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A Descriptive Study on Customer Attitudes towards Green Branding in the Fashion Industry in Germany
(2021)
This paper attempts to provide an up-to-date representation and analysis of customers' attitudes towards green branding in the fashion industry and their willingness to pay (WTP) for sustainable and ethical clothing in Germany. Related literature strands are reviewed to understand how the fashion industry works, what green branding means, and how customer attitudes are shaped. After creating an attitude measurement model, an online questionnaire was designed and sent to Furtwangen University students, with 153 valid responses returned. The descriptive analysis sheds light on the three attitudinal components related to sustainability and ethics in the fashion industry. It is noted that customers do not hold a definite attitude. However, a tendency towards the positive end is ascertained. Significant gaps still exist in terms of knowledge and awareness of some commitment by fashion brands. Another huge factor influencing attitudes appears to be a lack of trust. The behavioral component showed that customers are trying to contribute through proper disposal and are willing to buy sustainable and ethical clothing more often. However, there is still some room for improvement in terms of customer education. Nevertheless, it is found that they are willing to accept an additional contribution for sustainable and ethical clothing. In general, it can be concluded that there is a foundation to improve the fashion industry towards more sustainability. However, all stakeholders, i.e., customers and fashion brands, as well as the government, need to work together to change the industry in the long run.
Additives and polymer composition influence the interaction of microplastics with xenobiotics
(2021)
Akka Cluster
(2021)
Akka Cluster ist ein Framework, das die Entwicklung verteilter Systeme ermöglicht. In dieser Arbeit wird der Funktionsumfang von Akka Cluster untersucht, ein Teilbereich des Frameworks Akka. Gegenstand der Analyse ist ein einfacher, mit Akka aufgesetzter Cluster, um anschließend Funktionen wie Singletons, Sharding, verteilte Daten und Mechanismen zur Fehlertoleranz zu untersuchen. Dabei wird auch versucht, unter die Abstraktionsschicht zu schauen, die Akka Cluster bietet. Dies gibt unter anderem ein klareres Bild, wie umfangreich die Entwicklung verteilter Systeme ist. Durch Monitoring soll anschließend ein Überblick über einen Cluster gegeben werden, welcher über eine REST-Schnittstelle auch anderweitig verwaltet werden kann.
Sustainability, encompassing the economy, the environment, and society in equal parts, is an increasingly prominent topic that is gaining in importance and awareness due to the climate crisis and the resulting urgent need for action. It is essential to simultaneously focus on the global and on the local scale in order to create a paradigm shift. This study addresses the attitude-behavior gap of employees in the daily operations within companies and evaluates how nudges can be implemented to narrow this gap. A literature review was conducted to understand the separate topics of sustainability, the attitude-behavior gap, and nudging. Based on these three topics and their interrelation, exemplary nudges on habits and on infrastructure to be applied in a company and modified to its needs are developed. The method of implementation of nudges cannot be generalized because (1) attitudes and behavior and their interrelation are individual and influenceable factors and (2) the corporate context and how nudges are communicated impact the effectiveness of the interventions. Investing in internal sustainability practices in combination with indispensable external practices leads companies to a holistic, authentic, and successful approach towards becoming a sustainable business.
Keywords: Attitude-Behavior Gap, Nudging, Corporate sustainability
The present research sought to deepen the debates about how the collector of recyclable material, a subject that has built his political resistance in the Brazilian scenario from the process of re-signification of garbage and his profession. Its empowerment observed from the end of the 20th century was concomitant with the growth of environmental discussions and the strengthening of the solidarity economy as an alternative for economic emancipation in Brazil. In this context, the individual who used to live on the margins of society established himself as a fundamental factor in the recycling chain and became an environmental agent. The question that guided the investigation was "how has the pandemic influenced waste pickers' solidarity organizations, given their challenges and opportunities?". In this context, two specific objectives were determined to be answered in the course of the research. The first sought to understand the relationship between the solidarity economy and the formation of waste picker collectives; the second aimed to identify the challenges and opportunities that could arise from these solidarity organizations' experiences. A vast theoretical analysis was conducted to understand the
foundations of the Solidarity Economy, an alternative to the informal economy and a form of economic empowerment especially considered for vulnerable populations, as a
way to include them economically. Using the case study of Belo Horizonte, a city with a history of alternative economic expressions and strengthened waste pickers' movements, we approached various actors of the recycling chain through qualitative research, using
the in-depth interviews approach.
Among other findings, the research noted that one of the greatest challenges of the post-pandemic Solidarity Economy is related to the expansion of the capitalist market to areas traditionally aggregated by the Solidarity Economy, because they were previously considered to be on the “margins of society”. However, these threats also
give room for opportunities, from responses that reinforce the legitimacy of cooperatives and associations, through their contractual adequacy with the City Hall for
the payment of the environmental service rendered, disconnected from the number of solid waste collected. We have learned that in the daily struggles and achievements of
the waste pickers, challenges and opportunities go hand in hand.
Das Streben des Menschen nach persönlichem Wohlbefinden steigt mit dem Wohlstand – die aktuelle Pandemiezeit wirkt hier stark beschleunigend. Den Traum von einem eigenen Wellnessbereich im privaten Heim erfüllen sich immer mehr Privatpersonen.
In der vorliegenden Arbeit wurde der Geschäftsprozess der Saunafertigung untersucht. Dabei lag der Fokus der Analyse auf den einzelnen Prozessschritten des Fertigungsprozesses hinsichtlich Zeit, Material, Maschine und Mensch. Die herausgearbeiteten Optimierungsansätze orientieren sich dabei an dem magischen Dreieck und der Digitalisierung.
Es zeigte sich, dass viele Prozessschritte noch händisch und in Papierform durchgeführt werden. Der technisch bereits mögliche Einsatz von digitalbasierten Schritten ist nicht in vollem Umfang ausgeschöpft. Für eine effiziente zukunftsorientierte Prozessgestaltung ist die weitere Digitalisierung unerlässlich.
This paper deals with the constructive adaptation of an existing mechanical single-jet valve meter (valve meter driven only by a water jet) for the realisation of a digital system. For this purpose, an existing mechanical single-jet valve meter system is constructively adapted in such a way that the existing mechanical counter can be replaced by an existing digital counter. Subsequently, the measuring behaviour of the newly created meter system is examined on a testing bench
While the number of devices connected together as the Internet of Things (IoT) is growing, the demand for an efficient and secure model of resource discovery in IoT is increasing. An efficient resource discovery model distributes the registration and discovery workload among many nodes and allow the resources to be discovered based on their attributes. In most cases this discovery ability should be restricted to a number of clients based on their attributes, otherwise, any client in the system can discover any registered resource. In a binary discovery policy, any client with the shared secret key can discover and decrypt the address data of a registered resource regardless of the attributes of the client. In this paper we propose Attred, a decentralized resource discovery model using the Region-based Distributed Hash Table (RDHT) that allows secure and location-aware discovery of the resources in IoT network. Using Attribute Based Encryption (ABE) and based on predefined discovery policies by the resources, Attred allows clients only by their inherent attributes, to discover the resources in the network. Attred distributes the workload of key generations and resource registration and reduces the risk of central authority management. In addition, some of the heavy computations in our proposed model can be securely distributed using secret sharing that allows a more efficient resource registration, without affecting the required security properties. The performance analysis results showed that the distributed computation can significantly reduce the computation cost while maintaining the functionality. The performance and security analysis results also showed that our model can efficiently provide the required security properties of discovery correctness, soundness, resource privacy and client privacy.
Das Ziel des vorliegenden Forschungsprojektes war es, eine kostengünstige, aber effektive und flexible Automatisierungsmaßnahme für Fräsbauteile einzurichten. Dadurch sollte der Mitarbeiter entlastet und für anderweitige Tätigkeiten eingesetzt werden, um durch diesen Aspekt zeitgleich Kosten einzusparen. Zudem musste die Lösung für zukünftige Optimierungen und Veränderungen an der Maschine ausgelegt sein. Durchgeführt wurde das Forschungsprojekt an einer 3-Achs CNC-Fräsmaschine (Chiron Mill 2000). Die Automatisierung bezieht sich auf die Entnahme von unterschiedlich langen Werkstücken (76 bis 400 mm), deren Abtransport aus dem Maschinenumfeld sowie das Nachschieben des Rohmaterials. Um eine zielgerechte Lösung zu finden, wurden Methoden wie der morphologische Kasten herangezogen. Es entstand eine einfach handhabbare und kosteneffiziente Lösung mit einem Transportband, einem pneumatisch beaufschlagten Spindelgreifer und einem profilgenauen, konstruiertem auf den Greifer montierbaren Fingerpaar. Mit dem Forschungsprojekt wurde eine deutliche Steigerung der Eingriffszeit durch einen Mitarbeiter ermöglicht, wobei aber die Prozesszeit für einen Zyklus angestiegen ist. Zudem konnten die Kosten für die Produktion der Bauteile deutlich gesenkt werden. Durch die Automatisierungslösung konnte der Werker von monotonen Arbeitsgängen befreit und für stärker wertschöpfende Tätigkeiten gewonnen werden.
Biosynthesis of iron oxide magnetic nanoparticles using clinically isolated Pseudomonas aeruginosa
(2021)
Comparison of a histology based multi layer artery model to its simplified axisymmetric model
(2021)
Comparison of Geometrical Lung Models to Calculate Tidal Volumes during Spontaneous Breathing
(2021)
Cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the German Central Sensitization Inventory (CSI-GE)
(2021)
In dem vorliegenden Beitrag wird der aktuelle Trend, Payas-you-live-Systeme (PAYL) in Verbindung mit Krankenversicherungen anzubieten, analysiert. PAYL-Systeme bedeutet konkret die kontinuierliche Erfassung von Gesundheitsdaten mithilfe technischer Geräte und Übermittlung dieser Daten an Versicherungen sowie die Auszahlung von Boni für erreichte Fitnessziele. Zunächst wird eine Definition von PAYL-Systemen dargelegt, dann werden die technischen Rahmenbedingungen erläutert, schließlich werden die Auswirkungen dieser soziotechnischen Systeme näher beleuchtet. Dies geschieht auf Grundlage unserer empirischen Untersuchung. Die drei identifizierten Hauptkonflikte betreffen die Genese von PAYL, seine Auswirkungen auf den Wert der Datensouveränität besonders für Versicherte und die Schwierigkeit, für den Anspruch auf Prävention und Kostenersparnis durch PAYL Evidenz zu erzeugen. Diese Konflikte werden diskutiert, um sowohl die direkten wie auch indirekten Auswirkungen der Digitalisierung und der Ökonomisierung des Sozialen durch PAYL zu beleuchten.
Demethylating therapy increases anti-CD123 CAR T cell cytotoxicity against acute myeloid leukemia
(2021)
Nowadays, machine learning projects have become more and more relevant to various real-world use cases. The success of complex Neural Network models depends upon many factors, as the requirement for structured and machine learning-centric project development management arises. Due to the multitude of tools available for different operational phases, responsibilities and requirements become more and more unclear. In this work, Machine Learning Operations (MLOps) technologies and tools for every part of the overall project pipeline, as well as involved roles, are examined and clearly defined. With the focus on the inter-connectivity of specific tools and comparison by well-selected requirements of MLOps, model performance, input data, and system quality metrics are briefly discussed. By identifying aspects of machine learning, which can be reused from project to project, open-source tools which help in specific parts of the pipeline, and possible combinations, an overview of support in MLOps is given. Deep learning has revolutionized the field of Image processing, and building an automated machine learning workflow for object detection is of great interest for many organizations. For this, a simple MLOps workflow for object detection with images is portrayed.
A major problem in the automotive sector is dealing with used hydraulic oil. Since this oil loses its purity over time, it must be changed. In most cases, the condition of the oil is not really checked, but is changed after a certain number of kilometers. It is possible that intact hydraulic oil is wasted in the process. Until now, there is no cost-effective method to check the purity on hydraulic oils, so there is nothing left but to remove all of the oil. The purpose of this work is to develop a measuring station for a MEMS-based oil quality sensor. With the help of the oil quality sensor, deviations of aged hydraulic oils shall be investigated. An infrared light source and a Fabri-Perot spectrum sensor will be used for more accurate detection of deviations in aged hydraulic oil. The goal is to clarify whether it is possible to use wavelength spectra to detect differences in aged hydraulic oil. To do this, a suitable Fabri-Perot spectrum sensor and a light source with the appropriate wavelength range were carefully selected. Furthermore, a measurement setup for static measurements was worked out. Subsequently, measurements were carried out with and without hydraulic oil and the measured data was compared with reference data. Finally, differences in the aged hydraulic oil could be determined by means of light wave measurements.
Differences in the perception and their effects on the implementation of organizational agility
(2021)
This thesis paper investigates the differences in organizational agility implementation and links practical approaches to complex theory. Several agile transformations have been studied to provide an overview of the common guidelines that foster agile working. In alignment with the ambivalence of agility, the results show that a symbiotic mixture of bottom- up and top-down features in the application is required. Especially in traditional organizations, where hierarchical structures prevail, the practical implementation requires the approval of managers and the active involvement of employees to be successful. Additionally, companies cannot apply a uniform approach to achieving agile but must alter practices to fit their specific needs. Consequently, this paper can be particularly beneficial to companies attempting an agile change.
The topic of traditional fashion retailers fighting for their position against growing e-commerce suppliers has been omnipresent in recent years. Therefore, it is important to understand what possibilities modern technology and innovation has to offer, and how these innovative technologies can be leveraged to achieve traditional brick-and-mortar-retailer’s goal of staying relevant and competitive.
The objective of this thesis is to examine and compare the effectiveness of different in-store digitalization concepts and technologies in retail organisations, analyzing different challenges such as the practical implementation in stores, customer adoption and acceptance factors in context of socio-demographic, and measuring the success of the concepts. Also, the current situation will be explored to see what is already being done today and where there is more potential using different approaches and technologies. For this purpose, a variety of studies, papers and other literature will be analyzed and put into context with the research topic.
Concluding the thesis, we find that all technologies and its practical applications affect relevant variables in different models such as TAM, the convenience/social presence model, and the customer decision-making process. Besides that, the socio-demographic variables geography, age and gender all influence adoption and readiness towards technology to a certain extent. Finally, we give examples on how the technologies can influence classic fashion retail KPIs.
Do Meat-Eating Consumers Use Organic Meat to Rationalize the Consumption of Conventional Meat?
(2021)
This thesis explores how meat-eating consumers may be able to rationalize the consumption of conventional meat by believing to substitute a certain amount of it for organic meat. The underlying rationale is that the positive associations elicited by the organic label and the favorable beliefs consumers have formed about organic meat enable them to use it as a moral license. Building on cognitive dissonance theory, this work specifically investigated whether (1) meat-eaters perceive organic meat better than vegetarians and (2) meat-eaters overestimate how much organic meat they consume. German meat-eating and vegetarian participants were recruited for a study (n=156) to answer these questions. The results show, first, that organic was generally rated as better than conventional meat on all dimensions surveyed, and to a greater extent by meat-eating than by vegetarian respondents. Second, meat-eating participants on average reported estimates of organic meat consumption that were significantly higher than the population mean, indicating that consumers may not eat as much organic meat as they believe. Overall, the findings of this study suggest that organic meat might be used to rationalize unsustainable food choices.
Vernetzte Systeme in Fahrzeugen dienen vor allem
der Erhöhung der Sicherheit, Effizienz und dem Komfort im Straßenverkehr sowie der Reduzierung der Umweltbelastung. Ein Beispiel hierfür bietet das sogenannte eCall-System, welches seit März 2018 in allen Neuwägen verpflichtend verbaut werden muss. Dabei setzt das System nach einem Verkehrsunfall einen automatisierten Notruf ab, bei welchem Daten zum Standort, zur Uhrzeit, zur Fahrtrichtung sowie zur Fahrzeugbeschreibung übermittelt werden. Anhand der dadurch resultierenden Erhöhung der Reaktionszeit der Einsatzkräfte um 40 Prozent bis 50 Prozent, können sowohl Menschenleben gerettet als auch eine schnellere Behandlung an Verletzten durchgeführt werden. Trotz der schnelleren Reaktionszeiten ist die Anzahl an verletzten und getöteten Personen im Straßenverkehr annäherungsweise konstant geblieben. Daher stellt sich zunehmend die Frage, ob bestimmte Arten von Verkehrsunfällen, wie z.B. Unfälle
aufgrund von Alkoholeinfluss oder Sekundenschlaf, mit Unfallpräventionssystemen verhindert werden können. Hierzu stellt dieses Paper ein Konzept in Form eines UseCase- und Aktivitätsdiagrammes dar, bei welchem die Überwachung der Vitaldaten mit Hilfe von Biosensoren in das bereits existierende e-Call-System integriert wird. Dabei werden zu Beginn dieses Papers die theoretischen Grundlagen erläutert. Im Anschluss daran werden psychische und physische Faktoren im Straßenverkehr sowie die Messung dieser mit Hilfe von Vitaldaten aufgezeigt. Daraufhin wird das Prinzip des Gehörgangsensor erörtert,der als Grundlage zur Bearbeitung des Konzeptes dient. Nachfolgend wird das Konzept aufgezeigt und erläutert. Am Ende dieses Papers werden die wesentlichen Ergebnisse in prägnanter Form dargestellt und im Anschluss kritisch hinterfragt.
Um bei Winkelmessungen zu geringen Kosten nicht in der Anzahl der Umdrehung beschränkt zu sein, wird eine Neuentwicklung eines Low-Budget Drehgebers in diesem Projekt verfolgt. Die Anforderungen sind hierbei Herstellkosten im einstelligen Bereich, eine Auflösung von ca. 0,1° und der Drehgeber soll auf Arduino-Basis betrieben werden. Ziel dieser Arbeit ist es mit Hilfe von Simulationen die Grenzen des Systems festzulegen, mit diesen Erkenntnissen einen Prototyp zu erstellen und diesen anschließend mit einem Messgerät zu validieren.
Die Firma XYZ benötigt einen neu entwickelten Tragarm für die folgende Generation der Schweißzange. Die Konzeption und Entwicklung des Tragarms findet unter den Gesichtspunkten der Fertigungs- und Montagekosten, sowie Nutzerfreundlichkeit und Design statt. Die Nutzerfreundlichkeit und das Design wird mit Hilfe des aktuellen Tragarms und einer Benchmarkanalyse optimiert. Die Benchmarkanalyse zeigt dabei die unterschiedlichen Ansätze der am Markt existierenden Produkte. Die Bewertung der Konzepte findet mit Hilfe einer Nutzwertanalyse statt. Durch die gewichteten Ergebnisse und Interviews mit den Projektbetreuern können Schwachstellen aufgedeckt und weitere Optimierungsmöglichkeiten gefunden werden. Die Konstruktion wird mit analytischen Methoden zur Berechnung und Auslegung ergänzt. Das Ergebnis ist ein Tragarm, dessen Reichweite und Arbeitsraum den Kundenbedürfnissen entspricht. Unter Berücksichtigung der Tragfähigkeit, Kippsicherheit und Nutzerfreundlichkeit weist der Tragarm ein eigenständiges Design mit Kippmechanismus auf, welches eine stufenlose Anpassung des Arbeitsraumes ermöglicht.
Der Frauenanteil in den Führungsetagen der deutschen Wirtschaft stagniert seit Jahren auf einem niedrigen Niveau und spiegelt nicht im Entferntesten den Anteil weiblicher Beschäftigter wider (vgl. Tonn 2016, S. 11). Vor allem im Top-Management sind Frauen deutlich unterrepräsentiert. Die Grundannahme dieser Bachelorarbeit besteht darin, dass Frauen grundsätzlich motiviert sind, Führung zu übernehmen und die gleichen Potentiale wie Männer besitzen. Um eine Führungsposition einzunehmen, müssen die Rahmenbedingungen passen. Aufgrund biologischer Unterschiede und der Sozialisation präferieren Frauen andere Rahmenbedingungen als Männer. In der vorliegenden Arbeit wurde die Frage untersucht, was sich aus Sicht der Frauen verändern müsste, damit sie ihr Potential entfalten können. Dazu wurden 50 weibliche Probandinnen aus unterschiedlichen Branchen befragt. Die systematische Betrachtung der Aussagen ergab im Wesentlichen folgende sieben Aspekte: Gestaltungsfreiheit, Unterstützung zu Beginn und in der Führungsposition, Vertrauen, eine gute Feedback- und Fehlerkultur, die Vereinbarkeit mit dem Privatleben, Menschlichkeit im Fokus und attraktive Anreize. Des Weiteren konnten durch die Ergebnisse Handlungsoptionen abgeleitet werden, um strukturelle und kulturelle Rahmenbedingungen zu gestalten, die talentierten und motivierten Frauen einen einfacheren Zugang zu mehr Führungsverantwortung verschaffen.
A sensor fusion concept integrating the optical and microfabricated eddy-current sensor for the non-destructive testing of the grinding burn is reported. For evaluation, reference grinding burn with varying degrees are fabricated on 42CrMo4 tool steel cylinder. The complementary sensing nature of the proposed sensors for the non-destructive testing of the grinding burn is successfully achieved, wherein both the superficial and an in-depth quantitative profile information of the grinding zone is recorded. The electrical output (voltage) of the optical sensor, which is sensitive to the optical surface quality, dropped only by 20 % for moderate degree of grinding burn and by ca. 50 % for stronger degree of grinding burn (i.e. by exclusively considering the superficial surface morphology of the grinding burn). Moreover, a direct correlation among the average surface roughness of the grinding burn, the degree of grinding burn and the optical sensor’s output voltage was observed. The superficial and in-depth information of the grinding burn was recorded using a microfabricated eddy-current sensor (planar microcoil with circular spiral geometry with 20 turns) by measuring the impedance change as function of the driving frequency. The depth of penetration of induced eddy-current in the used 42CrMo4 workpiece (with a sensor to workpiece distance of 700 µm) varied from 223 µm to 7 µm on increasing the frequency of the driving current from 1kHz to 10 MHz, respectively. A very interesting nature of the grinding burn was observed with two distinct zones within the grinding zone, namely, the superficial zone (starting from the workpiece surface to 15 µm in grinding zone) and a submerged zone (>15 µm within the grinding zone). The impedance of the microcoils changed by ca. 8 % and 4 % for the superficial and submerged zone for regions with stronger degree of grinding burn at a frequency of 10 MHz and 2.5MHz, respectively. Furthermore, a correlation between the microhardness of the grinding burn and the impedance change is also observed.
Harmonic Analysis for the Separation of Perfusion and Respiration in Electrical Impedance Tomography
(2021)
Many entrepreneurs are still conducting business today according to the principle "the purpose of business is business". The focus here is primarily placed on the corporation’s profits while human relations within the enterprise are almost completely ignored. Humanity and business are, after all, seen as two mutually exclusive concepts. However, results of studies undertaken by well-known research institutes, such as Gallup, indicate this management style to be inefficient for businesses in the long run as the resulting low emotional bond of employees with their companies generates high costs for organizations.
For this reason, the present paper examines the extent to which humanity and business are really two mutually exclusive ideas and provides an answer to the research question of whether taking a human approach in a business is a crucial factor for its success. In addition, the possible effects resulting through the integration of humanity in business are analyzed.
To provide an answer to the research question, the currently most recent working challenges in organizations as well as their corresponding demands were first worked out. Subsequently, the human being - with a specific focus on human emotions and emotional needs – was closer examined due to its significance in the company. Finally, the possible effects achieved by taking a human approach in a business were presented on the basis of two already human-oriented corporations. All researches were predominantly based on primary sources as well as on the results of a self-conducted qualitative interview.
The results of all investigations clearly suggest that taking a human approach in an organization is a decisive factor for its success. In addition, it was established that human interactions even help enterprises in achieving astonishingly quick and long-lasting financial successes.
It is therefore plain that it is necessary for companies pursuing the goal to be successful in the long-term to break free from the common principle of "the purpose of business is business" and instead be more open to new forms of management, such as "Humanity and Business".
Weite Bereiche der Softwareentwicklung werden
bereits heute durch diverse Werkzeuge unterstützt und teilweise automatisiert. Eine Verbesserung dieser Automatisierung soll dazu führen, dass die Entwicklung schneller und kosteneffizienter wird und eine höhere Qualität aufweist. Durch stetig steigende Forschungsarbeit im Bereich der künstlichen Intelligenz kann auch die werkzeugunterstützte Softwareentwicklung (engl. computer-aided software engineering, CASE) profitieren, indem bereits gängige Automatisierungsschritte durch den Einsatz neuer Methoden stark verbessert werden. Auch können sich durch diese Forschung neue Möglichkeiten ergeben, weitere Aufgaben während der Entwicklung zu automatisieren. Diese Verbesserungen und neuen Möglichkeiten sollen in dieser Ausarbeitung erklärt und gegebenenfalls genauer untersucht werden. In Tests, die im Rahmen dieser Ausarbeitung durchgeführt wurden, hat sich das Potential einiger Werkzeuge gezeigt, jedoch auch, dass sich die meisten Werkzeuge auf die KI-gestützte Verbesserung bereits verbreiteterWerkzeuge beschränken und damit nur wenig zu einer Automatisierung des kompletten Prozesses beitragen. Außerdem hat sich mit dem sog. Data Poisoning neues Gefahrenpotential herausgestellt.
Collecting real-world data for the training of neural networks is enormously time-consuming and expensive. As such, the concept of virtualizing the domain and creating synthetic data has been analyzed in many instances. This virtualization offers many possibilities of changing the domain, and with that, enabling the relatively fast creation of data. It also offers the chance to enhance necessary augmentations with additional semantic information when compared with conventional augmentation methods. This raises the question of whether such semantic changes, which can be seen as augmentations of the virtual domain, contribute to better results for neural networks, when trained with data augmented this way. In this paper, a virtual dataset is presented, including semantic augmentations and automatically generated annotations, as well as a comparison between semantic and conventional augmentation for image data. It is determined that the results differ only marginally for neural network models trained with the two augmentation approaches.
The paper shows the influence of low-pressure plasma on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) to achieve improved layer adhesion between PET and ALD multilayers. The literature describes a relationship between functional groups that are incorporated into the polymer surface and better layer adhesion. In this work, the relative number of functional groups after treatment on the surface of PET was measured by the surface energy.
The PET film Hostaphan® RNK was exposed to oxygen and argon plasma with varying treatment times. Subsequently, the surface energy was determined via the contact angle measurement.
The investigations have shown that with increasing treatment time in the oxygen plasma, an increasing surface energy is associated, which is due to the increased incorporation of functional groups, such as hydroxy groups. Furthermore, the results have confirmed the thesis that if the plasma treatment is too long, oxidation takes place on the polymer surface and thus the surface energy decreases. Another aspect that has emerged in the results of the study is the subordinate role of the power of the plasma.
Since the study has not proven the connection between a good layer adhesion, of ALD multilayers on PET, and a high surface energy, this work should serve as an indication for the investigation of this thesis.
ALD can be used in medical technology to produce thin and stable protective coatings. For example, such coatings can be used as tarnish and oxidation protection for silver electrodes used in high-frequency surgery. For the investigation of the pretreatment method, platelets of sterling silver were used instead of silver electrodes. Three methods were used to pretreat the silver substrates. The first pretreatment method is cleaning with acetone and isopropanol. In the other two, the samples are additionally cleaned with a phosphoric acid etching mixture or citric acid. The pretreated substrates were coated using the atomic layer deposition method. 45 nm of aluminum oxide was deposited on the silver samples, followed by another 45 nm of titanium oxide. Subsequently, the samples were autoclaved in order to check the clinical routine and the reusability. The results show a significantly improved adhesion in contrast to samples that were not cleaned. The layer no longer flakes off the silver substrate. Nevertheless, small blisters appear on the protective layer after autoclaving. These indicate that the layer is weakened by the stress.
Investigation on adhesion strength of Parylene-C coatings with different adhesion promotion methods
(2021)
Delamination of encapsulation materials (here the polymer Parylene-C) is one of the biggest failure mechanisms for active medical implants. This problem is addressed by the application of different pre-treatment and adhesion promotion methods. The methods applied in this research are oxygen and Silane A-174 solution pre-treatment and Silane A-174, titanium oxide and Trimethylsilane as adhesion promoters. The adhesion forces of these methods are quantified after different soaking times in phosphate buffered saline (PBS) solution to mimic environment of the human body.
Patient engagement is the most important element in the process of research/development of medicinal products and healthcare management in today’s times. In a country like India which has a huge population and limited state of regulatory affairs it becomes important to walk the extra mile to protect the patient lives and truly serve them. Time and again it is seen that there is no or limited focus on patient centric processes and we still tend to focus on sponsors as the key stakeholder.
The author in this thesis aims to focus on the clinical trial landscape of India and determine if there is a need to improve the clinical trial processes. If yes, then what type of change is the audience looking for.
The author tries to introduce the human element in the process and remind us all that it is the ‘patients’ who are the centre for the drug development process and serving them and alleviating their pain in the true purpose of the process.
The author along with the helping us find a definition of patient centricity in India, also proposes a model that can be used by the Indian pharmaceutical companies to focus on patient centricity at different stages of the drug development cycle within their organisations.d
Diese Arbeit behandelt mehrere Konzepte zur Leistungsbewertung von eingebetteten und Echtzeitsystemen. Das Ermitteln von oberen Zeitschranken, insbesondere der schlechtesten Ausführungszeit, lässt sich durch Verwendung von Zeitanalysen realisieren, wobei zwischen statischen und messbasierten Zeitanalysemethoden unterschieden wird. Für die Gesamtbewertung des Systems ist Benchmarking eine geeignete Methode, um wichtige Zeitparameter zu messen und diese ggf. in den Vergleich mit anderen Systemen zu setzen. Der Einsatz von Simulationen zur eistungsbewertung erweist sich als besonders sinnvoll, wenn die Kosten eines Fehlers unakzeptabel hoch sind oder die Validierung mit der Realkomponente unpraktikabel ist und somit Qualitätsmaßnahmen durch fr¨uhzeitige Validierung
benötigt werden.
Wikipedia is the largest free encyclopedia and one of the most popular websites worldwide. Analyzing user activity within this encyclopedic ecosystem represents unique opportunities for academic research and analysis. For this reason, this work is fundamentally concerned with obtaining and processing real-time article edit streams from Wikipedia. In this regard, we leverage the Wikimedia EventStreams API and propose a general-purpose event pipeline allowing for further processing of observed page edits. In the suggested pipeline, events are ingested and transported via an Apache Kafka cluster and inserted into a ClickHouse database for storage and analysis. Finally, we confirm the viability of our design by exploring several exemplary analytical use cases.
The usage of machine learning models for prediction is growing rapidly and proof that the intended requirements are met is essential. Audits are a proven method to determine whether requirements or guidelines are met. However, machine learning models have intrinsic characteristics, such as the quality of training data, that make it difficult to demonstrate the required behavior and make audits more challenging. This paper describes an ML audit framework that evaluates and reviews the risks of machine learning applications, the quality of the training data, and the machine learning model. We evaluate and demonstrate the functionality of the proposed framework by auditing an steel plate fault prediction model.
Metatranscriptomic Analysis of Bacterial Communities on Laundered Textiles: A Pilot Case Study
(2021)
Die additive Fertigung von Bauteilen aus Kunststoff bietet einige Vorteile gegenüber der klassischen Fertigung durch Spritzguss. Da das Herstellungsverfahren jedoch einen großen Einfluss auf die mechanischen Eigenschaften eines Bauteiles hat, wird in dieser Untersuchung das anisotrope Verhalten von Polyamid, das durch FDM verarbeitet wird, analysiert und dem Spritzguss gegenübergestellt. Des Weiteren wird auf der Grundlage der Ermittlung von Materialkennwerten im Zugversuch ein FEM-Modell aufgebaut. Dadurch wird eine Möglichkeit zur Vorhersage der Verformungen von anisotropen, additiv gefertigten Bauteilen geschaffen.