34 research outputs found
European Academic Smart Cities Network – Renewable Urban Energy Systems, Sustainable Mobility and ICT Technology Nexus for Smart Cities Studies.
The European Academic Smart Cities Network (EU-ASCIN) project at the University of Applied Sciences (UAS) Technikum Wien, founded by the municipal government of the city of Vienna in November of 2013, aims to set up an academic smart cities network in Central and Southeastern Europe. Within the framework of the project, cooperation with national and international universities and research institutions will be established.
The UAS Technikum Wien already offers study programs with some of the main topics of smart cities concept, such as smart energy, smart environment, and smart mobility. In the context of the project, these study programs will be evolved by introducing the concept of smart cities. In the first step, the introduction will be performed as courses of existing programs, and finally it could result in an independent joint or double degree program.
International cooperation with partner universities, research institutions, and other academic networks should stimulate the development of the smart cities study programs through know-how exchange, stuff and student mobility, and future joint projects.
For the further development of the project and support of the new study program, a Web-based platform will be established. The platform will provide up-to-date information concerning technological progress, new concepts, introduced legislative regulations and current events in the area of smart cities. Information will be presented on different levels of complexity depending on the target audience students, teaching staff, or people simply interested in smart cities. After completion of the project, the platform will act as point of information for academic education and research.
The proposed paper will point out the general framework, the main objectives and the current state of the project progress
Ideal female body versus ideal athletic body: How social media affects body image of collegiate female runners
Female athletes are conflicted because they are pressured to conform to society’s ideal female body portrayed in the media and the ideal athletic body for their sport. In the sport of running, there is a huge emphasis on body weight, putting female distance runners at risk of developing body image concerns and disordered eating behaviors. Applying Fredrickson and Roberts’ objectification theory, this study aims to determine if the ideal female body portrayed in social media influences collegiate female runners’ body image perceptions and which ideal body type has a more significant impact on those athletes. Moreover, it investigates the significance of collegiate female runners’ athletic environments, including their coaches and teammates.The researcher used non-probability sampling by recruiting 12 active collegiate female runners from several different U.S. States between 19 and 23 years old, with a mean of 21.83 years. To gain a deeper understanding of the conflict collegiate female runners experience, the researcher conducted in-depth interviews, including questions about social media, self-comparison, and participants’ athletic environments. Additionally, participants completed an online survey about their social media use, perfectionism and self-criticism levels, and demographics. Thematic analysis revealed that the ideal female body influenced most participants only in a social context. The ideal athletic body had a more significant impact on participants’ body image perceptions due to their identities as runners, performance pressures, and self-comparison with successful runners. Additionally, the athletic environment harmed most female runners’ body image perceptions and relationships to food caused by improper behaviors of their coaches and teammates.These findings demonstrate the prevalence of negative body image and eating disorders among collegiate female runners. Moreover, this study illustrates the impact of those athletes’ physical and social media environments, influencing how they view and rate their bodies and what ideal body type they wish to conform to. Collegiate athletes must follow and surround themselves with people who make them feel positive about their bodies. Coaches must prioritize creating a healthy athletic environment and providing their athletes with professionals, including psychologists and registered dietitians
Microfibrillated cellulose-enabled suspension polymerisation of polystyrene
Im Zuge dieser Arbeit wurde jeweils micro-fibrillierte Lignocellulose (MFLC), micro- fibrillierte Cellulose (MFC) und Cellulose Nanocrystals (CNC) mit deionisierten Wasser suspendiert und mit Styren gemischt. Die daraus erhaltenen Styren-in- Wasser Emulsionen wurden über mehrere Stunden und Tage beobachtet. Es wurde angenommen das MFLC, das einen hohen Restligningehalt und eine Tendenz zu amphiphilen Verhalten aufweist, einen besseren Stabilisierungs- mechanismus besitzt. Weiters wurden MFLC und MFC Wasser-Styren Emulsionen, mithilfe des Radikalstarters AIBN und Erhitzen auf 100C für zwölf Stunden, polymerisiert. Das Ergebnis war ein MFLC-PS Verbundmaterial das eine gleichmäßige Verteilung der Fibrillen zeigte und sogenannte Polystyren 'Macrosspheres' aufwies die von MFLC umhüllt waren. Im Gegensatz dazu waren im MFC-PS Verbundmaterial Bereiche von puren Polystyren und andererseits Ansammlungen von MFC erkennbar. Die sogenannten 'Macrospheres' konnten in diesem Material nicht nachgewiesen werden. Aufgrund der Ergebnisse dieser Arbeit kann darauf geschlossen werden, dass MFLC und MFC ein ähnliches Stabilisierungsverhalten von Styrene-in-Wasser Emulsionen aufweisen. Werden diese Emulsionen allerdings unter Hitzeeinwirkung polymerisiert zeigt MFLC deutlich bessere Eigenschaften und es kommt außerdem zur Ausbildung von MFLC-PS 'Macrospheres' was darauf schließen lässt, dass, das vorhandene Lignin wesentlich zur Stabilisierung von Emulsionen beiträgt. Die CNC-Wasser- Styren Emulsion wurde nicht polymerisiert, da dieses Material keine Stabilisierungseigenschaften aufwies.Micro-fibrillated lignocellulose (MFLC), micro-fibrillated cellulose (MFC) and cellulose nanocrystals were suspended in water and mixed with styrene to form oil in water (o/w) emulsions. The stabilisation behaviour was then observed over time. It was assumed that MFLC, because of its comparable high residual lignin content and its amphiphilic behaviour would have a better stabilisation mechanism. In a further step the MFLC and MFC emulsions were polymerised with the radical starter AIBN and heat of 100C for twelve hours. The result was a cellulose- styrene composite where the MFLC-PS composite showed an even distribution of the fibrils with many polystyrene macrospheres present in the material which were covered completely by fibrils. In contrast the MFC-PS composite was not homogeneous at all and showed parts of pure PS and other parts of aggregated fibrils. No macrospheres could be found in this material. Based on the results of our work it can be concluded that MFLC shows similar emulsion stabilisation behaviour compared to MFC but when it comes to polymerisation MFLC shows superior stabilisation properties which might be due to the presence of lignin in the cellulosic material. The cellulose nanocrystals were not polymerised as no emulsion stabilisation mechanism existed.submitted by Daniel BallnerZusammenfassung in deutscher SpracheUniversität für Bodenkultur Wien, Masterarbeit, 2016(VLID)193598
Multimodal Information Screen – Towards an Awareness Raising for the Use of Public Transport
The intention of our Multimodal Information Screen is to promote public transport and to visualize healthy alternatives to motorized individual transport. This paper describes the development of a new traffic information screen which is designed to make public transport more accessible by displaying real-time traffic data on frequently viewed screens. The first prototype of our application was developed for the University of Applied Sciences Technikum Wien. After further developments, it has become highly customizable and can be provided for any location within Vienna. Apart from the available public transport connections in the immediate vicinity and their departures in minutes, the display includes a map of the surroundings, the amount of free city bikes of the next stations, as well as current weather information. Our smart mobility application uses real-time data and a variety of Open Data provided by the City of Vienna and aims to raise awareness of alternative modes of transport