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Aim:
The most suitable method for assessment of response to peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT) of neuroendocrine tumors (NET) is still under debate. In this study we aimed to compare size (RECIST 1.1), density (Choi), Standardized Uptake Value (SUV) and a newly defined ZP combined parameter derived from Somatostatin Receptor (SSR) PET/CT for prediction of both response to PRRT and overall survival (OS).
Material and Methods:
Thirty-four NET patients with progressive disease (F:M 23:11; mean age 61.2 y; SD ± 12) treated with PRRT using either Lu-177 DOTATOC or Lu-177 DOTATATE and imaged with Ga-68 SSR PET/CT approximately 10–12 weeks prior to and after each treatment cycle were retrospectively analyzed. Median duration of follow-up after the first cycle was 63.9 months (range 6.2–86.2). A total of 77 lesions (2–8 per patient) were analyzed. Response assessment was performed according to RECIST 1.1, Choi and modified EORTC (MORE) criteria. In addition, a new parameter named ZP, the product of Hounsfield unit (HU) and SUVmean (Standard Uptake Value) of a tumor lesion, was tested. Further, SUV values (max and mean) of the tumor were normalized to SUV of normal liver parenchyma. Tumor response was defined as CR, PR, or SD. Gold standard for comparison of baseline parameters for prediction of response of individual target lesions to PRRT was change in size of lesions according to RECIST 1.1. For prediction of overall survival, the response after the first and second PRRT were tested.
Results:
Based on RECIST 1.1, Choi, MORE, and ZP, 85.3%, 64.7%, 61.8%, and 70.6% achieved a response whereas 14.7%, 35.3%, 38.2%, and 29.4% demonstrated PD (progressive disease), respectively. Baseline ZP and ZPnormalized were found to be the only parameters predictive of lesion progression after three PRRT cycles (AUC ZP 0.753; 95% CI 0.6–0.9, p 0.037; AUC ZPnormalized 0.766; 95% CI 0.6–0.9; p 0.029). Based on a cut-off-value of 1201, ZP achieved a sensitivity of 86% and a specificity of 67%, while ZPnormalized reached a sensitivity of 86% and a specificity of 76% at a cut-off-value of 198. Median OS in the total cohort was not reached. In univariate analysis amongst all parameters, only patients having progressive disease according to MORE after the second cycle of PRRT were found to have significantly shorter overall survival (median OS in objective responders not reached, in PD 29.2 months; p 0.015). Patients progressive after two cycles of PRRT according to ZP had shorter OS compared to those responding (median OS for responders not reached, for PD 47.2 months, p 0.066).
Conclusions:
In this explorative study, we showed that Choi, RECIST 1.1, and SUVmax-based response evaluation varied significantly from each other. Only patients showing progressive disease after two PRRT cycles according to MORE criteria had a worse prognosis while baseline ZP and
ZPnormalized performed best in predicting lesion progression after three cycles of PRRT.
In the context of modern mobility, topics such as smart-cities, Car2Car-Communication, extensive vehicle sensor-data, e-mobility and charging point management systems have to be considered. These topics of modern mobility often have in common that they are characterized by complex and extensive data situations. Vehicle position data, sensor data or vehicle communication data must be preprocessed, aggregated and analyzed. In many cases, the data is interdependent. For example, the vehicle position data of electric vehicles and surrounding charging points have a dependence on one another and characterize a competition situation between the vehicles. In the case of Car2Car-Communication, the positions of the vehicles must also be viewed in relation to each other. The data are dependent on each other and will influence the ability to establish a communication. This dependency can provoke very complex and large data situations, which can no longer be treated efficiently. With this work, a model is presented in order to be able to map such typical data situations with a strong dependency of the data among each other. Microservices can help reduce complexity.
After kidney transplantation graft rejection must be prevented. Therefore, a multitude of parameters of the patient is observed pre- and postoperatively. To support this process, the Screen Reject research project is developing a data warehouse optimized for kidney rejection diagnostics. In the course of this project it was discovered that important information are only available in form of free texts instead of structured data and can therefore not be processed by standard ETL tools, which is necessary to establish a digital expert system for rejection diagnostics. Due to this reason, data integration has been improved by a combination of methods from natural language processing and methods from image processing. Based on state-of-the-art data warehousing technologies (Microsoft SSIS), a generic data integration tool has been developed. The tool was evaluated by extracting Banff-classification from 218 pathology reports and extracting HLA mismatches from about 1700 PDF files, both written in german language.
Using openEHR Archetypes for Automated Extraction of Numerical Information from Clinical Narratives
(2019)
Up to 80% of medical information is documented by unstructured data such as clinical reports written in natural language. Such data is called unstructured because the information it contains cannot be retrieved automatically as straightforward as from structured data. However, we assume that the use of this flexible kind of documentation will remain a substantial part of a patient’s medical record, so that clinical information systems have to deal appropriately with this type of information description. On the other hand, there are efforts to achieve semantic interoperability between clinical application systems through information modelling concepts like HL7 FHIR or openEHR. Considering this, we propose an approach to transform unstructured documented information into openEHR archetypes. Furthermore, we aim to support the field of clinical text mining by recognizing and publishing the connections between openEHR archetypes and heterogeneous phrasings. We have evaluated our method by extracting the values to three openEHR archetypes from unstructured documents in English and German language.
This paper deals with new job profiles in libraries, mainly systems librarians (German: Systembibliothekare), IT librarians (German: IT-Bibliothekare) and data librarians (German: Datenbibliothekare). It investigates the vacancies and requirements of these positions in the German-speaking countries by analyzing one hundred and fifty published job advertisements of OpenBiblioJobs between 2012-2016. In addition, the distribution of positions, institutional bearers, different job titles as well as time limits, scope of work and remuneration of the positions are evaluated. The analysis of the remuneration in the public sector in Germany also provides information on demands for a bachelor's or master's degree.
The average annual increase in job vacancies between 2012 and 2016 is 14.19%, confirming the need and necessity of these professional library profiles.
The higher remuneration of the positions in data management, in comparison to the systems librarian, proves the prerequisite of the master's degree and thus indicates a desideratum due to missing or few master's degree courses. Accordingly, the range of bachelor's degree courses (or IT-oriented major areas of study with optional compulsory modules in existing bachelor's degree courses) for systems and IT librarians must be further expanded. An alternative could also be modular education programs for librarians and information scientists with professional experience, as it is already the case for music librarians.
Methods for standard meta-analysis of diagnostic test accuracy studies are well established and understood. For the more complex case in which studies report test accuracy across multiple thresholds, several approaches have recently been proposed. These are based on similar ideas, but make different assumptions. In this article, we apply four different approaches to data from a recent systematic review in the area of nephrology and compare the results. The four approaches use: a linear mixed effects model, a Bayesian multinomial random effects model, a time-to-event model and a nonparametric model, respectively. In the case study data, the accuracy of neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin for the diagnosis of acute kidney injury was assessed in different scenarios, with sensitivity and specificity estimates available for three thresholds in each primary study. All approaches led to plausible and mostly similar summary results. However, we found considerable differences in results for some scenarios, for example, differences in the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of up to 0.13. The Bayesian approach tended to lead to the highest values of the AUC, and the nonparametric approach tended to produce the lowest values across the different scenarios. Though we recommend using these approaches, our findings motivate the need for a simulation study to explore optimal choice of method in various scenarios.
In this study, we calculated the energetics of hydrogen atoms adsorbing on and diffusing into the first few layers of γ-Fe for the (100), (110) and (111) surfaces and for the non-magnetic (NM), ferromagnetic (FM), and antiferromagnetic single (AFM1) and double layer (AFMD) structures. These studies are relevant as they atomistically simulate the early stages of hydrogen embrittlement in steels. We employed density functional theory to establish adsorption sites and energies for each plane and the minimum energy pathways for diffusion through the first few layers with associated activation barriers. Adsorption energies for all cases vary between ∼3.7 and 4.4 eV, and the energy barriers to diffusion in the bulk region vary between ∼0.2 and 1.2 eV for the twelve cases, with the highest and lowest bulk diffusion barriers occurring in the NM(111) and the FM(100) case, respectively. We conclude that the texturing of steels in order to expose certain cleavage planes or magnetic structures can decrease the likelihood of hydrogen embrittlement.
In industrial production facilities, technical Energy Management Systems are used to measure, monitor and display energy consumption related information. The measurements take place at the field device level of the automation pyramid. The measured values are recorded and processed at the control level. The functionalities to monitor and display energy data are located at the MES level of the automation pyramid. So the energy data from all PLCs has to be aggregated, structured and provided for higher level systems. This contribution introduces a concept for an Energy Data Aggregation Layer, which provides the functionality described above. For the implementation of this Energy Data Aggregation Layer, a combination of AutomationML and OPC UA is used.
Self-directed learning is an essential basis for lifelong learning and requires constantly changing, target groupspecific and personalized prerequisites in order to motivate people to deal with modern learning content, not to overburden them and yet to adequately convey complex contexts. Current challenges in dealing with digital resources such as information overload, reduction of complexity and focus, motivation to learn, self-control or psychological wellbeing are taken up in the conception of learning settings within our QpLuS IM project for the study program Information Management and Information Management extra-occupational (IM) at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Hannover. We present an interactive video on the functionality of search engines as a practical example of a medially high-quality and focused self-learning format that has been methodically produced in line with our agile, media-didactic process and stage model of complexity levels.
To design cost-effective prevention strategies against mastitis in dairy cow farms, knowledge about infection pathways of causative pathogens is necessary. Therefore, we investigated the reservoirs of bacterial strains causing intramammary infections in one dairy cow herd. Quarter foremilk samples (n = 8056) and milking- and housing-related samples (n = 251; from drinking troughs, bedding material, walking areas, cow brushes, fly traps, milking liners, and milker gloves), were collected and examined using culture-based methods. Species were identified with MALDI-TOF MS, and selected Staphylococcus and Streptococcus spp. typed with randomly amplified polymorphic DNA-PCR. Staphylococci were isolated from all and streptococci from most investigated locations. However, only for Staphylococcus aureus, matching strain types (n = 2) were isolated from milk and milking-related samples (milking liners and milker gloves). Staphylococcus epidermidis and Staphylococcus haemolyticus showed a large genetic diversity without any matches of strain types from milk and other samples. Streptococcus uberis was the only Streptococcus spp. isolated from milk and milking- or housing-related samples. However, no matching strains were found. This study underlines the importance of measures preventing the spread of Staphylococcus aureus between quarters during milking.
To effectively prevent and control bovine mastitis, farmers and their advisors need to take infection pathways and durations into account. Still, studies exploring both aspects through molecular epidemiology with sampling of entire dairy cow herds over longer periods are scarce. Therefore, quarter foremilk samples were collected at 14-d intervals from all lactating dairy cows (n = 263) over 18 wk in one commercial dairy herd. Quarters were considered infected with Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus uberis, or Streptococcus dysgalactiae when ≥100 cfu/mL of the respective pathogen was detected, or with Staphylococcus epidermidis or Staphylococcus haemolyticus when ≥500 cfu/mL of the respective pathogen was detected. All isolates of the mentioned species underwent randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD)-PCR to explore strain diversity and to distinguish ongoing from new infections. Survival analysis was used to estimate infection durations. Five different strains of Staph. aureus were isolated, and the most prevalent strain caused more than 80% of all Staph. aureus infections (n = 46). In contrast, 46 Staph. epidermidis and 69 Staph. haemolyticus strains were isolated, and none of these caused infections in more than 2 different quarters. The 3 most dominant strains of Strep. dysgalactiae (7 strains) and Strep. uberis (18 strains) caused 81% of 33 and 49% of 37 infections in total, respectively. The estimated median infection duration for Staph. aureus was 80 d, and that for Staph. epidermidis and Staph. haemolyticus was 28 and 22 d, respectively. The probability of remaining infected with Strep. dysgalactiae or Strep. uberis for more than 84 and 70 d was 58.7 and 53.5%, respectively. Staphylococcus epidermidis and Staph. haemolyticus were not transmitted contagiously and the average infection durations were short, which brings into question whether antimicrobial treatment of intramammary infections with these organisms is justified. In contrast, infections with the other 3 pathogens lasted longer and largely originated from contagious transmission.
Although Corynebacterium spp. can be regularly associated with subclinical and clinical mastitis cases in dairy cows, knowledge on their reservoirs in dairy farms is sparse. Therefore, samples were collected at 10 visits with 14 day intervals from bedding material (n = 50), drinking troughs (n = 20), different walking areas (n = 60), cow brushes (n = 8), fly traps (n = 4), the passage to pasture (n = 9) as well as milking liners (n = 80) and milker gloves (n = 20) in one dairy cow farm. Additionally, quarter foremilk samples from all lactating cows (approximately 200) were collected at each visit. All samples underwent microbiological examination and cultured isolates were identified using MALDI-TOF MS. Most Corynebacterium spp. that were cultivated from milk were also isolated from the housing environment and milking-related niches (C. amycolatum, C. confusum, C. stationis, C. variabile, C. xerosis) or from milking-related niches only (C. frankenforstense, C. pilosum, C. suicordis). C. bovis was not cultivated from any environmental niche, while being the dominant species in milk samples. This study demonstrates that many Corynebacterium spp. present in milk samples can also be isolated from the cows’ environment. For C. bovis, the most relevant Corynebacterium species with regard to intramammary infections, it indicates that environmental reservoirs are of little relevance.
This document describes the work done during the Research Semester in Summer 2006 of Prof. Dr. Stefan Wohlfeil. It is about Security Management tasks and how these tasks might be supported by Open Source software tools. I begin with a short discussion of general management tasks and describe some additional, security related management tasks. These security related tasks should then be added to a software tool which already provides the general tasks. Nagios is such a tool. It is extended to also perform some of the security related management tasks, too. I describe the new checking scripts and how Nagios needs to be configured to use these scripts. The work has been done in cooperation with colleagues from the Polytech- nic of Namibia in Windhoek, Namibia. This opportunity was used to also establish a partnership between the Department of Computer Science at FH Hannover and the Department of Information Technology at the Polytechnic. A first Memorandum of Agreement lays the groundwork for future staff or student exchange.
The optimization of lubricated sealing systems with respect to the stick-slip effect requires a friction model that describes the complex friction behavior in the lubricated contact area. This paper presents an efficient dynamic friction model based on the Stribeck curve, which allows to investigate the influencing parameters through finite element (FE) simulations. The simulation of a tribometer test using this friction model proofs that the model correlates well with the tribometer test results. It is shown that the system stiffness has a significant influence on the stick-slip tendency of the system.
Within the HiGHmeducation consortium various online learning modules shall be developed by members of the consortium to address the increasing need for skilled professionals in a networked and digitalized healthcare system. Transferability of these modules to other locations is one main objective for the design of online learning modules. Thus, a didactical framework for online learning modules was developed. To ensure feasibility of the framework, the participating universities were analyzed concerning availability of e-learning support structures and infrastructures including learning management systems (LMS). The analysis especially focuses on the various LMS learning tools and their suitability for the framework. The framework is the basis for 12 HiGHmeducation online learning modules of which a part has firstly been conducted in winter 2019/20 and leads to a comparable structure of the modules.
Radioisotope-guided sentinel lymph node dissection (sLND) has shown high diagnostic reliability in prostate (PCa) and other cancers. To overcome the limitations of the radioactive tracers, magnetometer-guided sLND using superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) has been successfully used in PCa. This prospective study (SentiMag Pro II, DRKS00007671) determined the diagnostic accuracy of magnetometer-guided sLND in intermediate- and high-risk PCa. Fifty intermediate- or high-risk PCa patients (prostate-specific antigen (PSA) >= 10 ng/mL and/or Gleason score >= 7; median PSA 10.8 ng/mL, IQR 7.4–19.2 ng/mL) were enrolled. After the intraprostatic SPIONs injection a day earlier, patients underwent magnetometer-guided sLND and extended lymph node dissection (eLND, followed by radical prostatectomy. SLNs were detected in in vivo and in ex vivo samples. Diagnostic accuracy of sLND was assessed using eLND as the reference. SLNs were detected in all patients (detection rate 100%), with 447 sentinel lymph nodes SLNs (median 9, IQR 6–12) being identified and 966 LNs (median 18, IQR 15–23) being removed. Thirty-six percent (18/50) of patients had LN metastases (median 2, IQR 1–3). Magnetometer-guided sLND had 100% sensitivity, 97.0% specificity, 94.4% positive predictive value, 100% negative predictive value, 0.0% false negative rate, and 3.0% additional diagnostic value (LN metastases only in SLNs outside the eLND template). In vivo, one positive SLN/LN-positive patient was missed, resulting in a sensitivity of 94.4%. In conclusion, this new magnetic sentinel procedure has high accuracy for nodal staging in intermediate- and high-risk PCa. The reliability of intraoperative SLN detection using this magnetometer system requires verification in further multicentric studies.
The velocity distribution of He atoms evaporating from a slab of liquid dodecane has been simulated. The distribution composed of ∼10 000 He trajectories is shifted to fractionally faster velocities as compared to a Maxwell–Boltzmann distribution at the temperature of the liquid dodecane with an average translational energy of 1.05 × 2RT (or 1.08 × 2RT after correction for a cylindrical liquid jet), compared to the experimental work by Nathanson and co-workers (1.14 × 2RT) on liquid jets. Analysis of the trajectories allows us to infer mechanistic information about the modes of evaporation, and their contribution to the overall velocity distribution.
In this paper a new rotor position observer for permanent magnet synchronous machines (PMSM) based on an Extended-Kalman-Filter (EKF) is presented. With this method, just one single EKF is sufficent to evaluate the position information from electromotive force (EMF) and anisotropy. Thus, the PMSM can be controlled for the entire speed range without a position sensor and without the need to switch or synchronize between different observers. The approach covers online estimation of permanent magnetic field and mechanical load. The resulting EKF-based rotor position estimator is embedded in the existing cascaded control concept of the PMSM without need of additional angle trackers or signal filters. The experimental validation for the position sensorless control shows optimized dynamic behaviour.
In huge warehouses or stockrooms, it is often very difficult to find a certain item, because it has been misplaced and is therefore not at its assumed position. This position paper presents an approach on how to coordinate mobile RFID agents using a blackboard architecture based on Complex Event Processing.
Recent developments in the field of deep learning have shown promising advances for a wide range of historically difficult computer vision problems. Using advanced deep learning techniques, researchers manage to perform high-quality single-image super-resolution, i.e., increasing the resolution of a given image without major losses in image quality, usually encountered when using traditional approaches such as standard interpolation. This thesis examines the process of deep learning super-resolution using convolutional neural networks and investigates whether the same deep learning models can be used to increase OCR results for low-quality text images.
Streptococcus dysgalactiae is among the most important pathogens causing bovine mastitis. Unfortunately, there is presently a lack of clear knowledge about the mode of transmission — contagious or environmental — of this pathogen. To obtain more information on this, knowledge of the genetic diversity of the isolated microorganisms at the farm level can be useful. To observe the strain variety in different herds of cattle, isolates of Strep. dysgalactiae were collected from clinical mastitis samples at different farms, and the strains were typed using the pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) method. Overall, we performed strain typing on 93 isolates from 16 farms in Germany and used an index to describe the degree of contagiosity of Strep. dysgalactiae at each farm. This index (CI) represents the number of isolates divided by the number of strains found in mastitis milk of clinical cases within a period of 14 months. The results differed between the farms. In one farm, all six Strep. dysgalactiae cases that occurred during the study period were caused by a single strain (CI = 6), while in another farm the six cases that occurred were caused by five different strains (CI = 1.2). All other farms fell between these two extremes. This indicates that Strep. dysgalactiae infections can occur via several routes of transmission. At the farm level, strain comparisons are necessary to determine the routes of transmission. Two strains were able to survive on the farm for a minimum of 14 months.
Milk concentrates are used in the manufacturing of dairy products such as yogurt and cheese or are processed into milk powder. Processes for the nonthermal separation of water and valuable milk ingredients are becoming increasingly widespread at farm level. The technical barriers to using farm-manufactured milk concentrate in dairies are minimal, hence the suspicion that the practice of on-farm raw milk concentration is still fairly uncommon for economic reasons. This study, therefore, set out to investigate farmers’ potential willingness to adopt a raw milk concentration plant. The empirical analysis was based on discrete choice experiments with 75 German dairy farmers to identify preferences and the possible adoption of on-farm raw milk concentration. The results showed that, in particular, farmers who deemed the current milk price to be insufficient viewed on-farm concentration using membrane technology as an option for diversifying their milk sales. We found no indication that adoption would be impeded by a lack of trustworthy information on milk processing technologies or capital.
Cradle to Cradle – An analysis of the market potential in the German outdoor apparel industry
(2016)
The purpose of this study is to investigate the market potential in the German outdoor apparel industry by focusing on sustainable production in terms of environmental and human health. A literature study of the Cradle to Cradle (C2C) design concept is provided, as it represents a solution for pollution, waste and environmental destruction caused by the current industrial design and waste management. The data for the subsequent market- and competitive analysis of the German outdoor apparel industry was collected through secondary research in order to identify several key market indicators for the assessment of the market potential. The outcome of this research is the identification of a positioning strategy for outdoor apparel according to the C2C design concept. The results show stagnant growth rates in recent years in the German outdoor apparel market and strong rivalry among the competitors. However, a significant market potential was calculated and beneficial trends for sustainable outdoor brands were recognised. These findings reveal the existence of a market potential for an outdoor apparel brand according to the C2C design concept. By following a positioning strategy of transparency and full commitment to a sustainable production, the company might be able to gain market shares from its competitors, as future predictions indicate slow growth rates in the market. The results of this analysis can be of great interest for entrepreneurs that plan to enter the German outdoor apparel industry.
The paper presents a comprehensive model of a banking system that integrates network effects, bankruptcy costs, fire sales, and cross-holdings. For the integrated financial market we prove the existence of a price-payment equilibrium and design an algorithm for the computation of the greatest and the least equilibrium. The number of defaults corresponding to the greatest price-payment equilibrium is analyzed in several comparative case studies. These illustrate the individual and joint impact of interbank liabilities, bankruptcy costs, fire sales and cross-holdings on systemic risk. We study policy implications and regulatory instruments, including central bank guarantees and quantitative easing, the significance of last wills of financial institutions, and capital requirements.
Automatic classification of scientific records using the German Subject Heading Authority File (SWD)
(2012)
The following paper deals with an automatic text classification method which does not require training documents. For this method the German Subject Heading Authority File (SWD), provided by the linked data service of the German National Library is used. Recently the SWD was enriched with notations of the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC). In consequence it became possible to utilize the subject headings as textual representations for the notations of the DDC. Basically, we we derive the classification of a text from the classification of the words in the text given by the thesaurus. The method was tested by classifying 3826 OAI-Records from 7 different repositories. Mean reciprocal rank and recall were chosen as evaluation measure. Direct comparison to a machine learning method has shown that this method is definitely competitive. Thus we can conclude that the enriched version of the SWD provides high quality information with a broad coverage for classification of German scientific articles.
We present a simple method to find topics in user reviews that accompany ratings for products or services. Standard topic analysis will perform sub-optimal on such data since the word distributions in the documents are not only determined by the topics but by the sentiment as well. We reduce the influence of the sentiment on the topic selection by adding two explicit topics, representing positive and negative sentiment. We evaluate the proposed method on a set of over 15,000 hospital reviews. We show that the proposed method, Latent Semantic Analysis with explicit word features, finds topics with a much smaller bias for sentiments than other similar methods.
Regional Innovation Systems describe the relations between actors, structures and infrastructures in a region in order to stimulate innovation and regional development. For these systems the collection and organization of information is crucial. In the present paper we investigate the possibilities to extract information from websites of companies. First we describe regional innovation systems and the information types that are necessary to create them. Then we discuss the possibilities of text mining and keyword extraction techniques to extract this information from company websites. Finally, we describe a small scale experiment in which keywords related to economic sectors and commodities are extracted from the websites of over 200 companies. This experiment shows what the main challenges are for information extraction from websites for regional innovation systems.
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) are popular for indexing library records. We studied the possibility of assigning LCSH automatically by training classifiers for terms used frequently in a large collection of abstracts of the literature on hand and by extracting headings from those abstracts. The resulting classifiers reach an acceptable level of precision, but fail in terms of recall partly because we could only train classifiers for a small number of LCSH. Extraction, i.e., the matching of headings in the text, produces better recall but extremely low precision. We found that combining both methods leads to a significant improvement of recall and a slight improvement of F1 score with only a small decrease in precision.
We compare the effect of different text segmentation strategies on speech based passage retrieval of video. Passage retrieval has mainly been studied to improve document retrieval and to enable question answering. In these domains best results were obtained using passages defined by the paragraph structure of the source documents or by using arbitrary overlapping passages. For the retrieval of relevant passages in a video, using speech transcripts, no author defined segmentation is available. We compare retrieval results from 4 different types of segments based on the speech channel of the video: fixed length segments, a sliding window, semantically coherent segments and prosodic segments. We evaluated the methods on the corpus of the MediaEval 2011 Rich Speech Retrieval task. Our main conclusion is that the retrieval results highly depend on the right choice for the segment length. However, results using the segmentation into semantically coherent parts depend much less on the segment length. Especially, the quality of fixed length and sliding window segmentation drops fast when the segment length increases, while quality of the semantically coherent segments is much more stable. Thus, if coherent segments are defined, longer segments can be used and consequently less segments have to be considered at retrieval time.
Distributional semantics tries to characterize the meaning of words by the contexts in which they occur. Similarity of words hence can be derived from the similarity of contexts. Contexts of a word are usually vectors of words appearing near to that word in a corpus. It was observed in previous research that similarity measures for the context vectors of two words depend on the frequency of these words. In the present paper we investigate this dependency in more detail for one similarity measure, the Jensen-Shannon divergence. We give an empirical model of this dependency and propose the deviation of the observed Jensen-Shannon divergence from the divergence expected on the basis of the frequencies of the words as an alternative similarity measure. We show that this new similarity measure is superior to both the Jensen-Shannon divergence and the cosine similarity in a task, in which pairs of words, taken from Wordnet, have to be classified as being synonyms or not.
Lemmatization is a central task in many NLP applications. Despite this importance, the number of (freely) available and easy to use tools for German is very limited. To fill this gap, we developed a simple lemmatizer that can be trained on any lemmatized corpus. For a full form word the tagger tries to find the sequence of morphemes that is most likely to generate that word. From this sequence of tags we can easily derive the stem, the lemma and the part of speech (PoS) of the word. We show (i) that the quality of this approach is comparable to state of the art methods and (ii) that we can improve the results of Part-of-Speech (PoS) tagging when we include the morphological analysis of each word.
We compare the effect of different segmentation strategies for passage retrieval of user generated internet video. We consider retrieval of passages for rather abstract and complex queries that go beyond finding a certain object or constellation of objects in the visual channel. Hence the retrieval methods have to rely heavily on the recognized speech. Passage retrieval has mainly been studied to improve document retrieval and to enable question answering. In these domains best results were obtained using passages defined by the paragraph structure of the source documents or by using arbitrary overlapping passages. For the retrieval of relevant passages in a video no author defined paragraph structure is available. We compare retrieval results from 5 different types of segments: segments defined by shot boundaries, prosodic segments, fixed length segments, a sliding window and semantically coherent segments based on speech transcripts. We evaluated the methods on the corpus of the MediaEval 2011 Rich Speech Retrieval task. Our main conclusions are (1) that fixed length and coherent segments are clearly superior to segments based on speaker turns or shot boundaries; (2) that the retrieval results highly depend on the right choice for the segment length; and (3) that results using the segmentation into semantically coherent parts depend much less on the segment length. Especially, the quality of fixed length and sliding window segmentation drops fast when the segment length increases, while quality of the semantically coherent segments is much more stable. Thus, if coherent segments are defined, longer segments can be used and consequently fewer segments have to be considered at retrieval time.
The dependency of word similarity in vector space models on the frequency of words has been noted in a few studies, but has received very little attention. We study the influence of word frequency in a set of 10 000 randomly selected word pairs for a number of different combinations of feature weighting schemes and similarity measures. We find that the similarity of word pairs for all methods, except for the one using singular value decomposition to reduce the dimensionality of the feature space, is determined to a large extent by the frequency of the words. In a binary classification task of pairs of synonyms and unrelated words we find that for all similarity measures the results can be improved when we correct for the frequency bias.
This paper describes the approach of the Hochschule Hannover to the SemEval 2013 Task Evaluating Phrasal Semantics. In order to compare a single word with a two word phrase we compute various distributional similarities, among which a new similarity measure, based on Jensen-Shannon Divergence with a correction for frequency effects. The classification is done by a support vector machine that uses all similarities as features. The approach turned out to be the most successful one in the task.
This paper presents a possibility to extend the formalism of linear indexed grammars. The extension is based on the use of tuples of pushdowns instead of one pushdown to store indices during a derivation. If a restriction on the accessibility of the pushdowns is used, it can be shown that the resulting formalisms give rise to a hierarchy of languages that is equivalent with a hierarchy defined by Weir. For this equivalence, that was already known for a slightly different formalism, this paper gives a new proof. Since all languages of Weir's hierarchy are known to be mildly context sensitive, the proposed extensions of LIGs become comparable with extensions of tree adjoining grammars and head grammars.
In this paper we investigate how concreteness and abstractness are represented in word embedding spaces. We use data for English and German, and show that concreteness and abstractness can be determined independently and turn out to be completely opposite directions in the embedding space. Various methods can be used to determine the direction of concreteness, always resulting in roughly the same vector. Though concreteness is a central aspect of the meaning of words and can be detected clearly in embedding spaces, it seems not as easy to subtract or add concreteness to words to obtain other words or word senses like e.g. can be done with a semantic property like gender.
PROFINET Security: A Look on Selected Concepts for Secure Communication in the Automation Domain
(2023)
We provide a brief overview of the cryptographic security extensions for PROFINET, as defined and specified by PROFIBUS & PROFINET International (PI). These come in three hierarchically defined Security Classes, called Security Class 1, 2 and 3. Security Class 1 provides basic security improvements with moderate implementation impact on PROFINET components. Security Classes 2 and 3, in contrast, introduce an integrated cryptographic protection of PROFINET communication. We first highlight and discuss the security features that the PROFINET specification offers for future PROFINET products. Then, as our main focus, we take a closer look at some of the technical challenges that were faced during the conceptualization and design of Security Class 2 and 3 features. In particular, we elaborate on how secure application relations between PROFINET components are established and how a disruption-free availability of a secure communication channel is guaranteed despite the need to refresh cryptographic keys regularly. The authors are members of the PI Working Group CB/PG10 Security.
Mastitis poses a considerable threat to productivity and to animal welfare on modern dairy farms. However, the common way of antibiotic treatment does not always lead to a cure. Unsuccessful cures can, among other reasons, occur due to biofilm formation of the causative agent. This has attracted interest from researchers to introduce promising alternative therapeutic approaches, such as the use of beneficial lactic acid bacteria (LAB). In fact, using LAB for treating mastitis probably requires the formation of a beneficial biofilm by the probiotic bacteria. The present study investigated the ability of five LAB strains, selected on the basis of results from previous studies, to remove and to replace pathogenic biofilms in vitro. For this purpose, Staphylococcus (S.) aureus ATCC 12,600 and two strains—S. xylosus (35/07) and S. epidermidis (575/08)—belonging to the group of coagulase negative staphylococci (CNS) were allowed to form biofilms in a 96-well plate. Subsequently, the LAB were added to the well. The biofilm challenge was evaluated by scraping off and suspending the biofilm cells, followed by a plate count of serial dilutions using selective media. All the LAB strains successfully removed the staphylococcal biofilms. However, only Lactobacillus (L.) rhamnosus ATCC 7469 and L. plantarum 2/37 formed biofilms of their own to replace the pathogenic ones.
Mastitis is one of the most important diseases threatening modern dairy herds. The idea of fighting the disease through colonising the udder with lactic acid bacteria (LAB), thereby building a beneficial biofilm, is the base for a probiotic approach towards mastitis control. The purpose of this study was to screen 13 LAB strains (eleven wild strains, two ATCC strains) inhibitory to the growth of mastitis-causing pathogens for their in vitro ability to form a biofilm and to adhere to bovine glandular mammary epithelium in order to assess their probiotic potential. Furthermore, we aimed to gain knowledge about the chemical nature of the adhesins involved by subjecting the bacteria to various chemical and enzymatical pre-treatments. The biofilms were grown on hydrophilic glass and on hydrophobic polypropylene in de Man, Rogosa and Sharpe (MRS) broth and afterwards quantified with a crystal violet assay. Biofilm formation was observed in all strains. However, the extent strongly depended on the strain, surface charge and medium. The adhesion assay also revealed a strong strain dependency, but this trait was also present in all of the investigated LAB isolates. Depending on the strain, chemical or enzymatical pre-treatment revealed carbohydrate molecules as well as proteins and lipids to be crucial for the adhesion of LAB to epithelial cells. The seven strains showing the strongest biofilm formation and/or adhesion represent promising candidates for further investigation in order to develop a probiotic remedy for the treatment of mastitis. Still, their safety for consumers and patients as well as their capability to colonise the udder remain to be investigated in in vivo studies.
During the intraoperative radiograph generation process with mobile image intensifier systems (C-arm) most of the radiation exposure for patient, surgeon and operation room personal is caused by scattered radiation. The intensity and propagation of scattered radiation depend on different parameters, e.g. the intensity of the primary radiation, and the positioning of the mobile image intensifier. Exposure through scattered radiation can be minimized when all these parameters are adjusted correctly. Because radiation is potentially dangerous and could not be perceived by any human sense the current education on correct adjustment of a C-arm is designed very theoretical. This paper presents an approach of scattered radiation calculation and visualization embedded in a computer based training system for mobile image intensifier systems called virtX. With the help of this extension the virtX training system should enrich the current radiation protection training with visual and practical training aspects.
Background:
Promoting patient and occupational safety are two key challenges for hospitals. When aiming to improve these two outcomes synergistically, psychosocial working conditions, leadership by hospital management and supervisors, and perceptions of patient and occupational safety climate have to be considered. Recent studies have shown that these key topics are interrelated and form a critical foundation for promoting patient and occupational safety in hospitals. So far, these topics have mainly been studied independently from each other. The present study investigated hospital staffs’ perceptions of four different topics: (1) psychosocial working conditions, (2) leadership, (3) patient safety climate, and (4) occupational safety climate. We present results from a survey in two German university hospitals aiming to detect differences between nurses and physicians.
Methods:
We performed a cross-sectional study using a standardized paper-based questionnaire. The survey was conducted with nurses and physicians to assess the four topics. The instruments mainly consisted of scales of the German version of the COPSOQ (Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire), one scale of the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI), scales to assess leadership and transformational leadership, scales to assess patient safety climate using the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (HSPSC), and analogous items to assess occupational safety climate.
Results:
A total of 995 completed questionnaires out of 2512 distributed questionnaires were returned anonymously. The overall response rate was 39.6%. The sample consisted of 381 physicians and 567 nurses. We found various differences with regard to the four topics. In most of the COPSOQ and the HSPSC-scales, physicians rated psychosocial working conditions and patient safety climate more positively than nurses. With regard to occupational safety, nurses
indicated higher occupational risks than physicians.
Conclusions:
The WorkSafeMed study combined the assessment of the four topics psychosocial working conditions, leadership, patient safety climate, and occupational safety climate in hospitals. Looking at the four topics provides an overview of where improvements in hospitals may be needed for nurses and physicians. Based on these results,
improvements in working conditions, patient safety climate, and occupational safety climate are required for health care professionals in German university hospitals – especially for nurses.
Correction to: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-018-3862-7
In the original publication of this article, the authors missed that reverse coding was necessary for the item “Do you work separate from your colleagues?” before calculating the scale ‘social relations’. So they corrected the analysis accordingly. The results with the revised scale show that there are no longer any significant differences between nurses and physicians with regard to this scale.
As a result of a research semester in the summer of 2022, a bibliography on multimodality in technical communication (TC) is presented. Given that TC primarily involves the development of instructional information, this bibliography holds relevance for anyone interested in the use of multimodality in the communication of procedural knowledge. The bibliography is publicly accessible as Zotero group library (https://bit.ly/multimodality_in_tc) and can be used and expanded.
After a description of the objectives and target group, the five disciplines from which the publications in the bibliography originate are presented. This is followed by information on the structure and search options of the Zotero group library, which are intended to support the search for publications on the respective research interest. The article concludes with some suggestions for collaborative efforts aimed at further enhancing and expanding the bibliography.
The author actively maintains the group library. Individuals seeking to contribute publications to the group library will receive the appropriate access rights from the author (claudia.villiger@hs-hannover.de). The author aspires to foster collaboration among researchers from diverse fields through this bibliography.
Against the background of climate change and finite fossil resources, bio-based plastics have been in the focus of research for the last decade and were identified as a promising alternative to fossil-based plastics. Now, with an evolving bio-based plastic market and application range, the environmental advantages of bio-based plastic have come to the fore and identified as crucial by different stakeholders. While the majority of assessments for bio-based plastics are carried out based on attributional life cycle assessment, there have been only few consequential studies done in this area. Also, the application of eco-design strategies has not been in the focus for the bio-based products due to the prevailing misconceptions of renewable materials (as feedstock for bio-based plastics) considered in itself as an ‘eco-design strategy’. In this paper, we discuss the life cycle assessment as well as eco-design strategies of a bio-based product taking attributional as well as consequential approaches into account.
Objectives: Injury to major white matter pathways during language-area associated glioma surgery often leads to permanent loss of neurological function. The aim was to establish standardized tractography of language pathways as a predictor of language outcome in clinical neurosurgery.
Methods: We prospectively analyzed 50 surgical cases of patients with left perisylvian, diffuse gliomas. Standardized preoperative Diffusion-Tensor-Imaging (DTI)-based tractography of the 5 main language tracts (Arcuate Fasciculus [AF], Frontal Aslant Tract [FAT], Inferior Fronto-Occipital Fasciculus [IFOF], Inferior Longitudinal Fasciculus [ILF], Uncinate Fasciculus [UF]) and spatial analysis of tumor and tracts was performed. Postoperative imaging and the resulting resection map were analyzed for potential surgical injury of tracts. The language status was assessed preoperatively, postoperatively and after 3 months using the Aachen Aphasia Test and Berlin Aphasia Score. Correlation analyses, two-step cluster analysis and binary logistic regression were used to analyze associations of tractography results with language outcome after surgery.
Results: In 14 out of 50 patients (28%), new aphasic symptoms were detected 3 months after surgery. The preoperative infiltration of the AF was associated with functional worsening (cc = 0.314; p = 0.019). Cluster analysis of tract injury profiles revealed two areas particularly related to aphasia: the temporo-parieto-occipital junction (TPO; temporo-parietal AF, middle IFOF, middle ILF) and the temporal stem/peri-insular white matter (middle IFOF, anterior ILF, temporal UF, temporal AF). Injury to these areas (TPO: OR: 23.04; CI: 4.11 – 129.06; temporal stem: OR: 21.96; CI: 2.93 – 164.41) was associated with a higher-risk of persisting aphasia.
Conclusions: Tractography of language pathways can help to determine the individual aphasia risk profile presurgically. The TPO and temporal stem/peri-insular white matter were confirmed as functional nodes particularly sensitive to surgical injuries.
The negative effects of traffic, such as air quality problems and road congestion, put a strain on the infrastructure of cities and high-populated areas. A potential measure to reduce these negative effects are grocery home deliveries (e-grocery), which can bundle driving activities and, hence, result in decreased traffic and related emission outputs. Several studies have investigated the potential impact of e-grocery on traffic in various last-mile contexts. However, no holistic view on the sustainability of e-grocery across the entire supply chain has yet been proposed. Therefore, this paper presents an agent-based simulation to assess the impact of the e-grocery supply chain compared to the stationary one in terms of mileage and different emission outputs. The simulation shows that a high e-grocery utilization rate can aid in decreasing total driving distances by up to 255 % relative to the optimal value as well as CO 2 emissions by up to 50 %.
The shift towards RES introduces challenges related to power system stability due to the characteristics of inverter-based resources (IBRs) and the intermittent nature of renewable resources. This paper addresses these challenges by conducting comprehensive time and frequency simulations on the IEEE two-area benchmark power system with detailed type 4 wind turbine generators (WTGs), including turbines, generators, converters, filters, and controllers. The simulations analyse small-signal and transient stability, considering variations in active and reactive power, short-circuit events, and wind variations. Metrics such as rate of change of frequency (RoCoF), frequency nadir, percentage of frequency variation, and probability density function (PDF) are used to evaluate the system performance. The findings emphasise the importance of including detailed models of RES in stability analyses and demonstrate the impact of RES penetration on power system dynamics. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of RES integration challenges and provides insights for ensuring the reliable and secure operation of power systems in the presence of high levels of RES penetration.
This paper presents the implementation of a GMVC-based WAPSS to damp the interarea modes of power systems. The choise for the GMVC to tackle this problem lies on the fact that it can be used to compensate the time delay due to the latency of the transmission system in a more natural way than other controllers. The paper shows that it is possible to improve system’s closed-loop stability since its behavior is the same as if the time delay is not regarded. Simulation results with Kundur’s System prove that a latency of 1 second at a conventional WAPSS might lead system’s power to oscillate for 50 seconds for a short-circuit at the transmission line, whereas the oscillation decreases to only 5 seconds if the GMVC-based WAPSS is implemented.
Ever since the 1996 revision of the Declaration of Helsinki, the World Medical Association has attempted to address ethical and scientific concerns of its diverse stakeholders for Articles 33 (use of placebo) and 34 (posttrial provisions), most recently in 2013. Both are inextricably linked to standard of care, an essential element of any comparative, interventional clinical trial. But has this now 20-year-long ethical debate truly been put to rest? The choice of standard of care in clinical trials remains a complex issue, particularly for comparative trials conducted in emerging countries.
Context: Agile software development (ASD) sets social aspects like communication and collaboration in focus. Thus, one may assume that the specific work organization of companies impacts the work of ASD teams. A major change in work organization is the switch to a 4-day work week, which some companies investigated in experiments. Also, recent studies show that ASD teams are affected by the switch to remote work since the Covid 19 pandemic outbreak in 2020.
Objective: Our study presents empirical findings on the effects on ASD teams operating remote in a 4-day work week organization. Method: We performed a qualitative single case study and conducted seven semi-structured interviews, observed 14 agile practices and screened eight project documents and protocols of agile practices.
Results: We found, that the teams adapted the agile method in use due to the change to a 4-day work week environment and the switch to remote work. The productivity of the two ASD teams did not decrease. Although the stress level of the ASD team member increased due to the 4-day work week, we found that the job satisfaction of the individual ASD team members is affected positively. Finally, we point to affects on social facets of the ASD teams.
Conclusion: The research community benefits from our results as the current state of research dealing with the effects of a 4-day work week on ASD teams is limited. Also, our findings provide several practical implications for ASD teams working remote in a 4-day work week.
Flatness-based feedforward control is an approach for combining fast motion with low oscillations for nonlinear or flexible drive systems. Its desired trajectories must be continuously differentiable to the degree of the system order. Designing such trajectories, that also reach the dynamic system limits, poses a challenge. Common solutions, like Gevrey functions, usually require lengthy offline calculations. To achieve a quicker and simpler industrial-suited solution, this paper presents a new online trajectory generation scheme. The algorithm utilizes higher order s-curve trajectories created by a cyclic filtering process using moving average filters. An experimental validation proves the capability as well as industrial applicability of the presented approach for flexible structures like stacker cranes.
The lytic efficacy of bacteriophages against Staphylococcus aureus isolates from bovine milk was investigated in vitro, regarding possible applications in the therapy of udder inflammation caused by bacterial infections (mastitis). The host range of sequenced, lytic bacteriophages was determined against a collection of 92 Staphylococcus (S.) aureus isolates. The isolates originated from quarter foremilk samples of clinical and subclinical mastitis cases. A spot test and a subsequent plaque assay were used to determine the phage host range. According to their host range, propagation and storage properties, three phages, STA1.ST29, EB1.ST11, and EB1.ST27, were selected for preparing a bacteriophage mixture (1:1:1), which was examined for its lytic activity against S. aureus in pasteurized and raw milk. It was found that almost two thirds of the isolates could be lysed by at least one of the tested phages. The bacteriophage mixture was able to reduce the S. aureus germ density in pasteurized milk and its reduction ability was maintained in raw milk, with only a moderate decrease compared to the results in pasteurized milk. The significant reduction ability of the phage mixture in raw milk promotes further in vivo investigation.
The antimicrobial activity of a phagemixture and a lactic acid bacteriumagainst Staphylococcus aureus isolates from bovine origin was investigated in vitro with regard to possible applications in the therapy of udder inflammation (mastitis) caused by bacterial infections. The S. aureus isolates used for inoculation derived from quarter foremilk samples of mastitis cases. For the examination of the antimicrobial activity, the reduction of the S. aureus germ density was determined [log10 cfu/mL]. The phage mixture consisted of the three obligatory lytic and S. aureus-specific phages STA1.ST29, EB1.ST11 and EB1.ST27 (1:1:1). The selected Lactobacillus plantarum strain with proven antimicrobial properties and the phage mixture were tested against S. aureus in milk, both alone and in combination. The application of the lactic acid bacterium showed only a low reduction ability for a 24 h incubation period. The bacteriophage mixture as well as its combination with the lactic acid bacterium showed high antimicrobial activity against S. aureus for a 24 h incubation period at 37 C, with only the phage mixture showing significance.
A study to assess the knowledge and attitude towards HIV of pharmacy students from Mumbai university
(2020)
Background: India is the biggest HIV epidemic in the world. The role of a pharmacist is pivotal in educating the general masses. The aim of the study was to determine the knowledge and attitude of pharmacy students from University of Mumbai.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in University of Mumbai during February-March 2020. Therein, 307 students (214: females and 94: males) participated in the study. The questionnaire was distributed in the classroom and data was collected by means of Google-forms. Furthermore, the data was analysed using IBM SPSS version 23.
Results: The participants demonstrated good knowledge (84%) and attitude (76%) score. With respect to knowledge score, no significant difference was observed except for responses of two questions, aim of the antiretroviral therapy (ART) and Avoidance of sexual intercourse can decrease the risk of HIV. With respect to attitude score, Volunteering to work at an institute for the welfare of HIV patients showed a significant difference.
Conclusion: The current study showed that there were no misconceptions or negative attitude regarding HIV among the students. However, a study with greater sample size must be conducted across India for further investigation.
Industrial Control Systems (ICS) succumb to an ever evolving variety of threats. Additionally, threats are increasing in number and get more complex. This requires a holistic and up-to-date security concept for ICS as a whole. Usually security concepts are applied and updated based on regularly performed ICS security assessments. Such ICS security assessments require high effort and extensive knowledge about ICS and its security. This is often a problem for small and mediumsized enterprises (SME), which do not have sufficient respective sufficiently skilled human resources. This paper defines in a first step requirements on the knowledge needed to perform an ICS security assessment and the life cycle of this knowledge. Afterwards the ICS security knowledge and its life cycle are developed and discussed considering the requirements and related work.
Catholic Ownership, Physician Leadership and Operational Strategies: Evidence from German Hospitals
(2022)
Previous research has revealed that Catholic hospitals are more likely follow a strategy of horizontal diversification and maximization of the number of patients treated, whereas Protestant hospitals follow a strategy of horizontal specialization and focus on vertical differentiation. However, there is no empirical evidence pertaining to this mechanism. We conduct an empirical study in a German setting and argue that physician leadership mediates the relationship between ownership and operational strategies. The study includes the construction of a model combining data from a survey and publicly available information derived from the annual quality reports of German hospitals. Our results show that Catholic hospitals opt for leadership structures that ensure operational strategies in line with their general values, i.e., operational strategies of maximizing volume throughout the overall hospital. They prefer part-time positions for chief medical officers, as chief medical officers are identified to foster strategies of maximizing the overall number of patients treated. Hospital owners should be aware that the implementation of part-time and full-time leadership roles can help to support their strategies. Thus, our results provide insights into the relationship between leadership structures at the top of an organization, on the one hand, and strategic choices, on the other.
In the last years generative models have gained large public attention due to their high level of quality in generated images. In short, generative models learn a distribution from a finite number of samples and are able then to generate infinite other samples. This can be applied to image data. In the past generative models have not been able to generate realistic images, but nowadays the results are almost indistinguishable from real images.
This work provides a comparative study of three generative models: Variational Autoencoder (VAE), Generative Adversarial Network (GAN) and Diffusion Models (DM). The goal is not to provide a definitive ranking indicating which one of them is the best, but to qualitatively and where possible quantitively decide which model is good with respect to a given criterion. Such criteria include realism, generalization and diversity, sampling, training difficulty, parameter efficiency, interpolating and inpainting capabilities, semantic editing as well as implementation difficulty. After a brief introduction of how each model works on the inside, they are compared against each other. The provided images help to see the differences among the models with respect to each criterion.
To give a short outlook on the results of the comparison of the three models, DMs generate most realistic images. They seem to generalize best and have a high variation among the generated images. However, they are based on an iterative process, which makes them the slowest of the three models in terms of sample generation time. On the other hand, GANs and VAEs generate their samples using one single forward-pass. The images generated by GANs are comparable to the DM and the images from VAEs are blurry, which makes them less desirable in comparison to GANs or DMs. However, both the VAE and the GAN, stand out from the DMs with respect to the interpolations and semantic editing, as they have a latent space, which makes space-walks possible and the changes are not as chaotic as in the case of DMs. Furthermore, concept-vectors can be found, which transform a given image along a given feature while leaving other features and structures mostly unchanged, which is difficult to archive with DMs.
The objective of this study was to investigate the association between teat skin colonization and intramammary infection (IMI) with Staphylococcus aureus or Streptococcus agalactiae at the quarter level in herds with automatic milking systems. Milk and teat skin samples from 1,142 quarters were collected from 300 cows with somatic cell count >200,000 cells/mL from 8 herds positive for Strep. agalactiae. All milk and teat skin samples were cultured on calf blood agar and selective media. A subset of samples from 287 quarters was further analyzed using a PCR assay (Mastit4 PCR; DNA Diagnostic A/S, Risskov, Denmark). Bacterial culture detected Staph. aureus in 93 (8.1%) of the milk samples and 75 (6.6%) of the teat skin samples. Of these, 15 (1.3%) quarters were positive in both the teat skin and milk samples. Streptococcus agalactiae was cultured in 84 (7.4%) of the milk samples and 4 (0.35%) of the teat skin samples. Of these, 3 (0.26%) quarters were positive in both the teat skin and milk samples. The PCR detected Staph. aureus in 29 (10%) of the milk samples and 45 (16%) of the teat skin samples. Of these, 2 (0.7%) quarters were positive in both the teat skin and milk samples. Streptococcus agalactiae was detected in 40 (14%) of the milk samples and 51 (18%) of the teat skin samples. Of these, 16 (5.6%) quarters were positive in both the teat skin and milk samples. Logistic regression was used to investigate the association between teat skin colonization and IMI at the quarter level. Based on bacterial culture results, teat skin colonization with Staph. aureus resulted in 7.8 (95% confidence interval: 2.9; 20.6) times higher odds of Staph. aureus IMI, whereas herd was observed as a major confounder. However, results from the PCR analyses did not support this association. Streptococcus agalactiae was isolated from the teat skin with both PCR and bacterial culture, but the number of positive teat skin samples detected by culture was too low to proceed with further analysis. Based on the PCR results, Strep. agalactiae on teat skin resulted in 3.8 (1.4; 10.1) times higher odds of Strep. agalactiae IMI. Our results suggest that Staph. aureus and Strep. agalactiae on teat skin may be a risk factor for IMI with the same pathogens. Focus on proper teat skin hygiene is therefore recommended also in AMS.
This paper presents a cascaded methodology for enhancing the path accuracy of industrial robots by using advanced control schemes. It includes kinematic calibration as well as dynamic modeling and identification. This is followed by a centralized model-based compensation of robot dynamics. The implemented feed-forward torque control shows the expected improvements of control accuracy. However, external measurements show the influence of joint elasticities as systematic path errors. To further increase the accuracy an iterative learning controller (ILC) based on external camera measurements is designed. The implementation yields to significant improvements of path accuracy. By means of a kind of automated ”Teach-In”, an overall effective concept for the automated calibration and optimization of the accuracy of industrial robots in high-dynamic path-applications is realized.
Background
The business of clinical research has changed in the past two decades, shifting from industrialised Western countries to so-called emerging markets such as Eastern Europe, Latin America and Africa. An appraisal of the trends could identify associated factors that may have implications for the local populations and their endemic diseases.
Objectives
To identify potential reasons why emerging countries have become attractive places for international sponsors to conduct their clinical trials.
Methods
Using ClinicalTrials.gov, the Pan African Clinical Trials Registry, the National Health Research Database and the Nigeria Clinical Trials Registry, trend data on clinical research development were determined for two emerging African markets, Nigeria and South Africa (SA), from 2010 to 2018. Also, health data on the two countries from the fact sheets of health statistics of the World Health Organization were compared, as well as regulatory and ethical conditions. Available data were analysed using descriptive statistics and trend analysis.
Results
The impact of globalisation is evident from the upward trend in clinical trials in SA before 2010, and the clear downward trend thereafter. One reason for this change could be the alignment of SA’s regulatory and ethical frameworks with the Western world. In contrast,
the upward trend is only just beginning in Nigeria, with the introduction of ethical/regulatory frameworks, and supportive institutions making the business of clinical research more attractive on an international level. Although the number of international and local sponsors increased in Nigeria from 2010 to 2018, only the latter increased in SA, with the former decreasing over the same period. Overall, there is a mismatch between country-specific diseases and the drugs being tested, to the extent that leprosy, which is endemic in Nigeria, and tuberculosis in SA were not in the list of top 10 study areas in either country.
Conclusions
The globalisation trend is evident in the clinical trials business, but cannot be generalised to all emerging countries. Timing and intensity vary from country to country relative to factors that advance the existing profit-orientated business models of the sponsors. Furthermore, various diseases have been localised, which entails a diversely increasing need for research.
Economic and political/governmental infrastructural factors are major contributors to the economic development/growth of all sectors of a country, such as in the area of healthcare systems and clinical research, including the pharmaceutical industry. But what is the interaction between economic, and political/governmental infrastructural factors and the development of healthcare systems, especially, the performance of the pharmaceutical industry? Information from selected articles of a literature search of PubMed and by using Google Advanced Search led to the generation of five categories of infrastructural factors, and were filled with data from 41 African Countries using the World Health Organization data repository. Median changes over time were given and tested by Wilcoxon signed-rank test and Friedman test, respectively. Analysis of factors related to availability of healthcare facilities showed that physicians and pharmacies were significant increased, with insignificantly decreased number of hospital beds. Healthcare Financing by the Government showed notable differences. Private health spending decreased significantly unlike Gross National Income. Analysis of infrastructural factors showed that stable supply of electricity and the associated use of the Internet improved significantly. The low level of data on the expansion of paved road networks suggests less developed medical services in remote rural areas. Healthcare systems in African countries improved over the last two decades, but differences between the individual countries still prevail and some of the countries cannot yet offer an attractive sales market for the products of pharmaceutical companies.
Background: The globalization of clinical research should also benefit the population in developing markets. In this context, the approval of tested medicines and the associated expansion of medical care beyond clinical studies would be desirable as a possible long-term benefit.
Objectives: This study was designed to compare the development of the number of clinical trials with the number of marketing authorizations of medicines on the African continent. To contrast these 2 parameters, the data were analyzed using the model of an ecological study.
Methods: To reflect the broad spectrum of African developing countries with diverse levels of development, the data collection was based on 2 geographically selected sample countries each from Central, North, East, West, and Southern Africa. Based on the ClinicalTrials.gov registry, the first step was to collect trends data on the development of the clinical trials in the 10 selected countries of the country list of the African Region published by the World Health Organization for the period 2015 to 2018. Subsequently, data on the current number of marketing authorizations of medicines in the selected sample countries were identified using the online registries of the national authorities. The data were utilized in comparative analyses.
Results: Eight out of 10 model countries showed an increase in the number of clinical trials, with the exceptions of Cameroon and Libya, which showed an overall decline in research activity over the entire time. In direct comparison with drug registrations, the numbers indicate a similar development. The only exception here is Nigeria, a country with a solid performance in clinical research and yet a decrease in medicine registrations since 2015.
Conclusions: The expected increase in the development of clinical research as result of the globalization trend can basically be observed in most of the model countries. However, this increase does not guarantee an improvement in the number of medicine registrations. Although this is evident in some of the selected model countries, it cannot be projected to the entire African region. This may be linked to the diverse development of the individual countries due to the different political situations and the varying degrees of clinical research infrastructure.
Objectives:
The aim was to identify theoretically expected as well as actually reported benefits from drug development and the importance of individual patient benefits compared to the collective benefits to society in general.
Background:
Ethical guidelines require that clinical research involving humans offer the potential for benefit. A number of characteristics can be applied to define research benefit. Often benefit is categorized as being either direct or indirect. Indirect benefits can involve collective benefits for society rather than any benefits to the trial patient or subject. The purpose of this review was to examine which potential individual and societal benefits were mentioned as being expected in publications from government experts and which were mentioned in publications describing completed drug development trial results.
Methods:
Literature on research benefit was first identified by searching the PubMed database using several combinations of the key words benefit and clinical research. The search was limited to articles published in English. A Google search with the same combinations of key words but without any language limitation was then performed. Additionally, the reference lists of promising articles were screened for further thematically related articles. Finally, a narrative review was performed of relevant English- and German-language articles published between 1996 and 2016 to identify which of several potential benefits were either theoretically expected or which were mentioned in publications on clinical drug development trial results.
Results:
The principal benefits from drug development discussed included 2 main types of benefit, namely individual benefits for the patients and collective benefits for society. Twenty-one of an overall total of 26 articles discussing theoretically expected benefits focused on individual patient benefits, whereas 17 out of 26 articles mentioned collective benefits to society. In these publications, the most commonly mentioned theoretically expected individual patient benefit was the chance to receive up-to-date care (38.1%). A general increase in knowledge about health care, treatments, or drugs (70.6%) was the most commonly mentioned theoretically expected benefit for society. In contrast, all 13 publications reporting actual benefits of clinical drug development trials focused on personal benefits and only 1 of these publications also mentioned a societal benefit. The most commonly mentioned individual benefit was an increased quality of life (53.9%), whereas the only mentioned collective benefit to society was a general gain of knowledge (100.0%).
Conclusions:
Both theoretically expected and actually reported benefits in the majority of the included publications emphasized the importance of individual patient benefits from drug development rather than the collective benefits to society in general. The authors of these publications emphasized the right of each individual patient or subject to look for and expect some personal benefit from participating in a clinical trial rather than considering societal benefit as a top priority. From an ethical point of view, the benefits each individual patient receives from his or her participation in a clinical trial might also be seen as a societal benefit, especially when the drug or device tested, if approved for marketing, would eventually be made available for other similar patients from the country in which the clinical trial was conducted.
From an ethical perspective, clinical research involving humans is only acceptable if it involves the potential for benefit. Various characteristics can be applied to differentiate research benefit. Often benefit is categorized in direct or indirect benefit, whereby indirect benefit might be further differentiated in collective or benefit for the society, excluding or including the trial patient in the long term. Ethical guidelines, such as the Declaration of Helsinki in its latest version, do not precisely favor a particular type of benefit.
Publication Bias
(2016)
According to the Declaration of Helsinki, as well as the Statement on Public Disclosure of Clinical Trial Results of the World Health Organization, every researcher has the ethical obligation to publish research results on all trials with human participants in a complete and accurate way within 12 months after the end of the trial.1,2 Nevertheless, for several reasons, not all research results are published in an accurate way in case they are released at all. This phenomenon of publication bias may not only create a false impression on the reliability of clinical research business, but it may also affect the evidence of clinical conclusions about the best treatments, which are mostly based on published data and results.
Delphi is a frequently used research method in the information systems (IS) field. The last fifteen years have seen many variants of the Delphi Method proposed and used in IS research. However, these variants do not seem to be properly derived; while all variants share certain characteristics, their reasoning for differentiation inconsistently varies. It seems that researchers tend to create “new” Delphi Method variants, although the underlying modification of the Delphi Method is, in fact, minor. This leads to a heterogeneity of Delphi Method variants and undermines scientific rigor when using Delphi. The study addresses this deficit and (1) identifies different variants of Delphi and determines their characteristics, (2) critically reflects to what extent a clear distinction between these variants exists, (3) shows the clearly distinguishable Delphi Method variants and their characteristics, (4) develops a proposed taxonomy of Delphi Method variants, and (5) evaluates and applies this taxonomy. The proposed taxonomy helps clearly differentiate Delphi Method variants and enhances methodological rigor when using the Delphi Method.
The growing importance of renewable generation connected to distribution grids requires an increased coordination between transmission system operators (TSOs) and distribution system operators (DSOs) for reactive power management. This work proposes a practical and effective interaction method based on sequential optimizations to evaluate the reactive flexibility potential of distribution networks and to dispatch them along with traditional synchronous generators, keeping to a minimum the information exchange. A modular optimal power flow (OPF) tool featuring multi-objective optimization is developed for this purpose. The proposed method is evaluated for a model of a real German 110 kV grid with 1.6 GW of installed wind power capacity and a reduced order model of the surrounding transmission system. Simulations show the benefit of involving wind farms in reactive power support reducing losses both at distribution and transmission level. Different types of setpoints are investigated, showing the feasibility for the DSO to fulfill also individual voltage and reactive power targets over multiple connection points. Finally, some suggestions are presented to achieve a fair coordination, combining both TSO and DSO requirements.
Background: To improve interprofessional collaboration between registered nurses (RNs) and general practitioners (GPs) for nursing home residents (NHRs), the interprof ACT intervention package was developed. This complex intervention includes six components (e.g., shared goal setting, standardized procedures for GPs’ nursing home visits) that can be locally adapted. The cluster‑randomized interprof ACT trial evaluates the effects of this intervention on the cumulative incidence of hospital admissions (primary outcome) and secondary outcomes (e.g., length of hospital stays, utilization of emergency care services, and quality of life) within 12 months. It also includes a process evaluation which is subject of this protocol. The objectives of this evaluation are to assess the implementation of the interprof ACT intervention package and downstream effects on nurse–physician collaboration as well as preconditions and prospects for successive implementation into routine care.
Methods: This study uses a mixed methods triangulation design involving all 34 participating nursing homes (clusters). The quantitative part comprises paper‑based surveys among RNs, GPs, NHRs, and nursing home directors at baseline and 12 months. In the intervention group (17 clusters), data on the implementation of preplanned implementation strategies (training and supervision of nominated IPAVs, interprofessional kick‑off meetings) and local implementation activities will be recorded. Major outcome domains are the dose, reach and fidelity of the implementation of the intervention package, changes in interprofessional collaboration, and contextual factors. The qualitative part will be conducted in a subsample of 8 nursing homes (4 per study group) and includes repeated non‑participating observations and semistructured interviews on the interaction between involved health professionals and their work processes. Quantitative and qualitative data will be descriptively analyzed and then triangulated by means of joint displays and mixed methods informed regression models.
Discussion: By integrating a variety of qualitative and quantitative data sources, this process evaluation will allow comprehensive assessment of the implementation of the interprof ACT intervention package, the changes induced in interprofessional collaboration, and the influence of contextual factors. These data will reveal expected and unexpected changes in the procedures of interprofessional care delivery and thus facilitate accurate conclusions for the further design of routine care services for NHRs.
The research project "Herbar Digital" was started in 2007 with the aim to digitize 3.5 million dried plants on paper sheets belonging to the Botanic Museum Berlin in Germany. Frequently the collector of the plant is unknown, so a procedure had to be developed in order to determine the writer of the handwriting on the sheet. In the present work the static character was transformed into a dynamic form. This was done with the model of an inert ball which was rolled along the written character. During this off-line writer recognition, different mathematical procedures were used such as the reproduction of the write line of individual characters by Legendre polynomials. When only one character was used, a recognition rate of about 40% was obtained. By combining multiple characters, the recognition rate rose considerably and reached 98.7% with 13 characters and 93 writers (chosen randomly from the international IAM-database [3]). A global statistical approach using the whole handwritten text resulted in a similar recognition rate. By combining local and global methods, a recognition rate of 99.5% was achieved.
Our research project, "Rationalizing the virtualization of botanical document material and their usage by process optimization and automation (Herbar-Digital)" started on July 1, 2007 and will last until 2012. Its long-term aim is the digitization of the more than 3,5 million specimens in the Berlin Herbarium. The University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Hannover collaborates with the department of Biodiversity Informatics at the BGBM (Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin-Dahlem) headed by Walter Berendsohn. The part of Herbar-Digital here presented deals with the analysis of the generated high resolution images (10,400 lines x 7,500 pixel).
Autonomous and integrated passenger and freight transport (APFIT) is a promising approach to tackle both, traffic and last-mile-related issues such as environmental emissions, social and spatial conflicts or operational inefficiencies. By conducting an agent-based simulation, we shed light on this widely unexplored research topic and provide first indications regarding influential target figures of such a system in the rural area of Sarstedt, Germany. Our results show that larger fleets entail inefficiencies due to suboptimal utilization of monetary and material resources and increase traffic volume while higher amounts of unused vehicles may exacerbate spatial conflicts. Nevertheless, to fit the given demand within our study area, a comparatively large fleet of about 25 vehicles is necessary to provide reliable service, assuming maximum passenger waiting times of six minutes to the expense of higher standby times, rebalancing effort, and higher costs for vehicle acquisition and maintenance.
At University of Applied Sciences and Arts Hannover, LON-CAPA is used as a learning management system beside Moodle. LON-CAPA has a strong focus on e-assessment in mathematics and sciences. We used LON-CAPA in Hannover mainly in mathematics courses.
Since theoretical computer science needs a lot of mathematics, this course is also well-suited for e-assessment in LON-CAPA. Beside this, we already used JFLAP as an interactive tool to deal with automata, machines and grammars in theoretical computer science. In LON-CAPA, there exists a possibility of using external graders to grade problems.
We decided to write a grading engine (with JFLAP inside) to grade automata, machines and grammars handed in by students and to couple this with LON-CAPA. This report describes the types of questions that are now possible with this grader and how they can be authored in LON-CAPA.
The bio-based plastic market is forecast to grow in the next years. With a growing market share and product range, the implementation of circular thinking is becoming more and more important also for bio-based plastics to enable a sound circular economy for these group of plastics. Therefore, it is important to assess the environmental performance for different end-of-life options of bio-based plastics from an early stage on. This review presents a comprehensive overview on the current status quo of different end-of-life options for bio-based plastics from an environmental perspective. Based on the status quo and the corresponding impact assessment results, the global plastic demand as well as the technical substitution potential of bio-based plastics, the environmental saving potential in case of the different end-of-life options was calculated. The review shows that there is a focus on polylactic acid (PLA) regarding end-of-life assessment, with studies covering all end-of-life options. The focus of the impact assessment has been set on global warming potential (GWP). With respect to GWP, the analysis of a future global potential of PLA showed, for mechanical recycling, the highest saving potential with 94.1 Mio. t CO2-eq. per year in comparison to virgin material.
The technical, environmental and economic potential of hemp fines as a natural filler in bioplastics to produce biocomposites is the subject of this study – giving a holistic overview. Hemp fines are an agricultural by-product of the hemp fibres and shives production. Shives and fibres are for example used in the paper, animal bedding or composite area. About 15 to 20 wt.-% per kg hemp straw results in hemp fines after processing. In 2010 about 11,439 metric tons of hemp fines were produced in Europe. Hemp fines are an inhomogeneous material which includes hemp dust, shives and fibre. For these examinations the hemp fines are sieved in a further step with a tumbler sieving machine to obtain more specified fractions. The untreated hemp fines (ex work) as well as the sieved fractions are combined with a polylactide polymer (PLA) using a co-rotating twin screw extruder to produce biocomposites with different hemp fine content. By using an injection moulding machine standard test bars are produced to conduct several material tests. The Young’s modulus is increased and the impact strength reduced by hemp fines. With a content of above 15 wt.-% hemp fines are also improving the environmental (global warming potential) and economic performance in comparison to pure PLA.
A novel method has been implemented to prepare metal oxide nanopowders covered with known quantities of adsorbed water; we subsequently studied the γ-radiolysis of ZrO2 nanopowders covered with H2O layers. H2 yields from the adsorbed water radiolysis are of importance in multiple industrial contexts – the nuclear industry being a prime example. Measured H2 yields at water coverages of just below and above one monolayer are around 350 times greater than for neat water, but these yields decrease rapidly with increasing water loading of the ZrO2 nanoparticles, approaching the yield of bulk water at coverages of tens of water layers. The observed plateau of the yields at 0.5 to 2.0 monolayers coverage can be explained by the ease with which electronic excitations in the ZrO2 can be transferred across the interface to the first one or two adsorbed water layers. However, with increasing water loading, energy transfer to water layers further away from the interface becomes less efficient, and above ~30 water layers, most of the water is not affected by any exciton formation in the ZrO2.
Complications may occur after a liver transplantation, therefore proper monitoring and care in the post-operation phase plays a very important role. Sometimes, monitoring and care for patients from abroad is difficult due to a variety of reasons, e.g., different care facilities. The objective of our research for this paper is to design, implement and evaluate a home monitoring and decision support infrastructure for international children who underwent liver transplant operation. A point-of-care device and the PedsQL questionnaire were used in patients’ home environment for measuring the blood parameters and assessing quality of life. By using a tablet PC and a specially developed software, the measured results were able to be transmitted to the health care providers via internet. So far, the developed infrastructure has been evaluated with four international patients/families transferring 38 records of blood test. The evaluation showed that the home monitoring and decision support infrastructure is technically feasible and is able to give timely alarm in case of abnormal situation as well as may increase parent’s feeling of safety for their children.
The ability to functionalize graphene with several methods, such as radical reactions, cycloadditions, hydrogenation, and oxidations, allows this material to be used in a large range of applications. In this framework, it is essential to be able to control the efficiency and stability of the functionalization process—this requires understanding how the graphene reactivity is affected by the environment, including the substrate. In this work we provide an insight on the substrate dependence of graphene reactivity towards hydrogenation by comparing three different substrates: silicon, hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN), and molybdenum disulfide (MoS2). Although MoS2 and h-BN have flatter surfaces than silicon, we found that the H coverage of graphene on h-BN is about half of the H coverage on graphene on both silicon and MoS2. Therefore, graphene shows strongly reduced reactivity towards hydrogenation when placed on h-BN. The difference in hydrogenation reactivity between h-BN and MoS2 may indicate a stronger van der Waals force between graphene and h-BN, compared to MoS2, or may be related to the chemical properties of MoS2, which is a well-known catalyst for hydrogen evolution reactions.
This paper summarizes the results of a comprehensive statistical analysis on a corpus of open access articles and contained figures. It gives an insight into quantitative relationships between illustrations or types of illustrations, caption lengths, subjects, publishers, author affiliations, article citations and others.
The NOA project collects and stores images from open access publications and makes them findable and reusable. During the project a focus group workshop was held to determine whether the development is addressing researchers’ needs. This took place before the second half of the project so that the results could be considered for further development since addressing users’ needs is a big part of the project. The focus was to find out what content and functionality they expect from image repositories.
In a first step, participants were asked to fill out a survey about their images use. Secondly, they tested different use cases on the live system. The first finding is that users have a need for finding scholarly images but it is not a routine task and they often do not know any image repositories. This is another reason for repositories to become more open and reach users by integrating with other content providers. The second finding is that users paid attention to image licenses but struggled to find and interpret them while also being unsure how to cite images. In general, there is a high demand for reusing scholarly images but the existing infrastructure has room to improve.
Background
Maternal postpartum depression has an impact on mother-infant interaction. Mothers with depression display less positive affect and sensitivity in interaction with their infants compared to non-depressed mothers. Depressed women also show more signs of distress and difficulties adjusting to their role as mothers than non-depressed women. In addition, depressive mothers are reported to be affectively more negative with their sons than with daughters.
Methods
A non-clinical sample of 106 mother-infant dyads at psychosocial risk (poverty, alcohol or drug abuse, lack of social support, teenage mothers and maternal psychic disorder) was investigated with EPDS (maternal postpartum depressive symptoms), the CARE-Index (maternal sensitivity in a dyadic context) and PSI-SF (maternal distress). The baseline data were collected when the babies had reached 19 weeks of age.
Results
A hierarchical regression analysis yielded a highly significant relation between the PSI-SF subscale "parental distress" and the EPDS total score, accounting for 55% of the variance in the EPDS. The other variables did not significantly predict the severity of depressive symptoms. A two-way ANOVA with "infant gender" and "maternal postpartum depressive symptoms" showed no interaction effect on maternal sensitivity.
Conclusions
Depressive symptoms and maternal sensitivity were not linked. It is likely that we could not find any relation between both variables due to different measuring methods (self-reporting and observation). Maternal distress was strongly related to maternal depressive symptoms, probably due to the generally increased burden in the sample, and contributed to 55% of the variance of postpartum depressive symptoms.
Background:
This study examined the extent to which regulatory problems in infants at 4 and 6 months influence childhood development at 12 months. The second aim of the study was to examine the influence maternal distress has on 4-month-old children’s subsequent development as well as gender differences with regard to regulatory problems and development.
Methods:
153 mother-child dyads enrolled in the family support research project “Nobody slips through the net” constituted the comparison group. These families faced psychosocial risks (e.g. poverty, excessive demands on the mother, and mental health disorders of the mother, measured with the risk screening instrument Heidelberger Belastungsskala - HBS) and maternal stress, determined with the Parental Stress Index (PSI-SF). The children’s developmental levels and possible early regulatory problems were evaluated by means of the Ages and Stages Questionnaires (ASQ) and a German questionnaire assessing problems of excessive crying along with sleeping and feeding difficulties (SFS).
Results:
A statistically significant but only low, inverse association between excessive crying, whining and sleep problems at 4 and 6 months and the social development of one-year-olds (accounting for 5% and 8% of the variance respectively) was found. Feeding problems had no effect on development. Although regulatory problems in infants were accompanied by increased maternal stress level, these did not serve as a predictor of the child’s social development at 12 months. One-year-old girls reached a higher level of development in social and fine motor skills. No gender differences were found with regard to regulatory problems, nor any moderating effect of gender on the relation between regulatory problems and level of development.
Conclusions:
Our results reinforce existing knowledge pertaining to the transactional association between regulatory problems in infants, maternal distress and dysfunctionality of mother-child interactions. They also provide evidence of a slight but distinct negative influence of crying and sleeping problems on children’s subsequent social development. Easily accessible support services provided by family health visitors (particularly to the so-called “at-risk families”) are strongly recommended to help prevent the broadening of children’s early regulatory problems into other areas of behavior.
This feasibility study investigates the flexural properties of biocomposites containing woven flax textiles (plain, twill, satin) and woven twill patterned hybrid textiles containing flax-/glass or flax-/carbon mixture for lightweight applications. Synthetic fibers are integrated as weft and flax fibers are integrated as warp yarns using a double-rapier weaving machine with a Jacquard attachment. The corresponding biocomposites are manufactured via vacuum infusion process using a biobased epoxy resin as a matrix. The manufactured biocomposites are analyzed with regard to their density and flexural properties. The results show that the use of hybrid textiles offers a promising solution for the manufacture of biocomposites with a higher biobased content and significantly improved flexural properties. Furthermore, the introduction of high-performance synthetic fibers in textiles enables the manufacture of biocomposites with an isotropic mechanical performance.
Food protein hydrolysates are often produced in unspecific industrial batch processes. The hydrolysates composition underlies process-related fluctuations and therefore the obtained peptide fingerprint and bioactive properties may vary. To overcome this obstacle and enable the production of specific hydrolysates with selected peptides, a ceramic capillary system was developed and characterized for the continuous production of a consistent peptide composition. Therefore, the protease Alcalase was immobilized on the surface of aminosilane modified yttria stabilized zirconia capillaries with a pore size of 1.5 μm. The loading capacity was 0.3 μg enzyme per mg of capillary with a residual enzyme activity of 43%. The enzyme specific peptide fingerprint produced with this proteolytic capillary reactor system correlated with the degree of hydrolysis, which can be controlled over the residence time by adjusting the flow rate. Common food proteins like casein, sunflower and lupin protein isolates were tested for continuous hydrolysis in the developed reactor system. The peptide formation was investigated by high-performance liquid chromatography. Various trends were found for the occurrence of specific peptides. Some are just intermediately occurring, while others cumulate by time. Thus, the developed continuous reactor system enables the production of specific peptides with desired bioactive properties.
Introduction: Piper crocatum Ruiz & Pav (P. crocatum) has been reported to accelerate the diabetic wound healing process empirically. Some studies showed the benefits of P. crocatum in treating various diseases but its mechanisms in diabetic wound healing have never been reported. In the present study we investigated the diabetic wound healing activity of the active fraction of P. crocatum on wounded hyperglycemia fibroblasts (wHFs).
Methods: Bioassay-guided fractionation was performed to get the most active fraction. The selected active fraction was applied to wHFs within 72 h incubation. Mimicking a diabetic condition was done using basal glucose media containing an additional 17 mMol/L D-glucose. A wound was simulated via the scratch assay. The collagen deposition was measured using Picro-Sirius Red and wound closure was measured using scratch wound assay. Underlying mechanisms through p53, aSMA, SOD1 and Ecadherin were measured using western blotting.
Results: We reported that FIV is the most active fraction of P. crocatum. We confirmed that FIV\(7.81 mg/ml, 15.62 mg/ml, 31.25 mg/ml, 62.5 mg/ml, and 125 mg/ml) induced the collagen deposition and wound closure of wHFs. Furthermore, FIV treatment (7.81 mg/ml, 15.62 mg/ml, 31.25 mg/ml) down-regulated the protein expression level of p53 and up-regulated the protein expression levels of aSMA, E-cadherin, and SOD1.
Discussion/conclusions: Our findings suggest that ameliorating collagen deposition and wound closure through protein regulation of p53, aSMA, E-cadherin, and SOD1 are some of the mechanisms by which FIV of P. crocatum is involved in diabetic wound healing therapy.
During the transition from conventional towards purely electrical, sustainable mobility, transitional technologies play a major part in the task of increasing adaption rates and decreasing range anxiety. Developing new concepts to meet this challenge requires adaptive test benches, which can easily be modified e.g. when progressing from one stage of development to the next, but also meet certain sustainability demands themselves.
The system architecture presented in this paper is built around a service-oriented software layer, connecting a modular hardware layer for direct access to sensors and actuators to an extensible set of client tools. Providing flexibility, serviceability and ease of use, while maintaining a high level of reusability for its constituent components and providing features to reduce the required overall run time of the test benches, it can effectively decrease the CO2 emissions of the test bench while increasing its sustainability and efficiency.
Cloud computing has become well established in private and public sector projects over the past few years, opening ever new opportunities for research and development, but also for education. One of these opportunities presents itself in the form of dynamically deployable, virtual lab environments, granting educational institutions increased flexibility with the allocation of their computing resources. These fully sandboxed labs provide students with their own, internal network and full access to all machines within, granting them the flexibility necessary to gather hands-on experience with building heterogeneous microservice architectures. The eduDScloud provides a private cloud infrastructure to which labs like the microservice lab outlined in this paper can be flexibly deployed at a moment’s notice.
Context: Higher education is changing at an accelerating pace due to the widespread use of digital teaching and emerging technologies. In particular, AI assistants such as ChatGPT pose significant challenges for higher education institutions because they bring change to several areas, such as learning assessments or learning experiences.
Objective: Our objective is to discuss the impact of AI assistants in the context of higher education, outline possible changes to the context, and present recommendations for adapting to change.
Method: We review related work and develop a conceptual structure that visualizes the role of AI assistants in higher education.
Results: The conceptual structure distinguishes between humans, learning, organization, and disruptor, which guides our discussion regarding the implications of AI assistant usage in higher education. The discussion is based on evidence from related literature.
Conclusion: AI assistants will change the context of higher education in a disruptive manner, and the tipping point for this transformation has already been reached. It is in our hands to shape this transformation.
Coaxial Laser wire Direct Energy Deposition (L-DED) promises a direction-independent buildup due to a centric supply of the welding material. To fabricate Functionally Graded Materials (FGMs), a processing head was designed that is capable of supplying two wire materials into the processing zone. This study investigates the direction dependency of welding seams produced by two 1.4718 metal wires with a diameter of 0.8 mm in a coaxial laser setup using three separately controllable single laser beams with a maximum combined laser power of 660 W. The welding wires are supplied simultaneously to the laser spot under an incidence angle of 3.5° to the middle axis of the processing head. The seam geometry is investigated using a confocal laserscanning-microscope. A comparison of the height, width and macroscopic seam geometry reveals the influence of the welding direction on the seam geometry and quality in Laser Double wire Direct Energy Deposition (LD-DED).
The paper sheds light on the change in the concept of obedience within the Society of Jesus since the 1960s. In the aftermath of the Second Vatican Council, a so-called crisis of authority and obedience took place in the Catholic Church and the religious orders. As a consequence, the notions of responsibility and conscience came to the fore in the Jesuit definition of obedience. The religious concept of obedience, that is the obedience towards God, was reassessed as a service to humanity. The paper analyzes how the change in the concept of obedience gave rise to the promotion of social justice, which the Society of Jesus proclaimed at General Congregation 32 in 1974/75. By including the promotion of social justice into their central mission, Jesuits not only fundamentally transformed their self-conception, but also their ethical values. The paper argues that the pursuit of social justice became a form of religious obedience.
In this paper, we present a novel approach for real-time rendering of soft eclipse shadows cast by spherical, atmosphereless bodies. While this problem may seem simple at first, it is complicated by several factors. First, the extreme scale differences and huge mutual distances of the involved celestial bodies cause rendering artifacts in practice. Second, the surface of the Sun does not emit light evenly in all directions (an effect which is known as limb darkening). This makes it impossible to model the Sun as a uniform spherical light source. Finally, our intended applications include real-time rendering of solar eclipses in virtual reality, which require very high frame rates. As a solution to these problems, we precompute the amount of shadowing into an eclipse shadow map, which is parametrized so that it is independent of the position and size of the occluder. Hence, a single shadow map can be used for all spherical occluders in the Solar System. We assess the errors introduced by various simplifications and compare multiple approaches in terms of performance and precision. Last but not least, we compare our approaches to the state-of-the-art and to reference images. The implementation has been published under the MIT license.
The control of clinical mastitis on dairy farms is an essential part of animal health management. Knowledge of the causative microorganisms, the cure rates achievable in the field and essential associated factors are crucial for proper control. The objectives of the present study were to characterize clinical mastitis cases in Germany and to analyze factors influencing cure rates and the recurrence rate. Milk samples of every clinical mastitis case occurring on 12 participating farms were examined cytomicrobiologically. Post-treatment quarter samples were taken after 14 and 21 days. Treatments were performed according to existing farm protocols. Of 2883 clinical mastitis cases, the most prevalent pathogens were Streptococcus (S.) uberis (20.2%) and coliforms (11.6%). In 35% of the milk samples, no bacteriological growth was detected. The overall bacteriological cure rate was 73.3%, while the cytological cure rate was 22.3%, the full cure rate 21.4% and the recurrence rate 18.8%. Regarding the pathogen distribution of severe mastitis, coliform bacteria were detected in 30.5% of the cases, whereas S. uberis was detected in 26.5% thereof. The results show that severe mastitis is caused almost as frequently by Gram-positive as by Gram-negative microorganisms. The low cytological cure rates show that the therapy needs to be further developed with regard to calming the inflammation. The obtained data can be very helpful in assessing internal mastitis scenarios and the effect of measures and therapies.
Electrospinning with consequent thermal treatment consists in a carbon fiber production method that spins a polymer solution to create fibers with diameters around a few hundred nanometers. The thermal treatments are used for the cyclization and then carbonization of the material at 1700 °C for one hour. The unique structure of micro- and nano-carbon fibers makes them a promising material for various applications ranging from future battery designs to filtration. This work investigated the possibility of using milled gasification biochar, derived from a 20 kW fixed-bed gasifier fueled with vine pruning pellets, as an addictive in the preparation of electrospinning solutions. This study outlined that solvent cleaning and the consequent wet-milling and 32 µm sifting are fundamental passages for biochar preparation. Four different polyacrylonitrile-biochar shares were tested ranging from pure polymer to 50–50% solutions. The resulting fibers were analyzed via scanning electron microscopy, and energy-dispersive X-ray and infrared spectroscopy. Results from the morphological analysis showed that biochar grains dispersed themselves well among the fiber mat in all the proposed shares. All the tested solutions, once carbonized, exceeded 97%wt. of carbon content. At higher carbonization temperatures, the inorganic compounds naturally showing in biochar such as potassium and calcium disappeared, resulting in an almost carbon-pure fiber matrix with biochar grains in between.
Introduction
Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a common inflammatory skin disease. Many patients are initiating a systemic therapy, if the disease is not adequately controlled with topical treatment only. Currently, there is little real-world evidence on the AD-related medical care situation in Germany. This study analyzed patient characteristics, treatment patterns, healthcare resource utilization and costs associated with systemically treated AD for the German healthcare system.
Methods
In this descriptive, retrospective cohort study, aggregated anonymized German health claims data from the InGef research database were used. Within a representative sample of four million insured individuals, patients with AD and systemic drug therapy initiation (SDTI) in the index year 2017 were identified and included into the study cohort. Systemic drug therapy included dupilumab, systemic corticosteroids (SCS) and systemic immunosuppressants (SIS). Patients were observed for one year starting from the date of SDTI in 2017.
Results
9975 patients were included (57.8% female, mean age 39.6 years [SD 25.5]). In the one-year observation period, the most common systemic drug therapy was SCS (> 99.0%). Administrations of dupilumab (0.3%) or dispensations of SIS were rare (cyclosporine: 0.5%, azathioprine: 0.6%, methotrexate: 0.1%). Median treatment duration of SCS, cyclosporine and azathioprine was 27 days, 102 days, and 109 days, respectively. 2.8% of the patients received phototherapy; 41.6% used topical corticosteroids and/or topical calcineurin inhibitor. Average annual costs for medications amounted to € 1237 per patient. Outpatient services were used by 99.6% with associated mean annual costs of € 943; 25.4% had at least one hospitalization (mean annual costs: € 5836). 5.3% of adult patients received sickness benefits with associated mean annual costs of € 5026.
Conclusions
Despite unfavorable risk–benefit profile, this study demonstrated a common treatment with SCS, whereas other systemic drug therapy options were rarely used. Furthermore, the results suggest a substantial economic burden for patients with AD and SDTI.
This paper proposes an extended Petri net formalism as a suitable language for composing optimal scheduling problems of industrial production processes with real and binary decision variables. The proposed approach is modular and scalable, as the overall process dynamics and constraints can be collected by parsing of all atomic elements of the net graph. To conclude, we demonstrate the use of this framework for modeling the moulding sand preparation process of a real foundry plant.
Background:
The increase in food intolerances poses a burgeoning problem in our society. Food intolerances not only lead to physical impairment of the individual patient but also result in a high socio-economic burden due to factors such as the treatment required as well as absenteeism. The present study aimed to explore whether lactose intolerant (LI) patients exhibit more frequent comorbidities than non-LI patients.
Methods:
The study was conducted on a case-control basis and the results were determined using routine data analysis. Routine data from the IMS Disease Analyzer database were used for this purpose. A total of 6,758 data records were processed and analyzed.
Results:
There were significant correlations between LI and the incidence of osteoporosis, changes in mental status, and the presence of additional food intolerances. Comparing 3,379 LI vs. 3,379 non-LI patients, 34.5% vs. 17.7% (P<0.0001) suffered from abdominal pain; 30.6% vs. 17.2% (P<0.0001) from gastrointestinal infections; and 20.9% vs. 16.0% (P=0.0053) from depression. Adjusted odds ratios (OR) were the highest for fructose intolerance (n=229 LI vs. n=7 non-LI; OR 31.06; P<0.0001), irritable bowel syndrome (n=247 LI vs. n=44 non-LI; OR 5.23; P<0.0001), and bloating (n=351 LI vs. n=68 non-LI; OR 4.94; P<0.0001).
Conclusion:
The study confirms that LI should not be regarded as an isolated illness but considered a possible trigger for further diseases. Additional research is necessary to assert more precise statements.
During machine milking, pathogenic microorganisms can be transmitted from cow to cow through liners. Therefore, in Germany, a spray method for the intermediate disinfection of the milking cluster is often used for prevention. This method of cluster disinfection is easy to perform, requires little time and no extra materials, and the disinfection solution is safe from outside contamination in the spray bottle. Since no data on a systematic efficacy trial are available, the aim of this study was to determine the microbial reduction effect of intermediate disinfection. Therefore, laboratory and field trials were conducted. In both trials, two sprays of 0.85 mL per burst of different disinfectant solutions were sprayed into the contaminated liners. For sampling, a quantitative swabbing method using a modified wet–dry swab (WDS) technique based on DIN 10113-1: 1997-07 was applied. Thus, the effectiveness of disinfectants based on Peracetic Acid, Hydrogen Peroxide and Plasma-Activated Buffered Solution (PABS) was compared. In the laboratory trial, the inner surfaces of liners were contaminated with pure cultures of Escherichia (E.) coli, Staphylococcus (S.) aureus, Streptococcus (Sc.) uberis and Sc. agalactiae. The disinfection of the contaminated liners with the disinfectants resulted in a significant reduction in bacteria with values averaging 1 log for E. coli, 0.7 log for S. aureus, 0.7 log for Sc. uberis and 0.8 log for Sc. agalactiae. The highest reduction was obtained for contamination with E. coli (1.3 log) and Sc. uberis (0.8 log) when PABS was applied and for contamination with S. aureus (1.1 log) and Sc. agalactiae (1 log) when Peracetic Acid Solution (PAS) was used. Treatment with sterile water only led to an average reduction of 0.4 log. In the field trial, after the milking of 575 cows, the liners were disinfected and the total microorganism count from the liner surface was performed. The reduction was measured against an untreated liner within the cluster. Although a reduction in microorganisms was achieved in the field trial, it was not significant. When using PAS, a log reduction of 0.3 was achieved; when using PABS, a log reduction of 0.2 was obtained. The difference between the two disinfection methods was also not significant. Treatment with sterile water only led to a reduction of 0.1 log. The results show that spray disinfection under these circumstances does result in a reduction in the bacteria on the milking liner surface, but for effective disinfection a higher reduction would be preferred.
Background: Epidemiological and experimental studies suggest that exposure to ultrafine particles (UFP) might aggravate the allergic inflammation of the lung in asthmatics.
Methods: We exposed 12 allergic asthmatics in two subgroups in a double-blinded randomized cross-over design, first to freshly generated ultrafine carbon particles (64 μg/m3; 6.1 ± 0.4 × 105 particles/cm3 for 2 h) and then to filtered air or vice versa with a 28-day recovery period in-between. Eighteen hours after each exposure, grass pollen was instilled into a lung lobe via bronchoscopy. Another 24 hours later, inflammatory cells were collected by means of bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL). (Trial registration: NCT00527462)
Results: For the entire study group, inhalation of UFP by itself had no significant effect on the allergen induced
inflammatory response measured with total cell count as compared to exposure with filtered air (p = 0.188). However, the subgroup of subjects, which inhaled UFP during the first exposure, exhibited a significant increase in total BAL cells (p = 0.021), eosinophils (p = 0.031) and monocytes (p = 0.013) after filtered air exposure and subsequent allergen challenge 28 days later. Additionally, the potential of BAL cells to generate oxidant radicals was
significantly elevated at that time point. The subgroup that was exposed first to filtered air and 28 days later to UFP did not reveal differences between sessions.
Conclusions: Our data demonstrate that pre-allergen exposure to UFP had no acute effect on the allergic inflammation. However, the subgroup analysis lead to the speculation that inhaled UFP particles might have a long-term effect on the inflammatory course in asthmatic patients. This should be reconfirmed in further studies with an appropriate study design and sufficient number of subjects.
The objective was to establish and standardise a broth microdilution susceptibility testing method for porcine Bordetella (B.) bronchiseptica. B. bronchiseptica isolates from different geographical regions and farms were genotyped by macrorestriction analysis and subsequent pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. One reference and one type strain plus two field isolates of B. bronchiseptica were chosen to analyse growth curves in four different media: cation-adjusted Mueller-Hinton broth (CAMHB) with and without 2% lysed horse blood, Brain-Heart-Infusion (BHI), and Caso broth. The growth rate of each test strain in each medium was determined by culture enumeration and the suitability of CAMHB was confirmed by comparative statistical analysis. Thereafter, reference and type strain and eight epidemiologically unrelated field isolates of B. bronchiseptica were used to test the suitability of a broth microdilution susceptibility testing method following CLSI-approved performance standards given in document VET01-A4. Susceptibility tests, using 20 antimicrobial agents, were performed in five replicates, and data were collected after 20 and 24 hours incubation and statistically analysed. Due to the low growth rate of B. bronchiseptica, an incubation time of 24 hours resulted in significantly more homogeneous minimum inhibitory concentrations after five replications compared to a 20-hour incubation. An interlaboratory comparison trial including susceptibility testing of 24 antimicrobial agents revealed a high mean level of reproducibility (97.9%) of the modified method. Hence, in a harmonization for broth microdilution susceptibility testing of B. bronchiseptica, an incubation time of 24 hours in CAMHB medium with an incubation temperature of 35°C and an inoculum concentration of approximately 5 x 105 cfu/ml was proposed.
Background: Improving the transparency of information about the quality of health care providers is one way to improve health care quality. It is assumed that Internet information steers patients toward better-performing health care providers and will motivate providers to improve quality. However, the effect of public reporting on hospital quality is still small. One of the reasons is that users find it difficult to understand the formats in which information is presented.
Objective: We analyzed the presentation of risk-adjusted mortality rate (RAMR) for coronary angiography in the 10 most commonly used German public report cards to analyze the impact of information presentation features on their comprehensibility. We wanted to determine which information presentation features were utilized, were preferred by users, led to better comprehension, and had similar effects to those reported in evidence-based recommendations described in the literature.
Methods: The study consisted of 5 steps: (1) identification of best-practice evidence about the presentation of information on hospital report cards; (2) selection of a single risk-adjusted quality indicator; (3) selection of a sample of designs adopted by German public report cards; (4) identification of the information presentation elements used in public reporting initiatives in Germany; and (5) an online panel completed an online questionnaire that was conducted to determine if respondents were able to identify the hospital with the lowest RAMR and if respondents’ hospital choices were associated with particular information design elements.
Results: Evidence-based recommendations were made relating to the following information presentation features relevant to report cards: evaluative table with symbols, tables without symbols, bar charts, bar charts without symbols, bar charts with symbols, symbols, evaluative word labels, highlighting, order of providers, high values to indicate good performance, explicit statements of whether high or low values indicate good performance, and incomplete data (“N/A” as a value). When investigating the RAMR in a sample of 10 hospitals’ report cards, 7 of these information presentation features were identified. Of these, 5 information presentation features improved comprehensibility in a manner reported previously in literature.
Conclusions: To our knowledge, this is the first study to systematically analyze the most commonly used public reporting card designs used in Germany. Best-practice evidence identified in international literature was in agreement with 5 findings about German report card designs: (1) avoid tables without symbols, (2) include bar charts with symbols, (3) state explicitly whether high or low values indicate good performance or provide a “good quality” range, (4) avoid incomplete data (N/A given as a value), and (5) rank hospitals by performance. However, these findings are preliminary and should be subject of further evaluation. The implementation of 4 of these recommendations should not present insurmountable obstacles. However, ranking hospitals by performance may present substantial difficulties.