Covalent Adaptable Microstructures via Combining Two-Photon Laser Printing and Alkoxyamine Chemistry: Toward Living 3D Microstructures

Manufacturing programmable materials, whose mechanical properties can be adapted on demand, is highly desired for their application in areas ranging from robotics, to biomedicine, or microfluidics. Herein, the inclusion of dynamic and living bonds, such as alkoxyamines, in a printable formulation suitable for two-photon 3D laser printing is exploited. On one hand, taking advantage of the dynamic covalent character of alkoxyamines, the nitroxide exchange reaction is investigated. As a consequence, a reduction of the Young´s Modulus by 50%, is measured by nanoindentation. On the other hand, due to its “living” characteristic, the chain extension becomes possible via nitroxide mediated polymerization. In particular, living nitroxide mediated polymerization of styrene results not only in a dramatic increase of the volume (≈8 times) of the 3D printed microstructure but also an increase of the Young's Modulus by two orders of magnitude (from 14 MPa to 2.7 GPa), while maintaining the shape including fine structural details. Thus, the approach introduces a new dimension by enabling to create microstructures with dynamically tunable size and mechanical properties.     

Locating computer clubs in multicultural neighborhoods: How collaborative project work fosters integration processes

Located in socially and culturally diverse neighborhoods, we have built a network of intercultural computer clubs, called come_IN. These clubs offer a place to share practices among children and adults of diverse ethnical backgrounds. We show how this initiative ties into the striving for the integration of migrant communities and host society in Germany. In this paper, we analyze how collaborative project work and the use of mobile media and technologies contribute to integration processes in multicultural neighborhoods. Qualitative data gathered from interviews with club participants, participative observation in the computer clubs, as well as the analysis of artifacts created during project work provides the background needed to match local needs and peculiarities with (mobile) technologies. Based on these findings we present two approaches to add to the technological infrastructure: (1) a mesh-network extending the clubs into the neighborhood and (2) a project management tool, which supports projects and stimulates the sharing of ideas among projects.     

Distance-based local linear regression for functional predictors

The problem of nonparametrically predicting a scalar response variable from a functional predictor is considered. A sample of pairs (functional predictor and response) is observed. When predicting the response for a new functional predictor value, a semi-metric is used to compute the distances between the new and the previously observed functional predictors. Then each pair in the original sample is weighted according to a decreasing function of these distances. A Weighted (Linear) Distance-Based Regression is fitted, where the weights are as above and the distances are given by a possibly different semi-metric. This approach can be extended to nonparametric predictions from other kinds of explanatory variables (e.g., data of mixed type) in a natural way.     

To Score or Not to Score? Tripling Insights for Participatory Design

For evaluating visual-analytics tools, many studies confine to scoring user insights into data. For participatory design of those tools, we propose a three-level methodology to make more out of users' insights. The Relational Insight Organizer (RIO) helps to understand how insights emerge and build on one each other.     

Semantics-driven annotation of patient-specific 3D data: a step to assist diagnosis and treatment of rheumatoid arthritis

In the digital era, patient-specific 3D models (3D-PSMs) are becoming increasingly relevant in computer-assisted diagnosis, surgery training on digital models, or implant design. While advanced imaging and reconstruction techniques can create accurate and detailed 3D models of patients’ anatomy, software tools that are able to fully exploit the potential of 3D-PSMs are still far from being satisfactory. In particular, there is still a lack of integrated approaches for extracting, coding, sharing and retrieving medically relevant information from 3D-PSMs and use it concretely as a support to diagnosis and treatment. In this article, we propose the SemAnatomy3D framework, which demonstrates how the ontology-driven annotation of 3D-PSMs and of their anatomically relevant features (parts of relevance) can assist clinicians to document more effectively pathologies and their evolution. We exemplify the idea in the context of the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis of the hand district, and show how feature extraction tools and semantic 3D annotation can provide a rich characterization of anatomical landmarks (e.g., articular facets, prominent features, ligament attachments) and pathological markers (erosions, bone loss). The core contributions are an ontology-driven part-based annotation method for the 3D-PSMs and a novel automatic localization of erosion and quantification of the OMERACT RAMRIS erosion score. Finally, our results have been compared against a medical ground truth.     

The Early Bird Gets the Worm,But the Second Mouse Gets the Cheese: Non‐Technological Innovation in Creative Industries

In the context of economic turmoil, firms in the creative industries (CIs) must make fast decisions as to when to break through with innovations. This paper discusses non‐technological, organizational innovation of early‐adopters, first movers and early followers in order to overcome persistent economic decline, and the implication of different strategies for innovation success. The strategic principle of the pioneer's advantage rests on pre‐emption – the premise that ‘the early bird gets the worm’ and this often applies to business model innovation (BMI). ‘But the second mouse gets the cheese’ points at early followers who may have a more systematic, strategic approach towards innovation. Greater understanding of the advantages of each strategic approach and their significance for innovation performance is critical for CIs where unpredictability and the accelerating pace of change pervade the decisions concerning innovation. Drawing on five exemplary cases of archaeological firms in Spain, this paper explores different innovation process dynamics. The study develops a contingency model where pioneers who challenge their current business model, may be outperformed by early followers who incorporate complementary management innovation (MI) initiatives into the BMI.