Raytheon Technologies (Germany)

The even-odd-analysis of a reciprocal and twofold symmetrical four-port provides four eigenimpedances. A method for the derivation of the intrinsic impedance of the network from these eigenimpedances is shown. Once the conjugate complex of its intrinsic impedance is presented to the external ports of the network, it will be a quadrature coupler. The usefulness of the intrinsic impedance is shown exemplarily by two detailed examples: the improvement of the directivity of microstrip coupled-line couplers and the development of forward coupled-line couplers. Approaches for the broadening of the bandwidth are shown. All couplers presented achieve superior performance regarding directivity, return loss, and bandwidth.

Recent accident statistics have shown a continuous increase in year to year serious and very serious accidents at sea. In the near future, higher traffic density is estimated, which may further contribute to this increase. Within the 3-year Project MTCAS, partners from industry and academia contribute to accident reduction by developing an e-Navigation based System for pro-active, predictive and cooperative collision avoidance. MTCAS is the abbreviation for Maritime Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System, which implies the basic idea of adopting the Airborne Collision Avoidance System (ACAS) implementation TCAS. However, MTCAS' operational principal aims at supporting the officer of the watch on a ship's navigational bridge in detecting and solving conflicts with other ships taking into consideration the prevailing circumstances of the environment and traffic but also include relevant rules and regulations, bathymetry, as well as Vessel Traffic Services (VTS). Different from TCAS, MTCAS does not automatically intervene in terms of issuing steering commands, but moreover supports seafarers in cooperatively finding safe and efficient trajectories, which is completely different - innovative - compared to the basic TCAS purpose. A comparing study between TCAS and MTCAS is performed and the outcomes are discussed in this paper.

Summary The distillation cuts between head, heart and tail fraction of a fruit distillate are still done in an empirical fashion, based on the distiller’s sensorial experience. There has been an unmet need for a long time to provide an objective method for determining the point of tails independent of fruit type and distillation technique. In this study, the authors provide a new method for separating the tail robustly from the heart fraction. For the first time, this is based on an in‐line measurement of conductivity together with a suited algorithm for differentiating the conductivity increase before and after the point of tails. The method has been validated with three different fruit mashes of different sugar content, distilled applying different levels of rectification due to different settings of the dephlegmator of the still. Verification with sensory analysis confirmed the validity of the method.

Abstract The publication on hand presents the ongoing developments of a networked control system for maritime application within the joint project GALILEOnautic 2. It is based on the joint project GALILEOnautic, where a system was developed which enables cooperative maneuvering of networked vessels in a harbor environment. The present paper focuses on the planned automation of the research ship DENEB of the German Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH), and discusses the planned evaluation szenario. Therefore, it introduces the required extensions of predecessor system concepts to act on a level close to industrial application. The algorithms will be extended, such that they are capable to a higher number of participating networked ships, are more reliable and can handle error situations. Furthermore, the original cooperative network depended concept will be transferred to a single ship, such that autonomous ships can be integrated in conventional harbor traffic. The design of real-world experiments with an autonomous operating DENEB in the harbor of Rostock are discussed.

A major future challenge to providers of nautical equipment and navigational radar systems is to make such systems affordable to cost-sensitive customers in the commercial maritime market. This paper presents an approach for a combined S- and X-band navigational phased array radar. The state of the art as well as expected advantages of the proposed solution are discussed. This study also provides information about the technical details regarding the antenna, TR-modules, beamforming, and signal processing.

This publication describes the further development of a navigation concept especially designed for maritime application and its recent integration on the research ship DENEB of the German Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH). The proposed navigation concept consists of a tightly-coupled navigation filter, which bases on quantities of an inertial measurement unit (IMU), is aided by a Doppler velocity log (DVL), and Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) dual constellation signals of two antennas. Integrity monitoring with fault detection and exclusion (FDE), ensures the reliability of the GNSS observables. A new approach for integrating low quality and biased DVL data without endangering the state estimation accuracy and preciseness, but enhancing it’s robustness is introduced. A new integration of real-time sea level data from an online service in the filter improves robustness in addition. The navigation system is evaluated in an extensive measurement campaign with DENEB in harbor of Rostock, Germany. Basically, two different advantages of the proposed navigation concept are investigated. Firstly, evaluation proves that integration of the low quality and biased data of the vessels DVL is possible without lowering the navigation filter accuracy significantly. Secondly, the robustness of the concept against sensor failure is shown. Therefore, by means of post-processing the recorded data, GNSS and DVL outage is investigated. Evaluation verifies, that the multi-sensor fusion and the integration of real-time sea level data improves the robustness of the navigation solution and therefore is qualified for autonomous application.

Using a novel in-line measurement technique for monitoring the distillate conductivity of apple spirits, the authors demonstrated that a more economic strategy of running a batch column still providing lower heating and cooling energy was able to shift higher levels of carboxylic acids more toward the cut point of tails. By means of more aggressive heating and cooling, the relative volatility of tail congeners was increased, enabling them to enter the condenser already at the beginning of the distillation. Especially during column distillation, reflux rates can heavily impact the transition of less volatile congeners into the product contributing either to an unclean taste when too enriched or to a lack of aroma intensity when too depleted. It was shown that with the selected strategies, the risk of depletion of aroma compounds is higher with increased ethanol fortification and unclean taste can easily be avoided even if higher levels of carboxylic acids are present, especially when the cut of the tail fraction is done appropriately using the described conductivity method.

In pharmacopoeial monographs for herbal drugs and herbal preparations, conventional assay methods such as colorimetry or spectophotometric assays are often replaced by modern, more specific and reliable methods, e.g. liquid chromatography (LC). However, existing dosage recommendations in the monographs on efficacy and safety of herbal medicinal products which are an important basis for licensing procedures do not refer to the mandatory new methods but to the existing photometric methods. The laboratory comparison of the determination of silymarin of Milk Thistle extract shows that a conversion factor can be calculated which allows a correlation between the new and the existing method. It is suggested that this factor should be included in the Ph. Eur. monograph on Milk Thistle extract, allowing reference to dosages given in official monographs (e.g. ESCOP, HMPC). The solution to use a conversion factor should also be applied to other herbal drugs and herbal preparations, especially for standardised extracts.

CASCADe is a European project aiming at designing advanced adaptive ship bridges, using model-based approaches and simulations. The models are used for capturing and simulating the seafarers’ tasks and their information and situation awareness needs, through the use of cognitive seafarers’ models; for studying and designing their physical interaction with console equipment, including controls and displays, through sophisticated anthropometric 3D models; and finally for designing and manufacturing the physical bridge itself (console, workstation, furniture).

In today's sensor industry finding new environmentally friendly and efficient methods for surface treatment in order to achieve clean and functionalized surfaces has become absolutely essential.

本レポートは, 抄紙機におけるプレスセクションの設定およびルーチン作業の最適化を促進するべく設計された最新のプレスフェルト測定システム, フェルトビュー™に関するものである。当該測定は, 水分率, 透気度および各フェルト温度についての特性ならびに傾向についての情報を与えるものである。この情報をプレスセクション直後の水分率測定システム, エンバイロスキャン™と組み合わせることにより, 製品の品質, フェルト性能及びプロセス効率の向上を可能とし, しかも加圧および乾燥作業のエネルギー消費を低減可能とする。特にこのパートは従来から操業者の経験と推測による操業が行われているが, これからはフェルトビュー™やエンバイロスキャン™の実データをもとに合理的な操業指針をたてる事が可能になる。本報告は既にフェルトビュー™を使用しているユーザーから提供されたデータをもとにまとめたものである。

The team of authors is engaged in the IMO corresponding group on INS / Alert Management and in national task groups primarily specialising in ?Navigational Alert Management? matters. This presentation is based on the outcome of serious discussions carried out at different work group sessions in Germany and has been widely used as a guideline when details of an Alert Management concept are analysed (e.g. alert related communication and de-escalation strategies). A separate paragraph of definitions within this presentation describes ?Function Alerts? which are not relevant for the navigational tasks carried out by the officer of the watch. Alerts appear to be nonrelevant became the subject under discussion whether their announcement should be automatically filtered out by a navigational module within an INS. This could be one effective method of resolution to minimise (the number of high priority) alerts.

抄紙機の操業上，紙の品質を管理するパラメーターは色々あるが，フォメーション即ち地合は，印刷適性等の紙の品質を語る上で欠くことのできない重要なパラメーターである。現在市場に出ている地合測定センサは乾燥工程が終わったリールで測定するため，多層抄のように重量の大きい製品については十分な測定ができない。この観点からフォイトペーパーは，ワイヤーパートで測定できる地合センサを開発した。このセンサは抄紙機の性能を向上させ，また抄紙機のトラブルの解決を容易にするツールにもなる。さらに原料，薬品，エネルギーの節約のみならずグレード毎に所望の地合を維持することができるようになった。本稿ではこの新地合センサ「OnVフロックスポッター」の概要と，弊社ペーパーテクノロジーセンターに於ける最新のパイロットマシンでのテスト結果について述べる。また最後にこのセンサを導入した場合の経済効果を予想してみた。

Gabriela Burkhalter, urbaniste suisse, a mené des recherches d’envergure sur les aires de jeu publiques à travers les époques et les cultures, particulièrement en Europe et aux Etats-Unis. Ces recherches ont donné lieu à plusieurs expositions et sont accessibles sur un site internet initié en 2008 (www.architekturfuerkinder.ch). Publiée à l’occasion d’une exposition à la Kunsthalle de Zurich (The Playground Project,20 février-15 mai 2016, Zurich : Kunsthalle), la compilation de biographies d’...

Diabetes mellitus is a risk factor for nephrolithiasis. A recent observational study found that in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D), SGLT2 inhibitor use was associated with a 49% lower risk of nephrolithiasis compared with GLP-1 receptor agonists.
 Aim: we examined the association between nephrolithiasis and the SGLT2 inhibitor empagliflozin, using existing data from randomized clinical trials.
 Methods: we pooled data from 15 081 T2D patients randomized to empagliflozin (n = 10 177) or placebo (n = 4904) from 20 phase I-IV trials, including the large cardiovascular outcome trial, EMPA-REG OUTCOME. Incident urinary tract stone events were captured using a predefined collection of MedRA terms. A sensitivity analysis using a narrower definition was also performed. Incidence rate ratios (IRR) and 95% CIs were calculated using the relative risk estimate, stratified by study.
 Results: the median exposures to study drug were 543 days (placebo) and 549 days (empagliflozin); 183 patients experienced an incident urolithiasis during follow-up (placebo, 79; empagliflozin, 104), yielding annual incidence rates of 1.01 vs 0.63 events/100 patient-years in the 2 respective groups. The IRR was 0.64 (95% CI, 0.48-0.86), in favor of empagliflozin. In the sensitivity analysis, the results were similar (IRR, 0.62 [95% CI, 0.45-0.85]).
 Conclusion: compared with placebo, empagliflozin therapy was associated with an approximate 40% reduced risk of urinary tract stone events in T2D patients. The underlying mechanisms are unknown but may involve altered lithogenic profile of the urine. Dedicated randomized prospective clinical trials are warranted to confirm these initial observations in patients with and without T2D.