Munich University of Applied Sciences

Perl S., van der Ham-de Vos J., Schreck T.

Ramos M.R., Goerigk S., Aparecida da Silva V., Cavendish B.A., Pinto B.S., Papa C.H., Resende J.V., Klein I., Carneiro A.M., de Sousa J.P., Vidal K.S., Valiengo L.D., Razza L.B., Aparício L.M., Martins L., et. al.

ImportanceIntermittent theta-burst stimulation (iTBS) is an established treatment for treatment-resistant depression (TRD). Sessions conducted more than once daily (ie, accelerated TBS [aTBS]) may enhance antidepressant effects. However, evidence is limited to small trials, and protocols are time-consuming and can require neuroimaging-based targeting.ObjectiveTo evaluate the efficacy and safety of a pragmatic aTBS protocol for TRD.Design, Setting, and ParticipantsThis triple-blinded, sham-controlled randomized clinical trial was conducted at a single center in São Paulo, Brazil, from July 2022 to June 2024, with a subsequent open-label phase. Patients aged 18 to 65 years with major depression, experiencing a TRD episode, and with a Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, 17-item (HDRS-17) score of 17 or higher were eligible for inclusion. Exclusion criteria were other psychiatric disorders (except anxiety), neurological conditions, and TBS contraindications.InterventionsParticipants received 45 active or sham stimulation sessions over 15 weekdays, with 3 iTBS sessions (1200 pulses each) per day, spaced 30 minutes apart and targeting the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex using a craniometric approach. In the open-label phase, additional aTBS sessions were offered to achieve a response (≥50% HDRS-17 score improvement) if needed.Main Outcomes and MeasuresThe primary outcome was change in HDRS-17 score at week 5.ResultsOf 431 volunteers screened, 100 participants were enrolled and randomized to either sham or active aTBS. Mean (SD) participant age was 41.7 (8.8) years, and 84 participants (84%) were female. A total of 89 patients completed the study. In the intention-to-treat analysis, the mean change in HDRS-17 scores from baseline to the study end point was 5.57 (95% CI, 3.99-7.16) in the sham group and 9.68 (95% CI, 8.11-11.25) in the active group, corresponding to 31.87% and 54.7% score reductions, respectively, and a medium-to-large effect size (Cohen d, 0.65; 95% CI, 0.29-1.00; P < .001). Response and remission rates were also higher in the active group. Both interventions were well tolerated, but scalp pain was more frequent in the active group than the sham group (17.4% vs 4.4%). During the open-label phase, approximately 75% of patients received additional sessions.Conclusions and RelevanceIn this triple-blinded, sham-controlled randomized clinical trial, a pragmatic aTBS protocol using only 3 iTBS sessions per day and a nonexpensive, non-neuronavigated approach was found to be safe and effective for TRD.Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT05388539

Alpaslan F., Firgo M.

This paper examines the impact of the 2015-2016 national security events on inbound tourism in Turkey. Using the Synthetic Control Method (SCM), the study reveals significant and persistent causal effects on tourism metrics: Between 2015 and 2019, international tourist arrivals were 36% lower, overnight stays 41% lower, and expenditures 18% lower, on average, than in a “synthetic” Turkey constructed as a counterfactual. Although increased security stabilization from 2018 onwards helped Turkey’s tourism recover, tourism activities were still far below their counterfactuals even in 2019. This highlights a substantial negative long-term impact of severe security incidents on international tourism.

Berlak J.

Bei der Herstellung von Bauteilen mittels Additive Manufacturing (AM) wird der eingesetzte Pulverwerkstoff nicht vollständig verfestigt und unverbrauchtes Material kann je nach Zustand wiederverwendet werden. Da die Pulverzusammensetzung aber im Wesentlichen für die Produkteigenschaften verantwortlich ist, wird die Nachverfolgung über die Prozesskette von vor- und nachgelagerten Schritten immer notwendiger. Ein hierauf zugeschnittenes Manufacturing Execution System (Additive-MES) ermöglicht die auftrags- und behälterbasierte Nachverfolgung zusammen mit der Anlagenüberwachung durch Maschinenzustands- und Prozessdaten.

Stotz-Ingenlath G.

Müller J.G.

This paper is concerned with the problem of assigning, in a physically transparent way, value to automotive transport services and their related environmental impacts. We discuss the idea that the transport value of an automotive service can be measured in units of physical action, i.e., in terms of the physical entity that measures the effect of work performed within a specified physical process. It is further argued that from this action-based transport value, two dimensionless figures of merit (FOM), TV and ETV, can be derived, which can be used as cost factors in algorithms designed to optimize transport services and logistic networks.

Strotmann A., Jungwirth J.

AbstractDer Bedarf an effizienten Verstärkungskonzepten für alternde Infrastrukturen nimmt in Deutschland zu, da die Verkehrslasten und deren Häufigkeit in den letzten Jahrzenten erheblich gestiegen sind. Des Weiteren verursacht der Chloridangriff im Laufe der Lebenszeit des Bauwerks Schäden, welche einen erhöhten Instandsetzungsbedarf nach sich ziehen. Ultra‐Hochleistungs‐Faserbeton (UHFB) bietet durch seine optimierten mechanischen Eigenschaften eine vielversprechende Lösung. Zusätzlich verbessert das Material die Dauerhaftigkeit des verstärkten Stahlbetons durch seine spezifischen Eigenschaften. An der Hochschule für angewandte Wissenschaften München konnte gezeigt werden, dass UHFB auch als Spritzbeton (UHFSB) unter Einsatz konventioneller Gerätetechnik verwendet werden kann, wobei er die typischen Materialeigenschaften von UHFB behält. Untersuchungen an UHFSB‐Stahlbeton‐Verbundbalken ergaben, dass die UHFSB‐Verstärkungsschicht die im vorgeschädigten Stahlbeton vorhandenen Makrorisse effektiv überbrücken und die Tragfähigkeit im Grenzzustand der Tragfähigkeit (GZT) erhöhen kann. Weitere Betrachtungen an UHFSB‐Stahlbeton‐Verbundbauteilen zeigen das Rissbildungs‐ und das Tragverhalten auf. In einem Pilotprojekt konnte die Anwendbarkeit des Konzepts unter realen Bedingungen gezeigt werden. Hierbei wurden Unterzüge an der Unterseite im Bereich der Biegezugeinwirkung verstärkt bzw. instand gesetzt.

Steininger T., Öttl V., Franken L.E., Frank C., Ohland P., Lopez Ferreiro M., Klostermann S., Fritsch J., Hirschauer E., Sandmeir A., Hilgenfeld L.D., Semmelmann F., Dürr M., Konkel F., Pechmann G., et. al.

In the dynamic field of gene therapy, recombinant adeno-associated viruses (rAAVs) have become leading viral vectors due to their safety, long-term expression, and wide-ranging cell and tissue tropism. With numerous FDA approvals and commercial products underscoring their potential, there is a critical need for efficient production processes to achieve high vector titers and quality. A major challenge in rAAV production is the efficient packaging of the genome into the viral capsid, with empty or partially filled capsids often representing over 90% of the produced material. To tackle this issue, we engineered the replication and packaging proteins of an AAV (Rep) to boost their functionality and improve vector titers. We subjected a complex Rep library derived from the AAV serotypes 1–13 to directed evolution in an AAV producer cell line. After each round of selection, single clones were analyzed, showing enrichment of specific hybrid Rep domains. Comparative analysis of these selected clones revealed considerable differences in their ability to package AAV2-based viral genomes, with hybrid Rep proteins achieving up to a 2.5-fold increase in packaging efficiency compared to their parental counterparts. These results suggest that optimizing rep gene variants through directed evolution is an effective strategy to enhance rAAV production efficiency.

Wunderwald F., Xu B., Kersch A., Holsgrove K.M., Kao Y., Richter C., Enghardt S., Mikolajick T., Schroeder U.

AbstractHfxZr1‐xO2 thin films have excellent complementary metal–oxide semiconductor compatibility and scalability compared to other ferroelectric materials. This makes them a promising candidate for non‐volatile memory applications. However, the polymorphism of the materials presents a challenge in stabilizing the ferroelectric properties. Since the wake‐up free non‐volatile memory applications require the presence of ferroelectric properties in the pristine state of the films without additional electric field cycling, it is necessary to understand how to promote the ferroelectric orthorhombic phase formation. In this work, the interaction between in‐plane tensile strain and phase formation of atomic layer deposition grown HfxZr1‐xO2 thin films with different thicknesses and different compositions is demonstrated. By combining the biaxial in‐plane tensile strain with the electric switching field and remanent polarization, it is observed that the best ferroelectric properties correlated with an in‐plane tensile strain range of 0.4–0.6%. Moreover, the observed correlation between strain and phase formation indicates that strain exerts an influence on phase formation in the pristine state, and that phase formation, in turn, affects strain during electrical field cycling. This work is expected to be helpful to improve the ferroelectric properties in HfxZr1‐xO2 films, which can be processed for different memory devices with specialized requirements.

Jakob D., Wilhelm S., Gerl A., Ahrens D., Wahl F.

This study investigates the integration, usability, and learning patterns associated with voice assistant technology among older adults, focusing on the “Amazon Echo Show 10, 3rd generation” as a case study. Conducted with 32 participants aged 55 and above in senior and complementary households, this research employs a mixed-method approach, incorporating qualitative interviews and quantitative voice command logging over a twelve-week period. Our findings reveal a high level of learnability and usability of the voice assistant, with 90% of participants finding the device easy to learn and use. The study further explores the patterns of voice assistant use, highlighting a preference for listening to music and seeking information, predominantly on weekends. Despite initial reservations, participants reported a high satisfaction level, with most not feeling monitored by the device. Key recommendations for manufacturers include prioritizing the design and user experience to cater to older adults’ needs, aiming to enhance their digital inclusion and participation. This study contributes to the human–computer interaction (HCI) field by providing insights into older adults’ interactions with voice assistant technology, emphasizing the importance of designing accessible and user-friendly digital solutions for the aging population.

Aigner S., Hauser S., Schmitt A.

Sinkholes are significant geohazards in karst regions that pose risks to landscapes and infrastructure by disrupting geological stability. Usually, sinkholes are mapped by field surveys, which is very cost-intensive with regard to vast coverages. One possible solution to derive sinkholes without entering the area is the use of high-resolution digital terrain models, which are also expensive with respect to remote areas. Therefore, this study focusses on the mapping of sinkholes in arid regions from open-access remote sensing data. The case study involves data from the Sentinel missions over the Mangystau region in Kazakhstan provided by the European Space Agency free of cost. The core of the technique is a multi-scale curvature filter bank that highlights sinkholes (and takyrs) by their very special illumination pattern in Sentinel-2 images. Marginal confusions with vegetation shadows are excluded by consulting the newly developed Combined Vegetation Doline Index based on Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2. The geospatial analysis reveals distinct spatial correlations among sinkholes, takyrs, vegetation, and possible surface discharge. The generic and, therefore, transferable approach reached an accuracy of 92%. However, extensive reference data or comparable methods are not currently available.

Laadhar A., Acharya N., Wagner J., Ley M.

This leads to inefficiency in accessing necessary product data by company departments, detrimental to decisionmaking and competitiveness.

Krahl M., Güdemann M., Wallentowitz S.

Formal verification of embedded system software can profoundly influence both safety and security, and has the potential to alter the development process substantially. However, the complexity of formal verification, along with stringent time-to-market and resource constraints of embedded systems, has posed significant barriers to its adoption. Moreover, ensuring the accessibility of formal methods in the design and implementation of embedded systems remains a major challenge. In our paper, we evaluate formal methods and demonstrate the accessibility and benefits within a critical area of many industries: IEEE754 floating-point values are widely used and due to their fixed size, they can only approximate real numbers. For the most part, their behavior aligns with programmer expectations; however, certain corner cases exist in which they are susceptible to value cancellation, rounding errors, and deviations from standard mathematical rules. Such discrepancies can be problematic when calculated results diverge from software developer expectations, potentially leading to fatal errors. We propose SafeFloatZone which allows for the identification of safe domains for algorithms utilizing IEEE754 floating-point numbers. The approach is rooted in formal verification, leveraging modern, efficient Satisfiability Modulo Theories (SMT) solvers to deduce preconditions for functions, thereby providing stronger guarantees of correctness. In this work we demonstrate how SafeFloatZone can readily benefit embedded system developers and show that it is transferable to a variety of algorithms based on IEEE754 floating-point numbers.

Schaffner T., Altenberg J., Wallentowitz S.

Currently, the market is witnessing the introduction of the first RISC-V development boards capable of running Linux. In the embedded sector, these boards could serve as alternatives to the commonly used ARM or x86-based platforms. Ongoing efforts are being made to enhance the real-time capabilities of the Linux kernel, allowing it to handle both time-critical and non-time-critical tasks with complex software stacks in so called Mixed-Criticality Systems (MCS). One project that may merge into the Linux kernel soon is PREEMPT_RT. PREEMPT_RT is a patch for the Linux kernel source code that enables low-latency real-time execution directly within the kernel. At the time of writing, RISC-V support has just been merged into the PREEMPT_RT patch series. The paper presents a comprehensive analysis of this new release on a RISC-V platform, utilizing an extensive collection of long-term measurement data generated for this study. It compares the Worst Case Latencies (WCL) to the results on a common ARM platform having the same configuration. The measurement environment is thoroughly described, providing a detailed explanation of all the necessary information for replicating the results, including tuning procedures.

Hoegele W., Brockhaus S.