The combined thermic effect of food, continuous, and intermittent exercise

This summary examined the excess post-exercise O{dollar}\sb2{dollar} consumption (EPOC) after a 45 min exercise period at approximately 70% of VO{dollar}\sb{\rm 2max.}{dollar}, the EPOC after three 15 min exercise periods at the same intensity, and the thermic effect of a standard liquid meal (10 kcal{dollar}\cdot{dollar}kg{dollar}\sp{-1}{dollar} of LBM) in conjunction with the exercise. Three of five treatment days were designed to single out: treatment 1: TEM(X = 7.6 I (4.3)), treatment 2: the EPOC after a 45 min running period: EPOC45 (X = 6.9 I (3.4)), and treatment 4: the EPOC after three 15 min running periods three hours apart: EPOC 3 x 15 (X = 15.0 I (3.0)). The other two were combinations of treatments one and two and treatments one and four. Trends toward a greater EPOC in combination with three separate exercise periods were observed. There also appeared to be a greater combined EPOC and TEM in conjunction with three exercise periods. (Abstract shortened with permission of author.)

KMC-2: an X-ray beamline with dedicated diffraction and XAS endstations at BESSY II

The KMC-2 beamline is dedicated to provide X-ray radiation with high energy stability and resolution. The experimental setup is optimized towards offering a wide range of methods and sample environments. Two permanent endstations can be used in alternation. DIFFRACTION is a flexible multi-purpose diffractometer, based on a Huber six circle diffractometer in psi geometry. XANES provides the possibility for EXAFS, XANES and X-ray fluorescence measurements at-air

A Model-Driven Engineering Approach for ROS using Ontological Semantics

This paper presents a novel ontology-driven software engineering approach for the development of industrial robotics control software. It introduces the ReApp architecture that synthesizes model-driven engineering with semantic technologies to facilitate the development and reuse of ROS-based components and applications. In ReApp, we show how different ontological classification systems for hardware, software, and capabilities help developers in discovering suitable software components for their tasks and in applying them correctly. The proposed model-driven tooling enables developers to work at higher abstraction levels and fosters automatic code generation. It is underpinned by ontologies to minimize discontinuities in the development workflow, with an integrated development environment presenting a seamless interface to the user. First results show the viability and synergy of the selected approach when searching for or developing software with reuse in mind.Comment: Presented at DSLRob 2015 (arXiv:1601.00877), Stefan Zander, Georg Heppner, Georg Neugschwandtner, Ramez Awad, Marc Essinger and Nadia Ahmed: A Model-Driven Engineering Approach for ROS using Ontological Semantic

Managing the intake of new patients into a physician panel over time

This article focuses on balancing supply and demand for physicians and panel patients on a tactical level to ensure a manageable workload for the physician and access to care for patients. Patients are part of the physician’s panel if they visit the physician somewhat regularly. For the first time, we propose deterministic integer linear programs that decide on the intake of new patients into panels over time, taking into account the future panel development. The main objective is to minimize the deviation between the expected panel workload and the physician’s capacity over time. We classify panel patients with respect to age and the number of visits in a period and assume a transition probability from one visit category to another from one period to the next. We can include stationary patient attributes and consider several physicians together. The programs work with aggregation levels for the new patients’ demand concerning the patient attributes. We conduct experiments with parameters based on real-world data. We consider the transition between visit categories and the new patients’ demand to be stochastic in a discrete-event simulation. We define upper bounds on the number of patients in a patient class to be accepted in a period through solving the programs several times with different demand inputs. Even in this uncertain environment, we can significantly reduce the expected differences between workload and capacity over time, taking into account several future periods instead of one. Using a detailed classification of new patients decreases the expected differences further

An infrastructure for context-dependent RDF data replication on mobile devices

Der im Rahmen dieser Arbeit vorgestellte Ansatz beschreibt die Erstellung einer technischen Infrastruktur, die selektiv RDF-Daten in Abhängigkeit der Informationsbedürfnisse und den unterschiedlichen Kontexten mobiler Nutzer auf ein mobiles Endgerät repliziert und diese somit in intelligenter Art und Weise unterstützt. Eine Zusammenführung kontextspezifischer Konzepte und semantischer Technologien stellt einen wesentlichen Bestandteil zur Verbesserung der mobilen Informationssuche dar und erhöht gleichzeitig die Präzision mobiler Informationsgewinnungsprozesse. Trotz des vorhandenen Potentials einer proaktiven, kontextabhängigen Replizierung von RDF-Daten, gestaltet sich die Verarbeitung auf mobilen Endgeräten schwierig. Die Gründe dafür liegen in den technischen und netzwerkspezifischen Beschränkungen, in der fehlenden Verarbeitungs- und Verwaltungsfunktionalität von ontologiebasierten Beschreibungsverfahren sowie in der Unzulänglichkeit bestehender Replikationsansätze, sich an verändernde Informationsbedürfnisse sowie an unterschiedliche technische, umgebungsspezifische und infrastrukturbezogene Eigenheiten anzupassen. Verstärkt wird diese Problematik durch das Fehlen ausdrucksstarker Beschreibungsverfahren zur Repräsentation kontextspezifischer Daten. Existierende Ansätze leiden dementsprechend unter der Verwendung proprietärer Datenformate, dem Einsatz serverabhängiger Applikationsinfrastrukturen sowie dem Unvermögen, kontextspezifische Daten auszutauschen. Dies äußert sich in Studien, welche die Berücksichtigung der Informationsbedürfnisse mobiler Nutzer als unzureichend einstuft und einen Großteil der benötigten Informationen als kontextrelevant auszeichnet. Obgleich Fortschritte bei der Adaption von semantischen Technologien und Beschreibungsverfahren zur kontextabhängigen Verarbeitung zu erkennen sind, bleibt eine auf semantische Technologien basierende, proaktive Replizierung von RDF-Daten auf mobile Endgeräte ein offenes Forschungsfeld. Die vorliegende Arbeit diskutiert Möglichkeiten zur Erweiterung der mobilen, kontextspezifischen Datenverarbeitung durch semantische Technologien und beinhaltet eine vergleichende Studie zur Leistungsfähigkeit aktueller mobiler RDF-Frameworks. Kernpunkt ist die formale Beschreibung eines abstrakten Modells zur effizienten Akquise, Repräsentation, Verwaltung und Verarbeitung von Kontextinformationen unter Berücksichtigung der technischen Gegebenheiten mobiler Informationssysteme. Ergänzt wird es durch die formale Spezifikation eines nebenläufigen, transaktionsbasierten Verarbeitungsmodells, welches Vollständigkeits- und Konsistenzbedingungen auf Daten- und Prozessebene berücksichtigt. Der praktische Nutzen des vorliegenden Ansatzes wird anhand typischer Informationsbedürfnisse eines Wissensarbeiters demonstriert. Der Ansatz reduziert Abhängigkeiten zu externen Systemen und ermöglicht Nutzern, unabhängig von zeitlichen, örtlichen und netzwerkspezifischen Gegebenheiten, auf die für sie relevanten Daten zuzugreifen und diese zu verarbeiten. Durch die lokale Verarbeitung kontextbezogener Daten wird sowohl die Privatssphäre des Nutzers gewahrt als auch sicherheitsrelevanten Aspekten Rechnung getragen.This work describes an infrastructure for the selective RDF data replication to mobile devices while considering current and future information needs of mobile users and the different contexts they are operating in. It presents a novel approach in synthesizing context-aware computing concepts with semantic technologies and distributed transaction management concepts for intelligently assisting mobile users while enhancing mobile information seeking behavior and increasing the precision of mobile information retrieval processes. Despite the huge potential of a proactive, context-dependent replication of RDF data, such data can not be efficiently processed on mobile devices due to (i) technical limitations and network-related constraints, (ii) missing processing and management capabilities of ontology-based description frameworks, (iii) the inability of traditional data replication strategies to adapt to changing user information needs and to consider technical, environmental, and infrastructural restrictions of mobile operating systems, and (iv) the dynamic and emergent nature of context, which requires flexible and extensible description frameworks that allow for elaborating on the semantics of contextual constellations as well as on the relationships that exist between them. As a consequence, existing approaches suffer from the deployment of proprietary data formats, server-dependent application infrastructures, and the inability to share and exchange contextual information across system borders. Moreover, results of recently conducted studies reveal that mobile users find their information needs inadequately addressed, where a large share can be attributed as context or context-relevant. Although progress has been made in applying semantic technologies, concepts, and languages to the domain of context-aware computing, a synthesis of those fields for the proactive provision of RDF data replicas on mobile devices remains an open research issue. This work discusses possible fields where context-aware computing can be enhanced using technologies, languages, and concepts from the Semantic Web and contains a comparative study about the performance of current mobile RDF frameworks in replication-specific tasks. The main contribution of this thesis is a formal description of an abstract model that allows for an efficient acquisition, representation, management, and processing of contextual information while taking into account the peculiarities and operating environments of mobile information systems. It is complemented by a formal specification of a concurrently operating transaction-based processing model that considers completeness and consistency requirements on data and process level. We demonstrate the practicability of the presented approach trough a prototypical implementation of context and data providers that satisfy typical information needs of a mobile knowledge worker. As a consequence, dependencies to external systems are reduced and users are equipped with relevant information that adheres to their information needs anywhere and at any time, independent of any network-related constraints. Since context-relevant data are processed directly on a mobile device, security and privacy issues are preserved

The impact of electricity tariffs on residential demand side flexibility

Energy systems based on renewable energy sources require increasing demand side flexibility. Also, changes in the underlying cost structure, i. e., decreasing variable costs and increasing infrastructure investments, and varying customer needs should be reflected in the setup of future markets, including retail markets and electricity providers’ tariffs. While various studies focus solely on tariffs with variable energy prices to leverage residential demand side flexibility, we incorporate tariffs with a variable capacity price component in our analysis. The latter enables electricity providers to offer more differentiated tariffs, considering individual customer needs and a balanced cost allocation. To compare the impact of different tariffs on residential demand side flexibility, we develop a bottom-up load model. This model not only simulates but also optimizes residential load profiles according to different tariffs. In order to account for behavioral aspects, the model is calibrated based on data from a large-scale field trial. Our results show that tariffs with variable energy prices induce larger demand side flexibility, but the impact of tariffs with variable capacity prices is more predictable and reliable from a supplier’s point of view. To enable sustainable business models, politics should change regulations rewarding demand side flexibility and facilitating the technical implementation

Assessment of Nitrogen Management on Sunflower Yield and Its Economic Response in Smallholder Farms in a Semi-Arid Region

Although sunflower production in Tanzania is increasing, smallholder farmers still face a number of constraints that result in poor yields. Lack or inadequate nutrient supply is one of the main factors limiting crop productivity in Tanzania. However, mineral fertilizer is not always easily available and not economically affordable by smallholder farmers. Therefore, the use of animal manure could be a feasible and financially viable alternative, especially in the Dodoma region, where there is abundant livestock production. The aim is to analyze the effects of different animal manure rates on sunflower yield and the economic response of smallholder farms from Dodoma region. The dataset used in this study was obtained from a 2-year in loco survey. Sunflower yields under different animal manure rates were obtained using a process-based biophysical model, and results linked to an economic assessment. Results considering the 2015 and 2045 period showed a positive effect of animal manure application in sunflower yield (866.8 kg ha(-1)) under manure rate limiting 5000 kg ha(-1). The high rates of animal manure showed a decrease on yield providing evidence that water stress becomes the main limit factor for sunflower growth. Taking the economic assessment into account, an animal manure rate of 3000-5000 kg ha(-1) is the most appropriate fertilization management under the environmental and social conditions of Dodoma region, providing a profitable financial return to the farmers (283-416 USD ha(-1)). Therefore, sunflower is an attractive cash crop for Tanzanian farmers when the soil fertilization is properly managed