@article{ThemaWeidlichHoerletal., author = {Thema, Martin and Weidlich, Tobias and H{\"o}rl, Manuel and Bellack, Annett and M{\"o}rs, Friedemann and Hackl, Florian and Kohlmayer, Matthias and Gleich, Jasmin and Stabenau, Carsten and Trabold, Thomas and Neubert, Michael and Ortloff, Felix and Brotsack, Raimund and Schmack, Doris and Huber, Harald and Hafenbradl, Doris and Karl, J{\"u}rgen and Sterner, Michael}, title = {Biological CO2-Methanation: An Approach to Standardization}, series = {Energies}, volume = {12}, journal = {Energies}, number = {9}, publisher = {MDPI}, doi = {10.3390/en12091670}, pages = {1 -- 32}, abstract = {Power-to-Methane as one part of Power-to-Gas has been recognized globally as one of the key elements for the transition towards a sustainable energy system. While plants that produce methane catalytically have been in operation for a long time, biological methanation has just reached industrial pilot scale and near-term commercial application. The growing importance of the biological method is reflected by an increasing number of scientific articles describing novel approaches to improve this technology. However, these studies are difficult to compare because they lack a coherent nomenclature. In this article, we present a comprehensive set of parameters allowing the characterization and comparison of various biological methanation processes. To identify relevant parameters needed for a proper description of this technology, we summarized existing literature and defined system boundaries for Power-to-Methane process steps. On this basis, we derive system parameters providing information on the methanation system, its performance, the biology and cost aspects. As a result, three different standards are provided as a blueprint matrix for use in academia and industry applicable to both, biological and catalytic methanation. Hence, this review attempts to set the standards for a comprehensive description of biological and chemical methanation processes.}, language = {en} } @article{WeiglFeldmeierBierletal., author = {Weigl, Stefan and Feldmeier, Florian and Bierl, Rudolf and Matysik, Frank-Michael}, title = {Photoacoustic detection of acetone in N2 and synthetic air using a high power UV LED}, series = {Sensors Actuators B Chemical}, volume = {316}, journal = {Sensors Actuators B Chemical}, number = {August}, publisher = {Elsevier}, doi = {10.1016/j.snb.2020.128109}, pages = {1 -- 11}, abstract = {The performance of a photoacoustic trace gas sensor for the detection of acetone in N2 and synthetic air is reported. The sensor system utilises an amplitude modulated UV LED. The light source has an emission maximum at 278 nm and a maximum CW output power of 300 mW according to the datasheet. Three different collimating and focusing approaches have been investigated to guide the highly divergent LED light into the acoustic resonator of the photoacoustic measurement cell. A 3D printed aluminium cell was designed to optimize light coupling by simultaneously minimizing the photoacoustic background signal generation. Hence, the diameter of the resonator was set to a comparable large diameter of 10 mm and the inner walls of the resonator were mirror polished. The additive manufacturing procedure allowed for integration of a spirally formed gas channel, enabling gas heating prior to detection. The sensor performance was investigated by measuring acetone in N2 and synthetic air at different concentrations. The UV LED current was set to 86 \% of the maximum value according to the datasheet of the light source in order to increase the lifetime and thermal stability. An Allan-Werle deviation analysis validates a stable sensor performance. The limit of detection (LoD) was determined at a 3σ noise level with a 10 s lock-in amplifier time constant by sampling data points over 20 s with a data acquisition rate of 5 Hz. LoDs of 80.8 ppbV and 19.6 ppbV were obtained for acetone in N2 and synthetic air, respectively.}, language = {en} } @article{WeiglWittmannRuecketal., author = {Weigl, Stefan and Wittmann, Elisabeth and R{\"u}ck, Thomas and Bierl, Rudolf and Matysik, Frank-Michael}, title = {Effects of ambient parameters and cross-sensitivities from O2, CO2 and H2O on the photoacoustic detection of acetone in the UV region}, series = {Sensors Actuators B Chemical}, journal = {Sensors Actuators B Chemical}, number = {328}, publisher = {Elsevier}, issn = {0925-4005}, doi = {10.1016/j.snb.2020.129001}, abstract = {We present a sensitive UV LED photoacoustic setup for the detection of gaseous acetone and discuss its applicability towards breath analysis. We investigated the performance of the sensor for low acetone concentrations down to 0.1 parts per million (ppmV). The influences of temperature, flow, pressure, optical power and LED duty cycle on the measured signal have been examined. To gain a better understanding of the different effects on the photoacoustic signal, correlation analysis was applied and feature importance was determined using a large measured dataset. Furthermore, the cross-sensitivities towards O2, CO2 and H2O have been studied extensively. Finally, the sensor's performance to detect acetone between 0.1-1 ppmV within gas mixtures simulating breath exhale conditions has been investigated, too. With a limit of detection (LoD) of 12.5 parts per billion (ppbV) (3σ) measured under typical breath exhale gas mixture conditions, the sensor demonstrated a high potential for the application of acetone detection in human breath analysis.}, language = {en} } @incollection{HaugVetter, author = {Haug, Sonja and Vetter, Miriam}, title = {{\"A}ltere Menschen im Wohnquartier Margaretenau in Regensburg - aktuelle Situation und zuk{\"u}nftiger Bedarf}, series = {Wohnen und Gesundheit im Alter}, booktitle = {Wohnen und Gesundheit im Alter}, editor = {Teti, Andrea}, publisher = {Springer VS}, address = {Wiesbaden}, isbn = {978-3-658-34385-9}, doi = {10.1007/978-3-658-34386-6_14}, pages = {215 -- 227}, abstract = {Der Beitrag zeigt Ergebnisse einer Begleitstudie zur Restaurierung und energetischen Modernisierung des historischen genossenschaftlichen Wohnquartiers Margaretenau in Regensburg im Projekt MAGGIE. Bei der Gestaltung von Wohnungen und Gelegenheiten f{\"u}r die soziale Einbettung im Quartier wird eine altersgerechte Perspektive eingenommen. Die Darstellung der schriftlichen standardisierten Haushaltsbefragung (n = 195) nimmt die Lebenssituation {\"a}lterer Menschen ab 65 Jahren in den Fokus. Dazu werden die Themenbereiche Haushaltsstruktur, altersgerechtes Wohnen und Gemeinschaftseinrichtungen pr{\"a}sentiert. Neben der aktuellen Wohnsituation wurden Pl{\"a}ne und W{\"u}nsche f{\"u}r das zuk{\"u}nftige Wohnen abgefragt. Im Alter schwindet die Bereitschaft f{\"u}r Ver{\"a}nderungen, was sich am Wunsch zum Altern in der bisherigen Wohnung und Verbleib im Wohnquartier zeigt. Das Interesse am barrierereduzierten Wohnen ist bei {\"a}lteren Haushalten geringer als bei j{\"u}ngeren. Es zeigt sich ein {\"u}berdurchschnittlich hohes Maß an lokalem Sozialkapital, wobei kein signifikanter Unterschied zwischen j{\"u}ngeren und {\"a}lteren Haushalten besteht.}, language = {de} } @inproceedings{CurrleHaug, author = {Currle, Edda and Haug, Sonja}, title = {Acceptance of Telepresence Robotics, Telecare and Teletherapy Among Stroke Patients, Relatives and Therapy Staff}, series = {dHealth 2024: proceedings of the 18th annual conference on Health Informatics meets Digital Health conference}, booktitle = {dHealth 2024: proceedings of the 18th annual conference on Health Informatics meets Digital Health conference}, publisher = {IOS Press}, isbn = {978-1-64368-517-5}, issn = {0926-9630}, doi = {10.3233/SHTI240005}, pages = {15 -- 21}, abstract = {Background: Stroke as a cause of disability in adulthood causes an increasing demand for therapy and care services, including telecare and teletherapy. Objectives: Aim of the study is to analyse the acceptance of telepresence robotics and digital therapy applications. Methods: Longitudinal study with a before and after survey of patients, relatives and care and therapy staff. Results: Acceptance of the technology analysed is high in all three groups. Although acceptance among patients declined in parts of the cases in the second survey after having used telerobotics, all in all approval ratings remained high. With regard to patients no significant correlation was found between the general technology acceptance and the acceptance of use of telerobotics. Conclusion: Accepted new telecare and teletherapies can be offered with the help of telepresence robotics. This requires knowledge of and experience with the technology.}, language = {en} } @article{HaugLochnerHuber, author = {Haug, Sonja and Lochner, Susanne and Huber, Dominik}, title = {Methodological Aspects of a Quantitative and Qualitative Survey of Asylum Seekers in Germany}, series = {mda - methods data analyses}, volume = {13}, journal = {mda - methods data analyses}, number = {2}, publisher = {GESIS - Leibniz-Institut f{\"u}r Sozialwissenschaften}, doi = {10.12758/mda.2019.02}, pages = {321 -- 340}, abstract = {This field report presents and discusses methodological issues and challenges encountered in a mixed-methods research project on asylum seekers in Bavaria, Germany. It documents the research design of, and field experiences in, a quantitative survey based on a quota sampling procedure and a qualitative study, both of which were conducted in collective accommodation for asylum seekers at selected locations in that federal state. Standardized PAPI multiple-topic questionnaires were completed by asylum seekers from Syria, Afghanistan, Eritrea, and Iraq (N = 779); most of the questionnaires were self-administered. In addition, 12 qualitative face-to-face biographical interviews were conducted in order to gain an in-depth understanding of attitudes and experiences of asylum seekers. This report focuses on the following aspects: the use of gatekeepers to facilitate participant recruitment; sampling procedures; the involvement of interpreters in the data collection process; response bias and response behaviors among asylum seekers; and the experiences gained from data collection in collective accommodation for asylum seekers.}, language = {en} } @article{SnarskiiKalitaShamoninChamonine, author = {Snarskii, Andrei A. and Kalita, Viktor M. and Shamonin (Chamonine), Mikhail}, title = {Renormalization of the critical exponent for the shear modulus of magnetoactive elastomers}, series = {Scientific Reports}, volume = {8}, journal = {Scientific Reports}, publisher = {Nature}, doi = {10.1038/s41598-018-22333-6}, pages = {1 -- 8}, abstract = {It is shown that the critical exponent for the effective shear modulus of a composite medium where a compliant polymer matrix is filled with ferromagnetic particles may significantly depend on the external magnetic field. The physical consequence of this dependence is the critical behavior of the relative magnetorheological effect.}, language = {en} } @article{Linner, author = {Linner, Thomas}, title = {Special issue ISARC 2021}, series = {Construction Robotics}, volume = {Vol. 6}, journal = {Construction Robotics}, number = {Issue 2}, editor = {Linner, Thomas}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, doi = {10.1007/s41693-022-00079-y}, pages = {58 -- 68}, abstract = {The research filed of construction robotics broadens increasingly in terms of complexity, approaches, technologies used, active stakeholders, and application areas. Worldwide labour and resource shortages, the need to increase circularity and resource efficiency, new materials and the increasing utilisation of digital construction tools in the planning and construction industry massively spur the uptake of robotic solutions for on-site construction. The initial boom of construction robots happened in the 1970s, driven by the Japanese construction industry. In the 1980s, a combination with parallel developments was supposed to achieve complete, integrated robotic on-site factories. From the mid-1980s onwards, the global interest in construction robots decreased gradually. Bulky and expensive systems, complex on-site navigation and logistics approaches, a narrow scope of tasks, inflexibility, incompatibility with on-site work organisation and professional qualification, low usability and insufficient inter-robot coordination capabilities revealed the immaturity of the systems. Only a few organisations predominantly situated in Asia such as Takenaka, Obayashi, Kajima Corporation, Nihon Bisho Co., Samsung, and Hitachi maintained development activities. However, since the mid-2010s, development activities are gaining traction again. On the application side, this is mainly driven by trends such as the need to upgrade the energy performance of buildings in Europe, a global necessity to remove asbestos from existing structures, and a demand for enormous quantities of high-rise buildings all over East Asia. On the system side, the renewed interest stems from major advances in physical-mechanical robot technology in other automation-driven industries such as the automotive industry. Robots became lighter, more flexible, their parts modular and interchangeable, more user friendly as well as significantly cheaper. On the digital side, the BIM-to-Robot pipeline was subject of intensive reserach and development. More and more methods and tools help to increase the usability of robots and facilitate the simulation and optimisation of robot-driven construction processes. In the last 4-5 years, the worldwide growing need and interest in construction robotics became highly evident. More than 200 robot systems are pushed by start-ups and spin-offs and their investors to the market. This is backed by an enormous number of activities and projects carried out in the academic area pushing to the boundaries of what is technologically possible. Major associations and their conferences increase significantly in popularity such as ISARC (International Association for Automation and Robotics in Construction), EC3 (European Council of Computing in Construction), and Robots in Architecture. Competency in digital construction, automation and robotics becomes a key for all stakeholders in the construction industry and many universities worldwide launch dedicated interdisciplinary programs. Powerful governments (China) and major funding programs such as Horizon Europe (Europe) massively request and fund the development of robotic solutions for construction such as drones, mobile robots, 3D-printing solutions, cable-driven robots, and exoskeletons. Regulators and standardisation organisation start to develop the first certification and standardisation schemes for construction robots and large software companies make attempts to allow to simulate and program robotic construction processes efficiently and robustly based on digital building and construction data. To showcase the diversity of cutting-edge research in the area, this special issue invited eight extended versions of selected papers from the ISARC 2021 conference. As such, this issue covers digital approaches to embed fabrication and robot information in BIM and IFC and program robots directly from digital building models. New robot systems spur novel robotic production processes, and machine learning enable novel logistics approaches for building components that may ultimately lead to robotic cranes and other robotic on-site logistics and handling solutions (including autonomous construction machines). In parallel, systematic evaluation and robot development methods are developed that allow to shed light on their performance in the construction process.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{SuessMelznerDendorfer, author = {Suess, Franz and Melzner, Maximilian and Dendorfer, Sebastian}, title = {Towards ergonomics working - machine learning algorithms and musculoskeletal modeling}, series = {IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering}, volume = {1208}, booktitle = {IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering}, publisher = {IOP Publishing}, issn = {1757-899X}, doi = {10.1088/1757-899X/1208/1/012001}, abstract = {Ergonomic workplaces lead to fewer work-related musculoskeletal disorders and thus fewer sick days. There are various guidelines to help avoid harmful situations. However, these recommendations are often rather crude and often neglect the complex interaction of biomechanical loading and psychological stress. This study investigates whether machine learning algorithms can be used to predict mechanical and stress-related muscle activity for a standardized motion. For this purpose, experimental data were collected for trunk movement with and without additional psychological stress. Two different algorithms (XGBoost and TensorFlow) were used to model the experimental data. XGBoost in particular predicted the results very well. By combining it with musculoskeletal models, the method shown here can be used for workplace analysis but also for the development of real-time feedback systems in real workplace environments.}, language = {en} } @article{Linner, author = {Linner, Thomas}, title = {Special issue: Implementation-Oriented Construction Robotics}, series = {Construction Robotics}, volume = {7}, journal = {Construction Robotics}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, doi = {10.1007/s41693-023-00100-y}, pages = {1 -- 2}, language = {en} } @article{MikhaeilGadererDawoud, author = {Mikhaeil, Makram and Gaderer, Matthias and Dawoud, Belal}, title = {Experimental Investigation of the Adsorption and Desorption Kinetics on an Open-Structured Asymmetric Plate Heat Exchanger; Matching Between Small-Scale and Full-Scale Results}, series = {Frontiers in Energy Research}, volume = {10}, journal = {Frontiers in Energy Research}, publisher = {Frontiers}, doi = {10.3389/fenrg.2022.818486}, pages = {1 -- 15}, abstract = {This paper introduces the results of an experimental study on the adsorption and desorption kinetics of a commercially available, open-structured asymmetric plate heat exchanger adapted to act as an adsorber/desorber for the application in adsorption heat transformation processes. In addition, a volumetric large temperature jump (V-LTJ) kinetic setup was applied to measure the adsorption and desorption kinetics of a small-scale adsorbent sample prepared dedicatedly to be representative for the adsorbent domain inside the investigated adsorber plate heat exchanger (APHE). All kinetic results of the small-scale adsorbent sample and the APHE were fitted into exponential forms with a single characteristic time constant (τ) with a coefficient of determination (R2) better than 0.9531. A very good matching between the small-scale and full-scale adsorption kinetic measurements was obtained, with an average relative deviation of 12.3\% in the obtained τ-values. In addition, the kinetic data of the small-scale adsorbent sample were utilized for estimating the expected specific instantaneous and moving average powers of the evaporator/condenser heat exchanger. The average relative deviation (ARD) between the moving average specific evaporator powers obtained from the small-scale and the full-scale measurements amounts between 5.4 and 15.1\%.}, language = {en} } @article{MonkmanSindersbergerPremetal., author = {Monkman, Gareth J. and Sindersberger, Dirk and Prem, Nina and Diermeier, Andreas and Szecsey, Tamara}, title = {Dielectric behaviour of magnetic hybrid materials}, series = {Physical Sciences Reviews}, volume = {7}, journal = {Physical Sciences Reviews}, number = {10}, publisher = {de Gruyter}, doi = {10.1515/psr-2019-0121}, pages = {1169 -- 1185}, abstract = {The objectives of this work include the analysis of electrical and magnetic properties of magneto-elastic hybrid materials with the intention of developing new techniques for sensor and actuator applications. This includes the investigation of dielectric properties at both low and high frequencies. The behaviour of capacitors whose dielectrics comprise magnetic hybrid materials is well known. Such interfacial magnetocapacitance can be varied according to magnetic content, magnetic flux density and the relative permittivity of the polymer matrix together with other dielectric content. The basic function of trapping electrical charges in polymers (electrets) is also established technology. However, the combination of magnetoactive polymers and electrets has led to the first electromagnetic device capable of adhering to almost any material, whether magnetically susceptible or not. During the course of this research, in addition to dielectrics, electrically conductive polymers based on (PDMS) matrices were developed in order to vary the electrical properties of the material in a targeted manner. In order to ensure repeatable results, this demanded new fabrication techniques hitherto unavailable. The 3D printing of silicones is far from being a mature technology and much pioneering work was necessary before extending the usual 3 d.o.f. to include orientation about and diffusion of particles in these three axes, thus leading to the concept of 6D printing. In 6D printing, the application of a magnetic field can be used during the curing process to control the particulate distribution and thus the spatial filler particle density as desired. Most of the devices (sensors and actuators) produced by such methods contain levels of carbonyl iron powder (CIP) embedded magnetic filler of up to 70 wt\%. Contrary to this, a hitherto neglected research area, namely magnetoactive polymers (MAPs) having significantly lower magnetic particle concentrations (1 to 3 wt\% CIP) were also investigated. With filler concentrations lower than 3 wt\%, structures are formed which are completely absent at higher filler levels. CIP concentrations in the range of 1wt\% demonstrate the formation of toroidal structures. Further development of coherent rings with a compact order results as filler concentrations increase towards 2 wt\%. Above 3 wt\% the structure eventually disintegrates to the usual random order found in traditional MAP with higher CIP content. Structured samples containing 1\%-3 wt\% CIP were investigated with the aid of X-ray tomography where solitary ring structures can be observed and eventually the formation of capillary doubles. Over wavelengths ranging from 1 to 25 µm, spectroscopic analysis of thin film MAP samples containing 2 wt\% CIP revealed measurable magnetic-field-dependent changes in IR absorption at a wavenumber 2350 (λ = 4.255 µm). This was found to be due to the diamagnetic susceptibility of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2). Consequently, the first potential application for sparse matrix MAPs was found.}, language = {en} } @article{CurbachLanderDierksetal., author = {Curbach, Janina and Lander, Jonas and Dierks, Marie-Luise and Grepmeier, Eva-Maria and von Sommoggy, Julia}, title = {How do health professionals translate evidence on early childhood allergy prevention into health literacy-responsive practice?}, series = {BMJ OPEN}, volume = {11}, journal = {BMJ OPEN}, publisher = {BMJ}, doi = {10.1136/bmjopen-2020-047733}, pages = {1 -- 8}, abstract = {Introduction Paediatricians, general practitioners (GPs) and midwives in primary care are important sources of information for parents on early childhood allergy prevention (ECAP). Research has shown that preventive counselling by health professionals can be effective in improving patients' health literacy (HL) and health behaviour. Providing effective advice relies on two factors. First, health professionals need be up-to-date with research evidence on ECAP, to consider popular misconceptions and fears and to translate this knowledge into clear recommendations for parents (knowledge translation). Second, they need to know and apply counselling techniques and create a practice setting which accommodates parental HL needs (health literacy-responsive care). The objective of this study is to explore and assess how German health professionals take up and translate ECAP evidence into appropriate recommendations for parents, how they consider HL in counselling and practice organisation and what barriers and enablers they find in their performance of HL-responsive ECAP. Methods and analysis The study has a sequential mixed-method design, in two phases. In the first phase, qualitative semi-structured expert interviews will be conducted with health professionals (paediatricians, GPs and midwives) at primary care level and professional policy level. Data collection is ongoing until January 2022. In the second phase, based on the qualitative results, a standardised questionnaire will be developed, and pilot-tested in a wider population of German health professionals. The findings of both phases will be integrated. Ethics and dissemination The study has received ethical approval from the Ethics Committee of the University of Regensburg (18-1205-101). The results will be published in international peer-reviewed open access journals and via presentations at scientific conferences. The results will also be shared with German health professionals, decision-makers and potential funders of interventions.}, language = {en} } @article{BerndtMuggliHeckeletal., author = {Berndt, Dominik and Muggli, Josef and Heckel, Robert and Rahiman, Mohd Fuad and Lindner, Matthias and Heinrich, Stephan and Pl{\"o}chinger, Heinz and Schreiner, Rupert}, title = {A Robust Miniaturized Gas Sensor for H₂ and CO₂ Detection Based on the 3ω Method}, series = {Sensors}, volume = {22}, journal = {Sensors}, number = {2}, publisher = {MDPI}, address = {Basel}, doi = {10.3390/s22020485}, pages = {1 -- 17}, abstract = {Gas concentration monitoring is essential in industrial or life science areas in order to address safety-relevant or process-related questions. Many of the sensors used in this context are based on the principle of thermal conductivity. The 3ω-method is a very accurate method to determine the thermal properties of materials. It has its origin in the thermal characterization of thin solid films. To date, there have been very few scientific investigations using this method to determine the thermal properties of gases and to apply it to gas measurement technology. In this article, we use two exemplary gases (H2 and CO2) for a systematical investigation of this method in the context of gas analysis. To perform our experiments, we use a robust, reliable sensing element that is already well established in vacuum measurement technology. This helix-shaped thin wire of tungsten exhibits high robustness against chemical and mechanical influences. Our setup features a compact measurement environment, where sensor operation and data acquisition are integrated into a single device. The experimental results show a good agreement with a simplified analytical model and FEM simulations. The sensor exhibits a lower detection limit of 0.62\% in the case of CO2, and only 0.062\% in case the of H2 at an excitation frequency of 1 Hz. This is one of the lowest values reported in literature for thermal conductivity H2 sensors.}, language = {en} } @article{SteiningerGadererSteffensetal., author = {Steininger, Peter and Gaderer, Matthias and Steffens, Oliver and Dawoud, Belal}, title = {Experimental and Numerical Study on the Heat Transfer Characteristics of a Newly-Developed Solar Active Thermal Insulation System}, series = {Buildings}, volume = {11}, journal = {Buildings}, number = {3}, publisher = {MDPI}, doi = {10.3390/buildings11030123}, pages = {1 -- 22}, abstract = {A newly-developed solar active thermal insulation system (SATIS) is introduced with the main objective to accomplish a highly-dependent total solar transmittance on the irradiation angle. SATIS is also designed to obtain the maximum transmittance at a prescribed design irradiation angle and to reduce it remarkably at higher irradiation angles. A purely mineral thermal insulation plaster with micro hollow glass spheres is applied to manufacture the investigated SATIS prototype. Light-conducting elements (LCEs) have been introduced into SATIS and suitable closing elements have been applied. The SATIS prototype has been investigated both experimentally and numerically. It turned out that the contributions of conduction, radiation and convection to the effective thermal conductivity of SATIS, without the closing elements (49 mWmK), amount to 86.2\%, 13.2\% and 0.6\%, respectively. The angle-dependent short-wave radiation exchange within the LCE has been investigated via ray tracing. At the incidence angle of 19\% (design angle), 27\% of the radiation within the LCE is absorbed by the absorber plate, resulting in measured and computed total solar energy transmittances of 11.2\%/11.7\%, respectively. For a typical summer irradiation angle of 60\%, 98\% of the incident radiation is absorbed by the surfaces at the entrance of the LCE. The corresponding total solar energy transmittance amounts to 2.9\%.}, language = {en} } @article{GamischGadererDawoud, author = {Gamisch, Bernd and Gaderer, Matthias and Dawoud, Belal}, title = {On the Development of Thermochemical Hydrogen Storage: An Experimental Study of the Kinetics of the Redox Reactions under Different Operating Conditions}, series = {Applied Sciences}, volume = {11}, journal = {Applied Sciences}, number = {4}, publisher = {MDPI}, address = {Basel}, doi = {10.3390/app11041623}, pages = {1 -- 15}, abstract = {This work aims at investigating the reduction/oxidation (redox) reaction kinetics on iron oxide pellets under different operating conditions of thermochemical hydrogen storage. In order to reduce the iron oxide pellets (90\% Fe2O3, 10\% stabilizing cement), hydrogen (H2) is applied in different concentrations with nitrogen (N2), as a carrier gas, at temperatures between between 700 ∘C and 900 ∘C, thus simulating the charging phase. The discharge phase is triggered by the flow of a mixture out of steam (H2O) and N2 at different concentrations in the same temperature range, resulting in the oxidizing of the previously reduced pellets. All investigations were carried out in a thermo-gravimetric analyzer (TGA) with a flow rate of 250mL/min. To describe the obtained kinetic results, a simplified analytical model, based on the linear driving force model, was developed. The investigated iron oxide pellets showed a stable redox performance of 23.8\% weight reduction/gain, which corresponds to a volumetric storage density of 2.8kWh/(L bulk), also after the 29 performed redox cycles. Recalling that there is no H2 stored during the storage phase but iron, the introduced hydrogen storage technology is deemed very promising for applications in urban areas as day-night or seasonal storage for green hydrogen.}, language = {en} } @article{PremSindersbergerMonkman, author = {Prem, Nina and Sindersberger, Dirk and Monkman, Gareth J.}, title = {Mini-Extruder for 3D Magnetoactive Polymer Printing}, series = {Advances in Materials Science and Engineering}, journal = {Advances in Materials Science and Engineering}, publisher = {HINDAWI}, doi = {10.1155/2019/8715718}, pages = {1 -- 8}, abstract = {This work describes the development of a new miniature extruder, essential to cavity-free 3D printing of silicone-based smart materials. This makes the 3D printing of magnetoactive and electroactive polymer soft robotic components and devices directly from CAD data possible. The special feature of such an extruder is that it is designed for use with addition-crosslinking RTV-2 silicones, including solid particulate additives. The extruder merges the respective components automatically during extrusion which obviates the need for premixing and vacuum evacuation. Problems associated with inhomogeneities and unwanted cavity production are consequently eliminated. Rheological details necessary to the design, together with some preliminary performance results, are presented.}, language = {en} } @article{DechantFedulovFetisovetal., author = {Dechant, Eduard and Fedulov, Feodor and Fetisov, Leonid Y. and Shamonin (Chamonine), Mikhail}, title = {Bandwidth Widening of Piezoelectric Cantilever Beam Arrays by Mass-Tip Tuning for Low-Frequency Vibration Energy Harvesting}, series = {Applied Science}, volume = {7}, journal = {Applied Science}, number = {12}, publisher = {MDPI}, organization = {MDPI AG}, doi = {10.3390/app7121324}, abstract = {Wireless sensor networks usually rely on internal permanent or rechargeable batteries as a power supply, causing high maintenance efforts. An alternative solution is to supply the entire system by harvesting the ambient energy, for example, by transducing ambient vibrations into electric energy by virtue of the piezoelectric effect. The purpose of this paper is to present a simple engineering approach for the bandwidth optimization of vibration energy harvesting systems comprising multiple piezoelectric cantilevers (PECs). The frequency tuning of a particular cantilever is achieved by changing the tip mass. It is shown that the bandwidth enhancement by mass tuning is limited and requires several PECs with close resonance frequencies. At a fixed frequency detuning between subsequent PECs, the achievable bandwidth shows a saturation behavior as a function of the number of cantilevers used. Since the resonance frequency of each PEC is different, the output voltages at a particular excitation frequency have different amplitudes and phases. A simple power-transfer circuit where several PECs with an individual full wave bridge rectifier are connected in parallel allows one to extract the electrical power close to the theoretical maximum excluding the diode losses. The experiments performed on two- and three-PEC arrays show reasonable agreement with simulations and demonstrate that this power-transfer circuit additionally influences the frequency dependence of the harvested electrical power.}, language = {en} } @article{FrikelHaltmeier, author = {Frikel, J{\"u}rgen and Haltmeier, Markus}, title = {Efficient regularization with wavelet sparsity constraints in photoacoustic tomography}, series = {Inverse Problems}, volume = {34}, journal = {Inverse Problems}, number = {2}, doi = {10.1088/1361-6420/aaa0ac}, pages = {1 -- 28}, abstract = {In this paper, we consider the reconstruction problem of photoacoustic tomography (PAT) with a flat observation surface. We develop a direct reconstruction method that employs regularization with wavelet sparsity constraints. To that end, we derive a wavelet-vaguelette decomposition (WVD) for the PAT forward operator and a corresponding explicit reconstruction formula in the case of exact data. In the case of noisy data, we combine the WVD reconstruction formula with soft-thresholding, which yields a spatially adaptive estimation method. We demonstrate that our method is statistically optimal for white random noise if the unknown function is assumed to lie in any Besov-ball. We present generalizations of this approach and, in particular, we discuss the combination of PAT-vaguelette soft-thresholding with a total variation (TV) prior. We also provide an efficient implementation of the PAT-vaguelette transform that leads to fast image reconstruction algorithms supported by numerical results.}, language = {en} } @article{Diamantidis, author = {Diamantidis, Dimitris}, title = {A Critical View on Environmental and Human Risk Acceptance Criteria}, series = {International Journal of Environmental Science and Development}, volume = {8}, journal = {International Journal of Environmental Science and Development}, number = {1}, doi = {10.18178/ijesd.2017.8.1.921}, pages = {62 -- 66}, abstract = {Natural and technological hazards have a major impact on environmental and human safety. Risk assessment plays an essential role in the risk management of the effects of such hazards. This contribution summarizes first the general formulation of risk depending on two parameters: hazard probability and associated consequences. Problems faced in industrial applications based on the experience of the author are discussed. Risk acceptance criteria for the contributors to risk i.e. human, economic and environment are critically reviewed. Resilience based criteria are also included and conclusions for future developments are provided.}, language = {en} }