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Interview with Avichal Singh, Founder and Game Designer of Nodding Heads Games
Get PDFInterview with Avichal Singh, Founder and Game Designer of Nodding Heads Games, Pune, India
Figurationen des Orients. Eine Analyse von August Tholucks Orientbild und seiner Beziehung zur deutschen Orientalistik im 19. Jahrhundert.
Get PDFIn dieser Monographie wird der Beantwortung von drei Forschungsfragen nachgegangen, die sich mit dem Erweckungstheologen Friedrich August Gotttreu Tholuck befassen. Zunächst soll die Analyse von Tholucks Orientschriften darüber Auskunft geben, wie er seinen Orient charakterisiert und gestaltet hat sowie in welchem Verhältnis dieses Bild zu den zeitgenössischen Orientdiskursen steht. Im Anschluss soll kritisch hinterfragt werden, ob sich aus den Ergebnissen die vermeintlich große Bedeutung Tholucks für den deutschen Orientalismus ablesen lassen kann. Die Orientschriften von Tholuck, welche als Quellen dienen, sind dabei die Blüthensammlung aus der morgenländischen Mystik: nebst einer Einleitung über Mystik überhaupt und Morgenländische insbesondere von 1825 und Die speculative Trinitätslehre des späteren Orients von 1826
A Primal-Dual Augmented Lagrangian Penalty-Interior-Point Algorithm for Nonlinear Programming
Get PDFThis thesis treats a new numerical solution method for large-scale nonlinear optimization problems. Nonlinear programs occur in a wide range of engineering and academic applications like discretized optimal control processes and parameter identification of physical systems. The most efficient and robust solution approaches for this problem class have been shown to be sequential quadratic programming and primal-dual interior-point methods. The proposed algorithm combines a variant of the latter with a special penalty function to increase its robustness due to an automatic regularization of the nonlinear constraints caused by the penalty term. In detail, a modified barrier function and a primal-dual augmented Lagrangian approach with an exact l2-penalty is used. Both share the property that for certain Lagrangian multiplier estimates the barrier and penalty parameter do not have to converge to zero or diverge, respectively. This improves the conditioning of the internal linear equation systems near the optimal solution, handles rank-deficiency of the constraint derivatives for all non-feasible iterates and helps with identifying infeasible problem formulations. Although the resulting merit function is non-smooth, a certain step direction is a guaranteed descent. The algorithm includes an adaptive update strategy for the barrier and penalty parameters as well as the Lagrangian multiplier estimates based on a sensitivity analysis. Global convergence is proven to yield a first-order optimal solution, a certificate of infeasibility or a Fritz-John point and is maintained by combining the merit function with a filter or piecewise linear penalty function. Unlike the majority of filter methods, no separate feasibility restoration phase is required. For a fixed barrier parameter the method has a quadratic order of convergence. Furthermore, a sensitivity based iterative refinement strategy is developed to approximate the optimal solution of a parameter dependent nonlinear program under parameter changes. It exploits special sensitivity derivative approximations and converges locally with a linear convergence order to a feasible point that further satisfies the perturbed complementarity condition of the modified barrier method. Thereby, active-set changes from active to inactive can be handled. Due to a certain update of the Lagrangian multiplier estimate, the refinement is suitable in the context of warmstarting the penalty-interior-point approach. A special focus of the thesis is the development of an algorithm with excellent performance in practice. Details on an implementation of the proposed primal-dual penalty-interior-point algorithm in the nonlinear programming solver WORHP and a numerical study based on the CUTEst test collection is provided. The efficiency and robustness of the algorithm is further compared to state-of-the-art nonlinear programming solvers, in particular the interior-point solvers IPOPT and KNITRO as well as the sequential quadratic programming solvers SNOPT and WORHP
The Self Across the Gap of Death : Some Christian Constructions of Continued Identity from Athenagoras to Ratzinger and Their Relevance to Digital Reconstitutions
No full textThe difficulty of continuity of identity across the gap of death is a well-known problem in Christian eschatology. This article looks at three ways in which this has been addressed by Christian theologians: Relational Material Identity, Natural Numerical Identity, and Supernaturally Established Permanence. These three approaches are then abstracted and applied to the problem of the continuity of a game-body across a gap of non-existence presented either by in-game death or by program termination. Pointing out difficulties in Relational Material Identity, a tentative model of Natural Numerical Identity is seen as possible, while the Supernaturally Established Permanence, in this case rooted in the mind of the player, is seen as the most plausible means of guaranteeing continuity for a game body across gaps of non-existence
Wie ist nach dem aktuellen Forschungsstand die Qualität der Pflege zu beurteilen? Und: Welchen Beitrag leisten die Ergebnisse der externen Qualitätssicherung in Bezug auf die Pflegequalität im Krankenhaus?
No full textRelevance / Background Quality and efficiency are used by policymakers as governance criteria in healthcare. This includes the question of the efficiency and quality of care quality in the hospital. The questions about the quality of care, however, can not currently be answered. In addition, qualified specialist staff is missing with increasing care needs. Research question How is the quality of care in the hospital to be assessed and which contribution do the two quality indicators from external inpatient quality assurance make to the quality of care in the hospital? What are supporting criteria for quality in the hospital and how can quality of care be reflected in the hospital at all levels? Methodology Literature review and concept analysis on the theoretical concepts and influencing factors on the quality of care in the hospital. Literature search for quality indicators and findings on decubitus incidence in the hospital. The research took place in the databases PubMed, Embase, Medline, CINAHL and the Cohrane Libery. Exclusion criteria have been defined and specified. A total of 198 studies, 58 reviews and 47 theoretical models and concept papers were included in the review and evaluated. Published data on the Dekubtius incidence of external inpatient quality assurance were used and evaluated. State of research Theoretical models and concept papers are based for the majority of models in the field of quality management and the continuous improvement process and the organization and system theory, less often are concepts of professional attitude and patient centering. Evidence was found from the studies that have a positive effect on the quality of results in the hospital and also on the nurse outcomes. Starting with structures and defined process descriptions on cultural aspects and personality traits of caregivers. Results The questions about the quality of care in the hospital remain open. There is a lack of studies in the German context and a common definition of care quality is lacking in order to be able to evaluate them. The findings on decubitus incidence also difficult to interpret. However, there are indications of criteria that have a positive effect on patient outcomes and nurse outcomes. There are quality indicators and instruments that are used internationally for quality measurement. However, these often only refer to errors and adverse events and only represent part of the quality of care. Discussion The quality control tools used by policy makers have not yet been evaluated for their effectiveness. The political discussion focuses on minimum numbers of employees and thus does not do equitable to the complexity of factors influencing the quality of care. There is a very elaborate quality assurance process with two quality indicators for care and over 400 medical quality indicators. Care quality can not be comprehensively mapped. It requires a definition of care quality, developed from the occupational group with the derivation and definition of quality indicators to comprehensively map and measure quality of care with quantitative and qualitative survey methods. There is a lack of national research on care quality in the hospital to map the complex influencing factors and to meet them
Connectivity and exploitation of Acanthurus triostegus and Acanthurus leucosternon in the Indian Ocean : Application of genetics and single stock assessment to aid coral reef management
Get PDFExtrinsic/abiotic and intrinsic/biotic factors can influence the connectivity and exploitation of reef fish. Coral reef fish from the genus Acanthurus have evolved different life history characteristics that can affect their connectivity and exploitation. The aim of this thesis is to explore the population genetic structure and growth parameters of Acanthurus triostegus and Acanthurus leucosternon in the Indian Ocean, to determine the influence of biotic and abiotic factors on the connectivity and exploitation of coral reef species. First, a 491bp fragment of cytochrome b and microsatellite loci was used to show that the long pelagic larval duration of acanthurids can confer widespread genetic connectivity to A. leucosternon in the Eastern Africa region. Although the global AMOVA (Analysis of Molecular Variance) involving all A. leucosternon Eastern African population is significant, the hierarchical AMOVA and STRUCTURE does not show any genetic breaks consistent with known Eastern African oceanographic and biogeographical barriers to dispersal. Second, a mitochondrial DNA fragment spanning the ATPase8 and ATPase6 gene regions is used to demonstrate that the genetic differentiation of A. triostegus is correlated with geographic distance throughout the Indo-Pacific. In addition, this study shows that populations of A. triostegus are significantly differentiated in the Indian Ocean (Western Indian Ocean and East Indian Ocean), but not in the Pacific Ocean (West, Central, and East Pacific). Third, using syntopic sampling of the spawning aggregating A. triostegus and monogamous pairing A. leucosternon this study determined the influence of mating behaviour on the connectivity of these two Acanthurus species. Contrary to expectations, DAPC (discriminant analysis of principal components), hierarchical AMOVA, and pairwise comparisons showed that the divergent mating behaviour does not lead to differences in the connectivity patterns of A. leucosternon and A. triostegus, but the two species experienced differences in their demographic history. A detailed analysis in BEAST (Bayesian Evolutionary analysis Sampling Trees) showed iv that A. leucosternon which is often restricted to coral reef habitats had a faster and more recent demographic expansion than the habitat generalist A. triostegus. Finally, the growth parameters and mortality of A. triostegus and A. leucosternon were estimated, to determine whether differences in mating behaviour can lead to differences in exploitation rate. Consistent with expectations, the length-based stock assessment showed that the A. triostegus, the species that often forms spawning aggregation has a higher exploitation rate than the monogamous pairing A. leucosternon, supporting previous studies indicating that spawning aggregation may increase the susceptibility of coral reef fish to fishing
Adult neurogenesis as a potential source for regeneration of structural brain damage : Redirection of neuronal precursor cells from the rostral migratory stream into prefrontal cortex lesions in adult rats
Get PDFUp until today physical brain damage is incurable. Whenever cells of the central nervous system are lost, either due to a traumatic brain injury, stroke, or neurodegenerative diseases, they are considered irretrievably lost. Nonetheless, the adult mammalian brain features two distinct areas capable of continuous production of neuronal precursor cells: The subgranular zone of the hippocampus and the subventricular zone around the walls of the lateral ventricles. The subventricular zone-derived neuroblasts follow a rigid migratory path, the rostral migratory stream (RMS), through the forebrain towards the olfactory bulb. En route they form elongated aggregates, so called migration chains, which accelerate the migration, but also hinder the cells from leaving the RMS. Within the present project two methods were evaluated with regard to their potential to redirect neuroblasts from the RMS of adult rats towards a nearby brain lesion
Werkzeuge zur Unterstützung des Betriebs von Offshore-Windparks : Einzelbericht - Umwelt und Qualitätsmanagement in der Betriebsführung von Offshore Windparks
No full textZiel des Projektvorhabens KrOW! - Kosten- und risikogesteuerter Betrieb von Offshore-Windparks ist es, die Prozessorganisation der strategischen und operativen Betriebsführung von Offshore-Windparks durch Entscheidungsunterstützungen zu verbessern. Hierfür wurden verschiedene Werkzeuge zur Unterstützung des Betriebspersonals und der strategischen Ausrichtung des Betriebsführungskonzeptes entwickelt, die in Einzelberichten oder als Gesamtbericht (http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:gbv:46-00107084-14) abgerufen werden können. Umwelt und Qualitätsmanagement in der Betriebsführung von Offshore Windparks - Ermittlung relevanter Qualitäts und Umweltmanagementkennzahlen in der OWP Betriebsführung - Einbindung dokumentierter Informationen in den Betrieb von OW
Microbial activity in marine sediment constrained via lipid-based stable isotope probing
No full textMicrobial-driven organic matter mineralization in marine sediment plays a vital role in the global carbon cycle. However, microbial activities and metabolisms in this environment are poorly constrained. This thesis aimed to quantitatively assess microbial activity by using a lipid-based stable isotope probing (SIP) method. Compared with 13C- or 15N-labelled organic substrates, dual labelling with D2O and 13C-inorganic carbon (IC) substrates serves to estimate in situ microbial activity with minimal distortion of in situ nutrient conditions. This approach provides an estimate of total microbial activity and can distinguish microbial metabolisms based on the ratio of incorporation of 13C-IC vs D2O (R13C/D) into microbial lipids (cf. Wegener et al., 2012). However, the current working hypothesis is based solely on the cultivation of the Deltaproteobacterium Desulfosarcina variabilis and thus poorly constrained. Therefore, additional empirical evidence is required for broad scale application of this proxy, e.g., to archaea. To extend the application of this dual SIP method, the methanogen archaeon Methanosarcina barkeri was incubated with D2O and 13C-IC under different conditions (H2/CO2, acetate and methanol; Chapter II). Incorporation of IC and water-derived H were dependent on the carbon substrates used for growth. The relatively low water H contribution ( 40%) to lipids yielded an increased R13C/D ratio that exceeded the assumed upper limit of 1 (cf. Wegener et al., 2012). This finding invokes more investigation of water H contribution to microbial lipids in order to quantitatively estimate microbial activity in environmental settings. By using the dual SIP method, this thesis further investigated the microbial activities and metabolisms in surface costal sediments under in situ sulfate-reducing conditions including an intertidal sediment from Janssand (Wadden Sea, Germany; Chapter III) and estuarine sediment from the Rhone River prodelta (Gulf of Lions, France; Chapter IV). Average turnover times of bacteria and archaea populations were 7.4 and 110 years, respectively. Compared with archaea, IC was significantly incorporated into bacterial fatty acids in surface sediments, with the assimilation rates ranging from 0.15 to 1.3 A g gdw-1 yr-1. Furthermore, R13C/D of bacterial fatty acids ranged from 0.07 to 0.23, indicating that heterotrophic bacteria were dominant and measured inorganic carbon fixation rates likely resulted from their anapleurotic reactions. To further explore the potential for IC assimilation among Archaea, a surface estuarine sediment (upper 10 cm) from Hangzhou Bay (East China Sea, China; Chapter V) was incubated anaerobically with different organic substrates (i.e., casein, oleic acids, cellulose, phenol and lignin) and 13C-IC. Only the addition of lignin stimulated the growth of Bathyarchaeota (formerly referred as Miscellaneous Crenarchaeotal Group, MCG) and resulted in 13C-labelling of their putative lipids. Together, these results suggest that Bathyarchaeota can use lignin as an energy source and IC as a carbon source. The demonstration of Bathyarchaeota metabolism of lignin sheds new light into microbial carbon cycling and important energy substrates for microbial populations in marine sediments. This thesis quantitatively assessed microbial activity and compared the difference between bacterial and archaeal activity in surface marine sediment via lipid-based SIP method. The findings suggest that dark inorganic carbon fixation may be an important consequence of heterotrophic microbial activity in marine sediment and should be considered as important role for constraining sedimentary C fluxes in the biogeochemical carbon cycle
Influence of laser generated micro textured coated tool surfaces on dry deep drawing processes
Get PDFThe idea of sustainability and resource conservation promotes the development of energy-efficient and low-emission production processes. A lubricant-free sheet metal forming process is considered as one of these environmentally friendly production technologies. Metal forming processes without conventional lubricants shorten process steps and reduce additional costs, such as removal of residual lubrication from the workpiece after forming. In order to realize such a dry forming process and effectively control the material flow, amorphous carbon coatings were applied to the tool surfaces and a brushing process was carried out as a surface finishing process for roughness adjustment. Laser generated micro features on the surface should make an effective contribution to local friction adaptation. The transferability of strip drawing test to strip bending rotation test was successfully demonstrated by dry and oiled blank reference tests. The first modification of the tool sided surface was achieved by applying ta-C and a-C:H layers. The influence of the coatings on the tribological behaviour was determined in strip drawing tests for DC04 and AA5182. Additional friction adaptation is made possible by the fine and flexible laser based micro texturing of the coated tool surface. Experiments were carried out with different coverage and depth of the laser generated features in order to analyze the tribological influence. Flat and deep features with a degree of coverage of 20 %, 35 % and 50 % are considered in order to analyze the factors influencing their tribological behavior. Compared to ta-C coated references, it can be seen that micro features on the ta-C coated tool surface causes a friction reduction for DC04, independent of the features depth. However, deep laser generated features in particular lead to an increase in friction for AA5182, so that this could potentially lead to a selective local increase in friction in the flange area. For the transferability of the tribological system from the flat application case to a curved tool surface, the basics for laser based texturing of cylinder surfaces are illustrated. The limits of the holographic beam shaping technology used for this are demonstrated