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The massive use of patient data for the training of artificial intelligence algorithms is common nowadays in medicine. In this scientific work, a statistical analysis of one of the most used datasets for the training of artificial intelligence models for the detection of sleep disorders is performed: sleep health heart study 2. This study focuses on determining whether the gender and age of the patients have a relevant influence to consider working with differentiated datasets based on these variables for the training of artificial intelligence models.
Accurate monitoring of a patient's heart rate is a key element in the medical observation and health monitoring. In particular, its importance extends to the identification of sleep-related disorders. Various methods have been established that involve sensor-based recording of physiological signals followed by automated examination and analysis. This study attempts to evaluate the efficacy of a non-invasive HR monitoring framework based on an accelerometer sensor specifically during sleep. To achieve this goal, the motion induced by thoracic movements during cardiac contractions is captured by a device installed under the mattress. Signal filtering techniques and heart rate estimation using the symlets6 wavelet are part of the implemented computational framework described in this article. Subsequent analysis indicates the potential applicability of this system in the prognostic domain, with an average error margin of approximately 3 beats per minute. The results obtained represent a promising advancement in non-invasive heart rate monitoring during sleep, with potential implications for improved diagnosis and management of cardiovascular and sleep-related disorders.
Software scripts for sensor data extraction in Rasberry Pi: user-space and kernel-space comparison
(2024)
This paper compares two popular scripting implementations for hardware prototyping: Python scripts execut from User-Space and C-based Linux-Driver processes executed from Kernel-Space, which can provide information to researchers when considering one or another in their implementations. Conclusions exhibit that deploying software scripts in the kernel space makes it possible to grant a certain quality of sensor information using a Raspberry Pi without the need for advanced real-time operational systems.
The strong demand to transform the textile and fashion industry towards sustainability requires continuous implementation of the Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) mission statement in education and industry. To achieve this goal, the European research project "Fashion DIET - Sustainable Fashion Curriculum at Textile Universities in Europe. Development, Implementation and Evaluation of a Teaching Module for Educators", co-funded by the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union (2020-1-DE01-KA203-005657), aims to create an ESD module for university lecturers and research-based teaching and learning materials delivered through an e-learning portal. First, an online questionnaire was rolled out to assess university faculty attitudes toward and needs for ESD content and methods. The feedback questionnaire enabled the selection of the most relevant data for the elaboration of an action and research-oriented professional development module for ESD in textile education, which will be accessible through an information & e-learning portal. The e-learning portal can be used as a web-based tool to apply and evaluate the project outcomes, e.g. the further education module and the teaching and learning materials for educators, such as manuals, broadcasts and the provision of interactive and physical materials. It thus ensures that the teaching materials can be used sustainably in the classroom. It also provides country-specific data for the fashion and textile industry and its market, taking into account the different perspectives of universities and schools. In any case, the portal represents (1) the web-based platform to support the dissemination of ESD as a guiding principle and (2) a central contact point for the target group to obtain relevant information on ESD. Fashion DIET explores the use of e-learning to improve teaching and learning on ESD, by training educators and empowering them as multipliers for a sustainable textile and fashion industry. At a higher level, the European project strengthens the quality and relevance of learning provision in education towards the latest developments in textile research and innovation in terms of a more sustainable fashion.
Purpose
As a response to the increased frequency of disruptive events and intense competition, organizational agility has become a key concept in organizational research. Fostering organizational agility requires leveraging knowledge that exists both outside (exploration) and inside (exploitation) the organization. This research tests the so-called ambidexterity hypothesis, which claims that a balance between exploration and exploitation leads to increased organizational outcomes, including the development of organizational agility. Complementing previously established measurement models on ambidexterity, this research proposes an alternative measurement model to analyze how ambidexterity can enhance organizational agility and, indirectly, performance, taking into consideration the moderating effect of environmental competitiveness.
Design/methodology/approach
A review of existing measurement models for ambidexterity shows that tension, a crucial aspect of ambidexterity, is often neglected. The authors, therefore, develop a new measurement model of ambidexterity to incorporate ambidexterity-induced tension. Using this measurement model, they examine the effect of ambidexterity on the development of entrepreneurial and adaptive agility as well as performance.
Findings
Ambidexterity positively influences both entrepreneurial and adaptive agility, indicating that a balance between exploration and exploitation has superior organizational effects. This finding confirms the ambidexterity hypothesis with respect to organizational agility. Furthermore, both entrepreneurial and adaptive agility drive organizational performance. These two indirect effects via agility fully mediate the impact of ambidexterity on organizational performance. Finally, environmental competitiveness positively moderates the relationship between ambidexterity and adaptive agility.
Originality/value
The findings extend research on ambidexterity by showing its positive effects on organizational agility. Furthermore, the study proposes an alternative operationalization to capture the ambidexterity construct that may lay the groundwork for further applications of the ambidexterity concept.
Tech hubs (THs) and cognate structures are nowadays ubiquitous in the innovation ecosystem of Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries. However, the concept of THs is fuzzy due to the lack of a clear and universally accepted definition. This ambiguity is further compounded by the diverse range of organizations that self-identify as hubs, or are categorized as such by others. As a result, research on THs in SSA remained limited. Against the backdrop of established research on the interconnectedness of technology, innovation and entrepreneurship in different organizational forms, this paper is meant to provide fresh insights into the study of THs in SSA. To advance future research, first, it reveals what is special about THs in SSA and how they are related to existing concepts. I particularly argue that they contour a fourth-wave model of incubation. Second, four main categories are unfolded to delineate THs in SSA which is the cornerstone for future research.
Comparative analysis of the chemical and rheological curing kinetics of formaldehyde-based wood adhesives is crucial for assessing their respective performance. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and rheometry are the conventional techniques used for monitoring the curing processes leading to crosslinking polymerization of the adhesives. However, the direct comparison of these techniques is inappropriate due to the intrinsic differences in their underlying procedures. To address this challenge, the two adhesive samples were sequentially cured, firstly with rheometry and followed by DSC. The observed higher curing degree in the subsequent DSC procedure underpins the incomplete curing of the samples during initial rheometry. Furthermore, the comparative assessment of the activation energies, molar ratios, and active groups of the two adhesives highlights the importance of the pre-exponential factor in addition to the activation energies, as it attributes to the probability of active groups coinciding at the appropriate spatial arrangement.
Salivary gland tumors (SGTs) are a relevant, highly diverse subgroup of head and neck tumors whose entity determination can be difficult. Confocal Raman imaging in combination with multivariate data analysis may possibly support their correct classification. For the analysis of the translational potential of Raman imaging in SGT determination, a multi-stage evaluation process is necessary. By measuring a sample set of Warthin tumor, pleomorphic adenoma and non-tumor salivary gland tissue, Raman data were obtained and a thorough Raman band analysis was performed. This evaluation revealed highly overlapping Raman patterns with only minor spectral differences. Consequently, a principal component analysis (PCA) was calculated and further combined with a discriminant analysis (DA) to enable the best possible distinction. The PCA-DA model was characterized by accuracy, sensitivity, selectivity and precision values above 90% and validated by predicting model-unknown Raman spectra, of which 93% were classified correctly. Thus, we state our PCA-DA to be suitable for parotid tumor and non-salivary salivary gland tissue discrimination and prediction. For evaluation of the translational potential, further validation steps are necessary.
Im Team zum fliegenden Traum
(2024)
Purpose – This paper aims to determine the affecting factors of the brand authenticity of startups in social media.
Design/methodology/approach – Using a qualitative method based on a grounded theory approach, this research specifies and classifies the affecting factors of brand authenticity of startups in social media through in-depth semi-structured interviews.
Findings – Multiple factors affecting the brand authenticity of startups in social media are determined and categorized as indexical, iconic and existential cues through this research. Connection to heritage and having credible support are determined as indexical cues. Founder intellectuality, brand intellectuality, commitment toward customers and proactive clear and interesting communications are identified as iconic cues. Having self-confidence and self-satisfaction, having intimacy with the brand and a joyful feeling for interactions with the community around the brand are determined as existential cues in this research. This research furthers previous arguments on a multiplicity of brand authenticity by shedding light on the relationship between the different aspects of authenticity and the form that different affecting factors can be organized together. Consumers eventually evaluate a strengthened perception of brand authenticity through existential cues that reflect the cues of other aspects (iconic and indexical) which passed through the goal-based assessment and self-authentication filter.
Research limitations/implications – The research sampling population can be more diversified in terms of sociodemographic attributes. Due to the qualitative methodology of this research, assessment of the findings through quantitative methods can be considered in future research. Practical implications – Using the findings of this research, startup managers can properly build a perception of authenticity in their consumers’ minds by using alternate factors while lacking major indexical cues such as heritage. This research helps startup businesses to design their brand communications better to convey their authenticity to their audiences.
Originality/value – This research determines the factors affecting the authenticity of startup brands in social media. It also defines the process of authenticity perception through different aspects of brand authenticity.
Das Ziel dieses Papiers ist es zu verstehen, inwieweit Musik und Mode voneinander abhängig und miteinander interagieren, wobei der Schwerpunkt auf der Entwicklung von Musik- und Modetrends im Zeitraum von 1950 bis heute liegt. Darüber hinaus soll dem Leser ein Einblick darin ermöglicht werden, ob die zur Verfügung stehende Technologie die Entwicklung und den Zugang zu Musik und Mode in Zukunft beeinflusst. Die Recherche für dieses Papier erforderte die Verwendung von Sekundärquellen, einschließlich Bibliotheks- und Online-Recherchen. Das Ziel war es, Informationen über die frühere und aktuelle Entwicklung von Musik und Mode zu sammeln. Diese Methoden waren die besten Alternativen zu Sekundärquellen, da sie zuverlässige Ergebnisse lieferten und so die Genauigkeit der gesammelten Daten erhöhten. Sie waren jedoch auch begrenzt, da vor allem Daten für die Mode- und Musikentwicklung der Nullerjahre begrenzt waren. Dies ist durch das Hauptergebnis erklärbar, dass die Entwicklung dieser Zeit nicht so deutlich ist wie die der früheren Zeiten, in denen ein Modetrend mit einem neuen Musikgenre oder Hit einherging, was bedeutet, dass Mode und Musik in gewissem Maße korrelieren, aber durch eine Reaktivierung der Musik- und Modetrends der Vorjahre ohne neue Erfindungen gekennzeichnet ist.
Human Digital Twin
(2022)
Man stelle sich vor, man könnte mit Unterstützung von künstlicher Intelligenz Spielabläufe von Bundesligaspielen oder sogar ganze WM-Partien simulieren. Oder der Trainer würde die Mannschaft im Endspiel anhand von Daten über den Gegner aufstellen und entsprechend psychologisch und physiologisch verschiedene Spielertypen auf den Platz schicken (vgl. Jahn). Ist das reine Fiktion? Nicht wirklich. Bereits heute werden die Leistungen von Sportlern immer häufiger digital analysiert und bewertet. Beispielsweise hat SAP eine Plattform entwickelt, die ein digitales Datenbild von Fußballspielern erstellt (vgl. SAP). Bei der letzten WM erhielt jeder Spieler über die neue Fifa Player App kurz nach der Begegnung präzise Statistiken zu seinen Leistungen während des Spiels (vgl. FIFA). Noch bessere Informationen sollen in Zukunft virtuelle Abbilder der Fußballspieler, digitale Zwillinge, liefern. Die dafür notwendigen Daten werden mithilfe von Sensoren im Trikot, in den Schuhen oder im Ball gewonnen. Durch erfassten Bewegungs- und Positionsdaten sowie Ballkontakten entsteht ein präzises Datenbild des Spielers. Solche Simulationen, die auf einem Modell des Menschen in der digitalen Welt beruhen, erfahren derzeit große Aufmerksamkeit in Wissenschaft und Praxis (vgl. van der Valk et al.). Nicht nur in der Fußballwelt, auch in der Medizin und im Kontext von Industrie 4.0 und Produktdesign, haben digitale menschliche Zwillinge das Potenzial, zu einer Schlüsseltechnologie zu werden.
Plasmonics and nanophotonics both deal with the interaction of light with structures of typically sub-wavelength size in one of more dimensions. Over the past decade or two, interest in these topics has grown significantly. This includes basic research towards detailed understanding of light-matter interaction and the manipulation of light on the nanometer scale as well as the search for applications ranging from quantum information processing, data storage, solar cells, spectroscopy and microscopy to (bio-)sensors and biomedical devices. Key enablers for this development are advanced materials and the variety of techniques to structure them with nanometer precision on the one hand, and progress in the theoretical description and numerical implementations, on the other. Besides the traditional metals Au, Ag, Al, and Cu also compounds such as refractory metal nitrides with much higher durability as well as semiconductors, dielectrics and hybrid structures have become of interest. Structuring techniques are not only aiming at the fabrication of individual elements with highest precision for detailed interaction analysis, but also at methods for large scale, low-cost nanofabrication mostly for sensor applications. In the former case, mostly electron beam lithography and focused ion beam milling are employed, while for high throughput various forms of nanoimprint and self-assembly based techniques are favored. Thin film deposition and pattern transfer techniques are mostly derived from those developed for nano-electronics, however more recently methods such as electroless plating, atomic layer deposition or etching and 3-D additive techniques are appearing. Thus, highly specialized expertise has been acquired in the different disciplines, and successful research and technology transfer will draw from this pool of knowledge.
Climate change is one of the key challenges of this century due to its impact on society and the economy. Students are asking their business schools to scale up climate change education (CCE) across all disciplines, and employers are looking for graduates ready to work on solutions. This desire for solutions is shared by faculty; however, in a recent survey, many highlighted that they lack knowledge about climate change mitigation and how to integrate CCE into their disciplines.
This chapter supports lecturers, professors and senior management in their journey to get an overview of CCE and, more importantly, to find high-impact climate solutions to be integrated and assessed in their teaching units.
Introduction to the special issue on self‑managing and hardware‑optimized database systems 2022
(2023)
Data management systems have evolved in terms of functionality, performance characteristics, complexity, and variety during the last 40 years. Particularly, the relational database management systems and the big data systems (e.g., Key-Value stores, Document stores, Graph stores and Graph Computation Systems, Spark, MapReduce/Hadoop, or Data Stream Processing Systems) have evolved with novel additions and extensions. However, the systems administration and tasks have become highly complex and expensive, especially given the simultaneous and rapid hardware evolution in processors, memory, storage, or networking. These developments present new open problems and challenges to data management systems as well as new opportunities.
The SMDB (International Workshop on Self-Managing Database Systems) and HardBD&Active (Joint International Workshop on Big Data Management on Emerging Hardware and Data Management on Virtualized Active Systems) workshops organized in conjunction with the IEEE ICDE (International Conference on Data Engineering) offered two distinct platforms for examining the above system-related challenges from different perspectives. The SMDB workshop looks into developing autonomic or self-* features in database and data management systems to tackle complex administrative tasks, while the HardBD&Active workshop focuses on harnessing hardware technologies to enhance efficiency and performance of data processing and management tasks. As a result of these workshops, we are delighted to present the third special issue of DAPD titled “Self-Managing and Hardware-Optimized Database Systems 2022,” which showcases the best contributions from the SMDB 2021/2022 and HardBD&Active 2021/2022 workshops.
Digitalization and enterprise architecture management: a perspective on benefits and challenges
(2023)
Many companies digitally transform their business models, processes, and services. They have also been using Enterprise Architecture Management approaches for a long time to synchronize corporate strategy and information technology. Such digitalization projects bring different challenges for Enterprise Architecture Management. Without understanding and addressing them, Enterprise Architecture Management projects will fail or not deliver the expected value. Since existing research has not yet addressed these challenges, they were investigated based on a qualitative expert study with leading industry experts from Europe. Furthermore, potential benefits of digitalization projects for Enterprise Architecture Management were researched. Our results provide a theoretical framework consisting of five identified challenges, triggers and a number of benefits. Furthermore, we discuss in what ways digitalization and EAM is a promising topic for future research.
§ 251 Haftungsverhältnisse
(2023)
Unter der Bilanz sind, sofern sie nicht auf der Passivseite auszuweisen sind, Verbindlichkeiten aus der Begebung und Übertragung von Wechseln, aus Bürgschaften, Wechsel- und Scheckbürgschaften und aus Gewährleistungsverträgen aus der Bestellung von Sicherheiten für fremde Verbindlichkeiten zu vermerken; sie dürfen in einem Betrag angegeben werden. Haftungsverhältnisse sind auch anzugeben, wenn ihnen gleichwertige Rückgriffsforderungen gegenüberstehen.
In recent years, both fields, AI and VRE, have received increasing attention in scientific research. Thus, this article’s purpose is to investigate the potential of DL-based applications on VRE and as such provide an introduction to and structured overview of the field. First, we conduct a systematic literature review of the application of Artificial Intelligence (AI), especially Deep Learning (DL), on the integration of Variable Renewable Energy (VRE). Subsequently, we provide a comprehensive overview of specific DL-based solution approaches and evaluate their applicability, including a survey of the most applied and best suited DL architectures. We identify ten DL-based approaches to support the integration of VRE in modern power systems. We find (I) solar PV and wind power generation forecasting, (II) system scheduling and grid management, and (III) intelligent condition monitoring as three high potential application areas.
Because of a high product and technology complexity, companies involve external partners in their research and development (R&D) processes. Interorganizational projects result, which represent temporary organizations. In these projects heterogenous organizations work closely together. Since project work is always teamwork, these projects face due to their characteristic’s major challenges on an organizational, relational, and content-related collaboration level. Thus, this paper raises the following research question: “How can a project team be supported on an organizational, relational, and content-related level in an interorganizational new product development setting?” To answer this research question, an explorative expert study was set up with two digital workshops using the interactive presentation tool Mentimeter. The results show that a cooperative innovation culture could support project teams on an organizational and relational level in the future in minimizing predominant problems. Moreover, it supports project teams for example in a functional communication. Furthermore, 18 values of a cooperative innovation culture result which are for example openness and transparency, risk and failure tolerance or respect. On a content-related level the results show that an adaptable tool which promotes creativity and collaboration method as well as content-related input support could be beneficial for problem-solving in an interorganizational new product development setting in the future. Because the tool can guide product developers through the process with suitable creativity and collaboration methods, can give content-related input and can enable interactive interchange on a table-top. Future research could mainly focus on the connection of the cooperative innovation culture and the tool since these potentially influence each other.
In a recently developed study programme at Reutlingen University, which focuses on practical orientations, an innovative product with solid company references is to be defined and realised by student teams. On the basis of this product, all subjects of the business engineering study programme “Sustainable Production and Business” are taught. By focusing on three main paths of future skills that have been developed by NextSkills to analyse upcoming social changes, global challenges and fields of work that are innovation-driven and agile, the new study programme aims to create responsible leaders who will shape global businesses respectfully. Thereby, different TRIZ tools help to support students in developing their own products with a focus on sustainability and pay off on the future skills enhancement. Further, students get to know TRIZ tools in an unbiased way, unburdened by too much theory, and are thus continuously supported in the progressing product development process that accompanies their studies. Hence, students perceive TRIZ on the one hand as a method to develop sustainable products and, on the other hand, to find sustainable solutions for everyday problems. The knowledge and positive experiences gained in this way should then arouse curiosity for the TRIZ class at the end of the study programme. The students can graduate with a TRIZ Level 1 certificate. Thereby, as many students as possible are introduced to the TRIZ methods, and the TRIZ tool is spread widely.
Vor mehr als einem Jahrzehnt stellten die Autoren dieses Beitrags die folgende Denkaufgabe:
“Imagine the business of sports without fans. No spectators at sports matches, no buyers of merchandising, no potential customers for sponsoring companies, no recipients for the sports media. Such a scenario would be unthinkable.“ (Bühler & Nufer, 2010, S. 63)
Während der Corona-Pandemie 2020/21 wurde das Undenkbare dann aber doch Realität, als Zuschauer auf der ganzen Welt keine Sportveranstaltungen mehr besuchen durften. Das größte Sportevent der Welt, die Olympischen Spiele in Tokio 2020, mussten verschoben werden und fanden ein Jahr später unter nicht wirklich besseren Bedingungen vor so gut wie leeren Rängen statt. Das Gleiche galt für die UEFA EURO 2020, die ebenfalls um ein Jahr verschoben werden musste, dann aber zumindest (bis auf wenige Ausnahmen wie beispielsweise das Finale in Wembley) mit reduzierter Zuschauerzulassung stattfinden konnte. Hintergrund der Überlegungen sowohl des Internationalen Olympischen Komitees wie auch der Europäischen Fußballunion war damals die Befürchtung, dass ihre jeweiligen Premiumprodukte ohne Fans in den Stadien leiden würden. Natürlich gab es immer noch Millionen von Menschen, die Live-Streams von Sportveranstaltungen verfolgten oder in diesen schwierigen Corona-Zeiten allerhand Merchandise ihrer Lieblingsmannschaften kauften. Doch die Pandemie bestätigte einmal mehr die Grundregel im Sportbusiness: Der Wirtschaftsmarkt Sport im Allgemeinen und professionelle Sportorganisationen im Besonderen brauchen Fans, die bereit sind, ihre Zeit, ihre Emotionen und ihr Geld für ihren Lieblingssport und ihre Lieblingsmannschaften zu investieren. Zuschauer sind die primären – und wohl wichtigsten – Kunden eines Sportunternehmens. Daher ist es für jede professionelle Sportorganisation unerlässlich, eine nachhaltige Beziehung zu ihren Fans aufzubauen und aufrechtzuerhalten und sie auf jede mögliche Weise einzubeziehen. Vor diesem Hintergrund wird die Bedeutung des Fan-Engagements deutlich.
Sponsoring zählt zu den nicht-klassischen Formen der Marketing-Kommunikationspolitik und spricht Menschen in nicht-kommerziellen Situationen an. Gerade durch Sponsoring können Zielgruppen erreicht werden, die z.B. Werbung gegenüber negativ eingestellt oder durch klassische Kommunikationsinstrumente nicht erreichbar sind. Auch wird ein Sponsoringengagement i.d.R. eher akzeptiert als klassische Werbung, da dem Sponsoring per se eine gewisse Förderabsicht zugrunde liegt. In diesem Kapitel werden die wesentlichen Sponsoring-Grundlagen vorgestellt und das Kommunikationsinstrument Sportsponsoring sowohl aus der Perspektive von Sponsoren als auch aus der Sicht von Gesponserten genau beleuchtet. Zusätzlich werden die Besonderheiten des Sportevent-Sponsorings aufgezeigt und Ambush Marketing als Alternative zum Sportsponsoring präsentiert. Abschließend wird auf aktuelle Entwicklungen im Sportsponsoring im Rahmen der FIFA Fußball-Weltmeisterschaft 2022 und der bevorstehenden EURO 2024 eingegangen.
Modern component-based architectural styles, e.g., microservices, enable developing the components independently from each other. However, this independence can result in problems when it comes to managing issues, such as bugs, as developer teams can freely choose their technology stacks, such as issue management systems (IMSs), e.g., Jira, GitHub, or Redmine. In the case of a microservice architecture, if an issue of a downstream microservice depends on an issue of an upstream microservice, this must be both identified and communicated, and the downstream service’s issues should link to its causing issue. However, agile project management today requires efficient communication, which is why more and more teams are communicating through comments in the issues themselves. Unfortunately, IMSs are not integrated with each other, thus, semantically linking these issues is not supported, and identifying such issue dependencies from different IMSs is time-consuming and requires manual searching in multiple IMS technologies. This results in many context switches and prevents developers from being focused and getting things done. Therefore, in this paper, we present a concept for seamlessly integrating different IMS technologies into each other and providing a better architectural context. The concept is based on augmenting the websites of issue management systems through a browser extension. We validate the approach with a prototypical implementation for the Chrome browser. For evaluation, we conducted expert interviews, which approved that the presented approach provides significant advantages for managing issues of agile microservice architectures.
There are indicators we are entering a new era for MTM research, by moving beyond the structural approach that has characterized MTM research to date, to focus on important and under-researched issues, such as the nature of employees’ experiences in an MTM context. Although team research suggests that the experiences of members impact team functioning, these lines of reasoning have not, until recently, made their way to MTM research. To overcome this limitation, this symposium showcases five papers that use a variety of theoretical perspectives, research designs (i.e., qualitative, quantitative), contexts (e.g., healthcare, automotive manufacturer, online panels), methodologies, and analytical methods (i.e., meta-analysis, content/thematic analysis). The symposium focuses on surfacing and advancing unanswered questions that extend theory and can offer fruitful directions for MTM research by examining critical individual and team level outcomes (e.g., individual/team performance, individual counterproductive and organizational citizenship behavior, individual learning, individual turnover intentions, organizational commitment) in the experiences of MTM employees across their teams (e.g., goals, functions, roles). We hope to provide a forum to advance unanswered questions that offer fruitful directions for MTM research.
Application systems often need to be deployed in different variants if requirements that influence their implementation, hosting, and configuration differ between customers. Therefore, deployment technologies, such as Ansible or Terraform, support a certain degree of variability modeling. Besides, modern application systems typically consist of various software components deployed using multiple deployment technologies that only support their proprietary, non-interoperable variability modeling concepts. The Variable Deployment Metamodel (VDMM) manages the deployment variability across heterogeneous deployment technologies based on a single variable deployment model. However, VDMM currently only supports modeling conditional components and their relations which is sometimes too coarse-grained since it requires modeling entire components, including their implementation and deployment configuration for each different component variant. Therefore, we extend VDMM by a more fine-grained approach for managing the variability of component implementations and their deployment configurations, e.g., if a cheap version of a SaaS deployment provides only a community edition of the software and not the enterprise edition, which has additional analytical reporting functionalities built-in. We show that our extended VDMM can be used to realize variable deployments across different individual deployment technologies using a case study and our prototype OpenTOSCA Vintner.
Different network architectures are being used to build remote laboratories. Historically, it has been difficult to integrate industrial control systems with higher level IT systems like enterprise resource planning (ERP), manufacturing execution systems (MES), and manufacturing operations management (MOM). Getting these systems to communicate with one another has proven to be relatively difficult due to the absence of shared protocols between them. The Open Platform Communications United Architecture (OPC-UA) protocol was introduced as a remedy for this issue and is gaining popularity, but what if open-source protocols that are widely used in the IT industry could be used instead? This paper presents the development of an IT-Architecture for a cyber-physical industrial control systems laboratory that enables a seamless interconnection and integration of its elements. The architecture utilises Node-Red technology. Node-RED is an open-source programming platform developed by IBM that is focused on making it simple to link physical components, APIs, and web services. This cyber-physical laboratory is for learning principles of an industrial cascaded process control factory. Finally, this text will also discuss future work relating to digital twin (DT). A coupled tank system is selected as a teaching factory to illustrate a range of fluid control application in a typical chemical process factory.
Mit zunehmender Dynamik im Forschungsumfeld – Digitalisierung der Produktentwicklung – steigen neben der Komplexität auch die technischen Anforderungen an die künftigen Entscheidungsprozesse. Die Einführung von neuen IT-Systemen zur Automation von Entscheidungen haben Anpassungen in den derzeitigen Geschäftsprozessen der Unternehmen zur Folge. Für eine erfolgreiche Implementierung neuer IT-Informationstools gilt es im Voraus mögliche Auswirkungen auf die bisherigen Anwendersysteme genauer zu untersuchen. Neue Technologien, KI-Informationssysteme oder auch neues Wissen entstehen in der Wissenschaft oft durch Interpretation und Synthese von bestehendem Wissen. Aus diesem Grund nimmt die Qualität von Literaturanalysen eine immer größere Relevanz in der Ingenieur- und Informatikwissenschaft ein. Neben der Anzahl an Publikationen wächst auch der Aufwand für die strukturierte Literaturrecherche (SLA). Die Autoren stellen in diesem Paper den Rechercheprozess und die Ergebnisse einer SLA vor. Mit dieser Arbeit soll der derzeitige Forschungsstand zur Entscheidungsunterstützung in der Produktentwicklung von Klein- und mittelständischen Unternehmen sowie Großunternehmen in der
Automobilbranche ermittelt und nach Analyse sowie Bewertung mögliche Forschungslücken zu automatisierten Entscheidungsunterstützungssystemen (aEUS) aufgezeigt werden.
Do Chinese subordinates trust their German supervisors? A model of inter-cultural trust development
(2023)
In this qualitative study based on 95 interviews with Chinese subordinates and their German supervisors, we inductively develop a model which advances theoretical understanding by showing how inter-cultural trust development in hierarchical relationships is the result of six distinct elements: the subordinate trustor’s cultural profile (cosmopolitans, hybrids, culturally bounds), the psychological mechanisms operating within the trustor (role expectations and cultural accommodation), and contextual moderators (e.g., country context, time spent in foreign culture, and third-party influencers), which together influence the trust forms (e.g., presumptive trust, relational trust) and trust dynamics (e.g., trust breakdown and repair) within relationship phases over time (initial contact, trust continuation, trust disillusionment, separation, and acculturation). Our findings challenge the assumption that cultural differences result in low levels of initial trust and highlight the strong role the subordinate’s cultural profile can have on the dynamics and trajectory of trust in hierarchical relationships. Our model highlights that inter-cultural trust development operates as a variform universal, following the combined universalistic-particularistic paradigm in cross-cultural management, with both culturally generalizable etic dynamics, as well as culturally specific etic manifestations.
Development of an indoor positioning system to create a digital shadow of production plant layouts
(2023)
The objective of this dissertation is to develop an indoor positioning system that allows the creation of a digital shadow of the plant layout in order to continuously represent the actual state of the physical layout in the virtual space. In order to define the requirements for such a system, potential stakeholders who could benefit from a digital shadow in the context of the plant layout were analysed. In order to generate added value for their work, the requirements were derived from their perspective. As the core of an indoor positioning system is the sensory aspect to capture the physical layout parameters, different potential technologies were compared and evaluated in terms of their suitability for this particular application. Derived from this analysis, the selected concept is based on the use of a pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) camera in combination with fiducial markers. In order to determine specific camera parameters, a series of experiments were conducted which were necessary to develop the measurement method as well as the mathematical calculation method and coordinate transformation for the determination of poses (positions and angular orientations) of the respective facilities in the plant. In addition, an experimental validation was performed to ensure that the limit values for individual parameters determined in the requirements analysis can be met.
The basis for developing future products in the automotive industry is finding creative and innovative solutions. Ideas can be found by means of creativity methods that support product developers throughout the creative process. Product developers are provided with a variety of different and new methods. This leads to a “method jungle” in which it is difficult for product developers to find the most suitable path. The successful use of methods in product development goes hand in hand with the acceptance and implementation of the methods. Despite the added value, only a low use is observed in the development process. The field of Creativity Support Tools also offers a wide variety of different tools that support the creativity process. Although a chasm exists between the many CSTs that are developed and what creative practitioners actually use. Therefore, previous studies iteratively developed a user-centered tool called “IDEA” that tries to provide a tool that responds to users' needs. The question arises how the developed tool IDEA performs in “real life setting” regarding its UX and usability as well as the creativity method acceptance and level of mental workload.
Gegenstand dieser Arbeit ist die Darstellung und Charakterisierung einheitlicher, mesoporöser Silica-Partikel (MPSM) im Mikrometerbereich mit maßgeschneiderten Partikel- und Porendesign für die Hochleistungsflüssigkeitschromatographie. Die Synthese umfasst die Einlagerung von Silica-Nanopartikeln (SNP) in poröse organische Template, welche anschließend bei 600°C zersetzt werden. Die Impfsuspensionspolymerisation von Polystyrol-Partikeln, unter Verwendung von Glycidylmethacrylat, Ethylenglycoldimethacrylat und Porogenen, ermöglicht die Herstellung hochgradig einheitlicher, poröser p(GMA-co-EDMA)-Template. Der Einfluss wesentlicher Faktoren, einschließlich des Monomer-Porogen-Verhältnisses, des Monomerverhältnisses und der Porogenzusammensetzung, werden systematisch untersucht sowie ihre Auswirkungen auf die Porengröße, das Porenvolumen und die spezifische Oberfläche erläutert. Die Anbindung aminofunktionalisierter Substanzen erfolgt durch die Ringöffnung der Epoxidgruppe. Im anschließenden basischen Sol-Gel-Prozess werden die Silica-Nanopartikel aufgrund der Ladungsunterschiede in die funktionalisierten p(GMA-co-EDMA)-Template eingebaut. Die Partikelgröße der SNP beeinflusst wesentlich die Poreneigenschaften der MPSM und hängt von drei Faktoren ab: (i) der Wachstumsgeschwindigkeit in der kontinuierlichen Phase, die durch die Einstellungen des Sol-Gel-Prozesses gesteuert wird, (ii) der Diffusionsrate, die durch elektrostatische Anziehung reguliert wird und vom Grad der Funktionalisierung abhängt und (iii) der Porosität des Polymer-Templats. Die gezielte Anpassung der Poreneigenschaften durch die Prozesseinstellungen erlaubt die präzise Herstellung von MPSM, die auf spezifische Trennherausforderungen zugeschnitten werden und somit die Qualität der HPLC verbessern. Die vorgestellte Synthesestrategie ermöglicht, aufgrund des stufenweisen molekularen Aufbaus, eine bessere Adaption der stationären Phase an spezifische Trennherausforderungen.
The targeted design of monodisperse, mesoporous silica microspheres (MPSMs) as HPLC separation phases is still a challenge. The MPSMs can be generated via a multi-step template-assisted method. However, this method and the factors affecting the individual process steps and resulting material properties are scarcely understood, and specific control of the complex multi-step process has been hardly discussed. In this work, the key synthesis steps were systematically investigated by means of statistical Design of Experiment (DoE). In particular, three steps were considered in detail: 1) the synthesis of porous poly(glycidyl methacrylate-co-ethylene glycol dimethacrylate) (p(GMA-co-EDMA)) particles, which as template particles, determine the structure for the final MPSMs. In this context, functional models were generated, which allow the control of the template properties pore volume, pore size and specific surface area. 2) In the presence of amino-functionalized template particles, the sol-gel process was carried out under Stöber process conditions. The water to tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) ratio, as well as the concentration of ammonia as basic catalyst were varied according to a face-centered central composite design (FCD). The incorporation of silica nanoparticles (SNPs) into the pore network of the porous polymers was investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), evaluation of the pore properties assessed by nitrogen sorption measurements and determination of the inorganic content by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Here, the material properties, such as the amount of attached silica, can be specifically controlled in the resulting organic/silica hybrid material (hybrid beads, HBs). Furthermore, depending on the sol-gel conditions three, potentially four, reaction regimes were identified, leading to different HBs. These range from porous polymer particles coated with a thin protective silica layer, to interpenetrating networks of polymer and silica, to potential particles consisting of a porous polymer core coated with a silica shell. Also, the effects of the use of different precursors and solvents on silica incorporation were investigated. 3) To obtain MPSMs from the HBs, the organic polymer template was removed by calcination. The effects of sol-gel process conditions on the resulting MPSMs were evaluated and relationships between process conditions and material properties were shown in predictive models. Fully porous, spherical, monodisperse silica particles with sizes ranging from 0.5 µm to 7.8 µm and pore sizes from 3.5 nm to 72.4 nm can be prepared specifically. Subsequent to organo-functionalization, prepared MPSMs were applied as reversed-phase HPLC column materials. Here, the columns were successfully applied for the separation of proteins and amino acids. The separation performance of the materials depends largely on the property profile of the MPSMs, which is predetermined during the preparation of the HBs.
In the context of Industry 4.0, intralogistics faces an increasingly complex and dynamic environment driven by a high level of product customisation and complex manufacturing processes. One approach to deal with these changing conditions is the decentralised and intelligent connectivity of intralogistics systems. However, wireless connectivity presents a major challenge in the industry due to strict requirements such as safety and real-time data transmission. In this context, the fifth generation of mobile communications (5G) is a promising technology to meet the requirements of safety-critical applications. Particularly, since 5G offers the possibility of establishing private 5G networks, also referred to as standalone non-public networks. Through their isolation from public networks, private 5G networks provide exclusive coverage for private organisations offering them high intrinsic network control and data security. However, 5G is still under development and is being gradually introduced in a continuous release process. This process lacks transparency regarding the performance of 5G in individual releases, complicating the successful adoption of 5G as an industrial communication. Additionally, the evaluation of 5G against the specified target performance is insufficient due to the impact of the environment and external interfering factors on 5G in the industrial environment. Therefore, this paper aims to develop a technical decision-support framework that takes a holistic approach to evaluate the practicality of 5G for intralogistics use cases by considering two fundamental stages. The first of these analyses technical parameters and characteristics of the use case to evaluate the theoretical feasibility of 5G. The second stage investigates the application's environment, which substantially impacts the practicality of 5G, for instance, the influence of surrounding materials. Finally, a case study validates the proposed framework by means of an autonomous mobile robot. As a result, the validation proves the proposed framework's applicability and shows the practicality of the autonomous mobile robot, when integrating it into a private 5G network testbed.
In the era of digital transformation, the notion of software quality transcends its traditional boundaries, necessitating an expansion to encompass the realms of value creation for customers and the business. Merely optimizing technical aspects of software quality can result in diminishing returns. Product discovery techniques can be seen as a powerful mechanism for crafting products that align with an expanded concept of quality - one that incorporates value creation. Previous research has shown that companies struggle to determine appropriate product discovery techniques for generating, validating, and prioritizing ideas for new products or features to ensure they meet the needs and desires of the customers and the business. For this reason, we conducted a grey literature review to identify various techniques for product discovery. First, the article provides an overview of different techniques and assesses how frequently they are mentioned in the literature review. Second, we mapped these techniques to an existing product discovery process from previous research to provide concrete guidelines for establishing product discovery in their organizations. The analysis shows, among other things, the increasing importance of techniques to structure the problem exploration process and the product strategy process. The results are interpreted regarding the importance of the techniques to practical applications and recognizable trends.
Cyber-Physical Production Systems increasingly use semantic information to meet the grown flexibility requirements. Ontologies are often used to represent and use this semantic information. Existing systems focus on mapping knowledge and less on the exchange with other relevant IT systems (e.g., ERP systems) in which crucial semantic information, often implicit, is contained. This article presents an approach that enables the exchange of semantic information via adapters. The approach is demonstrated by a use case utilizing an MES system and an ERP system.
Transforming our food system is important to achieving global climate neutrality and food security. Germany has set a national target of reaching a 30% share in organic farming to support the goal. When looking at the transformation process from conventional to organic farming, it becomes apparent that measures need to be taken to reach this anticipated goal. A particular emphasis of this work is placed on finding a digital solution and process improvements to ensure longevity and efficiency. Interviews with actors along the farm-to-fork value chain were conducted to identify central barriers and drivers of organic transformation. The results of the interviews show firstly, that three subsystems need to be distinguished when talking about the farm-to-fork value chain: (1) farmers, (2) intermediaries, and (3) the canteen system. Although all three subsystems can be combined to form a coherent value chain, they rarely act and communicate beyond the boundaries of their subsystem. Secondly, we were able to allocate primary barriers and drivers to each of the subsystems, highlighting the need to include all three in the transformation process and aim for a comprehensive digital solution. This work explores the potential of a network-based platform to improve the current practice of rigid and strictly hierarchical value chains. We focus on deriving user requirements from the interviews to describe the necessary functionality of the platform to address the identified barriers and exploit existing drivers.
Applications often need to be deployed in different variants due to different customer requirements. However, since modern applications often need to be deployed using multiple deployment technologies in combination, such as Ansible and Terraform, the deployment variability must be considered in a holistic way. To tackle this, we previously developed Variability4TOSCA and the prototype OpenTOSCA Vintner, which is a TOSCA preprocessing and management layer that implements Variability4TOSCA. In this demonstration, we present a detailed case study that shows how to model a deployment using Variability4TOSCA, how to resolve the variability using Vintner, and how the result can be deployed.
Gamification has been increasingly applied to software engineering education in the past. The approaches vary from applying game elements on a conceptual phase in the course to using specific tools to engage the students more and support their learning goals. However, existing tools usually have game elements, such as quizzes or challenges, but do not provide a more computer game-like experience. Therefore, we try to raise the level of gamified learning experience to another level by proposing Gamify-IT. Gamify-IT is a Unity- and web-based game platform intended to help students learn software engineering. It follows an immersive role-play game characteristic where the students explore a world, find and solve minigames and clear dungeons with SE tasks. Lecturers can configure the worlds, e.g., to add content hints. Furthermore, they can add and configure minigames and dungeons to include exercises in a fully gamified way. Thereby, they customize their course in Gamify-IT to adapt the world very precisely to other materials such as lectures or exercises. Results of an evaluation of our initial prototype show that (i) students like to engage with the platform, (ii) students are motivated to learn when using Gamify-IT, and (iii) the minigames support students in understanding the learning objectives.
Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITSs) are increasingly used in modern education to automatically give students individual feedback on their performance. The advantage for students is fast individual feedback on their answers to asked questions, while lecturers benefit from considerable time savings and easy delivery of educational material. Of course, it is important that the provided feedback is as effective as direct feedback from the lecturer. However, in digital teaching, lecturers cannot assess the student’s knowledge precisely but can only provide information on which questions were answered correctly and incorrectly. Therefore, this paper presents a concept for integrating ITS elements into the gamified e-learning platform IT-REX so that the feedback quality can be improved to support students in the best possible way.
The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated significant changes in foreign language education, forcing teachers to reconstruct their identities and redefine their roles as language educators. To better understand these adaptations and perspectives, it is crucial to study how the pandemic has influenced teaching practices. This mixed-methods study focused on the less-explored aspects of foreign language teaching during the pandemic, specifically examining how language teachers adapted and perceived their practices, including rapport building and learner autonomy, during emergency remote teaching (ERT) in higher education institutions. It also explored teachers’ intentions for their teaching in the post-pandemic era. An online survey was conducted, involving 118 language educators primarily from Germany, with a smaller representation from New Zealand, the United States, and the United Kingdom. The analysis of participants’ responses revealed issues and opportunities regarding lesson formats, tool usage, rapport, and learner autonomy. Our findings offer insights into the desired changes participants envisioned for the post-pandemic era. The results highlight the opportunities ERT had created in terms of teacher development, and we offer suggestions to enhance professional development programmes based on these findings.
The present study investigated the possibilities and limitations of using a low-cost NIR spectrometer for the verification of the presence of the declared active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) in tablet formulations, especially for medicine screening studies in low-resource settings. Spectra from 950 to 1650 nm were recorded for 170 pharmaceutical products representing 41 different APIs, API combinations or placebos. Most of the products, including 20 falsified medicines, had been collected in medicine quality studies in African countries. After exploratory principal component analysis, models were built using data-driven soft independent modelling of class analogy (DD-SIMCA), a one-class classifier algorithm, for tablet products of penicillin V, sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim, ciprofloxacin, furosemide, metronidazole, metformin, hydrochlorothiazide, and doxycycline. Spectra of amoxicillin and amoxicillin/clavulanic acid tablets were combined into a single model. Models were tested using Procrustes cross-validation and by projection of spectra of tablets containing the same or different APIs. Tablets containing no or different APIs could be identified with 100 % specificity in all models. A separation of the spectra of amoxicillin and amoxicillin/clavulanic acid tablets was achieved by partial least squares discriminant analysis. 15 out of 19 external validation products (79 %) representing different brands of the same APIs were correctly identified as members of the target class; three of the four rejected samples showed an API mass percentage of the total tablet weight that was out of the range covered in the respective calibration set. Therefore, in future investigations larger and more representative spectral libraries are required for model building. Falsified medicines containing no API, incorrect APIs, or grossly incorrect amounts of the declared APIs could be readily identified. Variation between different NIR-S-G1 spectroscopic devices led to a loss of accuracy if spectra recorded with different devices were pooled. Therefore, piecewise direct standardization was applied for calibration transfer. The investigated method is a promising tool for medicine screening studies in low-resource settings.
Impact of a large distribution network on radiation characteristics of planar spiral antenna arrays
(2023)
Designing antenna arrays with a central feed point has gained ground in the antenna technique. This approach, which is usually applied because of manufacturing costs, is difficult to achieve and leads to a large feeding network. The impact of which is numerically investigated in the present work. Upon comparing three different antennas, it is shown that the enlargement of the feed strongly affects the antenna's overall dimensions and the antenna's radiation characteristics. The antenna with the plug-in solution is not only small in size but also performs better compared to antennas with a central feed point. Considering the high effort in designing the feed network with a central point and the influence of the resulting enlarged network on the dimensions and radiation characteristics of the antenna, the cost saving in production can be put into perspective.
The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has reinforced China’s business engagement in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). While previous international business research focused on the internationalization and investments of Chinese companies, this viewpoint uncovers how both local African and international non-Chinese Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) may benefit from and participate in the BRI. A focus is laid on the infrastructure sector accounting for the highest investments since the inception of the BRI in 2013. In a conceptual way, the motives of SMEs to participate in infrastructure project business in the context of the BRI are explored. Investigating the challenges of two large transport infrastructure projects, the business potentials for SMEs become visible. It is argued that SMEs find business potentials particularly as investors, sub-contractors and project management experts in the BRI in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Im E-Sport-Ökosystem gibt es eine Vielzahl an Akteuren, die auf verschiedene Art und Weisen vom Erfolg des elektronischen Sports profitieren: Sponsoren präsentieren sich einer attraktiven Zielgruppe, Publisher fördern eine intensivere Nutzung ihres Videospiels und Übertragungsplattformen erhalten professionell organisierte Inhalte zum Vertrieb an eine wachsende Zuschauerschaft. Lediglich die Team-Organisationen und Veranstalter konzentrierten sich bisher allein auf die Erzielung von Erträgen durch die Ausübung oder Organisation von E-Sport-Wettkämpfen. Getrieben von Profitabilitätsschwächen versuchen sie jedoch, ihre Abhängigkeit von Sponsoring zu reduzieren und neue Ertragsquellen zu erschließen. Insbesondere Team-Organisationen sehen die Möglichkeiten hierfür eher außerhalb des originären E-Sport-Geschäfts und entwickeln sich dadurch immer mehr zu Marketing- und Unterhaltungsunternehmen.
The introduction of smart contracts has expanded the applicability of blockchains to many domains beyond finance and cryptocurrencies. Moreover, different blockchain technologies have evolved that target special requirements. As a result, in practice, often a combination of different blockchain systems is required to achieve an overall goal. However, due to the heterogeneity of blockchain protocols, the execution of distributed business transactions that span several blockchains leads to multiple interoperability and integration challenges. Therefore, in this article, we examine the domain of Cross-Chain Smart Contract Invocations (CCSCIs), which are distributed transactions that involve the invocation of smart contracts hosted on two or more blockchain systems. We conduct a systematic multi-vocal literature review to get an overview of the available CCSCI approaches. We select 20 formal literature studies and 13 high-quality gray literature studies, extract data from them, and analyze it to derive the CCSCI Classification Framework. With the help of the framework, we group the approaches into two categories and eight subcategories. The approaches differ in multiple characteristics, e.g., the mechanisms they follow, and the capabilities and transaction processing semantics they offer. Our analysis indicates that all approaches suffer from obstacles that complicate real-world adoption, such as the low support for handling heterogeneity and the need for trusted third parties.
Blockchains have become increasingly important in recent years and have expanded their applicability to many domains beyond finance and cryptocurrencies. This adoption has particularly increased with the introduction of smart contracts, which are immutable, user-defined programs directly deployed on blockchain networks. However, many scenarios require business transactions to simultaneously access smart contracts on multiple, possibly heterogeneous blockchain networks while ensuring the atomicity and isolation of these transactions, which is not natively supported by current blockchain systems. Therefore, in this work, we introduce the Transactional Cross-Chain Smart Contract Invocation (TCCSCI) approach that supports such distributed business transactions while ensuring their global atomicity and serializability. The approach introduces the concept of Resource Manager Smart Contracts, and 2PC for Blockchains (2PC4BC), a client-driven Atomic Commit Protocol (ACP) specialized for blockchain-based distributed transactions. We validate our approach using a prototypical implementation, evaluate its introduced overhead, and prove its correctness.
The Circular Economy aims to reintroduce the value of products back into the economic cycle at the same value chain level. While the activities of the Circular Economy are already well-defined, there exists a gap in how returned products are treated by the industry. This study aims to examine how a process should be designed to handle returned products in the context of the Circular Economy. To achieve this, a machine learning-based algorithm is used to classify data and extract relevant information throughout the product life cycle. The focus of this research is limited to land transportation systems within the Sharing Economy sector.