# Technische Universität Berlin

• Berlin, Germany
Recent publications
We propose SwiftAgg+, a novel secure aggregation protocol for federated learning systems, where a central server aggregates local models of N ∈ N distributed users, each of size L ∈ N, trained on their local data, in a privacy-preserving manner. SwiftAgg+ can significantly reduce the communication overheads without any compromise on security, and achieve optimal communication loads within diminishing gaps. Specifically, in presence of at most D = o(N) dropout users, SwiftAgg+ achieves a per-user communication load of (1+ O (1/ N )) L symbols and a server communication load of (1+ O ( 1/ N )) L symbols, with a worst-case information-theoretic security guarantee, against any subset of up to T = o(N) semi-honest users who may also collude with the curious server. Moreover, the proposed SwiftAgg+ allows for a flexible trade-off between communication loads and the number of active communication links. In particular, for T < N – D and for any K ∈ N, SwiftAgg+ can achieve the server communication load of (1 + T/K ) L symbols, and peruser communication load of up to (1 + T + D / K ) L symbols, where the number of pair-wise active connections in the network is N /2( K + T + D + 1).
The n–n heterojunction is formed at the interfaces of FeVO4 and ZnO under hydrothermal conditions to increase the mobility of electrons and to decrease the barrier of oxygen activation. The results from X-ray powder diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analyses confirm the co-existence of the FeVO4 and ZnO phases in the composite. The formation of n–n heterojunction and electron transfer behavior are explored by applying electrochemical techniques and corresponding simulation calculation. The FeVO4/ZnO (Fe:Zn = 1:0.5) sensor shows a high response value of Sg = 42 at 300°C, excellent selectivity, fast response, stable, and superior sensitivity for ethanol detection. The effect of the formed n–n heterojunction on enhancing the gas sensitivity for detecting ethanol is discussed by electron depletion theory. When the gas atmosphere is changed from air to ethanol gas, the depletion layer on the sensor surface is also changed significantly, altering the macroscopic resistance of the material. This work offers a new mechanistic understanding of the role of n–n heterojunction in detecting target gases and paves the way for designing excellent selectivity, fast response, and stable sensors based on n–n heterojunctions.
Zusammenfassung Dieser Beitrag untersucht, ob externe Interventionen, in Form von Forschung und/oder Wissenschaftskommunikation, als Mediator für Innovationen in Krisenzeiten in der Tourismusbranche fungieren können. Dabei wird anhand dreier Case Studies diskutiert, inwiefern die Corona-Krise ein Window-of-opportunity für innovative Geschäftsmodelle im Tourismus darstellen konnte. Die Projektergebnisse geben Hinweise darauf, dass Krisen im Allgemeinen und Wissenschaftskommunikation im Speziellen als Push-Faktoren Innovationen befördern können. Zwar kam es bei den Projektpartnern zu einer Entwicklung von Innovationen im Projektzeitraum, jedoch wurde die Implementierung vermehrt in eine unbestimmte Zukunft verschoben. Durch die damit verbundene Rückkehr zum Status-Quo blieben die angestoßenen Innovationen zu einem Großteil auf einer konzeptionellen Ebene. Dies deutet auf eine Attitude-behavior-gap in Bezug auf die Schaffung und Umsetzung von Innovationen in Krisenzeiten.
Tutte’s embedding theorem states that every 3-connected graph without a K5\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$K_5$$\end{document}- or K3,3\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$K_{3,3}$$\end{document}-minor (i.e., a planar graph) is embedded in the plane if the outer face is in convex position and the interior vertices are convex combinations of their neighbors. We show that this result extends to simply connected tetrahedral meshes in a natural way: for the tetrahedral mesh to be embedded if the outer polyhedron is in convex position and the interior vertices are convex combination of their neighbors it is sufficient (but not necessary) that the graph of the tetrahedral mesh contains no K6\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$K_6$$\end{document} and no K3,3,1\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$K_{3,3,1}$$\end{document}, and all triangles incident on three boundary vertices are boundary triangles.
The effect of normal stress variations on fault frictional strength has been extensively characterized in laboratory experiments and modelling studies based on a rate-and-state-dependent fault friction formalism. However, the role of pore pressure changes during injection-induced fault reactivation and associated frictional phenomena is still not well understood. We apply rate-and-state friction (RSF) theory in finite element models to investigate the effect of fluid pressurization rate on fault (re)activation and on the resulting frictional slip characteristics at the laboratory scale. We consider a stepwise injection scenario where each fluid injection cycle consists of a fluid pressurization phase followed by a constant fluid pressure phase. We first calibrate our model formulation to recently published laboratory results of injection-driven shear slip experiments. In a second stage, we perform a parametric study by varying fluid pressurization rates to cover a higher dimensional parameter space. We demonstrate that, for high permeability laboratory samples, the energy release rate associated with fault reactivation can be effectively controlled by a stepwise fluid injection scheme, i.e. by the applied fluid pressurization rate and the duration of the constant pressure phase between each successive fluid pressurization phase. We observe a gradual transition from fault creep to slow stick–slip as the fluid pressurization rate increases. Furthermore, computed peak velocities for an extended range of fluid pressurization rate scenarios (0.5 MPa/min to 10 MPa/min) indicate a non-linear (power-law) relationship between the imposed fluid pressurization rate and the peak slip velocities, and consequently with the energy release rate, for scenarios with a fluid pressurization rate higher than a critical value of 4 MPa/min. We also observe that higher pressurization rates cause a delay in the stress release by the fault. We therefore argue that by adopting a stepwise fluid injection scheme with lower fluid pressurization rates may provide the operator with a better control over potential induced seismicity. The implications for field-scale applications that we can derive from our study are limited by the high matrix and fault permeability of the selected sample and the direct hydraulic connection between the injection well and the fault, which may not necessarily represent the conditions typical for fracture dominated deep geothermal reservoirs. Nevertheless, our results can serve as a basis for further laboratory experiments and field-scale modelling studies focused on better understanding the impact of stepwise injection protocols on fluid injection-induced seismicity.
Interatomic Coulombic Decay (ICD) and related interatomic and intermolecular autoionization mechanisms are ubiquitous decay processes of excited atoms and molecules in an environment. It is commonly accepted that the efficiency of ICD of an ionized atom in a cluster increases with an increasing number of nearest neighbors. Here, we present a method for experimental validation of this assumption by a site-specific and quantitative comparison of ICD and its main competitor, Auger decay, in core-level ionized Kr clusters. Our results are in quantitative agreement with scaled theoretical calculations on Kr2.
A limitation for collaborative robots (cobots) is their lack of ability to adapt to human partners, who typically exhibit an immense diversity of behaviors. We present an autonomous framework as a cobot’s real-time decision-making mechanism to anticipate a variety of human characteristics and behaviors, including human errors, toward a personalized collaboration. Our framework handles such behaviors in two levels: 1) short-term human behaviors are adapted through our novel Anticipatory Partially Observable Markov Decision Process (A-POMDP) models, covering a human’s changing intent (motivation), availability, and capability; 2) long-term changing human characteristics are adapted by our novel Adaptive Bayesian Policy Selection (ABPS) mechanism that selects a short-term decision model, e.g., an A-POMDP, according to an estimate of a human’s workplace characteristics, such as her expertise and collaboration preferences. To design and evaluate our framework over a diversity of human behaviors, we propose a pipeline where we first train and rigorously test the framework in simulation over novel human models. Then, we deploy and evaluate it on our novel physical experiment setup that induces cognitive load on humans to observe their dynamic behaviors, including their mistakes, and their changing characteristics such as their expertise. We conduct user studies and show that our framework effectively collaborates non-stop for hours and adapts to various changing human behaviors and characteristics in real-time. That increases the efficiency and naturalness of the collaboration with a higher perceived collaboration, positive teammate traits, and human trust. We believe that such an extended human-adaptation is a key to the long-term use of cobots.
4-(2,6-Di(2 H -indazol-2-yl)pyridin-4-yl)benzoic acid ( 1 ) and 10-(2,6-di(1 H -pyrazol-1-yl)pyridin-4-yl)anthracene-9-carboxylic acid ( 2 ) were required for adsorption studies on Ag(111), with a view to subsequent iron(II) complexation and formation of well-ordered spin-responsive self-assembled monolayers. While the generation of these compounds has remained elusive, several intermediates and by-products were obtained, potentially useful as dipyrazolylpyridine-related derivatives and for metal ion coordination. 3,5-Dichloro-2,6-diindazolylpyridine-4-amine, which forms as a mixture of regioisomers, was synthesised, the mixture separated, and the components characterised (3,5-dichloro-2,6-di(2 H -indazol-2-yl)pyridin-4-amine; 3,5-dichloro-2-(1 H -indazol-1-yl)-6-(2 H -indazol-2-yl)pyridin-4-amine; 3,5-dichloro-2,6-di(1 H -indazol-1-yl)pyridin-4-amine). Their iron(II) complexes have been prepared and fully characterised, including single crystal X-ray structure determination. The complexes are instructive examples of the influence of ligand design (“steric jamming”) on the spin-crossover (SCO) activity of Fe II centres. Bulky substitution, which entails twisted ligand conformation, increases intramolecular crowding. This prevents contraction of the metal coordination sphere, which would be a prerequisite for thermally inducible SCO. Mössbauer spectroscopy has revealed that the complexes remain predominantly high-spin (HS) between 20 and 200 K, and that a mixture of conformational HS isomers is present in the microcrystalline solid.
The crises of both the climate and the biosphere are manifestations of the imbalance between human extractive, and polluting activities and the Earth’s regenerative capacity. Planetary boundaries define limits for biophysical systems and processes that regulate the stability and life support capacity of the Earth system, and thereby also define a safe operating space for humanity on Earth. Budgets associated to planetary boundaries can be understood as global commons: common pool resources that can be utilized within finite limits. Despite the analytical interpretation of planetary boundaries as global commons, the planetary boundaries framework is missing a thorough integration into economic theory. We aim to bridge the gap between welfare economic theory and planetary boundaries as derived in the natural sciences by presenting a unified theory of cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness analysis. Our pragmatic approach aims to overcome shortcomings of the practical applications of CEA and CBA to environmental problems of a planetary scale. To do so, we develop a model framework and explore decision paradigms that give guidance to setting limits on human activities. This conceptual framework is then applied to planetary boundaries. We conclude by using the realized insights to derive a research agenda that builds on the understanding of planetary boundaries as global commons.
Brassica vegetables are frequently consumed foods of nutritional interest, because they are rich in glucosinolates (GLSs). Among GLS breakdown products, especially isothiocyanates are known for their health-beneficial effects, while nitriles are less beneficial. To increase the understanding of the plant matrix's influence on GLS degradation, differently concentrated vegetable broths were prepared from selected Brassica vegetables (kohlrabi and red cabbage) and subsequently boiled. Altogether, heat stability and conversion of GLSs to the corresponding nitriles were both strongly influenced by vegetable type and plant matrix concentration in the broths. After boiling kohlrabi broths for 120 min, recovery of 4-(methylthio)butyl-GLS as nitrile was 55.5 % in 1 g/mL broth and 8.4 % in 0.25 g/mL broth. In follow-up experiments, a pronounced influence of the matrix's redox status was identified, with H2S being an important factor. A better understanding of these processes will help to preserve health-promoting effects of GLSs in Brassica vegetables in the future.
High power single-mode wafer fused 1550 nm VCSELs with an active region based on InGaAs quantum wells are fabricated. An InP-based optical cavity and two AlGaAs/GaAs distributed Bragg reflector heterostructures were grown by molecular-beam epitaxy. The current and optical confinements are provided by a lateral-structured buried tunnel junction with ~ 6 μm diameter and etching depth of ~ 20 nm. The VCSELs demonstrate ~ 3.4 mW single-mode continuous-wave output optical power and a threshold current about 2 mA at 20°C. The output optical power exceeds 1 mW at 70°C. A -3dB modulation bandwidth > 13 GHz is obtained at 20°C. Non-return-to-zero data transmission under back-to-back condition of ~ 37 Gbps is shown.
Since the proportion of digital and more flexible work in the western labour market increases, more and more employees are working at least partly from home. This development was even enhanced by the COVID-19-pandemic. In contrast to office workplaces, lighting at home-based workplaces is less studied and regulated. Lighting has been shown to not only ensure vision but also evoke non-image forming effects such as changes in alertness. In this study, light exposure of nine office employees at their home-based workplaces was investigated. Illuminance at home-based workplaces was found to be low, compared to office standards. In addition, melanopic equivalent daylight illuminance (MEDI) did not reach recommendations for healthy daytime light exposure. Furthermore, an additional lighting was installed at participants’ desks in order to examine possible effects on alertness. Mean illuminance and MEDI during work were increased by the additional lighting. A decrease in subjective sleepiness could be shown after 6 hours, although differences were not significant. Improvements of response time in a psychomotor vigilance task were already achieved at the beginning of work and after 3 hours. This study shows that lighting conditions at home-based workplaces often do not meet the criteria for health-promoting lighting in terms of non-image forming effects.
Urban green spaces (UGS) can help mitigate hydrological impacts of urbanisation and climate change through precipitation infiltration, evapotranspiration and groundwater recharge. However, there is a need to understand how precipitation is partitioned by contrasting vegetation types in order to target UGS management for specific ecosystem services. We monitored, over one growing season, hydrometeorology, soil moisture, sapflux and isotopic variability of soil water under contrasting vegetation (evergreen shrub, evergreen conifer, grassland, larger and smaller deciduous trees), focussed around a 150-m transect of UGS in northern Scotland. We further used the data to develop a one-dimensional model, calibrated to soil moisture observations (KGE's generally > 0.65), to estimate evapotranspiration and groundwater recharge. Our results evidenced clear inter-site differences, with grassland soils experiencing rapid drying at the start of summer, resulting in more fractionated soil water isotopes. Contrastingly, the larger deciduous site saw gradual drying, whilst deeper sandy upslope soils beneath the evergreen shrub drained rapidly. Soils beneath the denser canopied evergreen conifer were overall least responsive to precipitation. Modelled ecohydrological fluxes showed similar diversity, with median evapotranspiration estimates increasing in the order grassland (193 mm) < evergreen shrub (214 mm) < larger deciduous tree (224 mm) < evergreen conifer tree (265 mm). The evergreen shrub had similar estimated median transpiration totals as the larger deciduous tree (155 mm and 128 mm, respectively), though timing of water uptake was different. Median groundwater recharge was greatest beneath grassland (232 mm) and lowest beneath the evergreen conifer (128 mm). The study showed how integrating observational data and simple modelling can quantify heterogeneities in ecohydrological partitioning and help guide UGS management.
We investigate the impact of viscoelastic tidal deformation of the Moon on the motion of a polar orbiter. The dissipative effects in the Moon’s interior, i.e., tidal phase lags, are modeled as Fourier series sampled at given frequencies associated with linear combinations of Delaunay arguments, the fundamental parameters describing the lunar motion around the Earth and the Sun. We implement the tidal model to evaluate the temporal lunar gravity field and the induced perturbation on the orbiter. We validate the numerical scheme via a frequency analysis of the perturbed orbital motion. We show that, in the case of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter at a low altitude of less than 200 km, the main lunar tides and hence the potential Love numbers around the monthly and some multiple frequencies are dynamically separable. The omission of those effects in practice introduces a position error at the level of a few decimeters within 10 days.
A metastable polymorph of Ti 3 Sn (called c-Ti 3 Sn) exhibiting the cubic Cr 3 Si-type structure was prepared by a mechanochemical route. At temperatures of about 450 °C, it transforms to the well-known hexagonal phase (Ni 3 Sn type, called h-Ti 3 Sn). 0.5% of iron was incorporated into the material originating from the steel beaker and the steel balls. However, quantum-chemical calculations show that this should not lead to a stabilization of the Cr 3 Si type. c-Ti 3 Sn shows a single signal at an isomer shift of δ = 1.70(1) mm s ⁻¹ in its ¹¹⁹ Sn Mössbauer spectrum at 78 K.
In recent years, nonlinear microfluidics in combination with lab-on-a-chip devices has opened a new avenue for chemical and biomedical applications such as droplet formation and cell sorting. In this article, we integrate ideas from active matter into a microfluidic setting, where two fluid layers with identical densities but different viscosities flow through a microfluidic channel. Most importantly, the fluid interface is laden with active particles that act with dipolar forces on the adjacent fluids and thereby generate flows. We perform lattice-Boltzmann simulations and combine them with phase field dynamics of the interface and an advection-diffusion equation for the density of active particles. We show that only contractile force dipoles can destabilize the flat fluid interface. It develops a viscous finger from which droplets break up. For interfaces with non-zero surface tension, a critical value of activity equal to the surface tension is necessary to trigger the instability. Since activity depends on the density of force dipoles, the interface can develop steady deformation. Lastly, we demonstrate how to control droplet formation using switchable activity.
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16,042 members
• Department of Telecommunication Systems
• Department of Chemistry
• Department of Software Engineering and Theoretical Computer Science
• Department of Telecommunication Systems
• Department of Information Systems and Knowledge-Based Methods
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