Visual data flow language with higher-order combinators

Moderne Softwaretechnik (Software Engineering) befasst sich mit der professionellen Entwicklung von hochqualitativen Softwaresystemen. Softwarequalität und insbesondere die relative Korrektheit eines Programms kann mit Hilfe von formalen Verfahren auf der Basis einer Spezifikation bestimmt werden. Im besten Falle kann a posteriori auf der Grundlage eines fertigen Programms eine formale Verifikation durchgeführt werden. Diese Arbeit untersucht eine konstruktive Herangehensweise, die Programme a priori korrekt erstellt, indem eine abstrakte Spezifikation sukzessive in ein ausführbares Programm überführt wird. Es wird eine graphische Notation und zugleich ein methodischer Ansatz zur Softwareentwicklung definiert, der die transformative Programmierung in den Vordergrund stellt. Die behandelte Thematik liegt dabei im Spannungsfeld mehrerer Aspekte wie Datenflussprogrammierung, Techniken des lambda,-Kalküls und des gegebenen Transformations-Rahmenwerks HOPS. Letzteres ist ein Entwicklungssystem zur visuellen Programmierung, das Gegenstand mehrerer Forschungsprojekte an der Universität der Bundeswehr München war. Ziel der Arbeit ist es, einen nahtlosen Übergang zwischen den einzelnen Phasen der Softwareentwicklung wie Analyse, Entwurf und Implementierung mittels eines transformativen Ansatzes zu erreichen. Dies wird an einem umfangreichen Beispiel aus dem Gebiet der digitalen Signalverarbeitung dargestellt.Modern software engineering deals with professional development of high quality software systems. Software quality and especially relative correctness of programs based on a specification can be determined by formal methods. At best a formal verification can be performed a posteriori on the basis of a complete program. This thesis investigates a constructive approach which generates programs correctly a priori by transforming an abstract pecification successively into an executable program. A graphical notation together with a methodical approach for software development will be defined emphasizing transformational programming. The outlined topic covers areas of several aspects like data flow programming, techniques of the lambda,-calculus and the given transformation framework HOPS. The latter is a development system for visual programming hich was subject of several research projects at the University of the Federal Armed Forces. The aim of the thesis is to obtain a transformational approach for the seamless transition between the specific phases of software development like analysis, design, and implementation. This will be demonstrated by a substantial example in the field of digital signal processing

Review of the Norwegian Development Fund Portfolio in Ethiopia

This report reviews the Ethiopian portfolio of the Development Fund (DF), a Norwegian NGO, which has evolved from supporting relief work by one Tigrayan organisation in the 1980s to supporting ten projects with several organisations in Tigray and Afar Regions and networking with other organisations in Ethiopia and beyond. The portfolio focuses on socio-economic development to alleviate poverty and increase food security, primarily through agriculture, and on natural resource management in dryland areas, including maintenance of biodiversity. The DF is giving growing attention to strengthening civil society and pastoral livelihood development. The portfolio has been managed in a satisfactory way through good communication and regular monitoring visits. The partnership model, built on mutual trust, involves considerable delegation of managerial responsibility to Ethiopian partners. This model is probably cost effective, although it involves certain risks. On the whole, the resources provided through the DF have been used efficiently to achieve the objectives. The DF’s participatory approach helps anchor projects in local communities and provides space for dialogue and mutual influence. By promoting local ownership of the projects, a basis is laid for successful and cost-effective implementation and long-term sustainability. The DF is involved in several networks, the most important ones for the Ethiopian portfolio being the Dryland Co-ordination Group (DCG) and the Triangular Institutional Cooperation Project. Much of the DF partners’ work focuses on empowering women in economic, social and political terms. The DF is broadening its range of partners to include NGOs in different ethnic and geographical contexts. It wants to support government decentralisation and to create synergies with traditional governance institutions, especially in pastoral societies. There is a need for more dialogue with partners about this strategy and about addressing human-rights issues in the specific context of Ethiopia

Experimental Investigations on Wear in Oscillating Grease-Lubricated Rolling Element Bearings of Different Size and Type

Grease-lubricated rolling element bearings can suffer from wear due to lubricant starvation under certain oscillating operating conditions. Especially for large-scale slewing bearings, such as blade bearings in wind turbines, experimental investigations are complex compared to small-scale reference testing. For an easier manner of testing, it is desirable to know whether the results of small-scale testing are applicable to larger-sized bearings. In this work, three different bearing types were tested and compared to already published results from a small-scale ACBB with a pitch diameter of 60 mm. The newly tested bearing types comprise a downscaled blade bearing (4-point contact double row ball bearing) with a pitch diameter of 673 mm, a small-scale CRTB with a pitch diameter of 77.5 mm and another ACBB with a pitch diameter of 95 mm. Qualitatively, all tested bearings show similar wear behaviour in terms of friction energy when operation parameters are varied. With higher oscillation frequency, damage becomes more severe. The oscillation amplitude shows three distinctive regimes. Within the range of small amplitudes, an increase in amplitude leads to more pronounced damage. We observe a threshold amplitude where this is no longer the case; a further increase in amplitude counteracts wear initiation until a final threshold is reached, beyond which no more wear is observed. These findings are in accordance with the reference results of the small-scale ACBB. Direct comparison between point and line contact shows that the latter is more prone to wear initiation under grease-lubricated, oscillating operating conditions. Furthermore, a previously introduced empirical number shows good performance in assessing critical operating parameters of the different bearing types. Specifically, harmful operating conditions can be classified for all studied bearing types with an accuracy of 78%. This method can be useful to assess operating conditions of greased, oscillating, rolling element bearings, e.g., to assess different pitch controllers or designs of slewing bearings

Shifting the limits in wheat research and breeding using a fully annotated reference genome

Introduction: Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is the most widely cultivated crop on Earth, contributing about a fifth of the total calories consumed by humans. Consequently, wheat yields and production affect the global economy, and failed harvests can lead to social unrest. Breeders continuously strive to develop improved varieties by fine-tuning genetically complex yield and end-use quality parameters while maintaining stable yields and adapting the crop to regionally specific biotic and abiotic stresses. Rationale: Breeding efforts are limited by insufficient knowledge and understanding of wheat biology and the molecular basis of central agronomic traits. To meet the demands of human population growth, there is an urgent need for wheat research and breeding to accelerate genetic gain as well as to increase and protect wheat yield and quality traits. In other plant and animal species, access to a fully annotated and ordered genome sequence, including regulatory sequences and genome-diversity information, has promoted the development of systematic and more time-efficient approaches for the selection and understanding of important traits. Wheat has lagged behind, primarily owing to the challenges of assembling a genome that is more than five times as large as the human genome, polyploid, and complex, containing more than 85% repetitive DNA. To provide a foundation for improvement through molecular breeding, in 2005, the International Wheat Genome Sequencing Consortium set out to deliver a high-quality annotated reference genome sequence of bread wheat. Results: An annotated reference sequence representing the hexaploid bread wheat genome in the form of 21 chromosome-like sequence assemblies has now been delivered, giving access to 107,891 high-confidence genes, including their genomic context of regulatory sequences. This assembly enabled the discovery of tissue- and developmental stage–related gene coexpression networks using a transcriptome atlas representing all stages of wheat development. The dynamics of change in complex gene families involved in environmental adaptation and end-use quality were revealed at subgenome resolution and contextualized to known agronomic single-gene or quantitative trait loci. Aspects of the future value of the annotated assembly for molecular breeding and research were exemplarily illustrated by resolving the genetic basis of a quantitative trait locus conferring resistance to abiotic stress and insect damage as well as by serving as the basis for genome editing of the flowering-time trait. Conclusion: This annotated reference sequence of wheat is a resource that can now drive disruptive innovation in wheat improvement, as this community resource establishes the foundation for accelerating wheat research and application through improved understanding of wheat biology and genomics-assisted breeding. Importantly, the bioinformatics capacity developed for model-organism genomes will facilitate a better understanding of the wheat genome as a result of the high-quality chromosome-based genome assembly. By necessity, breeders work with the genome at the whole chromosome level, as each new cross involves the modification of genome-wide gene networks that control the expression of complex traits such as yield. With the annotated and ordered reference genome sequence in place, researchers and breeders can now easily access sequence-level information to precisely define the necessary changes in the genomes for breeding programs. This will be realized through the implementation of new DNA marker platforms and targeted breeding technologies, including genome editing

Klassifikationsverfahren zur Materialerkennung : Grenzschichterkennung mittels laserinduzierter Fluoreszenz in mineralischen Lagerstätten am Beispiel der Braunkohlegewinnung

The analytical tool of the optical laser induced fluorescence (LIF) method offers the opportunity to recognize different materials and to detect boundaries. This study shows the methodology how to extract significant features from the fluorescence spectrum using systematic search algorithms. An optimization of the mining process and consequently a better quality of the extracted material are the direct results of such a material recognition. In contrast to the traditional approaches, which often use the principle of "trial & error", this systematic way allows for the best recognition of the mined materials. Measurements taken in RWE Power's Hambach open pit lingnite mine form the basis of this paper. Using material specific fluorescence characteristics, the different kind of material should be distinguished. The avoidance of unscheduled and uncontrolled dilution during the mining process results in an optimization of the overall deposit extraction by means of a reduction of safety barriers. The large numbers of features, which can be extracted from the emission spectrum, pose a problem to both layout and dimensions of a robust LIF analyzer, which can be employed in the mining industry. Therefore the selection of suited feature is crucial. Apart from the Gaussian classification approach k-nearest neighbor procedures and the method of linear regression are applied to realize the material classification. Conventional sequential search algorithms and the "Sequential Forward Floating Selection (SFFS)“ are utilized. The extraction of significant LIF features is based on the "Wrapper-2" approach. As a result of analysis of the number of material classes one can observe that the success of the material recognition is depended on depth of segmentation. The more detailed alias the more classes the less satisfying the success. Regarding the classification methods none of the three approaches seems to be superior when taking the success criterion and the needed computing time into account. The basic lesson learnt from this work is the statement that using an optimized method for the feature selection and the material classification effective boundary detection is possible for the Hambach mine's section in scope. It results from the utilization of classification algorithms which allow for an uncomplicated assigment of LIF measurements to quality relevant material classes. Starting from the presented methodology of feature extraction and material classification this work lays the foundation of a systematic analysis of LIF measurement for effective future application of the LIF technology. Furthermore it offers a starting point for future research activities and shows the potential for further optimization in the field of LIF analytics application for material classification in the mining industry

Klassifikationsverfahren zur Materialerkennung : Grenzschichterkennung mittels laserinduzierter Fluoreszenz in mineralischen Lagerstätten am Beispiel der Braunkohlegewinnung

The analytical tool of the optical laser induced fluorescence (LIF) method offers the opportunity to recognize different materials and to detect boundaries. This study shows the methodology how to extract significant features from the fluorescence spectrum using systematic search algorithms. An optimization of the mining process and consequently a better quality of the extracted material are the direct results of such a material recognition. In contrast to the traditional approaches, which often use the principle of "trial & error", this systematic way allows for the best recognition of the mined materials. Measurements taken in RWE Power's Hambach open pit lingnite mine form the basis of this paper. Using material specific fluorescence characteristics, the different kind of material should be distinguished. The avoidance of unscheduled and uncontrolled dilution during the mining process results in an optimization of the overall deposit extraction by means of a reduction of safety barriers. The large numbers of features, which can be extracted from the emission spectrum, pose a problem to both layout and dimensions of a robust LIF analyzer, which can be employed in the mining industry. Therefore the selection of suited feature is crucial. Apart from the Gaussian classification approach k-nearest neighbor procedures and the method of linear regression are applied to realize the material classification. Conventional sequential search algorithms and the "Sequential Forward Floating Selection (SFFS)“ are utilized. The extraction of significant LIF features is based on the "Wrapper-2" approach. As a result of analysis of the number of material classes one can observe that the success of the material recognition is depended on depth of segmentation. The more detailed alias the more classes the less satisfying the success. Regarding the classification methods none of the three approaches seems to be superior when taking the success criterion and the needed computing time into account. The basic lesson learnt from this work is the statement that using an optimized method for the feature selection and the material classification effective boundary detection is possible for the Hambach mine's section in scope. It results from the utilization of classification algorithms which allow for an uncomplicated assigment of LIF measurements to quality relevant material classes. Starting from the presented methodology of feature extraction and material classification this work lays the foundation of a systematic analysis of LIF measurement for effective future application of the LIF technology. Furthermore it offers a starting point for future research activities and shows the potential for further optimization in the field of LIF analytics application for material classification in the mining industry