This paper reports the development of an Alkali Activated Binder (AAB) with an emphasis on the performance and the durability of the AAB-matrix. For the development of the matrix, the reactive components granulated slag and coal fly ash were used, which were alkali activated with a mixture of sodium hydroxide (2 - 10 mol/l) and aqueous sodium silicate solution (SiO2/Na2O molar ratio: 2.1) at ambient temperature. A sodium hydroxide concentration of 5.5 mol/l revealed the best compromise between setting time and mechanical strengths of the AAB. With this sodium hydroxide concentration, the compressive and the 3-point bending tensile strength of the hardened AAB were 53.4 and 5.5 MPa respectively after 14 days. As a result of the investigation of the acid resistance, the AAB-matrix showed a very high acid resistance in comparison to ordinary Portland cement concrete. In addition, the AAB had a high frost resistance, which had been validated by the capillary suction, internal damage and freeze thaw test with a relative dynamic E-Modulus of 93% and a total amount of scaled material of 30 g/m2 after 28 freeze-thaw cycles (exposure class: XF3).

Physical activity is positively related to cognitive functioning and brain volume in older adults. Interestingly, different types of physical activity vary in their effects on cognition and on the brain. For example, dancing has become an interesting topic in aging research, as it is a popular leisure activity among older adults, involving cardiovascular and motor fitness dimensions that can be positively related to cognition. However, studies on brain structure are missing. In this study, we tested the association of long-term senior dance experience with cognitive performance and gray matter brain volume in older women aged 65 to 82 years. We compared nonprofessional senior dancers (n=28) with nonsedentary control group participants without any dancing experience (n=29), who were similar in age, education, IQ score, lifestyle and health factors, and fitness level. Differences neither in the four tested cognitive domains (executive control, perceptual speed, episodic memory, and long-term memory) nor in brain volume (VBM whole-brain analysis, region-of-interest analysis of the hippocampus) were observed. Results indicate that moderate dancing activity (1-2 times per week, on average) has no additional effects on gray matter volume and cognitive functioning when a certain lifestyle or physical activity and fitness level are reached.

Unknown to most Western psychologists, ancient Indian scriptures contain very rich, empirically derived psychological theories that are, however, intertwined with religious and philosophical content. This article represents our attempt to extract the psychological theory of cognition and consciousness from a prominent ancient Indian thought system: Samkhya-Yoga. We derive rather broad hypotheses from this approach that may complement and extend Western mainstream theorizing. These hypotheses address an ancient personality theory, the effects of practicing the applied part of Samkhya-Yoga on normal and extraordinary cognition, as well as different ways of perceiving reality. We summarize empirical evidence collected (mostly without reference to the Indian thought system) in diverse fields of research that allows for making judgments about the hypotheses, and suggest more specific hypotheses to be examined in future research. We conclude that the existing evidence for the (broad) hypotheses is substantial but that there are still considerable gaps in theory and research to be filled. Theories of cognition contained in the ancient Indian systems have the potential to modify and complement existing Western mainstream accounts of cognition. In particular, they might serve as a basis for arriving at more comprehensive theories for several research areas that, so far, lack strong theoretical grounding, such as meditation research or research on aspects of consciousness.

In many European countries, migrants utilize cancer screening less often than non-migrants. In Germany, in contrast, higher rates of utilization among migrants as compared with non-migrants have been reported. The role of demographic and socioeconomic factors potentially confounding the association between migration status and participation in screening, however, could not be studied. The present study aims to investigate the utilization of cancer screening among migrant and nonmigrant women residing in Germany, adjusting for potential confounders. We used self-reported information from women surveyed on whether they have ever participated in screening for cancer (n = 11,709). The data was collected as part of a cross-sectional representative telephone survey conducted by the Robert Koch-Institute in 2010. We distinguished between three groups of women: (1) respondents of non-German nationality, those who had immigrated to Germany after their birth or those who have two foreign-born parents (“migrants with two-sided migration background”), (2) respondents who only have one foreign-born parent (“migrant with one-sided migration background”), and (3) all others (“non-migrants”). To account for confounders, logistic regression analysis was performed. Only individuals proficient in German were included in the survey, allowing to control for a bias arising from poor language proficiency. 84.9% of nonmigrant women, 82.1% of women with a one-sided, and 70.5% of women with a two-sided migration background had utilized screening for cancer at least once in their lifetime before the survey. The adjusted odds ratios (OR) as compared with nonmigrant women were 0.99 (95% confidence interval [95% CI]: 0.77–1.27) and 0.55 (95% CI: 0.47–0.64), respectively. The study shows that migrant women with a two-sided migration background residing in Germany utilize screening for cancer less often than nonmigrant women—independently of demographic and socioeconomic factors. This is in line with findings from other countries. Likely, barriers that migrant women encounter limit them from taking informed choices. These barriers need to be identified and appropriate measures aiming to enhance informed decision making must be implemented.

The discovery of the entropy production paradox (Hoffmann et al., 1998) raised basic questions about the nature of irreversibility in the regime between diffusion and waves. First studied in the form of spatial movements of moments of H functions, pseudo propagation is the pre-limit propagation-like movements of skewed probability density function (PDFs) in the domain between the wave and diffusion equations that goes over to classical partial differential equation propagation of characteristics in the wave limit. Many of the strange properties that occur in this extraordinary regime were thought to be connected in some manner to this form of proto-movement. This paper eliminates pseudo propagation by employing a similar evolution equation that imposes spatial unimodal symmetry on evolving PDFs. Contrary to initial expectations, familiar peculiarities emerge despite the imposed symmetry, but they have a distinct character.

Background Anticipatory and compensatory balance responses are used by the central nervous system (CNS) to preserve balance, hence they significantly contribute to the understanding of physiological mechanisms of postural control. It is well established that various sensory systems contribute to the regulation of balance. However, it is still unclear which role each individual sensory system (e.g. plantar mechanoreceptors) plays in balance regulation. This becomes also evident in various patient populations, for instance in diabetics with reduced plantar sensitivity. To investigate these sensory mechanisms, approaches like hypothermia to deliberately reduce plantar afferent input have been applied. But there are some limitations regarding hypothermic procedures in previous studies: Not only plantar aspects of the feet might be affected and maintaining the hypothermic effect during data collection. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to induce a permanent and controlled plantar hypothermia and to examine its effects on anticipatory and compensatory balance responses. We hypothesized deteriorations in anticipatory and compensatory balance responses as increased center of pressure excursions (COP) and electromyographic activity (EMG) in response to the hypothermic plantar procedure. 52 healthy and young subjects (23.6 ± 3.0 years) performed balance tests (unexpected perturbations). Subjects’ foot soles were exposed to three temperatures while standing upright: 25, 12 and 0 °C. COP and EMG were analyzed during two intervals of anticipatory and one interval of compensatory balance responses (intervals 0, 1 and 2, respectively). Results Similar plantar temperatures confirmed the successful implementation of the thermal platform. No significant COP and EMG differences were found for the anticipatory responses (intervals 0 and 1) under the hyperthermia procedure. Parameters in interval 2 showed generally decreased values in response to cooling. Conclusion No changes in anticipatory responses were found possibly due to sensory compensation processes of other intact afferents. Decreased compensatory responses may be interpreted as the additional balance threat, creating a more cautious behavior causing the CNS to generate a kind of over-compensatory behavior. Contrary to the expectations, there were different anticipatory and compensatory responses after reduced plantar inputs, thereby, revealing alterations in the organization of CNS inputs and outputs according to different task difficulties.

Optimal control problems for finite-strain elasticity are considered. An inner pressure or an inner fiber tension is acting as a driving force. Such internal forces are typical, for instance, for the motion of heliotropic plants, and for muscle tissue. Non-standard objective functions relevant for elasticity problems are introduced. Optimality conditions are derived on a formal basis, and a limited-memory quasi-Newton algorithm for their solution is formulated in function space. Numerical experiments confirm the expected mesh-independent performance.

The computation of the Coulomb potentials and forces in charged particle systems under 3d-periodic boundary conditions is possible in an efficient way by utilizing the Ewald summation formulas and applying the fast Fourier transform (FFT). In this paper we consider the particle-particle NFFT (P2NFFT) approach, which is based on the fast Fourier transform for nonequispaced data (NFFT) and compare the error behaviors regarding different window functions, which are used in order to approximate the given continuous charge distribution by a mesh based charge density. Typically B-splines are applied in the scope of particle mesh methods, as for instance within the well-known particle-particle particle-mesh (P3M) algorithm. The publicly available P2NFFT algorithm allows the application of an oversampled FFT as well as the usage of different window functions. We consider for the first time also an approximation by Bessel functions and show how the resulting root mean square errors in the forces can be predicted precisely and efficiently. The results show that, if the parameters are tuned appropriately, the Bessel window function is in many cases even the better choice in terms of computational costs. Moreover, the results indicate that it is often advantageous in terms of efficiency to spend some oversampling within the NFFT while using a window function with a smaller support.

Die Universitätsbibliothek Chemnitz – als zentrale Informations-Service-Einrichtung der TU – stellt sich der wandelnden Entwicklung in der Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologie durch die Möglichkeiten des Internets. Der Anteil der im Open Access veröffentlichten Artikel steigt weltweit. An der TU Chemnitz waren es 2014 bereits 10% des Gesamtartikelaufkommens. Das Open-Access-Team unterstützt die Wissenschaftler bei der Auswahl geeigneter Journale bzw. Verlage, berät bei der Klärung rechtlicher Fragen und bei der Finanzierung von Veröffentlichungen. Einfache Workflows, transparente Verfahren und standardisierte Softwareumgebungen kennzeichnen die Dienstleistung. Das Beratungs- und Marketingkonzept auf Basis der Qualitätssicherung, beinhaltet verschiedenste Kommunikationswege und vertieft damit das Verständnis und die Akzeptanz für die freie Verfügbarkeit wissenschaftlicher Erkenntnisse. / The University Library Chemnitz, as the central provider of information services at the TU Chemnitz, embraces the possibilities of the world wide web in changing the nature of information and communication patterns. The digital transformation is accompanied by the growth of Open Access publishing in the global scientific community. At the TU Chemnitz, 10 per cent of all research papers published in 2014 were immediately made available through Open Access. The Open Access Team of the University Library supports scientists and scholars by helping with the selection of suitable Open Access journals for publication, by funding Open Access publications and by providing guidance on licensing and legal technicalities. Clear and simple workflows, transparent procedures and standardised software platforms characterise the services activities. The consulting and marketing concept, through a distinct focus on quality assurance, serves to foster the comprehension and the acceptance for the free distribution of scientific knowledge among all members of the TU Chemnitz.

We report on the detailed electrical investigation of all-inkjet-printed thin-film transistor (TFT) arrays focusing on TFT failures and their origins. The TFT arrays were manufactured on flexible polymer substrates in ambient condition without the need for cleanroom environment or inert atmosphere and at a maximum temperature of 150 °C. Alternative manufacturing processes for electronic devices such as inkjet printing suffer from lower accuracy compared to traditional microelectronic manufacturing methods. Furthermore, usually printing methods do not allow the manufacturing of electronic devices with high yield (high number of functional devices). In general, the manufacturing yield is much lower compared to the established conventional manufacturing methods based on lithography. Thus, the focus of this contribution is set on a comprehensive analysis of defective TFTs printed by inkjet technology. Based on root cause analysis, we present the defects by developing failure categories and discuss the reasons for the defects. This procedure identifies failure origins and allows the optimization of the manufacturing resulting finally to a yield improvement.