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Pulmonary response prediction through personalized basis functions in a virtual patient model
(2024)
In this paper, the influence of current sensors of a NILM system is investigated. The current sensors of a classical inductive current transformer and a Rogowski coil are compared. To evaluate the actual influence on the NILM, measurements are performed with two measuring systems with different current sensors. With these measuring systems, 20 different consumers with 50 switch-on and switch-off cycles are measured in parallel. Besides, the influence of the sampling rate on the results of the NILM classification is evaluated. The classification is carried out with features normalized to the performance and without phase information, so only the signal waveform is used to differentiate the devices.
Elevators contribute significantly to the electricity consumption of residential buildings, office buildings and commercial enterprises. In this paper, the electricity consumption is investigated using an elevator system and its individual operating states as example. In addition to analyzing and allocating the energy demand, this work examines how the individual operating states can be determined solely on the basis of the power consumption of the elevator. The knowledge gained from this, such as the usage behavior, the travel profile, or load, is determined independently of the elevator control system. A subsequent installation on any system can be easily realized. In this work, the investigated elevator requires a substantial part of the total annual power consumption in standby (>90 %). This shows an enormous potential for energy savings. The individual elevator states, as well as the load, can be detected very well on the basis of the measured total power consumption. The work thus shows exemplary the potential of an intelligent measurement system for the state detection of elevator systems.
Modelability of processes is a recognized and important characteristic of any modeling language. Nevertheless, it is not always purposeful or easy to create process models for every kind of workflow. This article discusses the opportunities and limitations of modeling agile development projects with SCRUM as an example. For this purpose, a BPMN and an S-BPM model for SCRUM are presented. The discussion along recognized rules for good process models shows that both notations provide possible and accurate insights into the process of SCRUM on the one hand. On the other hand, the models raise questions of necessity, added value, and relevance in practice. Practitioners can use the developed models to technically implement agile project management, while researchers benefit from a discourse on opportunities and limitations of modeling agility.
On Consistency Viability and Admissibility in Constrained Ensemble and Hierarchical Control Systems
(2023)
Several control architectures, such as decentralized, distributed, and hierarchical control, have been elaborated over the past decades for controlling systems composed of a set of subsystems. However, computational complexity and constraint satisfaction are still challenging tasks. We present an approach to control an ensemble of similar heterogeneous systems with input and state constraints via an identical control input. This control input is globally admissible and computed based on an aggregated system that reflects the overall behavior of the ensemble. To limit the computational complexity of the control task, the aggregated system is designed such that its dimension is independent of the number of subsystems. To guarantee viability, i.e., state constraint satisfaction for all times, appropriate consistency conditions are derived based on invariant set theory. The presented approach is illustrated with a numerical example.
XAutoML : A Visual Analytics Tool for Understanding and Validating Automated Machine Learning
(2023)
Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) seeks to enhance transparency and trust in AI systems. Evaluating the quality of XAI explanation methods remains challenging due to limitations in existing metrics. To address these issues, we propose a novel metric called Explanation Significance Assessment (ESA) and its extension, the Weighted Explanation Significance Assessment (WESA). These metrics offer a comprehensive evaluation of XAI explanations, considering spatial precision, focus overlap, and relevance accuracy. In this paper, we demonstrate the applicability of ESA and WESA on medical data. These metrics quantify the understandability and reliability of XAI explanations, assisting practitioners in interpreting AI-based decisions and promoting informed choices in critical domains like healthcare. Moreover, ESA and WESA can play a crucial role in AI certification, ensuring both accuracy and explainability. By evaluating the performance of XAI methods and underlying AI models, these metrics contribute to trustworthy AI systems. Incorporating ESA and WESA in AI certification efforts advances the field of XAI and bridges the gap between accuracy and interpretability. In summary, ESA and WESA provide comprehensive metrics to evaluate XAI explanations, benefiting research, critical domains, and AI certification, thereby enabling trustworthy and interpretable AI systems.
In several domains of product design - like medical device design -
risk related use scenarios have to be analyzed in an early stage of design process.
Virtual reviews with users make it possible to get early insights in use problems.
Also, situations that are difficult to imitate in reality can be modeled and simulated
in virtual reality without risking the health of user. Therefore, virtual usability
tests are a promising approach which allow testing different scenarios under
controlled conditions. We chose a sample scenario from medical device design
and compare and evaluate different technical systems which can be used for virtual
usability tests. Aim is to derive guidance for virtual usability tests including
systems that can be used for specific conditions and the qualitative and quantitative
data, which can be collected with these systems. A formative test is performed
to evaluate and compare different systems. Also, a summative test is performed
to evaluate the selected systems. Results show that virtual usability tests
make it possible to test scenarios with users in an early stage and thus to encounter
possible interaction problems. But there are also many additional and new
things to consider compared to normal usability tests, such as checking motion
sickness, maintaining presence and the extensive operation of the technology.
Finally, a proposed method for virtual usability testing is described which also
comprises our equipment recommendations for virtual usability tests.
Design and fabrication of a novel 4D-printed customized hand orthosis to treat cerebral palsy
(2024)
Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) is the highest cause of childhood blindness globally with babies born preterm having a higher probability of contracting the disease. The disease diagnosis remains an economic burden to many countries, lack of enough ophthalmologists for the disease diagnosis coupled with non-existent national screening guidelines still remains a challenge. To diagnose the disease, a fundus photography is conducted, printout images are analyzed to determine the presence or absence of the disease. With the increase in the development of smartphones having advanced image capturing and processing features, the utilization of smartphones to capture retina image for disease diagnosis is becoming a common trend. For regions where ophthalmologists are few and/or for low resource regions with few or no retina capturing equipment, the use of smartphones to capture retina images for retina diseases is an effective method. This, however, is challenged: different smartphones produce images of different resolutions; some images are darker others lighter and with different resolution. A smartphone retina image capturing has a smaller field of view ranging between 450–900 which is a major limitation. A lens to support a bigger view can be combined with this approach to provide a wide view of 1300. This enlargement however distorts the image quality and may result in losing some image features. To overcome these challenges, this work develops an improved U-Net model to preprocess images captured using smartphones for ROP disease diagnosis. Our focus is to determine the presence or absence of the disease from smartphone captured images. Because the images are captured under a smaller field of view (FOV), we develop an improved U-Net model by adding patches to enhance image circumference and extract all features from the image and use the extracted features to train a U-Net model for the disease diagnosis. The model results outperformed similar recent developments.
Evolutionary strategy is increasingly used for optimization in various machine learning problems. It can scale very well, even to high dimensional problems, and its ability to globally self optimize in flexible ways provides new and exciting opportunities when combined with more recent machine learning methods. This paper describes a novel approach for the optimization of models with a data driven evolutionary strategy. The optimization can directly be applied as a preprocessing step and is therefore independent of the machine learning algorithm used. The experimental analysis of six different use cases show that, on average, better results are attained than without evolutionary strategy. Furthermore it is shown, that the best individual models are also achieved with the help of evolutionary strategy. The six different use cases were of different complexity which reinforces the idea that the approach is universal and not depending on specific use cases.
As industrial networks continue to expand and connect more devices and users, they face growing security challenges such as unauthorized access and data breaches. This paper delves into the crucial role of security and trust in industrial networks and how trust management systems (TMS) can mitigate malicious access to these networks.
The TMS presented in this paper leverages distributed ledger technology (blockchain) to evaluate the trustworthiness of blockchain nodes, including devices and users, and make access decisions accordingly. While this approach is applicable to blockchain, it can also be extended to other areas. This approach can help prevent malicious actors from penetrating industrial networks and causing harm. The paper also presents the results of a simulation to demonstrate the behavior of the TMS and provide insights into its effectiveness.
This research examines the impact of social media on consumer behavior, focusing on how consumer behavior and habits change after the use of social media by German and Chinese young consumers. A comparison of the differences between the two groups is also conducted. The study was conducted based on theoretical background and terminology, followed by six hypotheses. Then this research determined the scope, target population, and sample size before using focus groups and online questionnaires as survey methods. While analyzing the questionnaire data, the research tested the hypotheses and demonstrated the effects between the variables. The results indicated partial agreement with existing studies. Browsing time positively correlates with the purchase journey. The duration of online discounts negatively correlates with transaction speed. Young consumers' demand increases with the amount of time they spend browsing product advertisements. However, some findings ran counter to previous investigations. The impact of SMM on young consumers has no adverse effect on the time spent browsing products. Moreover, only in some cases, young consumers' purchase intentions are positively correlated with demand.
Keywords: Young consumers, Social media marketing, Consumer behavior, Purchase journey, Purchase intention, Online time-limited discounts, Demand
Greenwashing in the clothing industry and its impact on the corporate image of consumers in Germany
(2023)
With issues like climate change and the pollution of our planet, more and more clothing companies are following the trend of a sustainable marketing strategy. Greenwashing is often associated with that, as not all companies are honest about their statements. This study examines how greenwashing by a company in the clothing industry impacts the corporate image of 18 to 30-year-old adults in Germany. Studies regarding sustainability, consumer behaviour towards sustainable products, the behaviour in case of greenwashing incidents, and the identification of greenwashing are investigated. For the analysis, online survey data of 244 Hochschule Furtwangen University study participants are examined. The descriptive study provides information about the behaviour of consumers regarding sustainable clothing and their behaviour when it comes to greenwashing. It was found that consumers tend not to consider sustainability when buying clothes. Very few inform themselves about sustainability, and sustainable labels do not seem to influence their shopping decisions. The image of the consumer about the company involved in greenwashing appears to deteriorate. In addition, the willingness to keep buying from the company seems to be stopped or reduced for the majority. A weak positive correlation was found between consumer behaviour concerning the topics of sustainability and greenwashing. It can be summarised that the dishonest behaviour of clothing companies can harm their consumers' corporate image and brand loyalty.
Experimental validation of a pinless femoral reference array for computer-assisted hip arthroplasty
(2010)
Post-exercise diaphragm shielding: A novel approach to exercise-induced diaphragmatic fatigue
(2008)
Precedent research in human resources management has put forward the challenges of recognizing the appropriate methods to unlock employees’ potential. However, it has been proven that leaders and managers can establish a culture where employees can unlock their potential with the proper understanding of neuroscience and emotional intelligence. This research has shown that cognitive skills, which are necessary for a good job performance, can be further developed due to neuroplasticity. Furthermore, understanding human needs and emotions can help people improve their work and life experience. This research also studies the relationship between employees’ well-being and job performance. Moreover, how emotional intelligence influences the company’s working atmosphere with its staff will be, with the support of literature research, thoroughly investigated and further analysed. Based on findings of various studies, attributes such as empathy, compassion, and kindness play a predominant role and indicate an underlying connection between motivation and job performance. All in all, questions such as how health impacts job performance and how neuroscience research and understanding human emotions shift the approach to motivating people will be further discussed. This research also questions what attributes a company leader should have to build trust with the employees and encourage them to work better. Therefore, this research takes a closer look into the exemplary leadership approach and explains why communication and purpose in the company matter when unlocking human potential. In addition, it highlights the effect of experiencing stress and fear at work and the remarkable impact of positive emotions such as kindness, gratitude, and compassion. Thus, with this understanding, this research acknowledges profoundly the positive influence of having a trustworthy and empathetic leader in the company. It fundamentally shows that working in a healthy and inclusive working culture, where psychological safety is ensured, one can, in fact, unlock the potential of employees to work better and feel good about themselves.
This literature-based bachelor thesis analyzes the MoonSwatch project developed by Swatch X Omega with empirical findings. This bachelor thesis asks, "How does the MoonSwatch launch affect the watch industry, and will this impact affect Omegas luxury brand value through the cooperation with Swatch?" The goal is to determine the effects of luxury and non-luxury collaboration in the watch industry, analyzing the competitors and development in secondary markets.
The MoonSwatch is a co-branding strategy of two completely different positioned brands regarding price ranges and customer groups. The MoonSwatch currently targets the younger and price-sensitive customer group with a retail price of € 250 (~ CHF 248.24).
They created a watch collection that resembles the moon landing of Omega back in 1969. Since then, Omega has been the official watch for the NASA space program and is praised for its high quality, timeless design, accuracy and precision. The prices for Omega watches can range between € 6.000 to € 25.000 (~ CHF 5.957 – CHF 24.823).
On the other hand, Swatch was made for the mainstream customer with affordable prices between € 60 to € 200 (~ CHF 59:58 – CHF 198.59). Swatch is famous for its colorful, joyful and unique designs.
Both brands belong to the Swiss Swatch Group, which owns eighteen brands in total. Both are icons in their expressions. Omega wrote history for the first watch being on the moon. Swatch is an innovator that saved the Swiss watch industry during the economic crisis in the 1980s.
The brands created the MoonSwatch collection, consisting of eleven models inspired by the moon landing and the space planets. Each watch is designed in a specific color to the planet it represents. The project was released on the 26th of March 2022 and has caused a global sensation. The product creates a natural limitation. In contrast, demand far exceeds supply leading to exorbitant prices in the secondary markets.
This bachelor thesis uses English numerical notation.
The impact of store atmosphere elements on the purchase behaviour and emotions of customers has an important significance in modern marketing. How to design and conceptualize a store atmosphere in such a way that it provides an unforgettable experience for the customer and entices him or her to arouse an interest in the store environment is one of the most fundamental concerns merchants and marketers must ask and think through these days – likewise, the role of culture in connection with store atmosphere is necessary to understand. The goal of this paper is to answer the question on how behavioural and emotional responses to store atmospheric elements such as visual, aural, olfactory, tactile, social, exterior design, interior design and layout & design differ across individualist and collectivist cultures. A cross-cultural analysis between Germans and non-Germans is made in respect to the posed question. A quantitative online survey was conducted, in which a total of 99 valid participants took part, of which 57 were Germans and 42 were non-Germans. This research extended the study of Barros et al. (2019) and added two more separate store atmospheric elements which are the general exterior design and the general interior design. The data was then analyzed, and the findings were ultimately presented. The findings showed that overall store atmosphere elements have similar emotional and behavioural effects on individualist and collectivist cultures with the exception of the general exterior design element, where a significant difference was found. This paper gives a comprehensive overview on the importance of store atmospheric elements in retail and the comparison between Germany which acts as a country that scored relatively high on the Individualism dimension of Hofstede’s national culture model and the countries Turkey, Russia, Portugal, Albania, Bosnia, Romania, Kazakhstan, Vietnam, Sri Lanka and Iraq which serve as a union of cultures that performed high on the Collectivism dimension. Additional research on the topic needs to be done on how culture affects shopper’s emotional and behavioural responses.
This bachelor thesis deals with the topic of how companies can develop a successful marketing strategy in influencer marketing. Influencer marketing is coming under increasing criticism due to negative headlines from influencers. In the theoretical part of the paper, influencer marketing as well as marketing with opinion leaders is presented. Subsequently, the structure of an influencer marketing strategy is presented. In addition, the cooperation between the influencer Pamela Reif and the sports brand Puma is considered, as well as the cooperation between the influencer Anne Wünsche and the sports brand Oceans Apart. Due to the topicality of this subject, the work is particularly interesting for companies to develop an optimal marketing strategy and to achieve its marketing goals optimally.
This thesis examines the impact of the war in Ukraine on grain supply and food security in MENA countries, specifically Tunisia and Yemen. The war has resulted in a significant disruption to the global grain market, with Ukraine being a major exporter of wheat and maize prior to the Russian invasion. The blockade of Ukrainian exports has led to rising food prices and increased food insecurity in developing and emerging nations, which rely
heavily on imported grain. The study focuses on analyzing the structure of grain exports from Ukraine, the responses of international organizations such as the World Food Programme, and the long-lasting effects of the conflict on the global food market. The findings of this study may contribute to understanding the dynamics of the grain market and inform policies that address global hunger and food security issues.
The bachelor thesis investigates the development and impact of electronic payment methods, specifically concerning the COVID-19 pandemic, consumer preferences, and the future of such methods. The primary objective of this study was to examine the effect of the pandemic and security concerns on consumer behaviour towards electronic payments. That was achieved through a literature review and a survey of 605 participants. The survey results indicate an increasing trend among consumers towards cashless payments due to their numerous advantages over cash transactions, including enhanced hygiene, quicker processing times, and improved security. As such, users exhibit a high level of comfort and convenience with electronic payment methods and are generally rarely worried about the security of their data. The study further reveals that electronic payment methods are gaining popularity worldwide, particularly mobile payments. The pandemic and improved security measures have led to a notable increase in their use, which is expected to continue to rise. Based on these findings, the study suggests that digital payments are the way forward and that these methods will be further developed to improve user-friendliness and security.
The aim of this research is to explore social media platform TikTok and how it can be used as a marketing opportunity for brands but at the same time be a challenge for others. A qualitative study has been conducted due to the subjective nature of the topic, as well as a qualitative survey to get better insights of TikTok users’ behaviour. To analyse the data, a content analysis of 4 brands over the time frame of 3 months 01.06.2022 to 25.08.22 has been conducted. The findings can offer researchers and marketers better insights about if and how to implement TikTok into a marketing strategy of a company.
Climate change is currently one of the biggest challenges both in terms of danger to natural habitats, wildlife, and humanity. To tackle climate change, we need to reduce our carbon emissions in a fast and decisive way. This thesis studies one of the potential solutions to do so: green hydrogen. More specifically, its potential development by 2030 in Spain using INKA 4.0 scenario planning software.
Green hydrogen shows to have a wide range of applications, from transport to heating and industry with great potential to decarbonize many sectors. It does come, however with a number of important hurdles mainly related to cost, scalability and technical difficulties that will need to be addressed for it to be successful. With this, 10 descriptors were created generating three scenarios to be studied. The most consistent of them, a successful development of green hydrogen in Spain by 2030 is characterized by having all of its descriptors in a favoring state while the other two have some or all in a hindering state, making its development not successful within the established timeframe. Concluding that due to the great challenge the development of green hydrogen is, its success needs to have all factors supporting it.
Characteristics of the respiratory mechanical and muscle function of competitive breath-hold divers
(2008)
Rapid Phospho-Turnover by Receptor Tyrosine Kinases Impacts Downstream Signaling and Drug Binding
(2011)
Cybersecurity threads are a huge problem for all sizes of businesses. The traditional way of protecting valuable resources in the IT-Industry is a perimeter based security strategy. To ensure proper access rights for resources, firewalls, and other network-based inspection tools were used. The current move to the cloud undermines classic security strategies by blurring borders. The Zero Trust approach does not rely on edges and borders to ensure network security. Instead, all connections have to be verified and authenticated individually. In this thesis, a zero trust security model in a heterogeneous open source environment was verified. The three main observations were:
A zero trust architecture is possible, but the implementation is difficult. Half of the issues discovered must be covered by organisational measures. The tools available to cover technical measures are not developed enough. This is expected to change in the near future, as varoius companies already identified this issue.
Concerns about mental health and the declining rate of body satisfaction have increased interest in topics such as diversity, body positivity, and inclusion in recent years. Thus, the suggestion is that companies can communicate deep meanings through advertising images and strengthen their brand identity. This bachelor thesis proposes the application of two theoretical frameworks: Esch’s "Brand Steering Wheel" for identifying the brand identity, and the framework of “Visual Grammar” for analyzing images in advertising. The aim is to find out if diversity in advertising can improve brand identity.
Firstly, this work intends to offer an overall understanding of advertising, brand identity, and multimodality. For this, previous academic literature is used to establish a theoretical basis for understanding. Secondly, certain problems that lack inclusion in traditional advertising are analyzed. Thirdly, with the help of the theoretical framework, the brand identity is analyzed using the brand steering wheel. Additionally, Kress and van Leeuwen’s framework of visual grammar is used to examine images for their meaning.
The findings indicate that there is significant theoretical and practical evidence to suggest that the application of diversity in advertising campaigns would be an effective strategy to build a strong brand identity. The identities and relationships indicated in the photos between viewers and models represent desired attributes that may be identified with the advertiser's products. The brand may be picked if the viewers see that it is correctly represented.
An average investor trying to allocate his wealth among multiple assets ideally has nearly infinite possibilities to do so. However, asset allocation strategies try to facilitate this process. Nevertheless, no consensus exists on which strategy is ideal and yields the best performance. Therefore, this paper aims to determine an ideal asset allocation strategy for an average investor by comparing two asset allocation strategies.
The focus is on comparing the practical application of Markowitz’s Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT), a sophisticated asset allocation strategy, with an equally weighted asset allocation, namely the 1/N strategy. The past performance of these two strategies is compared with the help of a calculation example based on historical data. The quantitative analysis covers three time periods of different lengths between 1991 and 2022. Also, the strategies are applied to portfolios with different amounts of assets during these periods. Although the existing literature is very controversial concerning the performance of the two strategies, this research shows a clear result. Compared to the 1/N strategy, this study’s findings show an outperformance of the MPT strategy during every period and each portfolio combination. However, the difference in performance regarding return and risk is minimal in most scenarios and would not significantly affect an average investor who invests over a long-term horizon.