774 research outputs found

    Konzeption und Realisierung einer Home Automation Infrastruktur fĂŒr mobile EndgerĂ€te am Beispiel von Android

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    Der Mensch ist stets gewillt, sich das Leben so einfach wie möglich zu gestalten. FĂŒr nahezu jedes System gibt es eine technische Lösung, die dem Menschen dessen Bedienung erleichtert. Das einfachste Beispiel sind Fernbedienungen. Wir benutzen sie, um technische GerĂ€te im Haus, wie zum Beispiel Fernseher, HiFi-Anlagen oder DVD-Player zu steuern. Allerdings gibt es noch viel mehr GerĂ€te im Haus, fĂŒr die eine Fernbedienung sinnvoll wĂ€re. Zum Beispiel könnte man seine Lampen mit einer Fernbedienung bequem vom Sofa aus bedienen oder eine ganze Steckdosenleiste fernsteuern, um alle angeschlossenen GerĂ€te mit einem Tastendruck ein- und auszuschalten. Das Ziel dieser Bachelorarbeit ist es, eine Infrastruktur zu entwickeln und aufzubauen, die es ermöglicht, bestimmte Steckdosen mittels einer Android-Applikation ein- und auszuschalten. So wird das Android-GerĂ€t zur Universalfernbedienung fĂŒr alles, was an diesen Steckdosen angeschlossen wird

    Workers dominate male production in the neotropical bumblebee Bombus wilmattae (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

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    <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Cooperation and conflict in social insects are closely linked to the genetic structure of the colony. Kin selection theory predicts conflict over the production of males between the workers and the queen and between the workers themselves, depending on intra-colonial relatedness but also on other factors like colony efficiency, sex ratios, cost of worker reproduction and worker dominance behaviour. In most bumblebee (<it>Bombus</it>) species the queen wins this conflict and often dominates male production. However, most studies in bumblebees have been conducted with only a few selected, mostly single mated species from temperate climate regions. Here we study the genetic colony composition of the facultative polyandrous neotropical bumblebee <it>Bombus wilmattae</it>, to assess the outcome of the queen-worker conflict over male production and to detect potential worker policing.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 120 males from five colonies were genotyped with up to nine microsatellite markers to infer their parentage. Four of the five colonies were queen right at point of time of male sampling, while one had an uncertain queen status. The workers clearly dominated production of males with an average of 84.9% +/- 14.3% of males being worker sons. In the two doubly mated colonies 62.5% and 96.7% of the male offspring originated from workers and both patrilines participated in male production. Inferring the mother genotypes from the male offspring, between four to eight workers participated in the production of males.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>In this study we show that the workers clearly win the queen-worker conflict over male production in <it>B. wilmattae</it>, which sets them apart from the temperate bumblebee species studied so far. Workers clearly dominated male production in the singly as well the doubly mated colonies, with up to eight workers producing male offspring in a single colony. Moreover no monopolization of reproduction by single workers occurred.</p

    Nodal Disease and Survival in Oral Cancer: Is Occult Metastasis a Burden Factor Compared to Preoperatively Nodal Positive Neck?

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    Simple Summary Occult metastasis in oral squamous cell carcinoma patients is a feared complication. However, there are barely any existing data on survival of patients suffering from occult metastasis. This study aims to compare patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma, considering survival in occult metastases and different treatment approaches. The impact of neck involvement and occult metastasis (OM) in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) favors an elective neck dissection. However, there are barely any existing data on survival for patients with OM compared with patients with positive lymph nodes detected preoperatively. This study aims to compare survival curves of patients suffering from lymph nodal metastases in a preoperatively N+ neck with those suffering from OM. In addition, clinical characteristics of the primary tumor were analyzed to predict occult nodal disease. This retrospective cohort study includes patients with an OSCC treated surgically with R0 resection with or without adjuvant chemoradiotherapy between 2010 and 2016. Minimum follow-up was 60 months. Kaplan-Meier analysis was used to compare the survival between patients with and without occult metastases and patients with N+ neck to those with occult metastases. Logistic regression was used to detect potential risk factors for occult metastases. The patient cohort consisted of 226 patients. Occult metastases occurred in 16 of 226 patients. In 53 of 226 patients, neck lymph nodes were described as suspect on CT imaging but had a pN0 neck. Higher tumor grading increased the chance of occurrence of occult metastasis 2.7-fold (OR = 2.68, 95% CI: 1.07-6.7). After 12, 24, 48 and 60 months, 82.3%, 73.8%, 69% and 67% of the N0 patients, respectively, were progression free. In the group with OM occurrence, for the same periods 66.6%, 50%, 33.3% and 33.3% of the patients, respectively, were free of disease. For the same periods, respectively, 81%, 63%, 47% and 43% of the patients in the N+ group but without OM remained disease free. The predictors for progression-free survival were a positive N status (HR = 1.44, 95% CI: 1.08-1.93) and the occurrence of OM (HR = 2.33, 95% CI: 1.17-4.64). The presence of occult metastasis could lead to decreased survival and could be a burdening factor requiring treatment escalation and a more aggressive follow-up than nodal disease detected in the preoperative diagnostic imaging

    Genetic differentiation at species level in the Neotropical army ant Labidus praedator

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    The nomadic, swarm-raiding army ant Labidus praedator (Smith, 1858) is an important arthropod predator in the Neotropics with a strong ecological impact on invertebrate communities. However, despite its high abundance and ubiquity over a large distribution range, it received relatively little scientific attention. Moreover, the taxonomic status is confusing because some morphological descriptions point towards the co-occurrence of several distinct taxa which are lumped together as L. praedator in most classical keys. Yet, clarifying genetic studies are lacking. Here, we show strong genetic differentiation within an L. praedator population in Mexico. Both microsatellite genotype patterns and phylogenetic analyses (concatenated nuclear and mtDNA sequences, including the coxI genetic barcoding region), reveal the occurrence of two strongly isolated lineages. Colonies from the very same location, clearly identified as the same species (L. praedator) according to classical morphological keys, exhibit an extremely high average sequence divergence (9.7–12.8 %), which was well in the range of divergence among GenBank sequences from other Labidus species. Thus, our data very likely show genetic differentiation at species level or cryptic speciation within L. praedator, which should be recognized when investigating biodiversity and ecological importance of army ants (or other arthropods) in the Neotropics.Finances were granted by the Graduate Scholarship of Saxony Anhalt (MBB) and the Mexican-European FONCICYT 94293 Grant “MUTUAL” for travel expenses.http://link.springer.com/journal/40hb2016Zoology and Entomolog

    Greenhouse bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) spread their genes into the wild

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    Bumblebees (Bombus spp.) are commonly used for greenhouse pollination of tomatoes and other crop plants. The colonies used for this purpose are provided by commercial bumblebee breeders, which by now operate at a professional company level. As a result of this practice commercially bred bumblebee colonies are transported and used over large distances and national borders, introducing subspecies into non-endemic regions. The question whether and to what extends gene flow between such managed greenhouse and wild bumblebee populations exists, so far has not been addressed. Here we used samples from three greenhouses in Poland and the surrounding populations to address this question. Using microsatellite DNA data we found strong genetic introgression from the sampled greenhouse populations into the adjacent populations. Depending on the analysed population, the number of individuals assigned to the greenhouse populations ranged from 0.08 to 0.47. We also found that more distant populations were much less affected by genetic introgression from the greenhouses

    Prediction of Physical Frailty in Orthogeriatric Patients Using Sensor Insole–Based Gait Analysis and Machine Learning Algorithms: Cross-sectional Study

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    Background: Assessment of the physical frailty of older patients is of great importance in many medical disciplines to be able to implement individualized therapies. For physical tests, time is usually used as the only objective measure. To record other objective factors, modern wearables offer great potential for generating valid data and integrating the data into medical decision-making. Objective: The aim of this study was to compare the predictive value of insole data, which were collected during the Timed-Up-and-Go (TUG) test, to the benchmark standard questionnaire for sarcopenia (SARC-F: strength, assistance with walking, rising from a chair, climbing stairs, and falls) and physical assessment (TUG test) for evaluating physical frailty, defined by the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB), using machine learning algorithms. Methods: This cross-sectional study included patients aged >60 years with independent ambulation and no mental or neurological impairment. A comprehensive set of parameters associated with physical frailty were assessed, including body composition, questionnaires (European Quality of Life 5-dimension [EQ 5D 5L], SARC-F), and physical performance tests (SPPB, TUG), along with digital sensor insole gait parameters collected during the TUG test. Physical frailty was defined as an SPPB score≀8. Advanced statistics, including random forest (RF) feature selection and machine learning algorithms (K-nearest neighbor [KNN] and RF) were used to compare the diagnostic value of these parameters to identify patients with physical frailty. Results: Classified by the SPPB, 23 of the 57 eligible patients were defined as having physical frailty. Several gait parameters were significantly different between the two groups (with and without physical frailty). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) of the TUG test was superior to that of the SARC-F (0.862 vs 0.639). The recursive feature elimination algorithm identified 9 parameters, 8 of which were digital insole gait parameters. Both the KNN and RF algorithms trained with these parameters resulted in excellent results (AUROC of 0.801 and 0.919, respectively). Conclusions: A gait analysis based on machine learning algorithms using sensor soles is superior to the SARC-F and the TUG test to identify physical frailty in orthogeriatric patients

    Reduced awareness for osteoporosis in hip fracture patients compared to elderly patients undergoing elective hip replacement

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    Background: Osteoporotic fractures are associated with a loss of quality of life, but only few patients receive an appropriate therapy. Therefore, the present study aims to investigate the awareness of musculoskeletal patients to participate in osteoporosis assessment and to evaluate whether there are significant differences between acute care patients treated for major fractures of the hip compared to elective patients treated for hip joint replacement.; Methods: From May 2015 to December 2016 patients who were undergoing surgical treatment for proximal femur fracture or total hip replacement due to osteoarthritis and were at risk for an underlying osteoporosis (female > 60 and male > 70 years) were included in the study and asked to complete a questionnaire assessing the awareness for an underlying osteoporosis. ASA Score, FRAX Score, and demographic information have also been examined. Results: In total 268 patients (female = 194 (72.0%)/male = 74 (28%)), mean age 77.7 years (±7.7) undergoing hip surgery were included. Of these, 118 were treated for fracture-related etiology and 150 underwent total hip arthroplasty in an elective care setting. Patients were interviewed about their need for osteoporosis examination during hospitalization. Overall, 76 of 150 patients receiving elective care (50.7%) considered that an examination was necessary, whereas in proximal femur fracture patients the awareness was lower, and the disease osteoporosis was assessed as threatening by significantly fewer newly fractured patients. By comparison, patients undergoing trauma surgery had a considerably greater risk of developing another osteoporotic fracture than patients undergoing elective surgery determined by the FRAX(Âź) Score (p ≀ 0.001).; Conclusions: The patients’ motivation to endure additional osteoporosis diagnostic testing is notoriously low and needs to be increased. Patients who underwent acute care surgery for a fragility proximal femur fracture, although acutely affected by the potential consequences of underlying osteoporosis, showed lower awareness than the elective comparison population that was also on average 6.1 years younger. Although elective patients were younger and at a lower risk, they seemed to be much more willing to undergo further osteoporosis assessment. In order to better identify and care for patients at risk, interventions such as effective screening, early initiation of osteoporosis therapy in the inpatient setting and a fracture liaison service are important measures

    Four quantitative trait loci associated with low Nosema ceranae (Microsporidia) spore load in the honeybee Apis mellifera

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    Nosema ceranae has been recently introduced into the honeybee Apis mellifera as a novel microsporidian gut parasite. To locate the genetic region involved in N. ceranae infection tolerance, we fed N. ceranae spores to haploid drones of a F1 hybrid queen produced from a cross between a queen of a Nosemaresistant bred strain and drones of susceptible colonies. The spore loads of the infected F1 drones were used as the phenotype to identify quantitative trait loci (QTLs) associated with N. ceranae spore load. One hundred forty-eight infected drones were individually genotyped with microsatellite markers at an average marker distance of 20 cM along the genome. Four QTLs were significantly associated with low spore load, explaining 20.4 % of total spore load variance. Moreover, a candidate gene Aubergine (Aub) within the major QTL region was significantly overexpressed in drones with low spore loads than in those with high spore loads. Our results confirm the genetic basis of Nosema tolerance in the selected strain and show that both additive effects and epistatic interactions among the QTLs interfere with the tested phenotype.European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement BEE DOC FP7-KBBE-2009-3 244956CPFP, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft Project DFG SPP 1399(MO 373/26-1) and the China Scholarship Council.http://link.springer.com/journal/13592hb201
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