Same same but different - Towards a taxonomy for digital involvement projects

Governments and public institutions increasingly embrace digital opportunities to involve citizens in public issues and decision making. While public participation is generally seen as an important and promising venture, the design of the participation processes and the utilized digital infrastructure poses challenges, especially to the public sector. Instead of limiting conceptual guidance and exchange to one domain, we therefore develop a taxonomy for digital involvement projects that unites the domains of e-participation, citizen science and crowd-X. Embedded in a design science research approach, we follow an iterative design process to elaborate the key characteristics of a digital involvement project based on the participation process, its individuals and digital infrastructure. Through evaluating the artifact in a focus group with domain practitioners, we find support for the usefulness of our taxonomy and its ability to provide guidance and a basis for discussion of digital involvement projects across domains

Low-Cost-Workflow zum Laserscanning mit Smartphone und Tablet zur Effizienzsteigerung im Garten- und Landschaftsbau

Unter LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) Scanning wird eine Scanningmethode verstanden, welche auf Messung der Zeit zwischen Absenden und Auffangen des reflektierten Laserstrahls basiert (Petschek 2019). Die Technologie wird inzwischen in vielen Bereichen eingesetzt und ist unter anderem in einigen der neuesten Smartphones und Tablets seit 2020 verbaut. Aufgrund des niedrigen Investitionsaufwandes steht die Technologie der breiten Bevölkerung zur Verfügung und kann so auch von kleineren Firmen eingesetzt werden. Gerade für den Garten- und Landschaftsbau besitzt diese Technologie großes Potential, da die erreichbare Genauigkeit der Scans für die Planung im Garten- und Landschaftsbau ausreicht wie dieser Beitrag zeigt. Für kleinere Objektplanungen, z.B. ein Haus mit Garten wie hier im Beispiel, können die erforderlichen Flächen ausreichend mit den in mobilen Geräten verbauten low cost LIDAR-Scannern erfasst werden. Zudem sind die mobilen Endgeräte einfach zu bedienen. Die Ergebnisse des Scans können deshalb zur Dokumentation, als Planungsgrundlage für die herkömmliche 2D-Planung sowie für die 3D- Planung verwendet werden und bieten dadurch einen großen Mehrwert

Characterization of Filigree Additively Manufactured NiTi Structures Using Micro Tomography and Micromechanical Testing for Metamaterial Material Models

This study focuses on the influence of additive manufacturing process strategies on the specimen geometry, porosity, microstructure and mechanical properties as well as their impacts on the design of metamaterials. Filigree additively manufactured NiTi specimens with diameters between 180 and 350 µm and a nominal composition of Ni50.9Ti49.1 (at %) were processed by laser powder bed fusion in a first step. Secondly, they structures were characterized by optical and electron microscopy as well as micro tomography to investigate the interrelations between the process parameters, specimen diameters and microstructure. Each specimen was finally tested in a micro tensile machine to acquire the mechanical performance. The process strategy had, besides the resulting specimen diameter, an impact on the microstructure (grain size) without negatively influencing its quality (porosity). All specimens revealed a superelastic response while the critical martensitic phase transition stress decreased with the applied vector length. As a conclusion, and since the design of programmable metamaterials relies on the accuracy of FEM simulations, precise and resource-efficient testing of filigree and complex structures remains an important part of creating a new type of metamaterials with locally adjusted material behavior

Genetic interaction screen for severe neurodevelopmental disorders reveals a functional link between Ube3a and Mef2 in Drosophila melanogaster

Neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) are clinically and genetically extremely heterogeneous with shared phenotypes often associated with genes from the same networks. Mutations in TCF4, MEF2C, UBE3A, ZEB2 or ATRX cause phenotypically overlapping, syndromic forms of NDDs with severe intellectual disability, epilepsy and microcephaly. To characterize potential functional links between these genes/proteins, we screened for genetic interactions in Drosophila melanogaster. We induced ubiquitous or tissue specific knockdown or overexpression of each single orthologous gene (Da, Mef2, Ube3a, Zfh1, XNP) and in pairwise combinations. Subsequently, we assessed parameters such as lethality, wing and eye morphology, neuromuscular junction morphology, bang sensitivity and climbing behaviour in comparison between single and pairwise dosage manipulations. We found most stringent evidence for genetic interaction between Ube3a and Mef2 as simultaneous dosage manipulation in different tissues including glia, wing and eye resulted in multiple phenotype modifications. We subsequently found evidence for physical interaction between UBE3A and MEF2C also in human cells. Systematic pairwise assessment of the Drosophila orthologues of five genes implicated in clinically overlapping, severe NDDs and subsequent confirmation in a human cell line revealed interactions between UBE3A/Ube3a and MEF2C/Mef2, thus contributing to the characterization of the underlying molecular commonalities

Take Part Prototype: Creating New Ways of Participation Through Augmented and Virtual Reality [in press]

Famous examples like the Amazon headquarter in New York City or the Stuttgart 21 train station demonstrate that construction projects are often subjects of common interest and can therefore produce protests if citizens feel unheard in urban planning. In this manuscript, we would therefore like to investigate whether e-participation can be used as a tool to foster citizen involvement in construction projects that are of public interest. To this end, we present a prototype that combines participation with augmented and virtual reality. While offering a source for a better understanding of construction processes, our prototype allows users to bring in their own design suggestions and discuss these with others. With this prototype paper, we thus want to demonstrate how augmented and virtual reality can lay the ground for innovative ways of political participation that would offer great potential for project initiators and citizens

Dokumentation über die Erhebungsinstrumente in der Längsschnittstudie Learning to Practice, Learning to Reflect? (LtP) zur Nutzung und Wirkung des Praxissemesters in der Lehrer*innenbildung

Die vorliegende Skalendokumentation beinhaltet die Erhebungsinstrumente und die entsprechenden statistische Angaben des Verbundprojektes Learning to Practice, Learning to Reflect? (LtP), das unter der Leitung von Prof. Dr. Johannes König, Prof. Dr. Martin Rothland und Prof. Dr. Niclas Schaper an den Universitäten Köln, Siegen und Paderborn durchgeführt wurde. Ziel des standortübergreifenden Verbundprojektes war die empirische Untersuchung der Nutzung und Wirkung des Praxissemesters in Nordrhein-Westfalen. Im Rahmen des Projekts wurden die Studierenden der drei Standorte, die ihr Praxissemester im Sommersemester 2016 absolvierten, vor Antritt und nach Abschluss dieses Ausbildungsabschnittes umfassend befragt und getestet. So wurden im Längsschnitt 409 Studierende erreicht. Detaillierte Ergebnisdarstellungen finden sich in den einzelnen Kapiteln des Sammelbandes „Learning to Practice, Learning to Reflect?“ (König, Rothland & Schaper, 2018). Die vorliegende Darstellung der Erhebungsinstrumente gliedert sich anhand des zur Untersuchung des Praxissemesters herangezogenen Rahmenmodells in: demographische Angaben und Angaben zur Praxissemesterschule, individuelle Voraussetzungen, Angebot, Nutzung der Lerngelegenheiten, Lernprodukte und Output

Epidermal growth factor increases insulin secretion and lowers blood glucose in diabetic mice

Epidermal growth factor (EGF) is synthesized in the pancreas and diabetic animals have low levels of EGF. However, the role of EGF in regulating the major function of the pancreas, insulin secretion, has not been studied. Here, we show that EGF rapidly increased insulin secretion in mouse pancreatic islets, as well as in a pancreatic beta-cell line. These events were dependent on a Ca2+ influx and phospholipase D (PLD) activity, particularly PLD2, as determined using pharmacological blockers and molecular manipulations such as over-expression and siRNA of PLD isozymes. In addition, EGF also increased plasma insulin levels and mediated glucose lowering in normal and diabetic mice. Here, for the first time, we provide evidence that EGF is a novel secretagogue that regulates plasma glucose levels and a candidate for the development of therapeutics for diabetes.open131

Izu-Bonin-Mariana Rear Arc - The missing half of the subduction factory, 30 March – 30 May 2014

International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Hole U1436A (proposed Site IBM-4GT) lies in the western part of the Izu fore-arc basin, ~60 km east of the arc-front volcano Aogashima, ~170 km west of the axis of the Izu-Bonin Trench, 1.5 km west of Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Site 792, and at 1776 meters below sea level (mbsl). It was drilled as a 150 m deep geotechnical test hole for potential future deep drilling (5500 meters below seafloor [mbsf]) at proposed Site IBM-4 using the D/V Chikyu. Core from Site U1436 yielded a rich record of Late Pleistocene explosive volcanism, including distinctive black glassy mafic ash layers that may record large-volume eruptions on the Izu arc front. Because of the importance of this discovery, Site U1436 was drilled in three additional holes (U1436B, U1436C, and U1436D), as part of a contingency operation, in an attempt to get better recovery on the black glassy mafic ash layers and enclosing sediments and to better constrain the thickness of the mafic ash layers. IODP Site U1437 is located in the Izu rear arc, ~330 km west of the axis of the Izu-Bonin Trench and ~90 km west of the arc-front volcanoes Myojinsho and Myojin Knoll, at 2117 mbsl. The primary scientific objective for Site U1437 was to characterize “the missing half of the subduction factory”; this was because numerous ODP/Integrated Ocean Drilling Program sites had been drilled in the arc to fore-arc region (i.e., ODP Site 782A Leg 126), but this was the first site to be drilled in the rear part of the Izu arc. A complete view of the arc system is needed to understand the formation of oceanic arc crust and its evolution into continental crust. Site U1437 on the rear arc had excellent core recovery in Holes U1437B and U1437D, and we succeeded in hanging the longest casing ever in the history of R/V JOIDES Resolution scientific drilling (1085.6 m) in Hole U1437E and cored to 1806.5 mbsf. The stratigraphy at Site U1437 was divided into seven lithostratigraphic units (I–VII) that were distinguished from each other based on the proportions and characteristics of tuffaceous mud/mudstone and interbedded tuff, lapilli tuff, and tuff breccia. The section is much more mud rich than expected, with ~60% tuffaceous mud for the section as a whole (89% in the uppermost 433 m) and high sedimentation rates of 100–260 m/My for the upper 1320 m (Units I–V). The proportion (40%) and grain size of tephra are much smaller than expected for an intra-arc basin, composed half of ash/tuff and half of lapilli tuff of fine grain size (clasts < 3 cm). These were deposited by suspension settling through water and from density currents, in relatively distal settings. Volcanic blocks are only sparsely scattered through the lowermost 25% of the section (Units VI and VII, 1320–1806.5 mbsf), which includes hyaloclastite, in situ quench-fragmented blocks, and a rhyolite peperite intrusion (i.e., proximal deposits). The transition from unconsolidated to lithified rocks occurred progressively; however, sediments were considered lithified from 427 mbsf (top of Hole U1437D) downward. Alteration resulted in destruction of fresh glass from ~750 mbsf downward, but minerals are less altered. Because of the alteration, the deepest biostratigraphic datum was at ~850 mbsf and the deepest paleomagnetic datum was at ~1300 mbsf. Additional age control deeper than this depth is provided by an age range of 10.97–11.85 Ma inferred from a nannofossil assemblage at ~1403 mbsf and a preliminary U-Pb zircon concordia intercept age of 13.6 +1.6/–1.7 Ma, measured postcruise on a rhyolite peperite in Unit VI at ~1390 mbsf. Based on the seismic profiles, the Miocene–Oligocene hiatus (~17–23 Ma) was predicted to lie at ~1250 mbsf, but strata at that depth (Unit V, 1120–1312 mbsf) are much younger (~9 Ma), indicating that we recovered a thicker Neogene section of volcaniclastics and associated igneous rocks than anticipated. Our preliminary interpretation of shipboard geochemistry is that arc-front versus rear-arc sources can be distinguished in the upper, relatively distal 1320 m of section (Units I–V), whereas the lower, proximal 25% of the section (Units VI–VII) may be geochemically heterogeneous, suggesting that the rear-arc magmas only fully compositionally diverged after ~13 Ma

Expedition 350 summary

International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Hole U1436A (proposed Site IBM-4GT) lies in the western part of the Izu fore-arc basin, ~60 km east of the arc-front volcano Aogashima, ~170 km west of the axis of the Izu-Bonin Trench, and 1.5 km west of Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Site 792, at 1776 meters below sea level (mbsl). It was drilled as a 150 m deep geotechnical test hole for potential future deep drilling (5500 meters below seafloor [mbsf]) at proposed Site IBM-4 using the D/V Chikyu. Core from Site U1436 yielded a rich record of Late Pleistocene explosive volcanism, including a distinctive black glassy mafic ash layer that may record a large-volume subaqueous eruption on the Izu arc front. Because of the importance of this discovery, Site U1436 was drilled in three additional holes (U1436B, U1436C, and U1436D), as part of a contingency operation, in an attempt to get better recovery on the black glassy mafic ash layer and its enclosing sediments and to better constrain its thickness. IODP Site U1437 is located in the Izu rear arc, ~330 km west of the axis of the Izu-Bonin Trench and ~90 km west of the arc-front volcanoes Myojinsho and Myojin Knoll, at 2117 mbsl. The primary scientific objective for Site U1437 was to characterize “the missing half of the subduction factory” because numerous ODP/Integrated Ocean Drilling Program sites had been drilled in the arc-front to fore-arc region (i.e., ODP Site 782A Leg 126), but this was the first site to be drilled in the rear-arc region of the Izu arc. A complete view of the arc system is needed to understand the formation of oceanic arc crust and its evolution into continental crust. Site U1437 on the rear arc had excellent core recovery in Holes U1437B and U1437D, and we succeeded in hanging the longest casing ever in the history of R/V JOIDES Resolution scientific drilling (1085.6 m) in Hole U1437E and cored to 1806.5 mbsf. The stratigraphy at Site U1437 was divided into seven lithostratigraphic units (I–VII) that were distinguished from each other based on the proportions and characteristics of tuffaceous mud/mudstone and interbedded tuff, lapilli-tuff, and tuff-breccia. The section is much more mud rich than expected, with ~60% tuffaceous mud for the section as a whole (89% in the uppermost 433 m) and high sedimentation rates of 100–260 m/My for the upper 1320 m (Units I–V). The proportion (40%) and grain size of volcaniclastics are much smaller than expected for an intra-arc basin, composed half of ash/tuff and half of lapilli-tuff of fine grain size (clasts <3 cm). These volcaniclastics were deposited by suspension settling through water and from density currents, in relatively distal settings. Volcanic blocks are only sparsely scattered through the lowermost 25% of the section (Units VI and VII, 1320–1806.5 mbsf), which includes hyaloclastite, in situ quench-fragmented blocks, and a rhyolite peperite intrusion (i.e., proximal deposits). The transition from unconsolidated to lithified rocks occurred progressively; however, sediments were considered lithified from 427 mbsf (top of Hole U1437D) downward. Alteration resulted in destruction of fresh glass from ~750 mbsf downward, but minerals are less altered. Because of the alteration, the deepest biostratigraphic datum was at ~850 mbsf and the deepest paleomagnetic datum was at ~1300 mbsf. Additional age control deeper than ~1300 mbsf is provided by an age range of 10.97–11.85 Ma inferred from a nannofossil assemblage at ~1403 mbsf and a preliminary U-Pb zircon concordia intercept age of 13.6 +1.6/−1.7 Ma, measured postcruise on a rhyolite peperite in Unit VI at ~1390 mbsf. Based on the seismic profiles, the Miocene–Oligocene hiatus (~17–23 Ma) was predicted to lie at ~1250 mbsf, but strata at that depth (Unit V, 1120–1312 mbsf) are much younger (~9 Ma), indicating that we recovered a thicker Neogene section of volcaniclastics and associated igneous rocks than anticipated. Our preliminary interpretation of shipboard geochemistry of solids is that arc-front versus rear-arc sources can be distinguished for individual intervals in the upper, relatively distal 1320 m of the section (Units I–V), whereas data for the lower, proximal 25% of the section (Units VI–VII) overlap and exceed the compositional fields for Neogene rear-arc seamounts and Quaternary arc-front volcanoes. This suggests that the compositional divergence between arc-front and rear-arc magmas only fully developed after ~13 Ma