Scalable production of hydrophobic starch/beeswax films by continuous solution casting

Starch is an appealing natural polymer for the scaled-up production of biodegradable plastics. However, the low water resistance of starch has made its broad applicability largely doubted. In this study, starch was combined with beeswax (BW) through a pilot scale continuous solution casting (CSC) technique to reduce water affinity while keeping the ensuing films totally biodegradable. The phase morphology, surface wettability, and water vapor permeability (WVP) of films were examined over a broad BW–starch mass ratio (0.3–0.7). Emulsified, surfactant-free starch/BW films were successfully obtained at a productivity of 0.55 m² film h⁻¹. The water contact angle increased nearly by 100% at 30 wt% BW, leading to remarkable reductions in WVP. BW droplets well distributed within the starch matrix played a key role in enhancing the water barrier properties of films. CSC of starch/BW films offers a basis to design new hydrophobic formulations for applications that require biodegradable plastics with high moisture resistance.     

Experimentelle Ermittlung von Werkstoffkenngrößen für innovative Leichtbauprodukte – Bauschinger‐Kenngrößen für 54SiCr6 auf Basis von Zug‐/Druckversuchen

Simulation of multiple plastic bending deformations processes with loadings vice versa needs suitable parameters. For high‐strength spring steel there are not enough investigations available. Investigation and comparison of appropriate parameters for 54SiCr6 will be shown. On the one hand the results of tensile/pressure trials at 54SiCr6 shows that Bauschinger‐Effect is existing. Dependence of tangent modulus and plastic reverse deformation to degree of plastic deformation are obvious. Tangent modulus is decreasing according to increasing plastic deformation – plastic reverse deformation increases according to increasing plastic deformation. Investigated parameters probably depend to degree of plastic deformation and do presumable not accord to deformation history.     

The p53 tumor suppressor targets a novel regulator of G protein signaling

Heterotrimeric G proteins transduce multiple growth-factor-receptor-initiated and intracellular signals that may lead to activation of the mitogen-activated or stress-activated protein kinases. Herein we report on the identification of a novel p53 target gene (A28-RGS14) that is induced in response to genotoxic stress and encodes a novel member of a family of regulators of G protein signaling (RGS) proteins with proposed GTPase-activating protein activity. Overexpression of A28-RGS14p protein inhibits both Gi- and Gq-coupled growth-factor-receptor-mediated activation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathway in mammalian cells. Thus, through the induction of A28-RGS14, p53 may regulate cellular sensitivity to growth and/or survival factors acting through G protein-coupled receptor pathways.     

Micro- and integrated optical devices in glasses and polymers for hybride integration into microsystems

Micro- and integrated-optical devices in glass and polymers are integrated increasingly in microsystems. Design and simulation of such optical elements are well developed. Ray tracing and a manifold of propagation and field calculation methods are available. First steps to CAD have been done.Using Ag⁺–Na⁺ ion exchange in special optical glasses, one-and two-dimensional refractive index profiles of definite shape have been realezed. Good quality one-dimensional profiles can be used for micro-cylindrical lens fabrication (N.A.0.5), two dimensional index gradients have been used for phase grating fabrication. E-beam direct writing with variable shaped beam has been used successfully to realize different types of surface corrugated microoptical components. Embossing in polymers is a well suitable method for fabrication of passive integrated-optical devices and of micro-optical elements as refractive and diffractive lenses and lens arrays, corrugated prisms and gratings. Applications of glass and polymer microoptical devices have been demonstrated for laser diode collimation, in miniaturized interferometers, beam deflectors and modulators.     

On the application of genetic expectancies as age-specific base rates in the study of human behavior disorders.

"The long recognized tendency of many abnormal behavior patterns to run in families may prove useful in understanding, predicting, and controlling such behavior, regardless of whether the ultimate cause lies in social heredity or in biological heredity and regardless of the extent to which these are correlated." The writers suggest that it is now possible to determine age-specific statements of probability that various disorders will develop in various subpopulations which should be studied longitudinally to discover the differences between those Ss who develop the disorder and those who do not. Examples of the uses of genetic expectancies are given. 25 references. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Efficient coupling into polymer waveguides by gratings

Investigations of highly efficient grating couplers for polymer slab and strip waveguides fabricated by electron-beam lithography are reported. A maximum input efficiency of 67% is achieved. The electron-beam direct-writing technique allows one to replicate the original gratings into polymer substrates by embossing. An all-polymeric optical chip with efficient grating couplers is demonstrated. Waveguide grating couplers with blazed profile and variable grating depth are investigated. Thus, the intensity distribution of the outcoupled light is matched to a Gaussian-like profile. A focusing blazed grating that couples the light with an efficiency of 42% into a polymer strip waveguide is reported. A curvature correction of the grating lines allows one to improve the focusing properties.     

Enhanced damage classification accuracy on a transmission by extending existing datasets with generative adversarial networks

In many areas of drive technology, condition monitoring of transmissions and drive systems is becoming an increasingly important discipline. Condition monitoring systems are used in many cases in combination with machine learning algorithms. The generation of a sufficient amount of data per condition class is relevant to ensure training stability and accuracy of the applied algorithms. Especially in early development phases a sufficient data generation is not often given. In the scope of this paper, a Generative Adversarial Network is applied to generate synthetic data and therefore extend existing measurement data sets. Acceleration data in three different condition classes is used, that has been collected on a gearbox as part of the PHM Data Challenge 2009. In order to highlight relevant features and reduce the number of data points, data is pre-processed via appropriate signal analysis techniques, in this case with the spectral kurtosis. It is shown, that in this use case the synthetically generated data via a Generative Adversarial Network has the same feature characteristics as the real measured data sets. The augmentation of the existing data set also improves the detection accuracy with artificial neural networks for the classification of different system states.

     

Principal Angles Separate Subject Illumination Spaces in YDB and CMU-PIE

The theory of illumination subspaces is well developed and has been tested extensively on the Yale Face Database B (YDB) and CMU-PIE (PIE) data sets. This paper shows that if face recognition under varying illumination is cast as a problem of matching sets of images to sets of images, then the minimal principal angle between subspaces is sufficient to perfectly separate matching pairs of image sets from nonmatching pairs of image sets sampled from YDB and PIE. This is true even for subspaces estimated from as few as six images and when one of the subspaces is estimated from as few as three images if the second subspace is estimated from a larger set (10 or more). This suggests that variation under illumination may be thought of as useful discriminating information rather than unwanted noise.     

New business models for electric cars—A holistic approach

Climate change and global resource shortages have led to rethinking traditional individual mobility services based on combustion engines. As the consequence of technological improvements, the first electric vehicles are now being introduced and greater market penetration can be expected. But any wider implementation of battery-powered electrical propulsion systems in the future will give rise to new challenges for both the traditional automotive industry and other new players, e.g. battery manufacturers, the power supply industry and other service providers. Different application cases of electric vehicles are currently being discussed which means that numerous business models could emerge, leading to new shares in value creation and involving new players. Consequently, individual stakeholders are uncertain about which business models are really effective with regard to targeting a profitable overall concept. Therefore, this paper aims to define a holistic approach to developing business models for electric mobility, which analyzes the system as a whole on the one hand and provides decision support for affected enterprises on the other. To do so, the basic elements of electric mobility are considered and topical approaches to business models for various stakeholders are discussed. The paper concludes by presenting a systemic instrument for business models based on morphological methods.