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Background
To assess the in-field walking mechanics during downhill hiking of patients with total knee arthroplasty five to 14 months after surgery and an age-matched healthy control group and relate them to the knee flexor and extensor muscle strength.
Methods
Participants walked on a predetermined hiking trail at a self-selected, comfortable pace wearing an inertial sensor system for recording the whole-body 3D kinematics. Sagittal plane hip, knee, and ankle joint angles were evaluated over the gait cycle at level walking and two different negative slopes. The concentric and eccentric lower extremity muscle strength of the knee flexors and extensors isokinetically at 50 and 120°/s were measured.
Findings
Less knee flexion angles during stance have been measured in patients in the operated limb compared to healthy controls in all conditions (level walking, moderate downhill, steep downhill). The differences increased with steepness. Muscle strength was lower in patients for both muscle groups and all measured conditions. The functional hamstrings to quadriceps ratio at 120°/sec correlated with knee angle during level and downhill walking at the moderate slope in patients, showing higher ratios with lower peak knee flexion angles.
Interpretation
The study shows that even if rehabilitation has been completed successfully and complication-free, five to 14 months after surgery, the muscular condition was still insufficient to display a normal gait pattern during downhill hiking. The muscle balance between quadriceps and hamstring muscles seems related to the persistence of a stiff knee gait pattern after knee arthroplasty. LoE: III.
Purpose
This study aims to investigate a systematic approach to the production and use of additively manufactured injection mould inserts in product development (PD) processes. For this purpose, an evaluation of the additive tooling design method (ATDM) is performed.
Design/methodology/approach
The evaluation of the ATDM is conducted within student workshops, where students develop products and validate them using AT-prototypes. The evaluation process includes the analysis of work results as well as the use of questionnaires and participant observation.
Findings
This study shows that the ATDM can be successfully used to assist in producing and using AT mould inserts to produce valid AT prototypes. As a reference for the implementation of AT in industrial PD, extracts from the work of the student project groups and suitable process parameters for prototype production are presented.
Originality/value
This paper presents the application and evaluation of a method to support AT in PD that has not yet been scientifically evaluated.
Hintergrund
In diesem Artikel wird ein Überblick und Vergleich der am häufigsten verwendeten zementierten Hüftschäfte, gruppiert in die verschiedenen Schafttypen und Zementmanteldicken, gegeben, um zu sehen, welche Kombination gut abschneidet.
Methodik
Aus dem Endoprothesenregister Deutschland wurden die Revisionsraten zementierter Schaftarten kategorisiert und die Revisionsraten von 3 und 5 Jahren erfasst und analysiert. Für die Recherche lag die Konzentration auf den Schäften Exeter, C‑Stem, MS-30, Excia, Bicontact, Charnley, Müller Geradschaft, Twinsys, Corail, Avenir, Quadra und dem Lubinus SP II. Ein wichtiger Aspekt lag darin, welcher Schaft favorisiert implantiert wird und welche Zementiertechnik in Hinblick auf die geplante Zementmanteldicke angewendet wird. Um einen Trend in der zementierten Hüftendoprothetik herauszufinden, wurden zusätzlich die Daten des dänischen, schwedischen, norwegischen, schweizerischen, neuseeländischen, englischen und australischen Endoprothesenregister verglichen.
Ergebnisse und Schlussfolgerung
Die meisten Länder nutzen zementierte Prothesen nach dem Kraftschlussprinzip (Exeter, MS30, C‑Stem etc.) oder dem Formschlussprinzip (Charnley, Excia, Bicontact), welche mit einer Zementmanteldicke von 2–4 mm implantiert werden. Jedoch hat sich in Deutschland und der Schweiz ein Trend zur Line-to-Line-Technik, mit einer geplanten Zementmanteldicke von 1 mm (Twinsys, Corail, Avenir, Quadra) aufgezeigt, dem Prinzip der Müller-Geradschaft-Prothese und der Kerboul-Charnley-Prothese folgend, auch wenn diese an sich als „french paradoxon“ postuliert werden. In den EPRD-5-Jahres-Ergebnissen scheinen die neueren Line-to-Line-Prothesen etwas schlechter abzuschneiden. Die besten Ergebnisse erzielt der „MS 30“ in Deutschland und der „Exeter“ in England. Hierbei handelt es sich um polierte Geradschäfte mit Zentraliser und Subsidence-Raum an der Spitze mit einem 2–4 mm Zementmantel in guter Zementiertechnik.
Analysing and predicting the advance rate of a tunnel boring machine (TBM) in hard rock is integral to tunnelling project planning and execution. It has been applied in the industry for several decades with varying success. Most prediction models are based on or designed for large-diameter TBMs, and much research has been conducted on related tunnelling projects. However, only a few models incorporate information from projects with an outer diameter smaller than 5 m and no penetration prediction model for pipe jacking machines exists to date. In contrast to large TBMs, small-diameter TBMs and their projects have been considered little in research. In general, they are characterised by distinctive features, including insufficient geotechnical information, sometimes rather short drive lengths, special machine designs and partially concurring lining methods like pipe jacking and segment lining. A database which covers most of the parameters mentioned above has been compiled to investigate the performance of small-diameter TBMs in hard rock. In order to provide sufficient geological and technical variance, this database contains 37 projects with 70 geotechnically homogeneous areas. Besides the technical parameters, important geotechnical data like lithological information, unconfined compressive strength, tensile strength and point load index is included and evaluated. The analysis shows that segment lining TBMs have considerably higher penetration rates in similar geological and technical settings mostly due to their design parameters. Different methodologies for predicting TBM penetration, including state-of-the-art models from the literature as well as newly derived regression and machine learning models, are discussed and deployed for backward modelling of the projects contained in the database. New ranges of application for small-diameter tunnelling in several industry-standard penetration models are presented, and new approaches for the penetration prediction of pipe jacking machines in hard rock are proposed.
This report examines exporters’ challenges and possible solutions for public intervention to promote foreign trade. Based on fieldwork conducted in Georgia, we explore which policy approaches can help to stimulate Georgian exports further. Our outcomes show that exporters face substantial barriers such as navigating complex trade regulations, lack of knowledge about target markets, trade finance gaps, as well as new export promotion programs (EPPs) in competitor countries. Other upper-middle-income countries can learn from our results that exporters can significantly benefit from a comprehensive export promotion strategy combined with an ecosystem-based “team” approach. EPPs related to awareness and capacity building in Georgia should be part of this strategy, focusing on challenges such as a lack of knowledge about trade practices and international business skills. Other EPPs must help to mitigate related market failures, as information gathering is costly, and firms have no incentive to share this information with competitors. Furthermore, targeted marketing support and customer matchmaking can answer Georgian exporters’ challenges, such as lack of market access and low sector visibility. Our results also show that public intervention through financial support and risk mitigation is essential for firms with an international orientation. The high-quality, rich outcomes provide significant value for other upper-middle-income countries by exploring the example of Georgia’s contemporary circumstances in an in-depth manner based on extensive interviews and document analysis. Limitations include that our work primarily relies on qualitative data and further research could involve a quantitative study with a diverse range of sectors.
Physical unclonable functions (PUFs) are increasingly generating attention in the field of hardware-based security for the Internet of Things (IoT). A PUF, as its name implies, is a physical element with a special and unique inherent characteristic and can act as the security anchor for authentication and cryptographic applications. Keeping in mind that the PUF outputs are prone to change in the presence of noise and environmental variations, it is critical to derive reliable keys from the PUF and to use the maximum entropy at the same time. In this work, the PUF output positioning (POP) method is proposed, which is a novel method for grouping the PUF outputs in order to maximize the extracted entropy. To achieve this, an offset data is introduced as helper data, which is used to relax the constraints considered for the grouping of PUF outputs, and deriving more entropy, while reducing the secret key error bits. To implement the method, the key enrollment and key generation algorithms are presented. Based on a theoretical analysis of the achieved entropy, it is proven that POP can maximize the achieved entropy, while respecting the constraints induced to guarantee the reliability of the secret key. Moreover, a detailed security analysis is presented, which shows the resilience of the method against cyber-security attacks. The findings of this work are evaluated by applying the method on a hybrid printed PUF, where it can be practically shown that the proposed method outperforms other existing group-based PUF key generation methods.
Socially assistive robots (SARs) are becoming more prevalent in everyday life, emphasizing the need to make them socially acceptable and aligned with users' expectations. Robots' appearance impacts users' behaviors and attitudes towards them. Therefore, product designers choose visual qualities to give the robot a character and to imply its functionality and personality. In this work, we sought to investigate the effect of cultural differences on Israeli and German designers' perceptions of SARs' roles and appearance in four different contexts: a service robot for an assisted living/retirement residence facility, a medical assistant robot for a hospital environment, a COVID-19 officer robot, and a personal assistant robot for domestic use. The key insight is that although Israeli and German designers share similar perceptions of visual qualities for most of the robotics roles, we found differences in the perception of the COVID-19 officer robot's role and, by that, its most suitable visual design. This work indicates that context and culture play a role in users' perceptions and expectations; therefore, they should be taken into account when designing new SARs for diverse contexts.
Injury prevention is essential in running due to the risk of overuse injury development. Tailoring running shoes to individual needs may be a promising strategy to reduce this risk. Novel manufacturing processes allow the production of individualised running shoes that incorporate features that meet individual biomechanical and experiential needs. However, specific ways to individualise footwear to reduce injury risk are poorly understood. Therefore, this scoping review provides an overview of (1) footwear design features that have the potential for individualisation; and (2) the literature on the differential responses to footwear design features between selected groups of individuals. These purposes focus exclusively on reducing the risk of overuse injuries. We included studies in the English language on adults that analysed: (1) potential interaction effects between footwear design features and subgroups of runners or covariates (e.g., age, sex) for running-related biomechanical risk factors or injury incidences; (2) footwear comfort perception for a systematically modified footwear design feature. Most of the included articles (n = 107) analysed male runners. Female runners may be more susceptible to footwear-induced changes and overuse injury development; future research should target more heterogonous sampling. Several footwear design features (e.g., midsole characteristics, upper, outsole profile) show potential for individualisation. However, the literature addressing individualised 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 individualisation.
In this paper, the J-integral is derived for temperature-dependent elastic–plastic materials described by incremental plasticity. It is implemented using the equivalent domain integral method for assessment of three-dimensional cracks based on results of finite-element calculations. The J-integral considers contributions from inhomogeneous temperature fields and temperature-dependent elastic and plastic material properties as well as from gradients in the plastic strains and the hardening variables. Different energy densities are considered, the Helmholtz free energy and the stress-working density, providing a physical meaning of the J-integral as a fracture criteria for crack growth. Results obtained for a plate with two different crack configurations each loaded by a cool-down thermal shock show domain-independence of the incremental J-integral for different energy densities even for high temperature gradients and significant temperature-dependence of the yield stress and the hardening exponent in the presence of large scale yielding. Hence, the derived J-integral is an appropriate parameter for the assessment of cracks in thermomechanically loaded components.
Gamification wird in vielen Bereichen, die auch den Bildungssektor einschließen, zur Motivations- und Leistungssteigerung eingesetzt. Dieser Beitrag beschreibt das Design, die Umsetzung und Evaluierung eines Gamification-Konzeptes für die Vorlesung „Software Engineering" an der Hochschule Offenburg. Gamification soll nach Intention der Lehrenden eine kontinuierliche und tiefergehende Auseinandersetzung mit den Themen der Vorlesung forcieren sowie einen positiven Einfluss auf die Motivation der Studierenden haben, um den Lernprozess zu unterstützen. Zentral für das Gamification-Design sind dabei eine freiwillige Teilnahme, die Wahrnehmung der Bedeutung der Lerninhalte und ein zielorientierter Einsatz von Gamification-Elementen. Das entwickelte Konzept wurde in der Lernplattform Moodle realisiert, über drei Semester eingesetzt und parallel evaluiert. Die Ergebnisse dieser Evaluierungen zeigen, dass die Studierenden den gamifizierten Kurs intensiv und oft über das gesamte Semester nutzten und aus eigenem Antrieb eine Vielzahl von Übungen absolvierten.
Public export credits and trade insurance require a global framework of institutions, rules and regulations to avoid subsidies and a race to the bottom. The extensive modernisation of the Arrangement on Officially Supported Export Credits (Arrangement) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development intends to re-level the playing field. This Practitioner Commentary describes the demand for adequate government interventions, considers the need for the reform and discusses key aspects of the new Arrangement. We argue that there is a breakthrough in several important areas such as tenors, repayment terms and green finance. However, we also find that the modernisation falls short in areas such as the interplay between different rulebooks, pre-shipment instruments' regulations and climate action.
Künstliche Intelligenz (KI) durchdringt unser Leben immer stärker. Studierende werden im Alltag und an Hochschulen zunehmend mit KI-Anwendungen konfrontiert. An der Hochschule Offenburg werden deshalb KI-bezogene Lehrangebote curricular verankert, um Studierende im Erwerb von KI-Kompetenz zu unterstützen.
Der Beitrag stellt ein Konzept für die Entwicklung von Lehrveranstaltungen nach der Idee des pädagogischen Makings zur Förderung von KI-Kompetenz in der Hochschullehre vor. Konkretisiert wird das Konzept anhand eines Moduls zum Thema Chatbots, dessen Lehrinhalte interdisziplinär aus verschiedenen Perspektiven ausgearbeitet werden.
Background
Internal tibial loading is influenced by modifiable factors with implications for the risk of stress injury. Runners encounter varied surface steepness (gradients) when running outdoors and may adapt their speed according to the gradient. This study aimed to quantify tibial bending moments and stress at the anterior and posterior peripheries when running at different speeds on surfaces of different gradients.
Methods
Twenty recreational runners ran on a treadmill at 3 different speeds (2.5 m/s, 3.0 m/s, and 3.5 m/s) and gradients (level: 0%; uphill: +5%, +10%, and +15%; downhill: –5%, –10%, and –15%). Force and marker data were collected synchronously throughout. Bending moments were estimated at the distal third centroid of the tibia about the medial–lateral axis by ensuring static equilibrium at each 1% of stance. Stress was derived from bending moments at the anterior and posterior peripheries by modeling the tibia as a hollow ellipse. Two-way repeated-measures analysis of variance were conducted using both functional and discrete statistical analyses.
Results
There were significant main effects for running speed and gradient on peak bending moments and peak anterior and posterior stress. Higher running speeds resulted in greater tibial loading. Running uphill at +10% and +15% resulted in greater tibial loading than level running. Running downhill at –10% and –15% resulted in reduced tibial loading compared to level running. There was no difference between +5% or –5% and level running.
Conclusion
Running at faster speeds and uphill on gradients ≥+10% increased internal tibial loading, whereas slower running and downhill running on gradients ≥–10% reduced internal loading. Adapting running speed according to the gradient could be a protective mechanism, providing runners with a strategy to minimize the risk of tibial stress injuries.
Footwear plays a critical role in our daily lives, affecting our performance, health and overall well-being. Well-designed footwear can provide protection, comfort and improved foot functionality, while poorly designed footwear can lead to mobility problems and declines in physical activity. The overall goal of footwear research is to provide a scientific basis for professionals in the field to provide an optimal footwear solution for a given person, for a given task, in a given environment, while using sustainable manufacturing processes. This article suggests potential directions for future research with a focus on athletic footwear biomechanics. Directions include the evidence-based individualisation of footwear, the interaction between design and prolonged use, and improving the sustainability of footwear. The authors also provide a speculative outlook on methodological developments that may provide greater insight into these areas. These developments may include: (1) the use of larger scale, real-world and representative data, (2) the use of 3D printing to create experimental footwear, (3) the advancement of in silico research methods, and (4) furthering multidisciplinary collaboration. If successfully applied in the future, footwear research will contribute to active and healthy lifestyles across the lifespan.
Material flow simulation is a core technology of Industry 4.0. It can analyze and improve large-scale production systems through experimentation with digital simulation models. However, modeling in discrete event simulation is considered as an effortful and time-consuming activity and challenges especially small and medium-sized enterprises. Systematic experiments and what-if-analysis require a large number of models. Modeling and simulation becomes a repetitive activity and the ability to model and simulate instantly becomes crucial for industry, 4.0. However, model generation typically uses specific methods to build models with individual properties for specific physical systems. A general literature review cannot sufficiently describe the current state of model generation. This study aims to provide an analysis of model generation based on the modeling strategy, modeling view, and production system type, as well as model properties and limitations.
International trade requires sufficient, reliable, and affordable sources of financing. Export credit agencies (ECAs) fill trade finance gaps by offering financing, insurance and guarantees to provide liquidity or mitigate risks. They help to create or secure jobs in the domestic economy. However, comprehensive government support is required to create significant impact. This includes ‘full faith and credit’ of the state. In the context of public foreign trade promotion, full faith and credit is defined as an explicit, direct or indirect, irrevocable, legal commitment to accept all liabilities of an ECA as unconditional obligations of the respective government. Our policy recommendations for countries with relatively young ECAs, for example in Ukraine, Armenia, and Malawi, are to establish a full guarantee in addition to an efficient legal set-up, sufficient capital, and sound risk management of the respective agency. Without full faith and credit, policy goals of fostering economic growth through foreign trade fall short.
Bewegungsanalysesysteme in der Forschung und für niedergelassene Orthopädinnen und Orthopäden
(2023)
Hintergrund
Komplexe biomechanische Bewegungsanalysen können für eine Vielzahl orthopädischer Fragestellungen wichtige Informationen liefern. Bei der Beschaffung von Bewegungsanalysesystemen sind neben den klassischen Messgütekriterien (Validität, Reliabilität, Objektivität) auch räumliche und zeitliche Rahmenbedingungen sowie Anforderungen an die Qualifikation des Messpersonals zu berücksichtigen.
Anwendung
In der komplexen Bewegungsanalyse werden Systeme zur Bestimmung der Kinematik, der Kinetik und der Muskelaktivität (Elektromyographie) eingesetzt. Der vorliegende Artikel gibt einen Überblick über Methoden der komplexen biomechanischen Bewegungsanalyse für den Einsatz in der orthopädischen Forschung oder in der individuellen Patientenversorgung. Neben dem Einsatz zur reinen Bewegungsanalyse wird auch der Einsatz von Bewegungsanalyseverfahren im Bereich des Biofeedbacktrainings diskutiert.
Beschaffung
Für die konkrete Anschaffung von Bewegungsanalysesystemen empfiehlt sich die Kontaktaufnahme mit Fachgesellschaften (z. B. Deutsche Gesellschaft für Biomechanik), Hochschulen und Universitäten mit vorhandenen Bewegungsanalyseeinrichtungen oder Vertriebsfirmen im Bereich der Biomechanik.
Neural networks tend to overfit the training distribution and perform poorly on out-ofdistribution data. A conceptually simple solution lies in adversarial training, which introduces worst-case perturbations into the training data and thus improves model generalization to some extent. However, it is only one ingredient towards generally more robust models and requires knowledge about the potential attacks or inference time data corruptions during model training. This paper focuses on the native robustness of models that can learn robust behavior directly from conventional training data without out-of-distribution examples. To this end, we study the frequencies in learned convolution filters. Clean-trained models often prioritize high-frequency information, whereas adversarial training enforces models to shift the focus to low-frequency details during training. By mimicking this behavior through frequency regularization in learned convolution weights, we achieve improved native robustness to adversarial attacks, common corruptions, and other out-of-distribution tests. Additionally, this method leads to more favorable shifts in decision-making towards low-frequency information, such as shapes, which inherently aligns more closely with human vision.
Im Automobilbau bietet der Einsatz der Multimaterialbauweise ein signifikantes Potenzial zur Gewichtsreduktion. Zugleich erfordert diese Bauweise eine große Anzahl von Fügeverfahren für die Verbindung der unterschiedlichen Werkstoffe und Werkstoffklassen. Dabei muss eine Vielzahl an konstruktiven und materialseitigen Anforderungen berücksichtigt werden. Um in diesem Auswahlprozess den Aspekt des Leichtbaus beim Fügeverfahren selbst systematisch zu integrieren, wurde eine Methodik entwickelt, welche die Fügeverfahren im Hinblick auf ihr jeweiliges Leichtbaupotenzial bewertet.
Precisely synchronized communication is a major precondition for many industrial applications. At the same time, hardware cost and power consumption need to be kept as low as possible in the Internet of Things (IoT) paradigm. While many wired solutions on the market achieve these requirements, wireless alternatives are an interesting field for research and development. This article presents a novel IEEE802.11n/ac wireless solution, exhibiting several advantages over state-of-the-art competitors. It is based on a market-available wireless System on a Chip with modified low-level communication firmware combined with a low-cost field-programmable gate array. By achieving submicrosecond synchronization accuracy, our solution outperforms the precision of low-cost products by almost four orders of magnitude. Based on inexpensive hardware, the presented wireless module is up to 20 times cheaper than software-defined-radio solutions with comparable timing accuracy. Moreover, it consumes three to five times less power. To back up our claims, we report data that we collected with a high sampling rate (2000 samples per second) during an extended measurement campaign of more than 120 h, which makes our experimental results far more representative than others reported in the literature. Additional support is provided by the size of the testbed we used during the experiments, composed of a hybrid network with nine nodes divided into two independent wireless segments connected by a wired backbone. In conclusion, we believe that our novel Industrial IoT module architecture will have a significant impact on the future technological development of high-precision time-synchronized communication for the cost-sensitive industrial IoT market.
Purpose
Although recent literature has examined diverse measures adopted by SMEs to navigate the COVID-19 turbulence, there is a shortage of evidence on how crisis-time strategy creation behaviour and digitalization activities increase (1) sales and (2) cash flow. Thus, predicated on a novel strategy creation perspective, this inquiry aims to investigate the crisis behaviour, sales and cash flow performance of 528 SMEs in Morocco.
Design/methodology/approach
Novel links between (1) aggregate wage cuts, (2) variable operating hours, (3) deferred payment to suppliers, (4) deferred payment to tax authorities and (5) sales performance are developed and tested. A further link between sales performance and cash flow is also examined and the analysis is conducted using a non-linear structural equation modelling technique.
Findings
While there is a significant association between strategy creation behaviours and sales performance, only variable operating hours have a positive effect. Also, sales performance increases cash flow and this relationship is substantially strengthened by e-commerce digitalization and innovation.
Originality/value
Theoretically, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is one of the first inquiries to espouse the strategy creation view to explain SMEs' crisis-time behaviour and digitalization. For practical purposes, to supplement Moroccan SMEs' propensity to seek tax deferrals, it is argued that debt and equity support measures are also needed to boost sales performance and cash flow.
Purpose
Although start-ups have gained increasing scholarly attention, we lack sufficient understanding of their entrepreneurial strategic posture (ESP) in emerging economies. The purpose of this study is to examine the processes of ESP of new technology venture start-ups (NTVs) in an emerging market context.
Design/methodology/approach
In line with grounded theory guidelines and the inductive research traditions, the authors adopted a qualitative approach involving 42 in-depth semi-structured interviews with Ghanaian NTV entrepreneurs to gain a comprehensive analysis at the micro-level on the entrepreneurs' strategic posturing. A systematic procedure for data analysis was adopted.
Findings
From the authors' analysis of Ghanaian NTVs, the authors derived a three-stage model to elucidate the nature and process of ESP Phase 1 spotting and exploiting market opportunities, Phase II identifying initial advantages and Phase III ascertaining and responding to change.
Originality/value
The study contributes to advancing research on ESP by explicating the process through which informal ties and networks are utilised by NTVs and NTVs' founders to overcome extreme resource constraints and information vacuums in contexts of institutional voids. The authors depart from past studies in demonstrating how such ties can be harnessed in spotting and exploiting market opportunities by NTVs. On this basis, the paper makes original contributions to ESP theory and practice.
The technique of laser ultrasonics perfectly meets the need for noncontact, noninvasive, nondestructive mechanical probing of nanometer- to millimeter-size samples. However, this technique is limited to the excitation of low-amplitude strains, below the threshold for optical damage of the sample. In the context of strain engineering of materials, alternative optical techniques enabling the excitation of high-amplitude strains in a nondestructive optical regime are needed. We introduce here a nondestructive method for laser-shock wave generation based on additive superposition of multiple laser-excited strain waves. This technique enables strain generation up to mechanical failure of a sample at pump laser fluences below optical ablation or melting thresholds. We demonstrate the ability to generate nonlinear surface acoustic waves (SAWs) in Nb-SrTiO3 substrates, with associated strains in the percent range and pressures up to 3 GPa at 1 kHz repetition rate and close to 10 GPa for several hundred shocks. This study paves the way for the investigation of a host of high-strain SAW-induced phenomena, including phase transitions in conventional and quantum materials, plasticity and a myriad of material failure modes, chemistry and other effects in bulk samples, thin layers, and two-dimensional materials.
We revisit the quantitative analysis of the ultrafast magnetoacoustic experiment in a freestanding nickel thin film by Kim and Bigot [J.-W. Kim and J.-Y. Bigot, Phys. Rev. B 95, 144422 (2017)] by applying our recently proposed approach of magnetic and acoustic eigenmode decomposition. We show that the application of our modeling to the analysis of time-resolved reflectivity measurements allows for the determination of amplitudes and lifetimes of standing perpendicular acoustic phonon resonances with unprecedented accuracy. The acoustic damping is found to scale as ∝ω2 for frequencies up to 80 GHz, and the peak amplitudes reach 10−3. The experimentally measured magnetization dynamics for different orientations of an external magnetic field agrees well with numerical solutions of magnetoelastically driven magnon harmonic oscillators. Symmetry-based selection rules for magnon-phonon interactions predicted by our modeling approach allow for the unambiguous discrimination between spatially uniform and nonuniform modes, as confirmed by comparing the resonantly enhanced magnetoelastic dynamics simultaneously measured on opposite sides of the film. Moreover, the separation of timescales for (early) rising and (late) decreasing precession amplitudes provide access to magnetic (Gilbert) and acoustic damping parameters in a single measurement.
The utilisation of artificial intelligence (AI) is progressively emerging as a significant mechanism for innovation in human resource management (HRM). The capacity to facilitate the transformation of employee performance across numerous responsibilities. AI development, there remains a dearth of comprehensive exploration into the potential opportunities it presents for enhancing workplace performance among employees. To bridge this gap in knowledge, the present work carried out a survey with 300 participants, utilises a fuzzy set-theoretic method that is grounded on the conceptualisation of AI, KS, and HRM. The findings of our study indicate that the exclusive adoption of AI technologies does not adequately enhance HRM engagements. In contrast, the integration of AI and KS offers a more viable HRM approach for achieving optimal performance in a dynamic digital society. This approach has the potential to enhance employees’ proficiency in executing their responsibilities and cultivate a culture of creativity inside the firm.
Digitalisierung ist heute allgegenwärtig. Wo im Privaten bereitwillig neue digitale Tools, Apps und Funktionen genutzt werden, tun sich Unternehmen in der Umsetzung von Digitalisierungsprojekten oft schwer. Dieser Beitrag beleuchtet die Motive für Digitalisierungsvorhaben, ihre Hürden sowie die Auswirkung auf die Arbeitsbelastung von Mitarbeitenden und versucht in der Verknüpfung mit den Grundprinzipien des Kontinuierlichen Verbesserungsprozesses, Handlungsempfehlungen für eine erfolgreiche Umsetzung dieser abzuleiten.
Unterschiedliche Stimulationszeitpunkte bei bimodaler Versorgung mit Hörgerät und Cochleaimplantat
(2023)
Die bimodale Versorgung von Patienten mit Hörgerät (HG) ipsilateral und Cochleaimplantat (CI) kontralateral bei asymmetrischem Hörverlust ist aufgrund vieler inhärenter Variablen die komplizierteste Versorgungsart im Kontext der Versorgung mit CI. Im vorliegenden Übersichtsartikel werden alle systematischen interauralen Unterschiede zwischen elektrischer und akustischer Stimulation dargestellt, die bei dieser Versorgungsart auftreten können. Darüber hinaus werden Methoden zur Quantifizierung des interauralen Latenzoffsets, also des Zeitunterschieds zwischen der akustischen und elektrischen Stimulation des Hörnervs, mittels Registrierung auditorisch evozierter Potenziale – erzeugt durch akustische bzw. elektrische Stimulation – und Messungen an den Sprachprozessoren und Hörgeräten vorgestellt. Die technische Kompensation des interauralen Latenzoffsets und ihre positive Auswirkung auf die Schalllokalisationsfähigkeit bimodal mit CI und HG versorgter Patienten wird ebenfalls beschrieben. Zuletzt werden neueste Erkenntnisse diskutiert, die Gründe dafür aufzeigen, warum die Kompensation des interauralen Latenzoffsets das Sprachverstehen im Störgeräusch bei bimodal versorgten CI-/HG-Trägern nicht verbessert.
In this work the nonlinear behavior of layered surface acoustic wave (SAW) resonators is studied with the help of finite element (FE) computations. The full calculations depend strongly on the availability of accurate tensor data. While there are accurate material data for linear computations, the complete sets of higher-order material constants, needed for nonlinear simulations, are still not available for relevant materials. To overcome this problem, scaling factors were used for each available nonlinear tensor. The approach here considers piezoelectricity, dielectricity, electrostriction, and elasticity constants up to the fourth order. These factors act as a phenomenological estimate for incomplete tensor data. Since no set of fourth-order material constants for LiTaO3 is available, an isotropic approximation for the fourth-order elastic constants was applied. As a result, it was found that the fourth-order elastic tensor is dominated by one-fourth order Lamé constant. With the help of the FE model, derived in two different, but equivalent ways, we investigate the nonlinear behavior of a SAW resonator with a layered material stack. The focus was set to third-order nonlinearity. Accordingly, the modeling approach is validated using measurements of third-order effects in test resonators. In addition, the acoustic field distribution is analyzed.
Human interaction frequently includes decision-making processes during which interactants call on verbal and non-verbal resources to manage the flow of interaction. In 2017, Stevanovic et al. carried out pioneering work, analyzing the unfolding of moment-by-moment dynamics by investigating the behavioral matching during search and decision-making phases. By studying the similarities in the participant's body sway during a conversation task in Finnish, the authors showed higher behavioral matching during decision phases than during search phases. The purpose of this research was to investigate the whole-body sway and its coordination during joint search and decision-making phases as a replication of the study by Stevanovic et al. (2017) but based on a German population. Overall, 12 dyads participated in this study and were asked to decide on 8 adjectives, starting with a pre-defined letter, to describe a fictional character. During this joint-decision task (duration: 206.46 ± 116.08 s), body sway of both interactants was measured using a 3D motion capture system and center of mass (COM) accelerations were computed. Matching of body sway was calculated using a windowed cross correlation (WCC) of the COM accelerations. A total of 101 search and 101 decision phases were identified for the 12 dyads. Significant higher COM accelerations (5.4*10−3 vs. 3.7*10−3 mm/s2, p < 0.001) and WCC coefficients (0.47 vs. 0.45, p = 0.043) were found during decision-making phases than during search phases. The results suggest that body sway is one of the resources humans use to communicate the arrival at a joint decision. These findings contribute to a better understanding of interpersonal coordination from a human movement science perspective.
Femtosecond (fs) time-resolved magneto-optics is applied to investigate laser-excited ultrafast dynamics of one-dimensional nickel gratings on fused silica and silicon substrates for a wide range of periodicities Λ = 400–1500 nm. Multiple surface acoustic modes with frequencies up to a few tens of GHz are generated. Nanoscale acoustic wavelengths Λ/n have been identified as nth-spatial harmonics of Rayleigh surface acoustic wave (SAW) and surface skimming longitudinal wave (SSLW), with acoustic frequencies and lifetimes being in agreement with theoretical calculations. Resonant magnetoelastic excitation of the ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) by SAW’s third spatial harmonic, and, most interestingly fingerprints of the parametric resonance at 1/2 SAW frequency have been observed. Numerical solutions of Landau–Lifshitz–Gilbert (LLG) equation magnetoelastically driven by complex polychromatic acoustic fields quantitatively reproduce all resonances at once. Thus, our results provide a solid experimental and theoretical base for a quantitative understanding of ultrafast fs-laser-driven magnetoacoustics and tailoring the magnetic-grating-based metasurfaces at the nanoscale.
In this study, circular economy (CE) relevance in Germany will be discussed based on LinkedIn readily available data. LinkedIn company profiles located in Germany with ‘circular economy’ in their description or any other field were selected and used as a data source to analyze their CE relation. Overall, 514 German companies were analyzed in reference to the 15 German regions they belong. Most companies are located in the federal state of Berlin (126), followed by North Rhine-Westphalia (96) and Bavaria (77). In terms of the industry sector, they are self-classified to environmental services (64), management consulting (50), renewables & environment (33), research (31), and computer software (18) etc. Regarding their employees with LinkedIn profiles, 22,621 people are affiliated with these companies, ranging from one to 7,877. All examined companies have a total of 819,632 followers on LinkedIn, ranging from none to 88,167. An increase in CE-related companies was recorded in 13 of the 16 federal states of Germany over a one-year period. This work provides essential insights into the increasing relevance and trends of the circular economy in German enterprises and will help conduct further national studies with readily available data from LinkedIn.
There is an ongoing debate about the use and scope of Clayton M. Christensen´s idea of disruptive innovation, including the question of whether it is a management buzz phrase or a valuable theory. This discussion considers the general question of how innovation in the field of management theories and concepts finds its way to the different target groups. This conceptual paper combines the different concepts of the creation and dissemination of management trends in a basic framework based on a short review of models for the dissemination of management ideas. This framework allows an analysis of the character of new management ideas like disruptive innovation. By measuring the impact of the theory on the academic sphere using a bibliometric statistic of the number of academic publications on Google scholar and Scopus and a meta-analysis of research papers, we show the significant influence of disruptive innovation beyond pure management fads.
Given the looming threats of climate change and the rapid worldwide urbanization, it is a necessity to prioritize the transition towards a carbon-free built environment. This research study provides a holistic digital methodology for parametric design of urban residential buildings with regard to the Mediterranean semi-arid climate zone of Morocco in the early design phase. The morphological parameters of the urban residential buildings, namely the buildings’ typology, the distance between buildings, the urban grid’s orientation, and the window-towall ratio, are evaluated in order to identify the key combinations of passive and active solar design strategies that determine the high energy performing configurations, based on the introduced Energy Performance Index (EPI), which is the ratio between solar BIPV production to maximum available installed BIPV capacity and the normalized thermal energy needs. Through an automated processing of 2187 iterations via Grasshopper, we simulate daylight autonomy, indoor thermal comfort and solar rooftop photovoltaic and building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) energy potential. Then, we analyze the conflicting objectives of energy efficiency measures, active solar design strategies, and indoor visual comfort in the decision-making process that supports our goal of getting closer to net zero urban residential buildings. The digital workflow showed interesting trends in reaching a balanced equilibrium between performance metrics influenced by the contrasting impact of solar exposure on indoor daylight autonomy and thermal energy demand. Furthermore, the study’s findings indicate that it is possible to achieve an annual load match exceeding 66,56 % while simultaneously ensuring an acceptable visual indoor comfort (sDA higher than 0.4). The findings also highlight the important role of the BIPV system in shifting towards the net zero energy goal, by contributing up to 30 % of the overall solar energy output and covering up to 20 % of the yearly self-consumption. Moreover, the energy balance evaluation on an hourly basis indicates that BIPV system notably enhances the daily load cover factor by up to 5.5 %, particularly in the case of slab SN typology, throughout the different seasons. Graphical representations of the yearly, monthly and hourly load matches and the hourly energy balance of the best performing configurations provide a thorough understanding of the potential evolution of the urban energy system over time as a result of the gradual integration of active solar electricity production.
Energy efficiency and hygrothermal performance of hemp clay walls for Moroccan residential buildings
(2023)
Hemp-based building envelopes have gained significant popularity in developed countries, and now the trend of constructing houses with hemp-clay blocks is spreading to developing countries like Morocco. Investigating the hygrothermal behavior of such structures under actual climate conditions is essential for advancing and promoting this sustainable practice. This paper presents an in-depth experimental characterization of a commercial hemp-clay brick that has been exposed to the outdoor environment for four years, in addition to field measurements on a building scale demonstration prototype. Additionally, the study simulates 17 representative cities to assess the hygrothermal performance and energy-saving potential in each of Morocco's six existing climate zones, using the EnergyPlus engine. The experimental campaign's findings demonstrate excellent indoor air temperature and relative humidity regulation within the hemp-clay wall building, leading to satisfactory levels of thermal comfort within hemp-clay wall buildings. This is attributed to the material's good thermal conductivity and excellent moisture buffering capacity (found to be 0.31 W/mK and 2.25 g/m2%RH), respectively). The energy simulation findings also point to significant energy savings, with cooling and heating energy reductions ranging from 27.7% to 47.5% and 33.7% to 79.8%, respectively, as compared to traditional Moroccan buildings.
Inadequate mechanical compliance of orthopedic implants can result in excessive strain of the bone interface, and ultimately, aseptic loosening. It is hypothesized that a fiber-based biometal with adjustable anisotropic mechanical properties can reduce interface strain, facilitate continuous remodeling, and improve implant survival under complex loads. The biometal is based on strategically layered sintered titanium fibers. Six different topologies are manufactured. Specimens are tested under compression in three orthogonal axes under 3-point bending and torsion until failure. Biocompatibility testing involves murine osteoblasts. Osseointegration is investigated by micro-computed tomography and histomorphometry after implantation in a metaphyseal trepanation model in sheep. The material demonstrates compressive yield strengths of up to 50 MPa and anisotropy correlating closely with fiber layout. Samples with 75% porosity are both stronger and stiffer than those with 85% porosity. The highest bending modulus is found in samples with parallel fiber orientation, while the highest shear modulus is found in cross-ply layouts. Cell metabolism and morphology indicate uncompromised biocompatibility. Implants demonstrate robust circumferential osseointegration in vivo after 8 weeks. The biometal introduced in this study demonstrates anisotropic mechanical properties similar to bone, and excellent osteoconductivity and feasibility as an orthopedic implant material.
Heat pumps play a central role in decarbonizing the heat supply of buildings. However, in this article, implementing heat pumps in existing buildings, a significant challenge is still presented due to high temperature requirements. In this article, a systematic analysis of the effects of heat source temperatures, maximum heat pump condenser temperatures, and system temperatures on the seasonal performance of heat pump (HP) systems is presented. The quantitative performance analysis encompasses over 50 heat pumps installed in residential buildings, revealing correlations between the building characteristics, observed temperatures, and heat pump type. The performance of an HP system retrofitted to a 30-dwelling multifamily building is presented in more detail. The bivalent HP system combines air and ground as heat sources and achieves a seasonal performance factor of 3.25 with a share of the gas boiler of 27% in its first year of operation. In these findings, the technical feasibility of retrofitting heat pumps is demonstrated in existing buildings and insights are provided into overcoming the challenges associated with high temperature requirements.
Am 1. Juli 2022 trafen sich im Rahmen des Abschlusskolloquiums des Projekts ACA-Modes rund 60 Teilnehmende aus Forschung, Lehre und Industrie zu einer internationalen Konferenz an der Hochschule Offenburg. Hier wurden die Projektergebnisse rund um die erfolgreiche Implementierung modellprädiktiver Regelstrategien vorgestellt, aktuelle Fragestellungen diskutiert und Entwicklungspfade hin zu einem netzdienlichen Betrieb von Energieverbundsystemen skizziert.
Wirtschaftlichkeitsbetrachtung eines smarten Energiekonzepts für ein Bestandsquartier in Karlsruhe
(2023)
Die Transformation der Energieversorgung in Bestandsgebäuden ist für die Erreichung der Klimaziele im Gebäudesektor entscheidend. In einem modellhaften Quartiersprojekt in Karlsruhe-Durlach wird ein ‚smartes Energiekonzept‘, bestehend aus Wärmepumpen, Blockheizkraftwerk und PV-Anlagen mit lokalem Strom- und Wärmenetz umgesetzt und messtechnisch begleitet. Ziel ist dabei eine CO2-effiziente und wirtschaftliche Bereitstellung von Wärme und Strom.
In dem Artikel wird eine Wirtschaftlichkeitsbetrachtung für das Wärme- und Stromcontracting auf Basis der realen Investitionskosten sowie der gemessenen und berechneten Energieflüsse durchgeführt. Die Wärmegestehungskosten hängen neben den Investitionskosten von den energiewirtschaftlichen Rahmenbedingungen ab. Mit ansteigender CO2-Steuer werden mittelfristig Wärmegestehungskosten erreicht, die unter denen konventioneller Energiesysteme liegen. Dadurch bietet das integrierte Energiekonzept ein breites Anwendungspotenzial für städtische Bestandsquartiere außerhalb von Fernwärme-Gebieten.
Optimization of energetic refurbishment roadmaps for multi-family buildings utilizing heat pumps
(2023)
A novel methodology for calculating optimized refurbishment roadmaps is developed in this paper. The aim of the roadmaps is to determine when and how should which component of the building envelope and heat generation system be refurbished to achieve the lowest net present value. The integrated optimization approach couples a particle swarm optimization algorithm with a dynamic building simulation of the building envelope and the heat supply system. Due to a free selection of implementation times and refurbishment depth, the optimization method achieves the lowest net present value and high CO2 reduction and is therefore an important contribution to achieve climate neutrality in the building stock.
The method is exemplarily applied to a multi-family house built in 1970. In comparison to a standard refurbishment roadmap, cost savings of 6–16 % and CO2 savings of 6–59 % are possible. The sensitivity of the refurbishment roadmap measures is analyzed on the basis of a parametric analysis. Robust optimization results are obtained with a mean refurbishment level of approx. 50 kWh/m2/a of the building envelope. The preferred heat generation system is a bivalent brine-heat pump system with a share of 70 % of the heat load being covered by the electric heat pump.
Der prozentuale Energieaufwand für die Warmwasserbereitung ist umso höher, je geringer der Bedarf an Raumwärme – erreicht durch besser gedämmte Gebäudehüllen – ist. Gleichzeitig kann dieser Aufwand für Warmwasser aufgrund der normativ geforderten Systemtemperaturen von 60/55 °C bei zentraler Warmwasserbereitung über Wärmepumpen nur vergleichsweise energieaufwendig abgedeckt werden. Eine Studie des Fraunhofer ISE zeigt, wie groß dieser Temperatur-Effekt im Vergleich unterschiedlicher Trinkwasser-Erwärmungssysteme ist.
Jürgen Zierep passed away on July 29, 2021, at the age of 92. To him, science and education was not only a profession, but an affair of the heart. His impressive contributions in fluid mechanics comprise about 200 scientific publications in the fields of gas dynamics, similarity laws, flow instabilities, flows with energy transfer, and non-Newtonian fluids. In addition, he wrote eleven textbooks with great dedication. Those books by the “scientist who loves to teach” are nowadays available in different languages and regularly appear in new editions.
Lithium-ion batteries exhibit a well-known trade-off between energy and power, which is problematic for electric vehicles which require both high energy during discharge (high driving range) and high power during charge (fast-charge capability). We use two commercial lithium-ion cells (high-energy [HE] and high-power) to parameterize and validate physicochemical pseudo-two-dimensional models. In a systematic virtual design study, we vary electrode thicknesses, cell temperature, and the type of charging protocol. We are able to show that low anode potentials during charge, inducing lithium plating and cell aging, can be effectively avoided either by using high temperatures or by using a constant-current/constant-potential/constant-voltage charge protocol which includes a constant anode potential phase. We introduce and quantify a specific charging power as the ratio of discharged energy (at slow discharge) and required charging time (at a fast charge). This value is shown to exhibit a distinct optimum with respect to electrode thickness. At 35°C, the optimum was achieved using an HE electrode design, yielding 23.8 Wh/(min L) volumetric charging power at 15.2 min charging time (10% to 80% state of charge) and 517 Wh/L discharge energy density. By analyzing the various overpotential contributions, we were able to show that electrolyte transport losses are dominantly responsible for the insufficient charge and discharge performance of cells with very thick electrodes.
Many commonly well-performing convolutional neural network models have shown to be susceptible to input data perturbations, indicating a low model robustness. To reveal model weaknesses, adversarial attacks are specifically optimized to generate small, barely perceivable image perturbations that flip the model prediction. Robustness against attacks can be gained by using adversarial examples during training, which in most cases reduces the measurable model attackability. Unfortunately, this technique can lead to robust overfitting, which results in non-robust models. In this paper, we analyze adversarially trained, robust models in the context of a specific network operation, the downsampling layer, and provide evidence that robust models have learned to downsample more accurately and suffer significantly less from downsampling artifacts, aka. aliasing, than baseline models. In the case of robust overfitting, we observe a strong increase in aliasing and propose a novel early stopping approach based on the measurement of aliasing.
Aerosol particles play an important role in the climate system by absorbing and scattering radiation and influencing cloud properties. They are also one of the biggest sources of uncertainty for climate modeling. Many climate models do not include aerosols in sufficient detail due to computational constraints. To represent key processes, aerosol microphysical properties and processes have to be accounted for. This is done in the ECHAM-HAM (European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecast-Hamburg-Hamburg) global climate aerosol model using the M7 microphysics, but high computational costs make it very expensive to run with finer resolution or for a longer time. We aim to use machine learning to emulate the microphysics model at sufficient accuracy and reduce the computational cost by being fast at inference time. The original M7 model is used to generate data of input–output pairs to train a neural network (NN) on it. We are able to learn the variables’ tendencies achieving an average R² score of 77.1%. We further explore methods to inform and constrain the NN with physical knowledge to reduce mass violation and enforce mass positivity. On a Graphics processing unit (GPU), we achieve a speed-up of up to over 64 times faster when compared to the original model.
This paper aims to draw attention to an urgent need for reform of the regulatory framework of the broader export credit system to ensure a new and comprehensive "safe haven" for officially supported export credits. The purpose is to analyse the complex debate on disciplines of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), creating a point of reference for future analysis of and debates around the "carve-out clause" of the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (ASCM) and a "safe haven" in a broader sense.