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The development prospects of the world markets for petroleum and other liquid fuels are diverse and partly contradictory. However, comprehensive changes for the energy supply of the future are essential. Notwithstanding the fact that there are still very large deposits of energy resources from a geological point of view, the finite nature of conventional oil reserves is indisputable. To reduce our dependence on oil, the EU, the USA, and other major economic zones rely on energy diversification. For this purpose, alternative materials and technologies are being sought, and is most obvious in the transport sector. The objective is to progressively replace fossil fuels with renewable and more sustainable fuels. In this respect, biofuels have a pre-eminent position in terms of their capability of blending with fossil fuels and being usable in existing cars without substantial modification. Ethanol can be considered as the primary renewable liquid fuel. In this chapter enzymes, micro-organisms, and processes for ethanol production based on renewable resources are described.
In comparison to crude oil, biorefinery raw materials are challenging in concerns of transport and storage. The plant raw materials are more voluminous, so that shredding and compacting usually are necessary before transport. These mechanical processes can have a negative influence on the subsequent biotechnological processing and shelf life of the raw materials. Various approaches and their effects on renewable raw materials are shown. In addition, aspects of decentralized pretreatment steps are discussed. Another important aspect of pretreatment is the varying composition of the raw materials depending on the growth conditions. This problem can be solved with advanced on-site spectrometric analysis of the material.
The terms bioeconomy and biorefineries are used for a variety of processes and developments. This short introduction is intended to provide a delimitation and clarification of the terminology as well as a classification of current biorefinery concepts. The basic process diagrams of the most important biorefinery types are shown.
Nanotubular tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) particles and RNA-free lower-order coat protein (CP) aggregates have been employed as enzyme carriers in different diagnostic layouts and compared for their influence on biosensor performance. In the following, we describe a label-free electrochemical biosensor for improved glucose detection by use of TMV adapters and the enzyme glucose oxidase (GOD). A specific and efficient immobilization of streptavidin-conjugated GOD ([SA]-GOD) complexes on biotinylated TMV nanotubes or CP aggregates was achieved via bioaffinity binding. Glucose sensors with adsorptively immobilized [SA]-GOD, and with [SA]-GOD cross-linked with glutardialdehyde, respectively, were tested in parallel on the same sensor chip. Comparison of these sensors revealed that TMV adapters enhanced the amperometric glucose detection remarkably, conveying highest sensitivity, an extended linear detection range and fastest response times. These results underline a great potential of an integration of virus/biomolecule hybrids with electronic transducers for applications in biosensorics and biochips. Here, we describe the fabrication and use of amperometric sensor chips combining an array of circular Pt electrodes, their loading with GOD-modified TMV nanotubes (and other GOD immobilization methods), and the subsequent investigations of the sensor performance.
Sampling of dry surfaces for microorganisms is a main component of microbiological safety and is of critical importance in many fields including epidemiology, astrobiology as well as numerous branches of medical and food manufacturing. Aspects of biofilm formation, analysis and removal in aqueous solutions have been thoroughly discussed in literature. In contrast, microbial communities on air-exposed (dry) surfaces have received significantly less attention. Diverse surface sampling methods have been developed in order to address various surfaces and microbial groups, but they notoriously show poor repeatability, low recovery rates and suffer from lack of mutual consistency. Quantitative sampling for viable microorganisms represents a particular challenge, especially on porous and irregular surfaces. Therefore, it is essential to examine in depth the factors involved in microorganisms’ recovery efficiency and accuracy depending on the sampling technique used. Microbial colonization, retention and community composition on different dry surfaces are very complex and rely on numerous physicochemical and biological factors. This study is devoted to analyze and review the (a) physical phenomena and intermolecular forces relevant for microbiological surface sampling; (b) challenges and problems faced by existing sampling methods for viable microorganisms and (c) current directions of engineering and research aimed at improvement of quality and efficiency of microbiological surface sampling.
For pelvic floor disorders that cannot be treated with non-surgical procedures, minimally invasive surgery has become a more frequent and safer repair procedure. More than 20 million prosthetic meshes are implanted each year worldwide. The simple selection of a single synthetic mesh construction for any level and type of pelvic floor dysfunctions without adopting the design to specific requirements increase the risks for mesh related complications. Adverse events are closely related to chronic foreign body reaction, with enhanced formation of scar tissue around the surgical meshes, manifested as pain, mesh erosion in adjacent structures (with organ tissue cut), mesh shrinkage, mesh rejection and eventually recurrence. Such events, especially scar formation depend on effective porosity of the mesh, which decreases discontinuously at a critical stretch when pore areas decrease making the surgical reconstruction ineffective that further augments the re-operation costs. The extent of fibrotic reaction is increased with higher amount of foreign body material, larger surface, small pore size or with inadequate textile elasticity. Standardized studies of different meshes are essential to evaluate influencing factors for the failure and success of the reconstruction. Measurements of elasticity and tensile strength have to consider the mesh anisotropy as result of the textile structure. An appropriate mesh then should show some integration with limited scar reaction and preserved pores that are filled with local fat tissue. This chapter reviews various tissue reactions to different monofilament mesh implants that are used for incontinence and hernia repairs and study their mechanical behavior. This helps to predict the functional and biological outcomes after tissue reinforcement with meshes and permits further optimization of the meshes for the specific indications to improve the success of the surgical treatment.
Human-induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPS-CM) today are widely used for the investigation of normal electromechanical cardiac function, of cardiac medication and of mutations. Computational models are thus established that simulate the behavior of this kind of cells. This section first motivates the modeling of hiPS-CM and then presents and discusses several modeling approaches of microscopic and macroscopic constituents of human-induced pluripotent stem cell-derived and mature human cardiac tissue. The focus is led on the mapping of the computational results one can achieve with these models onto mature human cardiomyocyte models, the latter being the real matter of interest. Model adaptivity is the key feature that is discussed because it opens the way for modeling various biological effects like biological variability, medication, mutation and phenotypical expression. We compare the computational with experimental results with respect to normal cardiac function and with respect to inotropic and chronotropic drug effects. The section closes with a discussion on the status quo of the specificity of computational models and on what challenges have to be solved to reach patient-specificity.
Reconstructive surgery and tissue replacements like ureters or bladders reconstruction have been recently studied, taking into account growth and remodelling of cells since living cells are capable of growing, adapting, remodelling or degrading and restoring in order to deform and respond to stimuli. Hence, shapes of ureters or bladders and their microstructure change during growth and these changes strongly depend on external stimuli such as training. We present the mechanical stimulation of smooth muscle cells in a tubular fibrin-PVDFA scaffold and the modelling of the growth of tissue by stimuli. To this end, mechanotransduction was performed with a kyphoplasty balloon catheter that was guided through the lumen of the tubular structure. The bursting pressure was examined to compare the stability of the incubated tissue constructs. The results showed the significant changes on tissues with training by increasing the burst pressure as a characteristic mechanical property and the smooth muscle cells were more oriented with uniformly higher density. Besides, the computational growth models also exhibited the accurate tendencies of growth of the cells under different external stimuli. Such models may lead to design standards for the better layered tissue structure in reconstructing of tubular organs characterized as composite materials such as intestines, ureters and arteries.
Mechanical forces/tensile stresses are critical determinants of cellular growth, differentiation and migration patterns in health and disease. The innovative “CellDrum technology” was designed for measuring mechanical tensile stress of cultured cell monolayers/thin tissue constructs routinely. These are cultivated on very thin silicone membranes in the so-called CellDrum. The cell layers adhere firmly to the membrane and thus transmit the cell forces generated. A CellDrum consists of a cylinder which is sealed from below with a 4 μm thick, biocompatible, functionalized silicone membrane. The weight of cell culture medium bulbs the membrane out downwards. Membrane indentation is measured. When cells contract due to drug action, membrane, cells and medium are lifted upwards. The induced indentation changes allow for lateral drug induced mechanical tension quantification of the micro-tissues. With hiPS-induced (human) Cardiomyocytes (CM) the CellDrum opens new perspectives of individualized cardiac drug testing. Here, monolayers of self-beating hiPS-CMs were grown in CellDrums. Rhythmic contractions of the hiPS-cells induce membrane up-and-down deflections. The recorded cycles allow for single beat amplitude, single beat duration, integration of the single beat amplitude over the beat time and frequency analysis. Dose effects of agonists and antagonists acting on Ca2+ channels were sensitively and highly reproducibly observed. Data were consistent with published reference data as far as they were available. The combination of the CellDrum technology with hiPS-Cardiomyocytes offers a fast, facile and precise system for pharmacological and toxicological studies. It allows new preclinical basic as well as applied research in pharmacolgy and toxicology.
The methodological discourse of mixed-methods research offers general procedures to combine quantitative and qualitative methods for investigating complex fields of research such as higher education. However, integrating different methods still poses considerable challenges. To move beyond general recommendations for mixed-methods research, this chapter proposes to discuss methodological issues with respect to a particular research domain. Taking current studies on the transition to higher education as an example, the authors first provide an overview of the potentials and limitations of quantitative and qualitative methods in the research domain. Second, they show the need for a conceptual framework grounded in the theory of the research object to guide the integration of different methods and findings. Finally, an example study that investigates transition with regard to the interplay of the individual student and the institutional context serves to illustrate the guiding role of theory. The framework integrates different theoretical perspectives on transition, informs the selection of the research methods, and defines the nexus of the two strands that constitute the mixed-methods design. As the interplay of individual and context is of concern for teaching and learning in general, the example presented may be fruitful for the wider field of higher education research.
Pelvic floor dysfunction (PFD) is characterized by the failure of the levator ani (LA) muscle to maintain the pelvic hiatus, resulting in the descent of the pelvic organs below the pubococcygeal line. This chapter adopts the modified Humphrey material model to consider the effect of the muscle fiber on passive stretching of the LA muscle. The deformation of the LA muscle subjected to intra-abdominal pressure during Valsalva maneuver is compared with the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examination of a nulliparous female. Numerical result shows that the fiber-based Humphrey model simulates the muscle behavior better than isotropic constitutive models. Greater posterior movement of the LA muscle widens the levator hiatus due to lack of support from the anococcygeal ligament and the perineal structure as a consequence of birth-related injury and aging. Old and multiparous females with uncontrolled urogenital and rectal hiatus tend to develop PFDs such as prolapse and incontinence.
Cyber-physical systems are ever more common in manufacturing industries. Increasing their autonomy has been declared an explicit goal, for example, as part of the Industry 4.0 vision. To achieve this system intelligence, principled and software-driven methods are required to analyze sensing data, make goal-directed decisions, and eventually execute and monitor chosen tasks. In this chapter, we present a number of knowledge-based approaches to these problems and case studies with in-depth evaluation results of several different implementations for groups of autonomous mobile robots performing in-house logistics in a smart factory. We focus on knowledge-based systems because besides providing expressive languages and capable reasoning techniques, they also allow for explaining how a particular sequence of actions came about, for example, in the case of a failure.
In this paper we propose a stochastic programming method to analyse limit and shakedown of structures under uncertainty condition of strength. Based on the duality theory, the shakedown load multiplier formulated by the kinematic theorem is proved actually to be the dual form of the shakedown load multiplier formulated by static theorem. In this investigation a dual chance constrained programming algorithm is developed to calculate simultaneously both the upper and lower bounds of the plastic collapse limit and the shakedown limit. The edge-based smoothed finite element method (ES-FEM) with three-node linear triangular elements is used for structural analysis.
The coupling of charged molecules, nanoparticles, and more generally, inorganic/organic nanohybrids with semiconductor field-effect devices based on an electrolyte–insulator–semiconductor (EIS) system represents a very promising strategy for the active tuning of electrochemical properties of these devices and, thus, opening new opportunities for label-free biosensing by the intrinsic charge of molecules. The simplest field-effect sensor is a capacitive EIS sensor, which represents a (bio-)chemically sensitive capacitor. In this chapter, selected examples of recent developments in the field of label-free biosensing using nanomaterial-modified capacitive EIS sensors are summarized. In the first part, we present applications of EIS sensors modified with negatively charged gold nanoparticles for the label-free electrostatic detection of positively charged small proteins and macromolecules, for monitoring the layer-by-layer formation of oppositely charged polyelectrolyte (PE) multilayers as well as for the development of an enzyme-based biomolecular logic gate. In the second part, examples of a label-free detection by means of EIS sensors modified with a positively charged weak PE layer are demonstrated. These include electrical detection of on-chip and in-solution hybridized DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) as well as an EIS sensor with pH-responsive weak PE/enzyme multilayers for enhanced field-effect biosensing.
Bio-feedstocks
(2011)
Because of its minor environmental impact, electricity generation using wind power is getting remarkable. The further growth of the wind industry depends on technological solutions to the challenges in production and construction of the turbines. Wind turbine tower vibrations, which limit power generation efficiency and cause fatigue problems with high maintenance costs, count as one of the main structural difficulties in the wind energy sector. To mitigate tower vibrations auxiliary measures are necessary. The effectiveness of tuned mass damper is verified by means of a numeric study on a 5 MW onshore reference wind turbine. Hereby, also seismic-induced vibrations and soil–structure interaction are considered. Acquired results show that tuned mass damper can effectively reduce resonant tower vibrations and improve the fatigue life of wind turbines. This chapter is also concerned with tuned liquid column damper and a semiactive application of it. Due to its geometric versatility and low prime costs, tuned liquid column dampers are a good alternative to other damping measures, in particular for slender structures like wind turbines.
Changes in intestinal microflora in rats induced by oral exposure to low lead (II) concentrations
(2015)
A concept for the analysis and optimal design of reinforced concrete structures is described. It is based on a nonlinear optimization algorithm and a finite element program for linear and nonlinear analysis of structures. With the aim of minimal cost design a two stage optimization using efficient gradient algorithm is developed. The optimization problems on global (structural) and local (crosssectional) level are formulated. A parallelization concept for solving the two stage optimization problem in minimal time is presented. Examples are included to illustrate the practical use and the effectively of the parallelization in the area of engineering design.
Hydraulic modeling is the classical approach to investigate and describe complex fluid motion. Many empirical formulas in the literature used for the hydraulic design of river training measures and structures have been developed using experimental data from the laboratory. Although computer capacities have increased to a high level which allows to run complex numerical simulations on standard workstation nowadays, non-standard design of structures may still raise the need to perform physical model investigations. These investigations deliver insight into details of flow patterns and the effect of varying boundary conditions. Data from hydraulic model tests may be used for calibration of numerical models as well. As the field of hydraulic modeling is very complex, this chapter intends to give a short overview on capacities and limits of hydraulic modeling in regard to river flows and hydraulic structures only. The reader shall get a first idea of modeling principles and basic considerations. More detailed information can be found in the references.
Lately there has been an increasing concern about uranium toxicity in some districts of Punjab State located in the North Western part of India after the publication of a report (Blaurock-Busch et al. 2010) which showed that the concentration of uranium in hair and urine of children suffering from physical deformities, neurological and mental disorder from Malwa region (Fig. 1) of Punjab State was manifold higher than the reference ranges. A train which connects the affected region with the nearby city of Bikaner which has a Cancer Hospital has been nicknamed as Cancer Express due to the frenzy generated on account of uranium related toxicity.
We present a robotic tool that autonomously follows a conversation to enable remote presence in video conferencing. When humans participate in a meeting with the help of video conferencing tools, it is crucial that they are able to follow the conversation both with acoustic and visual input. To this end, we design and implement a video conferencing tool robot that uses binaural sound source localization as its main source to autonomously orient towards the currently talking speaker. To increase robustness of the acoustic cue against noise we supplement the sound localization with a source detection stage. Also, we include a simple onset detector to retain fast response times. Since we only use two microphones, we are confronted with ambiguities on whether a source is in front or behind the device. We resolve these ambiguities with the help of face detection and additional moves. We tailor the system to our target scenarios in experiments with a four minute scripted conversation. In these experiments we evaluate the influence of different system settings on the responsiveness and accuracy of the device.
The production and assembly of customized products increases the demand for flexible automation systems. One approach is to remove the safety fences that separate human and industrial robot to combine their skills. This collaboration possesses a certain risk for the human co-worker, leading to numerous safety concepts to protect him. The human needs to be monitored and tracked by a safety system using different sensors. The proposed system consists of a RGBD camera for surveillance of the common working area, an array of optical distance sensors to compensate shadowing effects of the RGBD camera and a laser range finder to detect the co-worker when approaching the work cell. The software for collision detection, path planning, robot control and predicting the behaviour of the co-worker is based on the Robot Operating System (ROS). A first prototype of the work cell shows that with advanced algorithms from the field of mobile robotics a very flexible safety concept can be realized: the robot not simply stops its movement when detecting a collision, but plans and executes an alternative path around the obstacle.
Rugged terrain robot designs are important for field robotics missions. A number of commercial platforms are available, however, at an impressive price. In this paper, we describe the hardware and software component of a low-cost wheeled rugged-terrain robot. The robot is based on an electric children quad bike and is modified to be driven by wire. In terms of climbing properties, operation time and payload it can compete with some of the commercially available platforms, but at a far lower price.
Thermal management in E-carsharing vehicles - preconditioning concepts of passenger compartments
(2015)
The issue of thermal management in electric vehicles includes the topics of drivetrain cooling and heating, interior temperature, vehicle body conditioning and safety. In addition to the need to ensure optimal thermal operating conditions of the drivetrain components (drive motor, battery and electrical components), thermal comfort must be provided for the passengers. Thermal comfort is defined as the feeling which expresses the satisfaction of the passengers with the ambient conditions in the compartment. The influencing factors on thermal comfort are the temperature and humidity as well as the speed of the indoor air and the clothing and the activity of the passengers, in addition to the thermal radiation and the temperatures of the interior surfaces. The generation and the maintenance of free visibility (ice- and moisture-free windows) count just as important as on-demand heating and cooling of the entire vehicle. A Carsharing climate concept of the innovative ec2go vehicle stipulates and allows for only seating areas used by passengers to be thermally conditioned in a close-to-body manner. To enable this, a particular feature has been added to the preconditioning of the Carsharing electric vehicle during the electric charging phase at the parking station.
Information and communication technology for integrated mobility concepts such as E-carsharing
(2015)
During the past decade attitude towards sharing things has changed extremely. Not just personal data is shared (e.g. in social networks) but also mobility. Together with the increased ecological awareness of the recent years, new mobility concepts have evolved. E-carsharing has become a symbol for these changes of attitude. The management of a shared car fleet, the energy management of electric mobility and the management of various carsharing users with individual likes and dislikes are just some of the major challenges of e-carsharing. Weaving it into integrated mobility concepts, this raises complexity even further. These challenges can only be overcome by an appropriate amount of well-shaped information available at the right place and time. In order to gather, process and share the required information, fleet cars have to be equipped with modern information and communication technology (ICT) and become so-called fully connected cars. Ensuring the usability of these ICT systems is another challenge that is often neglected, even though it is usability that makes carsharing comfortable, attractive and supports users’ new attitudes. By means of an integrated and consistent concept for human-machine interaction (HMI), the usability of such systems can be raised tremendously.
For a wide acceptance of E-Mobility, a well-developed charging infrastructure is needed. Conductive charging stations, which are today’s state of the art, are of limited suitability for urbanised areas, since they cause a significant diversification in townscape. Furthermore, they might be destroyed by vandalism. Besides for those urbanistic reasons, inductive charging stations are a much more comfortable alternative, especially in urbanised areas. The usage of conductive charging stations requires more or less bulky charging cables. The handling of those standardised charging cables, especially during poor weather conditions, might cause inconvenience, such as dirty clothing etc. Wireless charging does not require visible and vandalism vulnerable charge sticks. No wired connection between charging station and vehicle is needed, which enable the placement below the surface of parking spaces or other points of interest. Inductive charging seems to be the optimal alternative for E-Mobility, as a high power transfer can be realised with a manageable technical and financial effort. For a well-accepted and working public charging infrastructure in urbanised areas it is essential that the infrastructure fits the vehicles’ needs. Hence, a well-adjusted standardisation of the charging infrastructure is essential. This is carried out by several IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) and national standardisation committees. To ensure an optimised technical solution for future’s inductive charging infrastructures, several field tests had been carried out and are planned in near future.
RGB-D sensors such as the Microsoft Kinect or the Asus Xtion are inexpensive 3D sensors. A depth image is computed by calculating the distortion of a known infrared light (IR) pattern which is projected into the scene. While these sensors are great devices they have some limitations. The distance they can measure is limited and they suffer from reflection problems on transparent, shiny, or very matte and absorbing objects. If more than one RGB-D camera is used the IR patterns interfere with each other. This results in a massive loss of depth information. In this paper, we present a simple and powerful method to overcome these problems. We propose a stereo RGB-D camera system which uses the pros of RGB-D cameras and combine them with the pros of stereo camera systems. The idea is to utilize the IR images of each two sensors as a stereo pair to generate a depth map. The IR patterns emitted by IR projectors are exploited here to enhance the dense stereo matching even if the observed objects or surfaces are texture-less or transparent. The resulting disparity map is then fused with the depth map offered by the RGB-D sensor to fill the regions and the holes that appear because of interference, or due to transparent or reflective objects. Our results show that the density of depth information is increased especially for transparent, shiny or matte objects.
This paper presents a numerical procedure for reliability analysis of thin plates and shells with respect to plastic collapse or to inadaptation. The procedure involves a deterministic shakedown analysis for each probabilistic iteration, which is based on the upper bound approach and the use of the exact Ilyushin yield surface. Probabilistic shakedown analysis deals with uncertainties originated from the loads, material strength and thickness of the shell. Based on a direct definition of the limit state function, the calculation of the failure probability may be efficiently solved by using the First and Second Order Reliability Methods (FORM and SORM). The problem of reliability of structural systems (series systems) is handled by the application of a special technique which permits to find all the design points corresponding to all the failure modes. Studies show, in this case, that it improves considerably the FORM and SORM results.
For the sterilisation of aseptic food packages it is taken advantage of the microbicidal properties of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). Especially, when applied in vapour phase, it has shown high potential of microbial inactivation. In addition, it offers a high environmental compatibility compared to other chemical sterilisation agents, as it decomposes into oxygen and water, respectively. Due to a lack in sensory detection possibilities, a continuous monitoring of the H2O2 concentration was recently not available. Instead, the sterilisation efficacy is validated using microbiological tests. However, progresses in the development of calorimetric gas sensors during the last 7 years have made it possible to monitor the H2O2 concentration during operation. This chapter deals with the fundamentals of calorimetric gas sensing with special focus on the detection of gaseous hydrogen peroxide. A sensor principle based on a calorimetric differential set-up is described. Special emphasis is given to the sensor design with respect to the operational requirements under field conditions. The state-of-the-art regarding a sensor set-up for the on-line monitoring and secondly, a miniaturised sensor for in-line monitoring are summarised. Furthermore, alternative detection methods and a novel multi-sensor system for the characterisation of aseptic sterilisation processes are described.
Successful bone sawing requires a high level of skill and experience, which could be gained by the use of Virtual Reality-based simulators. A key aspect of these medical simulators is realistic force feedback. The aim of this paper is to model the bone sawing process in order to develop a valid training simulator for the bilateral sagittal split osteotomy, the most often applied corrective surgery in case of a malposition of the mandible. Bone samples from a human cadaveric mandible were tested using a designed experimental system. Image processing and statistical analysis were used for the selection of four models for the bone sawing process. The results revealed a polynomial dependency between the material removal rate and the applied force. Differences between the three segments of the osteotomy line and between the cortical and cancellous bone were highlighted.