Measuring Absolute Space Coordinates in Two Dimensions

The paper describes how a two-dimensional absolute measuring system can explicitly be realized. The theoretical background, the experimental setup, the evaluation algorithm, and the results of measurement are discussed in detail

Discriminative Transfer Learning for General Image Restoration

Recently, several discriminative learning approaches have been proposed for effective image restoration, achieving convincing trade-off between image quality and computational efficiency. However, these methods require separate training for each restoration task (e.g., denoising, deblurring, demosaicing) and problem condition (e.g., noise level of input images). This makes it time-consuming and difficult to encompass all tasks and conditions during training. In this paper, we propose a discriminative transfer learning method that incorporates formal proximal optimization and discriminative learning for general image restoration. The method requires a single-pass training and allows for reuse across various problems and conditions while achieving an efficiency comparable to previous discriminative approaches. Furthermore, after being trained, our model can be easily transferred to new likelihood terms to solve untrained tasks, or be combined with existing priors to further improve image restoration quality

DeepVoxels: Learning Persistent 3D Feature Embeddings

In this work, we address the lack of 3D understanding of generative neural networks by introducing a persistent 3D feature embedding for view synthesis. To this end, we propose DeepVoxels, a learned representation that encodes the view-dependent appearance of a 3D scene without having to explicitly model its geometry. At its core, our approach is based on a Cartesian 3D grid of persistent embedded features that learn to make use of the underlying 3D scene structure. Our approach combines insights from 3D geometric computer vision with recent advances in learning image-to-image mappings based on adversarial loss functions. DeepVoxels is supervised, without requiring a 3D reconstruction of the scene, using a 2D re-rendering loss and enforces perspective and multi-view geometry in a principled manner. We apply our persistent 3D scene representation to the problem of novel view synthesis demonstrating high-quality results for a variety of challenging scenes.Comment: Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HM_WsZhoGXw Supplemental material: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BnZRyNcVUty6-LxAstN83H79ktUq8Cjp/view?usp=sharing Code: https://github.com/vsitzmann/deepvoxels Project page: https://vsitzmann.github.io/deepvoxels

Dynamics of Political Opinion Formation including Catastrophe Theory

After Nazism and Communism new forms of totalitarianism fostered by religious fundamentalism have arisen at the turn of the present century. In view of this fact we present a parsimonious quantitative model designed to shed some light on the dynamics of the formation of totalitarian systems. The model is constructed according to the principles of “sociodynamics” that belongs to the broad field of nonlinear dynamic systems theory (NDS). It comprises two order parameters and four trend parameters. All of them are socio-politically interpreted. Stationary, stagnant and revolutionary system-phases are exhibited in 10 scenarios. The relation to catastrophe theory is discussed

Correlation of procalcitonin and C-reactive protein to inflammation, complications, and outcome during the intensive care unit course of multiple-trauma patients

BACKGROUND: A comparison of the amount of and the kinetics of induction of procalcitonin (PCT) with that of C-reactive protein (CRP) during various types of and severities of multiple trauma, and their relation to trauma-related complications, was performed. METHODS: Ninety adult trauma patients admitted to the intensive care unit of our tertiary care hospital were evaluated in a prospective case study. During the initial 24 hours after trauma the Injury Severity Score, the Sepsis-related Organ Failure Assessment score, and the Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II score were evaluated. PCT, CRP, the sepsis criteria (American College of Chest Physicians/Society of Critical Care Medicine definitions), and the Sepsis-related Organ Failure Assessment score were measured at days 1–7, as well as at days 14 and 21, concluding the observation period with the 28-day survival. RESULTS: The induction of PCT and CRP varied in patients suffering from trauma. PCT increased only moderately in most patients and peaked at day 1–2 after trauma, the concentrations rapidly declining thereafter. CRP ubiquitously increased and its kinetics were much slower. Complications such as sepsis, infection, blood transfusion, prolonged intensive care unit treatment, and poor outcome were more frequent in patients with initially high PCT (>1 ng/ml), whereas increases of CRP showed no positive correlation. CONCLUSION: In patients with multiple trauma due to an accident, the PCT level provides more information than the CRP level since only moderate amounts of PCT are induced, and higher concentrations correlate with more severe trauma and a higher frequency of various complications, including sepsis and infection. Most importantly, the moderate trauma-related increase of PCT and the rapidly declining concentrations provide a baseline value near to the normal range at an earlier time frame than for CRP, thus allowing a faster and more valid prediction of sepsis during the early period after trauma

A Step towards Explainable Artificial Neural Networks in Image Processing by Dataset Assessment

Artificial neural networks, image processing, premodeling explainability, robot vision system

Die genetische Regulation der Entwicklung des kaudalen Hypothalamus

Der Mammillarkörper ist ein großer Kern im kaudalen Hypothalamus, der essentiell für die Bildung von Erinnerungen ist. Patienten mit einem degenerierten Mammillarkörper können keine neuen Erinnerungen bilden (anterograde Amnesie; Wernicke-­Korsakoff-­Syndrom). Trotz dieser wichtigen Aufgabe sind die genetischen Faktoren, die die Entwicklung dieses Kerns regulieren, noch unbekannt. Der Transkriptionsfaktor Lhx5 ist während der Entwicklung spezifisch im Mammillarkörper exprimiert. In dieser Arbeit analysierte ich durch in situ Expressionsanalysen, DNA-­Microarrays, qRT-­PCR, ChIP-­Seq und Luciferase-­Assays eine Lhx5-­mutante Mauslinie. Meine Ergebnisse zeigten, dass Lhx5 ein Netzwerk von Genen reguliert, die essentiell für die Spezifizierung des Mammillarkörpers sind. Als erstes zeigte ich, dass in diesen Mäusen der Mammillarkörper schon früh in der Entwicklung fehlt. Anschließend konnte ich reduzierte Proliferation und erhöhte Apoptose als Gründe für den Verlust ausschließen. Um das Schicksal der Zellen des Mammillarkörpers zu untersuchen, nutzte ich die Foxb1-­Cre x ROSA26R Mauslinie, die diese Zelllinie markiert. Indem ich Lhx5-­mutante Mäuse mit dieser Linie kreuzte, konnte ich zeigen, dass, obwohl die Foxb1-­Linie in der Lhx5-­Mutante stark reduziert war, die wenigen Zellen des Mammillarkörpers ihre korrekte anatomische Position einnahmen. Des Weiteren hat diese reduzierte Anlage ihre molekulare Identität verloren. Mithilfe von Microarray-­, qRT-­PCR-­ und in situ Expressionsanalysen identifizierte und validierte ich Gene, die in dieser Region downstream von Lhx5 sind und Aufgaben in der transkriptionellen Regulation, Zelladhäsion und Signalgebung haben. Zwei dieser Kandidaten (Otp und Olig2) sind für ihre essentielle Rolle in der Entwicklung des Mammillarkörpers bekannt. Ein anderer Kandidat (Tbx3) wird für die Entwicklung der gesamten ventralen Mittellinie des Hypothalamus benötigt. Die starke Reduktion der Expression dieser drei Gene ist bereits ausreichend, um den mutanten Phänotyp zu erklären. Schließlich konnte ich durch ChIP-­Seq und Luciferase­‐Assays zeigen, dass die Expression von Tbx3 unter der direkten Kontrolle von Lhx5 steht. Tbx3 wird für die Repression von Shh, einem nötigen Schritt in der Entwicklung dieser Region, benötigt. Dementsprechend war das Gebiet der Shh-­Expression im Lhx5-­mutanten Hypothalamus ausgedehnt. Zusammenfassend zeigen meine Ergebnisse, dass Lhx5 eine Kaskade von Transkriptionsfaktoren (sowie anderer Effektoren) kontrolliert, die für die Spezifizierung des Mammillarkörpers und somit für die Bildung eines gedächtnisbildenden Gehirnbereichs benötigt werden

Design of Sustainable Business Models Using the Example of the Medical Supply Store

Research background and context: Megatrends, new technologies, increasing customer demands and current challenges in the VUCA world are changing established business models in the German healthcare sector. The global Corona pandemic, which broke out at the beginning of 2020, is seen as a catalyst for the digital transformation of organisations to ensure innovation and competitiveness. Purpose/objectives: This research contribution is intended to show organisations how the digital transformation can be shaped. A sustainable further development of the business model is the key to success. Through the intelligent selection of business model characteristics, added value should be generated for the (stationary) medical supply store. Design/research methodology: In his research project, the author combined secondary data on business models and expert interviews to develop a process model. Findings, originality/value and possible practical implications: In times of disruptive change, serious impacts on established business models will become increasingly common and strategically challenging for companies. Organisations need to understand the most important value drivers for their business, as they have a significant impact on the success of the business model. A digital accompaniment of the customer in the use of the medical product or service is indispensable today. At the same time, the holistic understanding of the customer influences the profiling of the compan

Replacing Leads by Self-Energies Using Nonequilibrium Green's Functions

An open quantum system consists of leads connected to a device of interest. Within the nonequilibrium Green's function technique, we examine the replacement of leads by self-energies in continuum calculations. Our starting point is a formulation of the problem for continuum systems by T.E. Feuchtwang. In this approach there is considerable flexibility in the choice of unperturbed Green's functions. We examine the consequences of this freedom on the treatment of leads. For any choice the leads can be replaced by coupling self-energies which are simple functions of energy. We find that the retarded self-energy depends on the details of the choice of unperturbed Green's function, and can take any value. However, the nonequilibrum self-energy or scattering function can be taken to be independent of this choice. Expressed in terms of these self-energies, nonequilibrium transport calculations take a particularly simple form.Comment: 14 pages, 0 figure