Scalable propagation of continuous actions in peer-to-peer-based massively multiuser virtual environments : the continuous events approach

Peer-to-Peer-based Massively Multiuser Virtual Environments (P2P-MMVEs) provide a shared virtual environment for up to several thousand simultaneous users based on a peer-to-peer network. Users interact in the virtual environment by controlling virtual representations of themselves, so-called avatars. Their computers communicate with each other via a wide area network such as the Internet to provide the shared virtual environment. A crucial challenge for P2P-MMVEs is propagating state changes of objects in the virtual environment between a large number of user computers in a scalable way. Objects may change their state on one of the computers, e.g. their position. Information about a state change has to be propagated via the peer-to-peer network to computers of other users whose avatars are able to perceive the object. Optimization algorithms for a scalable propagation of state changes are needed because of the very large number of users and the typically limited bandwidth of their Internet connections. This thesis describes an approach that optimizes the propagation of state changes caused by continuous actions. Continuous actions lead to multiple subsequent state changes over a given period of time. Instead of propagating each subsequent state change caused by continuous actions via the network, the approach propagates descriptions of the actions included in so-called continuous events. Based on the descriptions, the subsequent state changes are calculated and applied over time on each user's computer. Continuous events contain information about (1) the timing of calculations, (2) the spatial extent of the influence of the continuous action in the virtual environment over time and (3) the effect of the continuous action on influenced objects over time. The propagation and management of continuous events is performed based on the spatial publish subscribe communication model. Each user computer declares interest in a certain space in the virtual environment. If the space intersects with the spatial extent of the influence of a continuous event, the particular computer is provided with the continuous event. This thesis describes the basic concept of continuous events, presents a system architecture for support of continuous events in the context of a given target system model for P2P-MMVEs, and evaluates the continuous events approach based on a prototypical implementation of the system architecture

COVID-19: the Austrian experience

This short paper reports on the Austrian experiences with the Corona pandemic in the first quarter of 2020. In the beginning Austrian experts neglected the threat but a cluster in a skiing resort including international visitors served as a wake-up call and quickly after that strict and successful measures were applied. The paper proceeds describing the development of SARS-CoV-2 PCR testing and upgrading of testing facilities in Austria. The Austrian Agency for Health & Food Safety (AGES) played a leading role in this process. International cooperation and information exchange were fundamental to the successful implementation of specific and sensitive laboratory methods

BimS-induced apoptosis requires mitochondrial localization but not interaction with anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 proteins

Release of apoptogenic proteins such as cytochrome c from mitochondria is regulated by pro- and anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 family proteins, with pro-apoptotic BH3-only proteins activating Bax and Bak. Current models assume that apoptosis induction occurs via the binding and inactivation of anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 proteins by BH3-only proteins or by direct binding to Bax. Here, we analyze apoptosis induction by the BH3-only protein BimS. Regulated expression of BimS in epithelial cells was followed by its rapid mitochondrial translocation and mitochondrial membrane insertion in the absence of detectable binding to anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 proteins. This caused mitochondrial recruitment and activation of Bax and apoptosis. Mutational analysis of BimS showed that mitochondrial targeting, but not binding to Bcl-2 or Mcl-1, was required for apoptosis induction. In yeast, BimS enhanced the killing activity of Bax in the absence of anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 proteins. Thus, cell death induction by a BH3-only protein can occur through a process that is independent of anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 proteins but requires mitochondrial targeting

Living specimen tomography by digital holographic microscopy: morphometry of testate amoeba

This paper presents an optical diffraction tomography technique based on digital holographic microscopy. Quantitative 2-dimensional phase images are acquired for regularly-spaced angular positions of the specimen covering a total angle of π, allowing to built 3-dimensional quantitative refractive index distributions by an inverse Radon transform. A 20x magnification allows a resolution better than 3 μm in all three dimensions, with accuracy better than 0.01 for the refractive index measurements. This technique is for the first time to our knowledge applied to living specimen (testate amoeba, Protista). Morphometric measurements are extracted from the tomographic reconstructions, showing that the commonly used method for testate amoeba biovolume evaluation leads to systematic under evaluations by about 50%

How biological invasions affect animal behaviour: A global, cross-taxonomic analysis

In the Anthropocene, species are faced with drastic challenges due to rapid, human-induced changes, such as habitat destruction, pollution and biological invasions. In the case of invasions, native species may change their behaviour to minimize the impacts they sustain from invasive species, and invaders may also adapt to the conditions in their new environment in order to survive and establish self-sustaining populations. We aimed at giving an overview of which changes in behaviour are studied in invasions, and what is known about the types of behaviour that change, the underlying mechanisms and the speed of behavioural changes. Based on a review of the literature, we identified 191 studies and 360 records (some studies reported multiple records) documenting behavioural changes caused by biological invasions in native (236 records from 148 species) or invasive (124 records from 50 species) animal species. This global dataset, which we make openly available, is not restricted to particular taxonomic groups. We found a mild taxonomic bias in the literature towards mammals, birds and insects. In line with the enemy release hypothesis, native species changed their anti-predator behaviour more frequently than invasive species. Rates of behavioural change were evenly distributed across taxa, but not across the types of behaviour. Our findings may help to better understand the role of behaviour in biological invasions as well as temporal changes in both population densities and traits of invasive species, and of native species affected by them

Human Practice. Digital Ecologies. Our Future. : 14. Internationale Tagung Wirtschaftsinformatik (WI 2019) : Tagungsband

Erschienen bei: universi - Universitätsverlag Siegen. - ISBN: 978-3-96182-063-4Aus dem Inhalt: Track 1: Produktion & Cyber-Physische Systeme Requirements and a Meta Model for Exchanging Additive Manufacturing Capacities Service Systems, Smart Service Systems and Cyber- Physical Systems—What’s the difference? Towards a Unified Terminology Developing an Industrial IoT Platform – Trade-off between Horizontal and Vertical Approaches Machine Learning und Complex Event Processing: Effiziente Echtzeitauswertung am Beispiel Smart Factory Sensor retrofit for a coffee machine as condition monitoring and predictive maintenance use case Stakeholder-Analyse zum Einsatz IIoT-basierter Frischeinformationen in der Lebensmittelindustrie Towards a Framework for Predictive Maintenance Strategies in Mechanical Engineering - A Method-Oriented Literature Analysis Development of a matching platform for the requirement-oriented selection of cyber physical systems for SMEs Track 2: Logistic Analytics An Empirical Study of Customers’ Behavioral Intention to Use Ridepooling Services – An Extension of the Technology Acceptance Model Modeling Delay Propagation and Transmission in Railway Networks What is the impact of company specific adjustments on the acceptance and diffusion of logistic standards? Robust Route Planning in Intermodal Urban Traffic Track 3: Unternehmensmodellierung & Informationssystemgestaltung (Enterprise Modelling & Information Systems Design) Work System Modeling Method with Different Levels of Specificity and Rigor for Different Stakeholder Purposes Resolving Inconsistencies in Declarative Process Models based on Culpability Measurement Strategic Analysis in the Realm of Enterprise Modeling – On the Example of Blockchain-Based Initiatives for the Electricity Sector Zwischenbetriebliche Integration in der Möbelbranche: Konfigurationen und Einflussfaktoren Novices’ Quality Perceptions and the Acceptance of Process Modeling Grammars Entwicklung einer Definition für Social Business Objects (SBO) zur Modellierung von Unternehmensinformationen Designing a Reference Model for Digital Product Configurators Terminology for Evolving Design Artifacts Business Role-Object Specification: A Language for Behavior-aware Structural Modeling of Business Objects Generating Smart Glasses-based Information Systems with BPMN4SGA: A BPMN Extension for Smart Glasses Applications Using Blockchain in Peer-to-Peer Carsharing to Build Trust in the Sharing Economy Testing in Big Data: An Architecture Pattern for a Development Environment for Innovative, Integrated and Robust Applications Track 4: Lern- und Wissensmanagement (e-Learning and Knowledge Management) eGovernment Competences revisited – A Literature Review on necessary Competences in a Digitalized Public Sector Say Hello to Your New Automated Tutor – A Structured Literature Review on Pedagogical Conversational Agents Teaching the Digital Transformation of Business Processes: Design of a Simulation Game for Information Systems Education Conceptualizing Immersion for Individual Learning in Virtual Reality Designing a Flipped Classroom Course – a Process Model The Influence of Risk-Taking on Knowledge Exchange and Combination Gamified Feedback durch Avatare im Mobile Learning Alexa, Can You Help Me Solve That Problem? - Understanding the Value of Smart Personal Assistants as Tutors for Complex Problem Tasks Track 5: Data Science & Business Analytics Matching with Bundle Preferences: Tradeoff between Fairness and Truthfulness Applied image recognition: guidelines for using deep learning models in practice Yield Prognosis for the Agrarian Management of Vineyards using Deep Learning for Object Counting Reading Between the Lines of Qualitative Data – How to Detect Hidden Structure Based on Codes Online Auctions with Dual-Threshold Algorithms: An Experimental Study and Practical Evaluation Design Features of Non-Financial Reward Programs for Online Reviews: Evaluation based on Google Maps Data Topic Embeddings – A New Approach to Classify Very Short Documents Based on Predefined Topics Leveraging Unstructured Image Data for Product Quality Improvement Decision Support for Real Estate Investors: Improving Real Estate Valuation with 3D City Models and Points of Interest Knowledge Discovery from CVs: A Topic Modeling Procedure Online Product Descriptions – Boost for your Sales? Entscheidungsunterstützung durch historienbasierte Dienstreihenfolgeplanung mit Pattern A Semi-Automated Approach for Generating Online Review Templates Machine Learning goes Measure Management: Leveraging Anomaly Detection and Parts Search to Improve Product-Cost Optimization Bedeutung von Predictive Analytics für den theoretischen Erkenntnisgewinn in der IS-Forschung Track 6: Digitale Transformation und Dienstleistungen Heuristic Theorizing in Software Development: Deriving Design Principles for Smart Glasses-based Systems Mirroring E-service for Brick and Mortar Retail: An Assessment and Survey Taxonomy of Digital Platforms: A Platform Architecture Perspective Value of Star Players in the Digital Age Local Shopping Platforms – Harnessing Locational Advantages for the Digital Transformation of Local Retail Outlets: A Content Analysis A Socio-Technical Approach to Manage Analytics-as-a-Service – Results of an Action Design Research Project Characterizing Approaches to Digital Transformation: Development of a Taxonomy of Digital Units Expectations vs. Reality – Benefits of Smart Services in the Field of Tension between Industry and Science Innovation Networks and Digital Innovation: How Organizations Use Innovation Networks in a Digitized Environment Characterising Social Reading Platforms— A Taxonomy-Based Approach to Structure the Field Less Complex than Expected – What Really Drives IT Consulting Value Modularity Canvas – A Framework for Visualizing Potentials of Service Modularity Towards a Conceptualization of Capabilities for Innovating Business Models in the Industrial Internet of Things A Taxonomy of Barriers to Digital Transformation Ambidexterity in Service Innovation Research: A Systematic Literature Review Design and success factors of an online solution for cross-pillar pension information Track 7: IT-Management und -Strategie A Frugal Support Structure for New Software Implementations in SMEs How to Structure a Company-wide Adoption of Big Data Analytics The Changing Roles of Innovation Actors and Organizational Antecedents in the Digital Age Bewertung des Kundennutzens von Chatbots für den Einsatz im Servicedesk Understanding the Benefits of Agile Software Development in Regulated Environments Are Employees Following the Rules? On the Effectiveness of IT Consumerization Policies Agile and Attached: The Impact of Agile Practices on Agile Team Members’ Affective Organisational Commitment The Complexity Trap – Limits of IT Flexibility for Supporting Organizational Agility in Decentralized Organizations Platform Openness: A Systematic Literature Review and Avenues for Future Research Competence, Fashion and the Case of Blockchain The Digital Platform Otto.de: A Case Study of Growth, Complexity, and Generativity Track 8: eHealth & alternde Gesellschaft Security and Privacy of Personal Health Records in Cloud Computing Environments – An Experimental Exploration of the Impact of Storage Solutions and Data Breaches Patientenintegration durch Pfadsysteme Digitalisierung in der Stressprävention – eine qualitative Interviewstudie zu Nutzenpotenzialen User Dynamics in Mental Health Forums – A Sentiment Analysis Perspective Intent and the Use of Wearables in the Workplace – A Model Development Understanding Patient Pathways in the Context of Integrated Health Care Services - Implications from a Scoping Review Understanding the Habitual Use of Wearable Activity Trackers On the Fit in Fitness Apps: Studying the Interaction of Motivational Affordances and Users’ Goal Orientations in Affecting the Benefits Gained Gamification in Health Behavior Change Support Systems - A Synthesis of Unintended Side Effects Investigating the Influence of Information Incongruity on Trust-Relations within Trilateral Healthcare Settings Track 9: Krisen- und Kontinuitätsmanagement Potentiale von IKT beim Ausfall kritischer Infrastrukturen: Erwartungen, Informationsgewinnung und Mediennutzung der Zivilbevölkerung in Deutschland Fake News Perception in Germany: A Representative Study of People’s Attitudes and Approaches to Counteract Disinformation Analyzing the Potential of Graphical Building Information for Fire Emergency Responses: Findings from a Controlled Experiment Track 10: Human-Computer Interaction Towards a Taxonomy of Platforms for Conversational Agent Design Measuring Service Encounter Satisfaction with Customer Service Chatbots using Sentiment Analysis Self-Tracking and Gamification: Analyzing the Interplay of Motivations, Usage and Motivation Fulfillment Erfolgsfaktoren von Augmented-Reality-Applikationen: Analyse von Nutzerrezensionen mit dem Review-Mining-Verfahren Designing Dynamic Decision Support for Electronic Requirements Negotiations Who is Stressed by Using ICTs? A Qualitative Comparison Analysis with the Big Five Personality Traits to Understand Technostress Walking the Middle Path: How Medium Trade-Off Exposure Leads to Higher Consumer Satisfaction in Recommender Agents Theory-Based Affordances of Utilitarian, Hedonic and Dual-Purposed Technologies: A Literature Review Eliciting Customer Preferences for Shopping Companion Apps: A Service Quality Approach The Role of Early User Participation in Discovering Software – A Case Study from the Context of Smart Glasses The Fluidity of the Self-Concept as a Framework to Explain the Motivation to Play Video Games Heart over Heels? An Empirical Analysis of the Relationship between Emotions and Review Helpfulness for Experience and Credence Goods Track 11: Information Security and Information Privacy Unfolding Concerns about Augmented Reality Technologies: A Qualitative Analysis of User Perceptions To (Psychologically) Own Data is to Protect Data: How Psychological Ownership Determines Protective Behavior in a Work and Private Context Understanding Data Protection Regulations from a Data Management Perspective: A Capability-Based Approach to EU-GDPR On the Difficulties of Incentivizing Online Privacy through Transparency: A Qualitative Survey of the German Health Insurance Market What is Your Selfie Worth? A Field Study on Individuals’ Valuation of Personal Data Justification of Mass Surveillance: A Quantitative Study An Exploratory Study of Risk Perception for Data Disclosure to a Network of Firms Track 12: Umweltinformatik und nachhaltiges Wirtschaften Kommunikationsfäden im Nadelöhr – Fachliche Prozessmodellierung der Nachhaltigkeitskommunikation am Kapitalmarkt Potentiale und Herausforderungen der Materialflusskostenrechnung Computing Incentives for User-Based Relocation in Carsharing Sustainability’s Coming Home: Preliminary Design Principles for the Sustainable Smart District Substitution of hazardous chemical substances using Deep Learning and t-SNE A Hierarchy of DSMLs in Support of Product Life-Cycle Assessment A Survey of Smart Energy Services for Private Households Door-to-Door Mobility Integrators as Keystone Organizations of Smart Ecosystems: Resources and Value Co-Creation – A Literature Review Ein Entscheidungsunterstützungssystem zur ökonomischen Bewertung von Mieterstrom auf Basis der Clusteranalyse Discovering Blockchain for Sustainable Product-Service Systems to enhance the Circular Economy Digitale Rückverfolgbarkeit von Lebensmitteln: Eine verbraucherinformatische Studie Umweltbewusstsein durch audiovisuelles Content Marketing? Eine experimentelle Untersuchung zur Konsumentenbewertung nachhaltiger Smartphones Towards Predictive Energy Management in Information Systems: A Research Proposal A Web Browser-Based Application for Processing and Analyzing Material Flow Models using the MFCA Methodology Track 13: Digital Work - Social, mobile, smart On Conversational Agents in Information Systems Research: Analyzing the Past to Guide Future Work The Potential of Augmented Reality for Improving Occupational First Aid Prevent a Vicious Circle! The Role of Organizational IT-Capability in Attracting IT-affine Applicants Good, Bad, or Both? Conceptualization and Measurement of Ambivalent User Attitudes Towards AI A Case Study on Cross-Hierarchical Communication in Digital Work Environments ‘Show Me Your People Skills’ - Employing CEO Branding for Corporate Reputation Management in Social Media A Multiorganisational Study of the Drivers and Barriers of Enterprise Collaboration Systems-Enabled Change The More the Merrier? The Effect of Size of Core Team Subgroups on Success of Open Source Projects The Impact of Anthropomorphic and Functional Chatbot Design Features in Enterprise Collaboration Systems on User Acceptance Digital Feedback for Digital Work? Affordances and Constraints of a Feedback App at InsurCorp The Effect of Marker-less Augmented Reality on Task and Learning Performance Antecedents for Cyberloafing – A Literature Review Internal Crowd Work as a Source of Empowerment - An Empirical Analysis of the Perception of Employees in a Crowdtesting Project Track 14: Geschäftsmodelle und digitales Unternehmertum Dividing the ICO Jungle: Extracting and Evaluating Design Archetypes Capturing Value from Data: Exploring Factors Influencing Revenue Model Design for Data-Driven Services Understanding the Role of Data for Innovating Business Models: A System Dynamics Perspective Business Model Innovation and Stakeholder: Exploring Mechanisms and Outcomes of Value Creation and Destruction Business Models for Internet of Things Platforms: Empirical Development of a Taxonomy and Archetypes Revitalizing established Industrial Companies: State of the Art and Success Principles of Digital Corporate Incubators When 1+1 is Greater than 2: Concurrence of Additional Digital and Established Business Models within Companies Special Track 1: Student Track Investigating Personalized Price Discrimination of Textile-, Electronics- and General Stores in German Online Retail From Facets to a Universal Definition – An Analysis of IoT Usage in Retail Is the Technostress Creators Inventory Still an Up-To-Date Measurement Instrument? Results of a Large-Scale Interview Study Application of Media Synchronicity Theory to Creative Tasks in Virtual Teams Using the Example of Design Thinking TrustyTweet: An Indicator-based Browser-Plugin to Assist Users in Dealing with Fake News on Twitter Application of Process Mining Techniques to Support Maintenance-Related Objectives How Voice Can Change Customer Satisfaction: A Comparative Analysis between E-Commerce and Voice Commerce Business Process Compliance and Blockchain: How Does the Ethereum Blockchain Address Challenges of Business Process Compliance? Improving Business Model Configuration through a Question-based Approach The Influence of Situational Factors and Gamification on Intrinsic Motivation and Learning Evaluation von ITSM-Tools für Integration und Management von Cloud-Diensten am Beispiel von ServiceNow How Software Promotes the Integration of Sustainability in Business Process Management Criteria Catalog for Industrial IoT Platforms from the Perspective of the Machine Tool Industry Special Track 3: Demos & Prototyping Privacy-friendly User Location Tracking with Smart Devices: The BeaT Prototype Application-oriented robotics in nursing homes Augmented Reality for Set-up Processe Mixed Reality for supporting Remote-Meetings Gamification zur Motivationssteigerung von Werkern bei der Betriebsdatenerfassung Automatically Extracting and Analyzing Customer Needs from Twitter: A “Needmining” Prototype GaNEsHA: Opportunities for Sustainable Transportation in Smart Cities TUCANA: A platform for using local processing power of edge devices for building data-driven services Demonstrator zur Beschreibung und Visualisierung einer kritischen Infrastruktur Entwicklung einer alltagsnahen persuasiven App zur Bewegungsmotivation für ältere Nutzerinnen und Nutzer A browser-based modeling tool for studying the learning of conceptual modeling based on a multi-modal data collection approach Exergames & Dementia: An interactive System for People with Dementia and their Care-Network Workshops Workshop Ethics and Morality in Business Informatics (Workshop Ethik und Moral in der Wirtschaftsinformatik – EMoWI’19) Model-Based Compliance in Information Systems - Foundations, Case Description and Data Set of the MobIS-Challenge for Students and Doctoral Candidates Report of the Workshop on Concepts and Methods of Identifying Digital Potentials in Information Management Control of Systemic Risks in Global Networks - A Grand Challenge to Information Systems Research Die Mitarbeiter von morgen - Kompetenzen künftiger Mitarbeiter im Bereich Business Analytics Digitaler Konsum: Herausforderungen und Chancen der Verbraucherinformati

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

Das Risiko einer Kontamination von österreichischem Trinkwasser durch Naturkatastrophen und die Effizienz von Präparaten zur chemischen Wasserdesinfektion

In Österreich kommt es in regelmäßigen Abständen zum Auftreten von Naturkatastrophen. Drei der häufigsten davon sind Erdbeben, Hochwässer und Stürme. Diese können mitunter auch auf die nationale Trinkwasserversorgung einwirken und zu einer Kontamination des Trinkwassers führen. Bisher existieren in Österreich keinerlei nationale Empfehlungen für Privatpersonen zur Einlagerung von Präparaten zu Wasserdesinfektion für diesen Fall. In der vorliegenden Arbeit soll das Risiko einer Kontamination von österreichischen Trinkwasser für die drei genannten Katastrophen ermittelt werden. Drei Präparate, welche von der Österreichischen Apothekerkammer zur chemischen Wasserdesinfektion auf Reisen empfohlen werden sollen hinsichtlich Ihrer Desinfektionswirkung und Anwendbarkeit mittels Laborversuch geprüft werden. Ziel der Arbeit ist es, die Frage zu klären, ob eine Empfehlung für österreichische Privathaushalte ausgesprochen werden kann, dass die Lagerung entsprechender Wasserdesinfektionskits für den Katastrophenfall zu empfehlen ist.Austria is struck by natural disasters on a periodical basis. The most frequent of them are earthquakes, flooding and storms. These disasters can have an impact on the national supply of drinking water and can cause contamination of drinking water occasionally. By now, there are no national recommendations for the storage of water disinfection kits for private households for the case of the above-mentioned disasters. This paper should estimate the risk of drinking-water contamination for earthquakes, flooding and storms. Three chemical disinfection kits, recommended by the Austrian Chamber of Pharmacists, should be evaluated by laboratory experiment regarding their disinfection efficacy and their usability. The main aim of this paper is to answer the question, if the storage of water disinfection kits should be generally recommended for private households in Austria for the case of disaster

Floorplan2IFC: Transformation of building floor plans into hierarchical IFC-graphs

This paper proposes an approach to enhance architects’ ability to reuse knowledge from previous projects during the early design phases of buildings. Therefore, the use of buildings is discussed to enable efficient comparisons and to apply knowledge from previous projects for new ones. A graph-based comparison based on the hierarchical Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) and a retrieval of similar models has proven highly efficient in related researches. However, the lack of available models limits the applicability of this approach. An alternative method for capturing data from building floor plans and transforming it into a graphical structure based on IFC is provided. This involves analyzing the data contained in floor plans and implementing a tool to transform plans into an IFC floor plan graph. Additionally, it is defined how information is presented in this graph and how missing information is handled to facilitate comparisons with other graphs. The developed interface enables the transformation of 2D floor plans into an IFC graph structure and enhances an existing case base of building graphs, providing architects with an increased ability to find a design solution for an emerging project. It increases the efficiency of decision-making and accelerates the planning phase