TY - JOUR A1 - Lind, Thorsten Patric T1 - Insolvenzanfechtung: Keine Gläubigerbenachteiligung bei Ablösezahlung gegen Forderungsverzicht JF - Der Betrieb N2 - Schwerpunkt einer vorinsolvenzlichen Sanierung ist i.d.R., dass einzelne Gläubiger gegen Teilzahlungen auf ihre Forderungen verzichten und somit dem Unternehmen den notwendigen finanziellen Freiraum für einen Turnaround geben. Die Motivation der Gläubiger für einen Verzicht ist dabei auch die Überlegung, dass eine quotale Befriedigung im Rahmen eines Insolvenzverfahrens oft wesentlich geringer ausfallen würde als die durch den Vergleich realisierte Teilzahlung. Das Risiko, im Falle der Insolvenz eine Teilzahlung im Rahmen der Insolvenzanfechtung aber wieder zurückgewähren zu müssen, macht einen Forderungsverzicht weniger attraktiv. Mit Urteil vom 28.01.2016 hat der BGH nun entschieden, dass eine Insolvenzanfechtung mangels Gläubigerbenachteiligung ausscheidet, wenn der in der Teilzahlung liegende Vermögensverlust durch den damit verbundenen Verzicht auf die Restforderung voll ausgeglichen wird. Im Folgenden wird untersucht, ob dieses Urteil als Blaupause für eine anfechtungsfeste Restrukturierung einzelner Verbindlichkeiten dienen kann. Y1 - 2016 SN - 0005-9935 N1 - Printausgabe in der Bibliothek Eupener Str. vorhanden: 43 Z 364 VL - 69 IS - 17 SP - 999 EP - 1001 PB - Fachmedien Otto Schmidt CY - Düsseldorf ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Arreola, Julio A1 - Mätzkow, Malte A1 - Durán, Marlena Palomar A1 - Greeff, Anton A1 - Keusgen, Michael A1 - Schöning, Michael Josef T1 - Optimization of the immobilization of bacterial spores on glass substrates with organosilanes JF - Physica status solidi (A) : Applications and materials science N2 - Spores can be immobilized on biosensors to function as sensitive recognition elements. However, the immobilization can affect the sensitivity and reproducibility of the sensor signal. In this work, three different immobilization strategies with organosilanes were optimized and characterized to immobilize Bacillus atrophaeus spores on glass substrates. Five different silanization parameters were investigated: nature of the solvent, concentration of the silane, silanization time, curing process, and silanization temperature. The resulting silane layers were resistant to a buffer solution (e.g., Ringer solution) with a polysorbate (e.g., Tween®80) and sonication. KW - silanization KW - organosilanes KW - immobilization KW - endospores KW - biosensors KW - Bacillus atrophaeus Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/pssa.201532914 SN - 1862-6319 VL - 213 IS - 6 SP - 1463 EP - 1470 PB - Wiley-VCH CY - Weinheim ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wu, Chunsheng A1 - Poghossian, Arshak A1 - Bronder, Thomas A1 - Schöning, Michael Josef T1 - Sensing of double-stranded DNA molecules by their intrinsic molecular charge using the light-addressable potentiometric sensor JF - Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical N2 - A multi-spot light-addressable potentiometric sensor (LAPS), which belongs to the family of semiconductor field-effect devices, was applied for label-free detection of double-stranded deoxyribonucleic acid (dsDNA) molecules by their intrinsic molecular charge. To reduce the distance between the DNA charge and sensor surface and thus, to enhance the electrostatic coupling between the dsDNA molecules and the LAPS, the negatively charged dsDNA molecules were electrostatically adsorbed onto the gate surface of the LAPS covered with a positively charged weak polyelectrolyte layer of PAH (poly(allylamine hydrochloride)). The surface potential changes in each spot of the LAPS, induced by the layer-by-layer adsorption of a PAH/dsDNA bilayer, were recorded by means of photocurrent-voltage and constant-photocurrent measurements. In addition, the surface morphology of the gate surface before and after consecutive electrostatic adsorption of PAH and dsDNA layers was studied by atomic force microscopy measurements. Moreover, fluorescence microscopy was used to verify the successful adsorption of dsDNA molecules onto the PAH-modified LAPS surface. A high sensor signal of 25 mV was registered after adsorption of 10 nM dsDNA molecules. The lower detection limit is down to 0.1 nM dsDNA. The obtained results demonstrate that the PAH-modified LAPS device provides a convenient and rapid platform for the direct label-free electrical detection of in-solution hybridized dsDNA molecules. KW - Layer-by-layer adsorption KW - Poly(allylamine hydrochloride) KW - Label-free detection KW - DNA biosensor KW - LAPS KW - Field effect Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.snb.2016.02.004 SN - 0925-4005 IS - 229 SP - 506 EP - 512 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mykoniou, Konstantin A1 - Butenweg, Christoph A1 - Holtschoppen, Britta A1 - Klinkel, Sven T1 - Seismic response analysis of adjacent liquid-storage tanks JF - Earthquake engineering and structural dynamics N2 - A refined substructure technique in the frequency domain is developed, which permits consideration of the interaction effects among adjacent containers through the supporting deformable soil medium. The tank-liquid systems are represented by means of mechanical models, whereas discrete springs and dashpots stand for the soil beneath the foundations. The proposed model is employed to assess the responses of adjacent circular, cylindrical tanks for harmonic and seismic excitations over wide range of tank proportions and soil conditions. The influence of the number, spatial arrangement of the containers and their distance on the overall system's behavior is addressed. The results indicate that the cross-interaction effects can substantially alter the impulsive components of response of each individual element in a tank farm. The degree of this impact is primarily controlled by the tank proportions and the proximity of the predominant natural frequencies of the shell-liquid-soil systems and the input seismic motion. The group effects should be not a priori disregarded, unless the tanks are founded on shallow soil deposit overlying very stiff material or bedrock. KW - liquid-structure interaction KW - seismic response KW - impulsive effects KW - liquid-storage tank KW - structure-soil-structure interaction Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/eqe.2726 SN - 1096-9845 (E-Journal); 0098-8847 (Print) VL - 45 IS - 11 SP - 1779 EP - 1796 PB - Wiley-VCH CY - Weinheim ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Levers, A. A1 - Staat, Manfred A1 - Laack, Walter van T1 - Analysis of the long-term effect of the MBST® nuclear magnetic resonance therapy on gonarthrosis JF - Orthopedic Practice Y1 - 2016 VL - 47 IS - 11 SP - 521 EP - 528 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Koster, Arie A1 - Scheidweiler, Robert A1 - Tieves, Martin T1 - A flow based pruning scheme for enumerative equitable coloring algorithms JF - A flow based pruning scheme for enumerative equitable coloring algorithms N2 - An equitable graph coloring is a proper vertex coloring of a graph G where the sizes of the color classes differ by at most one. The equitable chromatic number is the smallest number k such that G admits such equitable k-coloring. We focus on enumerative algorithms for the computation of the equitable coloring number and propose a general scheme to derive pruning rules for them: We show how the extendability of a partial coloring into an equitable coloring can be modeled via network flows. Thus, we obtain pruning rules which can be checked via flow algorithms. Computational experiments show that the search tree of enumerative algorithms can be significantly reduced in size by these rules and, in most instances, such naive approach even yields a faster algorithm. Moreover, the stability, i.e., the number of solved instances within a given time limit, is greatly improved. Since the execution of flow algorithms at each node of a search tree is time consuming, we derive arithmetic pruning rules (generalized Hall-conditions) from the network model. Adding these rules to an enumerative algorithm yields an even larger runtime improvement. Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.1607.08754 N1 - Lehrstuhl II für Mathematik, RWTH Aachen University SP - 1 EP - 30 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Beckenbach, Isabel A1 - Scheidweiler, Robert T1 - Perfect ƒ-Matchings and ƒ-Factors in Hypergraphs - A Combinatorial Approach JF - Discrete Mathematics N2 - We prove characterizations of the existence of perfect ƒ-matchings in uniform mengerian and perfect hypergraphs. Moreover, we investigate the ƒ-factor problem in balanced hypergraphs. For uniform balanced hypergraphs we prove two existence theorems with purely combinatorial arguments, whereas for non-uniform balanced hypergraphs we show that the ƒ-factor problem is NP-hard. Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.disc.2017.05.005 SN - 2192-7782 N1 - Als Volltext auch bei ZIB (Zuse Institute Berlin) VL - 240 IS - 10 SP - 2499 EP - 2506 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Scheidweiler, Robert A1 - Triesch, Eberhard T1 - A note on the duality between matchings and vertex covers in balanced hypergraphs JF - Journal of Combinatorial Optimization N2 - We present a new Min-Max theorem for an optimization problem closely connected to matchings and vertex covers in balanced hypergraphs. The result generalizes Kőnig’s Theorem (Berge and Las Vergnas in Ann N Y Acad Sci 175:32–40, 1970; Fulkerson et al. in Math Progr Study 1:120–132, 1974) and Hall’s Theorem (Conforti et al. in Combinatorica 16:325–329, 1996) for balanced hypergraphs. KW - Hall’s Theorem KW - Koenig’s Theorem KW - Duality KW - Balanced hypergraph KW - Hypergraph KW - Vertex cover KW - Matching Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10878-015-9887-5 SN - 1573-2886 N1 - Lehrstuhl II für Mathematik RWTH Aachen VL - 32 IS - 2 SP - 639 EP - 644 PB - Springer CY - Berlin ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Niedermeyer, Angela A1 - Zhou, Bei A1 - Dursun, Gözde A1 - Temiz Artmann, Aysegül A1 - Markert, Bernd T1 - An examination of tissue engineered scaffolds in a bioreactor JF - Proceedings in Applied Mathematics and Mechanics PAMM N2 - Replacement tissues, designed to fill in articular cartilage defects, should exhibit the same properties as the native material. The aim of this study is to foster the understanding of, firstly, the mechanical behavior of the material itself and, secondly, the influence of cultivation parameters on cell seeded implants as well as on cell migration into acellular implants. In this study, acellular cartilage replacement material is theoretically, numerically and experimentally investigated regarding its viscoelastic properties, where a phenomenological model for practical applications is developed. Furthermore, remodeling and cell migration are investigated. Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/pamm.201610038 SN - 1617-7061 N1 - Joint Annual Meeting of DMV and GAMM 2016, 87th Annual Meeting of the International Association of Applied Mathematics and Mechanics (GAMM) and Deutsche Mathematiker-Vereinigung (DMV), Braunschweig, DE, Mar 7-11, 2016 VL - 16 IS - 1 SP - 99 EP - 100 PB - Wiley-VCH CY - Weinheim ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Rieper, Harald A1 - Gebhardt, Andreas A1 - Stucker, Brent T1 - Selective Laser Melting of the Eutectic Silver-Copper Alloy Ag 28 wt % Cu JF - RTejournal - Forum für Rapid Technologie N2 - The aim of this work was to perform a detailed investigation of the use of Selective Laser Melting (SLM) technology to process eutectic silver-copper alloy Ag 28 wt. % Cu (also called AgCu28). The processing occurred with a Realizer SLM 50 desktop machine. The powder analysis (SEM-topography, EDX, particle distribution) was reported as well as the absorption rates for the near-infrared (NIR) spectrum. Microscope imaging showed the surface topography of the manufactured parts. Furthermore, microsections were conducted for the analysis of porosity. The Design of Experiments approach used the response surface method in order to model the statistical relationship between laser power, spot distance and pulse time. KW - SLM KW - Response Surface Method KW - Porositat KW - Eutectic Silver Copper alloy KW - Additive Manufacturing Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?nbn:de:0009-2-44141 SN - 1614-0923 VL - 13 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Pinkenburg, Olaf A1 - Schiffels, Johannes A1 - Selmer, Thorsten T1 - Das CoLibry-Konzept – ein Werkzeugkasten für die Synthetische Biologie: Bioproduktion JF - BIOspektrum N2 - Regardless of size or destination, synthetic biology starts with com-parably small information units, which need to be combined and properly arranged in order to achieve a certain goal. This may be the de novo synthesis of individual genes from oligonucleotides, a shuffling of protein domains in order to create novel biocatalysts, the assembly of multiple enzyme encoding genes in metabolic pathway design, or strain development at the production stage. The CoLibry concept has been designed in order to close the gap between recombinant production of individual genes and genome editing. Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12268-016-0734-8 VL - 22 IS - 6 SP - 593 EP - 595 PB - Springer CY - Berlin ER - TY - JOUR A1 - König, Johannes Alexander A1 - Völker, Veronika A1 - Wolf, Martin A1 - Schuba, Marko T1 - Gamified Hacking Offence Simulation-based Training (GHOST) JF - Crisis Prevention Y1 - 2016 VL - 2016 IS - 3 SP - 44 EP - 46 PB - Beta CY - Bonn 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 - JOUR A1 - Valero, Daniel A1 - Bung, Daniel B. T1 - Sensitivity of turbulent Schmidt number and turbulence model to simulations of jets in crossflow JF - Environmental Modelling and Software N2 - Environmental discharges have been traditionally designed by means of cost-intensive and time-consuming experimental studies. Some extensively validated models based on an integral approach have been often employed for water quality problems, as recommended by USEPA (i.e.: CORMIX). In this study, FLOW-3D is employed for a full 3D RANS modelling of two turbulent jet-to-crossflow cases, including free surface jet impingement. Results are compared to both physical modelling and CORMIX to better assess model performance. Turbulence measurements have been collected for a better understanding of turbulent diffusion's parameter sensitivity. Although both studied models are generally able to reproduce jet trajectory, jet separation downstream of the impingement has been reproduced only by RANS modelling. Additionally, concentrations are better reproduced by FLOW-3D when the proper turbulent Schmidt number is used. This study provides a recommendation on the selection of the turbulence model and the turbulent Schmidt number for future outfall structures design studies. Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2016.04.030 SN - 1364-8152 (electronic) VL - 82 SP - 218 EP - 228 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Heinze, D. A1 - Mang, Thomas A1 - Popescu, C. A1 - Weichold, O. T1 - Effect of side chain length and degree of polymerization on the decomposition and crystallization behaviour of chlorinated poly(vinyl ester) oligomers JF - Thermochimica Acta N2 - Four members of a homologous series of chlorinated poly(vinyl ester) oligomers CCl₃–(CH₂CH (OCO(CH₂)ₘCH₃))ₙ–Cl with degrees of polymerization of 10 and 20 were prepared by telomerisation using carbon tetrachloride. The number of side chain carbon atoms ranges from 2 (poly(vinyl acetate) to 18 (poly(vinyl stearate)). The effect of the n-alkyl side chain length and of the degree of polymerization on the thermal stability and crystallization behaviour of the synthesized compounds was investigated. All oligomers degrade in two major steps by first losing HCl and side chains with subsequent breakdown of the backbone. The members with short side chains, up to poly(vinyl octanoate), are amorphous and show internal plasticization, whereas those with high number of side chain carbon atoms are semi-crystalline due to side-chain crystallization. A better packing for poly(vinyl stearate) is also noticeable. The glass transition and melting temperatures as well as the onset temperature of decomposition are influenced to a larger extent by the side chain length than by the degree of polymerization. Thermal stability is improved if both the size and number of side chains increase, but only a long side chain causes a significant increase of the resistance to degradation. This results in a stabilization of PVAc so that oligomers from poly(vinyl octanoate) on are stable under atmospheric conditions. Thus, the way to design stable, chlorinated PVEs oligomers is to use a long n-alkyl side chain. Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tca.2016.05.015 SN - 0040-6031 (electronic) VL - 637 SP - 143 EP - 153 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kotliar, Konstantin A1 - Lanzl, I. M. T1 - Mit Statistik gemeistert: perfekte Augentropfen und idealer Screeningtest : Möglichkeiten und Grenzen statistischer Methoden beim Glaukom JF - Der Ophthalmologe: Zeitschrift Der Deutschen Ophthalmologischen Gesellschaft N2 - Hintergrund Die Anwendung und das Verständnis von Statistik sind sehr wichtig für die biomedizinische Forschung und für die klinische Praxis. Dies gilt insbesondere auch zur Abschätzung der Möglichkeiten unterschiedlichster Diagnostik- und Therapieoptionen beim Glaukom. Die scheinbare Komplexität der Statistik, die zum Teil dem „gesunden Menschenverstand“ zu widersprechen scheint, zusammen mit der nur vorsichtigen Akzeptanz der Statistik bei vielen Medizinern können zu bewussten und unbewussten Manipulationen bei der Datendarstellung und -interpretation führen. Ziel der Arbeit Ziel ist die verständliche Darstellung einiger typischer Fehler in der medizinisch-statistischen Datenbehandlung. Material und Methoden Anhand hypothetischer Beispiele aus der Glaukomdiagnostik erfolgen die Darstellung der Wirkung eines hypotensiven Medikamentes sowie die Beurteilung der Ergebnisse eines diagnostischen Tests. Es werden die typischsten statistischen Einsatzbereiche und Irrtumsquellen ausführlich und verständlich analysiert Ergebnisse Mechanismen von Datenmanipulation und falscher Dateninterpretation werden aufgeklärt. Typische Irrtumsquellen bei der statistischen Auswertung und Datendarstellung werden dabei erläutert. Schlussfolgerungen Die erläuterten praktischen Beispiele zeigen die Notwendigkeit, die Grundlagen der Statistik zu verstehen und korrekt anwenden zu können. Fehlendes Grundlagenwissen und Halbwissen der medizinischen Statistik können zu folgenschweren Missverständnissen und falschen Entscheidungen in der medizinischen Forschung, aber auch in der klinischen Praxis führen. Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00347-016-0312-y SN - 0941-293X SN - 1433-0423 N1 - Englischer Titel: Mastered with statistics: perfect eye drops and ideal screening test : possibilities and limits of statistical methods for glaucoma IS - 113 SP - 838 EP - 843 PB - Springer CY - Berlin ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Lind, Thorsten Patric T1 - Zurechenbarkeit des als Mitglied des Aufsichtsrats einer Aktiengesellschaft erlangten Wissens des Prokuristen einer Bank : BGH, Urteil vom 26.04.2016 - XI ZR 108/15 (OLG München) JF - LMK : kommentierte BGH-Rechtsprechung ; in Zsarb. mit der Neuen Juristischen Wochenschrift / Lindenmaier-Möhring N2 - Mit der vorliegenden, parallel entsprechend in 10 weiteren Verfahren ergangenen Entscheidung behandelte der BGH zum wiederholten Male das Geschäftsmodell der Accessio Wertpapierhandelshaus AG („A AG“, früher: Wertpapierhandelshaus Driver & Bengsch AG). Die klagenden Anleger, zunächst nur akquiriert durch ein Tagesgeldkonto mit besonders attraktiven Zinsen, schlossen im Weiteren mit dieser einen Vermögensverwaltungsvertrag ab. Zur Abwicklung der Wertpapiergeschäfte eröffneten sie über die A AG zugleich ein Depotkonto bei der beklagten Discount-Brokerin. Für dieses erhielt die A AG eine Transaktionsvollmacht. Die Discount-Brokerin schuldete nach den Vertragsdokumenten über die gesetzlichen Aufklärungs- und Erkundigungspflichten bei Auftragsausführung hinaus keine Anlageberatung („execution-only-business“). Durch nach ihrer Behauptung fehlerhafte Anlageberatung der A AG erlitten die Anleger einen Schaden. In dem Rechtsstreit verlangten sie dessen Ersatz von der Discount-Brokerin, da die A AG zwischenzeitlich insolvent wurde. Y1 - 2016 SN - 1611-1095 SP - 380532 PB - Beck CY - München ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kern, Alexander T1 - Blitz- und Überspannungsschutz von Kernkraftwerken - Nachweisführung der ausreichenden Sicherheit für leittechnische Einrichtungen auch bei Blitzeinschlägen mit extremen Parametern JF - Atw. International Journal for Nuclear Power N2 - Für das Auftreten extremer Wetterereignisse werden für Kernkraftwerke Eintrittshäufigkeiten für nicht mehr beherrschbare Zustände von unter 10⁻⁴/a gefordert. Dies gilt auch für die Einwirkung von Blitzeinschlägen. Die bisherige Nachweisführung zu Blitz- und Überspannungsschutz eines KKW in Deutschland ist deterministisch. In diesem Bericht werden das Vorgehen für einen entsprechenden Nachweis für leittechnische Einrichtungen der Sicherheitstechnik von KKW, der zur geforderten Zielgröße der Eintrittshäufigkeit führt. Die Ergebnisse werden zusammenfassend bewertet. Y1 - 2016 SN - 1431-5254 VL - 61 IS - 8/9 SP - 534 EP - 543 PB - Inforum CY - Berlin 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 - Wagner, Torsten A1 - Vornholt, Wolfgang A1 - Werner, Frederik A1 - Yoshinobu, Tatsuo A1 - Miyamoto, Ko-Ichiro A1 - Keusgen, Michael A1 - Schöning, Michael Josef T1 - Light-addressable potentiometric sensor (LAPS) combined with magnetic beads for pharmaceutical screening JF - Physics in medicine N2 - The light-addressable potentiometric sensor (LAPS) has the unique feature to address different regions of a sensor surface without the need of complex structures. Measurements at different locations on the sensor surface can be performed in a common analyte solution, which distinctly simplifies the fluidic set-up. However, the measurement in a single analyte chamber prevents the application of different drugs or different concentrations of a drug to each measurement spot at the same time as in the case of multi-reservoir-based set-ups. In this work, the authors designed a LAPS-based set-up for cell culture screening that utilises magnetic beads loaded with the endotoxin (lipopolysaccharides, LPS), to generate a spatially distributed gradient of analyte concentration. Different external magnetic fields can be adjusted to move the magnetic beads loaded with a specific drug within the measurement cell. By recording the metabolic activities of a cell layer cultured on top of the LAPS surface, this work shows the possibility to apply different concentrations of a sample along the LAPS measurement spots within a common analyte solution. Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.phmed.2016.03.001 SN - 2352-4510 VL - 2016 IS - 1 SP - 2 EP - 7 ER -