3,358 research outputs found
Systemic Circular Economy Solutions for Fiber Reinforced Composites
This open access book provides an overview of the work undertaken within the FiberEUse project, which developed solutions enhancing the profitability of composite recycling and reuse in value-added products, with a cross-sectorial approach. Glass and carbon fiber reinforced polymers, or composites, are increasingly used as structural materials in many manufacturing sectors like transport, constructions and energy due to their better lightweight and corrosion resistance compared to metals. However, composite recycling is still a challenge since no significant added value in the recycling and reprocessing of composites is demonstrated. FiberEUse developed innovative solutions and business models towards sustainable Circular Economy solutions for post-use composite-made products. Three strategies are presented, namely mechanical recycling of short fibers, thermal recycling of long fibers and modular car parts design for sustainable disassembly and remanufacturing. The validation of the FiberEUse approach within eight industrial demonstrators shows the potentials towards new Circular Economy value-chains for composite materials
Reshaping Higher Education for a Post-COVID-19 World: Lessons Learned and Moving Forward
No abstract available
Informationsströme in digitalen Kulturen
Wir sind umgeben von einer Vielzahl an Informationsströmen, die uns selbstverstĂ€ndlich erscheinen. Um diese digitalen Kulturen zu beschreiben, entwickeln medienwissenschaftliche Arbeiten Theorien einer Welt im Fluss. Dabei erliegen ihre Diagnosen oftmals einem Technikfetisch und vernachlĂ€ssigen gesellschaftliche Strukturen. Mathias Denecke legt eine systematische Kritik dieser Theoriebildung vor. Dazu zeichnet er die Geschichte der Rede von strömenden Informationen in der Entwicklung digitaler Computer nach und diskutiert, wie der Begriff fĂŒr Gegenwartsbeschreibungen produktiv gemacht werden kann
IMAGINING, GUIDING, PLAYING INTIMACY: - A Theory of Character Intimacy Games -
Within the landscape of Japanese media production, and video game production in particular, there is a niche comprising video games centered around establishing, developing, and fulfilling imagined intimate relationships with anime-manga characters. Such niche, although very significant in production volume and lifespan, is left unexplored or underexplored. When it is not, it is subsumed within the scope of wider anime-manga media. This obscures the nature of such video games, alternatively identified with descriptors including but not limited to âvisual novelâ, âdating simulatorâ and âadult computer gameâ.
As games centered around developing intimacy with characters, they present specific ensembles of narrative content, aesthetics and software mechanics. These ensembles are aimed at eliciting in users what are, by all intents and purposes, parasocial phenomena towards the gameâs characters. In other words, these software products encourage players to develop affective and bodily responses towards characters. They are set in a way that is coherent with shared, circulating scripts for sexual and intimate interaction to guide player imaginative action. This study defines games such as the above as âcharacter intimacy gamesâ, video game software where traversal is contingent on players knowingly establishing, developing, and fulfilling intimate bonds with fictional characters. To do so, however, player must recognize themselves as playing that type of game, and to be looking to develop that kind of response towards the gameâs characters. Character Intimacy Games are contingent upon player developing affective and bodily responses, and thus presume that players are, at the very least, non-hostile towards their development. This study approaches Japanese character intimacy games as its corpus, and operates at the intersection of studies of communication, AMO studies and games studies.
The study articulates a research approach based on the double need of approaching single works of significance amidst a general scarcity of scholarly background on the subject. It juxtaposes data-driven approaches derived from fan-curated databases â The Visual Novel Database and Erogescape -ErogÄ HyĆron KĆ«kan â with a purpose-created ludo-hermeneutic process. By deploying an observation of character intimacy games through fan-curated data and building ludo-hermeneutics on the resulting ontology, this study argues that character intimacy games are video games where traversal is contingent on players knowingly establishing, developing, and fulfilling intimate bonds with fictional characters and recognizing themselves as doing so. To produce such conditions, the assemblage of software mechanics and narrative content in such games facilitates intimacy between player and characters. This is, ultimately, conductive to the emergence of parasocial phenomena. Parasocial phenomena, in turn, are deployed as an integral assumption regarding player activity within the gameâs wider assemblage of narrative content and software mechanics
Dissection and proteome analysis to characterize the adult neural stem cell niche
Stem cell niches in the adult mammalian brain are decisively shaped by their microenvironment. In these niches, extracellular signals modulate stem cell quiescence, proliferation, migration, and differentiation. Conversely, the microenvironment in the remainder of the brain merely permits gliogenesis, restricts neuronal plasticity, and limits the neurogenic potential of neural precursors. Elucidating the mechanisms rendering neurogenic niches permissive for neurogenesis might foster the improvement of cell replacement therapies for neurological disorders involving neural cell loss. To better understand the molecular composition, the architecture, and the physical properties responsible for the neurogenic nature of the microenvironment in neural stem cell niches, this study pursued a characterization of the subependymal zone of the lateral ventricle (SEZ), which is the largest stem cell niche of the murine brain. To investigate the microenvironment of the SEZ, a bottom-up proteomic approach using mass spectrometry was employed. The analysis of the extracellular microenvironment of this region requires a precise dissection method with minimal tissue perturbation, applicable to unfixed tissue. For this purpose, a novel dissection method, termed Cryo-section Dissection (CSD), was developed. In the first step of the CSD protocol the cortex and the corpus callosum covering the lateral ventricles are removed from the unfixed murine brain. Then, after freezing the tissue on dry ice, the brain is sectioned coronally. Finally, the SEZ is manually isolated from each section using a pre-cooled scalpel. The SEZ as adult neural stem cell niche was compared to the non-neurogenic somatosensory cortex, the olfactory bulb as site of neuronal integration, and the structurally similar, but mostly non-neurogenic medial wall of the lateral ventricle, termed medial ependymal zone (MEZ). A library-matched single shot mass spectrometry analysis employing a label-free quantification algorithm was applied to generate the proteome data of the SEZ, the somatosensory cortex, the olfactory bulb, and the MEZ. This proteome data was used to investigate niche specific protein clusters and filtered for individual candidate proteins. Promising candidates were subjected to immunohistochemical staining. This analysis enabled the detection of the candidate proteins C1ql3, Kininogen 1, and S100a6 potentially involved in neurogenesis. Additionally, the influence of niche stiffness on neural stem cell physiology was investigated, and the extracellular neurogenesis regulator Transglutaminase 2 could be identified
System Testing a Complex Radio Frequency Embedded Device
In this thesis, a case study of a testing setup is created for a complex radio frequency embedded device. Testing and software development is examined on a general level, followed by examining embedded radio frequency system testing and test automation.
The complex radio frequency embedded device under test in this thesis is a radio device, which receives and processes radio frequency signals. The testing setup is required to automatically verify the correct operation of the device. This requires testing the device with radio frequency inputs. The device consists of multiple internal components, which are working together to handle the signal inputs. The testing setup is developed targeting comprehensive testing of the device.
Testing in this thesis is examined on the software testing level, which is extended to cover embedded radio frequency system testing realm. A special emphasis is placed on testing radio frequency devices, and the embedded nature of the system.
For test automation, testing methods required for the setup are presented. Two test automation framework candidates are presented and examined.
The testing setup is created as a case study, using the device under test, a signal generator and a computer running the chosen testing framework. The setup is built based on set requirements with emphasis on accuracy, open nature of the software, and current and future usability. The completed case study serves as a base for future development, revealing and solving problems, which may occur in the future development of the setup.
In the final chapters, observations are noted on the challenges in creating such testing setup. Notable challenges are the limitations of commercial signal generators, interfaces between different devices, and balancing between the accuracy and the repeatability of the tests.
Next steps for future development are presented. This includes improvements such as integration to continuous integration pipeline to automate the testing further, and production testing as the next testing level for the setup
Imagining & Sensing: Understanding and Extending the Vocalist-Voice Relationship Through Biosignal Feedback
The voice is body and instrument. Third-person interpretation of the voice by listeners, vocal teachers, and digital agents is centred largely around audio feedback. For a vocalist, physical feedback from within the body provides an additional interaction. The vocalistâs understanding of their multi-sensory experiences is through tacit knowledge of the body. This knowledge is difficult to articulate, yet awareness and control of the body are innate. In the ever-increasing emergence of technology which quantifies or interprets physiological processes, we must remain conscious also of embodiment and human perception of these processes. Focusing on the vocalist-voice relationship, this thesis expands knowledge of human interaction and how technology influences our perception of our bodies. To unite these different perspectives in the vocal context, I draw on mixed methods from cog- nitive science, psychology, music information retrieval, and interactive system design. Objective methods such as vocal audio analysis provide a third-person observation. Subjective practices such as micro-phenomenology capture the experiential, first-person perspectives of the vocalists them- selves. Quantitative-qualitative blend provides details not only on novel interaction, but also an understanding of how technology influences existing understanding of the body. I worked with vocalists to understand how they use their voice through abstract representations, use mental imagery to adapt to altered auditory feedback, and teach fundamental practice to others. Vocalists use multi-modal imagery, for instance understanding physical sensations through auditory sensations. The understanding of the voice exists in a pre-linguistic representation which draws on embodied knowledge and lived experience from outside contexts. I developed a novel vocal interaction method which uses measurement of laryngeal muscular activations through surface electromyography. Biofeedback was presented to vocalists through soni- fication. Acting as an indicator of vocal activity for both conscious and unconscious gestures, this feedback allowed vocalists to explore their movement through sound. This formed new perceptions but also questioned existing understanding of the body. The thesis also uncovers ways in which vocalists are in control and controlled by, work with and against their bodies, and feel as a single entity at times and totally separate entities at others. I conclude this thesis by demonstrating a nuanced account of human interaction and perception of the body through vocal practice, as an example of how technological intervention enables exploration and influence over embodied understanding. This further highlights the need for understanding of the human experience in embodied interaction, rather than solely on digital interpretation, when introducing technology into these relationships
Developing new 3D hydrogel models of the human mammary gland to investigate breast cancer initiation
- âŠ