A horizontally-scalable multiprocessing platform based on Node.js

This paper presents a scalable web-based platform called Node Scala which allows to split and handle requests on a parallel distributed system according to pre-defined use cases. We applied this platform to a client application that visualizes climate data stored in a NoSQL database MongoDB. The design of Node Scala leads to efficient usage of available computing resources in addition to allowing the system to scale simply by adding new workers. Performance evaluation of Node Scala demonstrated a gain of up to 74 % compared to the state-of-the-art techniques.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures. Accepted for publication as a conference paper for the 13th IEEE International Symposium on Parallel and Distributed Processing with Applications (IEEE ISPA-15

Prospects for a European Animal Welfare Label from the German Perspective: Supply Chain Barriers

The Federal Government of Germany as well as the European Commission are discussing the establishment of an animal welfare label. This label should enable consumers to make a conscious purchasing decision on animal welfare products. Various studies show that many consumers (in Germany around 20 %) prefer products produced under animal friendly conditions. However, the supply of such products is limited. The following study examines the source of this discrepancy by way of an action‐based analytical approach and identifies different barriers within the supply chain that prevent the establishment of a market segment for animal welfare products. Although consumer demand will be decisive for long‐term success, first of all the stakeholders of the supply chain must be convinced. If the stakeholders are not prepared to participate in an animal welfare program the diffusion phase can take a very long time or even fail. This study presents such supply chain barriers and interprets them in the light of neoinstitutionalism.animal welfare, label, supply chain, neo‐institutionalism., Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, Industrial Organization, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Risk and Uncertainty,

Modulation of the host Th1 immune response in pigeon protozoal encephalitis caused by Sarcocystis calchasi

Pigeon protozoal encephalitis (PPE) is an emerging central-nervous disease of domestic pigeons (Columba livia f. domestica) reported in Germany and the United States. It is caused by the apicomplexan parasite Sarcocystis calchasi which is transmitted by Accipter hawks. In contrast to other members of the Apicomplexa such as Toxoplasma and Plasmodium, the knowledge about the pathophysiology and host manipulation of Sarcocystis is scarce and almost nothing is known about PPE. Here we show by mRNA expression profiling a significant down-modulation of the interleukin (IL)-12/IL-18/interferon (IFN)-γ axis in the brains of experimentally infected pigeons during the schizogonic phase of disease. Concomitantly, no cellular immune response was observed in histopathology while immunohistochemistry and nested PCR detected S. calchasi. In contrast, in the late central-nervous phase, IFN-γ and tumor necrosis factor (TNF) α-related cytokines were significantly up-modulated, which correlated with a prominent MHC-II protein expression in areas of mononuclear cell infiltration and necrosis. The mononuclear cell fraction was mainly composed of T-lymphocytes, fewer macrophages and B-lymphocytes. Surprisingly, the severity and composition of the immune cell response appears unrelated to the infectious dose, although the severity and onset of the central nervous signs clearly was dose-dependent. We identified no or only very few tissue cysts by immunohistochemistry in pigeons with severe encephalitis of which one pigeon repeatedly remained negative by PCR despite severe lesions. Taken together, these observations may suggest an immune evasion strategy of S. calchasi during the early phase and a delayed-type hypersensitivity reaction as cause of the extensive cerebral lesions during the late neurological phase of disease

The Strucplot Framework: Visualizing Multi-way

This paper describes the “strucplot” framework for the visualization of multi-way contingency tables. Strucplot displays include hierarchical conditional plots such as mosaic, association, and sieve plots, and can be combined into more complex, specialized plots for visualizing conditional independence, GLMs, and the results of independence tests. The framework’s modular design allows flexible customization of the plots’ graphical appearance, including shading, labeling, spacing, and legend, by means of “graphical appearance control” functions. The framework is provided by the R package vcd

A novel method to investigate detachment of particulate structures from an elastic single fiber at low gas flow velocities

The detachment of particle structures from a stiff single fiber exposed to an airflow has been investigated by (Jankowska et al., 2000; Larsen, 1958; Löffler, 1972; Przekop et al., 2004; Qian et al., 1997; Zoller et al., 2020). In order to detach particle piles from a stiff single fiber, airflow velocities above 1.2 m/s are required. While these values are well above typical operational parameter for depth filters, a shift toward lower velocities for detachment would offer both up-and downside for filter operation. One possible application for controlled structure detachment from a filter fiber at lower velocities would be a shift of separated particulate structures from the upper layers of depth filter into lower regions. The result would be additional void space from particle deposition. Currently there is no knowledge available, if fiber stretching could enable such detachment of particle structure fragments at an operation airflow velocity below 1 m/s. It is assumed that fiber stretching might introduce shear and tensile stress to the particulate structures. That may lead to first cracks and promote final detachment. This study examines the behavior of particle structure fragments on an elastic single fiber for the first time. The fiber is loaded with a compact particle structure in a loading chamber. Glass spheres served as inert particulate material. A new customized fiber-mounting device was designed for the stretching procedure of 22 mm (55%) length. In first experiments, the fiber was stretched without an airflow. Stretching at an elongation rate of 0.4 mm/s caused re-arrangement, crack formation and rotation of the fiber. No detachment of particle structure fragments is observed. If the fiber is stretched and exposed to an airflow at 0.8 m/s, particles structure fragments re-arranged and subsequently detached. In further experiments at an elongation rate of 1.2 mm/s, intensive detachment is observed at an increase of superficial airflow velocity from 0.4 m/s to 0.8 m/s. In total, this reveals that fiber stretching enables detachment of particle structure fragments from a single fiber exposed to an airflow at superficial velocities below 1 m/s. The potential application of elastic fibers in a filter system will have the aim to delay increasing filter backpressure. This effect could be caused by the transport of particulate matter towards areas of lower loading further downstream while maintaining a high level of separation efficiency at operational filtration velocities

Identification of Deposited Oil Structures on Thin Porous Oil Mist Filter Media Applying µ-CT Imaging Technique

The identification of microscale oil structures formed from deposited oil droplets on the filter front face of a coalescence filter medium is essential to understand the initial state of the coalescence filtration process. Using μ-CT imaging and a deep learning tool for segmentation, this work presents a novel approach to visualize and identify deposited oil structures as oil droplets on fibers or oil sails between adjacent fibers of different sizes, shapes and orientations. Furthermore, the local and global porosity, saturation and fiber ratios of different fiber material of the oleophilic filter medium was compared and evaluated. Especially the local and global porosity of the filter material showed great accordance. Local and global saturation as well as the fiber ratios on local and global scale had noticeable differences which can mainly be attributed to the small field of view of the μ-CT scan (350 μm on 250 μm) or the minimal resolution of approximately 1 μm. Finally, fiber diameters of the investigated filter material were analyzed, showing a good agreement with the manufacturer’s specifications. The analytical approach to visualize and analyze the deposited oil structures was the main emphasis of this work

Helmholtz Portfolio Theme Large-Scale Data Management and Analysis (LSDMA)

The Helmholtz Association funded the "Large-Scale Data Management and Analysis" portfolio theme from 2012-2016. Four Helmholtz centres, six universities and another research institution in Germany joined to enable data-intensive science by optimising data life cycles in selected scientific communities. In our Data Life cycle Labs, data experts performed joint R&D together with scientific communities. The Data Services Integration Team focused on generic solutions applied by several communities