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A new trend for tactile microprobes leads to oscillating microprobes in order to overcome the drawbacks resulting from high Hertzian stress and disturbing surface forces. Thin water films on the measurement surface result in the so-called sticking effect which causes measurement faults such as snap-back and false triggering. This leads to measurement errors and low measurement speeds. We present an innovative oscillating triaxial microprobe which safely avoids sticking in all Cartesian measurement directions. The system design as well as the characterization of the microprobe are presented in this work. The low number of coupling elements, the batch-capable design and the low contact forces are the key features of the microprobe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the design, fabrication and characterization of a compact 2D stepping microdrive for pinhole array positioning. The miniaturized solution enables a highly integrated compact hyperspectral imaging system. Based on the geometry of the pinhole array, an inch-worm drive with electrostatic actuators was designed resulting in a compact (1 cm2) positioning system featuring a step size of about 15 µm in a 170 µm displacement range. The high payload (20 mg) as required for the pinhole array and the compact system design exceed the known electrostatic inch-worm-based microdrives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A compact linear micromechanical stepping drive for positioning a 7 × 5.5 mm2 optical pinhole array is presented. The system features a step size of 13.2 µm and a full displacement range of 200 µm. The electrostatic inch-worm stepping mechanism shows a compact design capable of positioning a payload 50% of its own weight. The stepping drive movement, step sizes and position accuracy are characterized. The actuated pinhole array is integrated in a confocal chromatic hyperspectral imaging system, where coverage of the object plane, and therefore the useful picture data, can be multiplied by 14 in contrast to a non-actuated array. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work presents a novel type of actuator that improves over the standard cantilever by permitting daisy-chaining while minimising stress to the joint connecting to the load. A detailed structural and functional comparison of the proposed device against the cantilever actuator as a baseline is given, led by a brief revision of the cantilever actuator as the state-of-the-art that highlights its limitations with respect to daisy-chaining and the stress it inherently creates within the joint connecting to the load when attempting out-of-plane displacement without rotation. Simulations of both devices’ performance confirm that the newly proposed device yields the targeted displacement profile that both enables the daisy-chaining of such a device into a higher-order actuator for increased displacement and reduce stress in the joint with the load. This comes at the cost of reduced maximum displacement compared to the cantilever, which can be overcome by daisy-chaining. The proposed device’s performance is further evaluated on the basis of manufactured prototypes measured by means of a laser scanning vibrometer. The prototype was manufactured on a 150 μm alumina substrate, and both electrodes and piezoelectric layer were deposited in a thick-film printing process.

First meeting, common interests and ways together The European Centre for Social Welfare, Training and Research situated in Vienna, was our first meeting place. W. Lorenz was interested in the international comparison of the different concepts and perspectives of social welfare problems in the European countries and the different developments in the training of social professions in Europe. The challenge of intercultural, antiracist social work in the context of Erasmus-Intensive Seminars To organize an intensive seminar with the aim to train students and colleagues for intercultural and antiracist competence in social professions, we formed an European network of European universities and schools of s.w. in Vienna (VIENNET), with the support of ECCE (European Centre of Community Education) in Koblenz. “The group discovered that working on these issues in an international context raises issues of ‘difference’ with renewed acuteness”(cit. W. Lorenz). We learned to cope with a variety of differences: biographical, language, theoretical and institutional backgrounds and discourse traditions. A Venue for an Intensive Seminar In choosing a venue for an Intensive Seminar we were relatively free. We locked for a place, “one dream about”, to support in the best way our seminar aims, to promote a base built on knowledge, skills and values particularly in the area of inner/outer borders, disadvantage, ignorance, minorities, majorities, vulnerable groups, racism and xenophobia. In a small village in Burgenland (Austria), very close to the Hungarian border, we thought to have found it. Future Prospect Are we only representatives of our background institutions or did we act and exposed ourselves as persons with a very specific biography and training experience. Can we sustain this created network, as a network of experts and friends in the field of intercultural, antiracist social work? This question is still open.

Workflow managers play a critical role in the efficient planning and execution of complex workloads. A handful of these already exist within the world of computational materials discovery, but their dynamic capabilities are somewhat lacking. The PerQueue workflow manager is the answer to this need. By utilizing modular and dynamic building blocks to define a workflow explicitly before starting, PerQueue can give a better overview of the workflow while allowing full flexibility and high dynamism. To exemplify its usage, we present four use cases at different scales within computational materials discovery. These encapsulate high-throughput screening with Density Functional Theory, using active learning to train a Machine-Learning Interatomic Potential with Molecular Dynamics and reusing this potential for kinetic Monte Carlo simulations of extended systems. Lastly, it is used for an active-learning-accelerated image segmentation procedure with a human-in-the-loop., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts to declare., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

In recent years, complex models of cardiac regulation have integrated heart rate variability (HRV) as a measure of the cardiac autonomic activity during exercise. Using detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA) technique, the present study examines the influence of cycling cadence and exercise duration on non-linear dynamics of HRV. Sixteen trained cyclists performed a 60-minute exercise bout at 90% of the individual anaerobic threshold on a bicycle ergometer. Cadence was changed every 10 min (90-120-60-120-60-90 rpm). Heart rate (HR) and RR-intervals were recorded continuously during exercise. HRV time domain measures (meanRR, SDNN) and correlation properties were analyzed using short-term scaling exponent alpha1 of DFA. Moreover, blood lactate (La) and rating of perceived exertion (RPE) were recorded at regular intervals at the end of condition. HR, La and RPE increased significantly at 120 rpm compared to 60 rpm. In contrast, all analyzed HRV parameters (meanRR, SDNN, DFA-alpha1) showed a significant decrease during cycling at 120 rpm compared to 60 rpm. The comparison of the first and last 10 min with the same cadence indicates a significant increase in HR and RPE, but also a significant decrease in all analyzed HRV measures. The decrease of HRV values over time and in relation to the increase in cadence indicates a decrease in the overall variability as well as a reduction in complexity of the RR-interval-fluctuations due to the increased organismic demands. Therefore, the decrease of DFA-alpha1 might be associated with a withdrawal of the organismic system aiming at the maintenance of the homeostasis under the control of the central nervous system. In this context, non-linear HRV analyses provide a more systemic view of cardiac regulation during exercise., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)