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The development of resilient technical systems is a challenging task, as the system should adapt automatically to unknown disturbances and component failures. To evaluate different approaches for deriving resilient technical system designs, we developed a modular test rig that is based on a pumping system. On the basis of this example
system, we present metrics to quantify resilience and an algorithmic approach to improve resilience. This approach enables the pumping system to automatically react on unknown disturbances and to reduce the impact of component failures. In this case, the system is able to automatically adapt its topology by activating additional valves. This enables the system to still reach a minimum performance, even in case of failures. Furthermore, timedependent disturbances are evaluated continuously, deviations from the original state are automatically detected and anticipated in the future. This allows to reduce the impact of future disturbances and leads to a more resilient
system behaviour.
To maximize the travel distances of battery electric vehicles such as cars or buses for a given amount of stored energy, their powertrains are optimized energetically. One key part within optimization models for electric powertrains is the efficiency map of the electric motor. The underlying function is usually highly nonlinear and nonconvex and leads to major challenges within a global optimization process. To enable faster solution times, one possibility is the usage of piecewise linearization techniques to approximate the nonlinear efficiency map with linear constraints. Therefore, we evaluate the influence of different piecewise linearization modeling techniques on the overall solution process and compare the solution time and accuracy for methods with and without explicitly used binary variables.
Water suppliers are faced with the great challenge of achieving high-quality and, at the same time, low-cost water supply. Since climatic and demographic influences will pose further challenges in the future, the resilience enhancement of water distribution systems (WDS), i.e. the enhancement of their capability to withstand and recover from disturbances, has been in particular focus recently. To assess the resilience of WDS, graph-theoretical metrics have been proposed. In this study, a promising approach is first physically derived analytically and then applied to assess the resilience of the WDS for a district in a major German City. The topology based resilience index computed for every consumer node takes into consideration the resistance of the best supply path as well as alternative supply paths. This resistance of a supply path is derived to be the dimensionless pressure loss in the pipes making up the path. The conducted analysis of a present WDS provides insight into the process of actively influencing the resilience of WDS locally and globally by adding pipes. The study shows that especially pipes added close to the reservoirs and main branching points in the WDS result in a high resilience enhancement of the overall WDS.
Water distribution systems are an essential supply infrastructure for cities. Given that climatic and demographic influences will pose further challenges for these infrastructures in the future, the resilience of water supply systems, i.e. their ability to withstand and recover from disruptions, has recently become a subject of research. To assess the resilience of a WDS, different graph-theoretical approaches exist. Next to general metrics characterizing the network topology, also hydraulic and technical restrictions have to be taken into account. In this work, the resilience of an exemplary water distribution network of a major German city is assessed, and a Mixed-Integer Program is presented which allows to assess the impact of capacity adaptations on its resilience.
Biocomposite Materials Based on Carbonized Rice Husk in Biomedicine and Environmental Applications
(2020)
This chapter describes the prospects for biomedical and environmental engineering applications of heterogeneous materials based on nanostructured carbonized rice husk. Efforts in engineering enzymology are focused on the following directions: development and optimization of immobilization methods leading to novel biotechnological and biomedical applications; construction of biocomposite materials based on individual enzymes, multi-enzyme complexes and whole cells, targeted on realization of specific industrial processes. Molecular biological and biochemical studies on cell adhesion focus predominantly on identification, isolation and structural analysis of attachment-responsible biological molecules and their genetic determinants. The chapter provides a short overview of applications of the biocomposite materials based of nanostructured carbonized adsorbents. It emphasizes that further studies and better understanding of the interactions between CNS and microbial cells are necessary. The future use of living cells as biocatalysts, especially in the environmental field, needs more systematic investigations of the microbial adsorption phenomenon.
Reinforced concrete (RC) structures with masonry infills are widely used for several types of buildings all over the world. However, it is well known that traditional masonry infills constructed with rigid contact to the surrounding RC frame performed rather poor in past earthquakes. Masonry infills showed severe in-plane damages and failed in many cases under out-of-plane seismic loading. As the undesired interactions between frames and infills changes the load transfer on building level, complete collapses of buildings were observed. A possible solution is uncoupling of masonry infills to the frame to reduce the infill contribution activated by the frame deformation under horizontal loading. The paper presents numerical simulations on RC frames equipped with the innovative decoupling system INODIS. The system was developed within the European project INSYSME and allows an effective uncoupling of frame and infill. The simulations are carried out with a micro-modelling approach, which is able to predict the complex nonlinear behaviour resulting from the different materials and their interaction. Each brick is modelled individually and connected taking into account nonlinearity of a brick mortar interface. The calibration of the model is based on small specimen tests and experimental results for one bay one storey frame are used for the validation. The validated model is further used for parametric studies on two storey and two bay infilled frames. The response and change of the structural stiffness are analysed and compared to the traditionally infilled frame. The results confirm the effectiveness of the INODIS system with less damage and relatively low contribution of the infill at high drift levels. In contrast to the uncoupled system configurations, traditionally infilled frames experienced brittle failure at rather low drift levels.
Masonry is used in many buildings not only for load-bearing walls, but also for non-load-bearing enclosure elements in the form of infill walls. Many studies confirmed that infill walls interact with the surrounding reinforced concrete frame, thus changing dynamic characteristics of the structure. Consequently, masonry infills cannot be neglected in the design process. However, although the relevant standards contain requirements for infill walls, they do not describe how these requirements are to be met concretely. This leads in practice to the fact that the infill walls are neither dimensioned nor constructed correctly. The evidence of this fact is confirmed by the recent earthquakes, which have led to enormous damages, sometimes followed by the total collapse of buildings and loss of human lives. Recently, the increasing effort has been dedicated to the approach of decoupling of masonry infills from the frame elements by introducing the gap in between. This helps in removing the interaction between infills and frame, but raises the question of out-of-plane stability of the panel. This paper presents the results of the experimental campaign showing the out-of-plane behavior of masonry infills decoupled with the system called INODIS (Innovative decoupled infill system), developed within the European project INSYSME (Innovative Systems for Earthquake Resistant Masonry Enclosures in Reinforced Concrete Buildings). Full scale specimens were subjected to the different loading conditions and combinations of in-plane and out-of-plane loading. Out-of-plane capacity of the masonry infills with the INODIS system is compared with traditionally constructed infills, showing that INODIS system provides reliable out-of-plane connection under various loading conditions. In contrast, traditional infills performed very poor in the case of combined and simultaneously applied in-plane and out-of-plane loading, experiencing brittle behavior under small in-plane drifts followed by high out-of-plane displacements. Decoupled infills with the INODIS system have remained stable under out-of-plane loads, even after reaching high in-plane drifts and being damaged.
There is a very large number of very important situations which can be modeled with nonlinear parabolic partial differential equations (PDEs) in several dimensions. In general, these PDEs can be solved by discretizing in the spatial variables and transforming them into huge systems of ordinary differential equations (ODEs), which are very stiff. Therefore, standard explicit methods require a large number of iterations to solve stiff problems. But implicit schemes are computationally very expensive when solving huge systems of nonlinear ODEs. Several families of Extrapolated Stabilized Explicit Runge-Kutta schemes (ESERK) with different order of accuracy (3 to 6) are derived and analyzed in this work. They are explicit methods, with stability regions extended, along the negative real semi-axis, quadratically with respect to the number of stages s, hence they can be considered to solve stiff problems much faster than traditional explicit schemes. Additionally, they allow the adaptation of the step length easily with a very small cost.
Two new families of ESERK schemes (ESERK3 and ESERK6) are derived, and analyzed, in this work. Each family has more than 50 new schemes, with up to 84.000 stages in the case of ESERK6. For the first time, we also parallelized all these new variable step length and variable number of stages algorithms (ESERK3, ESERK4, ESERK5, and ESERK6). These parallelized strategies allow to decrease times significantly, as it is discussed and also shown numerically in two problems. Thus, the new codes provide very good results compared to other well-known ODE solvers. Finally, a new strategy is proposed to increase the efficiency of these schemes, and it is discussed the idea of combining ESERK families in one code, because typically, stiff problems have different zones and according to them and the requested tolerance the optimum order of convergence is different.
We generalize our work on Carlitz prime power torsion extension to torsion extensions of Drinfeld modules of arbitrary rank. As in the Carlitz case, we give a description of these extensions in terms of evaluations of Anderson generating functions and their hyperderivatives at roots of unity. We also give a direct proof that the image of the Galois representation attached to the p-adic Tate module lies in the p-adic points of the motivic Galois group. This is a generalization of the corresponding result of Chang and Papanikolas for the t-adic case.
The chemical industry is one of the most important industrial sectors in Germany in terms of manufacturing revenue. While thermodynamic boundary conditions often restrict the scope for reducing the energy consumption of core processes, secondary processes such as cooling offer scope for energy optimisation. In this contribution, we therefore model and optimise an existing cooling system. The technical boundary conditions of the model are provided by the operators, the German chemical company BASF SE. In order to systematically evaluate different degrees of freedom in topology and operation, we formulate and solve a Mixed-Integer Nonlinear Program (MINLP), and compare our optimisation results with the existing system.
Transport through Redox-Active Ru-Terpyridine Complexes Integrated in Single Nanoparticle Devices
(2020)
Transition metal complexes are electrofunctional molecules due to their high conductivity and their intrinsic switching ability involving a metal-to-ligand charge transfer. Here, a method is presented to contact reliably a few to single redox-active Ru-terpyridine complexes in a CMOS compatible nanodevice and preserve their electrical functionality. Using hybrid materials from 14 nm gold nanoparticles (AuNP) and bis-{4′-[4-(mercaptophenyl)-2,2′:6′,2″-terpyridine]}-ruthenium(II) complexes a device size of 30² nm² inclusive nanoelectrodes is achieved. Moreover, this method bears the opportunity for further downscaling. The Ru-complex AuNP devices show symmetric and asymmetric current versus voltage curves with a hysteretic characteristic in two well separated conductance ranges. By theoretical approximations based on the single-channel Landauer model, the charge transport through the formed double-barrier tunnel junction is thoroughly analyzed and its sensibility to the molecule/metal contact is revealed. It can be verified that tunneling transport through the HOMO is the main transport mechanism while decoherent hopping transport is present to a minor extent.
A further development of the Added-Mass-Method allows the combined representation of the effects of both soil-structure-interaction and fluid-structure interaction on a liquid-filled-tank in one model. This results in a practical method for describing the dynamic fluid pressure on the tank shell during joint movement. The fluid pressure is calculated on the basis of the tank's eigenform and the earthquake acceleration and represented by additional masses on the shell. The bearing on compliant ground is represented by replacement springs, which are calculated dependent on the local soil composition. The influence of the shear modulus of the compliant soil is clearly visible in the pressure curves and the stress distribution in the shell. The acceleration spectra are also dependent on soil stiffness. According to Eurocode-8 the acceleration spectra are determined for fixed soil-classes, instead of calculating the accelerations for each site in direct dependence on the soil composition. This leads to unrealistic sudden changes in the system's response. Therefore, earthquake spectra are calculated for different soil models in direct dependence of the shear modulus. Thus, both the acceleration spectra and the replacement springs match the soil composition. This enables a reasonable and consistent calculation of the system response for the actual conditions at each site.
Seismic behavior of an existing unreinforced masonry building built pre-modern code, located in the City of Ohrid, Republic of North Macedonia has been investigated in this paper. The analyzed school building is selected as an archetype in an ongoing project named “Seismic vulnerability assessment of existing masonry structures in Republic of North Macedonia (SeismoWall)”. Two independent segments were included in this research: Seismic hazard assessment by creating a cite specific response spectra and Seismic vulnerability definition by creating a region - specific series of vulnerability curves for the chosen building topology. A reliable Seismic Hazard Assessment for a selected region is a crucial point for performing a seismic risk analysis of a characteristic building class. In that manner, a scenario – based method that incorporates together the knowledge of tectonic style of the considered region, the active fault characterization, the earth crust model and the historical seismicity named Neo Deterministic approach is used for calculation of the response spectra for the location of the building. Variations of the rupturing process are taken into account in the nucleation point of the rupture, in the rupture velocity pattern and in the istribution of the slip on the fault. The results obtained from the multiple scenarios are obtained as an envelope of the response spectra computed for the cite using the procedure Maximum Credible Seismic Input (MCSI). Capacity of the selected building has been determined by using nonlinear static analysis. MINEA software (SDA Engineering) was used for verification of the structural safety of the chosen unreinforced masonry structure. In the process of optimization of the number of samples, computational cost required in a Monte Carlo simulation is significantly reduced since the simulation is performed on a polynomial response surface function for prediction of the structural response. Performance point, found as the intersection of the capacity of the building and the spectra used, is chosen as a response parameter. Five levels of damage limit states based on the capacity curve of the building are defined in dependency on the yield displacement and the maximum displacement. Maximum likelihood estimation procedure is utilized in the process of vulnerability curves determination. As a result, region specific series of vulnerability curves for the chosen type of masonry structures are defined. The obtained probabilities of exceedance a specific damage states as a result from vulnerability curves are compared with the observed damages happened after the earthquake in July 2017 in the City of Ohrid, North Macedonia.
Multi-enzyme immobilization onto a capacitive field-effect biosensor by nano-spotting technique is presented. The nano-spotting technique allows to immobilize different enzymes simultaneously on the sensor surface with high spatial resolution without additional photolithographical patterning. The amount of applied enzymatic cocktail on the sensor surface can be tailored. Capacitive electrolyte-insulator-semiconductor (EIS) field-effect sensors with Ta2O5 as pH-sensitive transducer layer have been chosen to immobilize the three different (pL droplets) enzymes penicillinase, urease, and glucose oxidase. Nano-spotting immobilization is compared to conventional drop-coating method by defining different geometrical layouts on the sensor surface (fully, half-, and quarter-spotted). The drop diameter is varying between 84 µm and 102 µm, depending on the number of applied drops (1 to 4) per spot. For multi-analyte detection, penicillinase and urease are simultaneously nano-spotted on the EIS sensor. Sensor characterization was performed by C/V (capacitance/voltage) and ConCap (constant capacitance) measurements. Average penicillin, glucose, and urea sensitivities for the spotted enzymes were 81.7 mV/dec, 40.5 mV/dec, and 68.9 mV/dec, respectively.
Exercise training effectively mitigates aging-induced health and fitness impairments. Traditional training recommendations for the elderly focus separately on relevant physiological fitness domains, such as balance, flexibility, strength and endurance. Thus, a more holistic and functional training framework is needed. The proposed agility training concept integratively tackles spatial orientation, stop and go, balance and strength. The presented protocol aims at introducing a two-armed, one-year randomized controlled trial, evaluating the effects of this concept on neuromuscular, cardiovascular, cognitive and psychosocial health outcomes in healthy older adults. Eighty-five participants were enrolled in this ongoing trial. Seventy-nine participants completed baseline testing and were block-randomized to the agility training group or the inactive control group. All participants undergo pre- and post-testing with interim assessment after six months. The intervention group currently receives supervised, group-based agility training twice a week over one year, with progressively demanding perceptual, cognitive and physical exercises. Knee extension strength, reactive balance, dual task gait speed and the Agility Challenge for the Elderly (ACE) serve as primary endpoints and neuromuscular, cognitive, cardiovascular, and psychosocial meassures serve as surrogate secondary outcomes. Our protocol promotes a comprehensive exercise training concept for older adults, that might facilitate stakeholders in health and exercise to stimulate relevant health outcomes without relying on excessively time-consuming physical activity recommendations.
The application of atomic layer deposition in the production of sorbents for ⁹⁹Mo/⁹⁹ᵐTc generator
(2020)
New production routes for ⁹⁹Mo are steadily gaining importance. However, the obtained specific activity is much lower than currently produced by the fission of U-235. To be able to supply hospitals with ⁹⁹Mo/⁹⁹ᵐTc generators with the desired activity, the adsorption capacity of the column material should be increased. In this paper we have investigated whether the gas phase coating technique Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD), which can deposit ultra-thin layers on high surface area materials, can be used to attain materials with high adsorption capacity for ⁹⁹Mo. For this purpose, ALD was applied on a silica-core sorbent material to coat it with a thin layer of alumina. This sorbent material shows to have a maximum adsorption capacity of 120 mg/g and has a ⁹⁹ᵐTc elution efficiency of 55 ± 2% based on 3 executive elutions.
The enantioselective synthesis of α-hydroxy ketones and vicinal diols is an intriguing field because of the broad applicability of these molecules. Although, butandiol dehydrogenases are known to play a key role in the production of 2,3-butandiol, their potential as biocatalysts is still not well studied. Here, we investigate the biocatalytic properties of the meso-butanediol dehydrogenase from Bacillus licheniformis DSM 13T (BlBDH). The encoding gene was cloned with an N-terminal StrepII-tag and recombinantly overexpressed in E. coli. BlBDH is highly active towards several non-physiological diketones and α-hydroxyketones with varying aliphatic chain lengths or even containing phenyl moieties. By adjusting the reaction parameters in biotransformations the formation of either the α-hydroxyketone intermediate or the diol can be controlled.
α-hydroxy ketones (HK) and 1,2-diols are important building blocks for fine chemical synthesis. Here, we describe the R-selective 2,3-butanediol dehydrogenase from B. clausii DSM 8716ᵀ (BcBDH) that belongs to the metal-dependent medium chain dehydrogenases/reductases family (MDR) and catalyzes the selective asymmetric reduction of prochiral 1,2-diketones to the corresponding HK and, in some cases, the reduction of the same to the corresponding 1,2-diols. Aliphatic diketones, like 2,3-pentanedione, 2,3-hexanedione, 5-methyl-2,3-hexanedione, 3,4-hexanedione and 2,3-heptanedione are well transformed. In addition, surprisingly alkyl phenyl dicarbonyls, like 2-hydroxy-1-phenylpropan-1-one and phenylglyoxal are accepted, whereas their derivatives with two phenyl groups are not substrates. Supplementation of Mn²⁺ (1 mM) increases BcBDH's activity in biotransformations. Furthermore, the biocatalytic reduction of 5-methyl-2,3-hexanedione to mainly 5-methyl-3-hydroxy-2-hexanone with only small amounts of 5-methyl-2-hydroxy-3-hexanone within an enzyme membrane reactor is demonstrated.
Successful optimization requires an appropriate model of the system under consideration. When selecting a suitable level of detail, one has to consider solution quality as well as the computational and implementation effort. In this paper, we present a MINLP for a pumping system for the drinking water supply of high-rise buildings. We investigate the influence of the granularity of the underlying physical models on the solution quality. Therefore, we model the system with a varying level of detail regarding the friction losses, and conduct an experimental validation of our model on a modular test rig. Furthermore, we investigate the computational effort and show that it can be reduced by the integration of domain-specific knowledge.
The application of mathematical optimization methods for water supply system design and operation provides the capacity to increase the energy efficiency and to lower the investment costs considerably. We present a system approach for the optimal design and operation of pumping systems in real-world high-rise buildings that is based on the usage of mixed-integer nonlinear and mixed-integer linear modeling approaches. In addition, we consider different booster station topologies, i.e. parallel and series-parallel central booster stations as well as decentral booster stations. To confirm the validity of the underlying optimization models with real-world system behavior, we additionally present validation results based on experiments conducted on a modularly constructed pumping test rig. Within the models we consider layout and control decisions for different load scenarios, leading to a Deterministic Equivalent of a two-stage stochastic optimization program. We use a piecewise linearization as well as a piecewise relaxation of the pumps’ characteristics to derive mixed-integer linear models. Besides the solution with off-the-shelf solvers, we present a problem specific exact solving algorithm to improve the computation time. Focusing on the efficient exploration of the solution space, we divide the problem into smaller subproblems, which partly can be cut off in the solution process. Furthermore, we discuss the performance and applicability of the solution approaches for real buildings and analyze the technical aspects of the solutions from an engineer’s point of view, keeping in mind the economically important trade-off between investment and operation costs.
The fundamental modeling of energy systems through individual unit commitment decisions is crucial for energy system planning. However, current large-scale models are not capable of including uncertainties or even risk-averse behavior arising from forecasting errors of variable renewable energies. However, risks associated with uncertain forecasting errors have become increasingly relevant within the process of decarbonization. The intraday market serves to compensate for these forecasting errors. Thus, the uncertainty of forecasting errors results in uncertain intraday prices and quantities. Therefore, this paper proposes a two-stage risk-constrained stochastic optimization approach to fundamentally model unit commitment decisions facing an uncertain intraday market. By the nesting of Lagrangian relaxation and an extended Benders decomposition, this model can be applied to large-scale, e.g., pan-European, power systems. The approach is applied to scenarios for 2023—considering a full nuclear phase-out in Germany—and 2035—considering a full coal phase-out in Germany. First, the influence of the risk factors is evaluated. Furthermore, an evaluation of the market prices shows an increase in price levels as well as an increasing day-ahead-intraday spread in 2023 and in 2035. Finally, it is shown that intraday cross-border trading has a significant influence on trading volumes and prices and ensures a more efficient allocation of resources.
Objective
In local SAR compression algorithms, the overestimation is generally not linearly dependent on actual local SAR. This can lead to large relative overestimation at low actual SAR values, unnecessarily constraining transmit array performance.
Method
Two strategies are proposed to reduce maximum relative overestimation for a given number of VOPs. The first strategy uses an overestimation matrix that roughly approximates actual local SAR; the second strategy uses a small set of pre-calculated VOPs as the overestimation term for the compression.
Result
Comparison with a previous method shows that for a given maximum relative overestimation the number of VOPs can be reduced by around 20% at the cost of a higher absolute overestimation at high actual local SAR values.
Conclusion
The proposed strategies outperform a previously published strategy and can improve the SAR compression where maximum relative overestimation constrains the performance of parallel transmission.
A German–Brazilian research project investigates sugarcane as an energy plant in anaerobic digestion for biogas production. The aim of the project is a continuous, efficient, and stable biogas process with sugarcane as the substrate. Tests are carried out in a fermenter with a volume of 10 l.
In order to optimize the space–time load to achieve a stable process, a continuous process in laboratory scale has been devised. The daily feed in quantity and the harvest time of the substrate sugarcane has been varied. Analyses of the digester content were conducted twice per week to monitor the process: The ratio of inorganic carbon content to volatile organic acid content (VFA/TAC), the concentration of short-chain fatty acids, the organic dry matter, the pH value, and the total nitrogen, phosphate, and ammonium concentrations were monitored. In addition, the gas quality (the percentages of CO₂, CH₄, and H₂) and the quantity of the produced gas were analyzed.
The investigations have exhibited feasible and economical production of biogas in a continuous process with energy cane as substrate. With a daily feeding rate of 1.68gᵥₛ/l*d the average specific gas formation rate was 0.5 m3/kgᵥₛ. The long-term study demonstrates a surprisingly fast metabolism of short-chain fatty acids. This indicates a stable and less susceptible process compared to other substrates.
A research framework for human aspects in the internet of production: an intra-company perspective
(2020)
Digitalization in the production sector aims at transferring concepts and methods from the Internet of Things (IoT) to the industry and is, as a result, currently reshaping the production area. Besides technological progress, changes in work processes and organization are relevant for a successful implementation of the “Internet of Production” (IoP). Focusing on the labor organization and organizational procedures emphasizes to consider intra-company factors such as (user) acceptance, ethical issues, and ergonomics in the context of IoP approaches. In the scope of this paper, a research approach is presented that considers these aspects from an intra-company perspective by conducting studies on the shop floor, control level and management level of companies in the production area. Focused on four central dimensions—governance, organization, capabilities, and interfaces—this contribution presents a research framework that is focused on a systematic integration and consideration of human aspects in the realization of the IoP.
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a novel human infectious disease provoked by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Currently, no specific vaccines or drugs against COVID-19 are available. Therefore, early diagnosis and treatment are essential in order to slow the virus spread and to contain the disease outbreak. Hence, new diagnostic tests and devices for virus detection in clinical samples that are faster, more accurate and reliable, easier and cost-efficient than existing ones are needed. Due to the small sizes, fast response time, label-free operation without the need for expensive and time-consuming labeling steps, the possibility of real-time and multiplexed measurements, robustness and portability (point-of-care and on-site testing), biosensors based on semiconductor field-effect devices (FEDs) are one of the most attractive platforms for an electrical detection of charged biomolecules and bioparticles by their intrinsic charge. In this review, recent advances and key developments in the field of label-free detection of viruses (including plant viruses) with various types of FEDs are presented. In recent years, however, certain plant viruses have also attracted additional interest for biosensor layouts: Their repetitive protein subunits arranged at nanometric spacing can be employed for coupling functional molecules. If used as adapters on sensor chip surfaces, they allow an efficient immobilization of analyte-specific recognition and detector elements such as antibodies and enzymes at highest surface densities. The display on plant viral bionanoparticles may also lead to long-time stabilization of sensor molecules upon repeated uses and has the potential to increase sensor performance substantially, compared to conventional layouts. This has been demonstrated in different proof-of-concept biosensor devices. Therefore, richly available plant viral particles, non-pathogenic for animals or humans, might gain novel importance if applied in receptor layers of FEDs. These perspectives are explained and discussed with regard to future detection strategies for COVID-19 and related viral diseases.
Electrolyte-insulator-semiconductor (EIS) field-effect sensors belong to a new generation of electronic chips for biochemical sensing, enabling a direct electronic readout. The review gives an overview on recent advances and current trends in the research and development of chemical sensors and biosensors based on the capacitive field-effect EIS structure—the simplest field-effect device, which represents a biochemically sensitive capacitor. Fundamental concepts, physicochemical phenomena underlying the transduction mechanism and application of capacitive EIS sensors for the detection of pH, ion concentrations, and enzymatic reactions, as well as the label-free detection of charged molecules (nucleic acids, proteins, and polyelectrolytes) and nanoparticles, are presented and discussed.
Bacterial cellulose (BC) is a promising material for biomedical applications due to its unique properties such as high mechanical strength and biocompatibility. This article describes the microbiological synthesis, modification, and characterization of the obtained BC-nanocomposites originating from symbiotic consortium Medusomyces gisevii. Two BC-modifications have been obtained: BC-Ag and BC-calcium phosphate (BC-Ca3(PO4)2). Structure and physicochemical properties of the BC and its modifications were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and infrared Fourier spectroscopy as well as by measurements of mechanical and water holding/absorbing capacities. Topographic analysis of the surface revealed multicomponent thick fibrils (150–160 nm in diameter and about 15 µm in length) constituted by 50–60 nm nanofibrils weaved into a left-hand helix. Distinctive features of Ca-phosphate-modified BC samples were (a) the presence of 500–700 nm entanglements and (b) inclusions of Ca3(PO4)2 crystals. The samples impregnated with Ag nanoparticles exhibited numerous roundish inclusions, about 110 nm in diameter. The boundaries between the organic and inorganic phases were very distinct in both cases. The Ag-modified samples also showed a prominent waving pattern in the packing of nanofibrils. The obtained BC gel films possessed water-holding capacity of about 62.35 g/g. However, the dried (to a constant mass) BC-films later exhibited a low water absorption capacity (3.82 g/g). It was found that decellularized BC samples had 2.4 times larger Young’s modulus and 2.2 times greater tensile strength as compared to dehydrated native BC films. We presume that this was caused by molecular compaction of the BC structure.
We compare four different algorithms for automatically estimating the muscle fascicle angle from ultrasonic images: the vesselness filter, the Radon transform, the projection profile method and the gray level cooccurence matrix (GLCM). The algorithm results are compared to ground truth data generated by three different experts on 425 image frames from two videos recorded during different types of motion. The best agreement with the ground truth data was achieved by a combination of pre-processing with a vesselness filter and measuring the angle with the projection profile method. The robustness of the estimation is increased by applying the algorithms to subregions with high gradients and performing a LOESS fit through these estimates.
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the biomechanics of handcycling during a continuous load trial (CLT) to assess the mechanisms underlying fatigue in upper body exercise.
Methods
Twelve able-bodied triathletes performed a 30-min CLT at a power output corresponding to lactate threshold in a racing recumbent handcycle mounted on a stationary ergometer. During the CLT, ratings of perceived exertion (RPE), tangential crank kinetics, 3D joint kinematics, and muscular activity of ten muscles of the upper extremity and trunk were examined using motion capturing and surface electromyography.
Results
During the CLT, spontaneously chosen cadence and RPE increased, whereas crank torque decreased. Rotational work was higher during the pull phase. Peripheral RPE was higher compared to central RPE. Joint range of motion decreased for elbow-flexion and radial-duction. Integrated EMG (iEMG) increased in the forearm flexors, forearm extensors, and M. deltoideus (Pars spinalis). An earlier onset of activation was found for M. deltoideus (Pars clavicularis), M. pectoralis major, M. rectus abdominis, M. biceps brachii, and the forearm flexors.
Conclusion
Fatigue-related alterations seem to apply analogously in handcycling and cycling. The most distal muscles are responsible for force transmission on the cranks and might thus suffer most from neuromuscular fatigue. The findings indicate that peripheral fatigue (at similar lactate values) is higher in handcycling compared to leg cycling, at least for inexperienced participants. An increase in cadence might delay peripheral fatigue by a reduced vascular occlusion. We assume that the gap between peripheral and central fatigue can be reduced by sport-specific endurance training.
Muscular activity in terms of surface electromyography (sEMG) is usually normalised to maximal voluntary isometric contractions (MVICs). This study aims to compare two different MVIC-modes in handcycling and examine the effect of moving average window-size. Twelve able-bodied male competitive triathletes performed ten MVICs against manual resistance and four sport-specific trials against fixed cranks. sEMG of ten muscles [M. trapezius (TD); M. pectoralis major (PM); M. deltoideus, Pars clavicularis (DA); M. deltoideus, Pars spinalis (DP); M. biceps brachii (BB); M. triceps brachii (TB); forearm flexors (FC); forearm extensors (EC); M. latissimus dorsi (LD) and M. rectus abdominis (RA)] was recorded and filtered using moving average window-sizes of 150, 200, 250 and 300 ms. Sport-specific MVICs were higher compared to manual resistance for TB, DA, DP and LD, whereas FC, TD, BB and RA demonstrated lower values. PM and EC demonstrated no significant difference between MVIC-modes. Moving average window-size had no effect on MVIC outcomes. MVIC-mode should be taken into account when normalised sEMG data are illustrated in handcycling. Sport-specific MVICs seem to be suitable for some muscles (TB, DA, DP and LD), but should be augmented by MVICs against manual/mechanical resistance for FC, TD, BB and RA.
As researchers continue to seek the expansion of the material base for additive manufacturing, there is a need to focus attention on the Ni–Cu group of alloys which conventionally has wide industrial applications. In this work, the G-NiCu30Nb casting alloy, a variant of the Monel family of alloys with Nb and high Si content is, for the first time, processed via the laser powder bed fusion process (LPBF). Being novel to the LPBF processes, optimum LPBF parameters were determined, and hardness and tensile tests were performed in as-built conditions and after heat treatment at 1000 °C. Microstructures of the as-cast and the as-built condition were compared. Highly dense samples (99.8% density) were achieved after varying hatch distance (80 µm and 140 µm) with scanning speed (550 mm/s–1500 mm/s). There was no significant difference in microhardness between varied hatch distance print sets. Microhardness of the as-built condition (247 HV0.2) exceeded the as-cast microhardness (179 HV0.2.). Tensile specimens built in vertical (V) and horizontal (H) orientations revealed degrees of anisotropy and were superior to conventionally reported figures. Post heat treatment increased ductility from 20% to 31% (V), as well as from 16% to 25% (H), while ultimate tensile strength (UTS) and yield strength (YS) were considerably reduced.
Masked hypertension is known to induce microvascular complications. However, it is unclear whether early microvascular changes are already occurring in young, otherwise healthy adults. We therefore investigated whether retinal microvascular calibers and acute responses to a flicker stimulus are related to masked hypertension. We used the baseline data of 889 participants aged 20–30 years who were taking part in the African Prospective study on the Early Detection and Identification of Cardiovascular Disease and Hypertension. Clinic and 24-h ambulatory blood pressure were measured. The central retinal artery equivalent (CRAE) and central retinal vein equivalent were calculated from fundus images, and retinal vessel dilation was determined in response to flicker light-induced provocation. A smaller CRAE was observed in those with masked hypertension vs. those with normotension (157.1 vs. 161.2 measuring units, P < 0.001). In forward multivariable-adjusted regression analysis, only CRAE was negatively related to masked hypertension [adjusted R² = 0.267, β = −0.097 (95% CI = −0.165; −0.029), P = 0.005], but other retinal microvascular parameters were not associated with masked hypertension. In multivariable logistic regression analyses, masked hypertension [OR = 2.333, (95% CI = 1.316; 4.241), P = 0.004] was associated with a narrower CRAE. In young healthy adults, masked hypertension was associated with retinal arteriolar narrowing, thereby reflecting early microvascular alterations known to predict cardiovascular outcomes in later life.
Purpose
The aim of this study was to compare several osteosynthesis techniques (intramedullary headless compression screws, T-plates, and Kirschner wires) for distal epiphyseal fractures of proximal phalanges in a human cadaveric model.
Methods
A total of 90 proximal phalanges from 30 specimens (index, ring, and middle fingers) were used for this study. After stripping off all soft tissue, a transverse distal epiphyseal fracture was simulated at the proximal phalanx. The 30 specimens were randomly assigned to 1 fixation technique (30 per technique), either a 3.0-mm intramedullary headless compression screw, locking plate fixation with a 2.0-mm T-plate, or 2 oblique 1.0-mm Kirschner wires. Displacement analysis (bending, distraction, and torsion) was performed using optical tracking of an applied random speckle pattern after osteosynthesis. Biomechanical testing was performed with increasing cyclic loading and with cyclic load to failure using a biaxial torsion-tension testing machine.
Results
Cannulated intramedullary compression screws showed significantly less displacement at the fracture site in torsional testing. Furthermore, screws were significantly more stable in bending testing. Kirschner wires were significantly less stable than plating or screw fixation in any cyclic load to failure test setup.
Conclusions
Intramedullary compression screws are a highly stable alternative in the treatment of transverse distal epiphyseal phalangeal fractures. Kirschner wires seem to be inferior regarding displacement properties and primary stability.
Clinical relevance
Fracture fixation of phalangeal fractures using plate osteosynthesis may have the advantage of a very rigid reduction, but disadvantages such as stiffness owing to the more invasive surgical approach and soft tissue irritation should be taken into account. Headless compression screws represent a minimally invasive choice for fixation with good biomechanical properties.
Pressure distribution to the distal biceps tendon at the radial tuberosity: a biomechanical study
(2020)
Purpose
Mechanical impingement at the narrow radioulnar space of the tuberosity is believed to be an etiological factor in the injury of the distal biceps tendon. The aim of the study was to compare the pressure distribution at the proximal radioulnar space between 2 fixation techniques and the intact state.
Methods
Six right arms and 6 left arms from 5 female and 6 male frozen specimens were used for this study. A pressure transducer was introduced at the height of the radial tuberosity with the intact distal biceps tendon and after 2 fixation methods: the suture-anchor and the cortical button technique. The force (N), maximum pressure (kPa) applied to the radial tuberosity, and the contact area (mm²) of the radial tuberosity with the ulna were measured and differences from the intact tendon were detected from 60° supination to 60° pronation in 15° increments with the elbow in full extension and in 45° and 90° flexion of the elbow.
Results
With the distal biceps tendon intact, the pressures during pronation were similar regardless of extension and flexion and were the highest at 60° pronation with 90° elbow flexion (23.3 ± 53.5 kPa). After repair of the tendon, the mean peak pressure, contact area, and total force showed an increase regardless of the fixation technique. Highest peak pressures were found using the cortical button technique at 45° flexion of the elbow and 60° pronation. These differences were significantly different from the intact tendon. The contact area was significantly larger in full extension and 15°, 30°, and 60° pronation using the cortical button technique.
Conclusions
Pressures on the distal biceps tendon at the radial tuberosity increase during pronation, especially after repair of the tendon.
Clinical relevance
Mechanical impingement could play a role in both the etiology of primary distal biceps tendon ruptures and the complications occurring after fixation of the tendon using certain techniques.
In this paper we report on an architecture for a self-driving car that is based on ROS2. Self-driving cars have to take decisions based on their sensory input in real-time, providing high reliability with a strong demand in functional safety. In principle, self-driving cars are robots. However, typical robot software, in general, and the previous version of the Robot Operating System (ROS), in particular, does not always meet these requirements. With the successor ROS2 the situation has changed and it might be considered as a solution for automated and autonomous driving. Existing robotic software based on ROS was not ready for safety critical applications like self-driving cars. We propose an architecture for using ROS2 for a self-driving car that enables safe and reliable real-time behaviour, but keeping the advantages of ROS such as a distributed architecture and standardised message types. First experiments with an automated real passenger car at lower and higher speed-levels show that our approach seems feasible for autonomous driving under the necessary real-time conditions.
Modeling and upscaling of a pilot bayonettube reactor for indirect solar mixed methane reforming
(2020)
A 16.77 kW thermal power bayonet-tube reactor for the mixed reforming of methane using solar energy has been designed and modeled. A test bench for the experimental tests has been installed at the Synlight facility in Juelich, Germany and has just been commissioned. This paper presents the solar-heated reactor design for a combined steam and dry reforming as well as a scaled-up process simulation of a solar reforming plant for methanol production. Solar power towers are capable of providing large amounts of heat to drive high-endothermic reactions, and their integration with thermochemical processes shows a promising future. In the designed bayonet-tube reactor, the conventional burner arrangement for the combustion of natural gas has been substituted by a continuous 930 °C hot air stream, provided by means of a solar heated air receiver, a ceramic thermal storage and an auxiliary firing system. Inside the solar-heated reactor, the heat is transferred by means of convective mechanism mainly; instead of radiation mechanism as typically prevailing in fossil-based industrial reforming processes. A scaled-up solar reforming plant of 50.5 MWth was designed and simulated in Dymola® and AspenPlus®. In comparison to a fossil-based industrial reforming process of the same thermal capacity, a solar reforming plant with thermal storage promises a reduction up to 57 % of annual natural gas consumption in regions with annual DNI-value of 2349 kWh/m2. The benchmark solar reforming plant contributes to a CO2 avoidance of approx. 79 kilotons per year. This facility can produce a nominal output of 734.4 t of synthesis gas and out of this 530 t of methanol a day.
Game-based learning is a promising approach to anti-phishing education, as it fosters motivation and can help reduce the perceived difficulty of the educational material. Over the years, several prototypes for game-based applications have been proposed, that follow different approaches in content selection, presentation, and game mechanics. In this paper, a literature and product review of existing learning games is presented. Based on research papers and accessible applications, an in-depth analysis was conducted, encompassing target groups, educational contexts, learning goals based on Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy, and learning content. As a result of this review, we created the publications on games (POG) data set for the domain of anti-phishing education. While there are games that can convey factual and conceptual knowledge, we find that most games are either unavailable, fail to convey procedural knowledge or lack technical depth. Thus, we identify potential areas of improvement for games suitable for end-users in informal learning contexts.
In many cities, diesel buses are being replaced by electric buses with the aim of reducing local emissions and thus improving air quality. The protection of the environment and the health of the population is the highest priority of our society. For the transport companies that operate these buses, not only ecological issues but also economic issues are of great importance. Due to the high purchase costs of electric buses compared to conventional buses, operators are forced to use electric vehicles in a targeted manner in order to ensure amortization over the service life of the vehicles. A compromise between ecology and economy must be found in order to both protect the environment and ensure economical operation of the buses.
In this study, we present a new methodology for optimizing the vehicles’ charging time as a function of the parameters CO₂eq emissions and electricity costs. Based on recorded driving profiles in daily bus operation, the energy demands of conventional and electric buses are calculated for the passenger transportation in the city of Aachen in 2017. Different charging scenarios are defined to analyze the influence of the temporal variability of CO₂eq intensity and electricity price on the environmental impact and economy of the bus. For every individual day of a year, charging periods with the lowest and highest costs and emissions are identified and recommendations for daily bus operation are made. To enable both the ecological and economical operation of the bus, the parameters of electricity price and CO₂ are weighted differently, and several charging periods are proposed, taking into account the priorities previously set. A sensitivity analysis is carried out to evaluate the influence of selected parameters and to derive recommendations for improving the ecological and economic balance of the battery-powered electric vehicle.
In all scenarios, the optimization of the charging period results in energy cost savings of a maximum of 13.6% compared to charging at a fixed electricity price. The savings potential of CO₂eq emissions is similar, at 14.9%. From an economic point of view, charging between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. results in the lowest energy costs on average. The CO₂eq intensity is also low in this period, but midday charging leads to the largest savings in CO₂eq emissions. From a life cycle perspective, the electric bus is not economically competitive with the conventional bus. However, from an ecological point of view, the electric bus saves on average 37.5% CO₂eq emissions over its service life compared to the diesel bus. The reduction potential is maximized if the electric vehicle exclusively consumes electricity from solar and wind power.
As part of the transnational research project EDITOR, a parabolic trough collector system (PTC) with concrete thermal energy storage (C-TES) was installed and commissioned in Limassol, Cyprus. The system is located on the premises of the beverage manufacturer KEAN Soft Drinks Ltd. and its function is to supply process steam for the factory's pasteurisation process [1]. Depending on the factory's seasonally varying capacity for beverage production, the solar system delivers between 5 and 25 % of the total steam demand. In combination with the C-TES, the solar plant can supply process steam on demand before sunrise or after sunset. Furthermore, the C-TES compensates the PTC during the day in fluctuating weather conditions. The parabolic trough collector as well as the control and oil handling unit is designed and manufactured by Protarget AG, Germany. The C-TES is designed and produced by CADE Soluciones de Ingeniería, S.L., Spain. In the focus of this paper is the description of the operational experience with the PTC, C-TES and boiler during the commissioning and operation phase. Additionally, innovative optimisation measures are presented.
Large scale central receiver systems typically deploy between thousands to more than a hundred thousand heliostats. During solar operation, each heliostat is aligned individually in such a way that the overall surface normal bisects the angle between the sun’s position and the aim point coordinate on the receiver. Due to various tracking error sources, achieving accurate alignment ≤1 mrad for all the heliostats with respect to the aim points on the receiver without a calibration system can be regarded as unrealistic. Therefore, a calibration system is necessary not only to improve the aiming accuracy for achieving desired flux distributions but also to reduce or eliminate spillage. An overview of current larger-scale central receiver systems (CRS), tracking error sources and the basic requirements of an ideal calibration system is presented. Leading up to the main topic, a description of general and specific terms on the topics heliostat calibration and tracking control clarifies the terminology used in this work. Various figures illustrate the signal flows along various typical components as well as the corresponding monitoring or measuring devices that indicate or measure along the signal (or effect) chain. The numerous calibration systems are described in detail and classified in groups. Two tables allow the juxtaposition of the calibration methods for a better comparison. In an assessment, the advantages and disadvantages of individual calibration methods are presented.
Activated carbons are known as excellent adsorbents. Their applications include the adsorptive removal of color, odor, taste, undesirable organic and inorganic pollutants from drinking and waste water; air purification in inhabited spaces; purification of many chemicals, pharmaceutical products and many others. This chapter elucidates the role of normal microflora in the maintenance of human health and presents materials on possible clinical displays of microecological infringements and ways of their correction. It presents new developments concerning new probiotics with immobilized Lactobacillus and Bacillus. The chapter considers the mechanisms of the intestine disbacteriosis correction by sorbed probiotics. It demonstrates the advantages and creation prospects of immobilized probiotics developed on the basis of carbonized rice husk. There are great prospects for the development of medical biotechnology due to use of carbon sorbents with a nanostructured surface. Microbial communities form a biocenosis of the biotope and together with the host organism create permanent or temporary ecosystems.
The SG1-mediated solution polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) and oligo(ethylene glycol) methacrylate (OEGMA, Mₙ = 300 g mol⁻¹) in the presence of a small amount of functional/reactive styrenic comonomer is investigated. Moieties such as pentafluorophenyl ester, triphenylphosphine, azide, pentafluorophenyl, halide, and pyridine are considered. A comonomer fraction as low as 5 mol% typically results in a controlled/living behavior, at least up to 50% conversion. Chain extensions with styrene for both systems were successfully performed. Variation of physical properties such as refractive index (for MMA) and phase transition temperature (for OEGMA) were evaluated by comparing to 100% pure homopolymers. The introduction of an activated ester styrene derivative in the polymerization of OEGMA allows for the synthesis of reactive and hydrophilic polymer brushes with defined thickness. Finally, using the example of pentafluorostyrene as controlling comonomer, it is demonstrated that functional PMMA-b-PS are able to maintain a phase separation ability, as evidenced by the formation of nanostructured thin films.
The integration of product data from heterogeneous sources and manufacturers into a single catalog is often still a laborious, manual task. Especially small- and medium-sized enterprises face the challenge of timely integrating the data their business relies on to have an up-to-date product catalog, due to format specifications, low quality of data and the requirement of expert knowledge. Additionally, modern approaches to simplify catalog integration demand experience in machine learning, word vectorization, or semantic similarity that such enterprises do not have. Furthermore, most approaches struggle with low-quality data. We propose Attribute Label Ranking (ALR), an easy to understand and simple to adapt learning approach. ALR leverages a model trained on real-world integration data to identify the best possible schema mapping of previously unknown, proprietary, tabular format into a standardized catalog schema. Our approach predicts multiple labels for every attribute of an inpu t column. The whole column is taken into consideration to rank among these labels. We evaluate ALR regarding the correctness of predictions and compare the results on real-world data to state-of-the-art approaches. Additionally, we report findings during experiments and limitations of our approach.
Recently, novel AI-based services have emerged in the consumer market. AI-based services can affect the way consumers take commercial decisions. Research on the influence of AI on commercial interactions is in its infancy. In this chapter, a framework creating a first overview of the influence of AI on commercial interactions is introduced. This framework summarizes the findings of comparing numerous customer journeys of novel AI-based services with corresponding non-AI equivalents.
In collaborative research projects, both researchers and practitioners work together solving business-critical challenges. These projects often deal with ETL processes, in which humans extract information from non-machine-readable documents by hand. AI-based machine learning models can help to solve this problem.
Since machine learning approaches are not deterministic, their quality of output may decrease over time. This fact leads to an overall quality loss of the application which embeds machine learning models. Hence, the software qualities in development and production may differ.
Machine learning models are black boxes. That makes practitioners skeptical and increases the inhibition threshold for early productive use of research prototypes. Continuous monitoring of software quality in production offers an early response capability on quality loss and encourages the use of machine learning approaches. Furthermore, experts have to ensure that they integrate possible new inputs into the model training as quickly as possible.
In this paper, we introduce an architecture pattern with a reference implementation that extends the concept of Metrics Driven Research Collaboration with an automated software quality monitoring in productive use and a possibility to auto-generate new test data coming from processed documents in production.
Through automated monitoring of the software quality and auto-generated test data, this approach ensures that the software quality meets and keeps requested thresholds in productive use, even during further continuous deployment and changing input data.
Purpose
Globally, a detrimental shift in cardiovascular disease risk factors and a higher mortality level are reported in some black populations. The retinal microvasculature provides early insight into the pathogenesis of systemic vascular diseases, but it is unclear whether retinal vessel calibers and acute retinal vessel functional responses differ between young healthy black and white adults.
Methods
We included 112 black and 143 white healthy normotensive adults (20–30 years). Retinal vessel calibers (central retinal artery and vein equivalent (CRAE and CRVE)) were calculated from retinal images and vessel caliber responses to flicker light induced provocation (FLIP) were determined. Additionally, ambulatory blood pressure (BP), anthropometry and blood samples were collected.
Results
The groups displayed similar 24 h BP profiles and anthropometry (all p > .24). Black participants demonstrated a smaller CRAE (158 ± 11 vs. 164 ± 11 MU, p < .001) compared to the white group, whereas CRVE was similar (p = .57). In response to FLIP, artery maximal dilation was greater in the black vs. white group (5.6 ± 2.1 vs. 3.3 ± 1.8%; p < .001).
Conclusions
Already at a young age, healthy black adults showed narrower retinal arteries relative to the white population. Follow-up studies are underway to show if this will be related to increased risk for hypertension development. The reason for the larger vessel dilation responses to FLIP in the black population is unclear and warrants further investigation.