Expectations vs. Reality – Benefits of Smart Services in the Field of Tension between Industry and Science

The term “Smart Service” gains increased interest in science and practice since it promises to significantly improve a company’s value offering. However, its publicity might lead to overdrawn expectations, especially between practitioners and scientists working in this field. Therefore, we conduct a mixed-method study comparing the expected benefits of Smart Services in science and industry to help identify and close occurring gaps. The study consists of a literature review for the scientific point of view and a survey among practitioners to capture the benefits of Smart Services in both groups. The results predominantly reveal the same vision of both groups for Smart Services, but indicate slight but fundamental differences

Discovering Blockchain for Sustainable Product-Service Systems to enhance the Circular Economy

An increasing amount of use cases is discovered for blockchain technology, since it promises tamper-proof recording of product-related data. It has the potential to improve the reliability of information management for whole supply chains and thus enables new ecologically and economically service offerings. Integrating products and services into one marketable bundle is no new concept and is referred to as product-service systems (PSS). Therefore, the methodical integration of knowledge on sustainable businesses, PSS and blockchain is a promising approach to overcome current barriers to achieve an applicable circular economy. Our study contributes a structured literature review on ongoing research in the field of sustainability-focused blockchain applications. From this, we elaborate a holistic perspective by the integration of key concepts from two additional literature reviews for blockchain and PSS. Asa result, we point out potential benefits and present the effect of blockchain on sustainable PSS with a product-life cycle model

A finite strain thermo-mechanically coupled material model for semi-crystalline polymers

In this work, a thermo-mechanically coupled constitutive model for semicrystalline polymers is derived in a thermodynamically consistent manner. In general, the macroscopic material behaviour of this class of materials is dictated by the underlying microstructure, i.e. by the distribution and structure of crystalline regimes, which form up after cooling from the amorphous melt. In order to account for the latter, the total degree of crystallinity is incorporated as an internal variable and its evolution is prescribed by means of a non-isothermal crystallisation kinetics model. The numerically efficient and robust framework is characterised based on experimental data for Polyamide 6 and shows a promising potential to predict the hyperelastic, visco-plastic material behaviour at various temperature

A finite strain thermo-mechanically coupled material model for semi-crystalline polymers

In this work, a thermo-mechanically coupled constitutive model for semicrystalline polymers is derived in a thermodynamically consistent manner. In general, the macroscopic material behaviour of this class of materials is dictated by the underlying microstructure, i.e. by the distribution and structure of crystalline regimes, which form up after cooling from the amorphous melt. In order to account for the latter, the total degree of crystallinity is incorporated as an internal variable and its evolution is prescribed by means of a non-isothermal crystallisation kinetics model. The numerically efficient and robust framework is characterised based on experimental data for Polyamide 6 and shows a promising potential to predict the hyperelastic, visco-plastic material behaviour at various temperature

Challenges at the transition from primary to secondary school with regard to English teaching

Ziel dieser Arbeit ist es, Herausforderungen und Probleme im Zusammenhang mit dem Übergang von der Volksschule in die weiterführenden Schulen (Neue Mittelschule/Hauptschule, AHS) in Österreich aufzuzeigen. Darüber hinaus sollen Möglichkeiten dargelegt werden, diese Probleme zu lösen und den Übergang zu erleichtern. Der Schwerpunkt liegt dabei auf dem Übergang hinsichtlich des Englischunterrichts. Weiters beinhaltet die Arbeit die Ergebnisse einer qualitativen Studie, die sich mit den Ansichten von LehrerInnen in einer Volksschule und in zwei Sekundarschulen in Vorarlberg auseinander setzt. Übergänge sind naturgemäß sensible und kritische Lebensereignisse, was auf jenen von der Volksschule in die weiterführenden Schulen besonders zutrifft, da dieser wichtige Entscheidungen verlangt, welche Kinder im Alter von 10 bis 11 Jahren noch nicht alleine treffen können. Ich nähere mich dem Thema der sogenannten „Nahtstellenproblematik“ auf zwei Arten. Im ersten Teil der Arbeit setze ich mich mit der deutschsprachigen Literatur zum Thema auseinander. Dabei werden häufig am Übergang auftretende Herausforderungen aus den Blickwinkeln der drei am direktesten davon betroffenen Personengruppen diskutiert, nämlich aus jenen der SchülerInnen, der LehrerInnen und der Eltern. Danach wird der Übergang in Bezug auf den Englischunterricht besprochen, wobei unter anderem auf individuelle Unterschiede zwischen Lernern sowie auf Möglichkeiten zur Erleichterung des Übergangs eingegangen wird. Die letzten beiden Kapitel der Literaturbesprechung beinhalten Informationen über das österreichische Schulsystem und einen Vergleich dreier Englischschulbücher (LASSO4, MORE1!, The New You & Me 1) mit Blick auf die Nahtstelle. Im zweiten Teil der Arbeit werden die Ergebnisse der in meinem Heimatbundesland Vorarlberg durchgeführten qualitativen Studie präsentiert. Das Ziel der Untersuchung ist es, einen Einblick in die Lehrerperspektive auf die Nahtstelle zu bekommen, wobei der Fokus wiederum auf dem Fach Englisch liegt. Zu diesem Zweck habe ich neun halbstrukturierte Leitfadeninterviews mit LehrerInnen und DirektorInnen von drei verschiedenen Vorarlberger Schulen durchgeführt. Die Ergebnisse zeugen von einem wachsenden Bewusstsein für die Wichtigkeit des Übergangs, aber sie deuten auch auf eine Lücke zwischen Primar- und Sekundarschulen hin. Diese Lücke wurzelt hauptsächlich in mangelhafter Kommunikation und Kooperation zwischen den Schulen. Möglichkeiten, dieses Problem zu bewältigen sind, unter anderem, erhöhte Kooperation zwischen Schulen, sowie vermehrter Austausch zwischen LehrerInnen der verschiedenen Schultypen und Veränderungen im Lehrplan. Auf Volksschulebene muss ein gemeinsamer Standard für den Englischunterricht gewährleistet werden, während die Aufgabe der Sekundarschulen darin besteht, die Englischkenntnisse der Erstklässler in den Unterricht mit einzubeziehen.The aim of this paper is to point out challenges and problems occurring at the transition from primary to secondary school in Austria as well as to present possible ways of solving these problems and of facilitating the transition. The main focus lies on the changeover with regard to English teaching and learning. In this context, a qualitative study of teachers’ views in one primary and two secondary schools in Vorarlberg has been carried out. Transitions are by their nature sensitive and critical life events, the transition to secondary school being a particularly important one since it involves crucial decisions and takes place at a point where the child cannot make these decisions on its own. My approach to the task of describing challenges at the transition is two-fold. In the first part of the thesis, I analyse and review existing literature on the topic of transitions in a German-speaking context. Here, frequently occurring challenges at the transition are examined from the perspectives of the three parties affected by this event most immediately, viz. students, teachers and parents. Next, the transition in the context of English teaching and learning is discussed, including aspects such as learner differences and ways of facilitating the transition. The final two chapters of the literature review contain information on the Austrian educational system and a comparison of three English textbooks (LASSO4, MORE!1, The New You & Me 1) with regard to the transition. The books are analysed in terms of their balancing of the four language skills and of the degree to which they account for the transition. In the second part, the results of a qualitative study carried out in my native province Vorarlberg are presented. The purpose of the study is to gain insight into the transition from the teachers’ perspective, again with a focus on the subject English. For this, I conducted nine semi-structured interviews with teachers and heads from three schools in Vorarlberg. The results indicate an increasing awareness of the significance of the transition, but they also point towards a gap between primary and secondary schools caused by a lack of communication and cooperation of primary and secondary levels. Possible ways of approaching this issue include increased cooperation efforts and increased exchange among teachers from different school types as well as changes in English curricula. At the primary level, a common standard for English teaching needs to be ensured, while the task for secondary level is to take into account the English skills of first grade students

Integrating Data and Service Lifecycle for Smart Service Systems Engineering: Compilation of a Lifecycle Model for the Data Ecosystem of Smart Living

In smart service systems engineering, where actors rely on the mutual exchange of data to create complex and holistic solutions, integration is crucial. Nevertheless, the management of data as a driving resource still lacks organizational structure. There is no holistic lifecycle approach that integrates data and service lifecycle and adopts a cross-actor perspective. Especially in data ecosystems, where sovereign actors depend on the mutual exchange of data to create complex, but transparent service systems, an integration is of crucial importance. This particularly applies to the smart living domain, where different industries, products and services interact in a complex environment. In this paper we address this shortcoming by proposing an integrated model that covers the different relevant lifecycles based on a systematic literature review and supplement it by concrete domain requirements from the smart living ecosystem obtained through semi-structured expert interviews

A Proof of Uniqueness of the Taub-bolt Instanton

We show that the Riemannian Schwarzschild and the ``Taub-bolt'' instanton solutions are the only spaces (M,g) such that 1) M is a 4-dimensional, simply connected manifold with a Riemannian, Ricci-flat C^2-metric g which admits (at least) a 1-parameter group of isometries H without isolated fixed points on M. 2) The quotient (M L)/H (where L is the set of fixed points of H) is an asymptotically flat manifold, and the length of the Killing field corresponding to H tends to a constant at infinity.Comment: 20 pages. LaTeX. Substantially extended and correcte

Dietary preferences of brachyuran crabs from Taiwan for marine or terrestrial food sources: evidence based on fatty acid trophic markers

Background Trophic interactions are key processes, which determine the ecological function and performance of organisms. Many decapod crustaceans feed on plant material as a source for essential nutrients, e.g. polyunsaturated fatty acids. Strictly herbivorous feeding appears only occasionally in marine decapods but is common in land crabs. To verify food preferences and to establish trophic markers, we studied the lipid and fatty acid composition of the midgut glands of two marine crab species (Grapsus albolineatus and Percnon affine), one semi-terrestrial species (Orisarma intermedium, formerly Sesarmops intermedius), and one terrestrial species (Geothelphusa albogilva) from Taiwan. Results All species showed a wide span of total lipid levels ranging from 4 to 42% of the dry mass (%DM) in the marine P. affine and from 3 to 25%DM in the terrestrial G. albogilva. Triacylglycerols (TAG) were the major storage lipid compound. The fatty acids 16:0, 18:1(n-9), and 20:4(n-6) prevailed in all species. Essential fatty acids such as 20:4(n-6) originated from the diet. Terrestrial species also showed relatively high amounts of 18:2(n-6), which is a trophic marker for vascular plants. The fatty acid compositions of the four species allow to clearly distinguish between marine and terrestrial herbivorous feeding due to significantly different amounts of 16:0, 18:1(n-9), and 18:2(n-6). Conclusions Based on the fatty acid composition, marine/terrestrial herbivory indices were defined and compared with regard to their resolution and differentiating capacity. These indices can help to reveal trophic preferences of unexplored species, particularly in habitats of border regions like mangrove intertidal flats and estuaries