Showing papers by "Bauhaus University, Weimar published in 2004"

Customer orientation of service employees: Its impact on customer satisfaction, commitment, and retention

Abstract: With the performance of service personnel often constituting a major element of a service per se, the customer orientation of service personnel is often regarded as a main determinant of service firms' success. Drawing on a deductively derived four‐dimensional conceptualization of the customer orientation of service personnel, consisting of employees' technical skills, social skills, motivation, and decision‐making power, a model of the impact employees' customer orientation has on key service marketing constructs is theoretically developed. The model is then empirically tested against a sample of 989 consumers for two service contexts (i.e. book/CD/DVD retailers and travel agencies), with the results providing support for most hypotheses. Implications of the findings for services and retail management are discussed.

Numerical and analytical calculations of the temperature and flow field in the upwind power plant

Abstract: The upwind power plant is an interesting system to generate electrical power from free solar energy. The authors have carried out an analysis to improve the description of the operation mode and efficiency. The pressure drop at the turbine and the mass flow rate have a decisive influence on the efficiency. This can be determined only by coupling of all parts of an upwind power plant. In this study the parts ground, collector, chimney and turbine are modelled together numerically. The basis for all sections is the numerical CFD programme FLUENT. This programme solves the basic equations of the thermal fluid dynamics. Model development and parameter studies particularly arise with this tool. Additional to the calculations using FLUENT a simple model is developed for comparison purposes and parameter studies. The numerical results with FLUENT compare well with the results given by the simple model, therefore, we can use the simple model for parameter studies. The basis for the geometry is the prototype Manzanares. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Video See-Through AR on Consumer Cell-Phones

Abstract: We present a first running video see-through augmented reality system on a consumer cell-phone. It supports the detection and differentiation of different markers, and correct integration of rendered 3D graphics into the live video stream via a weak perspective projection camera model and an OpenGL rendering pipeline.

Modern Approaches to Augmented Reality.

Abstract: This tutorial discusses the Spatial Augmented Reality (SAR) concept, its advantages and limitations. It will present examples of state-of-the-art display configurations, appropriate real-time rendering techniques, details about hardware and software implementations, and current areas of application. Specifically, it will describe techniques for optical combination using single/multiple spatially aligned mirror-beam splitters, image sources, transparent screens and optical holograms. Furthermore, it presents techniques for projector-based augmentation of geometrically complex and textured display surfaces, and (along with optical combination) methods for achieving consistent illumination and occlusion effects. Emerging technologies that have the potential of enhancing future augmented reality displays will be surveyed.

VHB-JOURQUAL: Ein Ranking von betriebswirtschaftlich-relevanten Zeitschriften auf der Grundlage von Expertenurteilen

Abstract: In light of shrinking budgets and growing international competition, universities are required to become transparent with respect to their teaching and research performance. In terms of research evaluation, the assessment of journal articles plays a vital role. However, existing journal rankings suffer from weaknesses that limit their usability for German-speaking universities. The main aim of this article is to introduce VHB-JOURQUAL, a valid, comprehensive ranking of academic journals in the field of business administration which is apt to be used in evaluation across different universities. After highlighting extant ranking approaches, the concept of VHB-JOURQUAL and its empirical application are discussed. 651 members of the Association of University Professors of Management and post-doctoral researchers assessed the quality of both articles and review processes of business administration journals that they are familiar with. Key results are reported and implications for university management are discussed.

Modelling Shared Contexts in Cooperative Environments: Concept, Implementation, and Evaluation

Abstract: Users who work together require adequate information about their cooperative environment: about other group members' presence and activities, about shared artefacts, etc. In the CSCW literature several concepts, prototypes, and systems for providing this group awareness information have been presented. In general, they capture information from the environment, process it, and present it to the users. This paper addresses the processing aspect; in particular, we present a concept for processing awareness information by means of awareness contexts. With this concept we address the problem of contextualising event notifications enabling the presentation of notifications in the appropriate user situation. We describe a lightweight model and its integration into an event and notification infrastructure. We report on an empirical study, and draw some conclusions for the design of context-awareness for cooperative environments.

Optical Tracking and Video See-Through AR on Consumer Cell-Phones

Abstract: We present a first running video see-through augmented reality system on a consumer cell-phone. It supports the detection and differentiation of different markers, and correct integration of rendered 3D graphics into the live video stream via a weak perspective projection camera model and an OpenGL rendering pipeline.

On the relations between crowding and visual masking

Abstract: To study the question of which processes contribute to crowding and whether these are comparable to those of visual temporal masking, we varied the stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) between target and flankers in a crowding setting. Monotonically increasing Type A masking functions observed for small spacings and large eccentricities indicate that the integration of information from target and flankers underlies crowding. Decreasing masking functions obtained for large spacings and small eccentricities relate processes of crowding to those contributing to Type B masking. In addition, Type B masking was more frequent with letter-like nonletter flankers than with letter flankers, suggesting that Type B masking, just like crowding over large areas, is due to higher level interactions. The rapid decrease of the effects of interletter spacing and eccentricity with increasing SOA indicates that positional information is transient.

Condominios fechados and Barrios privados: the rise of private residential neighbourhoods in Latin America.

Abstract: Buenos Aires` inhabitants proudly introduce their city to visitors via the enumeration of records; Taking a taxi from the international airport to the city centre, everyone will get to know that the Plate River is the broadest one crossing an agglomeration in the southern hemisphere, or that the avenue 9 of July is the widest urban avenue crossing the densest CBD in South America. Since the late 1990s, the urban story of the Argentinean capital beat two more records: The widest metropolitan motorway on the subcontinent (16 lanes) unifies the dense city centre with Nordelta, Latin Americas largest gated city development. The so called Town-Village Nordelta (CiudadPueblo) can be characterized as a counterpoint to the crude urban reality of the 14 million inhabitant mega-city, in which approximately 60 percent of the population live with a daily income lower than one euro.

An upscaling method and a numerical analysis of swelling/shrinking processes in a compacted bentonite/sand mixture

Abstract: This paper presents an upscaling concept of swelling/shrinking processes of a compacted bentonite/sand mixture, which also applies to swelling of porous media in general. A constitutive approach for highly compacted bentonite/sand mixture is developed accordingly. The concept is based on the diffuse double layer theory and connects microstructural properties of the bentonite as well as chemical properties of the pore fluid with swelling potential. Main factors influencing the swelling potential of bentonite, i.e. variation of water content, dry density, chemical composition of pore fluid, as well as the microstructures and the amount of swelling minerals are taken into account. According to the proposed model, porosity is divided into interparticle and interlayer porosity. Swelling is the potential of interlayer porosity increase, which reveals itself as volume change in the case of free expansion, or turns to be swelling pressure in the case of constrained swelling. The constitutive equations for swelling/shrinking are implemented in the software GeoSys/RockFlow as a new chemo-hydro-mechanical model, which is able to simulate isothermal multiphase flow in bentonite. Details of the mathematical and numerical multiphase flow formulations, as well as the code implementation are described. The proposed model is verified using experimental data of tests on a highly compacted bentonite/sand mixture. Comparison of the 1D modelling results with the experimental data evidences the capability of the proposed model to satisfactorily predict free swelling of the material under investigation. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Combining optical holograms with interactive computer graphics

Abstract: Holograms can reconstruct complete optical wavefronts, capturing images that have a three-dimensional appearance and can be observed from different perspectives. Museum exhibits often use optical hologram technology because it permits presentation of 3D objects with almost no loss in visual quality. Optical holograms are static, however, and lack interactivity. Combining 3D computer graphical elements with stereoscopic presentation techniques provides an alternative that allows interactivity.

Change of structural condition of welded joints between high‐strength fine‐grained and structural steels

Abstract: First, the production process of fine‐grained structural steels was considered. The results from the thermal calculation, which is a part of the welding simulation, were compared with measurements and good concordance was achieved. A modification of the hardness was found during the analysis of the hardness curve, the so‐called local hardness drop. The reason was the transformation of the structure, caused by thermal factors. The available TTA (time‐temperature‐austenite) and available TTT (time‐temperature‐transformation) diagrams do not describe this tempering process, which results in tempering structural condition by means of constituents of the martensite and bainite. The method of solution was applied to an example of a mismatch‐joint and a good concordance was achieved.

Markenführung und Relationship Marketing

Abstract: Eine der wichtigsten Entwicklungen der jungeren Marketingwissenschaft ist das Konzept des Relationship Marketing (Hennig-Thurau/Hansen 2000; Sheth/Parvatiyar 2000; Bruhn 2002) Relationship Marketing bezeichnet die Ausrichtung der unternehmerischen Marketingaktivitaten auf die dauerhafte Bindung ausgewahlter Kunden und stellt einen Gegenentwurf zu einem Marketing dar, in dessen Mittelpunkt die kurzfristige Realisierung einzelner Kaufabschlusse steht Zentrale Anstose fur die Entwicklung und Verbreitung des Relationship-Marketing-Konzeptes in Wissenschaft und Unternehmenspraxis stammen insbesondere aus den Bereichen des Dienstleistungsmarketing und des Industriegutermarketing, die jeweils durch ein vergleichsweise hohes Mas an personlicher Nahe zwischen Anbieter und Kunden gekennzeichnet sind

On Series Expansions of Hyperholomorphic Bq Functions

Abstract: In the previous article 11, B q spaces of hyperholomorphic functions were studied and it was shown that these spaces form a scale of subspaces, all included in the hyperholomorphic Bloch space. Here, we study the problem if these inclusions within the scale and with respect to the Bloch space are strict. Main tool is the characterization of B q functions by the coefficients of certain series expansions.

Separate collection and biological waste treatment in the European Community

Abstract: Group 1: The national conditions and prescriptions have been worked out before the EU guidelines were published. Germany, Austria, Denmark, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Belgium (Flanders) belong to this first group. Group 2: The EU standards have been adopted as a target in the national law, the realisation already converted: France, Italy, Sweden, England and Finland Group 3: The EU standards are acknowledged as a future target, the realisation is on the way: Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain.

Distinguishing Topic from Genre

Abstract: This paper contributes to a facet from the area of Web Information Retrieval that has recently received much attention: The satisfaction of a user's personal information need with respect to text type, presentation type, or information quality. We imply that such properties can be quantied for all kinds of Web documents, and we subsume them under the term iWeb genrei or igenrei. Recent surveys show that there is, to a certain degree, a common understanding of Web genre. However, the strictness by which genre and non-genre aspects of a document are experienced is an individual matter. To get a better understanding of the challenges of Web genre identication and its possible limits we investigate in this paper a very interesting question, which has not been posed by now: Given a categorization C of documents (or bookmarks, links, document identier s), can we provide a reliable assessment whether C is governed by topic or by genre considerations? We present instruments to answer this question as well as to make a distinct statement about the homogeneity of a categorization.

Displaying digital image on projection surface e.g. of any shape or texture, by geometrically distorting digital image using information relating to projection surface

Abstract: The method involves using a projector (P) to project the contents of an image buffer onto a projection surface (S). The digital image is processed in a rendering procedure, by geometrically distorting it using a two-dimensional pixel displacement field containing information relating to the projection surface (S), and by manipulating its colors based on a two-dimensional surface texture of the projection surface. At least some of the processed image is rendered in the image buffer. An independent claim is included for an apparatus for displaying a digital picture on a projection surface.

Video see-through and optical tracking with consumer cell phones

Abstract: To enable mobile devices, such as head-mounted displays and PDAs, to support video see-through augmented reality is a popular research topic. However, such technology is not widelyspread outside the research community today. It has been estimated that by the end of the year 2005 approximately 50% of all cell phones will be equipped with digital cameras. Consequently, using cell phones as platform for video see-through AR has the potential of addressing a brought group of end users and applications. Compared to high-end PDAs and HMDs together with personal computers, the implementation of video see-through AR on the current funand smart-phone generations is a challenging task: Ultra-low video-stream resolutions, little graphics and memory capabilities, as well as slow processors set technological limitations. We have realized a prototype solution for video see-through AR on consumer cell phones. It supports optical tracking of passive paper markers and the correct integration of 2D/3D graphics into the live video-stream at interactive rates. We aim at applications, such as interactive tour guiding for museums and tourism, as well as at mobile games.

Ingenieuranalyse von Erdbebenschäden: Das Bingöl (Türkei)-Erdbeben vom 1. Mai 2003

Abstract: Mit der Ingenieuranalyse der Erdbebenschaden des Magnitude6.6 Bingol-Erdbebens (Turkei) vom 1. Mai 2003 wird der Versuch unternommen, schadenbegunstigende Einflusfaktoren herauszuarbeiten. Die Schadensauswertungen, die instrumentellen Standortuntersuchungen und die Reinterpretation des Bauwerksverhaltens konzentrieren sich dabei auf die vor Ort aufgenommenen Stahlbetonkonstruktionen. Im Mittelpunkt stehen mehrgeschossige Schulgebaude, die trotz ihres Typenprojektcharakters deutliche Unterschiede im Schadigungsgrad (geringe Schadigung bis hin zum Kollaps) aufweisen. Es wird ein Schema zur Bewertung der Schadensursachen eingefuhrt, das die Intensitat der Bodenbewegung, Resonanzeffekte zwischen Baugrund und Bauwerk, Richtungseffekte als auch Merkmale der konstruktiven Durchbildung einschliest. Neben Phanomenen und typischen Schadensmustern, die bereits bei anderen Beben in der Region und auch weltweit festzustellen waren, werden Faktoren herausgearbeitet, die zu einer Verstarkung der Bodenbewegung beigetragen haben (konnen). Dies betrifft insbesondere die topographischen Besonderheiten, die auch durch die aktuelle Baunormung nicht ausreichend berucksichtigt erscheinen. Ein fur die Region typisches Stahlbetonrahmentragwerk wird der nichtlinearen statischen “pushover”-Analyse unterzogen, um die Plausibilitat zwischen den in Ortsnahe registrierten Bodenbeschleunigungen des Hauptbebens und dem beobachteten Bauwerksverhalten zu uberprufen. Dabei wird das methodische Vorgehen vorgestellt, um auf Grundlage der vor Ort aufgenommenen Materialkenngrosen und Bewehrungsdetails mittels steifigkeitsabhangiger Kapazitatskurven Aussagen uber die Verletzbarkeit (u.a. bei starkeren Beben) ableiten zu konnen. Engineering analysis of earthquake damage: The Bingol (Turkiye) earthquake of May 1, 2003. Through the engineering analysis of structural damage caused by the magnitude 6.6 Bingol (Turkiye) earthquake on May 1, 2003, an attempt is made to work out the damage-promotive factors. The damage analyses, instrumental site investigations, and the reinterpretation of structural behaviour concentrate on reinforced-concrete buildings which were documented on site. At this, standardized school buildings take center stage, showing different grades of damage (slight damage to total collapse) even though they are of comparable character. A scheme to evaluate the causes of structural damage will be introduced which accounts for ground motion intensity, resonance effects between site und structure, directional effects of the seismic wave propagation, as well as for features of design and construction. Besides to phenomena and typical damage pattern which had been already be observed after other worldwide earthquakes, factors will be emphasized (possibly) contributing to the amplification of seismic ground motion. This in particular concerns topographical peculiarities which even seem to be insufficiently considered by actual code provisions. Furthermore, a reinforced-concrete frame structure, typical for the regarded region, will be subjected to the nonlinear static “pushover” analysis in order to check the plausibility between recorded ground motion of the damaging mainshock and observed structural performance, the latter to be represented by the actual state of damage pattern. A methodical procedure will be presented which can be applied to derive statements on the structural vulnerability by stiffness-dependent capacity curves. This being mainly based on material parameters and reinforcement detailing to be documented on site.

Data recording device for data processing units

Abstract: The invention relates to a data recording device for data processing units, in particular for the recording of multi-dimensional coordinates. Said devices serve for the recording or input of data defining a movement and/or a position in a multi-dimensional space. According to the invention, the data recording device comprises a stand (1), a retainer element (4), mounted on the stand (1) such as to be displaced in at least two directions, an operating ball (7), mounted in the retainer element (4) such as to be rotated but not displaced of which two at least partly diametrically opposed ball segment sections may be gripped with thumb and finger of one hand by the user, several sensors (8, 10, 16, 12) for recording the displacement of the retainer element (4) and the rotation of the operating ball (7) and an interface unit which transmits the data provided by the sensors (8, 10, 16, 12) to the connected data processing unit.

On BQ Spaces of Hyperholomorphic Functions and the Bloch Space in R3

Abstract: Recently a definition of B q spaces of hyperholomorphic functions of three real variables has been presented by the same authors (see [15]) This definition allows to characterize the hypercomplex Bloch space equivalently by the integral norms of B q The aim of this paper is to describe a ”wider” scale of B q spaces of hyperholomorphic functions by using another weight function A part of the scale still characterizes the Bloch space but the whole scale is not longer equivalent to the Bloch space Besides, some important basic properties of these weighted B q spaces are also considered

On Discrete Stokes and Navier—Stokes Equations in the Plane

Abstract: The main goal of the paper is to apply the theory of discrete analytic functions to the solution of Dirichlet problems for the Stokes and Navier—Stokes equations, respectively. The Cauchy—Riemann operator will be approximated by certain finite difference operators. Approximations of the classical T-operator as well as for the Bergman projections are constructed in such a way that the algebraic properties of the operators from complex function theory remain valid. This is used to approximate the solutions to the boundary value problems by adapted finite difference schemes.