Industry 4.0, cyber-physical production systems (CPPS) and the Internet of Things (IoT) are current focusses in automation and data exchange in manufacturing, arising from the rapid increase in ...capabilities in information and communication technologies and the ubiquitous internet. A key enabler for the advances promised by CPPSs is the concept of a
digital twin
, which is the virtual representation of a real-world entity, or the
physical twin
. An important step towards the success of Industry 4.0 is the establishment of practical reference architectures. This paper presents an architecture for such a digital twin, which enables the exchange of data and information between a remote emulation or simulation and the physical twin. The architecture comprises different layers, including a local data layer, an IoT Gateway layer, cloud-based databases and a layer containing emulations and simulations. The architecture can be implemented in new and legacy production facilities, with a minimal disruption of current installations. This architecture provides a service-based and real-time enabled infrastructure for vertical and horizontal integration. To evaluate the architecture, it was implemented for a small, but typical, physical manufacturing system component.
Decadal and bi-decadal climate responses to tropical strong volcanic eruptions (SVEs) are inspected in an ensemble simulation covering the last millennium based on the Max Planck Institute—Earth ...system model. An unprecedentedly large collection of pre-industrial SVEs (up to 45) producing a peak annual-average top-of-atmosphere radiative perturbation larger than −1.5 Wm
−2
is investigated by composite analysis. Post-eruption oceanic and atmospheric anomalies coherently describe a fluctuation in the coupled ocean–atmosphere system with an average length of 20–25 years. The study provides a new physically consistent theoretical framework to interpret decadal Northern Hemisphere (NH) regional winter climates variability during the last millennium. The fluctuation particularly involves interactions between the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation and the North Atlantic gyre circulation closely linked to the state of the winter North Atlantic Oscillation. It is characterized by major distinctive details. Among them, the most prominent are: (a) a strong signal amplification in the Arctic region which allows for a sustained strengthened teleconnection between the North Pacific and the North Atlantic during the first post-eruption decade and which entails important implications from oceanic heat transport and from post-eruption sea ice dynamics, and (b) an anomalous surface winter warming emerging over the Scandinavian/Western Russian region around 10–12 years after a major eruption. The simulated long-term climate response to SVEs depends, to some extent, on background conditions. Consequently, ensemble simulations spanning different phases of background multidecadal and longer climate variability are necessary to constrain the range of possible post-eruption decadal evolution of NH regional winter climates.
While Industry 4.0 research has predominantly focussed on the connection of machines and digital systems and solutions, it is important to consider the role of human workers within the envisaged ...Industry 4.0 environments. This paper presents the concept of a digital administration shell to support the integration of humans in Industry 4.0 environments and an architecture for the development of such an administration shell. The Biography-Attributes-Schedule-Execution (BASE) architecture builds on holonic systems principles and is guided by the requirements and responsibilities of the Resource Holon, as developed in the Holonic Manufacturing Systems paradigm. The functionality and value of the BASE architecture administration shell is demonstrated by means of a case study implementation.
Objectives
The aim was to investigate the effect of physical activity on periodontal health and HbA1c levels in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) over a period of 6 months.
Materials and ...methods
Thirty-seven patients with non-insulin-dependent T2DM were included in the study. The intervention group (
n
=20) performed physical activity over a period of 6 months. The control group (
n
=17) did not receive any intervention. Baseline and final examinations included dental parameters and concentrations of glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP).
Results
Physical activity showed a positive effect on periodontal health. Both the BOP (
p
= 0.005) and the severity of periodontitis (
p
= 0.001) were significantly reduced in the intervention group compared to the control group. Furthermore, HbA1c levels were reduced (
p
= 0.010) significantly in the intervention group while hsCRP levels significantly increased in the control group (
p
= 0.04).
Conclusions
Within the limitations of this randomized, controlled trial, physical activity over a period of 6 months is a health-promoting measure for patients with T2DM and improves both periodontal health and HbA1c concentrations.
Citrus greening or huanglongbing (HLB) is the main threat to the European citrus industry since one of its vectors, the African citrus psyllid, Trioza erytreae, has recently become established in ...mainland Europe. In this context, classical biological control programmes should be implemented to reduce the spread of the psyllid. The aims of this study were to: i) disentangle the parasitoid complex of T. erytreae combining morphological and molecular characterization; and ii) to study the biology of its main parasitoids in its area of origin in South Africa for their future importation into Europe. The main citrus producing areas of South Africa were surveyed during 2017. In contrast to previous studies, the parasitoid complex of T. erytreae included three species of primary parasitoids: Tamarixia dryi, Psyllaephagus pulvinatus and another parasitoid of the genus Tamarixia. Molecular analysis showed that it is a new species closely related to T. dryi. Tamarixia dryi was the most abundant parasitoid but its relative abundance varied among sampling sites. The sex ratio (males/females) of T. dryi and Tamarixia sp. decreased with T. erytreae size and became female biased when psyllid nymphs were larger than 0.6 and 1.2 mm
, respectively. These parasitoids were attacked by three species of hyperparasitoids, Aphidencyrtus cassatus, Marietta javensis and a species of the genus Aphanogmus. Aphidencyrtus cassatus, the most abundant hyperparasitoid, tended to emerge from large nymphs, and adult females lived as long as those of T. dryi. The implications of these results are discussed within the framework of the introduction of T. dryi into Europe.
A soft ferromagnetic Fe–Co–Hf–N film was produced by reactive r.f. magnetron sputtering, in order to study its high-frequency behaviour by means of frequency domain permeability measurements up to ...the GHz range. It resulted in the composition Fe33Co43Hf10N14 and exhibits a saturation polarisation Js of around 1.35T. The film is consequently considered as being uniformly magnetised due to an in-plane uniaxial anisotropy of approximately μ0.Hu≈4.5mT after annealing it at 400°C in a static magnetic field for 1h. While heating the film from room temperature to 300°C during the high-frequency measurement procedure a marked ferromagnetic resonance peak shift (maximum of the imaginary part of the frequency-dependent permeability) from 2.35GHz down to 1.84GHz is conspicuous. This is in a very good agreement with the theory established by taking the “real” ferromagnetic resonance formula for ferromagnetic films into account. Simultaneously, the full width at half maximum (FWHM) ΔfFMR of the resonance line, which is a consequence of precession damping of the magnetic moments, clearly increases. This behaviour does not correlate with the ferromagnetic resonance value decrease, and is qualitatively discussed in terms of exchange interaction with the intrinsic spin–lattice relaxation process due to not totally supressed orbital momenta (〈L〉≠0) of Fe2+ and Co2+ or the occupation change of their spectral levels within the induced uniaxial anisotropy field.
•Heatable strip-line permeameter up to 300°C.•Theoretical description of the temperature dependence of FMR.•Measurement of the temperature-dependent permeability spectra.•Determination of the temperature-dependent resonance line broadening.
We investigated whether the effectiveness of upadacitinib in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) treatment is affected by baseline CRP levels in a real-world setting.
UPwArds was a prospective, ...non-interventional study. Patients had moderate-to-severe RA and an inadequate response or intolerance to ≥1 disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug (DMARD). The primary endpoint was clinical remission (Clinical Disease Activity Index CDAI ≤2.8) at 6 months. Secondary endpoints at 12 months included clinical remission and low disease activity assessed by CDAI and Simple Disease Activity Index criteria, DAS28-CRP <2.6/≤3.2, and patient-reported outcomes. The impact of baseline CRP levels (normal vs. above the upper limit of normal ULN) on primary and secondary endpoints was evaluated. The effect of concomitant MTX and prior inadequate response to biologic or targeted synthetic DMARDs (b/tsDMARD-IR) on the effectiveness of upadacitinib was also assessed. Safety was evaluated through 12 months.
518 patients were included in the effectiveness analyses. At 6 months, 24.4% of patients achieved the primary endpoint (CDAI ≤2.8). At 12 months, similar proportions of patients with normal CRP and CRP above the ULN at baseline achieved CDAI ≤2.8 (27.3% and 29.1%) and other key secondary endpoints. The effectiveness of upadacitinib was comparable with and without concomitant MTX and in b/tsDMARD-naive and b/tsDMARD-IR patients. The safety results were consistent with the known safety profile of upadacitinib; no new safety signals were identified.
Upadacitinib therapy was effective for RA in a real-world setting. Baseline CRP levels had no significant impact on the effectiveness of upadacitinib.
Uncovering anthropogenic and environmental drivers behind past biological change requires integrated analyses of long-term records from a diversity of disciplines. We applied an interdisciplinary ...approach exploring effects of human land-use and environmental changes on vegetation dynamics at Lake Ljøgottjern in southeastern Norway during the Holocene. Combined analysis of pollen and sedimentary ancient DNA (sedaDNA) metabarcoding of the sedimentary sequence of the lake describes the vegetation dynamics at different scales, and establishes a timeline for pastoral farming activities. We integrate this reconstruction with geochemical analysis of the sediments, climate data, archaeological evidence of local human settlement and regional human population dynamics.
Our data covering the last 10,000 years reveals consistent vegetation signals from pollen and sedaDNA indicating periods of deforestation connected to cultivation, matching the archaeological evidence. Multivariate analysis integrating the environmental data from geochemical and archaeological reconstructions with the vegetation composition indicates that the vegetation dynamics at Lake Ljøgottjern were primarily related to natural processes from the base of the core (in ca. 8000 BCE, Mesolithic) up to the Early Iron Age (ca. 500 BCE–550 CE), when agricultural activities in the region intensified. The pollen signal reflects the establishment of a Bronze Age (ca. 1800–500 BCE) farm in the area, while subsequent intensification of pollen concentrations of cultivated plants combined with the first sedaDNA signals of cultivation and pastoralism are consistent with evidence of the establishment of farming closer to the lake at around 300 BCE. These signals also correspond to the intensification of agriculture in southeastern Norway in the first centuries of the Early Iron Age. Applying an interdisciplinary approach allows us to reconstruct anthropogenic and environmental dynamics, and untangle effects of human land-use and environmental changes on vegetation dynamics in southeastern Norway during the Holocene.
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•Integration of pollen, sedaDNA, geochemical, archaeological and climate data.•Natural processes drove vegetation succession at Lake Ljøgottjern until Early Iron Age.•Matching pollen and sedaDNA records show rapid intensification of agropastoralism•Deviations between pollen and sedaDNA reflect distance to farms since the Bronze Age.•Major plant community shift coincided with growing human population in Early Iron Age.
Grapevine leafroll-associated virus 3 (GLRaV-3) is transmitted from grapevine to grapevine through grafting infected material, as well as mealybug and soft scale insect vectors. We determined the ...transmission efficiency of GLRaV-3 by two mealybug vectors, Planococcus ficus and Pseudococcus longispinus, by examining the relationship between the number of nymphs per plant, using groups of 1, 5, 10, 20 and 40 first- to second-instar nymphs, and the infection rate of healthy grapevine plants. Plants and single nymphs were tested for GLRaV-3 with nested reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (nested RT-PCR). The results of this study showed the infection rate of P. ficus and P. longispinus nymphs with GLRaV-3 after acquisition access and inoculation access periods of 5 days each to be similar between intra- and interspecific groups, ranging from 5% to 19%, except for the '40-nymph group' of P. longispinus, which had a higher number of infected nymphs (63%). The number of nymphs used per group did not influence the infection rate of plants, which ranged from 11% to 80% and 20% to 70% for P. ficus and P. longispinus, respectively. Transmission of GLRaV-3 with single P. ficus and P. longispinus nymphs resulted in 70% GLRaV-3 positive plants in both cases. This study has shown both species to be equally efficient as vectors of GLRaV-3. We have further shown for the first time that a single individual of either P. ficus or P. longispinus is capable of transmitting GLRaV-3 and infecting a healthy grapevine plant. The results of the study highlight the importance of implementing vector control measures.
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