Search

Rotary Indexing Machines (RIMs) are widely used in manufacturing due to their ability to perform multiple production steps on a single product without manual repositioning, reducing production time and improving accuracy and consistency. Despite their advantages, little research has been done on diagnosing faults in RIMs, especially from the perspective of the actual production steps carried out on these machines. Long downtimes due to failures are problematic, especially for smaller companies employing these machines. To address this gap, we propose a diagnosis algorithm based on the product perspective, which focuses on the product being processed by RIMs. The algorithm traces the steps that a product takes through the machine and is able to diagnose possible causes in case of failure. We also analyze the properties of RIMs and how these influence the diagnosis of faults in these machines. Our contributions are three-fold. Firstly, we provide an analysis of the properties of RIMs and how they influence the diagnosis of faults in these machines. Secondly, we suggest a diagnosis algorithm based on the product perspective capable of diagnosing faults in such a machine. Finally, we test this algorithm on a model of a rotary indexing machine, demonstrating its effectiveness in identifying faults and their root causes.

The protection of non-combatants in times of (fully) autonomous warfare raises the question of the timeliness of the international protective emblem. Incidents in the recent past indicate that it is becoming necessary to transfer the protective emblem to other dimensions of transmission and representation. (Fully) Autonomous weapon systems are often launched from a great distance to the aiming point and there may be no possibility for the operators to notice protective emblems at the point of impact. In this case, the weapon system would have to detect such protective emblems and, if necessary, disintegrate autonomously or request an abort via human-in-the-loop. In our paper, we suggest ways in which a cross-frequency protective emblem can be designed. On the one hand, the technical deployment, e.g. in the form of RADAR beacons, is considered, as well as the interpretation by methods of machine learning. With regard to the technical deployment, possibilities are considered to address different sensors and to send signals out as resiliently as possible. When considering different signals, approaches are considered as to how software can recognise the protective emblems under the influence of various boundary conditions and react to them accordingly. In particular, a distinction is made here between the recognition of actively emitted signals and passive protective signals, e.g. the recognition of wounded or surrendering persons via drone-based electro-optical and thermal cameras. Finally, methods of distribution are considered, including encryption and authentication of the received signal, and ethical aspects of possible misuse are examined.

The increasing complexity of Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) makes industrial automation challenging. Large amounts of data recorded by sensors need to be processed to adequately perform tasks such as diagnosis in case of fault. A promising approach to deal with this complexity is the concept of causality. However, most research on causality has focused on inferring causal relations between parts of an unknown system. Engineering uses causality in a fundamentally different way: complex systems are constructed by combining components with known, controllable behavior. As CPS are constructed by the second approach, most data-based causality models are not suited for industrial automation. To bridge this gap, a Uniform Causality Model for various application areas of industrial automation is proposed, which will allow better communication and better data usage across disciplines. The resulting model describes the behavior of CPS mathematically and, as the model is evaluated on the unique requirements of the application areas, it is shown that the Uniform Causality Model can work as a basis for the application of new approaches in industrial automation that focus on machine learning.

The phenomenon of adopting open source software development practices in a corporate environment is known by many names, one being inner source. The objective of this study is to investigate how an organization consisting of small development teams can benefit from adopting inner source and assess the level of applicability. The research has been conducted as a case study at a software development company. Data collection was carried out through interviews and a series of focus group meetings, and then analyzed by mapping it to an available framework. The analysis shows that the organization possesses potential, and also identified a number of challenges and benefits of special importance to the case company. To address these challenges, the case study synthesized the organizational and infrastructural needs of the organization in a requirements specification describing a technical infrastructure, also known as a software forge, with an adapted organizational context and work process.

This article was supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the Open Access Publication Fund of Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin., Reaching population immunity against COVID-19 is proving difficult even in countries with high vaccination levels. Thus, it is critical to identify limits of control and effective measures against future outbreaks. The effects of nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) and vaccination strategies are analyzed with a detailed community-specific agent-based model (ABM). The authors demonstrate that the threshold for population immunity is not a unique number, but depends on the vaccination strategy. Prioritizing highly interactive people diminishes the risk for an infection wave, while prioritizing the elderly minimizes fatalities when vaccinations are low. Control over COVID-19 outbreaks requires adaptive combination of NPIs and targeted vaccination, exemplified for Germany for January–September 2021. Bimodality emerges from the heterogeneity and stochasticity of community-specific human–human interactions and infection networks, which can render the effects of limited NPIs uncertain. The authors' simulation platform can process and analyze dynamic COVID-19 epidemiological situations in diverse communities worldwide to predict pathways to population immunity even with limited vaccination., Peer Reviewed

The study of plant-environment interactions is a multidisciplinary research field. With the emergence of quantitative large-scale and high-throughput techniques, amount and dimensionality of experimental data have strongly increased. Appropriate strategies for data storage, management, and evaluation are needed to make efficient use of experimental findings. Computational approaches of data mining are essential for deriving statistical trends and signatures contained in data matrices. Although, current biology is challenged by high data dimensionality in general, this is particularly true for plant biology. Plants as sessile organisms have to cope with environmental fluctuations. This typically results in strong dynamics of metabolite and protein concentrations which are often challenging to quantify. Summarizing experimental output results in complex data arrays, which need computational statistics and numerical methods for building quantitative models. Experimental findings need to be combined by computational models to gain a mechanistic understanding of plant metabolism. For this, bioinformatics and mathematics need to be combined with experimental setups in physiology, biochemistry, and molecular biology. This review presents and discusses concepts at the interface of experiment and computation, which are likely to shape current and future plant biology. Finally, this interface is discussed with regard to its capabilities and limitations to develop a quantitative model of plant-environment interactions., Peer Reviewed

Plants are constantly exposed to temperature fluctuations, which have direct effects on all cellular reactions because temperature influences reaction likelihood and speed. Chloroplasts are crucial to temperature acclimation responses of plants, due to their photosynthetic reactions whose products play a central role in plant metabolism. Consequently, chloroplasts serve as sensors of temperature changes and are simultaneously major targets of temperature acclimation. The core subunits of the complexes involved in the light reactions of photosynthesis are encoded in the chloroplast. As a result, it is assumed that temperature acclimation in plants requires regulatory responses in chloroplast gene expression and protein turnover. We conducted western blot experiments to assess changes in the accumulation of two photosynthetic complexes (PSII, and Cytb6f complex) and the ATP synthase in tobacco plants over two days of acclimation to low temperature. Surprisingly, the concentration of proteins within the chloroplast varied negligibly compared to controls. To explain this observation, we used a simplified Ordinary Differential Equation (ODE) model of transcription, translation, mRNA degradation and protein degradation to explain how the protein concentration can be kept constant. This model takes into account temperature effects on these processes. Through simulations of the ODE model, we show that mRNA and protein degradation are possible targets for control during temperature acclimation. Our model provides a basis for future directions in research and the analysis of future results., Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100001659, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (1034), Peer Reviewed

Plants are constantly exposed to temperature fluctuations, which have direct effects on all cellular reactions because temperature influences reaction likelihood and speed. Chloroplasts are crucial to temperature acclimation responses of plants, due to their photosynthetic reactions whose products play a central role in plant metabolism. Consequently, chloroplasts serve as sensors of temperature changes and are simultaneously major targets of temperature acclimation. The core subunits of the complexes involved in the light reactions of photosynthesis are encoded in the chloroplast. As a result, it is assumed that temperature acclimation in plants requires regulatory responses in chloroplast gene expression and protein turnover. We conducted western blot experiments to assess changes in the accumulation of two photosynthetic complexes (PSII, and Cytb6f complex) and the ATP synthase in tobacco plants over two days of acclimation to low temperature. Surprisingly, the concentration of proteins within the chloroplast varied negligibly compared to controls. To explain this observation, we used a simplified Ordinary Differential Equation (ODE) model of transcription, translation, mRNA degradation and protein degradation to explain how the protein concentration can be kept constant. This model takes into account temperature effects on these processes. Through simulations of the ODE model, we show that mRNA and protein degradation are possible targets for control during temperature acclimation. Our model provides a basis for future directions in research and the analysis of future results., Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100001659, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (1034), Peer Reviewed

The study of plant-environment interactions is a multidisciplinary research field. With the emergence of quantitative large-scale and high-throughput techniques, amount and dimensionality of experimental data have strongly increased. Appropriate strategies for data storage, management, and evaluation are needed to make efficient use of experimental findings. Computational approaches of data mining are essential for deriving statistical trends and signatures contained in data matrices. Although, current biology is challenged by high data dimensionality in general, this is particularly true for plant biology. Plants as sessile organisms have to cope with environmental fluctuations. This typically results in strong dynamics of metabolite and protein concentrations which are often challenging to quantify. Summarizing experimental output results in complex data arrays, which need computational statistics and numerical methods for building quantitative models. Experimental findings need to be combined by computational models to gain a mechanistic understanding of plant metabolism. For this, bioinformatics and mathematics need to be combined with experimental setups in physiology, biochemistry, and molecular biology. This review presents and discusses concepts at the interface of experiment and computation, which are likely to shape current and future plant biology. Finally, this interface is discussed with regard to its capabilities and limitations to develop a quantitative model of plant-environment interactions., Peer Reviewed

The phenomenon of adopting open source software development practices in a corporate environment is known by many names, one being inner source. The objective of this study is to investigate how an organization consisting of small development teams can benet from adopting inner source and assess the level of applicability. The research has been conducted as a case study at a software development company. Data collection was carried out through interviews and a series of focus group meetings, and then analyzed by mapping it to an available framework. The analysis shows that the organization possesses potential, and also identied a number of challenges and benets of special importance to the case company. To address these challenges, the case study synthesized the organizational and infrastructural needs of the organization in a requirements specication describing a technical infrastructure, also known as a software forge, with an adapted organizational context and work process.

SAMMANFATTNING Bakgrund Personer som röker och som ska genomgå en operation som kräver anestesi har ökad risk att drabbas av komplikationer. Genom rökavvärjningsprogram erbjuds personer hjälp att sluta röka. Vad det är som får den enskilda individen att motivera sitt val av rökvanor leder fram till arbetets syfte. Syfte Syftet är att öka förståelsen för hur personer tänker kring valet av rökstopp och behovet av stöd från sjukvården. Metod En kvalitativ litteraturstudie som presenterar 18 kvalitativa studier, vilka har analyserats med en enklare syntetisering. Resultat Utifrån de inkluderade artiklarnas centrala teman bildades tre nya teman. De nya temana delades in utifrån vilka faktorer som hindrade (Hinder för rökstopp) respektive motiverade (Motiverande faktorer till rökstopp) personerna till att sluta röka samt vad dessa personer önskade av sjukvården (Vad som önskas av sjukvården). Tankarna kring valet av rökstopp och behovet av stöd från sjukvården är individuellt. Det finns dock en sak som är viktigare än något annat och det är personens egen motivation. I samband med en situation som förändrar livet av något slag t.ex. att bli förälder, att få en svår sjukdomsdiagnos eller att bli opererad så väcker det liv i tankar angående hälsa och livsstil. Konklusion Oavsett sjukdom, bakgrund eller etnisk tillhörighet finns det vissa likheter som går att sammanställa till gemensamma punkter. Men det finns också faktorer som väsentligt skiljer patienter åt trots samma sjukdom, liknande bakgrund och socialtillhörighet. En grupp patienter är därför aldrig homogen i fråga om motivation och attityd till rökstopp. Nyckelord: Rökavvänjning, motivation, barriärer, patient, operation

SAMMANFATTNING Bakgrund Personer som röker och som ska genomgå en operation som kräver anestesi har ökad risk att drabbas av komplikationer. Genom rökavvärjningsprogram erbjuds personer hjälp att sluta röka. Vad det är som får den enskilda individen att motivera sitt val av rökvanor leder fram till arbetets syfte. Syfte Syftet är att öka förståelsen för hur personer tänker kring valet av rökstopp och behovet av stöd från sjukvården. Metod En kvalitativ litteraturstudie som presenterar 18 kvalitativa studier, vilka har analyserats med en enklare syntetisering. Resultat Utifrån de inkluderade artiklarnas centrala teman bildades tre nya teman. De nya temana delades in utifrån vilka faktorer som hindrade (Hinder för rökstopp) respektive motiverade (Motiverande faktorer till rökstopp) personerna till att sluta röka samt vad dessa personer önskade av sjukvården (Vad som önskas av sjukvården). Tankarna kring valet av rökstopp och behovet av stöd från sjukvården är individuellt. Det finns dock en sak som är viktigare än något annat och det är personens egen motivation. I samband med en situation som förändrar livet av något slag t.ex. att bli förälder, att få en svår sjukdomsdiagnos eller att bli opererad så väcker det liv i tankar angående hälsa och livsstil. Konklusion Oavsett sjukdom, bakgrund eller etnisk tillhörighet finns det vissa likheter som går att sammanställa till gemensamma punkter. Men det finns också faktorer som väsentligt skiljer patienter åt trots samma sjukdom, liknande bakgrund och socialtillhörighet. En grupp patienter är därför aldrig homogen i fråga om motivation och attityd till rökstopp. Nyckelord: Rökavvänjning, motivation, barriärer, patient, operation

Validerat; 20101217 (root)