Open Access

Significant improvements in module performance are possible via implementation of multi-wire electrodes. This is economically sound as long as the mechanical yield of the production is maintained. While flat ribbons have a relatively large contact area to exert forces onto the solar cell, wires with round cross section reduce this contact area considerably – in theory to an infinitively thin line. Therefore, the local stresses induced by the electrodes might increase to a point that mechanical production yields suffer unacceptably. In this paper, we assess this issue by an analytical mechanical model as well as experiments with an encapsulant-free N.I.C.E. test setup. From these, we can derive estimations for the relationship between lay-up accuracy and expected breakage losses. This paves the way for cost-optimized choices of handling equipment in industrial N.I.C.E.-wire production lines.

The majority of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries in team sports are non-contact injuries, with cutting maneuvers identified as high-risk tasks. Young female handball players have been shown to be at greater risk for ACL injuries than males. One risk factor for ACL injuries is the magnitude of the knee abduction moment (KAM). Cutting technique variables on foot placement, overall approach and knee kinematics have been shown to influence the KAM. Since injury risk is believed to increase with increasing task complexity, the purpose of the study was to test the effect of task complexity on technique variables that influence the KAM in female handball players during fake-and-cut tasks.

In dem Projekt BioMeth wurde der Ansatz der Membranbegasung zur Erhöhung der Verfügbarkeit von gelöstem Wasserstoff für die biologische Methanisierung im Sinn der Etablierung eines Power-to-Gas-Konzeptes zur Energiespeicherung verfolgt. Übergeordnetes Ziel war die Entwicklung eines skalierbaren Verfahrenskonzeptes, dass sich zur Nutzung CO2-haltiger Gasvolumenström eignet. Geplant war es, das Verfahren am Beispiel der Biogasanlage der Biokäserei Monte-Ziego in Teningen zu demonstrieren und dort das bestehende Konzept der parallelen Abwasseraufbereitung und Energieerzeugung zu erweitern. Die ursprüngliche Struktur des Arbeitspaketplanes ist in nachfolgender Abbildung gezeigt.

The analysis of several thousand patents led to the conclusion that inventive engineering problems and technical contradictions in all kinds of industrial sectors could be solved by a limited number of basic Inventive Principles (Altshuller, 1984). The modern Theory of Inventive Problem Solving TRIZ (VDI 4521) contains 40 basic Inventive Principles (IP). These principles are simple to use or modify and can be easily integrated in brainstorming or daily engineer’s work. One established part of industrial practice is the composition of the specific groups of principles for solving different kinds of problems (Livotov, Petrov, 2011). Based on interdisciplinary experience of TRIZ application in the industrial companies in the last 25 years the a general order in the application of 40 Inventive Principles can be recommended for idea generation and problem solving (Livotov, Chandra, Mas'udah et al, 2019). This brochure presents an update of the 40 Inventive Principles extending the original version (Altshuller, 1984) with additional 70 sub-principles, resulting in the advanced set of 160 sub-principles, regarded as elementary inventive operators. These extended version of inventive principles finds its application in the AIDA Automatic IDEA & IP Generator https://www.tris-europe.com/eng/software/innovationssoftware.htm

Running shoes were categorized either as motion control, cushioned, or minimal footwear in the past. Today, these categories blur and are not as clearly defined. Moreover, with the advances in manufacturing processes, it is possible to create individualized running shoes that incorporate features that meet individual biomechanical and experiential needs. However, specific ways to individualize footwear to reduce individual injury risk are poorly understood. Therefore, the purpose of this scoping review was to provide an overview of (1) footwear design features that have the potential for individualization; (2) human biomechanical variability as a theoretical foundation for individualization; (3) the literature on the differential responses to footwear design features between selected groups of individuals. These purposes focus exclusively on reducing running-related risk factors for overuse injuries. We included studies in the English language on adults that analyzed: (1) potential interaction effects between footwear design features and subgroups of runners or covariates (e.g., age, gender) for running-related biomechanical risk factors or injury incidences; (2) footwear perception for a systematically modified footwear design feature. Most of the included articles (n = 107) analyzed male runners. Several footwear design features (e.g., midsole characteristics, upper, outsole profile) show potential for individualization. However, the overall body of literature addressing individualized footwear solutions and the potential to reduce biomechanical risk factors is limited. Future studies should leverage more extensive data collections considering relevant covariates and subgroups while systematically modifying isolated footwear design features to inform footwear individualization.