OPUS Online Publikationen der Universität Stuttgart
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Aligning and observing the liquid crystal director in 3D using small magnetic fields and a wedge‐cell
No full textThe mechanical and optical properties of liquid crystalline materials are largely dependent on the director profile. More complex soft robotic functions and programmed optical properties require spatially varying director profiles, ideally in 3D. However, it is challenging to achieve arbitrary director orientation with most established alignment techniques, as one needs to overcome surface interactions, use high electric or magnetic field strengths and temperatures. Another experimental difficulty is that there is a lack of suitable techniques that can be used to characterize the director in 3D. Here, this study first shows that the addition of 5CB to reactive mesogens permits cross‐linked liquid crystalline materials to be fabricated with a spatially varying 3D director profile using weak magnetic fields (0.13 T). This study also shows, how these can be characterized with an optical technique that uses a wedge cell to visualize the programmed 3D director profile. Interestingly, the method also permits the real‐time observation of the director. This work shows that it is possible to precisely control the director in 3D with low magnetic fields and that the dynamics can be directly observed, which facilitates potential applications of soft liquid crystalline (LC) gels and potentially also elastomers.CIBER‐Consorcio Centro de Investigacioń Biomed́ica en RedGobierno de Aragón, FEDER (EU) and Fondo Social EuropeoHorizon 2020 Framework Programm
Who thinks the media is hostile?! : an examination of individual differences predicting the hostile media effect concerning news media coverage of individuals with a migratory background in Germany
No full textThe present study explores individual differences related to the perception of the media coverage of immigrants as biased. Building on previous research, relations with the extremity in preexisting attitudes toward immigrants and in affective ratings of non-immigrants versus immigrants are examined. Additionally, the present study extends previous work by investigating dogmatism and intellectual humility, including their potential moderating roles on the relations of extremity in attitudes and affective ratings with perceived media bias. A sample of N = 212 (59% men) individuals from the general German population completed self-reports on their preexisting attitudes and affective ratings, as well as dogmatism and intellectual humility online. Moreover, participants rated their perception of news media coverage of immigrants as biased against their views. Results indicate that particularly more extreme negative attitudes toward immigrants and affective ratings favoring non-immigrants relative to immigrants are positively associated with perceiving the media coverage of immigrants as biased. No robust relations of dogmatism, intellectual humility, or their interactions with the extremity scores with perceived media bias were found. These findings underline the importance of negative extremity in (out) group-related attitudes and affect in perceiving the media coverage as biased. New approaches investigating media perceptions from a group-related perspective are discussed.Projekt DEALMinisterium für Wissenschaft, Forschung und Kunst Baden-Württember
Designing an interactive machine learning challenge within an escape game to enhance student motivation and understanding
No full textContext. Machine learning (ML) is a key driver of technological innovation and increasingly relevant in everyday applications. Despite this, younger learners often lack accessible entry points into this complex field.
Problem. While numerous educational tools and curricula exist for teaching ML, they typically focus on individual concepts like training or inference, often outside of a cohesive narrative. Few approaches provide a comprehensive, gamified learning experience that introduces core ML principles-such as classification, data quality, and model evaluation-within a single, story-driven environment tailored to younger learners.
Objective. This thesis develops and evaluates an interactive ML challenge embedded in a narrative escape game designed to introduce students to ML concepts in an engaging and age-appropriate way.
Method. The task was designed using educational theory and gamification principles and implemented in a Jupyter Notebook with pretrained ML models. Learners interact with classification tasks, train models, and make in-game decisions based on model predictions.
Results. Asmall evaluation study indicated a modest improvement in self-assessed ML understanding and generally positive feedback regarding usability and visual design. However, motivation and emotional engagement varied among participants.
Conclusion. The study suggests that gamified, interactive approaches can facilitate ML education for novices. Future work should refine the concept and expand evaluation to larger, more representative samples for reliable assessment of learning effects.Kontext. Maschinelles Lernen (ML) ist ein zentraler Treiber technologischer Innovation und gewinnt zunehmend an Bedeutung in alltäglichen Anwendungen. Dennoch fehlt es insbesondere jüngeren Lernenden an geeigneten, niedrigschwelligen Zugängen zu diesem komplexen Themenfeld.
Problem. Es existieren zahlreiche Bildungsansätze und Materialien zur Vermittlung von ML, doch behandeln diese meist nur einzelne Teilaspekte wie Modelltraining oder Inferenz isoliert und ohne didaktischen Zusammenhang. Spielerische, ganzheitliche Lernumgebungen, die zentrale ML-Konzepte wie Klassifikation, Datenqualität und Modellevaluation in einem zusammenhängenden, narrativen Format vermitteln, sind bislang selten.
Ziel. Diese Arbeit entwickelt und evaluiert eine interaktive ML-Aufgabe, die in ein narratives Escape Game eingebettet ist und Schülerinnen und Schülern grundlegende ML-Konzepte auf motivierende und altersgerechte Weise näherbringt.
Methode. Die Aufgabe basiert auf didaktischen Modellen und Gamification-Prinzipien und wurde in einem Jupyter Notebook mit vortrainierten ML-Modellen umgesetzt. Die Lernenden führen Klassifikationsaufgaben durch, trainieren Modelle selbstständig und treffen spielinterne Entscheidungen basierend auf den Modellergebnissen.
Ergebnisse. Eine explorative Evaluationsstudie mit wenigen Teilnehmenden zeigt eine leichte Verbesserung des selbst eingeschätzten ML-Verständnisses sowie überwiegend positives Feedback zur Bedienbarkeit und visuellen Gestaltung. Die emotionale Beteiligung und Motivation fielen hingegen individuell unterschiedlich aus.
Schlussfolgerung. Die Ergebnisse deuten darauf hin, dass gamifizierte, interaktive Ansätze geeignet sind, um ML-Grundlagen auf motivierende Weise zu vermitteln. Für eine belastbare Bewertung der pädagogischen Wirksamkeit sind jedoch weiterführende Studien mit größeren, zielgruppennäheren Stichproben erforderlich
Proximity-based service discovery for distributed digital twin systems
No full textOver the past decade, there has been a significant increase in interest in digital twin (DT) technology in a variety of domains. While research on DTs of single assets was initially prevalent, there has been a notable shift towards distributed systems of DTs, which connect to each other to collaborate. Typically, collaboration is enabled by DTs providing services that can be consumed by other DTs. In service-oriented systems, a service is typically identified by type information. However, this is not sufficient in distributed DT systems, where DTs associated with different physical entities may provide the same type of service. Consequently, selecting the appropriate service depends not only on the service type, but also on the associated physical entity. However, requiring DTs to know the mapping of services to their physical environment is not feasible for large dynamic systems. This paper presents a novel proximity-based service discovery method that allows DTs to select services based on service type and their proximity to other objects. That is, service specifications are fully abstracted from the mapping of services to physical objects, relieving DTs from maintaining information about this mapping. Furthermore, service discovery is robust to changes in the physical environment and service population. The proposed service discovery method has been implemented on top of a spatial DBMS. We argue that this implementation is optimal in terms of network utilization and latency, and perform comprehensive evaluations to show the performance of discovery queries as a function of their complexity.Projekt DEA
Vastly different energy landscapes of the membrane insertions of monomeric gasdermin D and A3
No full textGasdermin D and gasdermin A3 belong to the same family of pore-forming proteins and executors of pyroptosis, a form of programmed cell death. To unveil the process of their pore formation, we examine the energy landscapes upon insertion of the gasdermin D and A3 monomers into a lipid bilayer by extensive atomistic molecular dynamics simulations. We reveal a lower free energy barrier of membrane insertion for gasdermin D than for gasdermin A3 and a preference of gasdermin D for the membrane-inserted and of gasdermin A3 for the membrane-adsorbed state, suggesting that gasdermin D first inserts and then oligomerizes while gasdermin A3 oligomerizes and then inserts. Gasdermin D stabilizes itself in the membrane by forming more salt bridges and pulling phosphatidylethanolamine lipids and more water into the membrane. Gasdermin-lipid interactions support the pore formation. Our findings suggest that both the gasdermin species and the lipid composition modulate gasdermin pore formation.Deutsche ForschungsgemeinschaftFriedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnber
Immunocytokines with activity-on-demand by combination with small molecule inhibitors
No full textDose-limiting systemic toxicity constitutes a major impediment to the application of cytokines in cancer therapy. To enhance the therapeutic index, tumor-directed antibody-cytokine fusion proteins, i.e., immunocytokines, are developed for targeting-mediated cytokine enrichment at the tumor site, allowing for an effective local concentration at a lower dosage. However, the therapeutic window is narrow, making strategy improvements to further reduce off-target toxicity of great interest. Recently, the combination with a small molecule inhibitor of the cytokine signaling pathway has been proposed to suppress systemic toxicity during the delivery stage of the immunocytokine without interfering with its therapeutic efficacy. In this issue of EMBO Molecular Medicine , proof of concept is provided by Rotta et al in preclinical studies on tumor-targeted IL-12 in combination with a JAK inhibitor
Concept development for bearing fault detection on water-cooled electric machines using infrared
No full textElectric machines (EMs) of electrified vehicle drivetrains can be tested on drivetrain test benches at an early stage of development. In order to protect the EMs from premature damage or failure during testing, monitoring their thermal condition is important. Due to the package requirements of compact and powerful EMs with high-speed requirements and high-power densities, the heat build-up inside the motor during operation is particularly high. For this reason, fluid cooling with heat exchangers is increasingly being used in EMs. The EMs analysed in this work are water-cooled by a cooling jacket. This influences the heat flow inside the machine through heat transfer mechanisms, making it difficult to detect damage to the EMs. This paper presents a novel method for non-destructive and non-contact thermal condition monitoring of water-cooled EMs on drivetrain test benches using thermography. In an experimental setup, infrared images of an intact water-cooled EM are taken. A bearing of the EM’s rotor is then damaged synthetically, and the experiment is repeated. The infrared images are then processed and analysed using appropriate software. The analysis of the infrared images shows that the heat propagation of the motor with bearing damage differs significantly from the heat propagation of the motor without bearing damage. This means that thermography opens up another method of condition monitoring for water-cooled EMs. The results of the investigation serve as a basis for future condition monitoring of water-cooled EMs on powertrain test benches using artificial intelligence (AI)
Design of a quantum low-code framework
No full textQuantum computing is a promising paradigm that offers reduced energy consumption, enhanced computational precision, and exponential speedups for certain problems compared to classical counterparts. However, manually building quantum applications that combine classical and quantum parts requires not only specialized knowledge in quantum computing but also significant programming expertise, creating a substantial barrier for many users. Classical low-code platforms can abstract away much of the coding effort, but they are typically domain-specific and not suitable for designing quantum algorithms. Moreover, simply reducing the amount of code is often insufficient, as developers still require a deep understanding of the underlying quantum concepts to model and implement quantum applications correctly. Therefore, it is equally important to provide abstractions that shield users from complex domain knowledge, allowing them to focus on the logical structure of their applications, regardless of their level of expertise in quantum computing. To address this gap, this work develops an open-source low-code modeling tool for designing quantum applications. The objective is to identify and define essential modeling constructs that provide higher-level abstractions, as well as lower-level modeling blocks that represent quantum gates, in order to support the development of quantum applications while ensuring accessibility for users with varying levels of expertise. The tool enables the modeling of both classical and quantum parts, allowing developers to build quantum applications. Additionally, the tool employs a standardized format for saving and loading models, ensuring portability and interoperability across different systems and platforms. The proposed concept will be implemented in a prototype and evaluated through use cases. In parallel, a low-code backend project will prototype the transformation of models into OpenQASM code based on the model structure and its standardized format.Quantencomputing ist ein vielversprechendes Paradigma, das im Vergleich zu klassischen Ansätzen einen geringeren Energieverbrauch, eine höhere Rechenpräzision und exponentielle Beschleunigungen bei bestimmten Problemen bietet. Das manuelle Erstellen von Quantenanwendungen, die klassische und Quantenanteile kombinieren, erfordert jedoch nicht nur spezielles Wissen im Bereich des Quantencomputings, sondern auch umfangreiche Programmierkenntnisse, was für viele Nutzer eine erhebliche Herausforderung darstellt. Klassische Low-Code Plattformen können einen Großteil des Programmieraufwands abstrahieren, sind jedoch typischerweise domänenspezifisch und daher für die Gestaltung von Quantenalgorithmen nicht geeignet. Zudem reicht eine Reduzierung der Code Menge oft nicht aus, da Entwickler weiterhin ein tiefgehendes Verständnis der zugrunde liegenden Quantenkonzepte benötigen, um Quantenalgorithmen korrekt modellieren und implementieren zu können. Daher ist es ebenso wichtig, Abstraktionen bereitzustellen, die Nutzer von komplexem Domänenwissen entlasten und es ihnen ermöglichen, sich auf die logische Struktur ihrer Algorithmen zu konzentrieren, unabhängig von ihrem Fachwissen im Quantencomputing. Um diese Lücke zu schließen, entwickelt diese Arbeit ein Open Source Low-Code Modellierungstool zur Gestaltung von Quantenanwendungen. Ziel ist es, wesentliche Modellierungskonstrukte zu identifizieren und zu definieren, die sowohl höherstufige Abstraktionen als auch niederstufige Modellblöcke für Quanten Gatter bereitstellen, um die Entwicklung von Quantenalgorithmen zu unterstützen und gleichzeitig die Zugänglichkeit für Nutzer mit unterschiedlichem Fachwissen zu gewährleisten. Das Tool ermöglicht die Modellierung sowohl klassischer als auch quanten Teile, sodass Entwickler Quantenalgorithmen erstellen können. Darüber hinaus verwendet das Tool ein standardisiertes Format zum Speichern und Laden von Modellen, um Portabilität und Interoperabilität zwischen verschiedenen Systemen und Plattformen sicherzustellen. Das vorgeschlagene Konzept wird in einem Prototyp implementiert und anhand Anwendungsfälle evaluiert. Parallel dazu wird ein Low-Code Backend Projekt prototypisch die Transformation der Modelle in OpenQASM Code basierend auf der Modellstruktur und dem standardisierten Format umsetzen
Feeling right : crises of reading in the New Right and the Jungeuropa-Podcast Von rechts gelesen
No full textIn neurechten Reflexionen über das Lesen werden die Bildung und die Lektürefähigkeit der eigenen Szenemitglieder immer wieder krisenhaft verhandelt. Der Beitrag analysiert die Funktionen solcher ›Lesekrisen‹-Narrative und zeigt auf, in welchem Zusammenhang diese Thematisierungen mit den jeweils entwickelten Literaturkonzepten stehen. Ein Fokus liegt dabei auf dem Jungeuropa-Podcast Von rechts gelesen , der in Abgrenzung von dem in der Neuen Rechten hegemonialen Kubitschek-Kreis eine eigene, dezidiert als ›jung‹ markierte Programmatik entwirft. Das wird besonders an den jeweils unterschiedlichen affektiven Begründungen und Aufladungen der Lektüren verdeutlicht.The declining ability and willingness to read literary texts is a recurring theme in critical essays of the german New Right. My article analyses the strategic functions of such narratives of crises and places them in the broader horizon of new-right literature concepts. Affects and emotions form an important part of these reflections, especially in the Jungeuropa-Verlag podcast Von rechts gelesen , that tries to establish a specific ›young‹ branding of New Right literature.Projekt DEA
Governance of high-risk AI systems in healthcare and credit scoring
No full textProjekt DEALPhilipps-Universität Marbur