Structural properties of InAlN single layers nearly latice-matched to GaN grown by plasma assisted molecular beal epitaxy

The high lattice mismatch between III-nitride binaries (InN, GaN and AlN) remains a key problem to grow high quality III-nitride heterostructures. Recent interest has been focused on the growth of high-quality InAlN layers, with approximately 18% of indium incorporation, in-plane lattice-matched (LM) to GaN. While a lot of work has been done by metal-organic vapour phase epitaxy (MOVPE) by Carlin and co-workers, its growth by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) is still in infanc

Doves and hawks in economics revisited. An evolutionary quantum game theory-based analysis of financial crises

The last financial and economic crisis demonstrated the dysfunctional long-term effects of aggressive behaviour in financial markets. Yet, evolutionary game theory predicts that under the condition of strategic dependence a certain degree of aggressive behaviour remains within a given population of agents. However, as the consequences of the financial crisis exhibit, it would be desirable to change the 'rules of the game' in a way that prevents the occurrence of any aggressive behaviour and thereby also the danger of market crashes. The paper picks up this aspect. Through the extension of the in literature well-known Hawk-Dove game by a quantum approach, we can show that dependent on entanglement, also evolutionary stable strategies can emerge, which are not predicted by classical evolutionary game theory and where the total economic population uses a non aggressive quantum strategy

Longer and better lives for patients with atrial fibrillation:the 9th AFNET/EHRA consensus conference

Aims: Recent trial data demonstrate beneficial effects of active rhythm management in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) and support the concept that a low arrhythmia burden is associated with a low risk of AF-related complications. The aim of this document is to summarize the key outcomes of the 9th AFNET/EHRA Consensus Conference of the Atrial Fibrillation NETwork (AFNET) and the European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA). Methods and results: Eighty-three international experts met in Münster for 2 days in September 2023. Key findings are as follows: (i) Active rhythm management should be part of the default initial treatment for all suitable patients with AF. (ii) Patients with device-detected AF have a low burden of AF and a low risk of stroke. Anticoagulation prevents some strokes and also increases major but non-lethal bleeding. (iii) More research is needed to improve stroke risk prediction in patients with AF, especially in those with a low AF burden. Biomolecules, genetics, and imaging can support this. (iv) The presence of AF should trigger systematic workup and comprehensive treatment of concomitant cardiovascular conditions. (v) Machine learning algorithms have been used to improve detection or likely development of AF. Cooperation between clinicians and data scientists is needed to leverage the potential of data science applications for patients with AF. Conclusions: Patients with AF and a low arrhythmia burden have a lower risk of stroke and other cardiovascular events than those with a high arrhythmia burden. Combining active rhythm control, anticoagulation, rate control, and therapy of concomitant cardiovascular conditions can improve the lives of patients with AF

Dipyridamole in antithrombotic treatment

The antithrombotic activity of dipyridamole was initially discovered in an in vivo experiment about half a century ago. At that time science had not appreciated the complexity of the regulation of local thrombus formation. Inhibition of platelets has been the main focus for the prevention of arterial thrombus formation. Unfortunately, established in vitro test systems have to take away several important components of the hemostatic system. Rather than directly inhibiting platelet aggregation, dipyridamole amplifies endogenous antithrombotic systems and modulates or downregulates prothrombotic processes. While for many years the main focus had been on preventing acute thrombus formation in the case of a rupture of an atherosclerotic plaque in large coronary arteries, it now has been appreciated that perfusion of tissue and patency of small vessels and capillaries is equally important for preventing further damage to the tissue. Here dipyridamole was experimentally shown to improve perfusion and function in chronic hypoperfused tissue unrelated to its vasodilatory properties. Recently, several clinical trials have shown the benefit of dipyridamole when given in a formulation that assures a sufficient plasma concentration. Its potential to scavenge particularly peroxy radicals, its direct reduction of innate inflammation, and a chronic elevation of interstitial adenosine seems to be of more importance for the prevention of vascular and tissue damage than its adenosine- and prostacyclin-mediated antithrombotic effect. In its extended-release preparation with the tartaric acid nucleus, not only does it not seem to add significantly to the risk of bleeding, but seems to hold potential for protecting tissue from oxidative and metabolic stress. Copyright © 2012 S. Karger AG, Basel

Cell differentiation based on absorption and scattering

Improvements of the flow system allow calibrated cell length measurements down to less than 2 μm at a very high rate. An optical index match to plane viewing windows perpendicular to the optical axis in the flow system keeps the axial symmetry for forward scattered light. Cell size, axial light loss and scattering intensity within different angles were found to be powerful tools to differentiate cell populations. Red cells were analyzed according to various cell surface structures. Lymphocyte populations isolated from different parts of the lymphatic system in rats have been distinguished. Experimental tumor cells showed typical data pattern after different chemical treatments

Unsupervised learning of style-aware facial animation from real acting performances

This paper presents a novel approach for text/speech-driven animation of a photo-realistic head model based on blend-shape geometry, dynamic textures, and neural rendering. Training a VAE for geometry and texture yields a parametric model for accurate capturing and realistic synthesis of facial expressions from a latent feature vector. Our animation method is based on a conditional CNN that transforms text or speech into a sequence of animation parameters. In contrast to previous approaches, our animation model learns disentangling/synthesizing different acting-styles in an unsupervised manner, requiring only phonetic labels that describe the content of training sequences. For realistic real-time rendering, we train a U-Net that refines rasterization-based renderings by computing improved pixel colors and a foreground matte. We compare our framework qualitatively/quantitatively against recent methods for head modeling as well as facial animation and evaluate the perceived rendering/animation quality in a user-study, which indicates large improvements compared to state-of-the-art approaches

Unsupervised Learning of Style-Aware Facial Animation from Real Acting Performances

This paper presents a novel approach for text/speech-driven animation of a photo-realistic head model based on blend-shape geometry, dynamic textures, and neural rendering. Training a VAE for geometry and texture yields a parametric model for accurate capturing and realistic synthesis of facial expressions from a latent feature vector. Our animation method is based on a conditional CNN that transforms text or speech into a sequence of animation parameters. In contrast to previous approaches, our animation model learns disentangling/synthesizing different acting-styles in an unsupervised manner, requiring only phonetic labels that describe the content of training sequences. For realistic real-time rendering, we train a U-Net that refines rasterization-based renderings by computing improved pixel colors and a foreground matte. We compare our framework qualitatively/quantitatively against recent methods for head modeling as well as facial animation and evaluate the perceived rendering/animation quality in a user-study, which indicates large improvements compared to state-of-the-art approachesComment: 16 pages, submitted to Graphical Models (Feb 2023

Der Beitrag der Nationalen Volksarmee zur Entwicklung der Einheit von Volk und Armee der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik bis Ende der sechziger Jahre

Militaerbibliothek Dresden - 87 44 0244 / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekSIGLEDEGerman

Model based 3D gaze estimation for provision of virtual eye contact

In recent years, video communication has received a rapidly increasing interest on the market. Still unsolved is the problem of eye contact. The conferee still needs to decide whether to look into the camera or directly to the screen. Recently, a solution to this problem was presented which is based on a real-time 3D modeling of the conferees. In order to achieve direct eye contact the authors defined a virtual camera directly on the screen in the eyes of the remote conferee. This paper discusses the problem of adequately positioning this virtual camera. A new approach will be presented which performs an eye and gaze tracking directly on the real-time 3D model rather than on the 2D image. Our methods not only provides robust and highly accurate results but is also able to additionally measure the distance between the conferees eye and the display with high precision