University of Paderborn

About: University of Paderborn is a education organization based out in Paderborn, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Control reconfiguration & Software. The organization has 6684 authors who have published 16929 publications receiving 323154 citations.

Theoretical crack path prediction

Abstract: In many practical cases, the crack growth leads to abrupt failure of components and structures. For reasons of a reliable quantification of the endangerment due to sudden fracture of a component, therefore, it is of enormous importance to know the threshold values, the crack paths and the growth rates for the fatigue crack growth as well as the limiting values for the beginning of unstable crack growth (fracture toughness). This contribution deals with the complex problem of a-however initiated-crack, that is subjected to a mixed-mode loading. It will present the hypotheses and concepts, which describe the superposition of Mode I and Mode II (plane mixed mode) as well as the superposition of all three modes (Mode I, II and III) for spatial loading conditions. Those concepts admit a quantitative appraisal of such crack situations and a characterization of possible crack paths.

Making a European area of lifelong learning a reality? Some critical reflections on the European Union’s lifelong learning policies

Abstract: Lifelong learning has become a (still) increasingly popular slogan in the field of EU educational policy. Embedded in an international and historical account of the discourse on lifelong learning since the 1970s, this paper describes how lifelong learning has emerged as the central strategy in EU education and training policy, and provides a closer look at the EU’s underlying concept of lifelong learning and its objectives. Based on these illustrations, it provides some critical thoughts on the EU’s use of the term lifelong learning and its lifelong learning principles. Within this context, it calls for cautiousness: is lifelong learning just used as a powerful label, i.e. an elastic concept tailorable to any needs, or is it underpinned by a solid, comprehensive concept and strategy of lifelong learning? Following this line of argumentation, this paper also sets the EU’s lifelong learning policies in the broader light of the highly debated EU convergence policy in the field of education and training.

Development of effective quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical (QM/MM) methods for complex biological processes.

Abstract: Motivated by the long-term goal of understanding vectorial biological processes such as proton transport (PT) in biomolecular ion pumps, a number of developments were made to establish combined quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical (QM/MM) methods suitable for studying chemical reactions involving significant charge separation in the condensed phase. These developments were summarized and discussed with representative problems. Specifically, free energy perturbation and boundary potential methods for treating long-range electrostatics were implemented to test the robustness of QM/MM results for protein systems. It was shown that consistent models with sufficient sampling were able to produce quantitatively satisfactory results, such as pKa for titritable groups in the interior of T4-lysozyme, while an inconsistent treatment of electrostatics or lack of sufficient sampling may produce incorrect results. Modifications were made to an approximate density functional theory (SCC-DFTB) to improve the descript...