To mesh or not to mesh: flexible wireless indoor communication among mobile robots in industrial environments

Mobile robots such as automated guided vehicles become increasingly important in industry as they can greatly increase efficiency. For their operation such robots must rely on wireless communication, typically realized by connecting them to an existing enterprise network. In this paper we motivate that such an approach is not always economically viable or might result in performance issues. Therefore we propose a flexible and configurable mixed architecture that leverages on mesh capabilities whenever appropriate. Through experiments on a wireless testbed for a variety of scenarios, we analyse the impact of roaming, mobility and traffic separation and demonstrate the potential of our approach

Industrial cyber physical systems supported by distributed advanced data analytics

The industry digitization is transforming its business models, organizational structures and operations, mainly promoted by the advances and the mass utilization of smart methods, devices and products, being leveraged by initiatives like Industrie 4.0. In this context, the data is a valuable asset that can support the smart factory features through the use of Big Data and advanced analytics approaches. In order to address such requirements and related challenges, Cyber Physical Systems (CPS) promote the development of more intelligent, adaptable and responsiveness supervisory and control systems capable to overcome the inherent complexity and dynamics of industrial environments. In this context, this work presents an agent-based industrial CPS, where agents are endowed with data analysis capabilities for distributed, collaborative and adaptive process supervision and control. Additionally, to address the different industrial levels’ requirements, this work combines two main data analysis scopes: at operational level, applying distributed data stream analysis for rapid response monitoring and control, and at supervisory level, applying big data analysis for decision-making, planning and optimization. Some experiments have been performed in the context of an electric micro grid where agents were able to perform distributed data analysis to predict the renewable energy production.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

SARNET benchmark on QUENCH-11. Final report

In den QUENCH-Versuchen wird der Wasserstoffquellterm bei der Einspeisung von Notkühlwasser in einen trockenen, überhitzten Reaktorkern eines Leichtwasserreaktors untersucht. Ferner wird in den Versuchen das Verhalten von überhitzten Brennelementen unter verschiedenen Flutbedingungen untersucht, eine Datenbasis zur Modellentwicklung und eine Weiterentwicklung von Rechenprogrammen zu Schweren Störfällen (engl. SFD – Severe Fuel Damage) erstellt. Der Ausdampf-Versuch QUENCH-11 wurde am 8. Dezember 2005 durchgeführt. Es war das zweite Experiment im Rahmen des EU-geförderten LACOMERA-Programms. Es sollte einen Kühlmittelpumpenausfall während eines Kühlmittelverluststörfalls (hier ein sog. Small Break LOCA) oder einer plötzlichen Stromabschaltung (eng. „station blackout“) mit einer späten Druckentlastung des Primärsystems simulieren. Verbunden mit dem Unfallszenario ist das Ausdampfen eines teilgefüllten Reaktorkerns bzw. des Versuchsbündels. Das Ziel war die Untersuchung des Bündelverhaltens während des Ausdampfens und des nachfolgenden Abschreckens mit reduzierter Wassereinspeiserate. Es war das erste Experiment, in dem der gesamte Unfallablauf von der Ausdampfphase bis zur verzögerten Flutung des Bündels bei einer geringen Wasser-Einspeiserate untersucht werden sollte. Das Ausmaß der Wechselwirkungen von Thermalhydraulik und Materialien war in dem Experiment ausgeprägter als in früheren QUENCH-Versuchen. Das Experiment wurde von INRNE Sofia (Bulgarische Akademie der Wissenschaften) vorgeschlagen und zusammen mit dem Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe definiert. Nach dem Experiment wurde entschieden, die QUENCH-11-Daten für ein Rechenprogramm-Benchmark, bei dem die Rechenergebnisse mit den experimentellen Daten verglichen werden, im Rahmen des Europäischen Exzellenz-Netzwerks SARNET anzubieten, um die Zuverlässigkeit der Rechnungen für die verschiedenen Phasen von Unfall bzw. Experiment zu überprüfen. Die eingesetzten SFD-Rechenprogramme waren ASTEC, ATHLET-CD, ICARE-CATHARE, MELCOR, RATEG/SVECHA, RELAP/SCDAPSIM, und SCDAP/RELAP5. Die Koordination für den Vergleich übernahm INRNE. Als Grundlage für den Vergleich dienten die zeitlichen Verläufe von Temperaturen, Wasserstofferzeugung und anderer wichtiger Daten. Außerdem wurden Axialprofile, in erster Linie die der Temperatur zum Zeitpunkt des Flutbeginns und des Endstadiums, d. h. bei der Testzeit von 7000 s, verglichen. Für die meisten Rechenergebnisse kann ein gemeinsamer Trendverlauf angegeben werden. Größere Unterschiede zeigen die Ergebnisse für die Wasserstofferzeugung und die zugehörige Oxidschichtdicke. Der Grad der Übereinstimmung zwischen Rechnung und Experiment wird von den Schwachstellen der Rechnung und des Experiments gleichermaßen mitbestimmt. SFD-Rechenprogramme sind zur Analyse von typischen Kernreaktorunfällen entwickelt worden. Einzelne Besonderheiten der experimentellen Anordnung integraler Experimente (wie auch QUENCH-11) sind bedingt durch das Vorhandensein von Dampfführungsrohr (Shroud) und Elektrodenmaterial für die elektrische Stabheizung nicht reaktortypisch und können daher nicht in der gewünschten Einzelheit im Rechenprogramm nachgebildet werden. Hinzu kommen Effekte durch den Anwender. Da jedoch die Bandbreite der wesentlichen Rechenergebnisse einschließlich der Wasserstofferzeugung nicht extrem groß ist, kann das Ergebnis des SFD-Rechenprogramm-Benchmarks insgesamt als positiv bewertet werden. Ein Vergleich mit anderen Experimenten zeigt einen weiteren Bedarf an Verbesserungen besonders im Hinblick auf die Oxidation stark zerstörter Bündelstrukturen während des Flutens. Zusätzlich erwies sich das Rechenprogramm-Benchmark für einige Programmanwender als wertvoll, um sich mit den physikalischen Problematiken und der Anwendung von großen SFD-Rechenprogrammen vertraut zu machen. Es dient dem Erfahrungsaustausch mit jüngeren Wissenschaftlern und Ingenieuren und der Aufrechterhaltung des Standards der nuklearen Sicherheit

Exploring leadership in multi-sectoral partnerships

This article explores some critical aspects of leadership in the context of multi-sectoral partnerships. It focuses on leadership in practice and asks the question, `How do managers experience and perceive leadership in such partnerships?' The study contributes to the debate on whether leadership in a multi-sectoral partnership context differs from that within a single organization. It is based on the accounts of practising managers working in complex partnerships. The article highlights a number of leadership challenges faced by those working in multi-sectoral partnerships. Partnership practitioners were clear that leadership in partnerships was more complex than in single organizations. However, it was more difficult for them to agree a consensus on the essential nature of leadership in partnership. We suggest that a first-, second- and third-person approach might be a way of better interpreting leadership in the context of partnerships

Improvisation and Transformation: Yes to the Mess

The field of organizational change has chiefly been studied from a teleological perspective. Most models of change emphasize action that is rational and goal oriented. What often gets overlooked and under theorized is the continuous, iterative nature of organizational life, the unplanned and serendipitous actions by and between people that lead to new discoveries and innovation. Recent research on organizational improvisation seeks to explore this area. In this chapter we will address two questions – what is the experience of improvisation and what are the conditions that support improvisation to flourish in organizations? In the first part of this paper, we look at the phenomenology of improvisation, the actual lived experience of those who improvise in the face of the unknown or in the midst of chaotic conditions. We will explore the strategies that some professional improvisers employ to deliberately create the improvisatory moment. We will then look at the dynamics of organizational life and explore the cultural beliefs, organizational structures, and leadership practices that support improvisation. We will draw primarily upon the model from Barrett (2012) that focuses on the how the nature of jazz improvisation and the factors that support improvisation can be transferred to leadership activities. This falls in the tradition of others who draw upon arts-based metaphors, including jazz music and theatrical improvisation, to suggest insights for leadership and ways of organizing. Since this is a book devoted to individual transformation as well as organizational transformation, we will also touch on the topic of how improvisation is a developmental project and explore the potential for improvisation to lead to personal transformation. We will attempt to move back and forth between both themes – organizational and personal transformation. Ultimately the two topics are not separate. Any significant organizational transformation begins with an improvisation. And any meaningful improvisatory move by a person is potentially a moment of self-discovery and an identity-shaping event

Securing future decentralised industrial IoT infrastructures: challenges and free open source solutions

peer-reviewedThe next industrial revolution is said to be paved by the use of novel Internet of Things (IoT) technology. One important aspect of the modern IoT infrastructures is decentralised communication, often called Peer-to-Peer (P2P). In the context of industrial communication, P2P contributes to resilience and improved stability for industrial components. Current industrial facilities, however, still rely on centralised networking schemes which are considered to be mandatory to comply with security standards. In order to succeed, introduced industrial P2P technology must maintain the current level of protection and also consider possible new threats. The presented work starts with a short analysis of well-established industrial communication infrastructures and how these could benefit from decentralised structures. Subsequently, previously undefined Information Technology (IT) security requirements are derived from the new cloud based decentralised industrial automation model architecture presented in this paper. To meet those requirements, state-of-the-art communication schemes and their open source implementations are presented and assessed for their usability in the context of industrial IoT. Finally, derived building blocks for industrial IoT P2P security are presented which are qualified to comply with the stated industrial IoT security requirements

Attitudes toward westbound refugees in the East German press

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/67107/2/10.1177_002200277001400303.pd

Historical Y. pestis Genomes Reveal the European Black Death as the Source of Ancient and Modern Plague Pandemics

© 2016 Elsevier Inc.Ancient DNA analysis has revealed an involvement of the bacterial pathogen Yersinia pestis in several historical pandemics, including the second plague pandemic (Europe, mid-14th century Black Death until the mid-18th century AD). Here we present reconstructed Y. pestis genomes from plague victims of the Black Death and two subsequent historical outbreaks spanning Europe and its vicinity, namely Barcelona, Spain (1300-1420 cal AD), Bolgar City, Russia (1362-1400 AD), and Ellwangen, Germany (1485-1627 cal AD). Our results provide support for (1) a single entry of Y. pestis in Europe during the Black Death, (2) a wave of plague that traveled toward Asia to later become the source population for contemporary worldwide epidemics, and (3) the presence of an historical European plague focus involved in post-Black Death outbreaks that is now likely extinct

Liver Enzymes: Interaction Analysis of Smoking with Alcohol Consumption or BMI, Comparing AST and ALT to γ-GT

A detrimental interaction between smoking and alcohol consumption with respect serum γ-glutamyltransferase (γ-GT) has recently been described. The underlying mechanisms remain unknown. The present work aimed to provide further insights by examining similar interactions pertaining to aspartate and alanine transaminase (AST, ALT), routine liver markers less prone to enzyme induction.<0.0001). The interactions all were in the same directions as for γ-GT, i.e. synergistic with alcohol and opposite with BMI.The patterns of interaction between smoking and alcohol consumption or BMI with respect to AST and ALT resembled those observed for γ-GT. This renders enzyme induction a less probable mechanism for these associations, whereas it might implicate exacerbated hepatocellular vulnerability and injury