0 T. Sway path and body axis rotation (Unterberger's stepping test) were quantitatively recorded in a total of 46 volunteers before, 2 minutes after, and 15 minutes after different exposure scenarios: 7 T head MRI (n = 27), 7 T no RF (n = 22), 7 T only B₀ (n = 20), 7 T in & out B₀ (n = 20), 1.5 T no RF (n = 20), 0 T (n = 15). All exposure scenarios lasted 30 minutes except for brief one minute exposure in 7 T in & out B₀. Both measures were documented utilizing a 3D ultrasound system. During sway path evaluation, the experiment was repeated with eyes both open and closed. Sway paths for all long-lasting 7 T scenarios (normal, no RF, only B₀) with eyes closed were significantly prolonged 2 minutes after exiting the scanner, normalizing after 15 minutes. Brief exposure to 7 T B₀ or 30 minutes exposure to 1.5 T or 0 T did not show significant changes. End positions after Unterberger's stepping test were significantly changed counter-clockwise after all 7 T scenarios, including the brief in & out B₀ exposure. Shorter exposure resulted in a smaller alteration angle. In contrast to sway path, reversal of changes in body axis rotation was incomplete after 15 minutes. 1.5 T caused no rotational changes. The results show that exposure to the 7 Tesla static magnetic field causes only a temporary dysfunction or “over-compensation” of the vestibular system not measurable at 1.5 or 0 Tesla. Radiofrequency fields, gradient switching, and orthostatic dysregulation do not seem to play a role. Y1 - 2014 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0092104 SN - 1932-6203 VL - 9 IS - 3 PB - PLOS CY - San Francisco ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Jablonowski, Nicolai David A1 - Kollmann, Tobias A1 - Nabel, Moritz A1 - Damm, Tatjana A1 - Klose, Holger A1 - Müller, Michael A1 - Bläsing, Marc A1 - Seebold, Sören A1 - Krafft, Simone A1 - Kuperjans, Isabel A1 - Dahmen, Markus A1 - Schurr, Ulrich T1 - Valorization of Sida (Sida hermaphrodita) biomass for multiple energy purposes JF - GCB [Global Change Biology] Bioenergy N2 - The performance and biomass yield of the perennial energy plant Sida hermaphrodita (hereafter referred to as Sida) as a feedstock for biogas and solid fuel was evaluated throughout one entire growing period at agricultural field conditions. A Sida plant development code was established to allow comparison of the plant growth stages and biomass composition. Four scenarios were evaluated to determine the use of Sida biomass with regard to plant development and harvest time: (i) one harvest for solid fuel only; (ii) one harvest for biogas production only; (iii) one harvest for biogas production, followed by a harvest of the regrown biomass for solid fuel; and (iv) two consecutive harvests for biogas production. To determine Sida's value as a feedstock for combustion, we assessed the caloric value, the ash quality, and melting point with regard to DIN EN ISO norms. The results showed highest total dry biomass yields of max. 25 t ha⁻¹, whereas the highest dry matter of 70% to 80% was obtained at the end of the growing period. Scenario (i) clearly indicated the highest energy recovery, accounting for 439 288 MJ ha⁻¹; the energy recovery of the four scenarios from highest to lowest followed this order: (i) ≫ (iii) ≫ (iv) > (ii). Analysis of the Sida ashes showed a high melting point of >1500 °C, associated with a net calorific value of 16.5–17.2 MJ kg⁻¹. All prerequisites for DIN EN ISO norms were achieved, indicating Sida's advantage as a solid energy carrier without any post-treatment after harvesting. Cell wall analysis of the stems showed a constant lignin content after sampling week 16 (July), whereas cellulose had already reached a plateau in sampling week 4 (April). The results highlight Sida as a promising woody, perennial plant, providing biomass for flexible and multipurpose energy applications. Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/gcbb.12346 SN - 1757-1707 (online) SN - 1757-1693 (print) N1 - Special Issue: Perennial biomass crops for a resource constrained world VL - 9 IS - 1 SP - 202 EP - 214 PB - Wiley-VCH CY - Weinheim ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Müller, Tim M. A1 - Schmitt, Andreas A1 - Leise, Philipp A1 - Meck, Tobias A1 - Altherr, Lena A1 - Pelz, Peter F. A1 - Pfetsch, Marc E. T1 - Validation of an optimized resilient water supply system T2 - Uncertainty in Mechanical Engineering N2 - Component failures within water supply systems can lead to significant performance losses. One way to address these losses is the explicit anticipation of failures within the design process. We consider a water supply system for high-rise buildings, where pump failures are the most likely failure scenarios. We explicitly consider these failures within an early design stage which leads to a more resilient system, i.e., a system which is able to operate under a predefined number of arbitrary pump failures. We use a mathematical optimization approach to compute such a resilient design. This is based on a multi-stage model for topology optimization, which can be described by a system of nonlinear inequalities and integrality constraints. Such a model has to be both computationally tractable and to represent the real-world system accurately. We therefore validate the algorithmic solutions using experiments on a scaled test rig for high-rise buildings. The test rig allows for an arbitrary connection of pumps to reproduce scaled versions of booster station designs for high-rise buildings. We experimentally verify the applicability of the presented optimization model and that the proposed resilience properties are also fulfilled in real systems. KW - Optimization KW - Mixed-integer nonlinear programming KW - Water distribution system KW - Resilience KW - Validation Y1 - 2021 SN - 978-3-030-77255-0 SN - 978-3-030-77256-7 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-77256-7_7 N1 - Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Uncertainty in Mechanical Engineering (ICUME 2021), June 7–8, 2021 SP - 70 EP - 80 PB - Springer CY - Cham ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Ulmer, Jessica A1 - Braun, Sebastian A1 - Cheng, Chi-Tsun A1 - Dowey, Steve A1 - Wollert, Jörg T1 - Usage of digital twins for gamification applications in manufacturing T2 - Procedia CIRP N2 - Gamification applications are on the rise in the manufacturing sector to customize working scenarios, offer user-specific feedback, and provide personalized learning offerings. Commonly, different sensors are integrated into work environments to track workers’ actions. Game elements are selected according to the work task and users’ preferences. However, implementing gamified workplaces remains challenging as different data sources must be established, evaluated, and connected. Developers often require information from several areas of the companies to offer meaningful gamification strategies for their employees. Moreover, work environments and the associated support systems are usually not flexible enough to adapt to personal needs. Digital twins are one primary possibility to create a uniform data approach that can provide semantic information to gamification applications. Frequently, several digital twins have to interact with each other to provide information about the workplace, the manufacturing process, and the knowledge of the employees. This research aims to create an overview of existing digital twin approaches for digital support systems and presents a concept to use digital twins for gamified support and training systems. The concept is based upon the Reference Architecture Industry 4.0 (RAMI 4.0) and includes information about the whole life cycle of the assets. It is applied to an existing gamified training system and evaluated in the Industry 4.0 model factory by an example of a handle mounting. KW - Gamification KW - Digital Twin KW - Support System Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.procir.2022.05.044 SN - 2212-8271 N1 - 55th CIRP Conference on Manufacturing Systems VL - 107 SP - 675 EP - 680 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bialonski, Stephan A1 - Wendler, Martin A1 - Lehnertz, Klaus T1 - Unraveling spurious properties of interaction networks with tailored random networks JF - Plos one N2 - We investigate interaction networks that we derive from multivariate time series with methods frequently employed in diverse scientific fields such as biology, quantitative finance, physics, earth and climate sciences, and the neurosciences. Mimicking experimental situations, we generate time series with finite length and varying frequency content but from independent stochastic processes. Using the correlation coefficient and the maximum cross-correlation, we estimate interdependencies between these time series. With clustering coefficient and average shortest path length, we observe unweighted interaction networks, derived via thresholding the values of interdependence, to possess non-trivial topologies as compared to Erdös-Rényi networks, which would indicate small-world characteristics. These topologies reflect the mostly unavoidable finiteness of the data, which limits the reliability of typically used estimators of signal interdependence. We propose random networks that are tailored to the way interaction networks are derived from empirical data. Through an exemplary investigation of multichannel electroencephalographic recordings of epileptic seizures – known for their complex spatial and temporal dynamics – we show that such random networks help to distinguish network properties of interdependence structures related to seizure dynamics from those spuriously induced by the applied methods of analysis. Y1 - 2011 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0022826 VL - 6 IS - 8 PB - Plos CY - San Francisco ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Rau, Christoph A1 - Alexopoulos, Spiros A1 - Breitbach, Gerd A1 - Hoffschmidt, Bernhard A1 - Latzke, Markus A1 - Sattler, Johannes, Christoph T1 - Transient simulation of a solar-hybrid tower power plant with open volumetric receiver at the location Barstow JF - Energy procedia : proceedings of the SolarPACES 2013 International Conference N2 - In this work the transient simulations of four hybrid solar tower power plant concepts with open-volumetric receiver technology for a location in Barstow-Daggett, USA, are presented. The open-volumetric receiver uses ambient air as heat transfer fluid and the hybridization is realized with a gas turbine. The Rankine cycle is heated by solar-heated air and/or by the gas turbine's flue gases. The plant can be operated in solar-only, hybrid parallel or combined cycle-only mode as well as in any intermediate load levels where the solar portion can vary between 0 to 100%. The simulated plant is based on the configuration of a solar-hybrid power tower project, which is in planning for a site in Northern Algeria. The meteorological data for Barstow-Daggett was taken from the software meteonorm. The solar power tower simulation tool has been developed in the simulation environment MATLAB/Simulink and is validated. Y1 - 2014 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.egypro.2014.03.157 SN - 1876-6102 VL - 49 SP - 1481 EP - 1490 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER -