The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue between Australia, India, Japan and the United States: more symptom than solution to the problem of growing instability in the Indo-Pacific

According to official statements, the main purpose of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue ("Quad") is to intensify cooperation between the four partner countries - Australia, India, Japan and the United States - in tackling urgent challenges in the Indo-Pacific region. These include climate protection, health policy and maritime security. However, it is primarily the rise of China and the associated challenge to US hegemony in the region that brings together the four partners. In this context minilateral cooperation formats such as the Quad are gaining global importance. But more than 15 years after the start of formal meetings, and despite increased cooperation, the security dialogue between the four unequal partners appears more a symptom of regional instability than a remedy for it. (author's abstract

Quantitative Cartilage Imaging in Knee Osteoarthritis

Quantitative measures of cartilage morphology (i.e., thickness) represent potentially powerful surrogate endpoints in osteoarthritis (OA). These can be used to identify risk factors of structural disease progression and can facilitate the clinical efficacy testing of structure modifying drugs in OA. This paper focuses on quantitative imaging of articular cartilage morphology in the knee, and will specifically deal with different cartilage morphology outcome variables and regions of interest, the relative performance and relationship between cartilage morphology measures, reference values for MRI-based knee cartilage morphometry, imaging protocols for measurement of cartilage morphology (including those used in the Osteoarthritis Initiative), sensitivity to change observed in knee OA, spatial patterns of cartilage loss as derived by subregional analysis, comparison of MRI changes with radiographic changes, risk factors of MRI-based cartilage loss in knee OA, the correlation of MRI-based cartilage loss with clinical outcomes, treatment response in knee OA, and future directions of the field

Investigation of the Forming Behavior of Copper Wires for the Compaction of Windings for Electric Machines

To meet the increasing demand for highly efficient electric traction drives, the compact winding process has been developed at the wbk Institute of Production Science. One key element of the process chain is the compaction of the round wire stator windings. In order to enable an estimation of the sensitivities of the influencing factors, a simplified finite element simulation model was set up in the present work. In the calculations, the number of wire layers, the layer structure and the punch stroke were selected as factors with three levels each. The evaluation was performed by means of false color images and the maximum strains and stresses in the section plane of the slots

Production-oriented design of electric traction drives with hairpin winding

In recent years, the manufacturing of stators by hairpin technology has proven its ability to fulfill the requirements on quality, productivity and robustness of traction drive applications in automotive industry. However, the uncertainty and necessity of rapid product development despite fuzzy target systems still cause that processes, machines and equipment – as well as the electric design – are often in an imperfect prototype stage at the start of production ramp-up. Due to the complex interdependencies between the stator components in combination with a high sensitivity of the overall process reliability to minor adjustments of stator design features, possible production-related weaknesses in design are often recognized first in the prototype stage of the production system. In order to reduce the economic risk resulting from these volatile technological conditions, production-oriented design based on numerical simulation methods can be applied from the beginning of product development. Therefore, several techniques for numerical process modeling are presented in this paper as possibilities to consider manufacturing constraints in an early stage of product development. For this purpose, the influence of wire dimensions on the forming process of hairpin coils is investigated using the example of rotary bending as well as the twisting process of a full stator by finite element simulations. Furthermore, a numerical approach to investigate the influence of heat input during laser welding of hairpin coils on the required stripping length is introduced

Science Fiction im Radio: Programm und Sound utopischer Hörspiele in der Deutschschweiz von 1935 bis 1985

Zwischen 1935 und 1985 wurden für das Radio der deutschsprachigen Schweiz, auch bekannt als Radio Beromünster, ca. 100 Science-Fiction-Radiohörspiele produziert. Der Autor widmet sich dem Sound und Programm dieser Hörspiele erstmalig. Im Zentrum seiner Analyse stehen transnationale Austauschprozesse, radiointerne Kulturpraktiken und soundhistorische Entwicklungen, die einen neuen Blick auf die schweizerische und europäische Radiogeschichte liefern. In den Text eingebettete Hörspielauszüge sowie Bilder von Dimitra Charamandas, die die Beschaffenheit der utopischen Sounds aus künstlerischer Perspektive untersuchen, bereichern die Studie auditiv und visuell

Afrika im Radio: Koloniale Afrikahörbilder in der Schweiz, 1945-1970

Although most Europeans of the 20th Century had never been to Africa, they have a certain idea of this continent, its landscape and its people. Books, films, newspapers and other forms of coverage – mostly made by male, white Europeans – provided a breeding ground for figurative perceptions of Africa (in German-speaking countries so- called «Afrikabilder»). The western audience experienced the «dark» continent not only through visual stimuli. Hearing also plays an important role in the elaboration of Africa-imaginations. The thereby produced sonic forms of representation (so-called «Afrikahörbilder») are the focus of this MA thesis. A total of 14 radio programs serve as the objects of research. They were produced between 1945 and 1970 by various Swiss actors. The programs have in common that they represent Africa in in one way or another. The aim of the study is to examine the colonial character of the broadcasts and its acoustic representations. Based on postcolonial approaches the thesis will show that Switzerland – a country without formal colonies – was part of the transnational European colonialism. Furthermore, the study attempts to establish a new approach in dealing with acoustic phenomena and audio files – a type of source, which has not received much attention from historians so far.Wenn wir uns Afrika vorstellen, tauchen vor unserem inneren Auge die verschiedensten Bilder, Themen und Motive auf. Diese Imaginationen sind aber nicht nur visueller Natur – auch Stimmen, Geräusche oder Musik werden beim Gedanken an den afrikanischen Kontinent assoziiert. Die «Afrikahörbilder», die zwischen 1945 und 1970 am Deutschschweizer Radio Beromünster zu hören waren, stehen im Zentrum dieser Masterarbeit. Ziel der Untersuchung ist es einerseits, die inhaltliche Zusammensetzung der Hörbilder offenzulegen und im kolonialen Diskurs zu verorten. Andererseits sollen die auditiven Spezifika der Afrikaimaginationen analysiert werden. Dabei liegt das Augenmerk auf akustischen Elementen wie der Stimme, nonverbalen Ausdrucksformen (beispielsweise Lachen) oder Originaltönen, mit denen «Afrika» hörbar und im Zeichen des Kolonialismus «anders» gemacht wurde

An Approach for the Disassembly of Permanent Magnet Synchronous Rotors to Recover Rare Earth Materials

The extensive electrification of the mobility sector is a crucial part for global decarbonization. To enable a successful transition, the availability of resources must be ensured. In particular, rare earth materials used in permanent magnets of permanent magnet synchronous machines (PMSM) are already considered as a critical resource. Therefore, high performance magnets of existing PMSM rotors must be recovered and remanufactured or recycled. A major challenge to recover the magnets is their fixation inside the rotor lamination stack. Hence, this paper presents an overview of remanufacturing and recycling methods for rare earth magnets. Based on this, a disassembly process for PMSM rotors is developed, technical challenges are pointed out and automation solution are proposed. As results of an experimental study conducted on different magnet configurations, four characteristic phases for the magnet disassembly process were identified and magnets with nickel coating showed significantly higher disassembly forces than magnets with epoxy coating. Moreover, analytical and empirical approaches for modeling the consecutive phases of the disassembly process are proposed